Had Yus not been sightless, Cap reckoned he would have been making baffled eye contact with her right about then. Instead he just shuffled up next to her and took her hand gently in his. She squeezed. He wasn't sure what the squeeze meant, but it felt like it meant something. He frowned and cocked his head, distractedly running his eye over Qaro's wiry hair as an old rusty metaphorical coin broke free of its slot and descended. "Wait, why won't I need pants?" The reply was simple, yet it boomed dramatically around the room as if it were of great, great consequence. "Because no pants are required in the Purple Pool..." Cap scowled. "Great, well, that clears it up!" For this impudence he received a sharp glare and was prodded firmly out into the corridor. Erythian may not have been Qaro's first language but from the elder's expression the rudeness had not been lost. Instead of being a detterant, however, the disapproving glare was a spur. Cap smirked, deciding to add a further, minor, irritant. "... Glad I asked." He realised he was feeling a little like his old self. Distant particles of amusement tickled at the fringes of his mind, and he imagined how weird this whole thing would look out of context. A naked male cyborg and a slender red haired girl in rags, being paraded through a cave system by a bunch of genderless people with long wavy hair and dirty macs. Pre-tty odd. The shards of amusement coalesced and sharpened, causing a helpless yelp of laughter to escape his lips. The abrupt sound earned him some further disapproving looks from the cavefolk, and a confused tilt of the head from Yus. Qaro muttered something about Yus's toy malfunctioning. After what felt like miles of shufflage and cave-idoor wandering (but was probably less than one mile in actuality) the group entered a curious room which, unlike the medical quarters, unashamedly displayed its true rustic natural form. The area was dark, though illuminated gently by a mysterious purple light, and was humidly, pleasantly warm and fragrant. It smelled somehow of something back home which he couldn't quite recall, fresh pyne needles perhaps... Glittering stalagmite and stalagtite crystallizations were strewn throughout. And there, in the middle of the room, sure enough a large purple pool shimmered invitingly. The effect was sensuous. Sensual. "Mmm." Cap had the sudden urge to go and plunge himself into the thick liquid. Qaro saw him twitching. "Yes. In now. Go in." The instruction was accompanied by an imperious wave of one arm. Dragging Yus with him Cap limped towards it, in fact obeying not Qaro but his own urges. "Dear Yus" Qaro continued. "Do rrrrremove your garments." Cap stopped in his tracks at the roll-tongued request. In an instant, it had caused him a deluge of conflicting emotion and sensations. These ranged from outrage, protectiveness, duty, honour, chivalry... Through desire and its twin, arousal. Oh-ho the thought of Yus naked. With a grunt he let go of her hand to snatch up a scarf to shroud his stirrings. (He did not think it would be very polite to display a semi-firm member to a sexless people who celebrated only their... Spouts.) He reckoned an erect penis would likely cause some kind of uproar throughout the community. The cavedweller he targeted was astonished at both the speed the injured man moved, and the fact that they had become abruptly scarfless. "Hoi!" "Hoi yourself," grumbled the ambivalent one, swiftly bunching up the neckwear and covering himself with it. He curled a lip at the assembled people. "What is with you Cavefolk, gettin' me naked, then askin' my Yus to take her clothes off? Huh? Me is one thing but Yus? That's..." He groped mentally for the right words, but simply couldn't find them - he may have been feeling a little perkier yet his brain, he realised, was certainly not straight yet. "... not on" he finished, lamely. My Yus? Thought Yus. Good point about the clothes thing though. "Um, yes, like Cap says, why do you need me to take my clothes off?" Qaro made an amused noise which sounded to Yus and Cap like the equivalent of Du-uh! "Because of course they shall get wet otherwise! I... Assumed that was obvious." "Let me get this straight" Cap frowned, feeling a little on the muddled side again. "You want us both to get into this goo, naked. Together?" He couldn't help pronouncing together with a capital T, and bit down the urge to add Well you know what? That's just fine and dandy by me, more than fine. In fact right now ,as it goes, I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather be doing. Instead politely subsitituting "May I ask why?" Qaro sighed dramatically. "You both need to heal your injuries, yes?" "Yeh." "Yes." They replied. One broken, lacerated and muddle-minded, the other bumped, bruised, and quite possibly in a state of profound, shocked disturbia. With a wide, thin smile which made Cap wince for some reason, Qaro assured them that "This 'goo' as you call it, it shall make you good, make you well." Before casting a gaze over the male and adding "though it cannot fix your mechanical parts." Cap nodded his understanding at this. Then, curiously, Qaro mumbled "Or..." Yus wondered why Qaro had tailed off, but put it down to a loss in translation. Cap did not notice the tailing off, on a conscious level at least. He was too busy examining himself like a wounded puppy. Hm, his lung, head, and several lacerations still needed treatment. He ran his working eye over his newly fixed up arm and leg, and realised something. "Uh... Won't the goo get into my casts though?" "Yes." There was a silence steeped in bafflement. After a while Cap shrugged and decided he didn't care. He just wanted to get in the damn goo. "Well allrighty then. I'm up for it!" Yus thought when he spoke upbeat like that he sounded about seventeen, and smiled fondly. But he hesitated then added in a far deeper, sterner tone. "But if Yus agrees to it, y'all need to avert your gazes." He was a man when he said that, definitely not a teenager then. He meant it. Must have been the Captain in him. A pleasant shiver ran through Yus at the thought. A small conversation broke out among the others but before they could protest or question the instruction, Cap pre-emptively growled "Because it is polite, and she is a young lady. We must only look at young ladies with their permission" he explained, firmly pushing away memories of his own naughty peeping-Tom activities as a kid, lest the tales should write themselves on his face. Yus wasn't sure what to say. She did want to stop aching so, but felt rather vulnerable at the thought of being seen in the nude. "B-but how will I know if you're looking?" she asked. Her own voice quavering. Cap's tone was firm, set. "Oh, don't you worry, I'll make sure they're not." "No!" Yus protested "You!" Cap paused, apparently a little taken aback. "Oh" he said, "Well er, I won't." "You'll want to though..." What on... Yus surprised even herself with the blatant statement. Cap snorted "Huh. And I thought I was the vain one!" "I didn't mean it like th--" "I know," (and she could hear his smile), "and you're right, I do want to look." Cap felt an unintential grunt suddenly roll over his lips, and was glad he'd kept the scarf in place. Oh gods... "However," he cleared his throat again, trying to focus. "I respect you a lot, Yus, and I will force myself not to look, okay?" A hesitation while she seemed to measure her trust for him, then, "Okay." One of the Cavefolk walked over, touched her gently on the shoulder and quietly, kindly, showed her where the railing to the pool was. She felt for it and thanked them. With that she began to slide her torn dress from her shoulders and Cap, regretfully, shuffled around so he was unable to see her naked form. He grumbled a reminder and made a spinning gesture with a finger and the others turned too. He noticed their wide eyes and couldn't help but grin at the fact that he and Yus, just by being themselves, were such a novelty in this place. There was a little rustling, a few scuffed foot falls, the sound of Yus's palms on the railing, then a soft, thick, splash from behind as she entered the pool. "Okay" she called with an inflection to her voice cap hadn't heard before, "you can look now." The captain turned and saw that she was almost covered in the purple substance, submerged right up to her shoulders. He tilted his head to try and sharpen the focus in his one functional eye. It was difficult to see perfectly in the dim light, but from what he could make out, the place where Yus's collar bones joined her shoulders appeared extremely kissable. Mmmrrf. Qaro prodded him on the buttock, startling him from his reverie. "Now you." He shrugged, and slapped his way down the wide shallow steps, tossing the scarf carelessly aside (gaining himself another "Hoi!" from its owner). He used the railing himself because his balance wasn't currently the greatest, and because he was still feeling shaky. Not wanting to appear weak he tried to make it look as if he were using the railing for style rather than necessity. As the liquid blobbed over his knees, and up his thighs like the hands of an eager lover, his grip loosened and he felt a sense of enormous well-being glow throughout his person. He let go. "Ahw wow, that's good." Yus smiled in his direction. "I know, right..." He pushed through the dense purple gloop towards her. Qaro waved the others away so that just the elder and the two novelties remained in the chamber."Now, we start the session." "Session?" --- "Indeed. Hold hands children and let your thoughts rise up." Cap fished for Yus's hand through the thick liquid. When he found it he grasped firmly, but gently. "Uh-hh!" His cyb parts might have been out of orde,r but he felt an electric surge pulse through him. Despite the strange Caveperson nearby he wanted very much to pull Yus into his arms. Wanted to roll in the purple with her. Yearned for, needed the closeness like a starving man needs a meal. "Let your thoughts rise up" repeated Qaro. "It's not my thoughts that're rising." Cap said. Qaro, was standing with arms raised ceilingwards and eyes closed. One of the eyes now opened and honed in on him. "Would you concentrate?" "Sorry." "Um, Cap..." began Yus quietly. "Did you mea--" "SHH!" Qaro cut off the chatter. "Now, listen to my voice and let your thoughts float with it..." But Cap was only half listening to Qaro, he was gazing at Yusseca. He wanted to brush her purple-dipped locks to one side and kiss the back of her pale, delicate neck. Wanted to pull her into him, onto him, wanted to move with her, revel in making her feel how she made him feel. In a disorienting flash, and a sound like a distant massive explosion, he was abruptly out of the pool and on a huge oval bed with fresh white cotton sheets. Yus was next to him. She turned with a smile. And her eyes were not blind. "WHAT!?" He yipped, astonished, and rolled backwards off the bed in pure surprise. He winced, waiting for his injuries to shoot pain through him, but no pain came. "Huh?" Yus laughed musically from the bed and, hesitantly, Cap poked his head up over the edge. Yus seemed a little older, refined, incredible. His breath caught in his throat. She giggled at him and patted the bed. "Get back up you big silly!" He looked around, utterly stunned, and forced some words out. "But... We were in a cave... On that planet..." She crawled over and lifted his chin with a curled finger, biting her lip mischievously. "Cave? What are you on about? Did you bang your head?" He gawped up at her clear eyes, which were fixed on him, and gently touched her face. "You can see..." She sat back onto her haunches, slapped her thighs gently and said "Okay now you're being weird." She reached over and prodded the end of his nose adding playfully "Lucky for you that you're cute. Come on, get up." She held out a hand. He took it and meekly stood, looking about, trying to figure out what on Eryth was going on. Catching his reflection in a big dressing table mirror he felt as if the world suddenly wheeled around him. "AAARGH!" He span around, blindly groping for something solid to grasp on to, fumbling wildly, sending perfume bottles, cologne, moisturiser, hairbrushes and jewellery off the dresser. Yus rushed over and caught his arm. "Oh my gods what's wrong..." and she used his name, not 'Cap', but his actual name. What? His mind whirled and he thought he was about to throw up. She took his hands firmly in hers. "Hey, hey. I'm right here. Calm down." "My... My face" he managed. She studied him and stroked a clearing through his fringe. "What're you-- Oh, yeah, you did bang your head. Poor baby." She kissed his forehead and mumbled into it "I know you're totally into yourself, but I think that was a bit of an over-reaction for a little bruise, don't you? You can just flop some of your hair over it." "I... I..." "Ugh, you're so vain" she sighed. "And that wasn't funny, by the way, you scared me. And made a mess." She rolled her sparkling blue eyes. "Why do you always make such a mess during your silly pranks?" He didn't answer. "It's okay" she said giggling at his ridiculously serious expression. "We can pick it up later. And I love you anyway." She kissed him again then ruffled his hair playfully. He just stared at her. Gods she was overwhelmingly lovely. She laughed at his strange and unexpected non-reaction, then walked over to a sliding wardrobe he hadn't noticed before, rummaged in it a while, then threw a blue and white button-down shirt at him. "C'mon get ready, we do NOT want to be late." "Late?" "Uh huh." With the mildest of concerned expressions at his one-word reply her eyes searched his face. "You look a bit pale you know, I hope you're not coming down with something". At his lost look she laughed yet again. It was a wonderful sound. "Stop gawping and get dressed doofus!" "Sorry it's just... You're so beautiful." Her eyes and mouth widened in a delighted, amused expression, and she shoved his shoulder. "You're so weird. But I love it. Now for the millionth time get dressed!" And she started towards the bedroom door. He turned to the mirror, obediently clutching the shirt as if his life depended on it, and slowly, cautiously, looked at himself again. His face. His damn face... His hair was the same as he remembered, a little tidier perhaps, but instead of the implants, the massive criss-crossed scar, the cyb-eye and his various other defects, an almost blemish-free face with two, TWO, friendly brown human eyes stared back at him. Holy shit. The only imperfections were a couple of freckles and a smallish scar through one side of his lips which ran onto his chin, it was like the tiniest version of his... what...? Previous? Dreamed? Real? Imagined? ... Other.... scars. On autopilot he put the shirt on as instructed, and pulled on some gray pants he found folded on a wicker-seated chair. In a light blue sun dress, Yus zipped back in and wriggled her feet into some matching shoes at the same time clipping her hair up. She seemed to be in a hurry. "Okay love can you go get the car started? The kids have almost finished breakfast." Cap's two working human eyes opened to their maximum aperture. "KIDS!?" TO BE CONTINUED... |
Imagining hilarious, beautiful
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