Chapter 26 Do You Want It?
"How could a lady be so messy?" He asked her, his eyes looking at the bed.
Lumina was about to ask him what he meant until she saw the rumpled sheets and blankets. She blushed and looked away, before turning back to him.
"Um...I'm not sure how to put this, but um... when I was on the way to class, but had no time to make the bed, so I decided to leave it..." She took a deep breath.
Her face looked like it was about to burst into flames. She looked at the bed again before turning away.
"Um...I'm going to have to clean this up."
Shrugging, Nix began unbuttoning his shirt.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She shrieked, looking away shyly.
Scrunching up his face, he looked back down at his naked torso, then back over at her.
"You do know it's alright for me to do this right?" He frowned, pulling it off his hands and throwing it on the bed.
"This is literally a breath of fresh air, that I'm not sure you can relate well to." He mocked, narrowing his eyes at Lumina's cleavage.
He had noticed she didn't even feel in any way self conscious with his lewd gaze on her for a moment then.
She was distracted, looking at his chest and V-cut abs all the while, her eyes getting bigger and bigger.
He laughed. "You like it, don't you, pretty face?" He said, looking at her. His eyes widened a little at the sight of her blushing.
"Well too sad." He said, kicking off his boots, his hand sliding down his body, to his pants. He looked over to Lumina. "Look away, why does it look like you're salivating?" He asked her.
Hurriedly, she turned around, her cheeks blushing a bright red. She could feel her heart beating in her chest. She had just realized that he was right. She was salivating.
'D*mnit!' She cursed in her thoughts.
"After all I don't have the looks like you said, so you have no right to see the rest of the package." He said with a scoff.
"Jerk!" She muttered in reply to his cocky response.
"Where is the bathrobe?" Nix muttered, his eyes searching the room. He was having a little trouble finding it. He thought about asking her to show him.
Burying his pride, he said his concern in a low tone to her once again.
"It's in the closet." She replied, her voice coming out a little flat. "Whatever clothes you want, it magically conjures it up, it's the least this sh*tty dormitory is good for."
'So she also has some sort of grudge against this place.' Nix looked at her. Nodding his head, he moved off towards the closet.
Phew!
'Gone!' He was glad Mune had not been in there anymore. He couldn't guess what her reaction might have been, if she had been listening in on their conversation the whole time.
He opened the door, a bright light shone on his face, once it gradually reverted, he found a black bathrobe hanging there.
'It truly is magical!' He wowed, pulling it out, and moved to where Lumina was still standing, her back still facing his direction.
"That shirt." She said in a whisper.
'Again with this topic!' He internally facepalmed.
"Why are you so interested in the shirt, anyways? Do you want it?" He asked her.
Lumina couldn't get another chance such as this to ask him the same question. Her heart was pounding, and sweat was running down her face as she waited for his reply.
She could clearly remember that cold and demeaning aura she had felt then.
"You can turn around, I'm in a bathrobe." He reminded her, his eyes still on her.
"Please, just answer my question." She persisted.
Nix couldn't understand why this shirt meant anything to her. He wasn't even sure if he would ever wear it again. He had no desire to.
Not after the system had termed him a pilferer because of the shirt. He was definitely going to return it like he had promised personally.
He was just a little bit curious, but he knew he shouldn't be. "If you tell me what the significance is to you, maybe I might be generous enough to answer your questions." He offered.
"It was the only shirt of its make that reminded me of him." She finally turned to face him, rubbing her arm nervously.
'Him?' Nix was left stunned at her last statement. She had answered his question, but he was still left clueless on who she was talking about. He wondered if she was just trying to get out of answering his question.
"Who?" He asked, his eyes widening. He had been so wrapped up in their conversation that he had forgotten he needed to take a bath.
'Once you get the information, be sure to bathe and not get sucked even more in all of this.' He made a mental note.
"It was the only reminder of someone so dear to me, he was–"
"Stop!" Nix raised his hand to her face, cutting her off.
'...your lover, ...your brother, ...your cousin maybe?! Well I don't want to get involved to that degree.' His thoughts spiraled away to the possible options available to fill in her words.
Lumina's mouth hung slightly open, this was the second time he had cut in while she tried to explain herself.
He didn't want to hear her say it, especially the first. If he did listen, he might be asked about his hurtful past, that he was not ready to share.
If he dives further into her personal life, she would one day want to know his story. That was basic logic.
"You know what?" He pulled down his hand.
Shaking her head, she didn't understand why he suddenly had a change in mind, he was the one who wanted to know who earlier.
"Let's forget I asked." He sighed, shaking his head at how troubled he had felt at her close relationship with whoever the true owner of the shirt was.
"What?!" She exclaimed in confusion.
"You want the shirt? You can have it."
"But I need–"
"Well I don't need anything from you." He yelled in frustration. He felt threatened, he had tried to establish a cordial relationship since they would begin living together during his stay.
Attachment to anyone wasn't a priority, she was making that simple task hard for him.
"Just take it, if it's so important to you." He sneered.
There it was again, that familiar demeaning glare he had when she had tried to pry further earlier.
He turned around to the bathroom.
Bam!
He slammed the bathroom door shut.