A/N: I meant this to be a smaller drabbleish type deal, but it turned into something...else. Trying to decide whether to wrap things up in the next chapter or make a third.

"You back here again? What are you like dumbass or something?"

Zia stopped walking to glare at him, the one he used when Eugene had gotten drunk and managed to eat all of his roommates cottage cheese within fifteen minutes. Then later while Zia was being yelled at by Erik, asked with a straight face how he could be so inconsiderate of people's stuff.

And just like then his only response to Zia's glare was to hold his hands out in a half shrug, "What? I say something?"

"Yeah man, you're like saying all the wrong things. And could you keep your hands on the wheel, Jesus, Eugene."

Eugene was currently following beside Zia in his car, a new one if you could call it that, that he'd either bought or found alongside the road. It was moving at a slow crawl with Eugene half hanging out of the window, a cigarette pinched carelessly between two fingers as he steered off and on with one hand.

"Listen. Get in the car and we'll talk about it." Zia exhaled deeply, "You can't walk forever man. I roll you a cigarette, get in." He reached over to unlock the passenger's side seat, the car still moving.

Zia thought about it. He could keep going forever that was for sure. Eternally damned to a pointless existence to appreciate the life (lives) he'd given up. He could follow the curves of the road until he forgot his name and theirs…hers, but Eugene was right, he couldn't walk forever.

~*~

"So," Zia bent over, lining up his shot and scratching the pool stick on the table, pausing to swear, "Whatever happened to…Ulga?"

"Nanuk." Eugene muttered around a cigarette, taking the stick and breaking the rack with a smirk, "I got colors."

"Yeah yeah." Zia leaned against the wall, reaching for his beer as Eugene prowled around the table searching for that perfect shot like it was a tournament, "So, uh, what happened?"

"You were gone a long time. Went up to meet her family, took ma, pa, little brother for a trip. She was a good girl. There was something spiritual like in her voice. Ma cried first time she heard it." he sank three in one shot and jabbed his fist through the air like a boxer. When he missed the next he tossed Zia the stick and laughed when he fumbled with it, spilling beer on his shirt.

"So what, you guys are just over now?" Zia asked, squinting at the table to figure out how the ex vocalist had made the first shot.

"'Buddy, life is over. What do you think we were going to do? Have kids, get married?" he snorted, "'fuck out of here. Good experience, left it at that." He gave a nod of appreciation when Zia ricocheted a shot, narrowly missing the eight ball. "Kostya stayed."

"He did?" Zia had always liked him. He was sweet and had always seemed to take his older brother's coarse behavior in good stride. He was always there to refill a cup or make light-hearted conversation. Eugene had said that he was one of the few that had found peace in death and it showed.

"Yeah, fell for some ex snow boarder. Offed himself with a flamethrower." He made a circling motion around his ear, "All sorts of crazy that one."

Like Nanuk was all that sane, Zia wanted to say but didn't. Without realizing it Eugene has cleared off nearly all the balls on the table, including ones not his own. Satisfied he hangs up the stick, slapping Zia's chest,

"You owe me a pizza."

~*~

Erik left. Maybe to live with someone who peed sitting down and was lactose intolerant or something. Anyways Zia spent thirty minutes reapplying for his old job at Kamikaze Pizza and an hour searching every spot of the small apartment for his old uniform before Eugene showed up and threw it on top of his head. He sort of wanted to ask why he had it, but then decided that much like Eugene himself the reason would either be strange, make no sense or something so simple as to make him feel like an idiot.

Eugene gave him a couple cases of beer and a cigarette roller as a home…re-warming gift. It was probably one of the nicest things Eugene had ever done besides sticking around for Zia's quest to find Desire. The thought made him depressed so he opened up a beer while Eugene smoked and put on some music. The same tape, the same beers, probably even the same tobacco.

For a while they talked about nothing. Eugene told old stories about his band while Zia listened and drank; he talked about Nanuk and her family, explaining how they'd all offed; about how he'd ran into Kneller again when someone cracked in the head tried to kill his girlfriend in front of her friends.

"On my way back…Desire found me."

Zia coughed, flicking cigarette ashes on the floor, "Oh yeah." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, she asked about you."

"What'd you tell her?"

"What I knew. You took my car, next week found car speeding in the desert without you in it."

"God." He gave a dry laugh, putting the bottle to his lips and finding it empty.

"That's all I knew. Found out from Kneller's buddy what happened. Good way to show your appreciation, coming back and all."

He was greeted by another loud sigh as Zia stood up, interlacing his hands atop his head, "I don't know what I was thinking man. I mean I thought we were in love."

"Men don't fall in love, that's girl shit."

"Nah, I mean with Desire…it was real, ya know? I wanted to die as much as I wanted to stay in love with her, so no matter what happened it didn't matter. With Mikal," he turned around, "I know what you thought man but she really didn't belong here."

"Course she didn't. Girl like that. What's the point?"

"I don't know, I just felt alive with her and for a while that's what I wanted to be. But once you get there the real world sets in, ya know, all the reasons I had for offing were still there minus the fact that the person I loved wasn't, " he closed his eyes, "I caught her in bed with her old drug dealer."

Eugene crossed his arms, "Knew it."

"God, Eugene could you just not right now, alright, I know what you thought of her. I'm trying to tell you what happened."

"I know what happened psychoanalysis boy. Off, fall for a girl, girl's a slut, off again. Meant to be here." Then maybe out of drunkenness or genuine affection Eugene stood up and pulled Zia roughly against his chest, "You're family and family never really leaves, eh?" He hit the side of his head light, "You missed your old pal is all."

When Zia pulls away Eugene's eyes are bright and his hat is skewed to the side and he's not smiling because he's looking at Zia the way he looked when his father and mother were telling Zia and Kostya about the old country. He looks like someone who actually cares about the person in front of him and might have actually felt something when he realized he'd never see that person again.

"Eugene-"

"Enough talk tonight. You're drunk. I come over tomorrow we'll shoot some hoops, you stay over for dinner."

"Yeah, yeah okay." Zia nods and Eugene hugs him tightly once more before disappearing with that look still on his face.

~*~

Zia was only gone two years but time passes differently and Eugene whoops, loud and obnoxious when he wins countless games while Zia struggles to keep up with him. Later, after he'd showered and taken a nap, Zia shoved stale dough into the oven and wondered what Eugene did all day really. If he'd always just hung around the bar putting horrible moves on women or if Zia was just the only one he felt he could relate to out of everyone in town.

In opposing moods throughout the day he wondered why anyone would like Eugene and again how they could hate him. He was an asshole sometimes and wasn't the greatest when it came to impulse control, but he was also the guy that shoved bad tasting food down Zia's throat that night at dinner. Who rolled his eyes when his friend didn't ask for another drink because he didn't want to interrupt, and handed him the entire vodka bottle before protruding loudly into the conversation pointedly.

After a while he still wondered, but didn't let it get in the way of enjoying spending time with the Russian. Eugene hated that he could learn something from someone like Zia, but the trip had done him good. He still loved to do the usual stuff, basketball, drinking, ditching Zia to ask the girl at the end of the bar if she wanted to hear an "electrifying story". But he also drove up to Kamikaze to take the younger to an abandoned factory just to look around. It was like they were kids; Eugene leaving him in the boiler room than jumping down behind him from a gap in the ceiling and doing a small jig when Zia yelped and fell over from surprise.

~*~

While mopping off the tables Eugene calls to him from outside the white washed windows, snatching off Zia's hat when he complies.

"Kostya has come back!" His face is triumphant, "He's four days away. Get in the car."

"What?"

"Get in the car, you make me tell you twice?"

Zia bit his lower lip before throwing up his hands, "Fine, fine."

"I snagged your cigarette roller and case of vodka."

"So I'm driving."

"Relax. No void beneath the seat for you to drop my shit into, I'm sure you'll be disappointed."

"It's not like I did it on purpose." Zia repeats for the millionth time, catching the keys

"Whatever you say. You touch my stuff I put a void in your head."