"Is this your first time?"
"Technically..." Nel panted, sitting on the edge of the cot.
"'Technically'?," the handsome young Imperial raised an eyebrow as he removed his shirt.
"Well, I was a kid, so it wasn't exactly the same."
"Ah," he nodded, hand against the wall, "That makes sense. Same happened to me. That's how it all starts, eh? The curiosity of children. Not always a bad thing; working with kids tends to be rather rewarding."
"Nimble and seemingly innocent," Nel agreed, removing her jacket and gloves, rubbing her bruised eye. "My mother showed me around once after a little experimenting of mine, though. Funny how my first thought was how I'd get out of the shackles."
"Mind of a miscreant," the man tapped his temple.
"...So, who are you? I'd like to have your name before I see you nude. I'm Nel," she put her hand out.
"Mitaeus," the Imperial took her hand and shook it cordially, "Ex-Legionnaire."
"'Ex'?" Nel laughed and shot a skeptical glance, "You don't even look old enough for the Legion to begin with."
"I get that," Mitaeus kicked off his shoes and undid his belt.
"So how'd you get 'exxed'?" Nel asked, lifting her shirt over her head, watching the Imperial's pants drop.
"Oh, this and that," he gestured abstractly, slipping off his ring and putting it into his mouth, "Mostly that."
"'That'?" Nel asked, undoing her own belt, and slipping her own ring into her mouth.
"I'd rather not say."
"Then how about the 'this'?"
"Well those were the other charges," Mitaeus mumbled on account of the ring in his mouth, "All fraudulent, mind you."
"Naturally," Nel smiled as she rid herself of the last of her clothes and stood from the bed.
"Alright, enough chit-chat, into the showers!" came a harsh voice from outside the cell, "Get nice and clean, we aint want yer filth and diseases in here!"
"A healthy prisoner is a happy prisoner," Mitaeus laughed as the two strode out into the hall, past the menacing prison guard, who inspected them for a moment, then waved them into the small prison shower.
Nel and Mitaeus stood under the falling water in the small brick room for a minute or so before saying a word. The water was surprisingly warm, and felt nice on the skin in the drafty little dungeon.
"If not for your race," Mitaeus handed Nel a crude bar of soap from his side of the room, and took the ring out of his mouth, "I'd marvel at your lack of modesty."
"I could say the same," Nel said, removing the ring from her own mouth and taking the soap, scrubbing her thin arms and legs.
"We Imperials are rather in love with ourselves," he gestured to his body, a gangly and average one by most standards, despite his time in the Legion, "and who wouldn't be proud of this?"
Nel nearly dropped the black ring down the grate as she laughed. She pointed at her own body, dark in the minimal light of the shower. She'd not gotten any fuller since childhood; her ribs were still visible despite how many of Alouette's meals she shoveled down her throat, and her recent increase in height only made her look that much thinner. Still, she liked her body, despite it looking very much like a boy's. Of breasts and hips she had none, and her physique would best be described as 'lean'.
"And I've won pageants with this setup here."
Mitaeus chuckled. The water ceased to fall; what little remained in the cell fell loudly down the grate below their feet, and footsteps approached the door. The two slipped on their rings and nodded to each other.
"Now the part I signed up for," Mitaeus smirked.
As the door opened and the guard stepped in, a violent light shot from the rings on their hands. The guard clawed at his eyes and fell to his knees as the two prisoners dashed out into the corridor, now only partially visible.