A Bath

When the sun rises, I silently go outside of the den. I walk to the small river and watch the beauty of mother nature.

But I shiver as the cold breeze hits my skin. I should have brought a sweater.

Suddenly I flinch as someone wraps a cardigan around my shoulders.

Leomord.

He looks ethereal under the soft light. His tall and muscular body easily towers mine and it makes me feel warm.

“You'd be great mind reader,” I chuckle. “Weren't you sleeping? I didn't hear you even coming. Are you a ghost or something?”

“I died a thousand years ago,” he utters dramatically. “What you're seeing isn't real. I have come to haunt you.”

“In broad daylight?” I laugh.

He laughs too. It makes me happy when he laughs or smile. When I first saw him, he seemea to have such a cold persona. But now he laughs, even at my dull jokes.

“Are you hungry?” he asks.

“Yes, kind of. But I'll make breakfast today,” I claim my ground.

“I didn't know you could cook,” he raises an eyebrow.

“Trust me, I can cook,” I nod my head vigorously. “You're gonna be in awe.”

“As long as it's not burnt,” he shrugs, staring at the water. “I think I'm going to take a shower.”

“Here?”

“Yeah, here in this pond.”

“It's a small river.”

“It's a pond, silly.”

I frown, “But it's cold.”

“The cold doesn't bother me,” he flexes his arm muscles.

“What are you, Elsa?”

“I'm the Iceman. Now go make your infamous breakfast,” he steps towards the pond, unbuttoning his shirt.

I shoot him a glare and walk to the den. Though my mouth waters in the thought of watching him take a bath, I decide not to be a creepy pervert.

I grab four eggs, a huge loaf of bread and some other things from the food storage, and go outside to cook. I stop at the spot where he lit a fire the previous day. I gather some wood blocks like he did, then light up a match. Keeping the fire on is the tricky part, because the wind is getting heavier.

After putting some butter on the pan, I place the bread pieces on it gently. And with utmost care, I make breakfast. While I plate them, I also boil some water in the kettle for tea.

“Perfect,” I murmur to myself when I'm done, staring at my work.

“Anastasia!” I hear Leomord yell from the pond. I rush there quickly, hoping that he's not in any danger.

“What's wrong?” I pass the tree branches and stop by the pond.

“I forgot to bring new clothes. Can you bring me a set?” he asks me.

I stare at him, how his naked, buffed shoulders are glowing under the sunlight. I watch him, how his green eyes twinkle at mine, as if he's feeling the same as me.

“Stop staring like a pervert,” he chuckles, but not leaving my gaze.

I clench my fist, resisting the urge to throw my clothes away and get in the water.

Because that's wrong. It's wrong, because he's way older than me. I bet he doesn't want me the same way that I do.

I shake my head to stop the nasty thoughts and run to the den.

After dressing up in his black shirt and jeans, he sits down on a clean branch to eat.

“Looks okay. Not burnt,” he comments, although it doesn't seem like a compliment.

He takes a bite of the toasted bread with egg and chews for an unnecessary long time. Then he looks at me after swallowing, “So you can cook indeed.”

I give him a proud smile, “Sure, I can.”

I watch him eat and it's surely entertaining. I feel a little closer to him after what happened last night. Maybe I kind of acted cringy and unlike myself, but my emotions took over. I'm glad that he responded well too. One thing that sometimes irritates me is that I don't know much about him, while he knows almost everything about me.

“When's your birthday, Leomord?” I ask as he shoves a whole poached egg in his mouth.

“29th February,” he replies, chewing.

“What? You only get one birthday once every four years?”

He shrugs, “Doesn't bother me much.”

“Everything about you is so unique.”

“Not really,” he shakes his head. “I'm just a guy who does shady work.”

“That explains your blood stains,” I chuckle, not sure why I'm not scared of him.

He pauses for a moment, then shrugs it off.

“You're going to take a shower?” he asks after breakfast.

“Why do I smell that bad?” I wiggle a brow.

He laughs, “No, just saying. Thought we could go see around.”

“And be food of wild animals?”

“Your wish, ma’am,” he gets up, surrendering. “You can stay at den and read books or something. I'm gonna go around and search for some fruits.”

“Be careful,” I collect the plastic plates and throw them in a plastic bag.

Eventually, I decide to take a shower. The weather is getting warmer and it feels like I'm in a hot spring. I close my eyes and float in the water, feeling wild and free.

Is this what freedom tastes like?

But again sometimes, I miss home. It has been two months already since I left home. I hope mom is doing alright. And I don't care whatever happens to Alex.

I rub my belly, my chest, my shoulder. It definitely must be the hormones, because I wish someone will touch me like this too.

Is this really shameful? How can I want such things when something terrible like that happened to me? Am I mentally unstable?

I become cautious, as I hear a noise near a gigantic bush. The pond is kind of surrounded with big boulders, trees and bushes. I stare at it for an entire minute. Is it some wild animal? Coming to hunt me?

I'm scared.

“Who's there?” I whisper.

The noise leaves, it's like someone just ran away. I quickly get out of the water and grab my clothes.

Another footsteps.

“Anastasia, are you there?”

I sigh in relief, it's Leomord. But who was it before?

“Don't come here, I'm changing!” I yell, wearing my shirt quickly.

“Okay, okay, I won't. Just wanted to ask if you want chicken or beef for lunch.”

“Chicken!”

“And raspberries,” he sounds like taking a note to himself.

“Are they eatable?” I feel suspicious. I button up my shirt, wiping the water away from my hair.

“I don't know. Do you want to try?”