“How would I even…”

  Joshua looks over the bridge, peering into the deep water.

  Apparently, according to “Mr. Suit”, the signal should be right below them.

  But how does he get down there?

  Opening his inventory, he runs his gaze over the filled slots. He really doesn't want to go underwater, so building downwards isn't really viable.

  …But does he need to?

  Maybe…

  “I guess we can try it…”

  First, he makes a small “entrance” off the side of the bridge. Essentially a wooden ptform made out of sbs that leaves open a 5 block plus shaped gap that opens to the water below.

  A small translucent block of sand hovers at Joshua's palm, and a square outline appears at the spot he focuses on.

  “If this works I might just lose it”

  He pces the sand, and it immediately falls into the dark depths.

  He waits a second…

  Nothing.

  So he pces more.

  And more.

  And… more…

  “Oh this is gonna take a while”

  “Do we h*ve eno*** san*?” Jophiel's voice pings in his mind.

  “I don't think so”

  Joshua hears what he thinks is a sigh through his psychic link.

  After running out of blocks, Joshua decides he's going to have to take time out of the day to get more sand.

  And that means… leaving the safety of his perimeter.

  Fuck.

  …

  “You know what I realized?”

  “Wha*?”

  “We stink”

  Jophiel blinks.

  She takes a curious sniff of herself and scrunches her nose.

  “I-It's no* tha* bad…”

  He raises an eyebrow and takes a break from collecting sand along the coast, they never strayed far from his base.

  Jophiel's ears perk up at a surface thought she picked up, but she only has time to take a half-step back before being swooped up by his arms.

  Joshua brings his nose to the tuft of fur at her “chest” and smells… something.

  “Yeah love, you reek”

  Jophiel sputters, her psychic link fring up in outrage as her hooves gently, yet firmly, push him away.

  “I-I d* NOT!”

  “Girl, neither of us have taken a shower since we got here. That's four days of fucking around in the wilderness, we smell”

  Granted, because this world is a bit “muted”, the sun isn't hot at all. It gave them a bit of leeway, but thats still 4 days of not bathing, they smell sour.

  Jophiel's pride would never allow such an accusation to stand. Her? The honorable White Horse? Incarnation of Incredible Violence and keeper of the Shovel Of Death (she got really upset when the st one broke so he made her a new one)? Gun Horse?

  Her?

  Smelling bad?

  Impossible.

  Joshua can see Jophiel's ears burning up, a bright red hue adoring her face. A mixture of embarrassment, aggravation, denial, and pride swirl like a storm through his link.

  It makes him chuckle that even with all that, it's all very surface level, and there's even a bit of underlying affection (or is that excitement?) that she always seems to have with him.

  “I wonder if I can make soap… what is soap made out of?”

  “...I d* no* know…” His psychic companion huffs.

  Joshua hums and mentally goes over potential recipes. He can't exactly just make anything and the recipe will just appear, he needs the materials and his UI will show him it's a possible craft.

  Annoying.

  He goes back to messing with Jophiel, hoisting up the arm he's holding her in and burying his face into her chest fluff. He's in a good mood, so why not?

  It reminds him of his old plushies.

  She snorts, and does the psychic equivalent of rolling her eyes. But strangely, she doesn't push away. In fact, she actually adjusts her posture so he doesn't have to strain his neck as much.

  It makes him pause for a moment, but only for a moment.

  “I'm surprised you're so chill with this”

  “Why woul**'t I b*?”

  “Last time you pushed me away”

  “...” She chuffs, almost chuckling like there's a joke he's not getting.

  “Wh* on Eart* woul* I not lik* my belov**s attenti**?”

  “...”

  He bnks at that.

  Once again, he is reminded that Jophiel is a very… open individual.

  He can't help but smile at that, it feels… nice. He's never really had someone who cares foe him, aside from his mother.

  His father also loved-loves, but he's a grown man, so he's not very good at showing it.

  Burying his face further into the forest of fluff, Joshua chuckles.

  “You still stink”

  He feels the light tap of a hoof against his skull, and a psychic grumble in his head.

  …

  “Ho-ly shit”

  “Pony…”

  This might be the best thing Joshua has ever created.

  Made out of smooth stone and brick (he found cy earlier), Joshua constructed a rge 3×3 hole in his backyard, filled it with water, and lit a fire underneath it (he has no idea how that works but whatever) and now he has his own rather rge hot tub, also used as a bath of course.

  Joshua sinks into it with an embarrassing sigh of relief, practically feeling his tense muscles be soothed by the warm water. The grime off his body fking away as he sits.

  Jophiel sits beside him, eyes half-lidded and chin deep in the liquid embrace.

  She's probably loving the hell out of this.

  And judging from the psychic link, he's not wrong.

  She perks up slightly as he begins running his fingers through her fur and mane, washing out all the sweat and grime, she leans into his hand with a long sigh.

  “Than* yo*...”

  “You're the one doing my undry, don't want to seem completely useless”

  Her horn is ignited, and he sees his clothes in the corner of his eye floating away with a pink aura enveloping them.

  The rexing air lulls them into a silence, with how stressful these st few days have been, a bath like this is a godsend.

  Literally, actually.

  “Wonder what Gabriel is doing…”

  “Wor*ing o* her hous*...”

  “I'm sure she'd be fine”

  “...” He meets Jophiel's incredulous gaze.

  “Maybe”

  “Mayb*”

  He'll have to check ter, just in case she hadn't spontaneously combusted.

  Gncing over at the holographic screen beside him, he just chuckles at the scrolling messages.

  [StevenStoneOffical: Joshua, you do know this is not censored, correct?]

  [Oh he nakey]

  [AWWWW look at how much he spoils her!!! <3333]

  [Or how SHE spoils HIM. I could never get my Machoke to do undry…]

  [IonoZone: 　?　? ( Д 　) ]

  [Erm. Screenshotted]

  [He can just MAKE a hot tub? This is so unfair…]

  [Can we switch?]

  [You do not want that]

  [There are kids watching Josh!!! Put it away!!!]

  [Taking a bath while watching, he's literally me]

  [Please mind your image]

  “...I get gutted and this is what crosses the line?” He mumbles to himself.

  “Bel*ved?”

  He just moves the screen over to her. With tired eyes she watches the feed.

  She then looks over at him, specifically his body, with a confused look. Her gaze moves even lower, but her psychic link is expressing just a mild confusion.

  “I'm a twig, love, I know”

  “Yo* are fin*” Jophiel says with zero hesitation before her she speaks up again.

  “The* are… pani*king?”

  He almost ughs are her genuinely confused expression.

  “The stream doesn't censor things, I guess. They're freaking out because for them the most ‘adult’ content avaible are like… B-rated ssher films”

  He can see chat in outrage, which is still extremely tame compared to what he's seen in actual Twitch chats.

  “I don* unders**nd…”

  “Forehead”

  Instead of expining, he chooses the faster way and has Jophiel read his brain.

  Immediately after, she grows a concerned, slightly horrified look on her face. But ultimately, she does agree that the Pokemon world is… tame.

  [They did it again?]

  [Really wish he would talk out loud…]

  [I kinda like how quiet it is (　?３?)]

  [I DONT! SPEAK UP!!!]

  [...how are they so casual with telepathy? Isn't that a big deal?]

  [What's a ssher film?]

  “Don* tell them”

  “I won't. But yeah, I'm naked, and the sight of my peener is causing a…” He reads the chat, looking for that one comment that caught him up to what's been happening. “...a regional outrage?” This time he ughs, hard.

  “Wh*t?” He can hear her disbelief.

  “Cultural differences. Nudity is less… loose I guess, compared to my home. It's not like I want to be streamed… annoying”

  Jophiel looks over from the chat, looking him over again before suddenly standing up from the water. Her wet fur drips down rapidly, and her mane clings heavily to her face.

  Then she…

  “Woah!”

  Plops down in Joshua's p, sitting upright and adjusting herself to submerge herself to her chin like before. She doesn't seem to think nothing of it, looking back at the chat with a stoic gaze.

  “Fixed”

  Oh hey! A full word!

  Joshua is frozen for a second, not expecting the sudden intrusion. But he doesn't mind and idly goes back to picking the various loose dirt in her mane.

  “You really don't give a shit, do you?”

  She doesn't answer, and Joshua can't see her face.

  But he knows a smile when he sees it.