Appreciating beauties

'It's a good thing that she is a woman. Otherwise, that would've been slightly embarrassing,' Eve thought as she sat forehead-to-forehead with Celina for data transfer. Then, she closed her eyes and any embarrassment she could've felt faded into background.

Celina's core was much more orderly and coherent than Xia's. There wasn't much to do with it, and the data exchange went smoothly. To their delight, both Celina and Xia levelled up afterwards, becoming level three just like Eve, so she told Xia to let her nanites settle first before fixing her superpower. Meanwhile, Celina and Xia now needed to hide their new levels from Victor.

Nobody doubted that he wasn't a bad person by now, but it was impossible to say what was going on in his head.

That evening, Celina went to clean the backseat of their car. The bloody mess left behind by Eve had seeped deep into the fabric and every crevice there was. Celina had tried to clean it with her water power for days, but the progress was slow. Even after many hours of gruelling work, there were gruesome brown splotches all around. As usual, Xia was nearby, helping by hand, even if it wasn't as effective.

Suddenly, Celina paused in her movements. A beautiful sight caught her eye—while she was busy, Victor came out of the house to work out, only a couple dozen meters away from them. He wore only pants and the moment, giving Celina an opportunity to see well-defined muscles of his body, hiding behind only a thin layer of fat and his tanned skin that glistened with sweat.

"Wow, look at this, Xia! He is so damn ripped!" Celina blurted out. "His guns can probably crack nuts!"

Xia turned around to see where Celina was looking. When she turned back, a deep frown was marring her face. "So what if they can, Lin-Lin? Is it such an achievement?"

Her scornful voice made Celina's excitement dampen. She looked at Xia with confusion. "Well, it's certainly something impressive! Mister Kraust probably doesn't have a lot to do out there but work out… And much to eat besides meat. Hey, don't you find him handsome yourself, Xia?"

Xia pouted and threw her scrubbing brush to the ground. "No! The last good man on earth had turned out to be a woman, so I decided all men are bastards! So don't look at him, Lin-Lin, don't look! If you want to look at guns, look at my guns. If you want to look at abs, look at my abs!"

She straightened up and flexed her muscles. Her t-shirt didn't hide the biceps that, while weren't as prominent as Victor's, certainly were there, rolling under her smooth and soft skin. It was in that moment that Celina caught herself up. In the past, if she'd say something like she did, nobody would've thought much about it; but now that her real gender was in the open, her words could've be interpreted in more than one way.

"Xia, Xia, Xia! It isn't like that! I just appreciate the, uh, aesthetics. The beauty, you know?" Celina hurried to explain herself. "Like an art. A statue or a painting."

'Actually, why I even need to explain myself… It's not like we are dating, isn't it?'

The pout on Xia's face didn't diminish. Instead, under Celina's shocked eyes, she suddenly took off her t-shirt, leaving herself only in a sports bra. "Alright. Then I hope that my beauty will catch your eyes more." She picked up her brush from the ground and began energetically scrub the car seat.

"You…"

Against her will, Celina found herself looking Xia over. Indeed, she had abs and other kinds of muscles visible under her pale skin. It wasn't without a flaw, though, as all kinds of scars marred it. Some, Celina could recognise, were from bullets; where others came from she didn't know, nor did she know how old they were. Despite the gentle lines of her figure, there was a certain masculinity in Xia's movements, something that came from living years in the army together with other soldiers. Overall she was, indeed, quite beautiful, like a fresh, soft peach with a hard, solid core.

Noticing Celina's look, Xia finally smiled again. "So, who is better, Lin-Lin? Is it I or mister Kraust?"

"Of course it's you, Xia," Celina didn't hesitate for a moment. "Even if Mister Kraust is ripped, his personality is insufferable! He's kind of person you should only appreciate from afar, while you have both personality and looks. You know, if we lived a dozen years ago, I'd be envious of your boobs…"

She threw a sad glance at her own chest, which was flat as a washboard even after Celina stopped binding it on purpose.

Xia's face reddened as she threw a shy glance at Celina. "Lin-Lin, you are so vulgar! But if you really want them, you can have them…"

The words made her choke on saliva. Speechless, Celina splashed Xia with water. "Who's vulgar there of the two of us? I wasn't speaking in this sense, anyway! I told you I'm not into girls… Alright, let's just finish cleaning all this damn blood today."

⠀

Next morning, Xia brought Celina to the yard after breakfast and pulled Eve after her as well. It was all to train.

"You might know how to fight with swords against zombies, but what about humans, Lin-Lin, Sister Eve? Lucky for you, I'm here to teach you some hand-to-hand combat. Sister, since you are still healing, just sit and watch for now, alright?" Xia looked at her trainees and put her hands on her hips.

"That I will." Eve sat on the ground and smirked.

"Somehow I feel like I'm going to go through seven layers of Hell, only for you to reap all the benefits afterwards, Eve…" Celina looked at her and let out a dramatic sigh. "Life is so unfair for us, just normal people who weren't born geniuses!"

Xia looked at them in confusion. "What are you two talking about?"

"You will see, Xia, you will see. It's something that you must witness with your own eyes."

"Then I will wait this moment eagerly. If it's Sister, then it must be something really impressive!" Xia threw another glance at Eve before turning back to Celina. "Alright, Lin-Lin, now let's start our training session. First, the warm-up."

Eve had little interest in physical exercises, but when Xia showed actual battle moves, Eve watched with rapt attention. At least, the first time she showed some technique—after that, she needed to show it many more times for Celina to get it. Xia was very hands on with her training style too, and only half an hour of hour of training in Celina was pleading for mercy. None was given.

"You can't slack off, Lin-Lin! It's all for your own good, really. I just want you to be able to protect yourself better in the future. Please, don't make me worry for you," Xia said to her. Her eyes were shining and teary, and her voice was so pitiful that even the coldest heart would've warmed. Celina had nothing on her.

"Of course… I understand it, I understand, Xia! I will work hard!"

As they continued to train, an ominous presence suddenly appeared behind Eve's shoulder, making her shiver involuntarily. She lifted her head to see Victor sitting down on the ground nearby.

"Don't attract their attention to me," he said quietly and turned towards Xia and Celina.

Eve examined him from the corner of her eye. She wondered why he came there. 'Is he simply bored? Or does he want to train too? Or maybe… Does he just came to look at two girls working out in sweaty t-shirts?' The thought made her frown. Victor's face didn't show the lecherous expression Eve seen on men's faces before, but his face wasn't an indicator of many things.

Victor turned to Eve, and their eyes met. Again, it was a look that burrowed deep into her mind and soul, and Eve needed all her willpower to not look away immediately. His eyes brought a sense of anxiety to Eve—like looking into an one-way mirror while knowing that someone is watching from the other side.

"Miss Xia's skills are very formidable. Moves like these are something I've only seen in Chinese military. It's interesting to look at."

"So?" Eve's frown didn't lessen. 'Is he trying to dissipate my suspicions about him or engage in small talk? I don't know which option is weirder.'

Victor shrugged and turned back to Celina and Xia. For a while, he said nothing. Neither did Eve, though most of her attention was now centred on him. She noticed he was in a better mood than usual today; normally, he'd already try to order someone something.

"Today… I came to a decision. No matter how it will turn out in the end, it brought new hope into my life," Victor spoke so suddenly that Eve almost jumped. His eyes were still on the training couple.

"What decision?" Eve stared at him, baffled. 'Why did he speak out of the blue? It… almost sounded like he was answering me. But I was silent all this time!'

Victor threw a glance at her from the corner of his eyes. "You will see, Doctor Ziffer. Soon."

He stood up and walked away without waiting for an answer, leaving Eve with all the questions and none of the answers.