Gawain remained in place, the memory of the jumping dark ponytail replaying in his mind. As it did, he felt his heart beat differently from usual under the influence of different chemicals released by his body, just like it did earlier. It was really not an illusion. His heart was fluttering, and his blood was flowing faster.
Taking a deep breath, he followed Alex into the locker room. There were not many people inside, only a few who just arrived like them, and even fewer who were done, having come way earlier, and were getting ready to leave after cleaning up.
He put his bag down onto one of the benches, and asked Alex:
"I want to pursue her. What do I have to do?"
The tone Gawain spoke with was calm, making Alex pause his action of opening his locker. He turned to look at his friend, and seemed to search his face for something, before he smiled. He resumed his actions as he replied:
"Don't count on me to make it easier for you."
Gawain retorted calmly:
"I never asked for that."
Alex nodded with a smile, as he took out his things from the locker:
"Good, I like your determination. I can only tell you that it will be both difficult and not. The most difficult part will be capturing her attention. After you can do that, the rest will depend on your own determination."
Alex patted Gawain on the shoulder, and sat on the bench to take off his shoes:
"I won't say anything to warn you. I will just say one thing. Leyna has been with my mother for ten years already, and before that she has received much care from the latter. I said she is like a sister to me, but actually, you could call her my godsister, so she is a princess, with the queen behind her."
Alex put his shoes to the side, and with a look filled with schadenfreude, repeated what he told Gawain just moments earlier outside of the locker room:
"Good luck to you."
With that, he laughed, and stopped caring as he changed out of his clothes for sports tights, shorts, and a t-shirt. It was when he was wearing his rock-climbing shoes that Gawain stopped looking thoughtful.
He said nothing, and also started taking off his clothes. His torso was unlike Alex's, with defined lines, but he looked healthy, and with good proportions. After putting on his t-shirt, he sat down and took off his shoes. It was then that the prosthetics he had been walking with got exposed. He took off his pants, finally showing the absence of anything fleshy after a few inches below the knees.
Alex glanced at the prosthetics, and there was no pity in his eyes. If anything, a flicker of sadness passed through them, before he returned to his casual self.
"I made a trip this weekend to test the snowboard with the new bindings. They worked well. With a strong enough force in the wrong direction, the magnetic bond with the board will stop holding, preventing wounds from growing severe during harsh falls. It is not much different with skis either."
Gawain paused, then resumed his movements. He commented calmly:
"That's good."
Most accidents on the slope only ended up becoming severe because during the falls, the skis and the snowboards prevented the feet from following the body in bleeding out the momentum during losses of control. Not turning, or turning in the wrong direction ended up causing compound fractures that ended up tearing muscles, nerves, veins, and arteries, thus leading to irreversible wounds, and sometimes, amputations.
So, with skis and snowboards that could detach themselves when situations took turns for the worst, injuries and trauma from the falls would be minimized and less grave.
After a moment, Gawain asked without raising his head from his shoelaces:
"Did the shock-dampening suit work?"
Sensing no gloom in the calm tone, Alex's smile came back, as he replied:
"Of course. And trust me, I tested it. I was swept into an avalanche, but I didn't feel much. Only some shock, and a bit of chill isolated by the inflated cells of the suit."
Gawain paused slightly, and repeated again:
"That's good."
Alex lost his smile, and added in a voice much quieter than before:
"We have been testing the technology for some time. By winter this year, the products will be on the market."
Gawain finished tying his shoelaces, and looked at his feet with quiet, somewhat sad look, different from his unflappable self he had shown until now:
"That's good, but I won't be trying it. Without my feet, it will never feel the same."
Silence descended between the two men who were the only ones inside the locker room after the rest had left. It brought a mood-dampening quiet that dulled all the energy radiating from the gym outside.
After a moment, Alex let out a silent exhale and rolled his eyes before slapping Gawain on the shoulder:
"Alright, let's go. It is no use being despondent, especially not if you still want a chance with Leyna."
Gawain snapped out of the low mood, and quietly smiled, before he stood up to follow Alex outside. In a rare show of light-heartedness, he joked:
"Maybe I can attract pity that way."
Alex only let out a laugh full of disdain:
"Ha! You will only attract disinterest, trust me. I, alone, am troublesome enough. She needs no more burden to take care of."
Gawain shook his head with a wisp of a smile at the corner of his lips:
"At least, you are self-aware."
At those words, Alex displayed a reaction unlike the one most self-conscious people would have. He held his head high, and slapped his chest:
"Of course I'm. Only cowards deceive themselves. I'm not a turtle, I have no need to hide."
Gawain looked at the prideful Alex up and down, and shook his head with a smile in his light green eyes:
"If not for my legs, I would never have imagined that you were the hidden dragon of the Lenners, CEO Lenner."
Alex rolled his eyes:
"CEO Lenner, Chairman Lenner, all of those are for my mother. Let's go, we didn't come here just to chat. And I'm sure you have some surgeries lining up and waiting for you at the hospital."
With that, Alex quickened his steps, leaving Gawain to look at his back with a small, grateful smile at the corner of his lips.