Getting Boiled

As Ava was preparing to start a grand escape, Lily was completely oblivious to Ava's concerns and simply pushed open the double doors.

Feeling a blast of steamy air breeze past her, Ava couldn't help but turn her head to take a look at what was going on, only to see that Lily had revealed a large pool that was larger than her old shack that was filled to the brim with steaming hot water. To the side of the large central pool sat four smaller pools that were more reasonable in size, perhaps sitting at four feet by four feet, but nonetheless, they could be considered quite extravagant. With this level of wealth, Ava was afraid that even Bosbody couldn't create something like this without feeling a pinch. Was this really just a brothel?

Excited, Lily couldn't help but lead Ava in. As she was doing so, one of the curious eyes that had followed over couldn't help but ask, "Hey Lily, whatcha got there?"

Turning around, Lily looked to see who the voice came from and replied, "Oh hey, Ahri! This is Ava. She's going to stay here for a couple of nights. Oh, right!" Turning to Ava, Lily asked, "Do you have another change of clothes?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

Turning her head back to Ahri, Lily called out, "Ask around and see if any of the girls have anything in Ava's size."

"Oh?" Ahri couldn't help but feel interested, "I didn't realize you brought a little princess with you."

Lily pouted, "As if, if I brought a boy in here, you would have already gouged his eyes out."

Chuckling, Ahri couldn't help but give Ava another two looks while replying, "Maybe… Well, I'll go ask around and see if we can give the little princess a makeover."

"Alright, see you in a bit Ahri."

Waving a hand above her head, Ahri walked away, and as she left, the other curious onlookers also started to scatter. Anyways, it was just a kid. It wouldn't be too late to take a look after she had already bathed and cleaned up a little. Leading Ava by the hand, Lily led Ava over to one of the smaller pools by the side and pointed at a shelf nearby. "Um, if you're comfortable, you can leave your stuff there, but you can also hold onto it if you aren't worried about it getting wet."

Frowning, Ava couldn't help but look at the open shelves. Her only comfort was that they were only a foot or two away and that there was no one else in the bathhouse but her and Lily.

After a brief internal struggle, Ava took off all of her clothes, taking care to leave the shirt that had a sewn-in patch at the bottom of the pile, revealing a body covered in grime and dirt. To call her a frog would perhaps be an insult to the frog. However, she kept a hold of the knife in one hand, and the pouch in the other after removing some of the vials of medicine and other perishables in the pouch and placing them on top of her clothing pile.

Looking at Ava's dirty appearance, Lily couldn't even be bothered with what she was holding and couldn't help but take a glance at the pool in hesitation. Um, would this be enough? Although the water in the pools was constantly being filtered, throwing Ava into the pool would be like throwing a clump of dirt into a pot. But after a while, Lily couldn't help but shake her head and let out a small laugh. Anyways there were four small pools, worst case, they could move to another one. "Alright, give me a moment."

Moving over to the shelves, Lily took off her clothes as well, leaving them on the shelf beside Ava's, revealing a slender and well-proportioned body that was a healthy tan that stood in stark contrast to her scarlet hair. Then, walking over to the side, Lily grabbed a brush and a hard scrub from a bucket and gestured at Ava to enter the pool.

Hesitating for a moment, Ava couldn't help but feel a little scared at the steaming body of water. Although she had bathed in the past, it had been in the creek by the village, where the water was cool and no higher than her waist, and even then, she rarely went, only going when the grime was getting to the point that it was becoming a hindrance to her movements.

Other than that, she simply had to make do with the occasional rainfall. After all, there was nowhere in her small shack where she could have set up a tub or anywhere she could hang clothes to dry that wouldn't result in them being stolen. Looking at the steaming water, Ava couldn't help but feel like she was about to get cooked.

Seeing Ava's hesitation, Lily thought that Ava was being shy about her body, but she also couldn't be confused because Ava was already standing in the nude, so it wasn't like she would be revealing much more. Or perhaps the layer of grime could be considered another layer of clothes? "Nothing to be shy about, Ava. We're both girls here." Stepping into the water, Lily couldn't help but let out a moan of comfort. "The water is wonderful. Feels like it's hugging yah." Before sinking a little deeper and letting out a yelp. "Ah! Crud forgot about the cut." Pushing her feet off the bottom of the pool, Lily reluctantly sat up with the top of her chest peeking out of the water, keeping her neck well away from the surface." Looking back at Ava, Lily waved again.

Seeing Lily's enthusiasm and feeling a little bad for the cut, Ava couldn't help but let out a wry smile. Looking at how Lily hadn't been burnt by the water despite how soft and tender she was, Ava couldn't help but feel like she would be fine. Anyways, there was no way she was weaker than Lily, right?

With this confidence in mind, Ava boldly stepped one foot into the water and, biting the bottom of her lip, quickly took another foot in and sunk the remainder of her body into the pool all at once, ducking entirely under the water and taking a moment to adapt to the slight stinging heat before resurfacing and taking a deep breath.

That wasn't so bad.