'If it were anyone other than them wanting to go to the lagoon, I would also give in and ask for a democratic vote in the same way... it's simply about being generous and fair to the whole group.' Hawke tried to convince himself internally that it definitely hadn't been just for the girls.
But then he started thinking more carefully about the specific possibilities he hadn't considered before ; well, the girls were going to bathe in the lagoon, right? That would necessarily imply that... Hawke blushed violently just processing the possibilities. That would imply that they would be completely naked entering the water, all those bodies exposed without any clothes on.
It must be perfectly normal for primitive peoples to see each other naked casually without any shame, but it was definitely not normal for him, who came from somewhere else. Yuka with that incredibly fair and delicate skin that probably simple light touches could easily mark, those absurdly full breasts that seemed to be desperately asking to be "freed" from the tight clothing. And Kaira with all those sensual curves, those mesmerizing honey-colored eyes, that... Hawke swallowed audibly... big, perfect, round ass.
That would literally be heaven on earth!
'No advantages or disadvantages my ass! It's just pure advantage, A LOT OF ADVANTAGE, HUGE ADVANTAGES IN EVERY WAY!'
Hawke grew progressively more excited as they approached, his heart racing in anticipation.
Finally, they reached the expansive edge of the lagoon, which was indeed as large as Tairo had described. Hawke, extremely excited as he was by the expectations, went straight into the water without thinking until he reached his knees and immediately grabbed his leather thong to start taking it off.
"HEY, MAN! What the hell are you doing there?!"
Kuggi shouted in alarm before he completely pulled down the thong. Hawke looked back confused, seeing Kuggi and all the girls with a clear expression of absolute bewilderment and even disgust.
Kuggi continued accusingly:
"You're not thinking of shitting in the water we're going to use, are you?!"
The girls now made a visibly disgusted face of revulsion.
Hawke quickly straightened up, realizing the monumental blunder he had almost made, his cheeks burning with shame.
"No, no! I... I was just adjusting my loincloth better... so it wouldn't come off with the water weighing it down too much, you know? It didn't seem very firm and secure."
He improvised desperately.
"I can tighten it for you if you want help!" Yuka innocently offered, approaching.
"NO! No need, it's all right now!" Hawke replied too quickly, his voice coming out a little high-pitched.
Finally, the girls and Kuggi also gradually entered the water. The old woman, Duggi, and Tairo deliberately stayed out of the lagoon, sitting and resting.
'Damn, how was I supposed to guess they bathed fully clothed?!'" "I missed the absolutely perfect chance to see their beautiful bodies... in bikinis."
Hawke paused mentally for a moment, processing.
"Bikini? What exactly is that?"
Gradually, hazy images of what this mysterious item might be spontaneously blossomed in his empty memory; two small pieces of colorful fabric minimally covering... Hawke even lost his balance from the shock of the sudden memory and fell backward, sinking completely into the water, but quickly recovered, violently coughing up the water he had involuntarily swallowed.
"Hey! You can't swim?! Are you drowning?! Do you need help?!"
Kaira approached as fast as she could bombarding him with worried questions as he repeatedly hit the side of his tilted head, trying to remove the water that had entered and filled his ear. In the distance, hawke could hear Kuggi's loud laughter; he had already swum calmly to the deep middle of the lagoon.
Kaira arrived where he was, staggering.
"How can you drown in this super shallow part?! You literally just have to stand normally and everything will be perfectly fine!"
"It wasn't anything serious, I just got a little distracted."
"Huh? By what exactly?"
Kaira looked suspiciously behind her, searching around for something that could distract a person enough to make them pathetically drown in the shallows, Kuggi in the center of the lagoon, and Yuka on the edge, running something she had brought with her through her hair.
"What distracted you so much? Tell the truth, there's nothing wrong with not knowing how to swim properly! Yuka doesn't know how to swim either."
She pouted, crossing her arms.
"I know how to swim perfectly well, it was just a passing distraction of my own mind."
"Your mind?"
Kaira gave him a relatively strong flick on the forehead.
"This thing inside?"
Hawke put his hand to his forehead, exactly where it stung.
"That's right."
"What kind of strange distractions has your head been creating lately, huh?"
Hawke looked directly into her extremely curious eyes, so close, her wet skin glistening under the filtered light, her soaked leather outfit clinging even tighter to her entire body, perfectly highlighting all her sensual curves. Hawke swallowed hard, visibly.
"You definitely wouldn't understand even if I explained."
"I also have several distractions in my head constantly," Kaira retorted. "But none of them literally make me forget how to swim!"
Hawke was completely speechless ; she had too good an argument. His mouth involuntarily curved into a slight, genuine smile, appreciating her insight.
"What is it now? Why are you smiling?"
"What specific thought is distracting you then?" hawke asnwered.
"You didn't tell me yours first, so I'm not going to tell you mine either!"
Kaira childishly stuck her tongue out at him.
"Ever heard of the terrible tongue-eating monster?" Hawke joked, quickly reaching towards her mouth, trying to lightly pinch the tip of her exposed tongue.
Kaira moved away slightly in a quick and agile dodge, immediately retracting her tongue, but reacted with a genuine laugh while covering her mouth with both hands.
'What the hell am I doing?! My body seemed to move completely on its own without permission! Did I ruin everything now? Is she going to be angry with me? Shit, shit!... but she's laughing, isn't she?'
"Tongue-eating monster, huh?" The sound of her voice came out somewhat muffled by her hands covering her mouth.
"And what else does he devour besides that?"
She slowly removed her hands from her mouth and held her forearms crossed in front of her body, striking a strangely... vulnerable and receptive pose.