RSE CH 37 (Patreon)

“…How did it come to this?” Leo mumbled absent-mindedly, incomprehension plaguing his muddled thoughts.


Leo lay back in the bath, white steam rising from the hot water surrounding him. After coming home and having Lucy clean Asa up before tucking her into the bed in the guest room, he’d told the maid what had happened. They’d spoken briefly about the plans the crazy exorcist had alluded to before deciding to crash, himself. 


It was mid-morning before he woke and dragged himself into the master bath to soak in what had been his parent’s massive tub. It was big enough for at least four people, so there was plenty of room for Leo to sprawl with his arms hooked over the sides and his head leaning back on a rolled towel. A folded towel lay over his lap.


He stared at the ceiling. “Why can’t I just lead a simple, normal life?!” The young man groaned.


“Is it not obvious?” 


The bright voice came from the other side of the tub, where  his maid, Lucy, leaned over to prop her elbows on the edge of the tub. the mastermind behind this sudden and absurd scenario. She was looking at him from her laid-back position with her head resting on a towel. His succubus maid mirrored him, in that her arms were hooked over the edge of the tub.


“But this is not simple,” Leo muttered, then added, “or normal.”


“I told you, the only true way to deepen one’s bonds in this world is to get naked together,” Lucy explained.


Indeed, therein lay the problem; the debauched mindset of his dastardly succubus maid that chronically continually forced him to face lustful scenarios that he wouldn’t allow himself to appreciate as much as she would like. 


Right after the tub filled and he was about to slip into the invigorating hot water, Lucy had rushed into the room. She wore only what her mother gave her, boldly flaunting her masterfully sculpted body without batting an eyelash. What troubled Leo, though, was not the succubus’s sinful body in all its naked glory, it was the nervously fidgeting Asa the maid had dragged into the room behind her. 


Asa had at least tucked a towel around her torso, though it was barely enough to cover her perky breasts and left at least half of her ass cheeks exposed. But that hadn’t been enough for Lucy, who in one swift motion had stripped the poor girl bare. 


He’d quickly averted his eyes. But the brief eye-full he’d gotten had been more than enough to make it an even guess as to whose cheeks were stained a more vibrant red—his or Asa’s.


When Leo had asked what the hell the maid was doing, she’d answered the stunned Leo in a flat tone as if she was talking about an everyday matter, “The only true way to deepen one’s bonds in this world is to get naked together.” When Asa hadn’t protested, the maid had continued, “Now then, let’s all take a bath together.”


To be honest, he no longer cared what stunts his maid pulled. Leo was used to Lucy pulling such tricks—trying, literally, to get a rise out of him. But for the life of him, he had absolutely no clue how she had convinced a pure-minded girl like Asa to join her in her lecherous machinations.


“Bathing together only applies to the same gender. Why would you think the same would apply for individuals of the opposite gender?”


When members of the opposite sex got naked together, it was just a prelude to scratching the inevitable erotic itch. And he wasn’t in the mood for that. Not after what had happened last night. And not with the sweet girl who’d been his lab partner—who’d awakened feelings in him with a kiss before disappearing for several weeks.


The look Lucy gave him was strangely serious as she nodded at his words. She reasoned, “What is the problem? Being so close together almost completely naked in a common space and sharing indignity will yield results, even if you say you are against it. You will treat another person more kindly when you have shared such an experience and know their shame.”


“What’s with this licking each other’s wounds mentality!” Leo growled. “There’s no point in forced results!”


“Not quite, Master Leo. A girl’s initial ‘No’ can almost always be turned to a ‘Yes’.” Or so said the debauched maid in her trademark flat tone and stoic visage. Such words coming from her, however, gave little reassurance to the troubled half-naked young man.


“Just… No. That isn’t how it works at all. No means no, Lucy.” Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t twist facts arounds like that.” 


Anyone who believed the opposite was a menace to society. Consent should always be obtained. At the very least, tacit consent was a prerequisite for anything that included more than a single individual. Its requirement was inevitable when members of the opposite sex were involved.


“But Leo…” Asa finally spoke up. “ I-I am the one who requested Lucy bring me to you. I was quite insistent.” Her soft voice dropped to almost a whisper. “Am I being a bother?”


He sighed. “That isn’t the point, Asa. I wouldn’t say your presence is a bother…” Leo made the mistake of opening his eyes and focusing on the other woman in the tub.


He was defeated the moment he glanced over at Asa and found her looking at him with pleading eyes. Her gaze was intense; it begged him not to make a big deal of this scandalous situation. He’d already seen a part of her naked during the fight, though he hadn’t been in the right state of mind to appreciate the view. Now, however, he fully appreciated just how beautiful Asa was. 


He stared.


Her lithe form tempted him with teasing sights that took his breath away. Okay, that may have been a bit much, because he had no trouble breathing. But it certainly derailed any attempt to pull together a coherent argument—or any coherent thought, for that matter.


“….”


Sitting in the bathtub next to Lucy, Asa’s cheeks turned a bright pink when she caught Leo staring at her. It was a natural reaction, and one she was surprised to find didn’t come from shame. Rather, she was anxious that he might not like what he saw. As naive and inexperienced as she was about sex, she knew that what Lucy had done—forcing them to share a bath like this—was the maid’s effort to help her do what she had said she was willing to do. 


He was her savior, and she was incredibly grateful. She owed Leo her… well, she’d told Lucy she would offer him her everything. Right here, now, she would learn if he was even interested. 


‘Please, God, let him find me attractive. Let him want to be with me like I want to be with him,’ she prayed.


Lucy did not let the awkward mood settle for long, moving things along to the course she desired them to take.


“Now then—How about you wash Master Leo’s back, Asa?” 


The maid suggested this from her laid-back position at the far end of the tub with her eyes closed, her usual stoic expression on her exquisite face. Because her eyes were closed, the others couldn’t see how the pink hearts in them glowed in a playful, mischievous dance.