They talk. What? They can't be horny all the time!

The bath was warm and comfortable still, soft waves occasionally coming from either of us, while thoughts no doubt drifted around. Next to me, Eekaa was proudly showing her top half off, though no real intentions were behind it. The seats on this side of the bath being much too shallow to fully bathe Eekaa, it must have meant she desired to sit near me, and of course, the modesty of the orc didn’t mind one bit. The sight reminded me of last night’s pleasantries, though only glancingly.

“Hey, Eekaa…” I say, the words a little awkward, “…thanks for last night, and the help at the gate. I think the city would have been a lot more stressful without you around.”

Eekaa moved at that, first leaning up to face me, but then to put a hand on my head, patting me gently. “It is okay.” She says slowly, pronouncing her words more clearly than yesterday. “I am happy to help you.” She assures, looking at me with a heartwarming smile.

My mouth opened to compliment her, but she continued before me, “You are not like others. You deserve attention…” she says, her expression turning hopeful. “…We… Let me stay with you?” She asks, the question surprising me.

Stay with me? “Stay with me?” I repeat my thought, continuing, “do you mean while I’m here?” I ask, the initial question not too clear. Eekaa hesitantly nods, biting her lip as a deep flush pronounces itself on her cheeks.

Her hand moved from my head to run through her short hair, like she was oddly nervous. The sight was slightly unnerving. She had something else to say but the words must not have been coming to her. “Lon-ger?” She said, the word finally coming into the steamy air.

Thinking about it, I consider for a moment. It wasn’t really a hard decision. “Deal! But you have to tell me more about you, I barely know anything about orcs…” I say, giving Eekaa a challenging look.

Eekaa stalled for the first time since I’ve seen her, her head bobbing like she was surprised I’d say yes at all, mouth wide open. Swallowing, she leaned back and kept smiling at me.

“I very happy. Thank you, Itu-ku.” She said, making sure to get my name correct. A little flustered, I shifted over closer to her, not paying attention to her face, until we were facing with my back half into her side, my head leaning into her body. Her arm found it’s way towards me again, the big green fingers closing in around my shoulder closest her in a half hug.

Careful not to scrape her with my horns, I craned a look up to her, a tit half pressed into my face. “So, whatcha got to tell me?” I curiously prod, enjoying the soft feeling of Eekaa’s body. Eekaa instead hopped up, telling me to be patient and stay. I waited for her as she crossed the bath, heading to the shelf that held the bathing items. She grabbed a hand scrubber and the soap, motioning for me to turn around. I did as she asked, feeling the waves ripple around us as she found her way back into the warm bath.

Starting to apply soap and scrub, she washed my back first, with almost ritual motions. While she carried out these motions, Eekaa opened her mouth to explain her past, “I was child once, very little, big tribe. Big big home. I told I was bad. Parents bad too. Tribe not like us. One day. Tribe says leave…”

I listened as Eekaa told me about her past, and swayed with the orc’s careful but firm movements. She seemed to have been born into a family, her tribe having kicked them out and beat her parents badly. She said she came to the city with her parents, and like many unfortunate souls, had struggled to grow up. Thankfully, her family was tough and had survived the ordeal, but I noticed that there was a bit of sadness in her voice when mentioning them.

She had eventually gotten older, and worked among the city, generally working as any form of muscle like most rogue orcs. Her parents, having been **** to work the same way, eventually ended up where it logically led, a grave somewhere, peacefully at rest. It had been years however since she’d thought of them, the work and city keeping her busy enough.

Eekaa was a woman of strength through and through. She survived and even learned to thrive in this city. “One day, I strong, I leave city. I find clan. I face elder. I tell him, his clan weak. My blood strong. They make mistake.” She says, tensing up a little behind me. She tells me of how she managed to put them in their place. They were as weak as she had thought, their strongest being a challenge, but not a hard one. It was tradition to beat an orc leader in a physical clash of pride after all.

She then continued to do the same to the next three heads of the clan, each one being weaker, slower, dumber or all of the three than she was. Of course, being a female, they had rejected her again anyway. They would never let her blood back into the clan, nor teach her their culture. She had decided however, that she didn’t need them. It was on her way back, that she had found Ituku at the gate, my tiny self struggling to get through the people.

“I surprised I help you. It feel right. I need new thing. Put weak clan behind me.” She says, looking down to me, meeting my teary eyes.

Many people confuse orcs for unintelligent trolls, or belligerent ogres, who’s speech is exactly what they’re thinking, but I could tell through her broken speech that she was saying more. It wasn’t far from a marriage proposal considering she just shared her life’s story with me. “After all that, you think you want to dedicate yourself to me?” I ask, getting up to turn around, standing just a little taller than her sitting down.

Eekaa nodded, something in her Orcish language quietly escaping her mouth, emotion held back in her eyes. I could have guessed what it meant without an explanation and didn’t hesitate to support her. We hugged immediately, her strong arms closing in a relaxed relief.

“I live life with you, I not look back.” She whispered for me.