HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty Seven

After Echo's admission about the kind of treatment he'd been receiving at the Vampire Rehabilitation Center, I sat fuming for a very long time, thinking about shit while I waited for the water to fill the tub. The vampire could easily tell that I was pissed and kept a careful distance, refusing to say a word.

Which was good, because I hadn't been this mad in a while.

Stupid blonde fuckface had the gall to be rude to me when he's been torturing the vampires under his care? I seethed, tapping my hooves against the marble tiles. Son of a bitch is lucky he got fired. Damn lucky, otherwise I'd be on my way down to the VRC to beat his ass right now.

I had half a mind to try and find him anyway.

It was almost a relief when I was abruptly snapped out of my thoughts by the sensation of water touching my hand. I looked over my shoulder to see that the tub was completely full, let out a sigh, and cast a glance at Echo.

"Get up and get into the water," I tartly ordered, watching as he did just that, stepping over the lip of the tub without a second thought. He paused, looking down at the water that rose up to his waist, staring curiously at the dark, wet fur that began drifting outward like ink.

He touched it with his fingers, almost tentatively, then submerged his hands.

"I have swum before," he explained, wriggling his toes, "and I have been submerged completely underwater for several minutes as a punishment, once, but I have never been in water this warm before. I admit, I have seen humans take baths over the course of my long life, but I've never once felt the need to lie down in warm water. Tell me, is this what baths are always like?"

"Yeah, basically," I admitted, peeling off my bloodied shirt and tossing it aside. I glanced down at my boxers and hesitated for a second, not sure if I wanted to strip completely naked before getting in, but after taking a glance at Echo--who was, in fact, still completely butt ass naked and unconcerned with it--I decided it didn't really matter.

The point was being clean.

I pulled the back of my boxers out, wriggling them to free my tail from the hole stitched into the back, and then I dropped them, kicking my hooves until they were free.

Echo watched as I carefully stepped over the lip of the tub and slid inside it. The bath had been designed to sit deeper than the floor, which made getting in a little tricky for me since I had hard hooves instead of soft human feet that could grip the hard floor. Slipping was a problem I often faced with this tub, but once I was actually in, boy oh boy. I sighed as I sank down into the warm water, sliding back against the far wall and settling on the built-in seat that rimmed the lip. I set my arms against the edge of the tub and relaxed, letting my legs float up as my head sank back.

Echo stared at me, still standing, head cocked to the side. His tail splashed and flicked water as his eyes swept across my posture, and after a moment I glanced at him through sleepy half-lids.

"Aren't you going to sit down?" I asked, nodding with my head at the far side. "Relax. The water is warm and if you need shampoo or conditioner, its on the wall."

His head swiveled to look at where I was gesturing, and his left ear flicked.

"Don't you need to wash yourself?" he asked, turning to look back down at me. "Your neck is still covered in blood. The smears are congealing, too, from the looks of things."

I made a face and reached for one of the clean rags hanging on a hook beside me, then grabbed a bar of mint-scented soap and used some water to lather it up. I took a decent amount of time washing my neck and my face, getting the blood from earlier off my body.