"Thanks, huh… you like me. But would you be mad if I said I only like you because of your body and how good you are at what you do?"
There was a brief pause after my words, like the air itself hesitated.
Instead of pulling away, Ghoth only moved closer.
He had always been like that, when most people would retreat, he leaned in.
His arms tightened around me, his presence warm and steady, almost too close for comfort but not enough to push me away. I could feel the quiet persistence in him, the kind that didn't demand permission but also didn't force anything.
"You're really something, Sapphire," he murmured, voice low. "But fine… if that's what you want me to be in your head, I'll accept whatever version of me you can give."
There was something in his tone that I didn't like. Something that sounded like resignation dressed up as acceptance.
I shifted slightly, creating just enough space to breathe.
"Good. At least we're clear," I said.
My voice came out steadier than I expected.
"We're not from the same place. You're not from here, and I'm not from yours. We live in different worlds."
He watched me quietly.
"But that doesn't mean we can't be in the same one," he replied.
I let out a small breath, almost a laugh but without humor.
"We can share space," I corrected. "But don't turn it into something heavier than it is."
My gaze dropped for a moment.
"I don't want you to feel trapped."
That was the closest thing to honesty I could offer.
Then I stood up, breaking whatever stillness had formed between us.
"Come on. Let's shower. We still have places to go today."
The bathroom was warm and slightly fogged from the steam.
Too big for just one person.
Which made it easy to pretend this wasn't unusual.
We stepped inside together.
The sound of running water filled the space, bouncing off tile walls, swallowing the silence that had followed us from the bedroom.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
It should have felt awkward.
It didn't.
Instead, there was this strange familiarity forming between us. Something that existed only in moments like this, where words became unnecessary and everything else took over.
Ghoth reached for me first, not rushed, not careless. Just certain.
And I didn't stop him.
The world outside the bathroom seemed distant, like it didn't belong to us anymore. The only things that mattered were warmth, closeness, and the unspoken understanding that nothing about this needed to be labeled.
My back pressed lightly against the cool wall for a moment before his presence replaced it again, steadying me.
There was no rush in him. That was the strange part.
Even when everything between us blurred into something deeper, he remained… attentive. Careful in a way I wasn't used to.
I tilted my head back slightly, exhaling as I let myself sink into the sensation of being wanted without having to explain anything.
"Ghoth…" I murmured at some point, though I wasn't sure if I was calling him or just acknowledging he was there.
Too consistent for someone I wasn't supposed to keep.
The water kept falling around us, steady and endless, as if time had decided to pause just for this moment.
At some point, conversation disappeared completely.
What remained wasn't something I could easily define. It wasn't love. At least not the kind I believed in. It wasn't commitment either.
It was something in between, something suspended, fragile, and temporary by design.
And yet… it felt real enough in the moment to make me forget my own rules.
When things finally slowed, when the intensity of the moment softened into silence again, I leaned my forehead lightly against him for a second longer than I intended.
"We should finish up," I said quietly.
After the shower, we got ready like nothing unusual had occurred.
That was the strange part about this arrangement.
How easily we could step in and out of something so intimate and then return to being almost ordinary again.
As if there were two versions of us:
One that existed in silence, closeness, and blurred boundaries…
And another that simply functioned in the outside world.
While I adjusted my clothes and checked my reflection, I caught him watching me for a brief moment.
I avoided his gaze. Because looking at him for too long always made things complicated. And I didn't want complicated.
"We're done here," I said lightly, grabbing my things. "Let's go."
But as we walked out together, I could still feel it lingering behind us.