//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Alone 
// Story: Warm Hearts 
// by Rhino 
//------------------------------//

Overnight showers are not exactly an uncommon occurrence in the weather workings of Equestria. While some ponies enjoy watching the rain or feeling it on their coats, most would agree that a quick shower in the middle of the night is considered less overall hassle for all involved. Of course, this assumption is based off your average pony who sleep in a house, not say... two younglings who decided to camp out during that night.

Rhino's chocolate brown eyes barely crack open as his body tells him it's time to wake up. As his brain goes about getting the essential processes up and running, touch is the first thing to come online as he feels the snuggly comfort of the sleeping bag as well as the body he is sharing it with. A small content smile comes across the colt's face as he nuzzles the small navy form that hugs him. 

She hums softly, tenderly returning the nuzzle as her own eyes slowly open. She looks up at him, blushing softly. "M-morning, Rhino... do you know you have a large cowlick on your head?" She points to her own head as if to clarify her meaning. 

"Huh?" He sleepily raises a hand and tries to press his mane down, one spot deciding that it would rather not listen today. "Oh... heh, does it look silly?" 

"Honestly?" She giggles, leaning forward to peck his cheek. "I think it looks kinda cute..." 

He chuckles, leaning back on the pillow part of the bag. "Heh, I'll take cute..." He looks over to her, his eyes roaming her mane. "How come you don't have any cowlicks? Do you just move them down or something?" 

She quirks an eyebrow at him. "Why don't you have nipples?" She shrugs, slowly sitting up and stretching luxuriously. "I don't know, Rhino..." 

The colt stretches as well, but does so by snuggling deeper into the sleeping bag. "Eh, not really important I guess..." 

"Probably not..." She smiles playfully, poking his belly with a finger. "Falling back to sleep, are we?" She throws the cover part of the bag open, laughing brightly. "No time for that, silly!" 

Letting out a slight growl from his blanket being taken away, the colt sits up. "Yeah... I guess you're right. We probably need to get all this packed before I bring it all back to the house." 

Gel nods, gently nipping his nose. "Exactly. You get the tent, and I'll get the sleeping bag?" She nervously smiles, hopeful. 

"Sure, sounds good to me." He partially unzips the tent door and pokes his head out, blinking. After a moment he calls back to her. "You're gonna wanna go ahead and put the sleeping bag away while it's still in the tent... I don't think there's any dry spots to do it out here." 

She blinks, confused. "What... what do you mean, Rhino?" 

Opening the door a little wider so she can join him at it if she wishes, he continues. "I think it rained." 

She carefully crawls forward, poking her head out under his arm. Her mouth pops open in shock, eyes widening at the sight before her. 

While not flooded, their campsite shows obvious signs of being the victim of a summer night's shower. The ground, bare and dusty in a few patches where there wasn't grass, is now swollen with water to create mud spots of unknown stability, and the grass is now slicked with moisture. To rest one's bottom or belongings anywhere is a sure fire way to get them cold and dirty. 

The girl quietly gulps, slowly pulling back from the entrance. "I'm just... gonna hide in here, for a bit..." She practically leaps back into the sleeping bag, zipping it closed around her. 

The colt looks at the lump in the bag in confusion. Taking one last look at the campsite, one detail draws his attention that had escaped it before. His clothes that he had left outside due to their dirty state are now soaked through as well as if they had been left in a river. Touching them with a hand, he instantly yanks it away and rubs it on the side of the tent, getting the cold liquid off him. Zipping the tent back shut for the moment, he crawls over to the covered changeling, rubbing the lump with a hand. "Hey... why are you hiding?" 

It squirms as she answers, her voice muffled. "Don't like mud..." 

He tilts his head at the statement. "Well... I don't think anypony but pigs like mud, but they just don't step in it, why are you hiding from it?" He grabs the zipper to the bag and starts to undo it. 

"Because it makes me feel cold... a-and alone..." Her hand pokes out of the hole he made, gently grabbing his. "I-I don't like that feeling..." 

"Mud makes you feel alone?" He repeats, trying to see the logic in the statement. "What do you mean?" 

"I-I can't explain it..." She whimpers softly, squeezing his hand for comfort. "I just... I-I don't like it..." 

"Okay, I see that..." He casts a look at the closed door, frowning before turning back to the lump and starting to unzip the bag more with his other hand. "So... how are we gonna get packed so I can get home then? I mean we can stay in here and pack most of the stuff, but the tent still has to come down..." 

"I-I guess that's true..." She groans, peeking out at him. "I guess I could just... stay by one of the trees until you're done?" 

"That could work. I'm probably gonna put the tent away half using magic anyway." He smiles at her. "Umm... hey, question: are my sleeping pants still in there or did you put them somewhere?" 

"I don't know..." She unzips the bag enough to poke her head out, giving her best smile as she holds out a pair of blue pajama bottoms. "Are these them?" 

He nods and reaches for them. "Yep, and they're the only dry clothes I have right now." 

"Not true!" She pulls them away, pointedly staring at his underwear. "You still have those, don't you?" 

He looks down at them as well. "Well, yeah, but I don't really wanna go walking around in just my underwear... sleeping in just them is different." 

"You really should try sleeping without them." She sits up and rests her arms on her knees, shrugging slightly. "It's surprisingly comfortable." 

"Well... maybe." He reaches for the pants again. "I guess you were right about shirtless being more comfortable..." 

"Yep!" She giggles, jumping into his arms and happily nuzzling him. "So, you can get started taking the stakes out of the ground, I'll start putting away the sleeping bag!" She pulls away, places his pants on top of his head and turns around, zipping and rolling the bag back up.

Shaking his head at the girl, the colt dons his only dry clothing and heads out of the tent. His hooves squish on the ground with every step he takes, and he looks skeptically at the ground around the stakes. His horn lights up and soon the pointed item wiggles and pops out of the ground, and his hands are still clean. Walking slowly around the tent, he repeats the process and lets the ones he completes float behind him as he retrieves the others. 

As he nears the front of the tent once more, he sees a navy hoof carefully poke out of the flap, followed by the clothed changeling. She clutches the sleeping bag to her chest, and the bag of food floats in the air behind her. She places her hoof down, shivering at the feeling of the wet ground. "S-so far, so good..." She follows with the other leg, intensely focusing on her steps. 

He smiles at her. "It shouldn't take too long to take down the tent, so you won't have to deal with all this very long." 

She nods, her gaze turning to him. "Not a pro-" She yelps as her lack of focus causes her to slip, landing flat on her back in the mud. 

He quickly moves to her side, bending down next to her. "Woah, that was a bad slip, you okay?" 

She quickly latches onto him, whimpering softly. 

He frowns, hearing her distress. His arms wrap around her as he goes into 'comfort mode'. "It's ok, I'm right here. Did you get hurt anywhere?" 

She shakes her head before resting it against his chest. "P-please hurry..." 

Feeling the mud on her back squishing under his arms, he makes a suggestion. "Hold on... maybe we can get some of this off you." Looking around, he spots his wet shirt and levitates it over. Rubbing the mud off his arms first, he then begins rubbing the shirt over her back, getting the majority of the mud off, but still leaving a layer of it on her clothes and chitin. "Well... its better at least, right?" he asks, having had to do all this while she still held him. 

Gel sniffles, slowly pulling away and nodding jerkily. "B-better..." 

"Good..." He looks at her slightly sadly. "I'll be done with the tent as soon as I can, okay?" 

She smiles softly, wiping her eyes with a hand and pecking him on the lips. "O-okay, Rhino... I-I'll wait by the fire pit..." 

He smiles and nods before turning to his task as she waits. With his magic, it actually takes no time at all to remove and disassemble the poles, put them in the box, fold up the tent, then put that in the box. He looks back over to her. "Alright, we're done. Ready to head home?" 

She nods from where she sits on a log, her legs hugged to her chest. "Yes, I'm ready..." She holds her arms up to him, her eyes wide and pleading. "Carry me?" 

"I... I can try..." He looks to the camping items they're both holding. "Can you carry this stuff in your magic while I carry you?" 

"I can." She smiles, her horn lighting up as the items float into the air around them. 

"Ok then," he thinks of exactly how to do this. "Do we... want to do this piggyback or some other way?" 

She turns her head away, shyly tapping her fingers together. "W-whichever way works for you. I-I don't have a preference..." 

"Well... piggyback is probably easier so I can see and stuff." He nods to himself for his decision before turning his back to her and crouching. "Hop on, princess." 

Her cheeks burning with her blush, she wraps her arms around his shoulders. She gently nuzzles his cheek as she rests her chin on his shoulder, smiling warmly. "Are you ready, Noble Rhino?" 

"Yes, ma'am." He replies with a grin, taking a step forward and finding it to actually possible as opposed to how he was unable to walk the way he lifted her last night. The two set off towards the nearby house, reaching it within a few minutes. 

She groans as they near it, pouting. "I guess I'll be waiting by your window, huh?" 

He nods. "Yeah, oh and we need to try not to get mud everywhere. So umm... you know, wipe your hooves off on the leaves or something and don't sit on anything when I get you in, okay?" 

The girl huffs, her breath brushing against the fur of his shoulder. "Okay... maybe you could bring me a towel or two, just in case?" 

More nodding. "I'll see what I can do without my parents knowing." He stops around the corner from the front door. "I'll see you soon, okay?" 

Gel sighs and drops to the ground, tenderly kissing him once more. "See you soon..." She turns and heads to the window, carefully moving from one patch of grass to another, removing some more mud from her hooves with each one.

The colt enters the home with his gear in tow. From her position by the window, it seems to take longer than normal for the colt to come let her in. Muffled voices can be heard, but only the sounds of her friend and his mother, his father's voice strangely absent. Back and forth the exchanges seem to go until finally they calm. Around the corner, the sound of the door opening, closing, and locking can be heard before Gel spots the red form of Mist flying off. The window opens a few moments later as Rhino peeks his head out. "So... guess what?" 

She turns her attention back to him, tilting her head in confusion. "Um... not a clue..." She sheepishly smiles. "Please tell me?" 

He smiles wide as he reaches out to her. "We have the house to ourselves! Dad and Mom both work today and they finally said I'm big enough to stay home by myself!" His smiles grows wider. "Well, as far as they know, it's by myself." 

"Really?" She beams, jumping up and happily hugging him. "That's wonderful!" She pauses, pulling away just enough to look into his eyes. "Does this mean I can come in through the front door?" 

He tilts his head at her. "Well... I'm not really supposed to open it for anypony... but I think I can let you in. Did you want to come in that way?" 

She gestures to the window sill. "I think it's better than possibly leaving a trail of mud on the side of your house..." 

"Oh, good idea!" He nods approvingly. "I'll meet you at the door." He gently closes the window. 

She hurries to the front of the house, jumping at points to avoid the puddles surrounding the house. She stops on the stoop, scraping her hooves against the welcome mat in the hopes it'll get any residual residue off. 

The clicking of locks being undone is heard moments before the door opens to reveal the emerald colt. He holds open the door and waves a hand inside. "Come on in!" 

Gel smiles softly and walks inside, glancing over her shoulder before the door closes. She shakes her head and turns back to him, looking around curiously. "Never saw this part of your house, before... what is this room called?" She gestures to the area with the couch and recliners. 

"This is the living room." He explains, gesturing with a hand as his magic reseals and relocks the door. "It's pretty much where you can play or relax. Usually I prefer my room, but this is more for the family to do stuff." He gestures to the doorway into the rest of the house. "The kitchen is right across the hall, and down the hall on the left is my bedroom, then the guest bedroom slash storage room, on the right is the bathroom then my parents room, which has its own bathroom. Nothing too exciting, but I like it." 

"Bathroom..." She tilts her head, brow furrowing and arms crossing. "You have two different rooms for sponge baths? Why?" 

"Sponge baths? What?" He shakes his head. "No, just... here, I'll show you." He walks to the first door on the right and opens it.

The room revealed beyond is your standard large bathroom. A nice big counter takes up part of the room with a large mirror that runs the length of it on the wall above. The sink is in the middle of the counter while the toilet sits a few feet away from one end. Finally, the white tub, one of the ones that looks like a divot was scooped out of a block instead of some fancy porcelain thing with legs, sits across from the toilet. A small window can be seen at one end of the bathroom, higher up on the wall than most windows would be.

"See?" He says. "A bathroom. You know, for baths and other things." 

She looks around the room, her expression completely unreadable. "Rhino..." She turns to him, frowning slightly. "I only know what two of these things are..."

He blinks, wondering how she is still confused. "Ok... umm... which ones do you know?" 

"Well..." She points to the large sheet of glass. "That's a mirror..." She then indicates the sink beneath it. "And that would be a scrubbing basin..." A navy finger pokes at the faucet, and she frowns a bit more. "Don't know what these are for, though..." 

He reaches over to one, twisting the knob slightly so that water comes out. "That's a faucet. It's where the water comes in. You're home must be really different from mine, huh?" 

Her jaw drops in shock, eyes glued to the stream flowing from it. "You... you don't have to collect your water?" She notices it going down a hole near the bottom and panics, lunging forward to catch as much in her hands as possible. "Stop slipping through my fingers!" She splashes some as she gulps down the crystalline flow, not realizing this in her haste. 

The colt jumps as she lunges, quickly shutting off the flow and grabbing the hand towel from next to the sink. "Careful! You're getting it everywhere." He dabs it up quickly before putting the cloth back. 

She gasps softly, carefully wiping off her lips. "S-sorry... I just saw all that water going to waste..." She blushes brightly, bowing her head in embarrassment. "And... w-well..." 

"It's ok... you didn't know. But umm, it's also not being wasted." He points to the drain. "It just goes down the pipes and all flows back into the city to be purified and used again. It gets mixed in with the fresh stuff from the waterfalls." 

She squeaks, shrinking a bit more at his words. "I-I didn't know that was possible... s-sorry for startling you like that..." She glances at the toilet for a moment before turning to the tub, running a hand along the smooth surface. "S-so what is this, Rhino?" 

"It's the bathtub." He answers simply, walking over and pointing to the faucets similar to the others. "I think it's pretty much just a big sink so it's easier for ponies to get clean." The tub appears to be a fairly deep model, looking as though the water level would come up to the base of the girl's shoulders if she were to sit in it. 

She tilts her head, leaning over the edge and poking at the semi-covered hole near the bottom. "Why does it have the option to cover this up?" 

He smiles at her naivety. "So the water won't drain out when you're trying to fill the tub up and get clean." 

She frowns, scratching her cheek as she looks around the edge of the tub. "Then... where do you keep the sponges?"

"Well..." He points to the shelf just above the tub where a variety of soap bars, gels, and shampoos can be seen. "There's a sponge and a stick up there that I like to use so I can reach my back and stuff, but some ponies use washcloths instead." 

She looks up at it and frowns a bit more, her ears drooping slightly as she mutters to herself. "That's not what mom uses... and what are those bottles for?" She turns to him, nervously smiling as she motions to the toilet. "So, um, what's that for? C-cleaning your tail and mane?" 

He cringes. "With the toilet? Eww, no!" Shaking his head rapidly, he gets that thought from his mind. "That's where you do... you know, your business. Number one and number two." 

She blinks at him, confusion clear on her face. "Number... what? What are you talking about?" 

The colt averts his eyes, unsure of how to say this. "Umm... you know, when you eat or drink how not all of it is used and the rest comes back out... lower? That's where you let it come out." 

She tilts her head to one side, processing his answer for a moment before slowly nodding. "Okay... so, what about that?" She points to the metal head above the tub, hoping he wouldn't mind the change of subject. 

Turns out he appreciates the change, latching onto the new train of thoughts immediately. "Oh, that's the shower head, it's another way ponies get clean, but I think the bath is more relaxing, even if the shower is faster." 

She nods once more, sitting on the edge of the tub. "Interesting... so you don't use sponge baths to clean your ch-" She stops mid-sentence, slowly raising a hand to her face. "Right... ponies don't have chitin..." 

"Nope!" He says brightly. "Fluffy." 

She smiles softly, grabbing his hand and pulling him forward, gently kissing his cheek once more. "I certainly don't mind the fluffy..."

Chuckling sheepishly, he looks around, noticing there's nothing left of note to speak of in the bathroom. "Yeah... once I get done showing you the house, I actually need to come back in here and get cleaned up. Mom said she'd leave me on my own but I had to take a bath and brush my teeth and stuff as soon as possible." 

She tilts her head, curious. "Then why don't you clean yourself, now?" She gestures to him. "I don't mind waiting a little bit for a tour of the place..." 

"Well... I like to take my time with baths, relax while I get clean, you know?" He blinks as he spots the brown on her. "Speaking of getting clean, we both need to get clean clothes... Hey, actually, did you want to take a bath first? I mean you feel down and all... I could get your clothes and stuff while you get clean." 

Gel turns away, shyly tapping her fingers together. "I-I've never cleaned myself, before... my parents always insisted on doing it for me..." She shrugs, a small smile on her lips. "I don't mind, though... it was time they spent with me, so it's special..." 

Yet again, the colt finds himself tilting his head at the differences between this girl's upbringing and his own. "It's just soaking and scrubbing you know. Well, and the mane and tail, but still, you just use the right bottle on each one." 

She blinks, looking at the items in question. "Oh, so that's what those are for..." 

He nods. "Yep, they smell different too." 

She rubs the back of her neck, grimacing and pulling away her now-muddy hand. "I, um... I think I'll need a bit more than that..." She sheepishly smiles at him. "C-could you possibly... take one with me? You seem to know how it works, and all..." 

"What, a bath?" He looks to the tub for a moment. "I guess it's big enough... and Mom did say she used to take baths with me when I was little..." After a moment's contemplation, he nods. "Yeah, I guess we could do that. Plus, it saves water." 

"Great!" She beams, standing up and glancing at the slightly muddy spot left from her jeans. "Um... I guess I should clean that, first?" 

"Hmm..." Walking over to the nearby closet, Rhino opens the door and digs a moment before coming out with a brown towel and a white one. "Here," he tosses the brown one to her, "that can be the muddy towel," he sets the white one on the towel rack, "and this can be the clean one." 

She catches the tossed towel and nods, carefully lowering herself onto her knees. She starts scrubbing the mess off the lip of the tub, talking to him over her shoulder. "Maybe you could get the clothes for us, real quick? I mean, it seems like a good time, right now..." 

"Sure thing!" Walking out of the room, a stray thought causes him to make a slight detour to his parents' room. He returns a few minutes later, arms laden with clothing. "Here we go, green shirt and regular shorts for you, blue shirt and pants for me. Oh, also these got clean and I managed to grab them from the laundry before they got folded." He motions to the small bit of white in the pile. 

She puts the towel off to the side, smiling softly at him. "You grabbed my panties for me? Thank you!" She carefully peels her muddy shirt off, staring at it in her hands for a moment before turning to him, nervous. "So... w-where do I put these clothes?" 

He opens the towel closet again, pointing to the basket at the bottom. "In there." Seeing her without her shirt on, he starts to laugh. "Hehe, you look silly."

Indeed, almost every bit of the nymph's back half is covered in mud except when you get to where her clothes were, then it's suddenly clean. The vision of blue core and brown limbs leads to the almost comical impression of a reverse tan. 

She pouts at him, pulling her jeans off and tossing them both into the basket. "I can't help how I look... mud isn't very flattering on anyone..." She turns away from him, pulls off the borrowed briefs and tosses them over her shoulder, not watching to see where they'd land. 

A raspberry from the colt who intercepted the clothing reveals his opinion of his horn's new status as a clothing hanger. "Were you aiming for me?" 

"Aiming for... what?" She looks at him and stops, eyes wide in surprise. "Oh my gosh!" She hurries over to him, carefully extracting it from his face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen!" She quickly tosses it into the basket, blushing brightly. 

Another raspberry is her answer. "I know, I just felt silly. At least those were cleaner than the shirt and pants, right?" 

"True..." She kneels down, picking up a pair of brown boxers. "Are these yours? They're different from what you normally wear..." 

"Huh?" He sees the clothing in question as he sets down the ones in his arms. "Oh, those looks like dad's. Just throw them in the basket." 

"Are you sure?" She stretches them in her hands. "They don't look dirty..." She trails off as she realizes her hand got mud on the outside of one side. "Um... n-never mind..." She tosses them into the basket, embarrassed. "S-so, um... would you like help with that?" She indicates his sleep pants, the only visible article of clothing he has on. 

"Nah, I got it." He quickly strips and tosses his clothes in the basket as well. "Now we just need to get the bath ready." Walking over, he checks to see the drain is open and twists the knob on the left, water soon gushing out. "We have to wait for it to get hot, it's not fun bathing in cold water." 

Gel nods, sitting on the edge of the counter opposite the side with the clothes. She tilts her head a bit, looking at his body with mild curiosity. "You know... I have to wonder something..." 

His own curiosity awoken, he asks, "What do you wonder about?" 

"For one thing..." She smiles, playfully running a hoof along his outer thigh. "Whether you're ticklish... but for another..." She pulls her hoof away, giggling softly. "How you'd look if your fur was wet." 

Testing the water with a hand and quickly pulling it away, he makes adjustments to both knobs as he answers. "Well... I guess I look wet when I'm wet. I know I'm very ticklish though, what about you?" 

"Not sure." She smirks softly, sneaking up behind him. "So... ticklish, hmm?" She quickly hugs him, her arms wrapping around his waist. She teasingly nips his neck right before her fingers begin dancing along his sides. 

The effect is instantaneous as the colt starts laughing. His whole body squirms as it tries to get away from the playful nymph, thrashing around every which way. 

"Nuh uh!" She holds him tighter, not affording him any chance to get away from her hands. She takes the time to nuzzle and nip his shoulders, enjoying his fluffiness, yet doesn't let up.

His laughing is uncontrollable as he continues fighting her. As he staggers into the center of the room, he even tries bending his arms so that his hands are on her sides, trying to tickle her back. 

She pauses in her actions, tilting her head in confusion. "Huh... I guess I'm not that ticklish..." She giggles, moving her body up and running her hands across his chest, humming softly into his ear. "You know, I'll stop if you want me to... all you have to do is say the word..." 

Between laughs, he manages to actually speak a single word. "Please." 

She pouts softly but pulls away, albeit reluctantly. She sits on the edge of the tub and crosses her arms, her tail wrapping up around her hip and across her lap. "H-hate the cold... w-why is it so cold in here?" 

He shrugs, checking the water temperature again before nodding and closing the drain so that the tub start to fill up. "I dunno, I don't actually feel anything at all." He looks at the girl clearly, her partially see-through shoulder-length mane and tail are interesting to him in that she has so much control over them. The small points of her longest fangs can be barely seen poking over her lips just under her pure sapphire eyes. Noting how her navy chitin fades to light blue skin at her chest and down to where her thighs meet her legs, he rubs his chin with a hand. "Maybe it's because you don't have a coat?" 

Gel glances up at him, shivering slightly. "I-I guess..." She eyes his body curiously, starting at the blue stripe in his black mane. She looks into his brown eyes, blushing slightly at the warmth she sees within them before tearing her gaze away. She sees his tail, matching his mane in style, if a little less messy. "So... those stripes... are they natural?" She trails her eyes back up his emerald body, briefly meeting his eyes before flickering back down. She finds herself admiring his lean chest, raising a hand to run through the soft fur there. 

He looks down at her hand, but since it feels good, he lets her continue. "Yep, natural as me being green." He smiles. "I actually really like my stripes, it's part of the reason I like blue." 

She blinks, looking up at him in surprise. "Is that so?" She smiles softly, placing a hand on his hip and pulling herself back up to her hooves. "Well, I find green to be a wonderful color." She playfully winks and sticks her tongue out at him. 

He laughs before sticking his tongue right back out at her. "I wonder why..." Peeking behind her at the tub, he continues. "Looks like that water's almost at the level we need." 

She smiles sweetly, embracing him gently and nuzzling his cheek. "Then I'd better make this hug a good one..." She rests her chin on his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of his fluffiness against her body. 

Chuckling he hugs her back. "You know we can hug just as much after, right?" His horn lights up as he cuts off the water, a small bit of steam coming off the amount in the tub. 

"Yes, but you might not be as fluffy..." She glances at the counter, pouting cutely. "Or have as much fluffiness available..." She sighs and turns to the tub, instantly stiffening at the sight before her. 

"What? It's just a tub of water." He sticks his hand in and swirls it around. "Nice and hot too."

She shakily nods, slowly backing away only to press against him. "I-I can see that... b-but mom and dad only ever used a small amount while washing me..." She squirms, uncomfortable but not knowing why. 

"Well, now there's more." He moves around her, approaching the tub. Lifting up a leg, he eases it in, letting out a sigh. "Ah... see? it feels good." 

The poor girl looks from the bathtub to her friend and back, torn. After a few seconds she gulps, holding onto him for security. "O-okay, Rhino... I-I trust you..." She closes her eyes and pushes her hoof in, flinching at the sensation of water on her body but trying to brave through it for him. 

"There you go, see? It's not so bad." He moves his other leg in so that he is standing fully above the water. 

Being forced to follow him or possibly fall, she opts for the former, quickly bringing her other leg into the water. She hugs him tightly, uneasy and hoping for some comfort. 

Feeling her squeeze him tighter, he pats her back. "Hey, you know we're almost there, right? Next we just sit down, then we get clean. Easy." 

She looks up at him, whining softly. "D-do I... have to let go?" 

"Umm, well, I guess not." He admits. "You will have to sit down when I do though." He partially bends his knees for emphasis. 

Hastily making to mirror him, she loses her footing and falls into the water, her frantically clinging hands pulling him with her. The resulting splash knocks a fair amount of water onto the floor, and leaves the nymph stunned from the sudden plunge. 

He blinks, slightly stunned as well. "That's... one way to get down into the water." He nudges her head with his own. "Hey, you okay?" 

She whimpers, holding him tightly to her body. "S-so cold..." 

"Cold?" He can feel the temperature of the water around them as they sit. "But the water is hot..." 

She shakes her head, trying to hold as much of her body against his as possible. "N-not talking about... t-the water..." 

"Then what?" He asks, bracing himself as she pushes herself against him. 

"I just... feel alone..." She sniffles, looking up at him with concern in her eyes. "I-I don't like this feeling, Rhino..." 

He frowns at her expression, adjusting his balance before wrapping his arms around her. "Hey... you're not alone, I'm right here." 

"B-but..." She leans up against him, quietly whimpering. "W-why can't I... f-feel your affection? The warmth, it's just... g-gone..." 

"No, it's not." He argues. "It's still there." He hugs her tighter, wondering why she's reacting like this. 

She gasps as his palms press against her back, feeling the emotion flooding through those two points of contact. She shudders at this, confused before something occurs to her. "T-the water... i-it's keeping your affection from reaching me, but... w-why?" 

"I... I have no idea. It's just water... I mean, nothing weird about it." He rubs her back with his hands. "Are you feeling a little better?" 

She sniffles, smiling shyly. "A little? I mean... y-your hands are helping a bit..." 

"Good." He nuzzles her, trying to put his affection behind it, but unsure exactly how to do that. "I don't like seeing you upset..." 

She giggles, returning the gesture in kind. "And I don't like seeing you upset..." She leans up and gently pecks his lips, tensing as a jolt of emotions runs through her. The navy nymph collapses against the upper end of the tub, holding a hand to her head. "W-wow... that was odd..." 

"What happened?" He asks, gliding through the water to her side. 

"It was like... a sudden rush of energy..." Gel blushes, tapping her fingers together nervously. "Can I... k-kiss you some more?" 

"If it makes you feel better, yeah, do it." He nods, a smile forming since he knows a way that seems to make her more comfortable... plus it feels nice for him too. 

She smiles sweetly, gently cupping his cheeks and catching his lips with her own, happily humming into it. Her eyes drift closed, and she simply enjoys the contact and the warmth it brings. 

Rhino blinks at first, unsure how to react to such a long kiss. After a few seconds though, he finds himself relaxing as a strange warmth fills him, and not from the water. His arms pull her closer against him as he sits there, feeling the touch of her blue lips on his green ones. 

She slowly pulls away, giggling quietly as she traces his lips with a finger. "You know... your lips are really soft... I like it..." She slowly scoots up in the water, laying back against the small slant and resting her head against the wall. "You're right, by the way... this water's rather warm..." 

"Yeah..." He says quietly, putting a finger to his own lips and wondering what all that was he felt. Whatever it was, he certainly wouldn't mind feeling it again. "Your umm... your lips are nice too... Are you feeling better then?" 

"I think so, yes..." She sighs softly, bringing her arms up out of the water. "Though, honestly, it's my legs that are numb, now... is it possible to just... wash without being submerged?" She rubs the back of her neck, embarrassed. "I mean, if that's not a silly request... I... n-never mind..." 

Swishing his arms about in the water as he thinks, the colt responds. "Well, that's what the shower does actually. It's standing under the water instead of sitting down in it. Would that work better for you?" 

"Maybe..." She sits up fully, tenderly pecking his lips and blushing a bit. "Can we still do this while in the shower?" 

A warmth coming to his own cheeks along with a smile, he nods. "Yeah... definitely..." 

"Then I'd like that..." She giggles, hugging him as she pulls him into another kiss. She pulls away soon enough and moves to stand, her hand on his shoulder to keep herself steady. 

He smiles as he follows her face up, looking back down as he prepares to stand up out of the water himself. As he is about to though, his eyes is caught by the part of her that is right in front of his face. Tilting his head to get a better angle, the colt shakes his head. "Still weird that girls don't have anything down here..." 

"There isn't nothing down there..." She widens her stance, keeping her hands braced on his shoulders so she wouldn't fall. "See?" 

He blinks, looking closer. "Ok... there's a... crease, but I mean... that's it." 

She huffs, pulling away and stepping out of the tub, her tail flicking in mild irritation. "That's more than 'nothing', Rhino." She sits on the edge of the tub, smirking slightly as her mass of blue hair splashes his face. "So you were still wrong, and I get to request something of you." 

"I don't remember agreeing to that." He mutters as he pulls out the plug in the tub, letting the water drain out. Speaking more clearly, he continues. "Umm... ok, what do you want?"

Gel wags a finger at him. "I want two things. One, I want you to wear as much as I will until your parents come home." She pauses, waiting to gauge his reaction. 

He nods quickly. "Okay, seems simple enough. Umm, though, could you not wear too much? I get hot easily in a lot of clothes..." 

"Honestly?" She smirks, sticking out her tongue out at him. "I'm planning on wearing nothing." 

He raises a finger to object, but lowers it after a few seconds. "I feel like I walked into that one..." 

"You kinda did." The girl stretches a moment before continuing. "Two... I would like to get a better look at your body. Specifically, your lower half... if that's alright with you." 

"Seems fair to me." He shrugs, looking down and seeing the last of the water drain away, leaving him wet and his fur thoroughly saturated. "Did you mean like... now or once we're clean and dry?" 

"Both." She turns and moves in front of him, running her hands over his drenched arms. She squeezes and turns it over, tracing some muscles that prevail under the fur with a finger. "I... I didn't expect this kind of build under all that fluffiness..." Her hands move to his chest and rub along him there, giggling softly. "Still hard to believe you don't have nipples..." 

"Well, to me it's weird you do, so..." He sticks his tongue out at her playfully. 

She shakes her head and continues down, playfully dancing her fingers along his side before she's staring at his pelvis. She tilts her head to one side, frowning softly, and looks up at him in confusion. "Is it me, or did it get... smaller?" 

"Did what get smaller?" He asks, unsure what she's talking about. 

"Your thingy." She gestures to the area in question. "It looks smaller than the first time I saw it..." 

"Oh..." He nods, understanding now. "That's just because it's a bit cold right now... it get smaller when it's cold." 

"Oh." She looks down at it one more time before moving on, rubbing her hands against his hips. "You know... your legs seem like they could be really strong..." She winks at him as her hands move to his legs, simply stroking the soaked fur and watching to see his reactions. 

"Mom says I get their shape from my dad." He watches as she strokes, whatever part of his leg she touches tensing as the muscles become hard at that spot. 

Gel pouts, removing her hands and crossing her arms at him. "How am I supposed to get a good sense of your body if you keep flexing like that?" She sighs, placing her hands on his knees and running them along the front of his legs. "Granted, your muscles are nicely defined, but still..." 

It appears the front of his legs are not as sensitive as the back, as they stay completely still now when she touches them. The colt is also now bracing himself so he doesn't flex, not wanting to make her pout again. 

She finally reaches his hooves, lifting one up and tracing the blade of it. "What is this ring here for?" 

He shivers, resisting the urge to move his leg at the light touch. "That's the edge of my hoof. It's the hardest part of it." 

Her finger moves to the concave section, tapping it experimentally. "And this part?" 

"That's my frog," he says, remembering him asking the same thing of his parents one day, "it's supposed to... reduce the force on the hoof when landing or stepping hard. I never understood why they called it that." 

"I see..." She lets go and moves closer, sitting on his waist and smiling down at him as he leans back. "You know, I kind of like how cute your blush is..." She leans down, gently nipping his nose. "May I see it again, Rhino?" 

He smiles, his blush coming naturally from her actions as he doesn't even have to say a word. 

"There we go..." She giggles, cupping his cheeks and tenderly kissing him. "Thank you..."

Instead of simply sitting there and letting it happen like he has done all the other times, Rhino decides to take a chance as he lightly pushes back with the kiss. All the time, that strange warm feeling within him from the last kiss re-emerges. 

She squeaks in surprise at first when he pushes back, but soon melts into it, deepening it slightly. She moves closer to his body, pressing herself up against him as their display of affection continues. 

His arms snake around her again, the action becoming all too familiar nowadays. However, as he does this, he forgoes propping himself with them, so with a small squeak from the tub, the colt slides down the wall and to the side, finding himself quickly and easily on his back, now with Gel squarely on top of him. 

She doesn't seem to mind this at all, simply kissing him for another couple moments before pulling away, softly panting for air. She smiles warmly at him, her cheeks bright blue. "T-that was... really nice, Rhino..." Gel gently nuzzles his cheek, giggling quietly. 

"I think so too..." He nuzzles her back as he answers. "You know... I really like doing that with you..." 

"I do, too..." She winks as she sits up, crouched on top of him as she is. She tilts her head, looking down at him before shrugging slightly. "We should see how it feels with you on top, next time... for now," she carefully stands and takes his hand, "let's take that shower, shall we?"