Bath Time

Doug sighs and leans back in the large footed tub, the suds of soap swirling whimsically around his pale, slender body. It is nice to finally be able to do this. Bathe. He can't remember the last time he'd bathed. A smile spreads across his face and he whispers something soft and barely audible to his Companion Cube, which sits beside the tub waiting patiently for Doug to finish up. Something about how glad he is to have found this place.

They had to be running for at least three months. No water, barely any food, and definitely no showers. They had stumbled upon this place while trying to escape GLaDOS yet again. Doug had led Chell down into Old Aperture again. A place she'd only been to once before. Of course, once they were down there, they were quite safe from the massive AI above them. And when they had found these old employee quarters, Chell just could not contain how happy she was.

Yes it is nice, Doug thinks as he shuts his eyes and lets the warmth of the hot water envelop him. He marvels at his luck. His sheer sucker's luck. He's been through so much, seen things he'd wish he'd never seen and done things he'd never want anyone to do and yet, here he is.

He wonders how Chell is doing in the female baths. He remembers their first night down here he had to teach her how to use the bath tubs and showers. She had looked at him as if he were a genius, having never had to operate a shower herself.

He sinks into the water a little more and his smile widens. This past month or two has been quite eventful, but he is glad they are safe, for now.

Doug's eyes snap open and one pupil focuses as the door to the bathroom creaks open slowly. He sits up, his defenses high as the water sloshes around him. He hears the pitter patter of little feet slapping against the tiles and a moment later he sees Chell's beautiful grey eyes peer around the corner. Her lips curl upwards and her eyes light up with a sense of life he never saw in her until they met. Doug scoops some of the bubbles closer to him, he knows she hasn't seen a male naked before and he doesn't want her to be frightened or surprised.

"H-hello... Wh-what are you doing in here?" He asks, he feels his ears go pink.

"Th-... Water..." She tries to speak, but her voice is hoarse and weak. She leans away from the doorway and clutches at her throat. He knows she has trouble speaking sometimes, years and years of never speaking can lead to some pretty nasty outcomes.

"Chell! No! It's okay, you don't have to speak! I think I understand... an-anyways," He reaches out, forgetting his bubbly cover and grimaces as he watches her wince in pain.

She calms down quickly though and points to the bath tub next to his, then makes a motion as if she's turning on a tap. Doug nods and Chell continues her charade, crossing her arms out in front of her to create a giant X.

"The water won't work in the Female bathrooms? Did you try the other baths? The sh-showers?" He asks, bringing his knees up to his chest and looking around the room nervously.

Chell nods, "Y-yes!" Her voice is rather soft and sweet, Doug notices.

"W-well I guess you could use one of the b-baths in h-here..." He suggests, but she's already stripping down. Doug freezes, not sure what to do, he looks away. His face is bright red and hot.

Chell finishes undressing and clambers into the tub with him, a wide smile spread across her lightly tanned skin. She lets the swirls of soap cover her bare skin and digs around to find the washcloth.

Sighing, Doug accepts the fact that he probably wouldn't be able to convince the tenacious woman to move to a different tub anyways and runs his boney, long fingers through the mess of dark hair atop his head. He watches as Chell begins to wash herself just as she was taught to. It's not like he hasn't seen her nude before, Doug reasons with himself, he had to teach her how to dress herself properly too.

"You!" She says cheerfully and shoves the washcloth into his hand.

"Me? I already washed-"

"No!" She shouts and turns around, baring her back to him.

"You w-want me to wash y-your...?"

"Yes!"

Nervously, he takes the washcloth and dips it into the soapy water. Raising it, he presses it gently against the nape of her neck and moves it in soft, tiny circles across her shoulders. Doug hears her hum happily, her muscles relax and he can almost hear the smile spread across her lips.

"I... like that," She whispers, turning her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

Doug smiles nervously and slowly moves down to her lower back. Chell lets out another hum of pleasure and her eyes close. Doug smiles and hands the washcloth back to her. She takes it from him and turns back around to face him again. Her hands, small and dainty, envelop the ratty old cloth like it is the most precious treasure in the world. She stares at it, her eyes wide with wonder before she folds it neatly over the edge of the tub and scoops up a handful of bubbles.

Another quick smile flashes across Chell's face before she blows into her hands, sending the bubbles floating into the air and all around Doug. She giggles silently as one bubble lands on his nose and pops causing him to jump slightly, eyes as wide as saucers. Doug laughs along with her.

"Doug," She manages to say, her voice cracking slightly.

"Y-yes?" He asks looking into her eyes.

Chell glances down bashfully for a moment before leaning in closer to him and pressing her lips gently against his. They sit in silence for a moment or two like this and Doug's first instinct it to push her away but he stops himself, not wanting her to feel like she's done something wrong.

She did nothing wrong. No, his mind was in overdrive again, and he still isn't quite used to having other human beings around, so he realizes he's overreacting. She leans into him, her eyes closing and she pushes up against his lips again. Doug straightens out his legs to give her more room and she nestles herself against his chest, as if she has always meant to be there.

Doug feels his stomach flip and his heart pound. It is not the usual nervous, paranoid feelings he usually gets while traversing through the facility. This feeling, it's different. Doug feels...

You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking, The Cube chastises.

I know. I know, I'm a terrible person, he thinks to himself. He tries to lean away, shift so she won't see what's going on. But it seems Chell has the same idea and forces his hand to cup one of her breasts gently. He is taken aback at first, wanting nothing more than to pull his hand away, but her nails dig into his skin as she rubs her erect nipple with the palm of his hand and lets out a soft, breathy moan. Doug tries his hardest to resist, but the way she's looking up at him, languid smile across her face and eyes glazing over, she wants him to. She wants him.

His mind is saying no, his heart is saying go for it. Doug caves in, leans in and kisses her again, taking more control, he uses the tips of his calloused fingers to gently rub the little nub of skin and tissue underneath his hand. Another moan escapes her lips and he feels his heart pounding faster than ever.

She slips her hand around his unoccupied hand and guides it down into the water. He tenses up, knowing exactly what she wants, but he won't have it. She won with the breast, but he definitely won't do this. He snatches his hand back, sloshing water onto the floor (and accidentally, The Cube as well) and rests it gently on the small of her back. Chell begins to protest, by he cuts her off with another kiss.

He will not do anything that would involve stealing away the innocence of his grey eyed beauty. Kissing is fine, he thinks but he knows he's lying to himself. He loves her. He worships her! She's his angel, his savior and-

Chell reaches up and cups her hand on his cheek. "Please?" She pleads, mostly with her eyes. Those eyes. Oh those eyes! How shiny and full of life they are. But Doug doesn't want to cave in, yet again.

The water is lukewarm now. She shivers and nuzzles in closer to him. He wraps both arms around her tightly and nestles his face into the crook of her neck, his breath hot on her neck. "Please Doug?" She whispers again.

"I can't," He sighs.

"Why," It's not a question, Chell is demanding the answer.

"That kind of stuff... i-it's for people wh-who are... i-in love," Doug admits, feeling defeated.

A long silence fills the air as Chell contemplates what has been said. She knows what love is, she's read many books on the subject and there were tons of magazines talking about "finding your true love" in the female quarters, but she has never actually known what love feels like.

"This w-was a bad i-idea anyways. Come, the w-water's getting c-cold anyways," Doug continues, shifting underneath her and preparing to stand up.

"Wait!" Chell cries. He stops. "I... I love you," She adds.

Doug is taken a back for a moment. He knows she is probably only saying it so that he would continue what he was doing moments earlier but something about the way she has said it feels so... genuine.

"You're j-just saying that! No-now get up so we can dry o-off and g-get some rest," He says, helping her up and out of the tub. He pulls the plug out of the drain and they both watch as the water disappear into the unknown bowels of Aperture.

Shivering, Doug finds the towels and wraps a rather large, fluffy one around Chell's shivering form. There's a distinct look of anger on her face now as he dries himself off. She looks almost child-like with her brows knitted together and a scowl smeared on her lips. He's only seen her this grumpy before; it was during a test in which she took quite a while to solve. He had only been watching from a far, but the look told more stories than any book could.

"I really do love you," She whimpers, looking down at her feet. Doug is struck with sympathy for the poor girl, but he knows better. He turns and pulls on a pair of pajama pants he has found lying around. He ignores his heart, which is doing backflips and screaming at him to say "I love you too."

She gets dressed too, occasionally whispering "I love you's" in hopes that if she says it enough times he'll believe her. But as the night (or day, she can never really tell in the facility) wears on, she becomes increasingly more and more desperate.

It's not even about the sex anymore. Chell just wants him to acknowledge her feelings towards him. She wants him to notice that she does care, that all she wants is for him to be happy. She is certain, she knows, she is in love with him. She's known it for awhile now, she just had no clue what the feeling was called until now.

It frustrates her beyond belief. What does she have to do to make him believe her? She watches as he stokes the tiny fire he's made from broken chairs and papers. She hugs her knees close to her body, the scars on her legs reflecting the light of the fire like shining stars on the glassy surface of water. She frowns and buries her face in her lap as he sits down next to her on the dusty, old, moth-bitten couch in the "employee living area."

Doug gives her a quizzical look as she scoots away from him. He hears a soft "HMPH!" from her as she adverts her gaze somewhere else.

"What's w-wrong now?" He asks, honestly worried about her.

"Nothing."

"Th-that's a lie..."

"No."

"Tell me, Chell."

"No."

Doug sighs, "Fine. I g-give up anyways. There's n-no point in t-talking to you an-anymore."

Chell feels her chest tighten up. She panics and turns to look at him with wide eyes, "No! Please!"

"Th-then tell me what's w-wrong," He says rather sternly.

"I... you... You don't... love me," She admits, her eyes cast downwards towards the fire. Her throat is in pain again but that's nothing compared to the pain she feels in her chest. She mimics the tightness she feels in her chest by clenching her fist and then slowly letting her fingers curl open. "That... makes...me sad."

Doug suddenly realizes that she hasn't just been saying "I love you" to get him to cave in and do what she wanted him to do. He realizes she actually means it. Her little hand gesture, he figures, was meant to show him her heart was breaking.

"That's... That's not true!" He exclaims.

Chell looks up at him, confusion filling her eyes. One eyebrow arches upwards, the other downwards. Her face stays somewhat skeptical as he leans towards her and places his hand on her shoulder.

"I've a-always loved you! I c-care more a-about you than my o-own life!" His eyes are set on hers, one pupil slightly larger than the other. She used to think his eyes were weird, scary even, but she decides she thinks they are rather beautiful now.

"You?" She doesn't quite finish her question, her voice has been overworked today as is.

"Chell, I... I didn't think y-you or... or anyone for that matter, would ever l-love me..." He admits bashfully.

Chell smiles and throws herself into him, burying her face in his beard and planting tiny kisses all over his face and neck.

Doug reciprocates the gesture, and watches as she falls into him, nuzzling her way back into her little crook she made of him while they were in the tub. The feeling that overwhelms him at this very moment is enough to knock anyone off their feet. He's completely enamored and thrilled to even realize that Chell has her hands wrapped lovingly around his face, pulling him down to kiss her. This surprises Doug, but he has no time to react as Chell's hands are already sliding down his back, her lips pressed firmly against his, only this time slightly parted. He can feel her cool breath against his lips. He likes it.

They move to the sleeping quarters and lie in bed next to each other. This is the first time they've ever slept in the same room, let alone the same bed. Chell sighs happily, having wanted this for a while now. Doug looks down at her and cracks a tiny grin. The Cube glows softly in the corner of the room.

"Doug," Her voice wheezes through the dark.

"Yes, Ch-Chell?"

She doesn't respond, not with words any ways, and he knows damn well what is happening. He is overcome with pleasure and emotions he can't quite explain all at once. His breath hitches in his throat and he gasps as Chell kisses him again, now on top of him. Her eyes are ablaze and she looks like she is... enjoying this. She's enjoying him.

The night (or day, you can never tell in Aperture) lasts a long time and when Doug awakes he is greeted with Chell's sleeping face, a tiny, almost unnoticeable grin appears on her lips. Doug returns the smile, even if she can't see his face, because he knows that if it wasn't for Aperture's faulty plumbing systems, he wouldn't be here right now.

When Chell awakes, Doug is gone. She panics at first, but calms herself when she sees he has left the companion cube behind. He would never leave it behind unless he absolutely needed to. Not knowing what else to do, Chell gets out of bed and dresses herself. The air is cold and heavy and she waits patiently for her companion, her one true friend, her love.

He returns soon after, bearing canned food. They eat quickly, and tidy up a bit. The two pack up, take one last glance at their little den, and shut the door behind them. Doug fixes the cube onto his back and slides his hand into Chell's.

Author's Note: Hiya guys! Here's a little one shot based on a drawing by my friend Skella! (you can find the drawing at http:/skellagirl(dot)deviantart(dot)com/#/d4kslkz ) This was a nice break from the dreary drama of Troubled Minds. Hope you like it!