“You don’t need my help,” he told her, feeling uncomfortable with the sudden contact between Lyra and himself. “You can take a bath without me.”
Her big brown eyes were gazing up at him. A wide grin split her usually stoic expression, and when she nodded back at him her head moved like it was bobbing on water.
“Well, I don’t need your help, but I want you to wash me off. I’ve always dreeeeeamed about having a partner who will wash my back for me…”
Her body sagged against his, and Evren found himself supporting her weight, while his hands slid over her delicate shoulders and back. Her skin was soft and smooth, but her breath smelled awful.
Lyra was drunk. So much so, that her personality seemed to have completely flipped. Her inhibitions had left her to the point that she reached up and threw her arms around his neck. She had forgotten all about the rules on touching.
“C'mon, Eeeevrrrren. Make my dreams come true!”
Any other time, this kind of intimate contact from Lyra would’ve sent him into an emotional tailspin. She had such a powerful hold on his soul and his desire to be accepted. But right now, he just felt tired and a little disgusted. This was not the Lyra he knew and admired.
“Why did you drink tonight? I warned you not to.”
She wobbled a bit, though her arms stayed firmly wrapped around his neck, and her eyes closed while her lips parted in a motion that looked like she was going to kiss him. But the kiss didn’t come. Instead she released her hold and stumbled a step away from him.
“I did not… I need to… Oh Gods, I’m going to throw up!”
Evren caught her just before she slammed into the rough stone wall, and held her up while her legs crumpled like paper.
“This way Lyra! The toilet is this way.”
No longer concerned with what part of her body he was grabbing, Evren lifted Lyra up and rushed down the narrow hallway, being careful not to slam her head into the hard stone angles that extended towards them.
“Uuuugggnnn…”
She was groaning and struggling in his grasp. By the time they reached the toilet, she was squirming and heaving so much that he knew that she was ready to puke. He set her down gently in front of the porcelain bowl and she put her arms out and hugged it, like it was a life preserver that would hold her afloat. Her legs folded neatly beneath her and her butt stuck out, showing off her round cheeks and the deep crack between them.
Evren’s protective instinct kicked in and he knelt down right behind her. Gently as he could, he pulled her hair back away from her face. Here was the object of his obsession. A girl he had dreamed about partnering with for months…
And she was a complete mess!
“Let it out,” he said soothingly, as she retched again and again into the bowl. He held her hair in one hand as he stroked her bare back with his other. “You’re going to be okay.”
He was going to take care of her tonight, because she was his good friend and she needed help right now. But seeing her throwing up a blue chunky mess, it made him realize that she wasn’t the girl he’d always thought her to be. She wasn’t some flawless madonna.
She was just a regular girl, trying her best. Making mistakes, just like him and everyone else. He couldn’t resist talking to her as he knelt with her. He felt safe. So safe in their mutual imperfection that he confided his true feelings.
“I kind of like taking care of you like this. Supporting you! I wish I could take care of you when you aren’t drunk…”
She didn’t reply, in fact she probably didn’t hear him at all. He would have hugged her, if she wasn’t in such bad condition right now, but instead he rubbed her thin back and listened to her moan.
“It’s okay, Lyra. You’re going to be okay.”
* * * * * * * * *
Through the following hours, Evren took care of Lyra the same way he would nurse a sick child. He held her until she was completely empty, with all the contents of her stomach flushed down the toilet, and then carried her to the bathroom where he helped her into the bath.
Any sexual tension that he’d felt earlier had drained away, as he lowered her into the steaming water and scrubbed her body clean. He felt just like he did when he was giving Melody, his talkative young sister, a bath.
Melody and Anna were his two youngest sisters. They were also the other sisters who showed him any affection. They were also five years younger than him and super cute! So, as he scrubbed down Lyra's body using an abrasive cloth, he couldn't help but compare her to them.
"Ughn... I'm really sensitive there," she complained, squirming in his grasp.
"I've got to clean you everywhere."
"..."
Lyra's body was much more developed. As he scrubbed her body beneath the cloudy water, his eyes locked on her chest, which seemed to float on the surface. He pushed a dirty thought right out of his mind. He was sure he would remember this moment later when he was alone, but for now she was a close friend and a girl in need.
After the bath, Evren eased her out of the tub onto the stone floor where he began to dry her dripping wet body off with a towel.
“Evren, I really like you…”
She was talking again. Saying things she probably didn’t mean to say.
“If you like me so much, could you dry yourself off?”
“But, I like it when you dry me…”
Her eyes were on him again. Semi-coherent with a look of desire forming once more.
“Can I kiss you?…”
“No kissing. Your breath stinks,” he said plainly, knowing that she was acting this way because of the alcohol.
“Well, you smell amazing…” she responded.
The interaction descended into Evren trying to dry her hair off while Lyra repeatedly pushed her face beneath his arm and inhaled sharply.
“Cut it out and let me finish,” he said, frustrated.
From there, Evren struggled to get Lyra into her pajamas. The girl was as slippery as a wet noodle, but finally he got her into the shorts and tank top that she had picked out for herself. It was well past midnight now, and he was exhausted.
He hauled her back to the main room and watched as she collapsed onto the bed and immediately went to sleep. Her face was planted into the voluminous comforter, and the place where her waist flared out to her hips stuck up in an intriguing way.
“Lyra,” he said warningly, putting out his hand and shaking her. “You’re not supposed to sleep on the bed yet.” He pushed on her round derriere, which was still poking up like she was showing it off. He really liked the jiggling motion the flesh in her butt made.
Evren felt his tired defenses give way.
“Okay, we can share a bed tonight,” he conceded. “Tomorrow, I expect you to tell me exactly what happened at the dance.”
She was unresponsive and Evren hesitantly left her there, laying on top of the covers, taking up exactly half of the queen-sized bed. He circled around, watching her, and climbed under the covers on the far side of the bed.
His body was exhausted, and his nerves were shot. There had been too many surprises in his day. Hopefully, when he woke up, he would be back in his old world, or at least a world where he understood women and they understood him.
He looked over at the sleeping figure beside him once more. She was drunk and sprawled out like a starfish, but he couldn’t help but admire her beauty and remember the way she had wrapped her arms around him. Maybe this world wasn’t too bad!
He drifted off to sleep thinking about drunken Lyra and the strange conversation he’d had with Dia. Perhaps tomorrow, this world would make more sense to him.
* * * * * * * * *
Evren awoke a few hours later. The sensation of the featherbed beneath him was soft as heaven and warm as a mother’s embrace. He was both supported and subdued by its softness. He could sleep forever in its textures, but something else had awakened him.
A strange feeling.
It felt ticklish at first. Like something slimy crawling around on his belly. He swatted at it, but it wasn’t bothering him enough to wake him up fully.
A few minutes later, he became aware of the slimy feeling once again. It spread across his shorts and into his underwear, growing warm and tight. It was like a warm massage around his thing and he enjoyed the sensation for a few minutes.
A sudden sharp pain shot through his groin, instantly waking him. Evren’s legs jolted in a sudden reaction. It took him still a minute more to fully awaken, but by that time the room was quiet and the slimy feeling was gone.
Had it all been a dream?
He looked beneath the covers and saw that his shorts had somehow slid down around his thighs and his penis was at full mast.
How did that happen? Had he been touching himself in the night while he dreamed about the girl beside him?
Evren pulled his pants up once more, but in the process his hand grazed his rod and he noticed that it was wet. Not just wet. It was covered in a kind of slimy residue.
He looked over at the sleeping figure of Lyra, who was snoring softly.
She was still on top of the comforter, but she had flipped over onto her back. Her tank top was bunched up under her armpits and her lovely chest was on full display, rising and falling with the rhythm of her breathing.
Despite the gentle chainsaw noises that were coming from her mouth, Evren couldn’t help but admire her beautiful form.
‘What an adorable idiot,’ he thought.
Before yesterday, he’d never dared to think about Lyra as anything except perfect. But this new version of her was exciting. It was like a new understanding had developed between them. Even though she’d needed to get drunk to reveal it, he felt closer to this snoring, puking, hugging Lyra than the cold, judgmental girl he’d lived with for many months before.
“Wake up… it’s morning!”
She didn’t rouse easily. Maybe she was still under the influence of the alcohol from the night before. But he just used that as an excuse to put his hands on her once again.
“C’mon Lyra, it’s our first day of class. We can’t be late.”
He ran a fingertip over her cheek and watched as she turned her head and popped his finger into her mouth. She started sucking on it even though she was still asleep.
“Heyyy… that feels so weird,” he exclaimed, though he didn’t take his finger away.
Seeing Lyra's sleeping figure sprawled out on the bed next to him was quite a thrill in itself. Watching her pretty mouth sucking on his digit was ten times more exciting. It felt like a mana injection. It felt like an energy bath, both relaxing and energizing at once.
It felt slimy!
That connection sent a shock through his system. He pulled his finger out of her mouth. She pursed her lips, kissing the empty air in front of her, like she was seeking something else to suck on. That was the same feeling he'd experienced on the edge of consciousness! Was it her mouth that had been busy on him?
No way! There’s no way Lyra had been sucking on his thing while they were both asleep. Evren felt like he was crazy just to consider it. Despite his certainty, though, there was still a lingering sensation. A feeling of being sucked and licked down there. The pleasure that had awoken him from a deep sleep.
The warmth on his midsection.
Like a hot tongue licking him.
Was it all a dream, or had she been playing with his body?
“Wake up, Lyra!” he declared, climbing out of bed then shaking his roommate awake with both hands.