Free Purity (Pure and Tainted) by Evangeline Anderson

get up. Do you want a shower? You have
time for a quick one if you hurry.”
    “A shower?” K had a sudden memory of her
childhood—the time she mostly thought of as before-the-suit . The shower room…the sound of frightened
crying echoing off the metal walls… cold and wet and scary… “No,” she said
looking up at Boone. “I do not want a
shower. Absolutely not .”
    He looked a little startled at her vehement refusal but then just
shrugged. “All right then, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But we do
have to get you some clothes. We can’t have you, uh, running around like that .” He cleared his throat. “So here.”
    K took the garment he handed her which was white with thin gray
stripes running down it. “What’s this?”
    “It’s one of my dress shirts. Mom is the only other female on
board and there’s no way you’ll fit into her clothes—you’re too tall. You and
Loki are about the same size but he’s not going to be giving you anything but
hard looks for the foreseeable future. So this is it.” He nodded at the
garment. “I thought you might be able to wear it as kind of a dress.”
    “A dress?” So many words in his vocabulary
seemed to have no meaning for her. Life on Colossus must be very different from
what she was used to on Athena.
    “Yeah, uh…how do I explain this? Oh, hell. Just put it on and I’ll
show you.”
    K struggled with the unfamiliar fabric which hung limply from her
hands and bunched awkwardly when she tried to pull it over her head, unlike her
suit which had flowed as smoothly as water to cover her of its own volition.
    “Here, wait.” Boone stopped her. “It’ll be easier if you unbutton
it first.” Then, obviously seeing the confused look on K’s face he took the
shirt back from her. “I guess you don’t have any buttons on your suit, do you?
And since that’s all you ever wear, how would you know what the hell I’m
talking about? These are buttons.” He
slipped the flat metal disks that ran down the front of the shirt out of their
tiny holes and then held it open for K. Then, he buttoned it back up again,
going slowly so she could see what he was doing.
    It was exceedingly simple, K saw, though also incredibly slow and
inefficient. Why bother with clothing you had to struggle into when you could
have something that would cover and protect you with no effort on your part? Purity,
but she missed her suit!
    When she had the shirt-dress on and buttoned up, the uneven hem
fell to the tops of her thighs and the sleeves were too long. Boone rolled them
up for her so that her hands were free and then stood back with his arms crossed
over his chest frowning.
    “Well, it’s a hell of a lot too big for you. I’d give you
something to belt it with if I didn’t think you’d try to hang yourself with
it.”
    K raised an eyebrow at him. “And if I give you my word not to
attempt to purge myself?”
    “Now why would you do that?” Boone looked skeptical. “You were all
gung-ho to go into the light last night. What changed your mind?”
    She lifted her chin. “I have decided I do not wish to die without
my suit. I have a much better chance of killing you once I regain it. After
that I can purge myself and know that the one who contaminated me is dead.”
    Boone surprised her by laughing. “Blood-thirsty little thing,
aren’t you?”
    K gave him a cold stare. “I am not making an idle threat. You will die by my hand.”
    He sobered at once. “You’re hard core, aren’t you darlin’?”
    “If by that you mean dedicated to my purpose, then yes.”
    Boone sighed. “All right, if that’s the way you want to play it. But
I’m telling you, even if you could find the damn thing—and I promise you
won’t—but even if you did, it’s too damaged for you to wear right now.”
    “Because you cut it.” It still made K feel like he’d cut off a piece off her body.
    “I had to,” Boone said
patiently. “I’m not going over this with you again.