Boredom and free time mix well :).
Disclaimer: Same as usual. I don't own Kingdom Hearts...-grumbles-
Aldrick could hear the alarm clock, along with a muffled "Shit..." The teen opened his eyes, and saw an arm creep out from beneath the lump of a blanket on the floor, searching for the source of the annoying noise.
When the alarm was turned off, the teen closed his eyes again, and listened as Cid made his way from the floor to the bathroom, then into the shower.
It seemed like only a few seconds when the teen opened his eyes again, hearing only silence from his new home. The bathroom door was open, and the shower was empty. /Did I fall back asleep?\ ran through his mind, and he got out of the bed and went into the shower, taking off his borrowed pants along the way.
Once he was done, the warm water having revitalized him, he got out and grabbed the towel that was on the counter next to the sink, noticing a piece of paper as it drifted from beneath the towel to the floor. Picking it up, he smiled as he read the quickly scrawled message.
Went to buy food. Clothes are in the closet. --Cid
Drying himself off, he wrapped the now slightly damp towel around his waist and headed back into the bedroom. Opening the closet, Aldrick realized that it was a walk-in version. A few clothes, mostly shirts, were hanging on hangers off a horizontal bar that ran the depth of the closet, but most of the clothes were crumpled and tossed into a large pile in the back. With a sigh, and a decision to one day do the laundry, Aldrick peered through the drawers that were built into the closet walls.
Finding only four pairs of white socks, seven pairs of boxers, and two pairs of pants in the drawers, he sighed. "Tomorrow, we'll definitely need to do laundry..." He grabbed a pair of the white socks, a pair of dark green silk boxers, and a pair of black cargo pants. He sifted through the dirty laundry, finding the belt he used the day before, along with two shirts that smelled of spilled beer, and a pair of pants with a cigarette burn in the left thigh.
Putting on the belt, he looked over the clean shirts, and grabbed a blue one that had a flame on the back that was a darker shade of blue. Fully dressed, he stepped out into the living room, turning on the television and taking a seat on the couch. As the news talked about a heartless attack that was thwarted by Leon, Aldrick could hear Cid coming down the stairs.
Getting up to meet Cid, the teen saw that the mechanic carried bags of food from some store, and was going to the kitchen to put them away. He also carried two fast food hamburgers along with a bag filled with a large bundle of the silver strips he used to make the silver chain the day before.
"Good, you're dressed. Eat up, then we'll see if you can copy what I did yesterday." Cid was still putting away food, and Aldrick managed to catch a glimpse of a bottle, with the writing Paopu Fruit Cream Soda on the label.
"...Yeah, I'll try." Aldrick was a little nervous, but figured he couldn't avoid it. /Best to get it done and over with, right?\
After the teen unwrapped his burger, he basically inhaled it, and headed upstairs, following Cid. In the shop, Cid reached under the counter, pulling out a pair of gloves and tossing them to his apprentice, along with his goggles and the bag of silver strips.
After lighting the fire with his lighter, the mechanic sat behind the counter, and started to work on fixing the book that Merlin asked to be fixed. Aldrick sat in front of the fire, the gloves and goggles on, as he threw some of the strips into the fire.
Once the metal was hot enough to bend, he reached in and pulled out one of the pieces, and tried to bend it into a circle. It didn't go that well, and he created what appeared to be an oval. With his first attempt failed, he tried again, this time creating the shape of a teardrop. This got him thinking, and he decided to go with what he knew he could do. Using the rest of the strips from the fire, he formed them into teardrops, and formed a chain, using the final strip to link it into a full loop. Right as he finished, Cid himself put the last of the pages he had into the book and glued it in. Both let out a "Finished."
Cid came over and examined the necklace, nodding in approvement. "Not like mine, but I think it'll definitely sell. I do believe this calls for a celebration!"
Aldrick's eyebrow twitched. The last celebration involved inedible steaks, so what would this one entail? He tried the first excuse in his head. "Um, maybe we should do laundry? I mean, it's kinda piling up..."
Cid went from happy to sad to serious in a total of two seconds. "I guess, but then, we celebrate. Understand?"
The teen was already off, tossing the gloves and goggles at the mechanic after setting the chain on the fireplace to cool, trying to grab as many of the nasty clothes he could, and put them in one of the only two laundry baskets the mechanic owned. "Cid...why do you only have two laundry baskets? And so many dirty clothes?"
The man shrugged as he piled clothes into his basket. "Just never got around to getting it done. And only two laundry baskets because that's all I usually need." Cid now picked up his filled basket, which held two-thirds of the dirty clothes, causing only his hair to be visible. Noticing that the clothes had managed to completely cover three spears from view, the teen grabbed the rest of the of the clothes, and started after the man, who was already at the stairs and leaving.
The two went inside the Laundromat, and started to sort the laundry. Once sorted between lights, darks, and whites, Aldrick got started on getting them into the washing machines, while Cid pulled out Munny to start them.
When all six washing machines were started, Cid and Aldrick sat on two of the chairs. Cid was tapping his foot out of boredom, and Aldrick was reading a book that was handed to him by a woman leaving. It was a romance novel, and though not that appealing to the teen, he decided it would pass the time.
The mechanic tapped his foot repeatedly, until the younger male finally said "If you get someone else to help, you can go." The man's mood seemed to brighten, and he disappeared for a minute. Aldrick thought he just ran off, but was relieved when he came back. He was accompanied by a happy Aerith, an ambivalent Leon, and a pouting Yuffie. He then said a quick "Later!" and ran off towards the shop, a large grin on his face.
After about an hour of waiting, the wash got transferred into the dryers. "I'm sorry Cid dragged you into this, but sometimes I think I'm more mature than he is." Aldrick started to apologize, his head tilted down.
"It's no problem. I don't mind helping." Aerith was smiling, patiently waiting for the dryers to buzz.
"...Whatever." Leon was reading a weapons magazine, seemingly ignoring everything around him.
"Don't worry. The old man's the one who's going to be sorry." Yuffie had a glint in her eye, as she wrung her hands mischievously.
Once the dryers were done, the four started to fold, each in their own way. Aldrick neatly folded the socks and boxers, Leon took over the shirts, and Aerith refolded the pants that Yuffie failed at folding properly the first time. The clothes were then put in the laundry baskets, and Leon and the teen took the two baskets back to the shop as the two girls went back to their respective homes.
Leon dropped the basket he was carrying on the store counter, and left, as the teen started to take his basket down. Once he brought both baskets down, he entered the kitchen, and pulled out the bottle that Cid had put in the fridge that was labeled 'Paopu Fruit Cream Soda'. He poured some into a glass, and put the bottle back into the fridge, where it would rest amongst the numerous cans of beer.
Looking at the counter, Aldrick noticed a conveniently placed empty bottle next to the sink. What appeared to be a worm sat nestled against the bottom, and Aldrick shook his head. No...he didn't...
A pair of arms wrapped around the teen's waist, and the smell of alcohol passed by his nose. "What...What are you doing?!" the teen cried, blushing horribly at the physical contact.
"I...I'm protectin' ya...from...the shark...in the sink..." Cid's head was next to the apprentice's, and the whispers sent shivers down Aldrick's spine.
"I..." He stood there for a minute, enjoying the clumsy embrace. Soon, he shook his head. "I can protect myself. Let me go."
"No." A simple response, which almost made the teen melt into the man's arms.
"Yes. Now let me go." Aldrick knew the man was severely drunk, and that taking advantage of it would be wrong. Damn my conscience!
The arms slowly slid away, and Aldrick ran off into the bedroom, leaving a sloshed Cid to stare at the sink. Taking off all but his boxers, he crawled into bed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep with a faint shade of pink covering his face.
When the teen started to wake up, he felt like something was on top of him. Something on his legs, and another over his chest. Confused, he opened his eyes, and covered his mouth, quickly stifling a squeak.
Cid lay sprawled on the bed, clad in only a pair of dark red boxers. His arm and leg were what was on top of Aldrick, and the teen panicked, a little blood dripping from his nose. /Oh my God! So close! He smells like alcohol and cigarettes. But, I smell...something like...sweat...Ah! Stop it! Stop, stop, stop, stop!\
The teen plugged his nose, as he tried to think of what to do. /Okay, relax. If I wake him up, it would only be awkward. But, what if he just says 'hi'? No, he wouldn't say that! Be serious! Maybe if I slowly shift my way out from under him?\
The teen slowly moved his body, inching his way towards the wall. The leg was the first to fall off, making a small thump as it hit the bed. Soon, the arm hit the bed as well, and Aldrick was so relieved, he got up as fast as he could and leapt over the sleeping mechanic. Tripping a little, he ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him, stuffing toilet paper into his nose to try and stop the bleeding.
Meanwhile, a sleepy Cid lifted his head at the sound of a door, then just shrugged it off and put his head back down, passing out once again.
To be continued...
Ah, Alcohol. One of man's own elixirs of truth...or at least one for funny and awkward moments :). R&R...