There was nothing like a hot shower at the end of a long day. The warm water falling in heated perfection on his back, the pain being soothed away by the warm water and it's amazing, magical qualities. He would never admit to it, but he was jealous of the way nature worked. There was something about water that was just born to heal. Who would have thought that? The most powerful force in all the worlds and it was the most likely to heal. It would destroy with one fell swoop and then heal the next day. it was something to be admired, something to be enjoyed and reveled in.
Hot showers were a blessing. And it was times when he was immersed in the hot water, imagining things were okay between he and his traveling companions that he was most at peace. And the heated eyes that watched his naked form moving in the clear water didn't hurt his feelings either. He was a fan of those mysterious crimson eyes that burned and healed and loved and scalded. He was a fan of anything that made him tingle and want and desire. He was a man of passion and desires and he wanted what he couldn't have.
The crimson eyes belonged to a powerful ninja who just happened to be his only companion. The children (for they were little more than that) were unable to grasp just how deeply the mask ran. The ninja, he was able to see with a glance that the mask needed to fall, the mask needed to come off. And when the wizard asked him why, he wouldn't answer. Simply replying that he wanted to see what would happen if he could make it fall.
He wanted to show him the broken mask. He really did, but he was afraid of the reaction. He wanted to see it, but was he able to handle the consequences of seeing his face, broken and bared in it's hideousness? He didn't think the ninja would be able to handle it, no matter what the ninja used to do. No matter what the ninja's background.
And yet, in the hot water of pleasing showers, it was easy to forget the mask that wouldn't move that was stuck between them. If the mask would fall, the ninja would be more than willing to move in and make things better. The wizard was too stubborn, to afraid to let him see, to let him know the truth. The steam made it easier to pretend that it was okay, that things weren't eschewed and that he had a place at the ninja's side.
The steam allowed him to cry as he was with the ninja, hiding his tears in the foggy mists of the heated bathroom. The steam allowed him to pretend the ninja were smiling as he joined him in the shower, that his hands and body were touching because they wanted to, they were attracted to him, not because the thin wizard was a fitting substitute for women.
He liked hot showers. There was nothing like a hot shower at the end of a long day…