There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 60 - 59. Mudfield Muse

"My muse!"

The young woman shouted energetically, pausing the movement of all the people there and prompting them to look toward the entrance. Zein could practically see stars in her grey eyes as she stared at him excitedly.

"Oh, you look even better in person!" she almost squealed as she gripped Zein’s hands tightly, jumping up and down to look at him better, eyes traveling from head to toe. "Mmh~such perfect proportion..."

"Uhh..."

Zein didn’t easily get flustered, but he felt flustered now. Or rather, he was at a loss. Who was this woman? Why did she act as if she knew him?

At least she let go of his hand soon and stepped back to observe Zein more. "Ah—you even wear my clothes!" she exclaimed joyfully, clapping her hands, and suddenly Zein realized who this mystery woman was.

"Are you...Han Shin’s fiancée?" Zein asked, remembering how Shin took a lot of his pictures before, even telling him to make poses.

Han Shin had told him that the one who made the combat outfit he wore now was his fiancée. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

She gasped and closed her mouth with her hand, giggling slightly. "Oh, forgive me, I should introduce myself first," she stepped back and curtsied elegantly, as if her excited state earlier was a lie. "This one is called Reina Ashbe, Creative Director of SavAsh."

But then, without even giving Zein comprehension time, the elegant gesture disappeared again, and her fervent glittering eyes were back. She held her hands together as if praying, staring at Zein keenly. "Aah~to finally see Mister Zein in the flesh...it gives me tons of inspiration already..." she muttered with a sigh.

Hmm, yeah...Zein could definitely see her as Han Shin’s partner. Their energy seemed to mesh well.

And then she suddenly let out a questionable chuckle, fingers wriggling suspiciously. "Fu fu fu...now I’ll finally get your exact measurement...heheh—augh!"

"Stop acting like a pervert,"

Reina grasped her forehead with pursed lips, glaring at the owner of the finger that flicked her just now. Even without looking, Zein knew it was Bassena who appeared suddenly. Reina glared at the man and whined in protest.

"How can you hit a lady?!"

"You’re not a lady, you’re a pervert," Bassena smirked, putting his arm around Zein’s shoulder. "Stop drooling and do your job."

"Tsk—if you’re not our brand ambassador..." she clicked her tongue at Bassena, and Zein felt almost as if it was Han Shin that was there instead of his fiancée. Did they bond over bickering with Bassena or something? Right after pursing her lips at the esper, she shifted her gaze to Zein and smiled sweetly. "Please wait a little bit, Mister Zein—ah, can you take your outer off while we’re getting ready?"

She waved a little and moved back to her team, which had been watching them in amusement.

"Is she your childhood friend too?" Zein asked, shrugging the arm on his shoulder.

"We’re in the academy together, but she decided not to be an active esper," Bassena walked to the only couch in the small conference hall that had been turned into a dressing room. "Well, she has to inherit the company, anyway."

People might awaken their power as espers and guides, but chose not to use their power nor get a license. They chose to live as civilians, or get a special license to use their power in a matter unrelated to sentinel business. After all, not every awakened had a calling to be the world’s guardian, and had other responsibilities to carry, like managing the world’s economy or keeping the government running.

Although there were also some exceptions.

"The Guildmaster—"

"Radia is just born different," Bassena shrugged, and then shifted his gaze to the other guide who had been watching their interaction with a smile. "Hey, Hertz."

"I was planning to stay, but I don’t think my presence is needed anymore," the guide curled his eyes, looking at Zein who was unzipping his jacket, and Bassena who reached out his hand to take said jacket readily, as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Such an interesting scenery. Top-tier gossip material.

"Why? You can stay and play hooky for a bit," Bassena grinned, taking the black jacket and flung it onto his shoulder.

"I need to get Zein’s badge and bank book from HR,"

"Heh—you act like his assistant," Bassena chuckled. "Can’t you just get it after this? It’s not like the owner has any use for them before this is over. Why don’t you get measured too while at it?"

Abel tilted his head. "Me?" and then he frowned, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "As I thought, it’ll be different, huh? The new division’s uniform..."

Bassena just smiled deeply without saying anything, and Abel sighed at that. "I’m getting terrified at the training regime every second," he muttered as he sat down beside the chuckling esper.

"It’s not like we expect someone like Zein, but you should get the feel after spending time with him," Bassena cocked his head at the tall guide that was being gawked upon by SavAsh’s designers now. "How hard the blackfield is."

Abel did not give any reply, a sign that he understood what Bassena meant. At any rate, if they were already scared of Zein’s vibe, they wouldn’t survive the Deathzone. They sat in silence while watching Zein being measured and interviewed by the energetic designer.

"What kind of clothes do you like?"

"The one that covers my skin."

"Mm, mm, preferred colors?"

"Something inconspicuous."

"Of course! Do you like something fit or oversize?"

"Doesn’t matter."

"Fabrics?"

"The comfortable ones."

"Something that easy to move in, right? I know it..."

That kind of q&a session was being held while the staff took Zein’s measurement diligently and the boss nodded energetically while jotting down every answer.

"Does this have anything to do with the uniform making?" Zein asked finally, getting more and more suspicious of the question.

"Nope!" Reina just answered easily with a wide smile. "But it will allow me to create better design now that I have my muse’s information," she added cheerfully, clutching her notebook with zeal.

That word again...Zein tilted his head. "What’s a muse?"

"Hmm? Aah...it just means you’re my source of inspiration," she answered with a wide grin.

"...for?"

"For my design of course!" she smacked her chest proudly. "I’ve been churning out a lot of ideas ever since Shin sent me your pictures. Mmm...it’s almost three months ago, right?" she rubbed her chin while counting the time, and then clapped her hands. "Ah, right! I forgot to tell you, but I’m going to send you the clothes I made. Mm...it’s quite a lot, so just let the courier bring it to your floor, okay?"

Zein blinked at the barrage of words, and then at an unexpected gift dump. "...why?"

"Huh? What do you mean why?" she tilted her head, as if Zein was just making a nonsensical, confusing remark. "I made those while thinking of you, so, of course, I want you to wear them!"

"Huh..." Zein was actually asking about why would this woman use him as a source of inspiration when they hadn’t even met before. But he was too confused to even had a leeway of making a coherent remark.

"Ah, hmm...but as I thought...you’re more suited to fall/winter collection, don’t you think so?" Reina continued, again with her sharp, observing eyes that looked at Zein up and down. She turned her head at her staff, who nodded their head affirmatively. "Ugh...my fingers are tingling~"

She made those wriggling moves again, which made Zein take a half step back. "I’ll send you those too, so you better wear them, okay~"

"That’s..."

"Ah, that’s good," Abel, who was having fun watching Zein got flustered, suddenly clapped his hands. "People wouldn’t get too scared of him if he dressed more casually,"

Bassena turned his head and looked at Abel with a raised brow. "What? People are getting scared?"

"Haha...well..."

He proceeded to tell Bassena about what happened in the guide lounge, although he tried to be subtle about how the esper tried to take Zein’s mask off. Abel had no idea what Bassena might do if the esper actually harmed Zein first. From the look of it, Bassena seemed to take special care of Zein—not just a matter of mere fascination.

So Abel emphasized the fact that Zein threw and locked the esper on the floor instead.

"Heh—of course he would," Bassena laughed in satisfaction, the sharp amber eyes softened in nostalgia. "He slammed my head into a wall once."

"...what the hell?" was the only thing Abel could manage after a minute of stunned silence. A 3-star scout was one thing, especially if the person was unprepared and did not use any magic energy.

But Bassena Vaski?

"It was a bewildering experience," Bassena chuckled, eyes gleaming and tongue licking his lips. "I fell so hard that day," he confessed joyfully, as if sharing about the happiest moment of his life.

"I think you’re a pervert too," Abel muttered while shaking his head slightly.

The laughter got louder, and Abel couldn’t help but smile to himself. It was quite weird, seeing Bassena Vaski laugh freely, casually, as if he was refreshed.

Hmm...

"Did you get guided last night?" Abel tilted his head, eyes narrowed, staring at the lack of dark circles beneath the amber eyes.

Bassena smiled easily, which was enough for an answer. The esper watched Zein being bullied into fluster with mirth before shouting out. "Just take it, Zein," he chuckled. "You don’t bring many clothes anyway. Free stuff is the best," he raised his thumb with a grin.

Zein was still confused about the logic of things, thinking about how weird the green-zone was. He’d been getting free stuff ever since he came here by doing absolutely nothing. The only money he spent since he arrived was the one he used to purchase the gardening tools and the express laundry.

What kind of nonsense was this, when he used to struggle just to get a soft bread?

"While you’re at it, check on this, Rei," in the middle of Zein’s bewilderment, Bassena tossed the combat jacket he’d been keeping to the designer.

With a serious face, Reina started to inspect the clothes she made keenly, "Ahh...there’s a tear—oh, this line coming undone..."

Zein frowned for a bit, seeing nothing but perfectly good clothes that had been his favorite since he got them. "That looks fine for me—"

"Ugh, as I thought, the durability is still a problem," she continued to mutter, totally ignoring the guide’s little rebuttal. "Mister Zein, I’ll take this back and repair it a bit, yeah?" she snapped her fingers to her staff, which instantly moved as if they already knew what she wanted.

Three people came with different kinds of outerwear in their hands, and Reina snatched one quickly, delivering it to Zein’s hands. "Here, you can use this for now."

"..."

"Just let her, it’s not like you’ll come to a dungeon anytime soon," Bassena said from the couch, shrugging, and Abel gave a nod of support beside him.

"Uh-huh," another thumbs up.

Zein stared at the piece of clothing in his hand, feeling the lightness and comfortable fabrics that felt cool on his hands. "By the way, Mister Zein, how about becoming our model while at—"

"No,"

The reply came without missing a beat, as Zein walked toward the couch after the staff informed him that the session was over. It was followed by Reina’s deflated sigh. "Okay..."

With pouting lips, she gathered her precious data and talked to her staff, but looked happy again as she read Zein’s measurement, giggling to herself dubiously again.

"Did you not come home last night?" Zein decided to turn his focus on other things instead, staring at Bassena. He asked while wearing the lightweight white cardigan Reina gave him. "Didn’t you wear that last night?"

"I went to the training chamber last night," the esper answered with a smile.

"Why?"

"To calm my mind,"

Zein narrowed his eyes. What would that calming mind refer to? Because he had abundant energy thanks to the short guiding, or because they shared a kiss last night?

"...what is this tea?" Abel leaned forward, muttering with interest as he watched both of them staring at each other.

Unfortunately, the smaller guide couldn’t satiate his curiosity further since Reina came skipping back to them. "Mister Zein, Mis—"

"Just Zein is enough," the guide, as usual, felt weird being called politely by others.

With starry eyes, she didn’t even hesitate then, just like her fiancé. "Really? Then, Zein, can I request one thing?"

"...what?" the guide replied cautiously—the way she blinked energetically kind of scared him somehow.

"Can you...can I see your face?" she began with an excited tone, but as she stood in front of the guide, her voice turned hesitant. "Just a second is alright, but can I?"

Zein stared at her fidgeting figure. Her eyes shone with excitement, but also anxiety, as if she was about to open a treasure chest—her fingers were joined together as if making a prayer. Zein thought about what she said earlier—what was it? Muse?—Inspiration...it was a strange concept for Zein.

Wordlessly, he retracted his mask, and she froze, staring at him without blinking, as if trying to capture the rare image with her whole retina. The first thing that came out of her mouth, however, was a curse.

"Bassena Vaski, you lucky bastard!" she muttered under her breath, to Zein’s surprise and Bassena’s chuckle. She sighed after, uttering with melancholy. "Oh, Goddes...I don’t think I’ll be able to rest until I make two dozens sketch tonight..."

"Is this enough?" Zein asked, finger hovering above the button.

"No! Yes—I mean..."

Whatever she meant to say, the mask had already rolled up, though it wasn’t Zein that activated it, but Bassena. "That’s enough," he smirked, obviously just wanting to mess with her just like how he liked to mess with Han Shin.

She pursed her lips and clicked her tongue again, hand on her hips in annoyance. "Tsk—stingy!"

"You have work to do, that two dozen sketches or whatever," Bassena grinned and flicked his hand. "Shoo, shoo,"

"Screw you! He deserves better than you, hmph!" she turned her head and stomped her way back to her staff.

"You’re right about that," Bassena casually remarked with a laugh, earning a raised brow from Reina and Abel. "But no one’s better than me, fortunately,"

She clicked her tongue again, giving him a disgusted face that he returned with a smirk. Although the fact that she had nothing to retort back meant she unfortunately couldn’t help but agree with the statement.

"That’s some confidence," Zein tilted his head, arms crossed in front of his chest.

Sneaking his arm around the guide’s shoulder, Bassena lowered his head and asked in a low, charming voice. "Your verdict?"

"Cute,"

"Does it warrant a lunch?"

"Not that cute,"

"What about a sweet lunch? There’s this cake buffet downtown—"

"On second thought..."

Abel rolled his eyes on the couch. He should have just gone to the second floor as he planned.