CH 8

A Shower

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

Bai Yao pokes the paw the little sea otter is covering his eyes with, and he only covers more tightly, acting dead, save for his flat little tail still nervously swinging about.

Honestly, Bai Yao could have mistaken him for a her if he didn’t see his testies.

Bai Yao wasn’t going to dry himself and put clothes back on first, with the bathroom being hot and humid. Two guys shouldn’t mind having their clothes off, but well, if Bai Yao doesn’t put something on, the sea otter will probably blush again. So Bai Yao quickly wipes himself as he walks back into his bedroom and puts another tanktop on. Then he knocks him on the head, “done. I’ve put clothes on.”

The little sea otter slowly moves his paws away, only going back to relaxing seeing Bai Yao didn’t lie to him.

He picks up the shell on his tummy again, and is about to put it back in the pocket when he becomes hesitant. Perhaps deciding his pocket is no longer safe either, he decides to just hold it in between his paws in perpetuity, never letting go.

Bai Yao pretends he doesn’t see the hilarious display as he retrieves the shower supplies from the rack. Then he looks at all the fur the little sea otter has.

Is he supposed to use shampoo or body wash?

Eh, body wash then. It’s cheaper than the shampoo.

Bai Yao has two bottles here, one is citrus and lemon, the other is camellia and sandalwood. He has no particular preference for either, having bought both when they were on the same sight level when he was shopping in the supermarket.

Without thinking, he grabs the very closest bottle to him, but the little sea otter stops Bai Yao with his paw before he can push a dollop out, and goes to smelling.

Taking a good whiff, at least, with his whiskers all twitching in response. His nose brushes past Bai Yao’s skin several times. It’s cooler than he thought.

Bai Yao would almost reflexively slam the sea otter back whence he came if he didn’t stop himself.

Shortly after, the sea otter turns in the water, as he lifts the bottle of shampoo with the citrus and lemon smell and pushes it into Bai Yao’s hands. He wants that one.

Picky little guy, huh.

The little sea otter’s fur really is quite thick. Bai Yao ends up using almost a third of the bottle of body wash before a satisfying amount of bubbles emerge.

And it is also around this time that it strikes Bai Yao that he’s possibly washing up an adult man, and feels slightly awkward.

Though it seems the same sentiment is not shared by the sea otter, who is quite enjoying the free massage and bubble bath. He is floating on the water with eyes closed blissfully.

When Bai Yao reaches areas where cooperation is needed, he obediently lifts his arm up, or roll over, or stuff his own webbed feet into Bai Yao’s hand.

The little sea otter has probably never enjoyed such luxuries, and is starting to stretch and twist while being washed, his little fuzzy body moving about the water.

Bai Yao finds the mass of undulating bubbles disorienting, and clamps his tail, saying, “don’t move around if you don’t want bubbles in your eyes.”

The little sea otter finally settles down a little.

Bai Yao brushes the veritable mountain of bubbles from the sea otter’s head to the toes, and the entire bathroom smells like fresh citrus and lemon.

Bai Yao has never washed anyone that is not himself, and to be honest, it’s better fun than he thought it would be. While rubbing up and down the tail of the sea otter for fun, he remembers how he also used to turn back into his snow leopard form as a rebellious teenager, and played with his own tail.

The sea otter’s tail is quite flat down to the very tip. It’s really soft at the end, so Bai Yao couldn’t help but squeeze it in his hand a little.

Then the sea otter completely seizes up, like a wooden board. Bai Yao is surprised at the dramatic reaction. Sensitive tail, maybe? So he stops.

The little sea otter’s nose crumples and he tenses up even more.

Then suddenly, he sneezes, and relaxes, closing his eyes and going back to blissland.

Bai Yao then rolls his eyes and ‘tch’s. The sea otter might actually be a kid, ten years old at most and no more.

Well, he wants to say that, but he definitely isn’t small in frame either. Bai Yao has also seen sea otter babies on the beach, and they have much shorter bristles, are not able to dive yet, and would spend their time lounging on their mommy’s tummies.

This sentient sea otter is much larger. Not plump, but his bone structure’s size is there.

Then the little sea otter quickly swings his tail back into Bai Yao’s hand when he remains still for a while, and paws at the back of his hand, and giving him the eyes that says ‘please continue your ruffling.’

Bai Yao hasn’t showered anyone or any animal other than himself, so his motions aren’t exactly smooth and streamlined. During one stroke, he happens to push on the area right by the tail of the sea otter, and he shudders and reflexively bites Bai Yao on his index finger.

Ah, so this is the actual sensitive spot.

The sea otter may look small and cute, but his teeth are definitely sharp. Bai Yao could not free his finger, and so, with a bit of force, he ends up with half a sea otter hanging off his finger into the water, swinging and swaying.

“Are you trying to kill us both?”

The little sea otter makes a meek squeak, but wouldn’t let go of Bai Yao’s finger. He is even chewing, which sours Bai Yao’s expression and leads to the sea otter releasing the finger.

Bai Yao, seeing the whitened teeth marks around his fingertip, raises his brow and asks, “I didn’t know sea otters belonged to dog on the zodiac.”

The little sea otter tilts his head, seemingly confused about what is being said. Then he looks at the finger in the air for a while, and swims across, hugging it with both paws, and licks with his tongue. Looks like he’s trying to make up.

The tongue is warm and gentle, and the licks lasts for a while, after which Bai Yao’s finger is left with lots of saliva. Actually, it was pretty comfortable for Bai Yao, so he wiggles his finger at him, “wanna do it some more?”

The shower is finally done after a long while. Bai Yao pulls the plug of the bathtub out, then goes to retrieve a towel.

The little sea otter watches the water level sink with longing in his eyes as he sinks along with it. Finally, when the water is gone, the sea otter is lying flat on the bottom of the bathtub.

Bai Yao lays an old towel on the ground, and flutters open another one, while pointing his chin at the towel on the ground, “go lie on there.”

The obedient little sea otter climbs out from the edge of the bathtub, and starts shaking himself rapidly like a puppy, spraying water everywhere. Though he sees Bai Yao’s gloominess soon enough, and stops.

He climbs onto the towel, and then makes himself comfortable before lying as flat as possible on the ground. He has become a sea otter platter.

Bai Yao then starts drying him with the towel in his hand. He isn’t exactly gentle, but even then, it’s useless. Sea otters have furs much too thick to dry with mere towels. His two towels have become as drenched as the fur they’re attempting to dry.

So he can only get up and retrieve a hair dryer from the drawer. He sets it to the lowest setting, and tries the temperature before using it to blow the little sea otter dry.

The loud whirring sound seems to spook the sea otter. He shakes, but doesn’t run away. He has put his paws on his eyes again, though.

A little scaredy otter, huh. Bai Yao chuckles inaudibly while he continues to dry the sea otter.

After Bai Yao is done, the little sea otter almost doubles in sheer volume as his fur has become puffy and even softer. It appears to be the same effect Ragdolls suffer after their owners give them a bath.

Bai Yao becomes distracted, thinking that the caretakers at aquariums should really try to bling up the sea otters. Give them a citrus and lemon shower, then blow them with hair dryers, and the puffy balls of cuteness would probably draw in crowds of visitors.

The freshly cleaned little sea otter has become quite lively now, sauntering out of the bathroom quickly, and noticing that he isn’t leaving sand piles and puddles everywhere in Bai Yao’s home anymore, happily rolls on the ground.

Bai Yao has cleaned up the kitchen and mopped up the floor outside the shower before following outside. Then he puts his hands in his pocket and observes the little sea otter hanging about his room.

If he wouldn’t turn into a human, maybe he could just keep him as a pet. He’s cute, and he wouldn’t mind building a nest in the corner of the room for him. He could probably get some pet toys for him… Would he like toys? If he’s a pet, he would also need a collar and leash for sure.

Bai Yao doesn’t even notice he’s smiling at the thought.

Though he then recalls that he was in quite the hurry going back upstairs, and his restaurant is still a mess. He isn’t exactly a clean freak, but he is uncomfortable working somewhere untidy.

Bai Yao opens the door to go downstairs, and is going to tell the little sea otter to stay, but can see that he is quite preoccupied with his curtains indeed. He’s rolling himself up in one, snuggling along.

Bai Yao resists the urge to roll his eyes at him as he heads downstairs. Before getting to the kitchen, though, another thump from the stairwell captures his attention.

Turning around, he sees the poor little sea otter having misstepped during his descent of the stairs, and is halfway through rolling down it. Finally, he lands onto the first floor.

The sea otter lies flat on the ground like a carpet, as he meekly vocalises a ‘yip~’ from his throat.