Nyssa closed her eyes, sinking a little lower in the bathtub. The hot water felt heavenly, and for the first time in ages she felt completely relaxed. For just a little while, she had nothing to do. The Doctor was working on the TARDIS controls again, Tegan was in the library, and Adric . . . well, she wasn't certain what he was doing, but she suspected it was most likely something that he enjoyed.
Even with her eyes closed, she could still see a hint of the overhead light. She frowned as a shadow suddenly fell over her, blocking it. Puzzled, she opened her eyes.
Adric was standing over her, staring at her with wide eyes.
She gasped in surprise, hurriedly sitting up and trying her best to cover herself. The bubbles that had filled the tub earlier had all but disappeared while she had been in there, and she was painfully aware that the few remaining ones were not enough to hide anything. "What are you doing in here?"
He almost tripped as he hurried back a few steps, his mouth opening and closing but nothing coming out. Adric was blushing furiously, his face so red that it looked like one of the apples Tegan had convinced the Doctor to pick up at the last human colony they had landed on. Nyssa suspected that her face was almost as brightly colored.
She kept her arms folded over her chest, her gaze focused on him. "Adric?" she prompted.
Adric suddenly appeared to be very interested in his shoes. "The Doctor asked me to find you," he said hurriedly, his words coming out so quickly that he was stumbling over them. "We've landed somewhere."
She sighed. "Why did you not knock on the door?"
"I didn't expect you to be naked!" he shot back, looking up. His gaze drifted to her barely covered breasts for a moment before he dropped it back down to the floor.
"How else did you expect me to take a bath?" she replied, her voice slightly sharper than she had intended.
He flinched.
Nyssa closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She resisted the urge to reach up and rub her temples, well aware that the only way to do so would involve her moving her arms. "Adric," she said slowly, opening her eyes again, "will you hand me that towel?"
She gestured toward the one she had laid out, which was resting just out of her reach. He nodded as he followed her gaze, quickly walking over and picking it up. Then he handed it to her, his eyes once again drawn back to her chest.
Nyssa cleared her throat.
Adric blushed again and quickly closed his eyes. Nyssa grabbed the towel from him, hurriedly standing up and wrapping it around her as she stepped out of the bathtub. After a few seconds, he tentatively opened his eyes again and peeked in her direction.
"Will you tell the Doctor it will take me a few minutes to get ready?" Nyssa asked, finally reaching up to run her head.
He nodded but didn't move.
She sighed again. "Is something the matter, Adric?"
Much to her surprise, his face grew ever redder. He mumbled something under his breath that she couldn't quite make out.
Nyssa raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"
Adric took a deep breath. "I didn't realize you were so pretty," he said in a rush. "I mean, I knew you were pretty but I didn't know you were this pretty." He dropped his gaze again, careful not to meet her eyes.
She stared at him, completely surprised. She wasn't certain what she had expected him to say, but it hadn't been that. Biting her lip, she stared at him for a moment. Then she hesitantly let the towel drop to the floor.
He looked up instantly, his mouth opening and closing like a fish again. Nyssa couldn't help but giggle. She didn't have a clue what she was doing, but for the time being it didn't matter.
Then he leaned in and kissed her.
It wasn't the first time that Nyssa had been kissed. It wasn't even the first time that she had been kissed while unclothed, though admittedly the last time it had happened had been with another girl. For some reason, that made a difference in her mind. Maybe because in that case she knew exactly what to expect.
Adric leaned closer to her, his tongue darting into her mouth. One of his hands came up to gently rest on her breast, and she groaned slightly.
Nyssa was vaguely aware of a half-hearted knocking sound, followed by the sound of the door being pushed open. "Adric, did you find . . . oh dear."
They pulled away guiltily when they heard the door quickly shut again. Nyssa quickly leaned down and grabbed her discarded towel, wrapping it around her again.
"I should go after him," Adric said, his face red again.
Nyssa nodded. "And I should get dressed."
Neither of them moved.
Adric finally nodded at her before turning and all but dashing toward the door. Nyssa stood there staring as he disappeared through it, her face burning. As the door closed, she let out a shaky breath and let the towel drop again. She brought her hand down to tentatively rest on her left breast, where his hand been.
She slowly started to smile.