William Shower Scene (slightly risque)

Another shower scene - this time involving William. It's slightly inspired by a scene that was cut from Elliot's route, actually. Ha ha. Anyway, also slightly risque since it does involve people taking a shower together. LoL

***

Nora was...desperately grateful she had the house to herself for the weekend.

 Not because she needed the quiet (although she did). But because when she and William tumbled in through the laundry room door dripping mud, bog ooze, and peat on the floor, it was a good thing the house was empty. Otherwise her mum would have freaked out.

Not to mention her dad. And there was no way to reasonably explain what had happened to either of them.

She pulled William inside and shut the door, locking it out of habit before stripping out of her own jacket with hands trembling violently from both the cold and the remnants of adrenaline. 

"Y-you okay?" she asked William. He nodded vigorously, still unable to speak. Though at least he'd stopped coughing finally.

But they both needed to get out of the soaked and freezing clothes - and needed desperately to warm up.

"C-Come on."

Still shaking, she helped him strip out of his jacket and scarf. She was more worried about him than herself at this point - she was just cold, but William had kind of had a bit of an underwater battle with an angry Fae. When the stupid Boggan had first attacked her, William was so startled that Nora had already been in the water before he'd reacted. The Boggan was pretty determined to drag her down - presumably for murder and other fun times.

William just...panicked. He ran into the water after them before actually remembering the whole telekinesis thing. And even then, the Boggan had magic to contend with. By the time he fought it off, they were both gagging and coughing up bog water, they were drenched and covered in mud. And moss. And other fun bits that had worked themselves into every single crevice. And they were freezing.

The stench alone was...pretty awful. But the long walk home in the cold had been pretty terrible too.

Nora draped William's coat over the edge of the washing machine along with hers before pulling off her boots.

"C-come on...w-we need to get these clothes off." 

"O...Okay..."

Going for a swim in the bog in the dead of winter? Not a good idea. 

They wouldn't have even been down there if she hadn't been looking for something else. She didn't even know a Boggan lived there.

Though she did now.

Feeling a little awkward - but, more than anything, feeling cold, miserable and desperate to be away from the bog smell (but unwilling to track the grossness into the rest of the house) Nora stripped out of her shirt right there in the laundry room. She hesitated only briefly before pulling off her freezing jeans as well. 

William whirled around, but she caught sight of the red face.

"A-Are you sure about this? I-I can just g-go home.."

Nora swallowed, grimacing at the taste of bog water that went down with it. "Y-you can't. Your grandparents will freak out.

Still shivering so hard she could barely move, she awkwardly grabbed the hem of his sweater from the back and peeled it up.

"A-Ah!" 

He let her, despite the noise of protest, and it went with the others as soon as it was off

"E-everything else...too. I'm going to turn the shower on. Bathroom is right here. 

"Y-You shower first. I can--"

"No!" She stopped and glared at him - though it wasn't because she was angry. She just needed him to know she was serious. "We both need to w-warm up. Now. And I don't want us to destroy the whole house. I-I'd prefer Mom and Dad to not need an explanation about what happened."

If we do it together, we'll keep the mess contained and it'll ensure we have enough hot water. 

"O..Okay." 

She left William there, grateful the guest suite was nearby. And that the shower had its own enclosed room that let her leave everything else mostly untouched as she finished stripping, started the water, and finally stepped inside.

Her heart was hammering hard against her ribs - both from the whole nearly being drowned by an evil Faerie, and the fact she'd just effectively told William they were going to shower together. But when the hot water hit her cold body, all thoughts about everything but how much it hurt went flying out of her head. 

Not for long, though. 

As much agony as she was, in, she set to scrubbing the dirt off her body and out of her hair as quickly as possible - just relishing the fact that even through the pain, she was warm again.

It was only a few minutes later, that she saw the shadow outside the fogged up glass door.

"Um...I...A-Are you ready for me?"

She hesitated only a beat before she opened the door and gently pulled William inside. His face was as red as hers, and he was trying to look anywhere but at her. She also was...struggling with that. And would be even more if not for the fact that his hand was freezing. 

She pushed him under the stream of water and moved closer to turn the heat up just slightly. He let out a high pitched hiss.

"Sorry!"

"I-It's okay..."

He was covered in mud, grime...moss...everywhere.

"You...rinse your hair. I'll wash the mud off..."

William didn't respond but just quietly obeyed while she grabbed her shower sponge and set to it. If she was this embarrassed, she could only imagine how bad it was for him. But...she just distracted herself by focusing on getting him clean. She lathered up the sponge and carefully ran it over his chest, stomach....his shoulders. The burn scars were there - and along his side a bit. 

He gasped softly when she touched them and she looked up at him. But he wouldn't meet her eyes. She knew those were a bad memory and very, very gently washed the mud out of them, before moving on. He lowered his head a little and she looked up again. Their eyes met. 

William's cheeks were still bright red, mouth slightly parted...no longer seemingly afraid of looking at her. She tried to find her voice but it felt like a long time before the words finally came out.

"T...turn around."

If he had been planning to say anything, he decided not to. He turned silently, un-surprised when he felt the Nora swiping the lathered up bath sponge over his shoulders. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back and letting out a long, slow breath. It felt nice. The hot water, her gentle hands straying carefully over his skin.

She washed him very slowly, tracing the sponge down his spine and lower back, over his hips...down both legs. When he heard her stand again he turned around to face her. He'd been planning to thank her, but he was struck wordless at the sight of her standing there. She was far enough away that even if he had been trying not to, he'd have seen everything. Her body was red from the hot water, and her hair was plastered to face and shoulders. Water was dripping from her lashes and the tip of her nose. 

She was so pretty...

Without thinking, William caught her hand and set the sponge aside. Their eyes met as he lifted her hand to place it against his cheek. Her fingertips were still cool his skin - she was still cold, but he had definitely warmed up considerably. He closed his fingers around hers.

Then she pulled him down for a tender kiss. William gasped as their bodies swayed close enough to brush against each other. Then he let out a shuddering breath and pressed himself against her, kissing her with a sort of quiet desperation.

Here he was before her with all his frailties and flaws, and she could still look at him that way and feel that way about him. The gentle way she always touched him, as if she was so afraid he'd break, touching his scars so tenderly - knowing the only pain they brought these days was to his heart. It was the same way she always cared for him. With so much love and kindness, it made him want to weep.

"Nora..." he murmured her name against her lips as he pulled her even closer.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked, her voice a breathless whisper.

"Yes. I..Are you? O...okay with...me?"

Her eyes went wide and he heard the answer in his head before she said it. "Yes," she told him softly, burying her face against his shoulder. He felt her lips move against the scars there. "Yes."

They stayed in the shower a long time. Until long after they were clean. Until the water started to run cold.

And after, they sat on the bed wrapped in big towels. She dried his hair and he offered to dry hers. Nora went to find clothes for them both, while William gathered up their dirty clothes and dumped them in the laundry. They spent the rest of the day warming up and cleaning the mess they'd made of the laundry and bath.

It had been a frightening thing that happened, but...somehow...it had still turned out to be a wonderful day.