Warning: the following story deals with questionable consent and/or second thoughts post-coitus, and contains a few blink-and-you'll-miss-it gory images that might disturb some folks. I tried to be tactful and not go overboard, but if anything, you have been warned.

Grime.

Edd was standing under the shower, letting the lukewarm water flow down his naked body, scrubbing himself with a sponge.

Filth.

He had lost track of time. The boy realized his cleaning aid had no more soap on it, and reached for a bar, lying on a shelf next to him. Apparently, he had spent quite a while here, trying to clean the stains that would never go away.

He had her sweat on his body.

Uncleanliness.

It wasn't really a matter of him agreeing for anything. Or was it? He wasn't restrained in any way, her touch was surprisingly gentle. Perhaps that's why he didn't panic during the whole ordeal. He even remembered her outright asking if it's okay, and him muttering confirmation. And that's all he could recall, it's everything that stayed in his mind, with the coitus itself pushed out of his memory. Was he too terrified of the girl to deny?

Corruption.

As much as he hated to admit it, a small, depraved, repulsive part of him enjoyed the intimacy of the moment. He started scrubbing himself harder. For all it's worth, it was incomparably better than sitting in the empty house, left alone whenever his friends Ed and Eddy had their own family lives. Definitely far from perfect, but at least existent.

Sleaze.

He wondered what happened to the girl. She had probably left by now. She got what she desired. It's not like she gives a damn about what he feels, about his own emotions. She doesn't care about him pruning in this fucking shower. She just wanted to satisfy herself, and nothing else, the selfish trollop. That…

He was snapped out of his trance when someone banged on the door repeatedly.

Marie was sitting on the boy's bed, dressed and twiddling her thumbs, waiting for Edd to get out of the shower.

She glanced at the alarm clock. It has been an hour and twenty three minutes since he left the room. She listened to a soft sound of flowing water in the shower. It was over an hour. Nobody spends an hour in the shower, even if they're as much of a neat freak as Oven Mitt.

Maybe he was ashamed, convinced that he was a crappy lover. Now, obviously he wasn't exactly a ten out of ten, but a solid six for sure. Inexperienced as fuck, pardon the pun, but certainly knew a thing or two about anatomy, and, compared to a few one-night stands she had had before, he knew he isn't just using a fleshlight. The entire time, he was asking her if he's doing well, if it feels good for her. He tried to please her. And probably forgot to please himself. Why did he agree to screw her if he didn't want to?

He could be too scared to say no.

She clenched her teeth. He's a guy, they have thicker skin, her mother told her so. Her man-hating mother who spent most of her life in abusive relationships Jesus Christ!

She stood up, took a deep breath and marched out of the room, repeating to herself that Oven- Double D was fine. At the corridor, she took a turn and marched to the bathroom to check the situation. He was obviously fine. Her doubts were unquestionably dumb. She just wanted to tell him to hurry up and get out before getting all wrinkled.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the bathroom door was locked from the inside. She rapped a 'shave and a haircut' rhythm on the door, and waited for a reply. After a few tense seconds, she hit the door three times with her fist.

Nothing. Silence.

A gory image flashed in her mind. A person lying in the shower, with vertical cuts on his arms, crimson liquid flowing down the drain. Another one, with a boy hanging on a belt from a sturdy hook. Yet another one, with a corpse lying on the floor, an empty bottle of painkillers clutched in his hand.

Marie took three steps back, and then charged at the door.

Edd looked towards the bathroom door through the opaque glass of the cabin. Whoever that was, they could go fornicate themselves for all it's worth. He needed some time alone.

Then, the door was broken open, causing the boy to recoil into the corner of the shower. After a second needed to snap out of shock, he identified the intruder as Marie. She walked to the cabin and peeked inside.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Y-yes, I think."

"He lied, curled in the corner of his shower cabin." she muttered, turning off the water. "Get outta here, you're about to turn into a raisin. You need something to dry yourself?"

After the boy nodded, the girl turned around, and spotted a dark blue towel, hanging from a labelled hook. She handed it to the boy, who started drying himself.

Damn, he's hot, she thought. In nothing but a shower cap, with driplets of water all over his body. So cute and vulnerable. Yeah, rub yourself with that towel.

"W-w-would you mind turning around?" the boy stammered, noticing the sleazy grin on her face.

"Oh-yes, yes, of course." she did so, silently chastising herself. This wasn't some sort of BL manga, this was a real, flesh-and-blood person she knows, had screwed, and who doesn't seem to be all right in the head.

At that point, Marie Kanker had finally begun to think about the consequences of her behavior.

"O-okay," Edd said, grabbing a gown from a hook next to the towel one and putting it on. "I am dressed, you can turn around"

"You were good, y'know?" she muttered, without turning to him.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"'Kay, you were a virgin and it shows, but for all it's worth, you were okay." She went on, too anxious to tell that to the boy's face. "And you're loyal. Spineless, but loyal when shit hits the fan. And smart. Good Lord, I wish I knew half the things you know and had a quarter of your talents when it comes to building shit outta cardboard and duct tape… I guess what I'm sayin' is…"

She let out a long sigh and finally turned around, facing the boy. "…you're alright. For a guy."

Edd was stunned. He was reminded of one of those aliens from the movies Ed watches, screaming 'It's a trap!'. It was a Kanker, she had to have some hidden agenda. But on the other hand, hearing all those compliments from her... and she broke into the bathroom, because… she was concerned about his well-being. Wasn't she? It obviously didn't erase her past shenanigans, but…

He needed more time to think about it.

"I…" he started, "I appreciate those kind words, Marie. But, if you allow me, I need to spend some time alone…" He paused for a moment. "To… contemplate a few things…"

Marie's expression quickly changed to worried. "Y'know, I'd rather not leave ya alone right now." Noticing Edd's increasingly terrified expression, she raised her hands. "Nothin' dirty on my mind, I just wanna sit down… maybe watch a movie… and chat about… stuff…"

Against his self-preservation instinct, the boy decided to give in.

"Alright, fine." he sighed. "I do believe that I have some…"

He stopped, as the girl jumped to him and embraced him tightly.

His first instinct was to push her away. But he didn't. For some ungodly Stockholm-related reason he actually enjoyed it. A moment later, he returned the gesture, trembling slightly, and counted to twenty to calm down.

The girl noticed that. "Y'know, I can let you go if you want."

After a second, the boy replied: "No. It's fine."

"You aren't angry at me, are you?"

"No, not at all. Just... confused a bit. That's all."

After a few seconds of silence, they let each other go.

"One more thing." Edd looked down, ashamed. "Could we please never speak again of what happened?"

The girl wanted to taunt him a bit, but decided shutting the hell up would be a much wiser decision. "Okay." She moved her thumb and index finger, closing an invisible zipper on her mouth.