Indefatigable

"Hold her steady!"

"That's what I'm trying to do!"

"Try harder, then!"

My arms faltered as a big animal used up all of her strength on resisting us. I did my best to hold her in place, but with a single swing of her enormous paw, she moved us away. 

In an attempt to clean her, Fiona jumped on her back and poured some soapy water on it. When the feline felt the liquid coating her fur, she began to shake violently, causing the girl to fall on the floor and make a mess with the water bucket.

The water spilled everywhere, drenching both Fiona's and my clothes. As soon as she came in contact with the ground, she let out a high pitched yell due to both the pain and the coldness of the water. Everyone around us(cats included) ignored us as we struggled to bathe this one cat. We didn't have such a hard time with the others, but this lioness was a whole nother story.

"I hate you" I whispered to the big feline before letting go of her and rushing to help Fiona up. Since my clothes were entirely soaked, a feeling of disgust washed over me as I pulled the girl up. The problem itself wasn't the fact that I was wet, the problem was that my clothes were sticking on my skin.

"Not even a thank you?" I mumbled as I held her arms from behind and pulled her up. For some reason, as I was helping her up, her face moved to the side, like she was trying to avoid me. Since she probably did that out of pure embarrassment from falling off of the lioness, I decided not to say anything about it and just help her to get back on her feet.

Once Fiona was standing up, I placed my hand on the top of her head and moved it so we were both watching the lioness, who was grooming herself in a corner a few metres away from us. At first I suggested that we'd give up because, after all, big felines (and felines in general, actually) aren't supposed to take baths, but after taking a look at all of the other cats that we had already bathed, a feeling of dissatisfaction took over my body. Even if giving up was a viable option, doing so would mean that all of our efforts and all the time that we spent on cleaning them up, would turn into a big waste.

We began to exchange opinions and suggestions on how to proceed about this particular feline, and it was during that, that a pair of hands surrounded my stomach and fidgetted along my wet shirt with their fingers. The moment I saw those hands and took a glimpse of their nails, I immediately knew who they belonged to.

"Good morning, Lyra," I grunted while patting her forearms. At the sound of my voice, she giggled and snuggled against my back, planting some soft kisses before reaching the back of my neck. Due to her size being smaller compared to mine, I was able to cover up her doings behind me, but I still felt awkward doing something like that in front of Fiona, even if the only thing she could look at was her "hugging me".

"Hey, don't forget Fiona's here" I laughed sarcastically before kicking her calf with the back of my feet, "Why don't you go and hug her too?". Once she noticed the 'company' that we had, she immediately ceased all of her doings and walked out from cover (my back). Then, she went up to where Fiona was and squeezed her, causing her clothes to leak some of the soapy water on the ground.

At the feeling of soaked fabric, she awkwardly walked back a few steps in an odd position and checked up on us. Up until that moment, she hadn't realized that we were completely drenched, and that the minimum contact with us would make her wet too.

"How can you guys do it?" Lyra inquired while taking a piece of my shirt and unsticking it from my skin, "I would have taken these off as soon as they got wet if I were you". The moment we heard her question, Fiona and I exchanged looks and then judged Lyra with them.

"Maybe because it'd be pointless to change clothes?" the girl questioned rhetorically.

"Yeah…" I added, "Why change if we're gonna get soaked while trying to bathe her again?"

Lyra raised an eyebrow at our responses and then frowned, poking our ribs at the same time with her fingernails before speaking. "Are you guys for real? At least take the top off." she suggested while steadily staring at my eyes, "That way, moving to clean the kitty won't be so difficult."

She positioned herself behind me and, with much effort, she moved my arms up. Because of how much the fabric was stuck to my skin, 99% of the effort she made was the strength she needed to move my limbs around. "See? This is really difficult, isn't it?"

Fiona and I weren't really convinced by her words, but the argument about moving easier was a solid one, so her hordes began to take an effect on us. When I went to put my hands on the hem of my shirt to remove it, I realized that Lyra was still holding my arms up. I tried to remove her hands so I could properly take my garment off, but just like she did on my clothes before, she began to fidget her fingertips on my skin.

I averted my attention towards Fiona, not wanting to get caught by her, but both Lyra and I caught on almost at the same time that she was struggling to take her shirt off. I felt relieved by the fact that she wasn't seeing us, but I also 'feared' for my life after realizing what that meant for Lyra.

Her attack became bolder and more shameless as her hands went down my body, going all the way from my arms towards my waist. From time to time, she checked on Fiona, hoping that she would take as long as possible, and everytime it looked like she got it only to end up failing, Lyra took the chance to tease me. 

Honestly, I can't say much against this. After all, it was me who was allowing her to do whatever she wanted without ever backing down…