As if his fingers wouldn’t move well, Sarka slowly undressed while struggling to open his buttons. As if it wasn’t easy to concentrate while fighting dizziness, the faint sound of his nails slipping against the buttons rang out several times.
Ruslan hesitated over whether he should help Sarka. Remembering the paralyzed left hand and the right hand full of burns made him desperately want to help, but Sarka didn’t move Ruslan’s body. He seemed to not want Ruslan’s help if possible.
Ruslan tensed when Sarka’s breath grew rough as if the constantly slipping hand was tiring him. When Ruslan stiffened in conflict while wavering, Sarka seemed to have noticed such a Ruslan. Sarka began moving Ruslan’s body again as if to divert Ruslan’s attention.
Ruslan was flustered by his legs walking in the opposite direction from where Sarka sat, then blinked when he realized his hand was gripping a cold metal object.
When the fingers gripping the metal handle turned it, the sound of water pouring came. Ruslan realized his body was filling water in the bathtub. His fingers seemed to be adjusting the temperature bit by bit. Ruslan felt heat gradually rising from where the water sound came. Hot water was filling up in the bathtub.
Sarka was stubbornly undressing alone. Between the water sounds, the sounds of fabric crumpling, breathing being pressed as he tried to extract it from his body that wouldn’t move well, and the undressed clothes slowly sinking to the floor could be heard.
Ruslan tried hard to focus on the water sound to not hear those sounds if possible. Sarka would want that.
Around when depth could be felt from the falling water sound, the back became quiet with a faint sigh. It seemed Sarka had finally finished his clumsy undressing.
Only then did Ruslan’s hand move to roll up his sleeves and shut off the faucet. Heat soaked with moisture stuck damply to his elbow. Ruslan felt his body move to scoop up part of the water separately and put it in another container. It seemed to be water for a final rinse after finishing the bath.
The body that had finished bath preparations slowly turned back and began walking toward the direction where Sarka had been sitting.
The gait was still unfamiliar. The more Ruslan walked, the more he realized his body was being moved by someone else’s will, not his own. This was absolutely not Ruslan’s usual movement.
Ruslan, who grew up in the mountains, had well-balanced steps, but since he grew up walking on uneven, steeply inclined ground, he tended not to straighten his upper body. Moving roughly with his body bent slightly hunched and weight centered in his lower body was a characteristic of mountain people.
However, Ruslan was now walking strangely with his waist straight and feet sliding quietly. That gait that sharply cut off the toes—Ruslan thought it was like the habitual motion of high-ranking nobles who wore very long clothes kicking out their feet so the hem wouldn’t catch on their toes.
The motion of straightening the spine all the way to the neck and not unnecessarily bending or twisting any part of the body was absolutely not Ruslan’s motion. Had my body ever moved this elegantly, drawing a completely balanced arc?
Observing his own limbs moving elegantly like a string instrument player, Ruslan realized that Sarka had entered his body. It was a strange feeling.
Sarka’s breathing grew closer. Finally Ruslan’s body arrived in front of Sarka and waited with his upper body lowered and weight on his lower body again.
Sarka’s arm slowly reached out like before and wrapped around his shoulder. Unlike before, Sarka’s arm wrapping around the back of his neck had changed to bare skin. Ruslan vividly felt Sarka’s body heat through his thin shirt. Sarka moved Ruslan’s hand to wrap around his waist and carefully began shifting his center of gravity.
When Ruslan unconsciously held his breath as Sarka’s breath, half-embraced in his arms, was felt right below his chin, Sarka seemed unaware of Ruslan’s tension, his attention absorbed in maintaining balance. Ruslan was relieved inside.
Sarka, who’d stood up with difficulty while putting his weight on Ruslan’s body, slowly began moving Ruslan’s body. As they walked toward the bathtub, Sarka’s breathing could be heard growing rapid again. Sarka was putting more weight on and depending on Ruslan’s body than before, trying not to collapse on the hard bathroom floor with his bare body stripped of everything to protect his skin. Ruslan could vividly feel through the thin clothes the upper body swelling each time Sarka panted and the muscles around where his palm touched being pulled.
Sarka’s skin touching his palm was sticky from continuous sweating and lukewarm as his body temperature dropped. Smelling the thick body scent from Sarka’s nape, Ruslan had a strange thought that the smell was oddly not unpleasant. Boys this age give off a terrible odor if they don’t wash even for a day. Did he originally have little body odor?
The moment Ruslan, unknowingly captivated by Sarka’s body scent, was startled awake from his thoughts when his body stopped. Having arrived in front of the bathtub, he could feel steam rising right ahead.
Sarka’s movements slowed further. Using Ruslan’s body carefully as a support, the sound of Sarka slowly sitting on the edge of the bathtub came.
Sarka gripped Ruslan’s body and with difficulty put one leg into the bathtub. The sound of water splashing finely and the leg submerging in water came.
Sarka slowly put his other leg into the bathtub and wrapped his arm firmly around Ruslan’s neck. Ruslan felt his hand move to half-embrace and support Sarka’s upper body. Sarka’s tense back muscles and spine bone were touched. Sarka, unable to properly put strength in his legs, seemed to have decided to put his center of gravity on Ruslan entirely so as not to slip in the water.
Ruslan’s body began carefully pushing into the water while half-embracing Sarka’s upper body.
Though he’d become lighter from losing weight, Sarka, with his naturally tall build and broad shoulders, was not small in stature. Ruslan’s thin, small body took a crouching posture with firm strength in his thighs to bear Sarka’s weight. Sarka’s back, struggling not to slip on the bathtub floor, stiffening with tension could be felt in his palm.
Sarka’s arm, almost embracing Ruslan’s neck, tightened more deeply. When the closer breathing was heard right below his earlobe, Ruslan held his breath tightly again.
Ruslan’s upper body slowly bent, and the sound of Sarka’s lower body slowly submerging in water and splashing came. After a moment, Ruslan’s hand and Sarka’s back entered the hot water together.
When his rigidly stiff upper body submerged in the hot water, Sarka exhaled a long breath as if releasing tension while embraced in Ruslan’s arms.
Like someone relieved after finishing hard work, Sarka’s body absorbing the warmth and moisture of the hot water could be felt slowly relaxing.
Ruslan’s hand slowly came out of the water. Simultaneously, the tension smoothly released and slipped from Sarka’s arm that had been embracing Ruslan’s neck.
Sarka soon slowly released Ruslan’s neck and succeeded in leaning back in the bathtub in a stable position.
Only then did Ruslan exhale the breath he’d unconsciously been holding.
When his body was completely submerged in hot water, Sarka’s breathing became slow and deep. As if adjusting his posture, the sound of the water surface moving finely came, then soon the sound of water splashing lightly. Sarka seemed to be scooping up water with his fingertips and rubbing it on his face.
A sigh with subtle satisfaction flowed out. It seemed refreshing to feel water touch his stiff and sticky skin.
Ruslan, who’d been unconsciously listening to that breathing, blinked when his body began moving again.
He felt something small and slippery touch Ruslan’s hand reaching somewhere.
……Soap?
Behind him, splashing sounds continued. Sarka seemed to be cupping water in both hands to wet his face and upper body.
Ruslan’s hand picked up the soap and what was presumed to be a bath sponge and moved toward Sarka again.
Wet fingers lightly scratched Ruslan’s palm as they took the soap and sponge. Ruslan noticed from the sensation touching his hand that Sarka’s fingertips, which had been lukewarm, were now slightly warm.
Ruslan wanted to scratch his palm where soapy water remained once, but pressed down and held back. The spot where Sarka’s fingers had brushed tickled strangely. Perhaps because his vision was blocked, all his nerves seemed to focus on hearing and touch.
The sounds of Sarka slowly moving his hands to make lather and scrubbing his body began to be heard more and more vividly. Sarka’s breathing, submerged in hot water, relaxed and sank, slightly moistened.
Ruslan desperately tried to disperse his nerves that kept trying to listen to those sounds elsewhere. He felt his body getting strangely hotter.
As soon as he became conscious of the temperature, Ruslan was flustered to suddenly realize his cheeks had heated up quite a bit.
Why on earth am I blushing while hearing Sarka wash?
Ruslan, who didn’t know the reason and was at a loss, fortunately realized why. The air inside the bathroom itself was getting hotter.
……It wasn’t that I was strange.
His unconscious relief was brief before Ruslan began to worry.
Hot water continuously rising as steam was making the air inside the bathroom dull. Sarka’s breathing as he poured water with splashing sounds to wash could be heard gradually quickening. It seemed his pulse was speeding up as blood touching the hot water began circulating.
……Wouldn’t it be dangerous if blood circulation suddenly speeds up like that in a weakened body?
It was around when Ruslan began having such worries.
“……!”
Suddenly the sound of swallowing breath came, then the sound of Sarka’s hand moving hastily to firmly grip the upper part of the bathtub. The loud sound of water surging and colliding from the sudden movement rang out.
Simultaneously, Ruslan swallowed as he felt the dominance that had suddenly spread to the ends of his body loosen sharply, then slowly return with a tingling sensation.
……He’s dizzy.
Ruslan could vividly feel Sarka’s dizziness inside his body without even seeing with his eyes.
The dominance of Sarka that had entered Ruslan’s body trembled finely like a rubber band pulled taut vibrating each time Sarka panted.
Ruslan could feel tingling sensations like cramps appearing and disappearing at his fingertips and toes. It seemed Sarka was desperately trying not to release his dominance even amid dizziness.
Sarka was desperately struggling to suppress the dizziness, but it didn’t seem easy.
Ruslan tensed when he felt something like a faint groan flow from Sarka’s lips and the dominance inside his body begin to blur hazily like fog. He thought Sarka might lose consciousness like this.
Sarka’s body was extremely weakened. He’d been tied up for two days, and it had been over five days since he’d had a proper meal. The food he barely got down today was truly only the minimum amount needed for survival. The body that had vomited, self-harmed, and writhed in pain for nearly a week was truly exhausted. It wouldn’t be strange if he lost consciousness.
Ruslan anxiously observed inside his body, thinking he should immediately get up and grab Sarka’s body so it wouldn’t slip if the dominance was about to break.
After a few tense breaths.
Slowly, the dominance that had blurred like fog began to recover.
Ruslan rolled his eyes and carefully observed the sensations in his body.
Sarka barely avoided losing consciousness and laboriously reclaimed the dominance that had extended into Ruslan’s body strand by strand.
When vivid dominance finally filled up to his fingertips and toes again, Ruslan finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
After gasping for a while, Sarka soon seemed to have judged it would be difficult for him to continue bathing on his own.
The sound of Sarka exhaling a faint breath came, then the sound of the water surface shaking as if he leaned his back against the bathtub with a half-resigned air. Simultaneously, the dominance dwelling in Ruslan’s body began to move.
As his body stood and walked somewhere, Ruslan rolled his eyes busily inside the blindfold.
Ruslan’s body went around to the side of the bathtub, then settled behind Sarka’s back and knelt. He felt his slowly moving hand scoop water in a small basin and pour it somewhere.
When Sarka’s faint breathing flowed from right below, Ruslan realized he’d poured water over Sarka’s head tilted back.
Ruslan’s hand made soap lather and softly burrowed into the wet hair. Ruslan’s hand began washing Sarka’s hair.
Sarka seemed to have completely given up moving his body due to dizziness and released all his body’s strength while leaning back in the bathtub. He seemed to be planning to rest a bit while having his hair washed using Ruslan’s body.
The blunt fingertips of Ruslan’s calloused hands moved delicately, scrubbing Sarka’s scalp.
Ruslan heard Sarka unconsciously tense and hold his breath when his fingers touched a certain area. It was probably near the wounds torn from banging against the wall.
Ruslan’s fingers changed to a slightly more careful and gentle movement as if to avoid the wounds.
Each time Ruslan pressed on a part of the scalp, Sarka firmly gripped the edge of the bathtub and twisted his body slightly as if enduring pain. Not only the bruised and torn wounds, but the muscles in his head that had suffered from headaches seemed to be stiff and faintly hurt when pressed. Each time Sarka’s body tensed to endure pain, the sound of the water surface shaking finely came.
Ruslan tried to release strength from his body as much as possible and relax his muscles so Sarka could elaborately control his fingers.
As time passed, Sarka’s breathing, which had initially swallowed painful breaths, slowly began to relax.
When Ruslan’s hand poured warm water and slowly rinsed out the soap lather, Sarka exhaled a faint sigh. It seemed refreshing as the sweat and bloodstains pooled in his head were washed away.
The breathing that had been painfully shrinking relaxed, and the sound of the water surface rippling from his writhing body also stopped. Ruslan’s hand moved again to gently rinse out the remaining soapy water.
Around when the soapy water was almost washed away, Ruslan could feel tension gradually releasing from Sarka’s body. Not only from his slowed breathing, but also from Sarka’s dominance that had entered his body.
When Ruslan completely relaxed and adapted to submitting to Sarka’s dominance, Sarka didn’t struggle to perfectly control all the muscles down to Ruslan’s toes like before.
Sarka’s dominance gradually softened and loosened, finally becoming finely concentrated only on the muscles near the fingers and becoming almost faint in the rest of the areas.
Ruslan felt Sarka was gradually becoming accustomed to the method of moving his fingers.
At first, moving Ruslan’s fingers, which were different in both size and shape from his own hands, seemed unfamiliar, so it was as stiff as moving a wooden hand model, but as time passed, Sarka delicately moved the muscles of Ruslan’s fingers as if handling his own hands.
Ruslan’s fingers, accustomed to Sarka’s dominance, skillfully washed Sarka’s hair as if washing his own. When resistance completely disappeared, Sarka now seemed to have half-forgotten Ruslan’s existence.
Ruslan suddenly noticed that from some point, faint drowsiness began to seep into Sarka’s breath. It seemed that as his body submerged in hot water and he washed his head that had suffered from headaches for seven days, tension released and sleep came.
Perhaps due to drowsiness, even the dominance that had stayed in Ruslan’s hand gradually weakened, becoming closer to the feeling of barely designating the direction to go rather than directly moving Ruslan’s hand. To the point where Ruslan could resist if he decided to put strength in his hand and hold firm.
However, Ruslan obediently moved his fingers gently while submitting to the direction Sarka indicated. Before he knew it, the hand’s movement had Ruslan’s strength following what Sarka indicated, becoming a form where their movements were mixed. Sarka, heavy with sleep, seemed not to notice the change.
Ruslan felt strange when he realized he’d become no different from washing Sarka’s hair half by his own will.
Sarka was breathing slow and peaceful breaths as if he’d fall asleep at any moment.
Hearing that breathing devoid of wariness, Ruslan thought he felt like he was washing the body of someone very close.
Like family or an old lover, completely trusting people who didn’t need to be wary of each other at all, comfortable enough to show their naked bodies without reserve.
That was truly a strange feeling.
It was the moment when Ruslan’s fingers, soaked in the strange feeling, finally rinsed Sarka’s head and went down to wipe the moisture that flowed down his nape.
When Ruslan’s fingers pressed as if brushing over the muscles of the nape, a faint groan flowed from Sarka’s mouth.
“Mmm…….”
Sarka twisted his head slightly as if enduring pain. Ruslan immediately realized from the sensation touching his palm why Sarka was suffering.
Sarka’s nape muscles were bunched up hard as stone.
Since they were muscles that had suffered from headaches for a week, two of those days writhing while tied with a gag, it was natural that even lightly touching would be painful. Since he’d slept today in an uncomfortable position leaning against the sofa instead of lying in bed, actually not just his neck but his whole body would ache.
Sarka moved Ruslan’s hand and tried to carefully press near the neck he’d just touched. It was similar to the motion of kneading one’s own nape when the body is stiff. Sarka, half-drowsy, seemed to unconsciously try to touch the uncomfortable spot.
When Ruslan’s fingers pressed down firmly with more strength than before, a heavy breath burst from Sarka’s lips that had been clenched in pain. It seemed refreshing when the stiff muscles were rubbed.
Sarka twisted his neck slightly, then moved Ruslan’s fingers to gently cup and hold his shoulder and neck. The fingers slowly feeling around the nape seemed to be carefully checking the degree to which the muscles were stiff.
Ruslan sensitively felt Sarka’s pulse beating in his neck from the sensation touching his palm. Sarka’s pulse, heavy with drowsiness, was small, slow, and regular. Like a child who’d laid their body in the arms of the most trusted person and felt relief.
Ruslan felt the tickling sensation in his palm again. Sarka’s neck, half-fallen into drowsiness, had released strength and sank heavily onto his palm, warmly wet and damp.
Sarka, breathing slowly inside his palm, seemed like a very soft and delicate living creature without any dangerous or sharp corners.
Enough that if Ruslan put strength in his arm and pulled like this, he’d obediently be embraced into Ruslan’s arms.
Ruslan, absorbed in that unfamiliar feeling, heard the sound of Sarka’s elbow lightly hitting the bathtub wall as he moved his upper body, seemingly to change position to receive the massage better.
Just as he thought the water lightly surged, something slipped from the upper part of the bathtub. An object presumed to be soap dropped down with a thud and hit the basin placed beside Ruslan’s knee.
Clang!
As a loud metallic sound rang and water splashed, Ruslan flinched and stiffened his body rigidly in surprise.
Sarka’s body suddenly hesitated.
The overturned basin spun round and round sliding on the floor before stopping with a grating sound.
Ruslan, who’d frozen while unconsciously turning toward that direction, was horrified when he suddenly realized his body had moved against Sarka’s dominance.
