Heishi didn’t know how to respond to that.
A-Ka felt that the longer he went on, the more he dug himself into this pit, so he just shut up and set himself back down quietly behind Heishi.
Then, in the darkness, Heishi spoke. “You can treat me like your gege.”
“Thank you, Heishi,” A-Ka said, comforted. From behind, he hugged Heishi’s waist and turned his head, resting it against his sturdy, powerful back.
“I will protect you,” Heishi said, “but only you.”
A-Ka murmured in agreement, and he fell asleep in the fragrance of a sea of flowers.
It was the most comfortable night of sleep he’d had since they had left the City of Steel, and it wasn’t until the sunlight came shining through the window that the sound of knocking woke him. He thought he’d only slept for a few short minutes, but Heishi had already gone off somewhere or other. A faint whiff of his scent still clung to the blankets.
“The pontiff requests your presence in the Hall of Faith to partake in the midday meal,” a young archbishop said very politely. “Please bathe first, as there is some time left. Clean clothes have been placed here.”
A-Ka nodded. “O-okay.”
Inspecting his new clothes, A-Ka found that they consisted of a simple set of technician’s pants and a jacket. With that, he undressed and padded through the room before pushing open an inner door to the bathing room, only to find that the large bathing pool had already been fully filled with water so hot there was steam rising off it.
A-Ka stepped into the bathing pool, only to tread on something soft, which led to him uttering a loud shout. “Aah!”
He was so startled that he jumped, only to fall back into the water and swallow a mouthful of it. Then, he felt someone grab his wrist and pull him into an embrace, startling him a second time—and it was Heishi?!
“What?” Heishi asked impatiently.
A-Ka was still jittery from shock. “Wh-why are you here?”
“I’m bathing,” Heishi said, like it was obvious.
His hair had grown much longer since A-Ka first met him, and when it was wet, the strands stuck to his forehead. As he stood up, he hugged A-Ka in his powerful arms, and A-Ka could feel how sturdy his muscles really were. Their warm skin pressed together as Heishi placed A-Ka at the edge of the pool.
“You wash first…” A-Ka said, still a little out of it.
“Why don’t you just come in?” Heishi asked.
A-Ka stared at Heishi as the latter rose from the water, walking to get the soap. Finally, A-Ka’s brain put the pieces together: Before, Heishi had been lying in the water, but A-Ka hadn’t seen him at all, and with his clumsy step he had trod on Heishi’s thigh…well, the part at the top of his thigh.
“I can do it myself,” A-Ka insisted.
Still, he couldn’t resist sneaking glances at Heishi. His physique was beautifully complete, just like a human built with the Golden Ratio in mind. He had just the right amount of muscle in all the right places. His height was also exactly six feet, the epitome of the ideal human. His physique was more well-proportioned than a clone’s, and compared to those mass-manufactured beings, Heishi had an air of warmth that was unique to humanity. It was clear from the male scent that clung to his skin and the feeling his heat imparted to those around him.
“Were you created according to the Golden Ratio model?” A-Ka asked.
“I don’t know,” Heishi said. “But I can confirm that my father’s features and physique were different from mine.”
“I feel that the Creator must have liked humans.” A-Ka smiled. “Or it was even partial to them, which is why it made you in the shape of humans.”
“Perhaps,” Heishi replied. “But I cannot say whether or not my father’s world also experienced this era of humans.”
“It should have.”
A-Ka had begun to feel that humans were an extraordinary species. The way they experienced their joy or rage, along with their intelligence, set them apart from other living beings. Perhaps it was precisely because the Creator was partial to humans that Heishi was friendly toward them. At the very least, his interactions with them were different from his interactions with the clones.
Sitting in the warm water with his legs up, A-Ka hugged his knees. He and Heishi each rested quietly at one end of the bathing pool. A-Ka had a strong urge to lean on him. He’d enjoyed the feeling of leaning against Heishi’s body to sleep the night before. His back was just like a father’s back: broad and dependable. Though A-Ka had never had a father, he got that sense from Heishi.
“Can I hug you?” A-Ka asked.
Heishi said nothing, and A-Ka realized it would be a little awkward. This sudden, strange desire made him smile. “Um, just joking. Don’t take me seriously.”
To A-Ka’s surprise, Heishi said, “All right, come over.”
He opened his arms, and A-Ka scooted his way. The two of them came into contact in the warm water. A-Ka shivered a little, and when his fingers touched Heishi’s arm, he couldn’t help pulling them away. But Heishi grabbed A-Ka’s hand and tugged it back, letting A-Ka press that hand against his chest.
Where A-Ka’s hand lay, he felt a heart that pounded rhythmically, its beats both powerful and firm. This was the first time A-Ka had touched someone else’s body like this, and an unfamiliar feeling rose in his heart. His breathing quickened as he stroked Heishi’s muscular arm in the water. His shoulders, arms, abdomen, and legs were being caressed by the slick sensation of flowing water, but his muscles remained firm and powerful.
A-Ka drew closer to Heishi, hugging his waist and leaning on his body. They pressed together, naked—and in that instant, A-Ka felt a sudden, unexpected feeling of safety, as if he had found some sort of a home to return to in his life.
“Father,” A-Ka murmured.
Heishi didn’t speak. This was the second time that A-Ka had sensed something like this. The last time was in the depths of Father’s thoughts, when he had been facing that silhouette of light.
A-Ka’s breathing almost stopped. “It’s Father…”
Heishi responded quietly, “You’ve felt it.” A-Ka raised his head in disbelief, but Heishi reached out a hand to pet his hair. “This was bestowed by the Father of All Things, and through my male hormones, my heartbeat, and the flow of blood, it has the effect of calling to humans.”
“What is it used for?” A-Ka murmured while watching Heishi’s eyes.
“It doesn’t have any use,” Heishi said. “It’s just a scent that he left on my body. It has nothing to do with me.”
“Will you let me hold onto you like this for a while?” A-Ka asked.
“I will.”
A-Ka hugged him, and Heishi pulled his arms to the side and leaned slightly back. Placing his elbows against the side of the tub, he allowed A-Ka to lie in his embrace like a newborn infant. A moment later, Heishi dabbed a little flower balm from the nearby scent box onto his palm and spread it on A-Ka’s skin. Wrapping one arm around A-Ka, Heishi next pressed his other hand against the back of A-Ka’s neck.
At Heishi’s touch, A-Ka’s heart filled with peace. He didn’t say anything, merely enjoyed Heishi’s warm palm rubbing over his neck and back. Eventually, Heishi spread the flower balm all over A-Ka’s body.
A moment later, Heishi sat up, his arms still around A-Ka, and shifted so that A-Ka was sitting with his back to Heishi’s chest.
A-Ka’s breathing quickened, and his skin grew bright red as he leaned, gasping with sudden harshness, against Heishi’s body. Something seemed to be sprouting in his heart. Methodically, Heishi cleansed A-Ka’s entire body. When he was finished, he ran his fingers through A-Ka’s bangs.
“Thank you,” A-Ka breathed. He felt a little woozy, so it was good when Heishi lifted him up out of the water.
“As blood rushes upward, it’s easy to get dizzy,” Heishi said.
With that, he carried A-Ka out of the bathing room, then tossed him some clothes, letting him put them on as he put on his own.
When they left the side room, traces of that warm feeling were still left in the depths of A-Ka’s heart. He turned his head to look at Heishi and reached for his hand. Heishi let his fingers relax and accepted the gesture. When they came to the end of the hallway, Heishi curled his fingers slightly, squeezing A-Ka’s hand as he pushed open the door.
Music began to sound. Within the large golden hall, Moran was administering some treatment to Percy’s eyes, but when he heard the music, he lifted his head and smiled.
“We welcome you, Son of God.”