Goodness gracious gravy boat! Another update for this story? Yup! Another update. I am bad by not updating any of my other stories and I should feel bad... But I don't! *said in a Zoidburg accent* One of these days I'll get around to pumping out chappies for my other stories, but for now, I'll let my muse run its' course with this story before it gets bored and moves to the next one. Any ways, I hope you enjoy chapter six! :)

~VI: Concomitant~

Zack sat on the queen sized bed in Angeal's room while the older man busied himself with the task of getting ready to go out for the day. The four-year old was smiling as he played with Loco, flapping his stuffed wings and making him run around the bed while his tail wagged against the covers behind him and made them move ever so slightly. The First was rummaging through his closet and dresser, picking things out without really looking them over. He made sure not to mix prints however, he couldn't go out looking like the child on his bed dressed him.

He clothed himself in a black tanktop with a deep blue flannel jacket thrown over it. The sleeves were rolled up above the elbow and he left the golden brass buttons undone. His pants were black denim jeans and he just settled with wearing the boots that accompanied his First class uniform. Not only were they comfortable, but versatile as well. When he was relatively pleased with his ensemble, he turned to his former student and tenderly picked him up from the bed, still unmade, but he'd worry about fixing it up later.

Zack snuggled up to his larger frame and draped his small arms around Angeal's broad neck, smiling as bright as the sun, if not brighter as the man adjusted him slightly so he could cart him around easier. The ravenette made sure he had everything he needed before setting out, which was mainly his wallet and key card. He possessed no keys or a vehicle since everything he needed was always in walking distance and if there was something he needed to do further out, he could just take the train for a small fee.

Angeal left his bedroom with a sure stride and powerful steps, how he often paced, walked, or strolled hen he was either on duty or out and about. Zack gently bobbed and bounced with the motions of the heavy steps and gentle sway that accompanied the motion of walking. Once the front door was in reach, Angeal popped it open with his free hand and shut it behind him.

He reached into the left pocket of his pants and fished out his key card so he could lock the door to his flat before leaving. He swiped the white card through the scanner next to the front door. When the light turned red with a little beep, he deposited the card back into his pocket and set off down the hall. His steps echoed off the walls inside the white-washed hall. Zack was looking all around him and in every direction he could turn his head. He had yet to see what Midgar and everything in it looked like since he had fallen asleep on the helicopter ride on the way here the other day.

The little one's attention was grabbed when he heard a soft ding from behind where he was currently looking. He turned his head to see where the noise had came from. Sleek silver elevator doors were slowly opening up to let them in. They stepped in as Angeal hit the 'lobby' button near the bottom of the massive panel containing all of the floors from the lobby up to fifty-nine. Those doors slid closed with a gentle hiss and hum before sealing shut while the steel box descended to take them to the proper floor.

Zack's bright blue eyes scanned each button on the panel, glanced at the screen telling them which floors where were on and passing, even looking at the small posters promoting Shin-Ra and their programs. He realized he was getting a tad too fidgety when Angeal readjusted his squirmy frame slightly. He tried to keep movement to a minumum after that, but he was just too excited to simply sit still!

Just when he was getting used to the surroundings around him, the elevator began to slow down in its descend and eventually stopped. As soon as it halted, the doors slowly slid open and let them out on their designated floor. The lobby was masive! It looked sleek and of cutting-edge in the visuals. A few potted plants sat stationary in a few bare corners of the massive room. There was a receptionist desk near the back of the building and a large Shin-Ra glass plaque hung high above them in the colors of black, gold, silver, and red.

A few infantrymen were scouring the lobby or hanging out with another on their off hours. One of them was talking to a receptionist near the large brown finished desk while her colleague rolled her eyes while trying to stay on the phone. Stairs complemented either side of the room and were garnished in a long purple rug to decorate the steel steps and add class. They did not linger about in the lobby for very long before moving towards the front doors.

Harsh mid-morning sunlight blared in through the open doors and Zack had to squint his eyes and bury his face into Angeal's shoulder to shield his face from the mega bright sunshine. He wanted to see what Midgar looked like as they moved through the streets, but right now his eyes were telling him to stay down for now.

His fuzzy black ears twitched at every little noise that was made: The gentle morning breeze, the incoherent chatter of mixed individuals scattered about, the gentle sloshing of water to his left, and even the scuffs that peoples shoes made when they didn't pick their feet high up enough while walking. When he adjusted to the change from darkness to light, he slowly lifted his eyes up from Angeal's shoulder and looked all around him in awe.

Tall buildings soared over their heads and provided a bit of shade to certain areas or in distinct alleyways. All walks of life were out and about this morning, business women and men in deep colored suits rushing around, leisurely adults shooting the breeze without a care in the world, parents with their children holding their hands while being lead through the bustling streets. Even sounds of trains whistling long and low could be heard from where they stood.

Zack's ears perked straight up as he honed in on every possible sound he could. His tail was poised in the air in the shape of a capital 'S' while the small breeze ruffled the fur on the wolf appendages he possessed. He looked in every direction he could, twisting his upper body, craning his neck, peering over Angeal's shoulders and many a time getting in his line of sight on accident. His eyes then shot up to the sky, it was the bluest thing he had ever seen. It was bright and deep while a few puffy white clouds resembling shapes of dragons and people slowly rolled on by.

The early October breeze picked up a little more, howling softly in his ears and sending small prickles of chills up and down his arms as the wind ghosted around his frame like a careless whisper or breathy sigh. While the air around him was cold, being nuzzled up to Angeal kept him rather warm. He was comfortable as ever and could even take a nap in this position if he so desired. When his bright eyes that mirrored the sky collided briefly with the sun, he squinted and looked away as a tickle developed in his nose.

A sneeze burst through his lips and scraped his irritated throat. He tried to catch it with his hands, but it mostly dispersed out behind him to intermingle with the air. The action was still as gross and sloppy as ever though. He saw some people behind them pointing at him and gently whispering to another with smiles on their faces. It was a man and a woman, the red-haired lady looking at him with kind brown eyes while the black-haired man just gave him a quick glance with emerald eyes.

"Hello!" Zack greeted as he pulled his right hand away from Angeal's neck to wave at them from the ten meter distance.

He saw the red-headed lady wave at him and smile back while the black-haired man cracked a small grin in his general direction. His tail began to wag as he went back to looking all aorund him as he noticed the surrounding beginning to change. The buildings were of darker coloration and neon signs painted each establishment in an array of bright and fun colors. They passed underneath a large arch and the sunlight was dimmed slightly, making his pupils dilate to adjust to the change.

The number of people had decreased a bit, but there were still some mingling with others and walking around. A few neon signs flashed brightly and caught his attention. One bright red sign read 'Goblin's Bar', while another one strobed in white flickered 'LOVELESS plaza'. That must be where they were right now. They passed by a few shops, the wares inside from behind the windows caught his eye. He saw many things ranging from jewelry and diamonds to toys and music boxes. He could even pick up a music box playing from inside one of the stores from behind the closed door.

It was relaxing, sad, and beautiful all at the same time and Zack couldn't resist swaying his head to the bright chimes it resounded. The tune painted the picture of two people that had been separated for a long time finally re-meeting in a tender embrace. For some reason, he pictured himself and Angeal being those two people. He snapped out of that trance when he could no longer hear that music box chime, finally out of ear shot of his enhanced wolf ears.

However, his ears perked back up when a bell chimed and tinkled from above their heads as the outside clamor was garbled, suffocated, and quieted. Zack did a double-take at where they currently were. It was a small establishment, a thrift-store in fact. Fancy and aged nick-knacks alike lined the walls of the building while racks of clothes sat idly by in the middle of the store. There were old movies, toys, and even housewarming items near the back.

Angeal finally set him down, but instantly reclaimed a grip on him by holding on to his left hand. That wasn't very fun, now he couldn't run around and see what kind of fun stuff the store had to offer! He kept an even pace with him, having to take faster and lighter steps to keep up with him so he wouldn't fall behind. Often times he would have to power walk or run in a bouncy fashion to catch up to his former mentor's long strides.

Thankfully, the older man began to slow down when he realized how hard he had to walk or run to keep up with him. They bypassed a few racks of clothes that would definitely be too big for him and ventured on further towards the back of the small building. Zack's eyes scanned each article hanging on the hangers, looking all around him and trying to soak up as much as he could with his little eyes. He didn't realize they had stopped until his small frame crashed into the older man's right leg.

"Careful now." Angeal told him as he gently pulled him off his leg and straightened him up.

He gave the older man a big grin and a happy giggle to show he would be a bit more careful. His eyes then roamed back to the racks they were standing in front of. A colorful array of shirts of all kinds lay spread out before them organized in the colors of the rainbow starting with reds and ending with blacks. Zack walked up to one of them and gripped the bottom of the fabric, pulling up a little bit to get a good look at what was on it. When he saw the blue shirt he picked was too plain, he shook his head and let it swing back in place.

He shot to the right towards the reds and repeated the process he did with the blue shirt. He did this about four more times before he finally started to find shirts his size that he liked. Every one he picked out that met his standards he'd show to Angeal to see if he approved of them too. All in all, he was able to get seven shirts approved from the older man. Four of them were long sleeved and varied in colors such as purple, green, blue, and black. The remaining three were short sleeved and were mostly white and black with prints on the front or back.

He insisted on carrying all of the shirts he picked as they made their way over to the pants so he wouldn't have to spend his days in shorts that fit him like so. The pants he was less picky on and went with four pairs of. Two were black denim with slightly different designs and variations while one was blue and the last pair were athletic pants with a cotton interior and polyester exterior. He instisted on carrying those too.

"Are you sure you can carry all of that?" Angeal asked as his hand roamed through his spikes and pet his right ear.

"Yes!" Zack piped up past the bundle of clothes he had in his grasp. Sure, he could barely see past the large mound he was holding, but he'd manage just fine.

"All right then, let's see if we can't find you some shoes." The older man spoke, gesturing to his socks.

"I'm fine with sockies!" He responded brightly as his tail began to wag gently through the open air behind him.

"Maybe so, but shoes will keep you from getting cuts and scrapes on your feet." Angeal explained as he lead the way to where the small section of shoes were kept.

"Okay, I still thinks I'm fine with my sockies though." Zack responded as he followed the older man much like how a baby duckling would follow its' mother.

When they padded up to the small section that the shoes were kept in, Zack gently lowered his clothing bundle so he could get a better look. After skimming and scanning for a moment, his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped. He let out an excited gasp as his eyes connected to the most amazing shoes he had ever seen, black velcro tennis shoes with flames on the outer sides. He immediately wanted to show Angeal. He quickly scurried up to him and got his attention by crashing his body into his leg against since his arms were full of apparel.

"Look, Angeal!" Zack exclaimed as he bounded over to the spot where he saw the shoes and stopped right in front of them.

"Flames, huh? Angeal responded with a smirk as he looked them over.

They certainly did look small enough for Zack to wear. He took them from their spot and sat them down in front of him. He instantly plopped on his rear and set the clothes on his right while he gripped the right shoe first and put it on to the proper foot. He sealed it shut with the velcro and repeated the process with the left one. His eyes were alight with excitement when he found that they fit him perfect.

"Angeal, they fits!" Zack cheered as he literally ran circles around the older man while laughing brightly.

When running a little bit too fast, he tripped over his own foot and went stumbling. With lighting fast reflexes, Angeal caught a hold of him just in time before he busted his face against the tile beneath him. He was steadied out on his own two feet carefully and in a gentle manner.

"Alright, pup. I think that's enough running around for now." Angeal suggested in a way that sounded more like a demand than a suggestion.

"Okie-dokie, artichokey!" Zack sang in a bubbly fashion as he reclaimed his discarded pile of clothes.

With the matter of clothes taken care of, the two made their way further back into the store. Zack was a little curious. If they already had clothes, what else could they possibly need while they were here? His question was answered when he came face to face with a stuffed brontosaurus colored in browns, tans, and creamy whites. His eyes lit up as the rather large stuffed toy was placed on the pile of clothes.

"I get a dinosaur?" He squealed as that smile stretched ear-to-ear as his tail wagged so fast it looked more like a black blur than an appendage.

He heard Angeal chuckle from in front of him. It was kind of hard to see him with clothes and a cute dinosaur plush blocking his vision.

"So what kind of animals do you like?" He had asked, even though he knew for a fact which animals and creatures his former student loved to death.

"I like chocobos, moogles, tonberrys, mmmm... Dinosaurs and cactuars!" Zack listed off with a bounce in his voice with each creature he listed off.

As soon as he finished his list, a little moogle and cactuar were placed into his arms next to the dinosaur. He lit up and squealed happily, wanting to snuggle his new stuffed animals but being unable to because of the clothing bundle wrapped up in his arms and taking up most of the space. After he thought he couldn't get more excited, he was wrong when a tonberry ended up in his pile. He just about dropped his clothes in his excitement while Angeal continued to chuckle in that scratchy and powerful baritone voice of his.

When the excitement of the toys died down, they left that section of the store and made their way back up to the front. It was hard to see where he was going, but if Zack looked up just enough than he could see the back of the older man's head as he lead the way. When he saw him stop, he did the same thing to avoid crashing into him again. The load was suddenly lifted from his arms and he could see again. They were up at the front of the store and a lady working the register was ringing them up for the items they found.

"So, you carried all of that all by yourself?" The brown-haired, blue-eyed girl asked him with a grin and a lilt in her voice.

"Yes I dids! I didn't needs any help either!" Zack boasted, putting his hands on his hips as a big smug smile stretched across his face.

"My, how grown up! I can barely get my eight year old to help me with the dishes!" She spoke with a giggle as she finished ringing up the selected items and put them into two bags.

She turned her attention back to Angeal and stated that the total would be three-hundred Gil. The necessary amount of currency was paid and the two left the small store with the two bags in tow. As they stepped back outside, what had once been mid-morning had now transitioned into high noon.

Zack found his stomach to be grumbling, causing a small wave of uncomfortable pain due to the small amout of cleaning fluids he had managed to ingest. He had only taken one drink before realizing it was too nasty to be anything good for him, but it still upset him none the less, being so young and all.

"Are you alright, pup?" Angeal asked as he saw the slightly pained expression blanket his former student's face as he held his stomach with his hands.

"I'm just a lil' hungrys." Zack responded with a sheepish grin to try and rid his face of the pained look he figured he was giving off.

"All right, there's a restaurant not too far from here that we can get something to eat at." Angeal responded as he moved one of the plastic bags from his right hand to his left.

After that, he took a hold of the four-year old's hand and lead the way once more. Zack followed silently and kept his eyes in front of him even if the scenery around him was visually calling out to him to look in their directions. Each grumble upset his stomach slightly and caused a bit of discomfort, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Once he got some food down, the growling and pain were sure to go away.

The autumn sun was gentle as it beamed down against their backs and the breeze remained playful and free as it rustled their clothes and hair. A few more people were starting to show up in the plaza they were currently walking through due to it being later in the day and more people were now awake and about. Zack even spotted a child or two his own age with their parents as they ran errands around the town too. It didn't take long at all for them to arrive at the restaurant. Cornflower blue eyes scanned the small building. It looked to be a quaint little cafe and bistro.

They stepped inside as cool air conditioning met with them and circled around them when the glass doors swung shut. The tile was checkerboard black and white while the walls were a soothing red color. Some old school music was blaring from a few speakers set up around the small establishment. There was a couple sharing an iced coffee and muffin together near the back while a family in one of the booths they were close to were eating their entrees.

A waiter came up to them and showed them to their table, which was a small booth near the back closest to the kitchen but right next to a window. The booth was a bit high, but Zack managed to climb up and sit himself down just fine after Angeal had taken a seat on the inside first, their bags on the other side of the booth. He ended up being a bit too short to properly sit at the table and didn't really like that, thinking he was much taller than what he really was. However, when an idea pinged inside his head, a smile spread over his lips.

While Angeal busied himself with looking through the small menu, Zack crawled up and sat in his lap with a big grin on his face. It slightly startled the older man, but he let the young one sit there without any fuss or complaint. The two looked through one menu together, the younger wanting to eat just about every picture on the laminated surface.

"So, what sounds good to you?" Angeal asked as he flipped one of the pages so his puppified pupil could get another look through.

"Ev-"

"Don't say 'everything'."

"...D'at looks good!" Zack responded after a pause of silence as he pointed to what he wanted to eat, which was a simple grilled cheese.

"All right, I can work with that." Angeal responded with a soft smile as he set his menu down.

"What is you gonna eats, Angeal?" Zack asked as he tipped his head back to look at his former mentor upside-down.

"Behemoth burger." He responded as he playfully flicked the fuzzy left ear below him.

"Whaaaaa-? I'nt that, that one really big hamburger thingy?"

"Yes, it's that 'really big hamburger thingy'." Angeal teased.

"Do you always eats d'at much?" Zack asked as he pulled his head back when his neck developed an ache.

"Most of the time." He responded.

Just then, their waiter reappeared and took their orders quickly, stating he'd get those out as soon as possible and he'd get them some drinks as well. With that, he hurried off into the kitchen to relay the order to the cooks inside. While the two waited for their food to come out, they ended up taking the paper wrapping off their straws and firing the tips of them at each other until they lost track of where the paper tips went. Then Angeal used the remains of what was left of the wrapping to show Zack how to make a rose out of the paper.

By the time he finished with his little tutorial, their food and drinks were placed before them piping hot and fresh straight from the griddle. It was a bit of a challenge in having to eat over Zack without getting crumbs in his hair or fur, but the First managed just fine while the puppified pupil dove right into his cheesy sandwich without mercy. Both of them finished off their food within fifteen minutes and felt very satisfied afterwards.

Zack's plate was licked clean and barely any crumbs remained on the white plate. He stretched and let out a relaxing sounding 'ahh'. The afternoon sun beamed in through the window and splashed across their bodies, warming them even though it was filtered through the thick pane of glass. They spent a few moments letting their meal settle while they washed in the warmth of the sun.

The afternoon sun gently beamed in through the thick panes of the window, filtering across the table and gently sparkling against the surface. As the two rested for a brief moment, their waiter returned to leave Angeal to pay the tab and collect their plates. He quickly walked away to give the older man some space. After all, be too impatient in this line of work and there wouldn't be a good tip to show for it. The older man paid the correct amount of Gil and left a little bit for the waiter to keep.

"Alright, Zack, are you ready to go?" Angeal asked as he looked down at the wolf-child in his lap.

A small smile graced the corners of his lips as he saw the little one napping away against him. His left ear was gently twitching as his tail sat stationary to his left. Callused fingers gently stroked behind each ear and ran through the thick hair as well. He supposed he could let the child rest while he finished up the rest of their errands. After that, it was time to see if Zack retained any of his former strength.

A/N: Heya guys! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I would have had this one out a looong time ago, but in the beginning of September, I found a stray kitten at my job and ended up taking him in! He had a wonky walk and it turns out he had two broken back legs, so my mother and I fixed them with surgery, but ever since then we've been low on funds (It was a pretty pricey penny for that surgery!) and stress has been eating at me since my hours got cut and- well, I think you get the jist XD Super busy and super stressed, but anyways, chappie eight's all done!

So, leave a review, type a response, let me know what you thought, anything! Every little bit is super appreciated and works as a great motivator :p

Until the next one!

Toodles!
~Zimithrus1