Christmas had passed about two days, but the bustling atmosphere showed no signs of cooling down. Vivienne still blandly enjoyed the holiday, temporarily putting aside the real purpose of coming here. She seemed to have forgotten what had happened before Christmas—her expressions were gradually returning to normal, at least toward certain people.

Pen was assigned to work in the electrical unit. A few washing machines had broken down, so she had to come to the laundry area to fix them. Of course, Vivienne was there, sorting clothes. She glanced at Pen for a moment, then went back to her work.

Pen said nothing. She walked to the broken machine, started reading the manual—she had never fixed anything like this before. Her life had been all about studying, selling drugs, baiting people... and most importantly, pleasing her father. Thank God she was smart enough to read the manual once and feel confident she could fix it.
Or so she thought.

"This fucking piece of junk," Pen muttered angrily.

From across the room, Vivienne glanced up for a second, smirked, and finally spoke:

"These things aren't like normal machines."

She walked over to Pen, snatching the instruction sheet from her hands.

"This thing is useless," Viv said, pushing Pen aside to examine the washing machine.

Viv held out her hand, signaling for Pen to pass her the wrench.

"I can fix it. Living alone, I handle this stuff just fine," she said as she began working on the parts.

Pen watched closely, then hesitated.

"You don't hate me anymore?"

Viv chuckled, smirked, and replied:

"Hate you for what?"

Pen was slightly surprised. She leaned in closer.

"I thought maybe... I could give you a late gift."

Finishing the repairs, Viv turned back to her, giggling.

"What present are you going to give me?"

Pen felt a weight lift off her chest. Excitedly, she pulled something out in secret.

"It's fucking hard to find anything valuable in here... I think tampons are the most valuable thing in prison. Money can't buy them."

She placed the tampon in Vivienne's hand.

Viv was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing.

"Jesus Christ, Prescott—you really found this for me?"

Stepping in front of Pen, she gazed straight into her eyes.

"I like your present, Prescott... oops, Pen."

Pen held her gaze, but Viv chuckled and turned aside.

"But I can only look at it, not use it."

A flicker of fear crossed Pen's face. She restrained herself, waiting to see Viv's reaction.

Viv studied her expression, then said:

"I use pads, idiot. I don't even know where the hole is."

She whispered the words softly while gently lifting a strand of Pen's hair. The atmosphere turned intimate—until C.O. Snackie appeared at the door, his face full of suspicion.

"Ladies, I think we need to visit the warden for a moment," he said.

In the warden's office:
Snackie recounted what he'd seen.

"I think they were about to pounce on each other," he said seriously.

"The tall one was staring, and the hot one was standing by the washing machine like she was about to lie down," he continued, as if telling a war story.

"The hot one?!" Pen and the warden shouted at the same time, turning to Snackie.

He chuckled sheepishly while Viv smirked.

The warden looked at Vivienne.

"Is it true you were lying on the washing machine, Vause?" He shook his head. "There have been many cases of inmates 'doing' each other. I don't want this to happen again... Is that clear, Vause and Prescott?"

Viv looked at him with bored eyes and teased:

"Don't worry, sir... we didn't do anything. Because I prefer the dishwashing girl, sir."

Snackie, Pen, and the warden stared at her in confusion.

"What?" the warden asked.

"Nothing," Viv replied, giggling.

Then Vivienne and Pen were allowed to leave.