Sang the Stray (Completed)

21. Orange Blush

A/n: Gabriel was really impatient to meet Sang. He barged right into the story. I've had Silas' intro chapter outlined for awhile and expected to meet Nathan soon after, but you see how that turned out.
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Gabriel led me to a locker room of sorts, without the lockers. Okay, that doesn't make much sense, but we entered a long room with alcoves along the backside that I could only describe as high-tech showers. Gabriel explained that once inside, I would need to shut and seal the door, then strip and send an activation message to the 'shower' over the Interface, since there were no manual knobs.

"Just toss your clothes over the top of the door," he instructed. "Oy! And make sure to jump when you send the activation command."

Jump?

"And don't freak out."

Was that supposed to help?

"Wait. Don't you wear some sort of....uh...underthings?"

Oh, Mylanta. He wanted me to toss my underwear to him!

In ultimate humiliation, I balled up my panties into my bra and sent them sailing over. It couldn't possibly get worse than that. But, alas....

"So, you like pink, huh?"

I am dying here!

"You sure are quiet in there. Look, I preprogrammed the nanosuit for basic settings. Just give the command when you're ready. I'll be waiting in the hallway."

I squeaked out a thanks in response, then turned my attention to the shower itself. The walls were lined with jets that instead of releasing water, would eject a nanocyte goo. I had closed my eyes before sending the activation and jumping. It felt as weird and yucky as I imagined when Gabriel described the process ahead of time. The goo splattered out all over me, then spread and realigned itself until I was covered from my neck down. The jumping was to allow the nanocytes to enclose the feet. It was finished in a matter of den, but still disconcerting.

I walked out to join Gabriel feeling very self-conscious. This uniform might cover every inch of skin, but displayed every dip and curve of my body. I tried to convince myself that the Setari saw each other outfitted this way all the time, but Gabriel's eyes widening when I came into sight bashed those efforts, and I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Now, quit that and put your arms back down to your sides," he said.

After taking a critical look, he sent me a file with instructions for adjustments. I followed the steps carefully. It was not very technical, just a matter of envisioning changes to be made and then sending that imagery to the nanocytes. The eerie sensation of the nanocytes moving made me shiver slightly, but when I looked in a nearby reflective surface, the changes made me feel better. Minor thickening here and smoothing there left the overall impression of something more conservative. I breathed a sigh of relief and flashed Gabriel a grateful smile.

"No worries, Trouble. Everyone has to make some adjustments the first time. Ha! You should have seen North the first time he stepped out in a nanosuit. Luke, his brother, had programmed his nanocytes to ..." Gabriel paused then stuttered on, "Uh... well...anyway, he had even more adjustments to make."

He then waved for me to follow him towards the residential hall. We came to Kota and Victor's doorway which Gabriel didn't hesitate to open. Instead, he waltzed in and called out, "Hey, [censored language], I need that shampoo I made for Nathan." Then he disappeared into, presumably, Nathan's room.

From the doorway I could see Kota reclined in one of the chairs. He blinked twice, readjusting his attention from the Interface. "Sang, you're awake," he said as he rose and beckoned me inside. "How are you feeling?"

"Still little tired, but better," I replied walking into the sitting area.

"I received a message from Ista Phillips. He said you'll be staying here, but wants you to take it easy for a few days." Kota smiled, then gestured to my uniform. "I see Gabriel got you outfitted. If you like, we can spend some time practicing some various modifications that are useful on Ena missions."

Before I could answer, Gabriel came back and interrupted, "Nope, no working today. We're still on leave and she's supposed to rest."

"That's not working..." Kota tried to object, but Gabriel wouldn't have it.

"I need your hair in there now," Gabriel demanded, snapping his fingers and pointing to the bathroom. I looked at Kota and shrugged my shoulder. He just sighed and indicated I should do as Gabriel said.

Bathrooms on Tare were mostly similar to those back home. Showers and sinks were the same. Toilets were integrated with a bidet (which I had never used before, being from America, but read about), since they don't have paper resources for toilet paper. Water supply was no problem, since Tare had long ago developed cheap and efficient filtration systems to convert all that available ocean water. However, the size of the bathrooms redefined my interpretation of minimal, or at least the ones I had seen so far. I wasn't sure if more affluent Tarens had anything bigger, but at the moment, I was wondering how Gabriel expected both of us to fit inside this one. He must have read the doubt on my face. His gloved hand reached out and grabbed mine, then pulled me inside.

"Oy, this will [censored language] work. Just get on your knees on the toilet lid. Then lean over the sink." I did as he said, watching him pull down the showerhead attached with an extra long, flexible hose. He loosed my hair from the clip again and gently wet the hair. Then he massaged in a shampoo saying, "This formula isn't ideal for your hair texture, but it will do for now." He hummed as he lathered and rinsed my hair. I was in an awkward position, holding my head over the sink, but his fingers felt magical on my scalp. Eventually, he finished and wrapped my hair in a towel, then sent me to the sitting room.

Victor had joined Kota, and motioned for me to sit beside him on the couch. "So, Princess, they release you from MedBay, only for you to fall victim to Gabriel," he teased, those lightning eyes flashed with mirth.

"Shut it [censored language], your lovely locks would look like [censored language] if it wasn't for me," Gabriel declared as he came out with the Taren version of a hairdryer and round brush combination.

I sent an Interface message to Kota and Victor:

S: Do Gabriel know Interface only show me 'censored language' all time he curse?

Instead of an answer, both boys burst out laughing.

"What [censored language], what is so [censored language] funny?" Gabriel asked.

I shrugged, the boys laughed harder.

When the laughter subsided, Victor first apologized, "Sorry, it's just that you must mostly get the underage block message when Gabriel speaks."

"Kota, what's he talking about?" Gabriel asked.

"Sang has not completed the primary language levels exam, so she still has a censor on language deemed inappropriate for children under 33," he explained.

"That's [censored language]. Sang isn't a [censored language] child," Gabriel exclaimed.

I thought I heard Victor mutter something like "Thank, Muina," but I wasn't sure.

"Get Tsee Blackbourne to fix it," Gabriel demanded.

Kota turned to me and said, "We can get that block lifted if you want." I nodded and his face blanked, indicating that he was sending a message. When his focus returned, he said, "Tsee Blackbourne will submit the request immediately, but it might be a kasse or two to implement. You might be sorry then," he joked.