But they were being brave today, so when Bryce set their towel on the closed toilet and made to leave, they said, “What if I fall over?”
“What?” he said with a chuckle.
“In the shower. What if my ankle gives out, and I fall?”
His brow furrowed. “You’re standing fine on it now. I really don’t think you twisted it that bad, but I can check it again.”
Oh, he was so wholesome; it was one of Zef’s favorite qualities about him. Except for right now, when they were trying to be suggestive.
“Well, yes, but it is still painful.” They took a step toward him, exaggerating their limp. “I do not want to slip.”
Pointing at the door, he said, “Do you want me to get you a stool or something to sit on?”
For deities’ sake, and everyone said Zef was the oblivious one. They hobbled closer to him, and he reached out to steady them automatically. Having never had to woo anyone before, they were not quite sure how one went about it. They could have simply asked him to join them in the shower, but that felt too bold, too blunt.
As the bathroom filled with steam, Zef lifted quaking fingers to the top button of Bryce’s shirt. “I got mud on you,” they said as they stumbled their way through unfastening the first button.
Before they could accomplish anything more, he was grabbing their wrists in a firm but gentle hold. “Zef?”
“You could stay,” they said, avoiding eye contact as their wings fluttered nervously. “To ensure I do not fall.”
The silence stretched as Zef’s heart pounded in their ears. Bryce didn’t speak, but his gaze burned their face until their skin ignited in a blush. A finger tapped under their chin in silent command, but they could not tear their focus from his unfastened button.
“Zef,” he said softly, and they finally met his stare.
His eyes were boiling thunderclouds, and their stomach plunged to their toe barbs. “I would like to share physical intimacy with you,” they said, voice shaking with nerves. “If you are agreeable.”
He scrutinized them closely, and they did not look away. They allowed him his search, and only when he was satisfied did he release their wrists.
“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” he said, but they were already nodding.
“I know. That is not my intention.”
“We don’t ever have to—” he started, but they interrupted him.
“I know, Bryce,” they said, pressing their forehead to his as their antennas danced over his hair. “I would not offer if I did not want to.”
His eyes shuttered closed as a rumbling noise vibrated in his throat. Almost like a Mantodean thrum. Zef returned the sound as they, slowly, unfastened the rest of his buttons until his shirt splayed open over his undershirt.
Smoothing their palms over his shoulders, they pushed the fabric down his arms until it slumped to the floor. Next, they slipped their fingers under his shirt and pushed the fabric up. He raised his arms, and Zef removed it completely, dropping it to the floor on top of the button-up.
Their hands were shaking harder now, but they pushed through their nerves and reached for his belt buckle. As they unthreaded his belt, Bryce captured a chunk of their hair and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. They unbuttoned, then unzipped his jeans, and with a gentle push, they dropped down his legs. He stepped out of them, never taking his eyes off of them.
With the same amount of caution, he started to undress them until they stood in their undergarments as well. As their camisole plopped onto the pile of clothes on the floor, Bryce’s fingers traced their collarbone, and goosebumps exploded over their skin.
“You’re so beautiful, Zef,” he said reverently.
They glided their top palms through his thick chest hair and thrummed their satisfaction. “So are you.”
As they hooked their lower hands in their underwear, they fortified their courage, then shoved the final piece of modesty to the floor. They had never been naked in front of another before, not since they were a hatchling, and they resisted the urge to fidget as Bryce scanned them from head to barbed foot. They were not insecure, as bodies were bodies and they could do nothing to change how they looked anyway. But they still possessed the base desire for acceptance, to be found pleasing in the eyes of their suitor.
His large hand pressed to the center of their chest, warm and heavy. “Good or bad?” he asked hoarsely, and they smiled.
“Good.” They closed the distance between them, top arms circling his neck as their lower arms wrapped around his thick waist. Their bellies met, then their chests, skin-to-skin for the first time. “It is good when you touch me.”
Bryce shuddered, rubbing his hands up and down their bare back as their foreheads met once more. “You need to tell me when it’s not, though. Okay?”
“I will.” They cupped his neck, their antennas dancing over his head, absorbing his rich pheromones. “Come bathe with me, beloved.”
