It was clear by her remark that he had hit some kind of nerve, and that his joke had been taken more personally than he ever intended it to be taken. Zach’s expression went serious as he met Bea’s gaze, determined to prove to her that he hadn’t meant it as a personal slight. “And I’m sure you know how to use it,” there was no sarcasm or teasing tone in his voice. In this was serious. After all he had to figure a woman like Bea didn’t survive this long without having some kind of skill when it came to defending herself. “Also, yeah, I’m sure it would hurt a hell of a lot and I’d like to avoid that pain if at all possible.” He had felt worse of course, but that didn’t mean he wanted to revisit any kind of pain.
“We tend to think it is,” Granted even if the whole of the infirmary didn’t get to shower on a regular basis, Zach was almost certain they would still smell better than the washed up rocker who had a tendency to stalk woman half his age. At least Bea now seemed less on guard around him, like maybe she wouldn’t just reach out and slap him at any moment. He had to figure that was a good sign, or if not a good sign, at least something that played in his favor a little bit.
He wasn’t prone to sugarcoating things, but sometimes he forgot that the people outside the realm of the infirmary didn’t always know how to handle his particular brand of bedside manner. Zach wasn’t desensitized to death, but in the grand scheme of things he saw it first hand a lot more than some of the people in the compound. “Strong immune systems?” He offered up, only half kidding. “And liberal use of gloves and surgical masks.”
“Nah, I offered,” he wasn’t wholly self-focused, and of the people currently working he was most likely to be able to haul back enough food for everyone. Zach’s smile was more of a quirk of his lips on one side as he registered Bea’s ‘snack’ comment. “We do, actually,” he replied. “But sometimes we all like something more akin to an actual meal.” Especially the long hours they had all been pulling lately.