Fallocaust (The Fallocaust Series) (25 page)

“Damn, look at that time score. I think that’s a record,” Reaver said proudly. The game ended with him winning of course. I flexed my hand on the controller.
“It’s alright, you’ll get better,” Reaver assured, he seemed to think saying this negated his competitive attitude during every race. I had been having a good time just being able to forget about everything else.
“Not even Reno can beat me, I’m just that good.”
I was silent, I watched as he picked the race. Against my more mature judgement, I just had to knock him down a few pegs. He was just being a bit too smug.

I mopped the floor with him.

After I beat him by about six seconds, I put the controller down. I couldn’t help it, I was grinning so wide the stitches in my lips hurt.
Reaver was staring at me, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. I glanced innocently at the ceiling.
“You... I underestimated you, that was good,” he said. My heart soared, I grinned more.

“I’m going to have to keep an eye on you, you’re not as innocent as you come across,” Reaver said. “But at least you’ll be competition now. Did you have to pretend to suck for so long?”
“It made you happy,” I said a bit shyly, I stretched on the chair, my body had stiffened after playing the video game for so long.
“It’s getting pretty late, are you getting tired?” Reaver asked, he yawned. As soon as he said it, the fatigue hit me, it had been a long day and even with the nap I felt my energy draining out of me.
I nodded. “A little yeah.”
We both seemed to pause at the same time. Both probably confronted with the same awkward problem.
Where was I going to sleep?
I had taken a nap with Reaver on his couch, he didn’t seem to mind me being near him. But he was also used to being alone, I didn’t want to be a bother on him. I... really didn’t want to be alone though, I hoped I could just sleep on the couch. I didn’t want him to send me home.
My chest got a bit tight. My house seemed terrifying right now, anything out side of Reaver’s fortified den seemed terrifying. What if the legionnaires came to Aras looking for me...
Reaver took a deep breath, he seemed just as conflicted as me over what to do.
“Okay, come with me,” he said finally. I watched him head towards his bedroom. He turned on a bluelamp and a few moments later, turned the dial on the generator.

“If it gets too cold, wake me up, I have lots of blankets,” Reaver said. I sighed in relief, he wasn’t kicking me out.
I wondered if we would be sleeping in his bed together. The thought was... just wonderful. I would be so lucky if he wanted to sleep next to me.

“If you got to take a piss, the toilet works but you need to fill the bucket and flush it manually so wait until morning.”
I nodded, he started to take his boots off and I did as well. I sat down on his bed and got in under the blankets.
I tried to hide my disappointment, when he laid a blanket down beside his bed. He grabbed a pillow and turned off the bluelamp. That was the last I saw of him, but I heard him get under the blanket.
I know it was too soon for us to sleep in the same bed, we weren’t even together or anything, but I still felt disappointed. I liked being so close to him, he wasn’t me though...

“Good Night, Reaver,” I whispered, edging myself to the side of the bed so I could be as close as I could.

“Good Night, Killian.” I heard him say back. I brought the blankets to my chin and looked up at the almost pitch black ceiling, a few moments later I closed my eyes.

“Killian? Killian?” I felt something nudge me, I moaned and rolled over. I opened my eyes to see Reaver looking at me, he was smiling.
He was still wearing his blown up shirt and cargo pants, I think he slept in them last night. Well, I had slept in my clothes too though.
“Mmm.” I smiled and stretched. My stiff, bruised body gave a jolt of pain, I winced. “How long have you been awake for?”
Reaver threw my boots onto his bed, I looked at them sleepily, wondering if this was my eviction notice. “About three hours I think.”
I sat up in bed and looked around. There were no windows though, I had no idea what time it was. “How long have I been sleeping for?” I started putting my boots on.
“It’s mid morning, you slept a lot. I don’t really sleep well though, I usually log in about four to five hours a night.”
“Wow,” I said. I never knew he had trouble sleeping, I wonder if he had nightmares like I did? “You should have woken me up.”
“Well, I was busy... I have something to show you.” Reaver’s face held a smile that looked almost coy.

So I wasn’t being evicted, we were going somewhere.

I was a bit intrigued that he sounded excited, or what Reaver’s suppressed version of excitement was. I was a bit ancy about leaving his den, I felt so safe in here; but I’m assuming what he wanted to show me was in Aras.
“What is it?” I asked carefully, though my chest was vibrating with anticipation.

The black eyed sentry’s smile turned from coy to mischievous. He shrugged playfully and started to crawl up the hatch. I followed behind him.
He locked the shed door behind us and started walking further southwest of his house, past a stretch of yellow grass and fallen chain link fences and through debris strewn yards. It was one of the most deserted areas in Aras, but I had done my fair share of exploding. I even had a small cemetery in the ruins where I had buried my parents.

I knew I was safe, but I couldn’t help myself from scanning every nook and cranny. I know Reaver would know if someone was out there, but well... I had to be sure. It would put my own mind at ease.

As we walked on, through the boarded up homes, I started to notice the smell of burning. I could also see faint wisps of smoke rising from the roofs of the houses before disintegrating into the white sky above us.
Reaver had a fire going down there? But why? He could have made a fire here if he wanted too, I was thoroughly confused. I wanted to ask, but I knew I would know soon.
I glanced over at Reaver’s face, he looked rather pleased with himself. I could see the corners of his mouth rise a bit.
We approached a hollowed out house that was almost completely over taken by piles of refuse and debris, all but a small path leading to an open door frame. Reaver took me inside, and led me to the back yard. In the yard, which was almost entirely enclosed with stacks of crumbling concrete and house remains, there was a giant loader from a backhoe; underneath it was dug out and a fire was burning.
“I... I know you like soap, and being clean and all that,” Reaver said behind me. “So, well, I thought since we are both caked with dirt and blood. We could you know, bathe in some warm water and soapy crap.”
I lunged into Reaver’s arms, and hugged him. No one had ever done something so nice for me, so thoughtful. This must have taken him hours to set up. He did this for me... damn, I was so lucky.
“Thank you!” I squeezed him tight. Reaver winced and I quickly loosened my grip. “Sorry, sorry,” I stammered, wiping my eyes.

Reaver rubbed his back, still giving me a crooked grin. “No, it’s all that shrapnel you warned me about, you’re going to have a big job picking it all out.”

Then he started to take his shirt off. So did I. Though I couldn’t help but stare a bit at his chest and stomach, it was flat and rock hard, I could see every ab and curve on his body.

I swallowed as my mouth went dry.

And he had a pretty nice body.
Reaver stripped down to his underwear and threw his shirt onto the fire. I watched, probably a bit too intently, as he walked up to the loader. He hopped up onto a slab of concrete. Then swung himself into it. He gasped.
“Fuck that’s hot!” he said, he looked down at me. “I broke into your house, if you would even call opening the front door breaking in. I got you some clothes and some of your soapy things.” He motioned towards a basket of what I quickly recognised was full of my things. He had been busy. Well at least I wouldn’t have to go home. I still didn’t want to go back yet.
I rooted through the basket and chose a bottle of Gillette body wash. That would be good enough.
“I decided not to bring the lilac shit, what the hell is a lilac? Whatever it is, it stinks,” Reaver remarked.

I laughed and took off the rest of my clothes, all the way down to my underwear. It didn’t take me long to feel completely exposed and self conscious. My body was scrawny and soft unlike his, so I quickly started walking up the concrete slab. I swung myself into the water.

Damn it
was
hot! I gasped too, feeling my skin burn though it was a good burn. Reaver smiled and handed me a rag. “I stole your sponge too, it has a scratchy end. I thought that might help with the caked on shit.”
“This water is probably going to be black by the time we’re done. I don’t think I can be classified as blond anymore.”

Reaver grabbed the soap bottle that was floating around in the hot water. He squeezed a good amount onto his head and rubbed it in. I beamed as he closed his eyes, knowing he couldn’t see me, I was looking forward to seeing what he looked like all sparkly clean.

My smile faded though as I saw his jaw tighten, it looked like he was in pain.

“Right... rubber bullets,” Reaver said, clenching his teeth a bit. He started to wash his hair quickly.
“Rubber bullets?” I said confused, I didn’t remember that happening when he was rescuing me. Reaver nodded, scratching an area that was quickly turning pink from the suds and blood. “I got shot three times in the head with rubber bullets, I was out for a few hours.”
My mouth dropped open. I hadn’t heard anything about what had happened before he had rescued me. Was this how he got his concussion? Did the legionnaires who kidnapped me shoot him? They had assault rifles though.
Reaver dunked his head under. As he rose up I could see two cuts in his scalp, and a now very noticeable one on his forehead. He had so much dried blood and dirt on him I had no idea what was an injury and what wasn’t.

I felt bad, but also a bit excited to hear that story. If he had killed those fucks I would hang off of his every word when he told me that story. Gosh, if he hadn’t killed them I would... I owe them some payback.
I found myself almost wanting to reach out to touch his wounds. I had caused all of them, I felt responsible.

I looked at his pale body, now that the water was washing everything away, I could see the injuries on him. His chest and stomach seemed fine, probably because it had been protecting me. But his back, and his neck...

“Doesn’t the water hurt the burns on your back?” I asked, after we had been scrubbing ourselves off for almost half an hour. I know the water had really burned the wounds on my face. The rest of my body was just bruises though.
Reaver shrugged. His black hair was stuck on his forehead, I kind of liked how it looked. Needless to say, even with everything else going on, I couldn’t help but be captivated with his body. He was perfect in every way.
“A bit, but I’ve had worse. I have a high tolerance for pain,” he said. I dunked my head into the water, trying to wash the soap off of my head.
I caught Reaver watching me, as I brushed my hair off of my face. “It feels so nice to be clean.” I flicked my hair back.
“It does,” Reaver said, his black eyes were fixed on me. When he saw I had noticed he quickly turned his gaze away, glancing behind his shoulder.
“So I brought tweezers,” he said hurriedly. I blushed a bit, and busied myself scrubbing another layer of skin off of my arm.
“Oh, good,” I said feeling the heat rise up my neck to my face. I gently grabbed the tweezers from him so they didn’t drop into the murky water below. I would never find them again if they did.
“Better you than Dr. Pain, I swear he deliberately digs around just to get back at me.”
I smiled and held up the rusty tweezers and went to work. I managed to get all of the shrapnel off of his back. There thankfully wasn’t as much as I had feared, only several large pieces and a few smaller ones. I had hoped that any more would have been flushed out by the hot water.

“I think I’m done,” I said, brushing my hands over the cleaned out wounds. “We can disinfect everything when we get back to your place. How does that feel?”
“Feels better.” Reaver stretched and flexed his back, I could see his shoulder muscles clench. “I can’t feel the little pieces anymore. Hopefully I can lay down on my back tonight.”
I stared a bit too long at him as he stretched, it wasn’t a secret that I was really attracted to him. I was a bit embarrassed over how turned on I was starting to be. I refused to even let my mind go there. Too soon! And not now, my god I was in my underwear.
With Reaver. I was in my underwear, with Reaver... in this giant tub. The horrible thing was, I knew I was the only one out of us that thought about things like this in a manner such as that. Though... I had caught him staring at me...
I shook the water off of my hair, and at the same time tried to shake those embarrassing thoughts from my head. He was doing a nice thing for me, why did my sick mind have to sexualize it.

With a small thanks that the water was now murky and he couldn’t see certain parts of me, I pushed it out of my mind. Though the seed was planted. I was an adult male after all... and I might have a boyfriend soon. The thought of things to eventually come was a bit intriguing.

Terrifying, but intriguing.
After myself and Reaver were clean and shiny, we dried ourselves off and started for home. Reaver had just grabbed whatever clothes he could find in my drawer but he didn’t do that bad of a job. I was wearing a grey and green t-shirt and my black cargo pants. He even got me clean socks, underwear and one of my old jackets.
“I feel like a million bucks.” I smiled gratefully to Reaver as we walked down the road. I did feel a world better, especially after finally getting clean. It was like everything else had washed away with the dirt. And what remained I just tried to push down with the happiness I felt finally being Reaver’s friend.
“You definitely look better, you really feel better?” Reaver asked. He was brushing his dark hair back with a comb, leaving the dark strands to fall over the left side of his face. Those almost black wisps of wet bangs framed his face perfectly.

I blushed at the compliment and stared at my feet, I couldn’t help but break a small smile. “You’re worse off than I am mister.”
“Well.” Reaver handed me the comb. “You have more... mental issues.”
I looked at him flatly, my smile fading. “Mental...
issues
?”