“Not that, the oil,” he says, and my eyes fall back on the incense smelling stuff. Turning away from me, he explains, “It's, uh, usually used in mating rituals.”
“That stuff they draw on each other's faces with?” I blurt out. Jeez, isn't it dangerous to keep that in here? Then again, I did come in here on my own.
He pauses and turns back around to me, raising an eyebrow as if to prompt how I knew that.
I cross my arms. “I wasn't just watching porn at work, y'know.”
“No, just romantic porn,” he snorts. It doesn’t escape my notice that he considers porn that includes a mating ritual romantic. I guess if he grew up on it, he would.
“Well, it's weird to watch porn when it doesn't have a plot!” I return, only to realize half a second later I'm digging a deeper grave for myself. I lock my teeth together and straighten my spine. No, I'm not going to act like that's a weird thing to prefer. “At least a little bit of emotional connection is important to me.”
“You know, you can stop telling me about your preferences in pornography at any moment you feel like it,” he says, though there's a teasing undercurrent in his tone. I can see the shy smile tugging at his tusks.
I want more of that smile.
“Well, if it doesn't end in a creampie then it's not worth my time either,” I announce, and it's fully worth it for the expression that crosses his face as he tries not to laugh.
“Emotional connections and creampies. Noted,” Khent sighs, burying his face in his hands. He doesn't completely hide the dark green flush in his cheeks.
I turn my attention back to the heated metal with the oil to give him a breath, and because it snags my curiosity again.
After a few moments, he says, like that whole dirty tangent didn't just occur, “Heating a drop or two of that can help take the edge off some of the Blood Fever symptoms.”
“Oh. Do you think I could take some home?”
“They probably sell little bottles of it at the front desk.”
I nod, taking that in. I could put together a little hot plate or something at my desk that would simulate this. Maybe that would make all this a lot easier.
Of course, I'm not totally sure it's doing anything to abate the feelings I'm having right now.
My eyes draw to the way sweat is already gathering on his skin. I’m overly aware of my tongue and how it’s still just in my mouth. “And that’s how you’ve been relaxing these last few days?”
He shrugs. “I’ve definitely found it to work a reasonable amount. But if you listen to your matriarch too much, she’s bound to tell you it cures everything from poison ivy to broken bones.”
I nod, and a small laugh escapes me.
“My grandma used to make me put yogurt on my sunburns. I think I totally trusted her faith in that working until a few years ago.”
The steam is gathering on his glasses, and he pushes them up on top of his head as he nods. It feels a little like permission to stare unabashedly into his dark brown eyes. I wonder how bad his eyesight is without them, if I just become a blur to him, or if he can still see where I’m staring.
I stare too long. It’s gotta be obvious after a minute.
I quickly turn back to the heated stone, scooping up a bowl full of water to add more steam to the room.
“...So, am I doing this right yet? Just sit here in the steam? Or would your matriarch tell me I’m doing it wrong?”
I look from him to the waterfall behind him a couple times to check his expression without staring too long again.
He chews the corner of his mouth as he watches me flip back and forth. “It does work better if you relax.”
“RELAX?” I repeat, and maybe it comes out a little strangled. I swallow and nod. “Ok. How do you usually relax?”
He tilts his head to what I had mistaken for a shallow pool earlier. From here, it does seem more like a bathing spring.
Gulp.