Elkay woke up covered in sweat and slime and had no idea why. But clearly he had also done something to wake up Teekay, as the Skyan was standing in the doorway, towels in hand.
“Bad dream?”
“Somewhat, yes.”
Teekay glanced at Elkay, then looked away. Elkay peeled himself off the bed and sighed, feeling rather embarrassed. He couldn’t remember the exact details of the dream, but there had been both good bits and bad bits. The bad bits still lingered in his mind.
Taking one of the towels from Teekay’s hands, Elkay tried to wipe himself down, only to find that the towel just… stuck to him.
“I think I need to wash myself down.”
“Shower is free. There are a couple of big towels in the bottom cupboard.”
“I will tread slime on the floor.”
“Do not worry too much about it…” Teekay sighed. “I will have it cleaned up.”
Elkay wiped his feet down a little, then proceeded to the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind him. As he did so, he swore he could hear Teekay muttering something under his breath.
Surprisingly, there was warm water. Elkay was used to Rethan solar-powered showers which only ever seemed to have hot water during the day. Or maybe it was because Elkay never had time to shower during reasonable hours, so all the hot water would be used up. Then again, he was in an unknown home that belonged to a death god, so presumably said death god would be able to provide hot water on a 24/7 basis.
Turning on the taps, Elkay looked around for some soap. There were four bottles of scented liquid soap, and one bottle of Skyan armour polish. The fact that it was Skyan didn’t bother Elkay, he secretly preferred the softer shine and finish it left him with. But first, Elkay needed to wash off the slime, and only hot water seemed to make the slime budge.
The fact that there was slime though, that did bother Elkay. He wondered just how long it would take for him to mutate into a horrible monster again. He hadn’t felt any of the pain from before, nor was he having fevers or seizures, but he was worried nonetheless. Thoughts rushed through Elkay’s mind as he desperately tried to scrub himself down.
Suddenly, a knock on the door dragged Elkay back to reality.
“Are you well in there?”
It was just Teekay. Much to Elkay’s relief.
“I am… fine…”
“You’ve been in there for ten minutes.”
“I have?”
Elkay stared at himself. His skin was getting slightly squiggly. Clearly he had been in there for… longer than a Rethan normally would. He quickly dried himself off and climbed out of the shower, opening the door.
“Sorry, am I being obstructive?”
Teekay blinked. “Uh, no, I was just wondering if you were alright…” Teekay glanced downwards, then immediately looked back up. Elkay then glanced downwards and looked back up as well.
“Sorry.”
“Do not be sorry. I should have been dressed.”
“You have visible stomach muscles. There’s no fucking way I could get that!” Teekay exclaimed.
Elkay grunted. “This is going to sound rude, but why did you look down?”
Teekay didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know. But honestly something has been… fucky ever since you arrived here. I believe your… condition is making you extrude… pheromones…”
“But you… are a Skyan…”
“That is true. But you are not exactly a normal Rethan now, are you?”
The expression on Elkay’s face changed from confusion to anger.
“What are you implying?”
“That you are not a Rethan? Not a normal Rethan anyway…”
Elkay hissed, grabbed his towel then stomped off back to his room, pushing past Teekay as he did so. Teekay couldn’t help but watch with awkward confusion, before being left on his own.
“Those are some damn strong pheromones…” Teekay sighed to himself as he closed the bathroom door then headed back to his own bedroom. “Going to have to get a face mask or something…”