"Phew... at last a moment of peace."
Alex finally managed to stop Sera from joining him in the locker room by insisting on needing 'some privacy'. He was surprised she actually relented, though not without a pout and a promise to be waiting right outside the door.
Yes, he failed to convince her about the bath.
Now, he stood alone in the locker room, butt naked, staring at his own reflection in the polished mirror.
His reflection was a beautiful stranger. His body was lean but well-defined, with the subtle, wiry strength of a dancer or a fencer. His skin was smooth, unmarked by any scars. His dark blue hair was a mess, but it was a good mess, a stylish mess that looked artfully tousled. And his eyes... his eyes were the same deep, captivating sapphire that had been getting him into trouble since he woke up.
[You have a good body,] Lily's voice echoed in his mind, a low, appreciative purr. [It's a shame to keep it covered up.]
'Could you not?' Alex thought, trying to wrap a towel around his waist. 'I'm trying to have a moment of self-reflection.'
[Self-reflection or self-loathing?] Lily teased. [There's a difference, you know.]
'I hate you,' he thought, but without any real heat. He was getting used to her constant presence, her unending commentary. It was almost... comforting in a twisted, Stockholm-syndrome kind of way.
[You forgot to check your new 'equipment,' Lily said, her mental voice laced with amusement. [Go on. Take a look. A real look.]
Alex's cheeks flushed. He hadn't even thought about that. He had been so caught up in the chaos of his new life that he hadn't taken the time to properly... inspect himself.
He took a deep breath and lowered the towel.
It was... impressive.
Thick, long, and already stirring to life under his own hesitant gaze. The skin was smooth, the head flushed a deep rose. It was a cock that looked like it belonged on a god, not on a confused, amnesiac human-succubus hybrid.
'Well... that's something,' he thought, a strange mix of pride and horror warring within him.
[Oh, it looks tasty,] Lily purred. [I can't wait to get my hands... and mouth... on it. Again.]
'We are not having this conversation,' Alex thought, quickly wrapping the towel back around his waist. 'I need to get to the bath. Before Sera breaks down the door.'
The 'bath' was less of a bath and more of a small, private pool. The water was steaming, filling the room with a thick, fragrant steam that smelled of lavender and some other exotic flower. The room was tiled in a deep, shimmering blue, with silver fixtures that gleamed in the soft light.
It was the definition of opulence.
"Is this a hospital or a five-star resort?" he muttered to himself. No matter how much he tried to compare this hospital to the ones in his old world, it still felt like he was on another planet.
He unwrapped the towel and stepped in slowly, the hot water climbing up his calves, his thighs, swallowing him to the waist as he lowered himself onto the submerged ledge. The heat was almost punishing, but in the best way, unknotting something deep in his shoulders he hadn't even realized was coiled tight. He let his head fall back against the tiled rim and closed his eyes.
Two minutes. That was all he wanted. Two uninterrupted, unbothered, blissfully silent minutes.
He made it to roughly forty-five seconds of the third minute.
"Ready for me, brother?"
Alex didn't need to look. The scent hit him first, something bright and floral, like crushed white roses warming in sunlight. Then the sound of bare feet on wet tile. Then the small, satisfied exhale of someone who had gotten exactly what they wanted.
"I told you to wait outside," Alex said, without opening his eyes.
"And I waited," Sera said simply. "For almost five minutes. That's basically forever."
She stood at the edge of the pool, already half-undressed. The crimson dress was pooled at her feet. She wore nothing beneath it except a pair of silk panties that matched the dress in color, a deep, sinful red that stood out starkly against her pale, creamy skin.
Her body was a study in elegant curves—full breasts tipped with soft pink, a narrow waist that flared into hips made for holding, long, toned legs that seemed to go on forever. Her dark blue hair, the same shade as his, was pinned loosely, a few strands already escaping to frame her face.
She was, by any objective standard, stunning. She was also, by any objective standard, his twin sister.
The two facts were currently at war inside his head, and the war was messy.
"You can't be in here," he said, but the protest lacked conviction. He sounded tired, defeated. He didn't even dare to turn around and face her fully. "I can wash myself."
If Alex gathered his courage and turned, he would have seen something... spicy, when Sera removed her panties and wrapped a towel around her body before slowly descending the steps into the hot water.
"That's where you're wrong," Sera said, a playful, wicked light in her sapphire eyes. "It's my duty as your sister to ensure you're perfectly clean and comfortable. Mother would insist."
"Sera—"
"Shh." She moved through the water with the grace of an otter, the surface parting easily around her. She was behind him now, her presence a warm, fragrant cloud at his back. He tensed, every muscle in his body screaming a silent warning.
He felt her legs brush against his as she settled on the submerged ledge beside him, their shoulders almost touching. The water, which had felt spacious moments ago, now seemed impossibly small, a hot, intimate cage.
"You're so tense," she murmured, her voice a soft caress. Her fingers, wet and warm, came to rest on the back of his neck. "You're carrying all your stress right here."
Her thumbs began to knead the tight muscles at the base of his skull. He couldn't stop the soft groan that escaped him. Her touch was firm, knowing, finding knots he didn't even know he had.
"See?" Sera whispered near his ear, her warm breath making him shiver. "You need this. You need me."
Her hands slid down the column of his neck, across the broad slope of his shoulders, thumbs digging into the knots that had formed there. She was thorough. Methodical. Every press of her fingers sent a ripple of relief through him that he hated how much he needed.
[She's good at this,] Lily observed, sounding thoroughly entertained. [Too good. You're already melting.]
'Shut up,' Alex thought, but there was no real force behind it. His eyes had drifted half-closed. The fight was leaking out of him with every slow stroke of her hands.
In truth, Alex's body was in a serious mess from the 'mana burst' Lily had theorized about. From what he had gathered from Eleonora and Sera, he was a prodigy, a sword genius who had apparently mastered a few advanced sword arts at a young age.
However, after the... accident that caused him to lose all his memories and drain his mana, the toll on his body was immense. And since The Curse of the Withering Soul prevented his body from absorbing and using mana to recover, every muscle ached with a deep, phantom pain that normal rest couldn't touch.
Alex's talent at the moment is below that of a common swordsman. Since he has no mana anymore, he is no different than an average person. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Sera's strong massage, however, was doing wonders. It was a purely physical comfort, but it was a comfort nonetheless, and Alex began to enjoy it.
"Better?" she asked, her hands now working their way down his arms, her thumbs pressing into the sensitive flesh of his biceps.
"...It's fine," he managed to say, his voice tight. He was lying. It was more than fine. It was infuriatingly good.
"I'm glad," she said, her satisfaction evident. She shifted in the water, wrapping her arms around him from behind. He could feel the soft press of her breasts against his back, the warmth of her stomach against his spine.
"I missed this. I missed taking care of you." Her hands came around to rest on his chest. He could feel her heartbeat against his back, a steady, reassuring rhythm that was both comforting and terrifyingly intimate.
"I don't remember," he said, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she whispered, her lips brushing against the shell of his ear. "It just means we get to make new memories."
Her hands began to move again, tracing lazy patterns on his chest, her fingers ghosting over his nipples. He sucked in a sharp breath, his body reacting instinctively to the touch.
"Sera." Alex's breath hitched. He caught her wrists, stopping her descent. "That's enough."
"Heheh." She laughed softly, the sound vibrating against his back.
"Is it?" One hand slipped free with effortless ease and slid forward, fingers tracing the defined line of his lower abdomen. "Your heart's racing. And something else is… waking up."
He was hard. Fully, embarrassingly hard, the head of his cock brushing the surface of the water with every small shift of his body. There was no hiding it in the clear, steaming water. He was a live wire, and she was the one holding the switch.
'This is bad,' Alex thought, a cold dread pooling in his stomach despite the heat of the bath. 'I need to stop this. Now.'
Before he could pull away, Sera's free hand came around his waist. Her fingers wrapped around him with a confidence that made his breath stutter. She gave a slow, experimental stroke, from base to tip, her thumb swirling around the sensitive head.
"Ahh~" A low sound escaped his throat before he could stop it.
"There it is," she breathed, lips brushing the shell of his ear. "I've been wondering what you felt like. Wondering if you'd fill my hand the way I imagined."
Another stroke, firmer this time.
"You do."
"Sera—" His voice cracked. "We can't—"
"We already are." She turned him gently in the water until they faced each other. Her sapphire eyes were dark with heat, pupils blown wide. Water droplets clung to her lashes and the soft upper slopes of her breasts where the towel had slipped.
"You're my twin. My other half. There's nothing wrong with me wanting you. There's nothing wrong with you wanting me back."
She leaned in and gave a soft kiss on the lips.
"I love you, brother, and I've waited long enough"
...