Chapter 27

"Yes, I can use rock mana," he said, flashing towards a low wooden cabinet next to the doorway and placing her clothes on top. "I can use it to extract and manipulate metal." He then stood to the side, watching her as she took the comb to her long wavy hair, his undivided attention making her fidget.

"Oh, t-that's... that's great," she forced herself to say, swallowing thickly. Not only was he flaunting the well-defined muscles of his toned upper half, his power—mana—radiated off of him in waves; he was practically leaking like a broken pipe. And albeit it hadn't been so daunting when he was right next to her, it now had her trembling like a leaf.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, little one."

"I'm not afraid," she chuckled nervously, stiffly continuing with the motions of combing her hair, feigning nonchalance. Instead of the expected flight response like before, she was actually resisting the urge to move closer to him. Not that he needed to know that. She promptly turned away before her thoughts could go further astray. Clearing her throat, she casually stepped towards the pool, dipping her toes in. "You can leave n—" Lights abruptly lit up in the water and she squealed, stumbling backwards.

"Hey, careful." The voice came from right behind her before she bumped into a sturdy body and arms helped steady her from behind. "These are glowing runes. The bath is enchanted to adopt the ideal temperature for you while cleansing your body."

"O-okay. Thank you." She quickly stepped out of his hold once she got her bearings. So much for not touching her without her permission. She tried to take a deep calming breath but his bittersweet chocolatey scent wafted up her nose instead, and heat pooled in her lower belly. Her nostrils flared for more but it was gone just as fast, and it almost had her reeling. She turned to see that Rex was back to standing in his original spot, as if he hadn't moved at all. His silver eyes glowed brighter as he watched her, eager and waiting, and her brows rose a fraction. "T-thanks for your help but you can leave now."

"You want me to leave?" he asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah."

"I can't leave you on your own."

"And why not?"

"What if you need me and I'm not here?" he asked, his features twisting in concern, and her heart mellowed. "What if the bath is too deep and you... you drown?" Then she was left speechless. Was she a midget in his eyes? The bath might've been as big as a swimming pool but it was clearly shallow. Well, shallow enough.

Seeing the incredulous look on her face, he sighed. "Alright..." he said, giving her his signature puppy dog eyes, as if waiting for her to change her mind, but she avoided his gaze. Why did her heart skip a beat to something like that? "I'll wait in the bed chamber. Please don't hesitate to call me in case of anything, Luna." He slightly bowed his head and left, climbing the stairs and disappearing into the corridor with slower steps than she thought him capable of.

She sighed in relief once he was out of sight and walked towards the where he'd stood, teleporting the last few steps. She might not be able to fly, turn invisible or manifest her illusory butterflies as a human but she could still use her spatial abilities. It reminded her of a time when she was a natural human, when she was but a teenager, when she was still Miranda Lee.

"I still am," she whispered to herself, storing the comb in her space. All space users had a hoarding problem and she was no exception. She ran a hand over the black outfit Rex had acquired for her, the dark colour stark against the glossy white surface of the cabinet. She held up a shirt, noting that it was just as large, if not larger than what she currently wore. She rolled her eyes.

"You're still what?" She quickly lowered the shirt to reveal Rex who was currently leaning against the doorway, shoulder against the wall, bulging arms folded, legs crossed. She yelped, jolted back as she clutched the shirt to her pounding chest.

"What the hell!" she yelled. "How long have you been standing there?" What had he seen?

"Not long." He straightened, stalking towards her, and she took a step back, feeling cornered despite the wide space. "I came back when I heard you say something, but I didn't quite catch it. Do you mind repeating it?"

"Don't come any closer!" She threw the shirt at him, missed by a long shot, but it worked just as well as he moved to catch it before it hit the ground. "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to myself! Now get out!"

"Talking to yourself? Okay," he said, arms raised in a placating gesture. "Calm down, I'll leave. Please don't be angry, Luna."

"Don't call me that!" she snapped, then recalled that only a short hallway separated the two rooms with no doors to stop him from barging in a second time. "And don't come back in here again! No matter what!"

"What? I can't just—"

"Just don't!" She glared at him and then exhaled heavily. She'd just apologised for yelling at him, turned around and then did it again. She wasn't mad that he almost discovered her spatial abilities. Why would he care about that when he could use mana? Mana! She wasn't even opposed to him seeing her naked, so long as he returned the favour of course. She was worried about his reaction if he found out that she was a fairy. Would he think that she was an insect? A crawler? "Actually, could you leave the bed... chamber for a little while?"

"Luna—" he started and her eyes were rolling again. "Mira—"

"I'm only asking for a bit of privacy, Rex. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, of course not. You can take all the time you need. I'll... I'll head downstairs first." He placed the shirt on the cabinet and was gone before he could hear her muttered thanks.

Teleporting thrice, she got to the doorway and peeked into the corridor. There was nothing there. She waited for a while longer but still didn't hear a thing, not even the bedroom door closing to indicate he'd left.

She hesitated for a second before she decided to bite the bullet. White light enveloped her and she took on her fairy form. She flew out of the collar of her shirt before it dropped to the ground and once the pressure in her bladder was gone, she returned to her human form. Only then did she allow herself to relax as she stored all the clothes into her space.

She walked to the pool, dipping her toes in again, and watched as bright swirling patterns lit up along the sides and bottom of the pool. The water was lukewarm as she stood on the first of two steps, submerging her to her knees. She sat there, and the water came up to her shoulders, sighing as the temperature steadily rose to a scalding yet comfortable level.

She cupped the water in her hands, pouring it over her head and was instantly refreshed, her hair and skin cleansed and purified. She almost forgot the appeal of lathering suds on skin from soap and shampoo. Almost. Her tense muscles soon relaxed and she let out a soft moan, leaning back to rest for a good while.

But it wasn't all that long before she felt the urge to enter Amir. She could quickly check on Sher and get back before Rex noticed that she was gone. Teleporting out of the bath, she turned into a fairy once more and vanished from the room.