Chromium

8.1

Unedited/First draft

Maybe it was because she destroyed her bed, but Dia didn't sleep well that night. The awakening was even worse. Dia opened her eyes just in time to see Collins staring down at her sleeping on the floor. He looked irritated, clicking his tongue as he had waited for a long time.

Dia groaned.

"What are you doing here?"

"Obviously I was waiting for you to wake up, miss Zephyr." He said, without bothering to tone down the sarcasm. "A thankless task, I may add."

Dia rubbed her eyes and glared at him.

From the start, he seemed to loathe her for some reason. He looked at her like she was a cockroach, unworthy of his services and out of place here in the palace. Dia was annoyed by his behavior, but she was still groggy, and she had no intention to argue with him.

Besides, they weren't alone.

There was someone that looked a lot like a maid just a few steps behind him. She seemed a doll, immobile and inexpressive, and probably that's why Dia didn't notice her from the start.

She had something in her hands.

It seems...a dress?

"What is this?" Dia asked, pointing at it.

"What do you think?" He snapped. "It's your change of clothes, miss Zephyr. Commander Reyes wants to see you. Immediately."

"And you think I'll wear that?" She asked, looking at him like he was an idiot. "I don't think so."

It seemed like a black evening gown, very low cut and provocative, the kind of dress she would never wear even if she still in the empire attending some gala, let alone in the Umbra's palace.

"It seems you don't understand how you look like at the moment, Miss Zephyr." The words seemed polite, but she knew he was sneering at her. "I would suggest looking at yourself in the mirror, but you broke it. Otherwise, you could see you don't look...decent at the moment."

Decent?

Collins looked stiff, staring fixedly at the wall behind her, but he sneaked a glance at her from time to time. Dia followed his gaze and realized her uniform was full of holes, parts where the synthetic fiber had been torn revealing the pale skin underneath.

"Ah shit." She said under her breath, but Collins seemed to enjoy seeing the dismay on her face. 

"Maybe from where you came from is normal to walk around half-naked, but this is the palace." He chided with that pompous tone of his. "That kind of disgusting behavior is not allowed here. I won't allow it. It's my duty to uphold the moral standards in the palace, and as long as you stay here, I will make sure you'll behave like a proper lady, miss Zephyr."

Dia gritted her teeth and clenched her first. She really wanted to hit him. Hard. He was talking like she was some kind of whore and he did it on purpose.

Her first instinct was to cover herself and ask for something else to wear since she had no intention to put that thing on, but then she saw how Collins was looking at her and forced herself to stay still.

The little man was a little flushed, his pupils dilated and the jowls under his chin shaking like jelly. In the Navy the baths were mixed, and most of the soldiers were men, so Dia was used to nudity, and though after what happened with Reyes she tried to avoid men like the plague, she wasn't completely innocent.

So, Dia knew what was going on with him, though he was trying hard not to show it.

Disgusting eh?