The Coat

Genesis managed to clear a square for himself to sit on that wasn't completely covered in slobber or dog hair. That was becoming a rare commodity in Angeal's apartment these days. Or, the Kennel, as Genesis not so affectionately referred to it as. The only reason he was even in here was because he and Angeal were going to meet with Lazard in a few minutes for a mission debriefing.

Angeal was normally the punctual one, always a stickler for the rules and going on and on about the importance of structure and so on. But this time, it was Genesis' turn to wait on Angeal. It seemed he was missing a boot. 100 gil the dog ate it- zipper and all, Genesis bet to himself. The mangy mutt had certainly proven that he was up to the task. How he ingested Angeal's entire belt without choking on it was beyond Genesis.

Speaking of the little garbage disposal, Genesis hadn't seen him since he entered the apartment. Normally the mutt accosted him at the door before he could even make it over the threshold. Maybe Angeal took my advice and locked him in a cage, Genesis dared to hope. Or he gave him to the Thirds for their Small-Dimwitted-Beast Training.

Hmm, that one seemed less likely. Angeal was terribly sentimental. In Genesis' opinion, this was one of his greatest faults and he made sure to tell Angeal this every chance he got. On one such occasion he had pushed Angeal too far, and Angeal, in a rare public display of malice, rather scathingly pointed out that it was because of that trait that he was still friends with Genesis. The redhead had looked stricken and then acted like he hadn't heard anything.

"Where is Brute? Is he rabid yet?" Genesis called from his perch in the living room.

"It's Brutus. And no, he does not have rabies," a voice trailed in from the bedroom. "He's probably in the kitchen somewhere. He likes to squeeze himself into tight little places."

"He ruined the play for me, you know. Maybe even LOVELESS all together."

"I saw the news clip. You earned that restraining order all on your own." Genesis scowled at the memory. "And a lobotomy couldn't keep you away from LOVELESS."

This seemed to cheer the redhead up. "That's sweet."

Angeal finally emerged from his bedroom looking disheveled and holding his boot in his hand. Genesis hadn't been totally off base. The boot had several chunks taken out of it and the sole was holding on for dear life, connected only at the heel. He stared at Angeal as the dark haired man hopped up and down trying to get his foot into what used to be a perfectly good boot (if not a little plain for Genesis' tastes).

"You're not going to still wear that are you?"

"Yeah," Angeal said like it was fairly obvious.

"That shoe, you're going to wear that shoe?"

"Uh, yeah Gen, I'm putting it on right now."

"You can't do that."

"Why not?" Angeal didn't see what the problem was.

"Why not? Because it looks like someone's been shooting at it! Like it's been used for target practice!"

"So what? It still functions as a shoe."

"The sole is hanging off! It'll flap around when you walk! What are you going to do when we go on the mission? "

"It's nothing that a little glue won't fix. Besides, it's the only pair I have."

Genesis washed his hands of it. "Your cheapness has sunken to a new low." He knew there was no arguing with Angeal on this. In the whole twenty-one years he had known him, he had never been able to cure Angeal of his miserly ways. And that's quite remarkable considering how tenacious Genesis could be.

"We'd better get going. We're already running late."

"Yeah, thanks to you. I've been sitting here patiently ready to go." After all of the times Genesis had been reprimanded by Angeal for being late he was going to enjoy rubbing it in. He didn't know why Angeal ever gave a damn anyway. It wasn't like he was his boss. Fucking goody-two-shoes.

"You can yell at me all you want later, we need to go." Angeal urged, motioning Genesis out the door.

Genesis slowly rose from his seat with a smug expression on his face. It soon turned to one of confusion, however, when he heard dripping and looked down at his now soaking wet, trademark leather jacket. "What the hell…?" He leaned down to inspect the liquid and quickly identified the familiar, pungent aroma of urine. Dog urine. "Oh I'm going to KILL him!"

Angeal had not yet fully grasped what was going on. It wasn't until Genesis started flipping furniture over and yelling things like "This was custom-made! It costs more than your life!", "I'm going to skin you alive and make a coat out of you!" and "Let's see you try to pee when I feed your dick to a Malboro!" that he was able to piece together what happened.

Apparently, Brutus had peed all over Genesis' coat without the SOLDIER First noticing. The dog was even smart enough to have an escape route. Good thing, too. On any given day the redhead need only be minorly inconvenienced to become a danger to the lives and/or limbs of any stragglers in the vicinity. Brutus might well have ended up as a coat if Genesis got his hands on him. Or a nice scarf or something. The dog could rest in peace at least knowing he'd be stylish.

Angeal tried to suppress his laughter. "Oh come on, how do you know Brutus peed on your coat?"

Genesis put his hunt on hold to glare at Angeal. "Well I am aware of what pee smells like, An-GEE-al."

I know, you wet the bed until you were ten, Angeal thought to himself. He wasn't dumb enough to say it out loud though. To do so now would have been suicidal. "But how do you know it was Brutus?"

"Are you suggesting that I peed on myself?"

"Well…" Angeal couldn't suppress his snickers now. Maybe he did have a death wish.

Genesis huffed incredulously. He couldn't believe Angeal would deal such a low blow. Before he had a chance to redirect his rage, Angeal grabbed him and started pulling him out the door.

"Like I said, worry about it later. We have to go!"

"Fine but when we get back I am murdering your dog!"

"Yeah, yeah, murdering dog, right, got it."

Genesis relaxed a little and they finally made it out the door. Angeal locked up and they began walking down the corridor in silence, the only sound being the smacking of Angeal's shoe every other step he took. Once they were down the hall he turned to Genesis and scrunched his nose.

"You're not going to still wear that are you? It smells like piss. Like it's been used for target practice."

The fire ball he got to the face was totally worth it.

...o0O0o...