I Would Tell You All My Secrets

Zechs had been gone for two years, and only been back in Noin's life for two hours. In the so little time they had been reunited they had learned so much about each other's emotions. And now Lucretia Noin was learning some of the horrors of his body.

"Uh... how..." Noin tried to start a conversation. She ran a white wash rag over his long, once muscular arms. He had changed so much. He was once so perfect. And now he sat in the tub, unable to bathe himself.

Zechs hissed in pain as some soap got into an open cut on his arm. Noin was splashed with water as Zechs clutched his arm.

"What happened to you?" Noin asked, look over Zechs' body. His arms, chest, back, and face were marred with deep scars. He kept his left eye shut mostly, for there was a nasty scratch over it.

"It's really pointless to tell this story, Lucretia," Zechs said. His voice had all of the depth and beauty it ever did, but it also sounded more pained.

"But I want to know, Zechs," she told him, washing his back more gently, as to not agitate his wounds again. While she was scrubbing his back, Noin starting having fantasies of the future. She hoped to one day be washing the backs of her and Zechs' children.

Zechs explained to Noin his life over the past two years. He told her about how he piloted Epyon around to abandoned resource satellites, searching for food. He claimed that the scratches came from being careless with his body around explosions and the like. Noin narrowed her deep violet eyes, detecting a small hint of a lie in his story.

"I think I may have some cream to put on those scratches." Noin said, placing the washcloth on the side of the bathtub. She exited the bathroom, leaving the door open. Zechs used his small amount of private time to wash his more personal areas. He did not know he was being watched.

Sally Po, Noin's best friend, was peeking in the door way. She was entranced with everything about him, even the way he washed himself. Her heart was pounding, racing. This view of him was so rare.

"Excuse me, Sally," Noin said, walking past her room mate. Lucretia was carrying a decent sized bottle of aloe rubbing cream. She set the bottle and a clean rag on the sink. She focused her attention on putting some of the rubbing cream on the rag as Zechs stood up and wrapped a soft towel around his unnaturally thin waist. He sat on a stool that Noin put out for him. No one noticed that Sally still watching.

Zechs looked so calm as Noin massaged the aloe cream into his shoulders. Perhaps even a ghost of a smile passed across his face. Noin finished both arms and went on to put the cream on to Zechs' back. He arched his back as Lucretia rubbed the cold, soothing cream into his tense muscles. Sally watched in half jealously as this bizarre form of sensual foreplay was displayed in front of her. Noin moved around to Zechs' front and applied the cream to his chest. Suddenly, Zechs put his arms around Noin's slender waist and pulled her against him. He put his scarred lips to her soft tender ones. Something in Sally's stomach suddenly made her feel absolutely horrible. She couldn't watch anymore. She turned away, crumpled on the floor clutching her stomach.

"I've waited for you," Sally heard Zechs tell Noin. The raven haired woman asked Zechs what he meant.

"In my twenty-one years of existence, Lucretia," he cooed, "I have saved myself for you."

"You mean..." Noin began to ask him, "You are a..."

She was silenced by another kiss. Sally crawled from the hallway. This scene was just far too much for her. Sally instead, walked to the kitchen. As she began making dinner, Sally heard two sets of feet pass down the hallway, then heard the Noin's bedroom door click shut, then lock.

Jealous and rage filled Sally's mind as she beat the mashed potatoes to a creamy paste. Even though Sally had only just realized her love for Zechs this morning, she still felt as though she's loved him for years. An old saying ran through Sally's mind: "The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

She finished cooking dinner in near silence. Sally tried to sing songs to herself in her head, trying to drown out the muffled sounds of passion coming from her friend's bedroom. Guilt, jealous, what ever it was, that was causing pangs of pain in her stomach started to come back again. The pain seemed to crash and fade rhythmically with the moaning in the other room. Sally once again tried to ignore what was going on in the other room.

A half hour later, the table was set. Dinner, roast beef with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and rolls, was set out. And Sally was lying on the couch watching television.

"Are they ever going to be done?" she asked aloud. Just then, the door opened and the two very happy lovers emerged.

"Dinner ready?" Noin asked.
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The end of Part I.