Evenfall (82 page)

Sin continued to toy with his lip ring, eyes trained on Boyd's face although they were mostly unreadable. "You don't have to."

"No," Boyd said with very slight strain. "I really think I do." He stared intently at the book.

Sin shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, shifting in the seat. He was sweating and his skin was likely sticking to the imitation leather seats. "It's hot," he muttered and looked out the window again.

"It's fine," Boyd retorted, trying very hard not to watch him. It was true that he could see sweat glistening on his skin, and that was also a distraction. He was glad no one was sitting anywhere near them because even if Sin was probably oblivious to Boyd's sidelong looks, the others wouldn't be.

Perhaps it was the realization that all attempts to distract himself were falling by the wayside, but Boyd couldn't help adding a little sarcastically, "Where's the Mexican in you? You should be able to handle this."

Sin looked over at Boyd through sleepy looking, heavy lidded eyes.
"Callate la boca, blanquito."

Hearing Sin speak Spanish didn't help any; he sounded especially sexy when he was drawling those words fluidly in his low, velvety voice. "What does that mean?" he asked, half with an edge and half just curious.

Full lips turned up into a small smirk and Sin raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to the window. "It's a secret."

"
Putain de beau gosse
," Boyd muttered under his breath in mild annoyance, flipping forward several pages.

Sin looked at him again, eyes slightly narrowed suspiciously. He opened his mouth to speak but before the words could come out, the bus hit a decidedly large pothole. Sin slammed into Boyd violently, nearly causing him to go flying out of the seat.

Before Boyd could actually fall, Sin grabbed his arm and pulled him against his chest to steady him. Boyd stilled as he tried not to feel too keenly the heat and strength of Sin's body. It was made even more alluring by Sin's calloused fingers curled over his bare arm. One of his hands was awkwardly resting near Sin's thigh and the other held his bag very decidedly over his lap. His eyes unconsciously falling half-closed, Boyd concentrated on the back of the seat in front of him and breathed slowly in and out. This felt good. This felt too good. He pulled away.

"Thank you," he murmured as soon as he was certain his voice would remain steady.

Sin's eyes stayed on him for a long moment and his fingers brushed against the bare skin of Boyd's arm when he finally released it. "No problem."

Boyd could not be certain but it didn't seem necessary for Sin's fingers to have slid across his skin in that manner. Despite the heat he shivered. He was so unaccustomed to anyone touching his bare arms that his nerves were hypersensitive. It would have been enough with the firm grip, but with the second Sin's touch became more casual and gentle. Even as brief as it had been, it was all Boyd could think about.

He rearranged his book from where it had fallen by his stomach and, with as much concentration as he could muster, he devoted himself solely to reading about Mexico's history and the state of tourism at the time the book was written. No one else on the bus seemed to be paying them any heed, which Boyd was very thankful for; the other passengers were asleep, talking to each other, or staring out the windows quietly.

The ride to Monterrey was relatively uneventful after that point. Although a few more potholes jolted the bus, nothing was quite severe enough to warrant Sin touching Boyd's bare arms, which was good, because Boyd rather thought he may do something embarrassing if Sin kept rubbing and brushing against him. By the time they arrived at the sprawling edges of the city, Boyd's wandering thoughts were mostly under control and to an extent he was even able to ignore Sin playing with his lip ring.

The bus driver dropped them off at a public transit terminal where taxis waited on the other side. Although Sin muttered something about them taking one, Boyd said it was better they get to know the city by walking. From what he could tell on the map their apartment wouldn't be too far away and they didn't know yet how much money they had anyway.

During the reconstruction of the city, large areas had been renamed and shifted around. The street they were searching for was called Veracruz, but the map Boyd had was from before much of the reconstruction and the landmarks and surrounding streets were not where it said they should have been.

Although the ash remained over Monterrey as they did everywhere in the world, the sun was burning through them with enough intensity that a few beams could be seen breaking between the silvery white. By the time they had walked for an hour and a half, both of them were soaked in sweat and Boyd's mood was going lower each time Sin shot him an irritated look whenever a taxi or bus passed them.

The neighborhood they were heading into seemed to be in disrepair. There was graffiti scrawled across buildings, although in some places it had been painted over by some intrepid individual. The buildings were crumbling in some places, stucco having fallen off to reveal the cement blocks beneath. The city rose and fell in stark angles at times. Some streets were flat while others were at such an angle that all the buildings along it seemed as though they were cockeyed or crooked. Apartment buildings and tiny houses were butted right up against small businesses that looked as though there was no way they could be legitimate and get enough traffic to afford to stay in business.

They turned a corner and finally reached Veracruz. Relieved beyond measure, Boyd gave Sin an 'I told you so' look to which Sin replied with a 'No you fucking didn't, you were just lucky' look. Boyd turned his attention pointedly to the map and Sin casually strolled at his side, though the sullenness remained as it had since he was transformed into Jason Alvarez.

It took them awhile to find the correct address since most of the numbers and letters were hidden or lost, but after about half an hour they finally found the place. Balconies stuck out at varying heights, making the squat building look rather like an awkward cactus.
A small air conditioner was running inside the main door and though it did not drastically change the temperature, it was enough that Boyd and Sin were able to breathe a little easier without the heat suffocating their lungs.

Boyd held his hand out silently and after a moment of staring blankly at it Sin reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope with the key that Carhart had given him before he left. They trudged up a small enclosed staircase in the far back of the building, which they found only after opening every door in the vicinity. On the third floor, Boyd suddenly veered into a hallway and, looking at each dingy yellow door they passed, searched for the correct number. He stopped in front of their designated apartment and fumbled with the lock before he was able to jiggle it open.

The door caught and that was their first clue that it would not be all they were hoping for.

Boyd's arm muscles tensed as he pulled and then shoved with all his strength against the door. With a disgruntled squeal it jerked open and Boyd nearly fell into the room. He caught himself and stood, unconsciously airing his torso by grabbing his t-shirt at his solar plexus and jerking it away from his body a few times to let bubbles of air beneath the cotton. Pushing his sweaty bangs from his eyes and pulling away the bit of hair that reached his neck, he idly wandered into the room before Sin.

It was a studio instead of an apartment; just a single room that was decently sized but still smaller than he had hoped for. There was what looked to be a small room for a bathroom in the far right corner, but that was the only area that was closed off. Two single beds rested beneath a set of dirty windows along the wall next to the bathroom, nearer the front door. The kitchen was along the far wall, a window letting in soft light over a set of counter with another long counter acting as an island divider between the kitchen and the room. To the left of the kitchen, a sliding glass door let in quite a bit of natural light and just outside they could see the rickety balcony they now had to their name.

There were no lights installed in the ceiling. The apartment would clearly have to be lit from outside and by lamps they would probably have to buy. At the moment there was only one weak-looking lamp shoved in the corner. There was no other furniture except a small table and two chairs near the kitchen where they could eat. The walls were stained and off-white, the floor was dirty and cement although that wasn't entirely bad since it would probably feel cool against their feet. Thin cloth curtains hung to the sides of the windows and door; the only protection they had from the outside world. A small air conditioner sat by the windows near the beds, looking so dusty that Boyd wondered if it even worked.

Boyd surveyed the studio with a blank expression. This was definitely going to be awkward; there was absolutely no privacy except the bathroom and even then that meant one of them had the ability to shut himself away but the other was at the mercy of whenever the first decided to reappear. That meant that even if Sin went into the bathroom, Boyd would have no idea when he would suddenly come out. So he could do nothing embarrassing until he was in the bathroom instead.

This was going to be... interesting.

Sin pushed past Boyd and dropped his duffel bag onto the floor with a resounding thud. "This is a fucking joke," he said flatly, glaring at the room as if it should be blamed.

"That would be nice," Boyd said in disappointment. He let his own bag slip to the floor and tried to kick the door shut behind him. It caught again. Turning, he braced his feet against the floor and shoved as hard as he could. With another groan, the door slammed shut and Boyd leaned against it for a moment, panting and letting his forehead rest against the wood.

"Well," he said dryly as the heat made him feel exhausted and not very athletic. "That will make it difficult to be stealthy."

"This is bullshit," Sin growled and ripped off his sweaty t-shirt, discarding it carelessly onto the dirty floor. He stomped over to the window and glared down at the air conditioner before shoving the window open. "I fucking hate this mission," he grumbled and began muttering to himself in Spanish as he shoved the small, decrepit-looking air conditioner into the window.

"If you break that I will kill you," Boyd informed him absently as he studied the sliding glass door.

He unlocked the door and tugged experimentally on the handle, pleased to see that at least the sliding door opened with no problems. The balcony, on the other hand, looked a little dubious. He stared at it before daring to step onto the rusty metal.

Sin said something particularly nasty sounding in Spanish and plugged the unit into the wall. He pressed the power button after a moment and a low hum filled the room, although no cool air came out of the vents. Sin stared at the machine in dismay and smashed his finger against the buttons violently, setting it to the coolest temperature.

"This piece of shit doesn't work," he snapped at Boyd.

Boyd turned around just in time to see Sin hit one button so hard the whole unit rocked against the window. "Wow." Sliding the door shut behind him, he strode across the room and slapped Sin's hand away so he could lean in to peer at the unit with one hand held up to feel the air. "The filter probably needs to be cleaned but I don't know how to do that. We can ask someone."

Sin threw him an annoyed look and pushed him out of the way. "It's easy."

"What, you can't diagnose the problem but you can fix it?" Boyd asked skeptically, growing irritated by Sin's attitude. "An idiot savant of mechanics; how lucky of me to be roomed with you."

"Shut the fuck up," Sin snapped back. "Do you really want to make this worse than it already is going to be?"

"Excuse me, but I believe you've been the instigator so far," Boyd said, crossing his arms.

He wasn't particularly happy about the accommodations either, but it would be nice if Sin didn't act as though it were the worst thing in the world to be there. The heat and cramped quarters were irritating Boyd too but it wasn't going to help anything if they couldn't even get along. And, he had to admit to himself, for all that he wasn't pleased with the apartment he still couldn't help looking forward to this year, even if it was likely to be awkward at times.

Sin grunted and unplugged the air conditioner, taking it out of the window and setting it on the floor. He sat down next to it and removed the grill. Dust exploded from the inside of the unit and he made a face, pulling the filter out. It was filthy and covered in a layer of dust that was several inches thick. He continued his task silently although there was obvious tension in his shoulders.

Seeing that Sin had it under control, Boyd decided to look around the rest of the studio. He discovered that the fridge was unplugged so he plugged that in, but it would be awhile before he could see if it was even working. The bathroom was tiny, but there seemed to be working water in the sink, toilet and shower, even if at first the water came out dark brown.

A small, cracked mirror hung above the sink and Boyd stopped as he started to leave the room. He stared at himself in the mirror, flipping on the sole light bulb that hung from the ceiling without a cover. This was the first chance he had to actually see himself and it was very strange. Even such a simple change as dark blue contacts, a
haircut
, and light red hair completely seemed to change his complexion.