The chir of the cicadas was an unbroken drone in the early evening
heat. Kurama was slick with sweat and wished fervently for a breeze to stir
the heavy summer air that hung in the room as he ground the flowers and
soap root into a paste. He doubted Hiei was going to be pleased with the
aroma he woke up with, but floral was a million times better than the smell
of a Makai cess pool. Genkai had gotten one whiff of Hiei from where she
stood in the door to the temple when he and Kuwabara had straggled back
with their unconscious burdens and sent them to the old bath house that was
tucked away in a corner of the temple grounds as Keiko and Yukina rushed
out to fuss over Yuusuke and Kuwabara.

	He stood slowly and a little shakily, tired and aching all over and
feeling every one of the years this human frame hadn't known. There was a
delicate cough and he glanced over to see the diminutive old Master
standing in the doorway, a pile of towels in her arms.

	"Are you all right?" Eyes undimmed by age raked over him,
calculating and concerned.

	"I've been better," he answered with a small smile and a shrug.

	"Need help?" she offered as she brought the pile in and placed it
on the stone bench that ran the circuit of the room, then turned those
hard, bright eyes on the young demon that lay on the floor.

	"No. Thank-you anyway, Genkai Sensei."

	He gave her a small bow which she accepted with a smile and a
shrug, then turned and left.

	He headed for the larger of the two baths in the building. The
smaller one was empty, but this one was always filled with cold spring
water that bubbled up from the bottom. It overflowed on the far side into a
spillway which fed the ornamental brook which ran through the Temple
grounds. He squatted and filled the shallow bowl with water and stirred the
contents into a thick lather as he went back to Hiei. He knelt next to him
and a soft smile touched his mouth as he debated whether to start from the
top and work his way down, or start at the bottom and work his way up.

	All three of Hiei's eyes snapped open and he tensed and thrashed
weakly as Kurama was working on scrubbing his shoulders.

	"Easy, easy..." Kurama soothed.

	Hiei focused on him and scowled, but relaxed under Kurama's hands.
His friend looked terrible. One whole side of his face was a bruise and
Hiei could see others on his chest and shoulders around gashes covered with
a clear film of healing sap. He told him so.

	"You look like shit!"

	"At least I don't smell like it," Kurama answered with a gleam in
his eye.

	Hiei growled, half in anger, half in pleasure. What was Kurama
doing to him? It felt...good.

	"I can't believe that asshole though he could drown me in a cess
pool. When I die, it isn't going to be in demon shit. What are you doing?"

	"Washing you. You're filthy."

	Hiei started to try to sit up and growled as his body slowly and
shakily attempted to obey. Kurama pushed him back down with one firm
forefinger planted in the center of his chest.

	"Don't. You were poisoned, remember? It'll be a while before it
clears your system."

	"Yuusuke?" Hiei asked with gruff concern.

	Both he and Yuusuke had been in the path of those tiny poisoned
needles.

	"He's all right. Now, just relax and let me get this done."

	Hiei didn't have much of a choice, so he did. He closed his eyes
and wondered why it was that having someone else wash his body felt
so...good? It never felt like this when he washed himself. And when Kurama
did his hair! That felt wonderful! Arms slipped under his knees and
shoulders.

	"Hiei, help a little, would you?"

	Hiei put his arms around a Kurama's neck with a growl and a scowl.
He despised being this helpless! Though he wouldn't have gotten washed
otherwise, but that wasn't enough to out way the danger this weakness put
him in...thoughts of his own self vanished as he realized how much effort
it took for Kurama to lift him.

	"Are you all right?" he questioned as his friend reached the side
of the sunken basin with shaky steps.

	"Hn."

	Hiei frowned up at his friend as Kurama stepped down onto the seat.
Kurama grinned down at him though he could see the effort and weariness
behind it. Then they were in the water, Kurama letting out an appreciative
sigh as he settled onto the floor, Hiei half sitting, half floating on his
lap.

	"Lean back, Hiei."

	"Why?" Hiei responded suspiciously.

	"So I can get the soap out of your hair. Just float, I won't let
you go under."

	Hiei sat tense and still on his lap and gave him a baleful stare.
Kurama lifted his eyebrows and smiled.

	"You do know how to float, don't you?"

	Hiei added an unhappy frown to the stare. Kurama gave a small huff
of amusement and Hiei suddenly found himself prone in the water. He
thrashed in surprise as Kurama's laughed, "Hiei, just relax!" echoed off
the tiles. He stopped when he discovered he was supported by one of
Kurama's knees in the small of his back, one between his shoulder blades
and one of Kurama's arms behind his neck. The rest of him was heavy under
the water.

	"Hiei, the key to floating is to relax. Try it. You might just like
it," Kurama suggested as he shook the splash droplets off of his hair.

	Hiei knew that Kurama wasn't going to drop him and he wasn't going
to almost drown...again. But still, water wasn't his element...just relax.
Hn. How? He had spent his lifetime learning how not to ever relax. Kurama's
fingers were in his hair again, rubbing gently, soothing and not at the
same time. He let himself enjoy that sensation and committed it to memory
since he was sure it would never happen again and didn't realize when his
limbs drifted up.

	Kurama smiled as he glanced down and saw that Hiei's body had
started to react to the attention of his hands. He knew he was in no shape
to play, but still...

	Kurama's hand drifted down the back of his neck and he...shivered?
He didn't really have time to figure it out. Kurama's hand moved to push
water onto his stomach, then pushed it off with light a brush and every
inch of his skin tightened. He swallowed hard, awash in these new
sensations as Kurama's hand followed his hip and went down his thigh to his
knee firmly, then came back up with his fingers just brushing the hairs
there. It sent wonderful tingles to join the feeling that was focusing
between his hips.

	"Hiei," Kurama's voice whispered in his ear, "guess what?"

	"Hn."

	"You've got an erection."

	Hiei's eyes flew open to lock on Kurama's amused green ones. He
lifted his head and looked down the length of his body and blinked all
three eyes as Kurama's fingers brushed along it's length. His body jerked
of it's own accord as a jolt of pleasure sang through him.

to be continued...