Chapter 13: Spending Time in the Pool With Naked Women

"Ellis," she heard someone call her. In her sleepy state, she hummed and pushed her head deeper into the pillow. When her name was called again, she groaned and covered her head with another pillow. Something tickled er nose and she tried to turn her head to get rid of it. Unfortunately, it followed her. 

She cracked her eye open and saw the tip of Logan's tail had slipped under the pillow and was teasing her nose. She pulled the pillow away and saw Logan sitting up beside her. His eyes twinkled with mischief; he looked so playful that her morning crankiness melted away in an instant. She smiled at him and wanted to pat his head like she would a cat. 

"Time to wake up already?"

"Yes!" Laurel said from behind her. Ellis turned around and saw her standing at the edge of the depression. She grinned at Ellis, careful not to show her teeth. "You two look very cozy. I'm almost sorry to tear you apart!" she said. Ellis blinked and let out a giggle of amusement. 

Logan froze beside her, his tail freezing before whipping in the air. "What was that?" she whispered in confusion. 

"What?" she asked, confused. 

"That sound you just made! It was pretty."

Ellis flushed and shook her head. "It's a giggle. A sound of amusement."

Logan nodded, planting the information in his mind. This was a sound of happiness. Logan liked it. 

"Okay, smooth talker, I'm taking Ellis for a bath." Laurel reached down and grabbed Ellis's arm to get her out of the cloud of pillows. 

"Why should I go?" Ellis asked, confused. "Is this about herding to the bathroom? You do it on other planets too?" 

"Come on. It's fun. They have coffee machines and sweet tea."

Ellis didn't think she could get up that fast. She would follow Laurel to the end of the world if it meant drinking some good coffee. She imagined the number of human women here must mean they pick up supplies on the way. There were toilet paper and a water nozzle in the bathroom, too. She imagined that chocolates, romance novels, and other objects must be brought in bulk for the women. 

Nin was still sitting in the same spot as before. She rose from her perch when she was Ellis come out and followed them silently. Ellis frowned as she wondered if Nin had slept. She hadn't seen Nin eat or drink either. 

The walk was long and they passed by many twisted hallways. Ellis figured that she would get lost in this maze rather easily. She remembered how her friends and classmates teased her about her lack of directional sense. A frown appeared on her face as she realized that they would be long dead by this point in time. Everyone she knew... all gone. 

Laurel was very fast for someone so short. Ellis caught up with the woman and noticed that Laurel's feet were bare too. Though, her toes were adorned with little metallic rings. 

"Where can I get shoes?" she asked, breaking the silence. 

"Oh, you don't need them in the underground," Laurel informed her. "They keep the place sterile. If your feet feel cold just ask Logan to set the floor warmer higher."

"And what if I want to go outside?" she asked yet again. 

"Logan will carry you," she shrugged. 

"Why?"

"Uh. It's to show how pampered you are. You don't even need to use your feet and walk on the ground." Ellis blinked. 

"That's some next-level worshipping," she sighed. 

"They don't have females on this planet. Us being brought here is like a god's gift to them and they treat women as such. It's a custom. I won't say it's bad. Men here don't get drunk and beat their wives," she whispered. 

Now that truly was a boon. 

Laurel finally pushed a door open and steam appeared out of the crack. It was a large tiled room with several pools of hot water in which women bathed. It looked exactly like a hot water spring with a decorated pipe providing fresh hot water in the pools. A woman stood under the waterfall, washing her hair. 

Ellis turned and saw Nin take her position beside the door once again. 

Laurel walked over to where hangers were kept to hold the women's clothing and stripped. "Come on!" she called. 

Ellis clutched at her clothes and backed away, fearing that someone would come and strip them off her. "Uh, I'm not comfortable stripping in front of people," she said nervously. 

"Come on. It's just some other girls. No one will look at you. And you don't have anything different from anyone here." She waved her hand dismissively. "Also, coffee. Don't you want some coffee?" she enticed. 

Ellis would strip her coffee, she found. She slowly pulled off her clothes and quickly hung them on the rack beside Laurel's. 

"Hey, a nice set of boobies you got there," Laurel whistled in appreciation. Ellis threw her head back in laughter. Indeed, she had nice breasts. She thought so herself. 

They went towards one of the smaller pools. Another woman, a little older than them sat in it. On seeing them, she bounced out, stark naked, and made her way to Ellis. She stuck her hand out and was about to introduce herself when a loud smack resounded in the room. 

Nin took her place beside Ellis, one of her four hands between Ellis and the other woman. The woman with the raven hair let out a sound of alarm and moved a few steps back. 

"You are not allowed to approach the Empress," Nin said in a rough and low voice. This was the first time Ellis had heard her speak.

The woman scurried away, grabbing her clothes and fleeing out of the door... still naked. 

Nin settled herself back on her knees, looking like a statue. Laurel pulled her down and they sat on the side, dipping their toes in the water and sighing with pleasure. Ellis tested the temperature and slowly submerged herself.

"Now this is what I call life," Laurel sighed. "It never gets old."

"It does feel wonderful." If you take out the whole naked women running around.