Aoba•Noiz
The night sky was open and revealing, through the black darkness the moon's white light washed through to earth floor leaving nothing hidden. Underneath the fluorescent lighting a lost youth struggled across a stretch of thick grass to a gas station and rest house built oddly in the middle of nowhere for truckers and transporters to rest their weary eyes. He panted heavily as he neared the facility and lowered to a slight crouch as he became closer to the motley of semi-trucks and their trailers. He could hear the heavy footsteps of several men in the area around him, following his instinct he put his body to the back of the trailers and sidled across their lengths; his destination was unknown even to him and with each risky movement his vague specifications for one dwindled to anything that provided stable and private shelter for him. As he sloppily scanned his surroundings for a third time he noticed a notably old sleeper* parked off in its lonesome, it looked aged, unused, and out of order, this, to the boy, was good enough. On his bare feet he rose to his toes and took off across the few yards of parking space and trailers in between him and the sleeper. Upon his arrival he placed both hands on the sleeper's trailer, bent his back, and slowly restored his breathing. At his feet a small raven-blue Pomeranian did the same. They stared into each other's eyes for the slightest moment before the boy tore away his gaze and circled the truck defensively afore deciding it was safe enough to rest in. He nimbly climbed onto the steps of the sleeper and looked ahead of him once more; beyond him was a graveyard of trucks that seemed to be permanently out of transmission, and behind him, where he had come from, was a luscious field of wild grass. The teen decided that the two odd settings didn't account for much trouble or fit any kind of confrontation, he reached for the handle of the truck, touching it lightly, and then glanced at his four footed companion,
"It's unlocked." It stated softly in a deep voice. The teen nodded and pulled on the handle, the Pomeranian padded in first, swiftly, his blue haired owner directly after. The lean child closed the door behind him and locked it; he turned to his friend, who'd busied himself sniffing around the cabin of truck,
"Anything, Ren?"
"Nothing, Aoba, it seems nobody has been here permanently... But someone has been here within the past few hours."
Aoba shot Ren a thoughtful glance, "Anything we should worry about?"
"Not likely." Ren yawned, "I could handle them anyway, don't worry."
Aoba nodded. He looked about the sleeper himself; there was a full sized mattress shoved into the left wall of the truck behind the driver's seat and a mini fridge and weights filling up the left over space. On the bed was a pile of uninteresting clothing that seemed to fit a person who would be quite large. The entirety of the truck was monotonous and grey, there was nothing significant nor threatening, it made Aoba uncomfortable but he settled down on the mattress and welcomed Ren into his lap.
"Aoba, you should put on some of those clothes."
The boy looked down: Ren was right. Aoba's current clothes were torn and unrecognizable; what was once a pair of jeans, decent shoes, and a heavy jacket that protected him from the cold breezes outside the sleeper were now scraps for biomass plants.
"I don't know who all were in those clothing before me Ren." Aoba complained, he tossed the Pomeranian a condescending look but Ren didn't budge:
"I don't think you have the privilege of being picky right now."
Aoba cursed him sweetly before standing up to peel of his clothing, Ren relocated to the foot of the mattress as his owner moved to the front of the truck, in between the driver and passenger seat, and began to remove his jacket and shirt. Once he stood in his boxer-brief clad glory, Aoba took a step forward and bent down to pick up the first and cleanest looking pair of jeans. They were light-washed denim, almost a pastel like blue with a hole beneath the right knee and back of the left thigh, Aoba slid into them, buttoned and zipped them and then reached for his belt. With them secure around his waist he then pulled a white sweater over his head. He was much warmer than before, though the sweater was too large and left an expanse of his milky white shoulders in plain view, and he appreciated the extra length and space that whoever's clothing had.
"This guy must have been really big." Aoba thought aloud, Ren only stared at him, nodding silently, "I guess we should rest here and get out tomorrow as soon as we can; this whole area is giving me the creeps."
Aoba settled down on the mattress, Ren curled up against his stomach and within minutes they had both succumbed to sleep.
•••
Normally he left the door open- so why wasn't it? The strawberry blonde hadn't the time to ponder his past action with his employer talking way more than he was worth, nonstop. Digging his heel into the floor, Noiz looked the quirky man straight in his face,
"It was nice doing business with you; you can reach me on my Coil if you ever need me again."
The man was clearly taken aback, but any sort of social precaution was thrown over Noiz's head; he was too far gone to give a shit. As the older male stalked off Noiz stood outside of his truck.
He had left the door open. He stepped out and left it wide open, what's more was that the door was locked. The door only needed to be locked when Noiz was sleeping inside.
He decided he may have a bit of an intruder issue, reaching into his pocket he retrieved a small blade and reminded himself that he mustn't get blood on the inside of the truck; he was only about 15 miles away from Teisho, where he would return this shitty excuse of a transporter and pick up his Worldworn. He missed his home, his custom semi-truck that he refused to use to do dirty jobs, as he advanced to the door he thought about it desperately, and placed lifted his arm to the door.
Staring at the red bar in the small circular projector underneath the door handle that indicated locked, Noiz held his Coil up to the projector and as it identified him as the owner and unlocked he listened for any movement.
Nothing.
Tossing the knife into his left hand and raising his right defensively, Noiz proceeded with caution, but was immediately shocked as he looked past the passenger's seat.
Was that a woman?
He felt a small jump in his lower stomach; he hadn't had a woman in four months and magically a slender looking one is born into his truck?
Highly unlikely.
Oh, that's a puppy.
Though the excitement could not be shown through facial expressions Noiz made his way to his bed, and after momentarily thinking about the many scenarios this situation could turn into, he let his body come down hard the intruder, using his elbow as a sort of shank threw his arm down onto the stranger's ribs and brought down his knife to the person's neck as soon as he made contact.
"Get the fuck up, bitch." He growled,
"Hold-!" the intruder sputtered and gasped, trying vainly to remove Noiz's arm from their body,
"Get up!"
The intruder was slow to their feet, but as they stood their long matted hair tumbled to their thin waist. This person was about a head and a half shorter then Noiz, their build was smaller and hardly athletic, and were they wearing his clothes?
"Care to tell me what's going on?" Noiz crooned, letting his arms fall from his defensive position; he let his guard down on the basis of knowing that he could physically crush this person if he wanted to,
"My name is Aoba, and I don't mean to cause you any harm or problems. I'm trying to get as far away from here as possible and I would just like to quietly do so, so please just let us leave."
Noiz cocked an eyebrow, "That's not how this works," he watched as the shorty tensed up, "don't expect me to just let you off after you barge into my goddamned property without a second thought."
The atmosphere in the truck became thick with emotion, and outside clouds began to move into the clear night sky, creating a curtain and blocking the moons light from illuminating the world. Noiz brought his hand to Aoba's throat, poking just in between his collar bones and dragging his finger downwards until he reached the other's navel. Aoba's voice hitched and he balled his hands into fists.
"I'm not a woman, sir."
"I know now."
"Can I leave?"
"Yeah, go for it."
Noiz watched as Aoba scooped up the puppy in his arms; he also noticed that the puppy was an Allmate and not an organism. Noiz followed behind Aoba, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the ignition of the truck the moment the teenager shut the door, he grabbed a cigarette and placed it behind his ear.
Well... That was that.
Putting the truck in reverse, Noiz made a mental layout of the next 72 hours: in 13 minutes he would cover the 15 miles needed to reach Teisho, get his Worldworn, sleep for two days, and began the long ten day drive to Quarte. Noiz silently repented for not eating anything while speaking to his employer; he'd more than enough time but was eager to dodge any social situations.
"Excuse me?!"
Huh. That blue haired kid was back, he was flush in the face and his Allmate, now switched on, bristled from head to toe, "Where are you headed?!"
Noiz glared at him, he wasn't quite sure if this child knew the concept of breaking and entering.
"Teisho."
"Are you staying there after?" He asked hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder,
"No."
"Where are you going next?"
"Quarte."
"Will you take me with you?!"
Noiz creased his brows and folded his arms, "What the fuck?"
"I'll pay you back! I'll... Work, I can fight in Rhyme, I can keep you company! Just please, I can't stay here any longer; sir I can't move quickly enough on foot!"
Aoba was glancing over his shoulders more than he was actually looking at Noiz, and the older, having been in a seemingly similar situation before, allowed himself to pity the child. He was dirty, almost maimed, his thick cascading locks matted halfway to the bottom and at the ends, and though he wore Noiz's clean attire it could easily be seen that he had all sorts of dirt on his skin.
Noiz considered the full mattress in the back that he would never be seeing again and made a bold decision: "Go lie down."
At first Aoba looked incredulously at him, but then his eyes became moist and he breathed through his mouth, Noiz watched the hot puffs of air dissipate into the atmosphere.
"Thank you... Thank you so much!" Aoba's voice was sincere, and even his Allmate thanked Noiz, they huddled in the back, laying low on the mattress more from paranoia than the obvious exhaustion that they were both suffering from.
Starting the truck, Noiz rolled down his window and lit his cigarette, exhaling slowly when he passed a troupe of the government's new security squads. He vaguely wondered if Aoba was running from them and why, but after a few moments and turns of the steering wheel he couldn't conjure the empathy to care enough and left the thoughts behind. He adjusted his rear view mirror and sure enough, only five minutes from Teisho now, Aoba and his Allmate were fast asleep.
•••
The lights at Teisho Offical were bright and exposing; Noiz squinted painfully as he exited the small truck and locked the door behind him. He reminded himself that he had living cargo and moved quickly through to the parking spaces in the back of the rest house.
Noiz's semi-truck and mobile home was a large Worldworn custom built sleeper. He'd poured his heart into it, from the custom turbo twin engines to the side skirts and the RV-like cabin and sleeper. On the outside his truck was easy to spot; pearly white with a minimal and easy to spot lime green decals, Noiz's truck remained uninteresting (compared to other transporters) and melodramatic. On the inside his home was several shades of grey, white, black, and lime green and neon blues. For anyone who'd been lucky enough to see the inside or near the entrance or window of the truck, they'd gotten a small taste for Noiz's obsession with state-of-the-art technology and modern lifestyle. The interior contained a driver's seat and passenger seat, and behind that, separated by a thick black curtain, a small kitchenette, a shower and toilet, a table with two booths and a bed. In the very back of the sleeper was another curtain made of more sheer material that separated Noiz's "office" from his home.
He unhooked the cables latched onto the back of the truck and then proceeded to the driver's side where he slid his hand underneath the handle of the door and unlocked the truck. He climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine, the lights of his semi-truck flickered and then lit the space in a warming, dark reddish-orange light, Noiz smiled slightly and pulled back the curtain separating the driving quarters from the living quarters. He began to strip and headed towards the shower, soaping up quickly and rinsing all the same, he retrieved a small container of cologne, spraying it once on the back of his neck and wrists, pulled on some sweat pants and a tank top and headed out of the Worldworn and towards the rest house. Once inside the handed a clerk his I.D card, and keys to the truck he was renting,
"Check it in about two minutes; I have to get my clothes out." He told the small woman, her cheeks flushed slightly and she nodded her head as she watched him leave.
Inside the rental truck Aoba was still sleeping, huddled against wall with his Allmate against his back, who was watching Noiz protectively,
"Tell him to get up," Noiz said,
The small dog processed the demand and made an alternate recommendation, "It would be much easier if you carried him."
Noiz grunted, maneuvered himself next to Aoba, and lifted the boy over his shoulders, "Grab my clothes," he said to dog, "whatever can fit on you and in your mouth."
Noiz was astonished as he made his way down the stairs of the truck and across the pavement to the parking lot behind the rest house; Aoba hadn't moved in the slightest way. When they reached the inside of his truck Noiz promptly began stripping Aoba of his clothes,
"What do you think you're doing?!" His Allmate inquired savagely,
"Washing him, he's filthy."
"How will you explain this to him if he wakes up?!"
Noiz thought for a moment and then squeezed hard between Aoba's shoulder and neck, his head lulled to the side and Noiz continued his task.
"He won't." The strawberry blonde claimed.
The Allmate watched obsessively from the glass door as Noiz bathed dirt and from from his owner's battered body. He growled some when Noiz laid him against the wall of shower to retrieve a brush and work the matted knots from Aoba's hair, when he finished, he dried Aoba off and pulled one of his hoodies from the closet and slid it over Aoba's head, then pulled his limp arms through the sleeves.
The Allmate stepped aside when Noiz carried the teen from the shower to one of the booths and pull the bed out from the ceiling and wall, he hooked the ladder to the indentions on the bed side and carefully maneuvered himself and Aoba into the bed where he laid the child down and pulled the thin bed sheet over him.
"Okay, Allmate, get up here and explain to me what's going on."
Sitting in the drivers seat Noiz began a conversation with the navy blue puppy,
"My name is Ren."
"Sure. What are you and him running from?"
"His name is Aoba." Ren snapped,
"Listen, you can get your ass out if you don't like what's going on. I need to know what's happening and what I've gotten myself into before I fuck around anymore with you goddamn children." Noiz narrowed his eyes at Ren, the Allmate was pissing him off,
"Aoba witnessed an illegal transaction involving the new branches of the government made since Toue's tower came down near the Old District, they brought us in for questioning seeming civilized at first but then savagely beat Aoba when they thought he was not giving them everything he knew."
"Was he?" Noiz asked gruffly,
"I'm not sure."
"I cleaned out some of those wounds myself; they're going to leave scars if we don't get them treated... And he's probably going to bleed all over my damn sheets since I washed the dirt out of them."
"So he wants me to take him to Quarte for what?"
"Quarte is a Capitol city, he can get to almost anywhere from there-"
"Not without any coin and clothing." Noiz claimed, "If he walks into the airport like that you'll just be in your previous situation again."
Ren looked taken aback.
Noiz sighed.
"Well I have an idea... But I'm tired, so in the morning I'll figure something out."
"What do you mean you're tired we are in serious danger! At leas-!"
Noiz stood up and approached his bed, "Listen, Ren, it's you who needs me. That said: you play by my rules and dictations. As long as the two of you are willing to listen to the few requests that I have I will make sure that you get to where you need to be."
The Allmate nodded.
Noiz helped Ren up the ladder so that he could sleep with Aoba and then headed to the kitchen where he slept on one of the booths. He dreamt of beaches and women, and woke up once to see Aoba limping slowly and silently to the toilet. His body really resembled that of a woman's in the warm lighting of the truck and Noiz shifted slightly to watch him. He let his mind trail and then wondered for a moment how he would fair with a young lover waiting for him when returned to his mobile home after a few days of field work. Shaking his head softly at his awkward thoughts Noiz drifted back into a light sleep.