An intimate bath

[You are quite sweaty, Callum], said Phaedra, [I think we ought to bathe you. Don't you agree?]

"...Yes, Phaedra," he said after a moment, looking up at her. Phaedra could smell his sweat. Although she didn't want to admit it, she rather liked his scent. Nevertheless, the process of bathing him would help her learn more about his anatomy and reaction to various stimuli, as well as his grooming habits. Additionally, having him in a relaxed state was key to creating emotional openness. Even when you read minds, you still need people to relax to really peer into the depths of their being.

Also, she'd get to lather him up and shave off the silly little bit of blonde pubic hair that was all he had. He was abnormally hairless for a male human, but he had a bit over his groin and some on his armpits, and Phaedra wanted him bald below the neck so she could run her tongue over every square centimeter of that adorable, hairless little — for research, thank you very much. With her tongue. Tongue research. Yes, precisely.

Phaedra shook her head and blinked her eyes. Goodness, where was she? Ah, yes, to the baths. She walked briskly down the hall to the bath. A door spiraled open and she headed into the bath. It was another circular room, with a circular tub in the center. The tub was deep enough for Phaedra to stand in and had a seat where she could sit so that the water came up to her breasts. She could adjust the floor height so that Callum could stand, and perhaps she would do so, but it would be much better if he had to depend on her to stay above water. It would build trust, and also be quite cute.

She stepped into the tub and, at her psychic command, it began to fill with water from vents in the sides. Phaedra sat down on the soft red seat, and waited as the water came up to her breasts. With Callum sitting on her lap, facing away from her, the water came up to his chin.

Callum sighed as the steaming water rose up to his neck. It felt so good to be surrounded by such warmth. Instinctively, he relaxed, the poor, hurting muscles in his legs loosening and his head reclining back against Phaedra's large breasts. She was still wearing her clothing, but her soft boobs made a nice pillow for his head. He closed his eyes and nearly wanted to sleep, but he was well-rested and didn't want to miss anything, especially the steam rising from the water or the feeling of Phaedra's big, soft body. He squeaked when he suddenly felt her hands on his shoulders, rubbing him almost hard enough to hurt but not quite. Her hands moved down his arms, to his legs, squeezing and rubbing his thighs. After rubbing the tension out of his small body with firm, deep strokes that loosened the muscle, she put her arms around his waist and rested them on his stomach, rubbing his belly a little.

[Callum,] she said, [Would you be comfortable answering some personal questions?]
"Yes, Phaedra," he said softly, eyes closed, reclining against her rack. His hands were folded in his lap and her arms gently squeezed him, making him feel safe and secure, ensconced in warmth.
[Callum, I noticed some scars on your forearm. They are small and round. Would you mind telling me about the origin of those?]
She felt a sudden wave of anxiety from him, the psychic equivalent of a frightened whimper. There was a brief flash of some kind of memory, but it was quickly hidden. Phaedra frowned. There were two ways to go about this. She could dig into his mind and recover the memory whether he liked it or not, which would be very unpleasant for him. Easily within her abilities, as an Executrix Adept of the Third Order, but not nice for him. Or, she could convince him to open up.
[You don't have to tell me, Callum. But it is very important for my research into your physiology and psychology. Just remember that I am not like the human females you have interacted with. You will not be rejected or judged for anything you reveal to me.]
Callum shifted uncomfortably in her lap. She felt on of his small hands timidly touch her own, and she interlaced her fingers with his and squeezed his hands gently. There was an increase of tension in his body. His back straightened and his breathing and heart rate increased. He said nothing. There was an emanation of fear from him. He wanted to tell her, but couldn't because of the fear.
[This is a safe place, Callum. You will not be hurt. I will not hurt you, and I will not allow anyone or anything to hurt you. You're safe.]
She felt his tiny hand squeeze hers in what was a ****-grip to him but a gentle squeeze to her. His little shoulders shook.
"My... Step-mom..." he said, his voice shaking.

A series of images went through Phaedra's mind. An angry female face. Screaming, cursing, verbal ****. And cigarettes. The round, red cherry of a cigarette, like a burning eye, pressed into the flesh of his forearm. Phaedra felt his pain, the memory of a loud scream, and tears in the dark. For a moment she felt some rage of her own, and a fervent desire to find that abusive bitch and strangle her with psychic hands just to watch her eyes bulge and bleed.

[She burned you?] asked Phaedra.

Callum stared at the water, tears collecting in his eyes. After all these years, he had never told anyone. He'd just kept all of this locked away inside. Nobody had ever asked. The few times he had tried to bring it up, even with a counselor at his school, he'd just been shut down. Nobody cared. But Phaedra did. The tears overflowed and he sobbed.

[Come here, Callum. Face me,] said Phaedra's gentle voice. He turned around on her lap and faced toward her, straddling her. He buried his face in her shoulder, folding his arms in front of himself and shivering, even in the warmth of the water. More memories came flooding through his mind, of beatings and burnings. He shook harder. Maybe Phaedra had said that she wouldn't judge him, but who could possibly love him, seeing how damaged he was? And he did want Phaedra to love him, desperately. She wouldn't love him, though. She'd likely turn this ship around and dump his stupid ass back by the pond on Earth. Why had he even bothered to tell her? There was no chance, now, that she would keep him or think he was normal. He was garbage. Not even worth studying.

[No, Callum. I'm not going to abandon you by the pond. That's horrible and I'm not going to do that to you. You're not garbage, you're not worthless, and you deserve better.]

Phaedra wrapped her arms around him and gently squeezed him against her, letting him cry on her shoulder. Her face, for a moment, looked infuriated. Who could possibly treat such a tender, compliant little person like Callum in such a horrifically cruel way? What had he even done? Forget something trivial? Then she heard his pathetic sobs and her face softened. She rocked him a little, feeling his tiny body shake.

"Y-y-you're going to k-k-k-keep me?" he said, sniffling, and then broke down in tears again. She cradled him in her arms, stroking his hair.

[Yes. Why wouldn't I? And even if you're a subject of research, I believe in treating my subjects ethically. That means no painful procedures without anesthesia and no forcible sexual experiments. I don't do that to my subjects. And I CERTAINLY don't burn them with cigarettes! Nobody on this ship gets burned with a cigarette. Or locked in a tiny closet for hours. Or told that they're worthless. I care about my research subjects and I want them to be happy.]

Phaedra squeezed him tightly against her as she spoke. Callum's tears reached climax and he let out a small cry, pressing himself into her and shaking violently, and then began to wind down. He sniffled a little. Once he had calmed down somewhat, she took his face in her hands and tilted his chin up to look at her. She wiped the tears off of his face and looked at his big blue eyes, wet and sparkling, his wet blonde hair, and his freckled face. He was still shaking a little and trying to hold back the tears and appear strong. Even from sensing the surface level thoughts of his mind, she knew that he was trying to be brave. He still wanted to impress her.

[Don't cry, Callum. I'm taking you with me to a wonderful place that you're going to love. And you're never going to see that old hell of a world again. So please don't cry.]

It was all in the interest of research, of course. Bonding with him in this way would help him open up to her. This would make it easier to do compliant research on him, proving that **** did not need to be used on research subjects. Additionally, she could also carry out research on weapons. She could go back to Earth later, find Callum's stepmother, and test out a heat-ray on her that would slowly cook her alive, and enjoy watching her die. When she thought about that, Phaedra's lip curled derisively and she wrapped her arms protectively around Callum, resting her chin on top of his head.

[It's okay, Callum. You're safe. Everything is going to be okay. I'm a lot scarier than anything from your past.]

After a few minutes, he stopped sniffling, and the storm was over. His seemed a little weak and spent.

"Phaedra?"

[Yes?]

"Do you really care about me?"

[Of course I do. I said that, didn't I?] she said, looking down at him and gently rubbing his upper back. If he had asked her for Earth's moon right then she would have grabbed it with a tractor beam and written his name on it with a mining laser, then towed it back to Alfo Prime, just for him.

He bit his lip, looking down. Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped up and his gaze locked onto hers. He blurted out, "I love you, Phaedra!" Immediately, he felt ashamed. How would she react? Phaedra said nothing, but felt the intense urge to tell him that she loved him, too. But she couldn't. She was still trying to convince herself that he was just a research subject. But that warm, swelling feeling inside her, that intense sense of devotion and protectiveness, had to go somewhere. She took Callum's face in her hands, closed her lips over his, and kissed him. And kept kissing him. He moaned softly into her mouth, feeling her hands run down his body and squeeze his bottom tightly. When the kiss broke, she kissed his face all over: his cheeks, his forehead, the tip of his nose. One of her hands found his and wrapped around it, squeezing it as tightly as she could without hurting him. She lifted his hand from the water and planted a long kiss on the back of it. Callum gasped when she did that. He didn't dare consciously say it, but deep within, he knew what it meant: Phaedra loved him back.

She cupped his cheek with her free hand and smiled down at him.

[This has been such a hard time for you. Perhaps you should take a nap. And if you're not sleepy... I can help you get to sleep. And you still need to be shaved.] she purred seductively.