Chapter 21: Cohesion

Cold water washed over Spencer’s head. A steady trail of dirt, sweat, and blood dripped off of his tired naked body and disappeared down the dark shower drain. Though there was no power for the home’s water heater or even for the light in the bathroom, the cold stream of liquid was a heavenly experience. Spencer sighed and leaned his head against the wall directly under the showerhead.

There was no real way to know when the water would be shut off, but intuition told him it would probably be sooner rather than later. Might as well take advantage of it while he could. A scuffle of sound and spattering of voices behind the shut bathroom door gave Spencer pause. He pulled the top part of the shower curtains to the side so he could see what all of the commotion was. The bathroom on the second floor of the home his squad was currently occupying had simple white walls, a clean sink, toilet, tub, and a single narrow obscure glass window that let in a little of the impending morning light.

“-deserves any respite he can-” Sarah’s voice rose swiftly as footsteps approached the door.

“Did he explicitly order me not to enter?” Naomi snapped right before the bathroom door slammed open.

All three engies stood in the doorway. Sarah’s black dress swayed gently while she held a warning hand in front of Naomi’s arms which were crossed over her white button up shirt. Naomi’s eyes locked onto Spencer’s and her lips pressed together in a thin line. The shortest of the trio forced her way forward, her light blue skirt swirling dramatically, and threw her arms out to either side in what Spencer guessed was an effort to block anyone from entering the bathroom while Spencer showered. The floating shield floated up in front of Naomi’s face to block him from her sight.

‘I’ll protect your privacy.’ Beatrice signed out quickly despite her own eyes roaming freely over Spencer’s exposed chest without a single ounce of shame.

“Would it matter if he ordered you not to disturb him?” Sarah challenged Naoimi while the taller girl brushed the floating shield away from her face with a huff.

“It wouldn’t!” Naomi snapped and blushed slightly.

“Oi!” Spencer’s voice made the trio jump like they had forgotten he was in front of them half hidden behind the curtain.

Well, two of the three… Spencer mused internally as Beatrice continued to stare openly at his exposed skin.

He lifted the shower curtain a bit higher and cleared his throat.

“Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?”

Sarah recovered first. “Naomi insisted on speaking to you privately. I told her you were indisposed, but she-”

“It’s fine.” Spencer turned to the silver haired engie. “Can you wait until I’m dressed?”

Naomi smirked and rolled her eyes behind her thin glasses. “Please, darling, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

She stepped around Beatrice and tapped the shorter girl’s cheek.

“You’re drooling, honey.”

Beatrice turned bright red and retreated out of the doorway. Sarah frowned and was clearly set to intervene, but stopped when Spencer made a small gesture.

Sarah gave Spencer a meaningful look. “We’ll be right out-”

“I’m sure the commander is well aware of your hovering nature.” Naomi gave the sword wielder a sickly sweet smile and slammed the door shut.

******

It had been a difficult ten hours for Naomi. She was someone who was used to being one step ahead of the situation around her. Whether that was manipulating whatever pathetic excuse for a human being her current commander was, blasting apart enemies without mercy, or diligently explaining to a panel of military brass why people dying around her was never her fault, Naomi knew that her survival in the world depended on information.

The world she came from, the world that all engies came from, was one that she understood well. Human depravity, hatred, and mistreatment were all things she could plan for, maneuver around, and overcome. It was a hell she knew.

Now she is here. All thanks to one person.

Spencer. 

The stupid commander stared quizzically at her as the frigid shower water dripped from his messy dark hair. Why did he pretend to care? Why did the two girls who came from the same world she did hold him in such high regard? Why were they so adamant he was different? Why did that water look so good running down his chest?

“Naomi?” Spencer’s voice pulled her out of her mental spiral.

She blinked, only now realizing that her eyes had trailed down and were fixated on the commander’s bare chest visible around the side of the shower curtain. Naomi’s face burned and she rushed to correct his misunderstanding.

“I-I wasn’t looking at you!” She pointed a heated finger at him like he was to blame. “I was simply putting my thoughts together!”

Spencer smiled and let out a single heartfelt chuckle. Naomi felt butterflies flutter in her stomach at the wonderful sound of his laughter.

“Stop it.” She folded her arm back over her chest and reminded herself that her feelings were all fake. “I wanted to talk to you about… the team.”

Naomi’s throat suddenly felt dry as the reason for her visit finally surfaced.

Spencer nodded and grew serious. “Okay.”

Naomi’s fingers twitched, but she forced herself forward on the path she chose for herself.

“I’m… not part of your team.” She declared firmly.

Spencer’s face fell and he let out a genuine sigh of disappointment. Naomi felt a flood of fear grip her insides and had to bite her own tongue to stop herself from immediately taking her words back.

Stop being pathetic! She chided herself internally. His reactions, his words, and these feelings are all a ploy to own you. You’ve worked too hard to let yourself fall back under someone else’s thumb.

“I’ll just be… traveling… with all of you.” Naomi continued with some difficulty.

Spencer’s eyebrows knit together and he tilted his head to one side.

“I’m not sure I understand.” He turned and shut off the running water while still maintaining grip on the shower curtain. “You don’t want to be part of the team, but you want to travel with us?”

Naomi swallowed and nodded. “R-right. So I don’t take orders from you, but I’ll be nearby and if you get into fights I might consider helping.”

Her request sounded ridiculous even in her own ears. She scowled at the commander and tried to push her uncomfortable feelings away from herself the only way she knew how.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I want to be around you. I just want to make sure you keep those other two engies happy.” Naomi pointed angrily at the door behind her. “Because I don’t know how you did it, but they’re brainwashed completely to believe you're a good guy. So…”

Naomi turned away and sniffed indignantly. “I’ll be close to make sure you maintain that lie. At least until we all die or whatever your plan is, darling.”

Spencer beamed from ear to ear at her clarification and Naomi felt that annoying fluttering in her stomach again.

“All right then. I’d be happy to have you as close as you’re comfortable being.”

She simply nodded in response and turned to leave.

“Naomi.”

His voice halted her before her fingers could make contact with the doorknob.

“Yes… Spencer?” Her voice lacked most of the venom she had spit at him the night before.

She glanced back to find the young man holding out a wet hand for her to shake.

“I’m glad you’ll be near. I hope we can get to know each other better moving forward.”

Such a gesture from anyone else, especially a man, would have repulsed Naomi to no end. However, her heart remained annoyingly open to the offered hand. She reached out and gently shook it.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself… darling.”

******

An odd problem greeted Spencer after he exited the shower and got dressed in fresh clothes. He intended to place his dirty clothes in the shower as a makeshift washing machine only to discover most of his used clothes were now missing. Frowning, Spencer exited the bathroom and called out to his team.

“Hey, have any of you seen the clothes I was wearing this morning? I thought I set them on the bathroom counter and now…” Spencer paused as he came across three guilty looking engies in the living room.

Beatrice had her hand clamped over her mouth and shook from what Spencer could only assume were suppressed giggles, Sarah couldn’t meet his eyes, and Naomi had Spencer’s used shirt pulled over her own clothing. Given her chest was the largest out of anyone here, Spencer’s poor grey shirt was stretched obscenely over her twin mount everests. Naomi broke first.

“It was her fault!” The tall ranged DPS expert blurted out and pointed at Beatrice accusingly. “She took your pants claiming she was going to wash them only to stash them away with her belongings.”

Beatrice didn’t even bother trying to deny it. She simply lifted her whiteboard with an explanation already written out.

‘I’ll keep them and wash them for you when you need fresh clothes or the smell of you fades from them.’ She stated like it was a reasonable arrangement.

Spencer frowned and looked back at Naomi. “Okay… but how did that lead to you wearing my shirt?”

Naomi’s eyes bulged in their sockets at being confronted directly. “B-because after Beatrice took your pants, S-Sarah-”

“I took your underwear as a memento for last night’s coupling. I want to remember it clearly whenever it suits me.” Sarah answered flatly, also like it was a reasonable arrangement.

Sarah pointed at Naomi. “She then proceeded to accuse us of being degenerates and took your shirt in order to, ‘protect it’, is how I believe she phrased it.”

“Shut up! It’s not like it was still warm and I wanted to feel that warmth all around me!” Naomi shrieked. “I’m not even a part of this team. I can take whatever I want and you can’t get mad at me. I don’t answer to you.”

Naomi fled into the backyard.

“She’s still wearing the shirt.” Spencer noted with a tired sigh.

Sarah pulled Spencer's boxers from behind her back and held them out to him reluctantly.

“If it’s inconvenient for you commander, I can return these.”

Spencer chuckled and pushed them back to her.

“If you really want them, keep them. I have other pairs and I’ll find more when we pass by a store or something.”