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Boggles stared over the tub halfway full of water. Pondering her next move. It had taken her a solid 5 minutes being knelt over the sharp edge of the tub and jigging the knob with her chin to get the actual water running, and turning it off had been a whole other feat in itself. She would’ve been able to it with ease…. If she had her hands.
Last night, during the tail end of a mission, Garbo had come swinging full force at Boggles with a machete. Which, if she had had her guard up, Boggles would have been able to avoid. Wether it be dumb luck for the garbot or the fact that catching backside attacks weren’t Bogg’s strong suit, Garbo had landed a clean cut right at her wrists. Leaving the clown with two stubs and a handful of choice words for Garbo when returning to their quarters.
Maybe it was the clown’s regeneration or doctor’s stitching, but that morning the open wounds had already begun to close up & heal over. All that was left was to wait for everything else to grow back! Which could take… who knows how long.
Boggles had grown past the initial searing pain of her hands being literally spliced off of her. At this point, her nubs just felt like the same aches you’d get when you had carpal tunnel. Whether it be through just getting used to the countless times she had been cut, banged, blown up or bruised, or the pain truly just subsiding, was more so on the back burner of Boggles’ thoughts at the moment. She was more focused on trying to figure out how she was going to actually bathe herself in this condition. If turning knobs took several minutes, the whole process of actually stripping, washing her hair, body, and drying off could take hours. Boggles had no choice. She had to get a coworker's assistance. But who could she ask to help…
Diablo? No… he was painting right now. Diablo hated being disturbed when he was locked in. She’d be missing her whole arm if she pestered him now.
Garbo? No… She was still mad at them.
Matador? …Hell no.
Mari-Anna! Yes, that’s it! Mari-Anna was Boggles’ girl for a job like this.
Boggles had helped Mari-Anna with a handful of times with her own baths, although hers was mostly just soaking there and soothing the alien about her pains. Some nights were harder than others. Boggles knew how much the tank that SaFel had invasively stuck onto Mari hurt her. If it was to the point of her sobbing into the later hours into the night, there was certainly no avoiding how much the implant must have pained her. There was always a knot in the clown’s stomach listening to her coworkers silent woes, even when she wasn’t present. Whether it be pity, understanding or anger. There was a deep seeded hatred for the higher ups putting others through similar pains like herself. Sure, this wasn’t nearly as bad as Mari’s pain, but Mari-Anna had always assured Boggles after every bath she helped with that if there was anything she needed from the alien to ask, not to hesitate. She supposed the time had come to actually take her coworker up on her offer…
‘Isn’t it obvious? I’m trying to seduce you.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I want to. I’ve wanted to ever since I saw you that day in the elevator.’
Mari-Anna leaned closer into the tv. The buzz from the partially damaged VHS drowned out by her attention to the scene. The movie had provided a window into a world centuries before the war. And Mari was hooked. During missions, occasional debris could be found around the different areas the team were sent. and while difficult, Mari had been able to find a few relics that could play on her tv. Accumulating a small collection of old VHS tapes she found enjoyable in her leisure time. The newest addition, ‘Bound’ was certainly different from the romance films Mari-Anna had consumed… The central couple was two women rather than two of the opposite sex. How queer.
“Heyy Marbles.” A familiar rasp rang at Mari’s door. Boggles!
Rising from her crouched fetal position, Mari-Anna used the top of her tv for support as she rose to her feet. Bipedalism was not Mari’s strong suit, she wasn’t sure how people did it without additional support… tentacles were far better than just two long sticks for legs, in her opinion. She had wanted to get more used to the feeling of walking, though. Occasionally wearing her gear in her room to try to get a better sense for it.
Stumbling to her door, Maris tentacle wrapped around the metallic handle. Pulling back to reveal her comedic coworker.
“Boggles…! How are you feeling?” The alien inquired, her attention falling to Boggles’ wrists. She had overheard snippets of Boggles chewing Garbo out the night prior for their little machete incident… she couldn’t help but worry for her colleague’s health, even with her regenerative powers. Boggles had confided about how much injuries could hurt if severe.
“Oh, this?” Boggles brought her arms up to eye level.
“Pshh, it’s nothin’! Took it like a champ.” She gloated. The work up about her experience couldn’t help but make Mari crack a little smile at the corner of her mouth. She always appreciated how lighthearted Boggles tried to be… even through the worst of it. In a place like SaFel’s quarters, it was nice to hear some positive quips from time to time. “But uh… I actually came here to see if you could lend me a hand. If ya had a bit.”
“Ah! I get it….!” Mari brought both her tendrils up in amusement at catching Boggles’ joke. “Lend a hand. Very humourous!”
“Thanks Mar.” Boggles’ replied. She didn’t mean to throw a quip in at that moment. But sometimes it just happened…
“Thanks Mar.” Boggles’ replied. She didn’t mean to throw a quip in at that moment. But sometimes it just happened…
“But yes, I’m free as of now. What do you need?”
“Cool! Cool. So usually right now I’d be havin’ a little scrub. But I can’t really do that myself right now.” Boggles explained. “I just need ya to help me with my hair… it’ll be impossible if I do it myself.”
“Oh! I see.” Mari nodded, her tentacle running under her chin in thought. “Are you sure I’ll be of assistance for this…? I don’t exactly have the hands you’ll need for this…”
“Mari you are the only person here I trust for th’ job. PLEASE.”
“Alright! If you insist.” She nodded. “I just need to get some things sorted- I’ll meet you in your bathroom in a few moments if that works.”
Boggles gave a sigh of relief at Mari’s agreement. “That’s just fine, thanks. I’ll see you in there.” She motioned to her left. Taking off back to her own quarters to prepare for Mari’s arrival shortly.
Mari gave a soft knock on Boggles’ door shortly after the initial agreement after cleaning up her TV and putting her VHS away. Being met with an inviting ‘come in!’ bellowed from the clown’s bathroom.
“I’m coming in, Boggles…!” She called out. Tentacles wrapped around the doorknob. She gave Boggles a few seconds to actually situate herself if needed, before twisting the door open.
All SaFel’s bathrooms were equipped with the same setup. Small and barely enough room for one person to turn around in. Adorned cracked concrete flooring and peeling checkered wallpapers. It was far from luxurious. With a cracked mirror above a simplistic standing sink, there barely enough room to turn to the toilet. Adjacent to the door was a freestanding metallic tub where Mari had found Boggles already curled in.
Boggles’ bathroom was a bit messier than Mari had expected. There was dried blood seared into the flooring and against the wall. Some still caked onto the sink from the night prior that Boggles hadn't gotten to cleaning just yet. Medical bandages and some antibiotics kept in a small basket beside the sink. Along with several empty rolls. The clowns trousers sat right at the door, catching in the bottom of the door crack as Mari let herself in. Likely from Boggles worming herself out of her garments and into the tub.
“Sorry for the mess.” She snickered a bit. “It’s uh. Not a top priority usually.”
“No worries.” Mari assured. Closing the door behind herself with a click. “You have bigger things to worry about than maintaining a clean lavatory.”
Falling to her knees, Mari hung her tentacles over the the edge, awaiting Boggles’ further instruction. She didn’t mind Boggles being nude. How else was she supposed to bathe? Humans had a far different view on what nudity was than Mari’s culture. But she didn’t fully understand why it seemed to be such a big deal for humans to be nude from how they acted in movies… it was just a body. Though, Mari-Anna couldn’t help but take note of some markings on Boggles’ that she hadn’t seen up until now. One of which being a faded, but noticeable, I shaped incision right down Boggles’ torso.
“Ya takin’ in the view, Mar?” Boggles finally commented, breaking Mari’s train of thought. Mark’s momentary staring had definitely brought the clown to worry she may have broke the girl for a moment. Was her body that weird to her? Fuck. What if Mari thought she looked weird? Not that there really was anything weird about Boggles. Maybe she was just weird by alien standards….?
“Ah…! My apologies.” Mark blunk a bit, her ears flattening in embarrassment from the presumed ogling. “I didn’t mean to stare…”
“ ‘s good girl!” Boggles waved. Motioning over the edge of the tub. “Shampoos down there. Orange bottle. I uh… already opened it with my teeth for ya.” Mari couldn’t help but find it a bit endearing that Boggles had opened the bottle for her. Between two people who (currently) had no thumbs, it would’ve taken a little bit to actually get the shampoo open…
Wrapping her tendril around the directed bottle, Mari brought it up to the ledge. Earning a nod of confirmation from the clown that it was infact, the right bottle. Mari knew how shampoo worked, luckily. It was kind of like ketchup…. You just squeeze it out. Well. Atleast that’s how she thinks it worked.
“May I ask about something, Boggles?” Mari inquired, lifting the bottle over Boggles’ curled head. Beginning to squirt out a glob of clear paste right onto her head.
“Shoot!”
“You said your body could not scar… yet, you have an autopsy scar right down your chest. How come?” The question was certainly a bit heavier than Boggles was expecting. Her attention was more on making sure Mari didn’t drown her in shampoo or get it in her eyes.
“That’s enough soap, Mari.”
“My apologies. The portioning of your hair to shampoo ratio is a bit confusing for me…” She apologized, setting the shampoo back on the ground and bringing a tendril up to begin rubbing the glob into Boggles’ hair.
“No worries. Um… yeah. It’s uh. It’s pretty old.” Boggles murmured, tilting her head down to look at the scar for herself. “I think it’s from getting spliced open a bunch as a tot, Y’know? I dunno why this is any different.” The clown explained. Running her nub over the indent between her breasts. Most of her time in the lab in childhood was a blur. Tests. Manhandling. Tests. Rinse and repeat until the circus had scooped her up. Though the majority of her time as a lab rat was a blurry memory, the ever so evident scar along her torso always served as a bit of a heavy memory that it actually happened to her. A huge scar that stretched from right at her collarbone to her navel. Boggles had not a clue why it remained so pronounced on her body well into adulthood, especially if she had regenerated that part of her body countless times since then. The line always remained uninterrupted. Coming back a noticeable lighter shade than Boggles’ toned skin. “It just… won’t go away.”
“That sounds like it would've been painful…” Mari’s motioning on Boggles’ scalp stopped, concern lingering in her tone. The soap foaming all across the top of the human’s head. Even beginning to glob down the nape of her neck. Boggles shrugged a little at the extraterrestrial’s comment.
“Eh! At least it looks cool, right?” Boggles shrugged,, leaning her head back to Mari to give her a big grin, her arms falling over her stomach. It gave Mari a better look at the scar. Human skin always confused her. Allegedly the largest organ of the human body, and the most vulnerable…. And it showed. From the photographs she had seen, some did have large gashes along their faces or arms. But here Boggles stood with nothing more than two. A large, clean slit right down her torso and the SaFel branding on her shoulder. From two of the most dubious parts of Boggles’ life. Persistent physical reminders of what she was to them.
Mari brought her arm up to Boggles’ forehead, the end of her appendage caressing a faint wrinkle Boggles had begun developing before gently pushing some stray bubbles to Boggles’ hairline to avoid getting soap in her coworkers eyes. Her tone remaining as gentle as her touch; “Very.”
Boggles couldn’t help but feel an artery in her heart miss its beat at the way the alien gazed at her just then. Her grin falling a bit into a cracked smile as she dipped her head in the water to get the soap out. Giving her head a good few shakes before coming back up.
“Alright- soaps should be down there. Sorry it’s a bar. Your gonna have to lather me.”
“That’s fine. Can you stand up?”
“Course!” Boggles chirped. Shooting up from the body of water and causing some to splash out to the floor. Mari brought an arm up to defend herself from the soapy water. Though nothing more than a few droplets really came in her direction.
Wrapping her tendril around the small bar of soap, Mari rose from her kneeling position, her free appendage grasping onto the edge of the tub. Boggles spread her arms a bit to give Mari-Anna easier access to soaping her up.
Raising the bar, Mari rested her free arm on Boggles’ shoulder, dragging the vanilla soap across the clown’s arms. Seemingly trying to cover almost any surface area of Boggles in soap. Something the redhead couldn’t help but find a bit humourous. “Don’t worry about everywhere, Mar! Y’just gotta get the main areas.”
“And that is….?”
“Y’know! Pits, neck- …” Boggles stopped herself at her third example. “Y’know, I’ll worry about that myself.”
Mari shook her head a bit at what Boggles was implying, mostly to keep her own head on right as she continuing her pursuit of covering Boggles in soap despite her suggestion of just a swift wipe.
“What were ‘ya watchin’ before I bugged ‘ya?” Boggles asked, her gaze falling to the door as she recalled Mari-Anna watching one of her films.
“It was an old film… it’s about two women in an affair in a mobster setting. I find it fascinating…”
“Oh! Neat.”
“Yes…” Mari paused for a moment at Boggles’ other arm in thought before continuing. “I didn’t know two humans from the same gender could find love in one another like that… none of my other movies have had that in them.”
“Does your kind not have stuff like that…?”
“Well, no… We don’t exactly follow the concept of gender like you do it seems.”
“Oh! Well. Humans can like anyone. They’re very… what’s the word- versatile???” Boggles wasn’t too well versed in the conversation of sexuality herself. She had only recently began to grasp the idea of queerness in her own identity. And even then putting further thought into it more than the simple ’I might like girls’ was overwhelming to Boggles. Though a topic she herself was still navigating, there was some kind of relief in hearing Mari was wanting to learn about it. Knowing she wasn’t the only one here to maybe thought about it to some capacity.
Mari hummed a bit as she finished up at Boggles torso, motioning for the human to sit back down. “I still have so much to learn about your species…”
“Well, if you have any questions. You’re free to ask. Mx.Matchsticks prolly won’t be much help.” Boggles dunked herself back into the water, giving herself a good rub down before standing back up to the alien. “There should be a towel by the sink if ya wanna toss it to me.”
Taking a few steps left, Mari retrieved the article of fabric Boggles was motioning to. She held it open for the human. “You typically are supposed to wrap yourself in this, are you not?”
“Oh! Yeah. That works too!” Turning away from Mari, Boggles felt a familiar synthetic Cotton wrap around her body, tightening on her back. Putting her arms back down, Boggles turned back to her coworker as she stepped out from the tub. “You’re a saint, Marbles. Seriously.”
Mari-Anna couldn’t help but wave her tentacle a little at the flattery. “Of course… you’ve assisted me so much with my own hygienic needs. I’m more than willing to help you. Now- if you’ll excuse me… I’d like to get back to my film.”
“‘Course! I’ll see ya Mar.”
Waving goodbye, Mari left the bathroom door open to Boggles. Leaving her in the bathroom as she retreated to her own quarters. Boggles gave a wistful huff as she watched Mari go. Despite their circumstances at SaFel, there was something relieving knowing she could have someone in her corner. Human, robot, or extraterrestrial.
Now…
How was she gonna get this tub drained?