I stand in front of the shower.
"Gasard!" I call out.
"Come in!" comes his response, to which I follow without a moment's hesitation.
Gasard stands under the cold water. He leans against the wall with his hands. He is only wearing the pants he wore in the workspace. Here, I can clearly see to which race he belongs. His hair shines in an extreme red under this light. His eyes are closed, while his face reveals how he enjoys the cool water.
It's understandable. In the workspace, he worked on machines that heat up everything in the vicinity strongly. Even I am sweaty under my clothes.
But something else catches my attention here that I didn't notice in the orange light of the workspace. There are a few wounds on his bare upper body. Some of them seem almost healed, but two are fresh. Plus, there are some scars.
"Looks pretty bad, huh?" Gasard suddenly says. There's a nice smile on his lips, and his red eyes look at me kindly.
Nodding, I put his things on a dry spot in the shower.
"That's just how it is when you're the best friend of the hated Emperor and, on top of that, belong to a race that is despised," he explains, his gaze taking on a heavy sadness. I feel sorry for him. "But what can you do!"
Gasard pushes away from the wall and approaches me.
"Normally, someone like me has no business in a prison like the Death Zone. Living dangerously, I suppose!"
I scrutinize him with my gaze.
Once again, the question crosses my mind why Kaia complained about his figure. What I see can only be described with a 'Wow.'
His body is well-built, but not overly muscular, just beautiful. Secretly, many women who encounter him probably wish he would hold them in his muscular arms.
I hope he doesn't use his strength to read my thoughts. But I remember Kaia saying something along those lines the day before, he doesn't use his powers.
"Janine, dear," Gasard interrupts my daydream. He laughs as he continues. "Please turn around and take a few steps forward until you're in the dark. I'm shy when it comes to undressing in front of women I'm not yet familiar with, or in your case, more like girls."
Shy but direct.
With a deep red face, I leave the shower.
Before Nora can say anything, I do: "He's quite a guy!" I sigh, leaning against the wall next to her.
Nora looks at me curiously. "How come you're always surrounded by such guys?"
I can only shrug. Although... with so many good-looking men around here... who would be surprised?
"And what did he mean earlier?" Nora's next question comes.
I have an idea of what she means. But what can I answer her? That the man who oversees everything here has the silly idea of eventually having a child with me? Instead, I say, "His best friend has something like that in mind. But I don't even know him." I groan loudly, my gaze drifting to the floor.
What he's thinking and whether what he said is true, I wonder.
Thinking about torsos reminds me that I still have to convey something to Gasard.
I push away from the wall and step to the door.
"Gasard," I call into the room.
"Feel free to come back in!" comes the reply from inside. I immediately follow the invitation.
He has changed his clothes, but there's not much more on than in the workspace. His clothes from the workspace and the clean jacket lie on a dry spot next to him. In the tin is an ointment which he spreads on his wounds.
"I'm supposed to tell you that Torsos wants to talk to you," I follow the request of the man from earlier.
Gasard laughs loudly at the words. "Knowing that guy, he probably broke something, and I have to fix it."
He closes the tin and turns to me. "Do you want to shower too?" Something I immediately answer with a nod. A cold shower sounds good to me.
"Can I borrow something from you in the meantime?" Even though I don't understand what he means, I nod again.
Gasard comes towards me, takes my arm in his hands, and then pulls up the sleeve of the shirt so that the bracelet is no longer covered by the fabric. What follows next, I can only follow with a puzzled look.
His fingers wander over the bracelet. As he presses on a few of the stones, after the last stone, the bracelet opens and falls into his hands.
I didn't notice it, it was way too fast. While Gasard takes his things and then leaves the shower, I watch him go.