.::A Soldier's Dwelling::.
As the door finally opened, a wave of stale air came to meet the awaiting nostrils. It was putrid, sickening, and… ugh! What was this, a toilet??
Against the disgusting odor, Zack covered his mouth, feeling ill. His violet gaze traveled over and noticed a gloved hand covering the Syrius's nostrils with its back, eyes narrowing. As if that would dissipate the burning sensations and tearing brought on by this vile scent!
"Ugh," the SOLDIER First said through his hand, tearing jade gaze meeting his own. "I don't think they like you much."
The silken-haired boy nodded his assent before slipping into the room. Zack could feel himself blanch at the thought of entering the very room that wafted such undeniably vile odors, but found himself following the shorter man in anyway.
The dying light flickered on, illuminating the room with its weak luminescence. The visiting occupant felt his face scrunch up at the sight of the room before him, Syrius undoubtedly doing the same.
Such a scene matched the odor to the tee, accompanied by the empty bottles of beer and discarded toys of sexual play. Both of the two beds were misshapen and stained with the most atrocious bodily fluids. The half closed cabinet revealed items of an even more repulsive nature, but Zack didn't even want to look anymore.
With a shake of his head, Syrius turned around to face the disgusted form of his temporary roommate. "Would you willingly partake in use of sleeping arrangements such as these?" The poor boy, hand still glued to his nostrils, looked ashen against his silken, raven tresses. In fact, he looked as ill as Zack felt.
The SOLDIER First shook his head in agreement. "Not even if I were about to collapse from exhaustion." Which, even though he nearly was, Zack was continuously brought back to a waking state by a random pile of… ugh... in his line of vision. He shuddered slightly.
Nodding, Syrius strode past him and out of the door. Zack bolted after. And as the metalloid gate to what must have been the home of the Devil's Nose fell shut, the two let down their hands and greedily took in the stale air that was the ShinRa building and the perpetual pollution it expelled.
After a few moments, the SOLDIER Third spoke again. "Now," the violet gaze, glazed with the ecstasy of breathing good air, turned to his companion. Those jade eyes were looking at him, glinting slightly with a deep annoyance and slight rage, yet seemed to look past him. As if Syrius was directing his rage to the seemingly endless hall. "I believe you mentioned there being a bathroom nearby?"
For a moment, Zack looked at his companion perplexidly. That is, before his eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead. "Please tell me you're not actually going to…?" he gestured to the closed door in haste and disgust.
The silken-haired solider only nodded at the unfinished question, ignoring the sudden pallor of his temporary roommate's otherwise tan features. "It is the only way for these sleeping arrangements to work accordingly."
Gulping, for lack of better wording, Zack stared into those jade eyes. A bile seemed to rise within him, but he tried to push it down. He knew, of course, that Syrius was completely, and undoubtedly… correct.
- - -
Successful in their raiding of the janitor's closet and the bathroom's sinks, the duo stood now before the doorway once more. The buckets, mops, and black bags draped over their arms and clutched in their hands as they regarded the entryway nervously.
"So," Zack began, breaking the silence. Syrius glanced over at him from beneath his silken locks, which had somehow found themselves covering his face during the journey to return to the quarters. "How exactly are we going to do this?"
The boy shook his head a bit, clearing the hair from his eyes, before responding. "To be succinct, start from the entrance and work our way inward."
The SOLDIER First nodded in acquiescence. They had to do this, one way or the other. And Zack wasn't too keen on sleeping in the hall… or another man's… feces? Ugh… he didn't want to examine it and find out if it was just chocolate. No, he didn't want to touch it. He doubted Syrius did either, but they had to.
"We should take off our clothing…" came a murmur from beside him, contemplative.
Rather shocked at the sudden words, the raven-haired man felt himself edge away from the other. "Excuse me?" he asked, rather unnerved by the prospect of well… anything with this boy. Aside from the fact of what they were about to face and possibly a friendship with him, the SOLDIER First wanted nothing to do with him. Because, after all, he was a boy! A fresh new SOLDIER Third new on the field, effeminate but forceful, and starting off his 'official' life at ShinRa in one of the worst possible ways! And, besides that – Zack had just been thrown out of his lover's life. For good!
Jade eyes turned to those of violet, brow furrowed slightly. Syrius shook his head slightly, apparently sensing, once more, the chaos of his companion's thoughts. "I was merely referring to the fact that these will probably be the only change of clothes we will own for a while yet, seeing as you have no key and I have not received a uniform."
Blinking for just a moment, Zack felt himself grow an ashamed red. "Oh," was all he could offer as his silken-haired companion began setting down their acquired items. Sighing softly, the SOLDIER First began to do the same. When finally the items that would aid in the disgusting room's cleansing, the raven-haired man turned to face Syrius, only to gawk at the sight before him.
Apparently wasting no time, the SOLDIER Third had begun removing the black top that covered the entirety of his arms, neck, and torso. Violet eyes were unmoving, despite the wrongness their owner felt, as ashen skin revealed itself beneath the heavy folds. Lean and thin, almost invisible muscles rippled as the shirt was pulled over the genteel head. And, as raven locks were temporarily swept upward in the pull of the clothing, two long and slender scars made themselves known across his back, dark and obtrusive against his otherwise unmarred skin. And even as Zack's eyes traveled up their forms, straight and thick, parallel as they drove drown the pale back, black tresses fell across them, once more hiding away the strange scars.
Shaking his head, the SOLDIER First looked away from the other as the shirt was neatly folded by those elegant, and still gloved, hands. But, his thoughts kept returning to those mysterious marks along the pallor back, even as he himself discarded his clothing.
Zack had never seen anything like them before… not once in all his years of life… maybe Lawrence would know?
A curt shake of his head pushed away the thought, even as he stood, shaking away the bulky pants from his foot. Why would he ever go to that deranged madman who called himself a doctor, dreaming to be Hojo's apprentice? Damn, that bastard he called a brother.
The raven-haired man glared inwardly at the sneering face of his twin, before shutting off that portion of his mind and returning his violet gaze to Syrius. Once more though, he was met by a rather bemusing sight. And it wasn't just because the pale, effeminate, slender, and genteel form that stood now with only black-shorts, reaching to his knees, hiding personal dignity. Of course, that did help a bit, but…
The real eye-catcher was the removal of a golden ring from a certain finger on an eloquent left hand. And though the SOLDIER Third had his back to the older, Zack could practically see the jade eyes contemplative stare unto the halo that marked marriage.
And, in return, a raven-eyebrow quirked.
"Married?" Zack asked, curiosity outweighing what little common courtesy he had to his new roommate. The soft cliché, reprimanding of his father drifted through the man's thoughts, 'Curiosity killed the cat, son. So don't let your mind wander too far.' He ignored it.
At the sudden question, though, Syrius turned his head, jade eyes meeting violet, once more, through a light veil of raven strands. Their pools of endless green were emotionless, apathetic in their stare unto purple. The silken-haired man turned away, crouching down as he placed the object into the neat pile that was his black outfit.
The cold shoulder…? Maybe the SOLDIER First shouldn't have asked… touching on a too personal topic for their budding friendship.
Standing, the boy turned back to face Zack, eyes guarded, disrupting the older's thoughts. A simple reply was all he received, curt and to the point, to the curious question that had been so callously asked. "Yes." And the way Syrius spoke, postured himself and eluded whatever probing eyes dared look into his secrets, was so eerily similar to Sephiroth that the raven-haired man had to force his gaze away.
He could practically feel the cold words that the general spoke, voice laced with a tested patience. And he could recall, the low hiss that marked the end of their liaison… "Because I know this you have to leave."
Despite the strong urge to, the SOLDIER First didn't shake his head against the reverberating thought. Those virulent words that slithered across his mind with a sharp pang and awakening, once more, that strange clawing of fear within him. Instead, he focused on the multiple objects that lay scattered about the floor.
"Well," Zack began, violet eyes glancing back to the silken-haired boy as his tan gestured to the various cleaning supplies. "Shall we begin?"
Something flickered behind the jade gaze. It was a strange emotion, something between the vestiges of guarded apathy, swelling relief, and a hint of dread. But, the invisible walls faltered, and the man could practically see the mental barriers that had suddenly been summoned dissipate within the features of the pale face.
In return, the raven-haired man smiled. And even though those coils of dread and fear still lingered in the pits of Zack's stomach, he could feel their strength lessen at the returning demeanor of his newly befriended companion. All the while, though, he made a mental note not to mention personal relationships when around the SOLDIER Third.
Which, in regards to himself, the SOLDIER First could easily find himself complying.
A somewhat hesitant nod gave assent to begin their quest… disgusting as it may have been, before elegantly bending down to claim the key to the gates of Nose Hell and the items that would result in its banishment back to the garbage cans from Sector Three. Now those could give even this room a run for its, well… repulsiveness.
With a deep breath, Zack waited as Syrius, once more, opened the door.
- - -
Well, in reality, that wasn't too bad. Nope, not too bad.
Of course, Zack meant the actual finished product. Not the task. That would be giving him a new set of nightmares, for sure. It rivaled the reoccurring dream where the blue-clad recruits killed him. And that was a scary nightmare.
Oh, but that…
They would never talk of this day, their first meeting, again.
He was sure of it.
Syrius stood, staring up at the raven-haired man, brow arched ever the slightest. His jade gaze glimmered slightly with the haze of exhaustion and gentle mist of relief, but his otherwise stoic features revealed naught of this. And though they stood in the large, empty shower at oh-five-fourty-three, neither of them had remembered to take their clothes in the made dash to rid themselves of the… ugh…
Stuff from that.
Zack bet even Turks would get nightmares from that. No – even Sephiroth would get nightmares from that. Total, complete, obsessive-compulsive disorder, neat-freak that he was, he wouldn't be able to come out of the shower for a week!
Well, the SOLDIER First couldn't swat away the idea for what it was. The fact being that he himself wanted to do that. Of course, for the silken-haired man, slightly damp with a towel wrapped about his waist, the idea was left to speculation. Complete speculation. In fact, the boy didn't even seem to mind.
For a short moment, Zack recalled the ill tint to pallor skin when they were dredging away that… stuff, and disregarded the suggestion. Who, in their right mind, wouldn't mind? The thought sent the raven-haired man's mind into a maze of speculation, eagerly filing through that cabinet of faces that was sufficiently stocked in the back of his brain, back where all the useless information seemed to lodge itself instead of the important stuff. But he shook his head, not wanting to think about the now, and forever, dead Nose Hell.
Never, ever, ever again.
"Are you coming?" came the question from the SOLDIER Third's voice, and Zack looked at him for a moment. Somehow, being lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed when the silken-haired boy traversed the empty rows of open lockers to peek out the metalloid entrance. And now, Syrius stood, looking over his shoulder, with one hand on the door and another holding the towel around his slim waist.
Seeing the toweled form brought back the sad realization: that they had, for the moment, no clothes. The underwear they had worn during cleaning was properly disposed of… in a random locker Zack had shoved them in when Syrius wasn't looking. (he really didn't want to go off and find a trashcan after doing what they had done… especially after filling up the two dumpsters they had found) And now they were adorned with only miniscule clothes to hide their dignity.
Of course, the two had managed to grab more than just an angry glare from the hall clock when they ran by the closed gateway that once marked Nose Hell. Syrius had snagged his ring and necklace – the SOLDIER First hadn't even noticed it while voyeuristically watching the younger undress - while Zack had pulled up his dog tags in grimy, disgusting, … ugh-covered hands and over his head.
Yeah… he really shouldn't have done that… it wasn't smart, not in the least.
But, the lack of sleep was beginning to get to him, and impairing his, as many had said, already impaired judgment. It really wasn't his fault then, right?
The raven-haired man shrugged off his thoughts, not wanting to go there right now. And, knowing that no sleep awaited him now, Zack really wanted to be back in clothes. It was just a bad feeling he had, walking around ShinRa with only a towel. Yeah… no.
He still hadn't graced Syrius with a response, and didn't. But, that was because the boy was practically only 'in' the room by the pale foot holding the entrance open. Zack grinned and headed for the door, even as it began to close, the pale toes disappearing. And soon, the man forcefully opened the entryway to the showers and walked forward with a rather overly jovial step. Yet…
When he found that he met the very soft skinned back of the SOLDIER-Third, a little more than slightly tense, his smile faded.
The blue-eyed patrol officer, no longer holding a paper but a dart gun, said nothing as he glared unto the duo.
A/N: I hope I'm not testing the limits of the T rating with this… Anyway, I got two whole reviews last chapter. That made me sooo happy. Woo! Thanks to you guys and those others who are supporting me in private (if there are any…). I luff you all!