Missed a spot

Ivo didn't need to be connected to anything for Yunmi to do run her remote scans. He didn't feel anything, but he had the odd feeling he wasn't alone in his own mind.

He tried to distract himself by watching something on the holo screen, like Alina suggested, but after scrolling through a few channels and running into nothing but all kinds of ads he gave up.

Alina was looking into the middle distance and laughing at herself from time to time. From the glowing of her eyes, Ivo could guess she was seeing something projected directly into her optics.

Thiago dragged himself to the little kitchen module, with a grumble under his breath about how no one put the dirty dishes away. Once the smell of warm food started filling up the small room, Ivo turned around once or twice on the sofa to try and guess what he was cooking. But with no luck.

The food was almost ready when Davi came out of the bathroom, a towel slung across his shoulders, and another tied around his waist. There was even more ink on him than Ivo had first guessed, all of it geometric, and in monochromatic shades of grey and black. Some of the images were almost surreal, like the spiky geometric shape on his right knee, that made Ivo dizzy if he looked at it too long.

Seemingly uncaring that he was dripping water everywhere Davi walked up to the kitchen, and balancing himself on Thiago's metal arm looked down into the simmering pots and pans.

"Needs more garlic," he said, after dipping a finger into a pan where something brown was bubbling away

"Yeah? And where the fuck would I find it?" Thiago retorted, pushing Davi away half-halfheartedly. "Dona Lia from the grocery says it's been weeks since there was any garlic powder to sell, let alone honest to god garlic bulbs."

"I was reading on the boards that there's some new crop plague," Alina cut in, interrupting their conversation. "I don't know, might be that."

Thiago sighed deeply. "There's always something."

Davi patted him on the shoulder twice, before walking towards the only door Ivo didn't yet know what lied behind. He noticed Ivo's gaze and stopped on the doorway, shooting him a narrow-eyed glare before disappearing inside.

Once he was gone, Ivo draped himself over the back of the sofa and asked, "Seriously, what's his deal?" He directed the question at Thiago, who seemed like the person most likely to answer him.

Thiago shrugged. "No one's going to open that can of worms for you kid."

Before Ivo could wonder what he meant by that, Alina joined in with a chuckle of her own. "Davi is a complex person, with a spiky exterior,--"

"Some would say armoured exterior, even," Thiago cut in, pointing at Alina and Ivo on the sofa with a huge knife.

Alina pointed back at him and nodded in agreement, her eyes wide. "Armoured. Exactly. Right, so he has an armoured exterior, but a really soft interior, and you have to get through the armour to reach it, you know?"

Ivo nodded.

"Except that after the armour you have an extra layer of barbed wire." Alina snapped her fingers, and winked at Ivo. "I tricked you."

Thiago hummed from the kitchen, his back to the two of them. "Uh-uh, there's layers to that boy."

"Dangerous layers," Alina said, making her voice sound dramatically ominous.

"Uh-uh," Ivo hummed, unimpressed. "And after the barbed wire?"

Alina reclined back against the sofa with a one-shoulder shrug. "A minefield."

"And is there a soft interior after the minefield?"

Alina nodded gravely, as if she had just imparted Ivo with great wisdom.

"And have either of you seen it?"

Thiago let out a big rumbling laugh with an amused shake of his head. "You know what, kid? You're alright."

---

At Thiago's suggestion, Ivo went into the bathroom to take a shower before dinner.

There wasn't much to see inside the small space. A metal toilet pressed against one of the corners, a metal sink across from it, and on the other wall, a steel showerhead above a drain on the blue tile floor.

Ivo took off his borrowed clothes and left them on the plastic basket beneath the sink, as Alina had instructed, with a strict reminder not to leave them on the floor or get water over them.

He stepped under the showerhead and looked up at all the contraptions and exposed wires around it in confusion. Not only did it look dangerous, he didn't understand why it was necessary at all. He pushed the button to turn the hot water on and along with a warm jet of water, a high, reedy voice descended on him from above:

"Simple Shower Plan Hot&Cold free trial. Please enjoy a 2 minutes sample of water, hot or cold, and consider subscribing to our service. This free trial is available for a week. Parallax makes your house a home!"

If he only had 2 minutes he should hurry. He turned around under the spray, letting the water beat down on him, as he poured shampoo on his hands.

He was going as fast as he could, but he thought the two minutes might almost be up and he hadn't washed his body yet.

Something crackled above him, and then that same annoying voice sounded again:

So, that was the reason for all the exposed wires. Thiago must have done something to make sure the free trial lasted indefinitely.

Ivo closed his eyes with a relieved sigh. That meant he could enjoy the warm water a little longer.

He had his back turned to the door when it slid open suddenly.

"What the fuck?" he asked with a scowl.

Davi ignored him, and walked in with a bundle of folded clothes and a towel in his arms. He dumped all of it into the dry sink and gave Ivo an unimpressed look.

"I guess you'd rather dry yourself with toilet paper?"

Ivo just glared at him from under the spray and said nothing.

Davi was almost out the door when he stopped at the doorway and looked back at Ivo with a smirk. "You missed a spot," he said, and raised his eyebrows while looking meaningfully down at Ivo's body.

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