Lucas was sitting back straight before a mirror with his upper body naked and comfortable gray pants below. Even then however, he wasn't able to look at his reflection since Estrella was standing before him. It was always a little weird associating that name to an Asian but whose fault was it that he didn't know Chinese, Japanese, Korean or any other Asian language? At least not his, he believed.
Now he could only let his thoughts wander to avoid focusing on her, even if she was not wearing anything outrageous, just a long sleeve slim fit cut out tops one shoulder t-shirt. But some things didn't need to be put on display. So, adding the soft smell of her perfume, he could only relax himself to not let his heart get carried away.
'Is she wearing a bra beneath or not? I'm confused.'
What he didn't see was the smile Estrella had on her lips. Maybe she was becoming more expressive with her emotions. Just a little more.
Before Lucas' gaze could wander lower than the abdomen before him, his eyes abruptly narrowed as he tensed his muscles without stiffening up as if instead of panicking, he was getting ready to fend off a threat.
That reaction made Estrella pause her action of bringing the scissors close to the hair she proposed to help Lucas cut. She waited for him to relax before resuming and as she started, she remarked in a soft almost soothing voice:
"You have trust issues."
Seeing him be indifferent, she prodded:
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"It's not..."
Stopping himself to say possibly hurtful abrasive words in a defense mechanism to hide, he thought better.
"I have always hated having what could threaten me close. I don't know how those who let barbers put a blade on their jugular stay calm. Just a well timed pressure is all it would take to lose more than just their beard."
A few moments of silence interspersed with the noise of the scissors closing on the hair and the latter softly falling to the ground almost inaudibly.
"I understand but I doubt that is all."
"My reaction was that exaggerated?" Lucas asked with a wry smile.
"As if you were about to plunge a blade in my stomach."
"... But you didn't react defensively."
As he seemed to understand something from the silence he got as an answer, Lucas exhaled.
"When I grew up, we were poor. I was quite intelligent and without anyone to guide me into channeling that gift toward an objective, I started thinking too much. Considering causes and effects was my cup of tea. Thinking about how in case of an accident there would not be money to take care of the consequences. Having fun with the others, will my parents have the money for the hospital and the cast in case of a fracture? Would I be amputated because I was not taken care of sooner due the lack of money? What about after that? That was just one example, so better be careful because there was nothing to fall back on."
The calming atmosphere between them seemed to isolate them from the world and the noises of the city.
"And when I looked death in the face, close enough to count its nasal hair... I was not supposed to come back. I guess it left me something to overcome. I might be more fearless if I could regenerate from wounds or better yet, from lost limbs."
Feeling the deprecating emotion from Lucas, Estrella made a joke:
"Why not from nuclear bombs?"
"Haha... Indeed, that would be better."
"Will that be the objective of the next baptism?"
"Huh?"
"As you said, in gaming terms, you got agility in the desert, defense in the south pole and strength in the Mariana trench. You are lacking vitality and intelligence only. The first for stamina or regeneration and the second for magic, maybe, or control?"
Lucas was shocked, and he showed it since his guard was not as raised against her as in the beginning. With his eyes widened, he thought:
'She basically guessed the old man's hints.'
On that certain piece of forgotten paper, when Lucas spread it in the Sahara, he saw written in English:
"Search the opposite, cushion the extremes, inject life within then ground it for control."
For the first hint, "search the opposite", he found it in Antarctica. As for the second, he just came back from the sea. Liquids have always been used to cushion different elements by taking advantage of their different characteristics. Taking the context and some other considerations into account, he made the trip down there and came back changed, as if compressed, to make things compact and function together better.
And she was not wrong in the possible effects of the last two hints. The logic was sound. She might have gotten her affirmation from his expression as she produced the little smile that had been her trademark these days once again.
"So, where are we going next?"
Lucas shook his head calmly:
"The objective will change for the foreseeable future."
"The call from last night?"
Lucas rolled his eyes:
"Did you work as a spy before? You seem to know everything I do."
"No comment."
"Tch. Not amnesiac anymore?"
She had the audacity to laugh at him. Not wanting him to sulk like a child, she changed the subject:
"So was it a friend?"
He glared at her, as if to say 'I know what you are doing'.
"No. I don't have that kind of greedy vicious fox among my few friends. That guy is the type to sell his own daughter in the pursuit of his own interest."
Nonplused, Estrella asked:
"Did he offend you?"
Lucas had the illusion that the temperature dropped a little.
"No, but the one job I did for him allowed me to understand a bit about him."
"Why did you call him then?" Estrella asked in a normal tone of voice.
"I need some information."
"Let me guess: you didn't get it."
"He wants me to do something for him as a payment first."
"I'm not surprised. And... done."
Estrella left his front to allow him a view of the mirror. What he saw made Lucas raise an eyebrow:
"If I didn't doubt what a hairdresser would do in the cold south pole, I would say that was your previous job."
His new haircut was short but neat. It framed his face well and brought out a certain temperament: handsome and easygoing. He must say that for the first time having that much hair, he was not disappointed by how it helped his already handsome appearance.
"Don't fall in love. So, where are we going?"
Estrella brought him out of his admiration for himself with a calm indifference. He smiled as she finished tidying up the tools she used:
"Crimea. Are you coming?"
"I said 'we'. Wherever you are going, I will go."
Lucas only smiled as he watched her leave to go back to her own loft, appreciating how nicely she filled up her leggings.