"You like ze sauna, ya?" Roderick did not know if he liked ze sauna, but based on massage and hot tub he figured that Bibi was two for two. Also, he figured that whatever a sauna was, odds were that Bibi would do it vizout ze clothes. It was a chance worth taking.
"Um...sure."
Bibi smiled and led him down to the basement, to a cedar-paneled room lined with hooks. She pointed to the hooks. "For ze clothings, ya?" Roderick nodded. So far, so good.
Roderick undressed quickly. Bibi was already undressed, with a towel wrapped around her waist. She handed him a towel. "To protect ze...how do you say it in English...private parts, ya?" Roderick thought it was a good idea to protect one's private parts, although he was curious from what they might need protection. Also, he was disappointed to see that Bibi was partially covered, though he had to admit that the view above the towel was stunning, and quite sufficient to keep him engaged for the moment.
"Okay", said Bibi, grasping Roderick by the hand. "Ve go inside now." She led him through a cedar door and into a small cedar-paneled room. There were wooden benches all around except in the far corner, where there was a bin filled to the brim with rocks. Hot rocks, as it turns out.
The heat was overwhelming.
Roderick looked at Bibi with an "Okay, now what do we do?" look, but Bibi was already reclining on the bench, eyes closed, her towel spread out on the bench to either side, so she was completely exposed. Getting the general idea, Roderick sat on the bench opposite Bibi and let his towel slip partially to either side, but not quite. He felt like he could get to like this nudity thing, but one step at a time. Also, he kept his eyes open, as the view of Bibi was, to say the least, riveting.
"You help me with English, ya?". Roderick readily agreed. Actually, Bibi's English is excellent, but he figured some personal tutoring couldn't hurt. Daily tutoring, in the sauna, perhaps, followed by hot tub.
They were sweating profusely. Bibi stretched twice, like a dancer, first to the left and then to the right. Roderick thought his head would explode.
"In Sveden, after sauna ve run through ze snow and spank skin vith birch tvigs!", said Bibi. Roderick thought that he would be more than happy to spank Bibi, with or without birch tvigs, at any time, but he wasn't sure about the snow part. He was pretty sure he did not want to be the spankee.
They departed the sauna and dressed, Roderick in his snazzy white Oxford button-down shirt, khaki dockers and loafers; Bibi in an armless green plaid shirt, jeans and sneakers without laces.
Mrs. Ericson invited Roderick to dinner. Mr. Ericson sat at one end of the table, Jock Ericson on the other, Mrs. Ericson on one side, Bibi and Roderick on the other side. Dinner consisted of what looked like cured fish, a pancakey thing with pork and red jam, and a clear liquid that Mr. Ericson poured from a fancy bottle with great ceremony. The fish was..interesting, the pancakey thing tasty when covered with the red jam, and the clear liquid reminded Roderick of the cleaning fluid Mr. Armstrong uses on the canoes when they get really, really dirty.
After dinner, Bibi led Roderick into the living room. "You like massage, ya?"
Roderick like.
Afterwards, they sat on the porch. It was a lovely summer night, rather cool. Bibi curled catlike next to Roderick, undid her braids and rebraided them. Roderick felt completely relaxed.
They sat quietly on the porch and chatted about different things. Bibi wanted to know about life in Beauneville, about Roderick's friends, and about Beauneville Latin. Roderick inquired about life in Sweden.
Around ten o'clock, Bibi offered to demonstrate the composting toilet; Roderick thanked her, and declined.
