Laz knew that they wanted something and also knew that right now, they were all on the captain’s side about that.

’Well, kinda," Laz thought to himself, acknowledging that the doctor and Sven seemed to not like the captain very much. As for the women, they were hard to get a read on as to how much they actually supported him. On the other hand, Laz questioned how a person such as the captain, who was so egotistical that Laz still didn’t even know the guys name, could be put in charge of this operation. It was clear that everyone else were experts in their fields and therefore qualified to be here, but not him.

’Or maybe he was and he’s just a piece of shit otherwise?’

Laz couldn’t help but laugh at that though. Just as he was doing so, Saanvi arrived at his door.

"You seem to be in a good mood?" she asked with a smile.

Laz, pretending to not know anything, sat up on his bed.

"Considering the circumstances, things could be much worse for me," Laz admitted, both as a half lie and half truth.

"How so?" Saanvi asked, leaning against the door frame but not coming in. Doing so gave Laz the feeling that she was trying to be warm without trying to get too close. Unintended though, her ass was now resting against the door frame and caused it to jut up quite a bit, allowing Laz to get a good estimate as to exactly how large it was even if it was hidden beneath her pants.

’Damn... that’s... something,’ Laz couldn’t help but admitting to himself.

"Well, I don’t remember things too clearly, but I do remember a lot of pain and things... horrible things. huge beasts bigger than a house and others, twisted human like monsters that floated in the sky. But when I try to focus on them, everything gets even more painful. Like I’m trying to stare at the sun and not blink. So it’s either blurry clouds or blinding, pain inducing light. Not really a good pick either way. At least here, my mind isn’t about to break every second of the day," Laz said, mixing lies with truth. He had seen those things, but he had also fought and killed many of those things.

Laz didn’t over react, he didn’t curl into a fetal position and try to make things bigger than they were. Instead, he reflected about everything honestly. He looked back, for the first time in a while, even while not meaning to, and just thought about everything he had encountered in that realm. He walked the line of death that time and had almost fallen. Had that chaos god arrived before he left, he would have most certainly been dead. And when he skirted the tunnel, laying outside of it like floating junk, had the Nameless one not been solely focused on getting back, he would have noticed Laz in a heart beat. While Laz didn’t know too much about that level of power, he knew, in his bones, he had lucked out.

While it wasn’t intentional, the look Laz gave at that moment stirred something in the slightly older woman. She didn’t know Laz’s age, but he still looked young, way younger than he should have thanks to his realm and having Asura blood inside of him. While he was still in his early twenties, he could have passed for a teenager as far as everyone was concerned, at least his face would have.

Saanvi had to fight off the urge to rush in a hug him right then, telling him everything would be ok. But even then, she couldn’t fully stop herself and found herself stepping inside, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to him, placing a hand on his own, as though wanting to comfort him through this slight gesture.

She hadn’t wanted to come here, felt that trying to help this boy was not her job and hated her captain for trying to use both her and him like this. Or at least she had, right up until this moment. Right this moment, she could only see the look of loss and reflection on his face and think that she wanted to protect this boy, no matter what.

Even then, she didn’t step over any lines.

Laz finally came back to himself and turned to look at her before smiling.

"Thank you. I’m alright," Laz said to her, but she didn’t believe a word of it.

Still, since he had said it, she felt the need to back away a bit and did so, but didn’t leave the chair at his bedside either.

"So what do you remember about your past? I mean before being pulled into that gate?" She asked, trying to get him to focus on something else.

"Everything. A pretty boring life if I’m being honest." That was a total lie, but there was no way in hell he would explain things to her.

"Couldn’t be too boring if you grew up in New York and ended up in Nevada?" Saanvi said with a laugh as though she had caught Laz in a lie.

"Well. I guess things are pretty interesting every now and then. Uh... Well, after my grandpa left, I had nowhere to go and no place to live so I guess I just kind of started drifting. Went south first and ended up in New Orleans, popped over to Texas for a bit then ended up in Nevada. So the travelling was nice."

"Your grandpa left? And what about your parents?" Saanvi asked before regretting it.

"Ah. Well, I have no idea where my grandpa is, but things got dangerous around the apartment we used to live in. As for my parents, I have no idea either. After they left me with my grandpa, they kind of disappeared and I haven’t seen them since. And as far as my grandpa knew, or at least what he told me, he didn’t know where they were either...." Laz responded honestly.

Saanvi was shocked. It was clear that Laz was holding back a lot considering the way he just kind of brushed the whole thing aside. But even then, he didn’t look bothered by it as far as she could tell.

But this was also the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. Saanvi couldn’t resist coming forward suddenly and hugging Laz, unable to resist the urge. All women, whether it was a strong sense within them or one that they hid, have a desire to protect and nurture and seeing a broken human like Laz sent Saanvi’s senses into meltdown so that she couldn’t help herself. Forget the fact that she was married and this was contact with another man, she just felt like she wanted to cradle Laz and tell him everything would be ok.

Laz wasn’t expecting this, even though he sensed her movement. But he still didn’t stop her. He wasn’t trying to win her over in this way, but it seemed to work surprisingly well all the same. Laz didn’t hug her back though as he didn’t want to scare her away, but even then he couldn’t help but notice the massive pressure her chest placed on his.

’Holy shit is stacked. How the hell does she hide it so well in those clothes?’ Laz couldn’t help but think to himself.

After a minute of rubbing his back and holding him close to her, Saanvi started to get a strange feeling, almost like a desire that began to itch, deep inside. Since it didn’t hit hard, she didn’t notice it. Laz also wasn’t actually doing anything as he had stiffened up as though shocked by her actions. But that just made Saanvi want to hug him more.

"There there. It’s ok. You’re safe now, I promise," she whispered to him as she began rubbing his head as well his back. While a brief hug would have been understandable, the stiffer Laz’s body was, the more Saanvi just couldn’t resist, almost like they were locked in a contest to see if he would relax first or if she would back off first. And even that worked to fuel Saanvi’s desire to help Laz who she viewed as a young, lost and broken boy.

Then again, compared to her older, strict and boring husband, Laz’s appeal was way more charming and attractive to her. After all, she hadn’t married for love, but married according to her parent’s wishes, a marriage that helped both them and herself get ahead in life. She never would have been able to afford to go to college otherwise, even with a paid scholarship.

Since Laz wasn’t taking the initiative to move or react, Saanvi couldn’t help but embrace him tighter and even pushed his head deep into her chest as though trying to comfort a baby. Of course, due to their close contact and Laz’s body being young and excitable, a sleeping beast quickly rose up and there was no way Saanvi couldn’t help but notice.

This, more than anything, woke her up from her daze and caused her to falter.

"Oh... wow... uh... sorry," She finally said as she broke contact and leaned back.

"I’m really sorry... I don’t know what got into me. I uh...I’m... I’ll let you get some rest," Saanvi finally said before making her way out of the room, her gaze finding it’s way back to his pants several times even while she was trying no to. After all, the thing looked like a third leg that was tucked inside his pants on top of his other leg.

Laz couldn’t help but take a breath as his body relaxed, but only after she was gone. He had been trying to control himself as well and had been losing the battle.

Luckily she left before Laz had lost control.

"Holy shit... She’s... gahh... now I need a cold shower..."