The Icebox - 17. First Mission Party

Zafiro

 

“Fuck, Zee!”

 

I pant and grip onto the shower divider.

 

“Give me a second,” I whine.

 

He doesn’t stop and keeps slamming into me.

 

“Can’t help it” He huffs with a laugh. “You looked fine as hell beating on those officers.”

 

I adjust my grip and hook my arm on top of the divider.

 

All I can do is take Zee’s assault.

 

It kind of hurts since I can’t even touch the ground right now.

 

He has one of my legs hooked over his shoulder. My other leg hangs down and is like a foot off the ground.

 

“Couldn’t we have done this in your cell as lea-,” my voice hitches as he reaches a spot that makes me forget what I was complaining about.

 

He grins at my reaction and keeps rolling his hips, trying to hit that spot again and again.

 

“Damn I missed this,” He says before he has mercy on me and lifts up my other leg to wrap both around his waist.

 

I rest my arms around his shoulders and moan loud as he starts thrusting inside me again.

 

He winces and stops for a second.

 

Water and sweat drips off our bodies from the steam of the showers.

 

“Better watch that strength of yours,” He chuckles.

 

I laugh and lean my head back against the divider. “Sorry.”

 

He smiles and leans a bit closer. I’m not even sure he realizes he did so.

 

A pink ball of light drifts behind me. It lights up his face and I see him staring at my lips.

 

Or maybe he did realize it.

 

Smirking at him, I brush my finger along that shimmer rainbow along his cheek bone.

 

His eyes flick up to meet mine and suddenly he leans forward.

 

His lips press against mine and I find myself falling back into that kiss.

 

It escalates with tongues dancing together and suddenly he’s moving again.

 

Moans and the creaking of the divider echo in the showers until eventually it comes to an end.

 

We find ourselves on the floor.

 

He leans against the divider and I sit with my legs on his lap with my back against the wall of the showerhead.

 

The different colored balls of light continue to slowly float this way and that.

 

It leaves some rather moody lighting.

 

Zee idly runs his hands along my thighs.

 

“You’d tell me if you weren’t feeling good, right,” He asks while staring at my legs.

 

I shrug. “What a thing to ask after you just fucked me.”

 

He grins and shakes his head. “Hey now! I can’t seem to get you to myself anymore!”

 

I roll my eyes and smile, “I’m not that hard to find. There are only so many places to go on this rock.”

 

He shakes his head with a grunt. “You’re the only one I know who does more than two things everyday. Most here just do the same thing over and over. You would always know where to go if you needed them.”

 

I shrug. “I don’t usually want to be found.”

 

He rests his hand over mine. “Seriously though, Zaf. You doing okay?”

 

I shrug and look away.

 

Not a fan of all these talks about how I’m feeling.

 

“I’m fine,” I say. “The voices have been tame and not much of a bitch.”

 

He nods. “Well what about you? Are you alright with the way life is going?”

 

I give him a look of confusion. “What is great about living here?”

 

A bit of a dumb question. This place is practically a paradise.

 

“Don’t you feel bad being here?” I ask. “Shit, this place is better than where I used to live!”

 

Zee nods slowly. “Yeah, same here. I don’t feel bad though. Not anymore. Eventually you get used to it, Zaf. We all have for the most part. Unfortunately, we have no chance of getting out of here. We’re all here for life.”

 

He frowns. “They aren’t ever letting us out of here. Surely you even know that they are lying about letting us ‘take time off our sentences’.”

 

He holds my hand and plays with my fingers.

 

Pulling my hand away, I slip off of him.

 

“I don’t know,” I sigh. “This place makes me feel guilty and I was brought here against my will!”

 

Zee smiles and nods. “All we can do is take what we’re given, Zaf. No use fighting what you can’t control.”

 

~~~

 

After cleaning up and getting dressed, we go our separate ways.

 

While walking back to my cell, all I can think about is that last thing Zee said.

 

‘No use fighting what you can’t control.’

 

Isn’t that what the therapist doesn’t want me to do?

 

Isn’t Zee right?

 

“Yes.”

 

I narrow my eyes.

 

“Of course you’d agree to that.”

 

“It isn't completely biased!”

“Yeah! We helped you!”

“We warned you about that lady attacking you.”

“That must have proven us useful!”

 

I shake my head. “I still can’t figure out how you did that. I didn’t even see her. How could you have possibly known she was there? It doesn’t make sense!”

 

A few of the voices giggle.

 

It was a bit frightening when I suddenly heard a voice whisper for me.

 

A shiver runs up my spine just from remembering it.

 

I thought they were talking nonsense all the time! I thought they were voices made from all my memories to torment me.

 

Are they alive?

 

I shiver and look over my shoulder.

 

It feels like other people are staring at me. It’s as if they are so close to me that I can feel their presence right behind me. It’s like that heat of feeling someone’s face hovering over your shoulder.

 

This is all freaking me out.

 

“Why be scared of us?”

“I thought you would’ve been happy knowing you’d always have someone with you!”

“We’ll always be here. Why do you want to lose us?”

“If you get rid of us, you run the risk of being alone again!”

 

My heart sinks thinking about that.

 

They…they might be right.

 

It scares the hell out of me that at any moment I could freak everyone out enough where they leave me alone. I can practically feel everyone wanting to back off. They could be waiting for my next fuck up to use it as an excuse to move on.

 

“You all could lay off on being a bunch of bitches,” I say, turning into my cell.

 

They laugh.

 

“It adds to our charm!”

 

I roll my eyes.

 

I was about to turn my music on but I think it would be best to stop. Who knows?

 

As I lay down on my bed, a knock comes on the glass of my cell.

 

It’s Dinoyo.

 

He steps into the doorway.

 

He’s a funny looking nerd.

 

He never wears a shirt because of that weird back-tail he grows.

 

I can’t even imagine what augments he got to do that.

 

He nods down the hallway. “They have a party happening for finishing our first operation.”

 

Raising an eyebrow at that, I wave it off. “I’ll pass.”

 

He shrugs. “Henson says it wasn’t optional.”

 

Groaning, I roll out of bed and get changed.

 

“It’s in the gym,” He says before leaving.

 

Great.

 

~~~

 

Zee

 

The gym has a small party area in the center of the whole place.

 

There is a big table with a ton of food that looks better than what we usually get!

 

Somehow they set up a bar in here as well.

 

That’s the most surprising thing for sure.

 

Alcohol is of course prohibited.

 

Henson must be really good at getting what he wants if he managed to do that.

 

Charlie and Gus are already here. They are practically vacuuming up the food.

 

Dinoyo and Wade came in with me.

 

They practically run for the bar.

 

I’m going to be steering clear of that for the night.

 

Not really a drinker.

 

Henson is to the side of the room talking with a few of his officers. One of them is that woman. She doesn’t have a new helmet yet.

 

She looks pissed.

 

Even Henson seemed scared of her.

 

Loud footsteps come up behind me and I smile and look over my shoulder.

 

Anjak ducks through the doorway and grins at me. “Hey, Zee. Is it going to be a boring one?”

 

I shrug. “Who knows. I just got here.”

 

He hums and makes his way to the table of food.

 

All that’s left is Zaf.

 

Standing around waiting for him would be weird. I make myself head on over to the group around the table.

 

“Holy shit,” I say under my breath.

 

I grab a plate and throw on a burger.

 

As soon as I take a bite, I moan into it.

 

Gus chuckles next to me. “You’re going to make us blush, Zee.”

 

Winking at him, I take another bite.

 

It has been ages since I last had a burger! This is heaven for sure!

 

A loud gasp comes up behind me.

Zaf is here now and his eyes are on the bar.

 

Rolling my eyes, I smile and grab another burger.

 

Music starts playing out of nowhere.

 

Glancing over at Henson, I see one of his officers has a remote pointed towards the ceiling.

 

This feels weird as hell.

 

It’s as if they are watching over us like teachers at a prom night.

 

That woman is staring down Zafiro with hate in her eyes right now.

 

She must be pissed about what happened earlier today, not to mention the timing of the party.

 

It is a little funny that Henson started up this party after what happened.

 

“It’s a shame Maksim can’t join us here,” Gus says. “It would’ve been fun if we could all be here.”

 

I nod. “I’m sure he’ll pull some strings to have some leftovers.”

 

Charlie laughs. “It’s crazy isn’t it? That old man is starting to turn this place into his own castle!”

 

He isn’t wrong.

 

I always knew Maksim has guards under his thumb, but his hold on the security here seems to have doubled ever since we started this whole thing.

 

How Henson hasn’t noticed is beyond me.

 

Then again, he does have his hands full with this squad business.

 

“I heard he used Zafiro to scare a few people,” Anjak says. “I thought he said he wouldn’t use him like that.”

 

We all look at him in surprise.

 

“That’s news to me,” Gus says. “I remember when Maksim promised us!”

 

Charlie waves it off. “Oh please. How do we know this is true? For all we know, someone could have just been overdramatic. We already know how everyone feels about Zaf.”

 

Anjak shakes his head. “Trust me. This was the truth. It wasn’t anything crazy. He simply told one of Maksim’s clients to pay up.”

 

I frown.

 

Gus glares at his food. His ears have a faint glow starting up.

 

“It isn't right,” He says. “It would make us no better than the officers that were messing with him.”

 

Charlie shrugs. “Should we tell Maksim? Hell, even Zaf?”

 

I shake my head. “Not Zaf. He would probably be fine with helping. He likes to keep Maksim happy. We need to talk to Maksim for sure though.”

 

The sound of glass breaking comes from the bar.

 

Raising an eyebrow, I look over my shoulder.

 

Zafiro is laughing with a glass in his hand.

 

Dinoyo groans in annoyance as his back-tail knocks off a line of bottles.

 

Wade has his arms morphed into giant red lobster looking arms. He’s using them to scoop up the broken glass easier.

 

An officer runs over to help with that mess.

 

“Maybe I’m fine with Maksim not being here right now,” Gus says. “I’m too cross with him right now.”

 

Anjak laughs. “My goodness Gus! Such language!”

 

He gives a soft smile and looks away. “Don’t try to make me laugh, Anjak. I’m upset! Zafiro is part of our family. I don’t like that suddenly Maksim is using him like one of his workers. We don’t even do his jobs for him!”

 

“That’s not entirely true,” I butt in. “I’ve taken a few of them. Anjak does too.”

 

“Still,” Gus sighs. “He promised that Zafiro would be off limits.”

 

Speaking of him, he walks over with Dinoyo and Wade.

 

Charlie gives me a look and then puts on a smile before making room for Zaf.

 

He has a bottle in his hand and he starts dancing around the table to the upbeat music.

 

Shaking my head, I watch him with a smile.

 

Wade settles into the chair in front of me.

 

His eyes are red and he’s sniffs, wiping away tears.

 

“What’s up buddy,” I ask, reaching across to comfort him.

 

His chin trembles and he looks up at the ceiling, trying to blink away the tears.

 

“I-I…I’m so alone,” He says as he cries.

 

Zafiro spins around near us and leans in and pokes at Wade’s face. He then takes a swing of his drink before he bounces off to keep dancing.

 

I give a confused smile at him before patting Wade’s hand.

 

“We’re here for you, bud,” I say. “We’re all a family now.”

 

He lets out some dry sobs and tries to fight it but he keeps going.

 

So he’s a sad drunk. Got it.

 

Zaf is apparently a happy drunk.

 

The hell are they drinking?

 

It’s purple and I have no idea what it could be.

 

Dinoyo is getting all snuggly with Gus. His tail is wrapped around Gus’ waist to keep hugging him.

 

Zaf twirls behind them and he starts singing to himself.

 

Not what I expected from all three of them!

 

“It’s like I’m in college again,” Gus laughs.

 

As Zaf dances past me, I quickly snatch his bottle away.

 

“Hey!”

 

He stops and jumps onto me to grab it back.

 

“Hey now,” I laugh and keep the bottle out of reach. “Sharing is caring!”

 

He whines and immediately goes limp against me.

 

Taking a swing of the drink, my face scrunches up at the flavor.

 

This shit tastes awful!

 

It’s like I’m tasting the smell of wet trash bags!

 

Grabbing a cup, I spit it back out.

 

“What the hell,” I say in disgust. “This is terrible! How are you still drinking it?”

 

He giggles against me and I have to turn away from the smell of his breath.

 

“It’s easy to go down if you pinch your nose!”

 

I give him the stink eye.

 

He only smirks and kisses my cheek before grabbing the bottle again and going off to dance to the music again.

 

I see Anjak watching me with a smirk.

 

I roll my eyes and grab another burger.

 

Nothing is happening here. It feels too weird after all this time. Plus I would only feel like I’m taking advantage of him.

 

Sure he isn’t completely a lost cause, but I already feel like scum from earlier today.

 

He just looked so good in that suit!

 

I definitely need to pull back more though. Not only does it make me feel bad, old feelings are trying to come back and I won’t have it.

 

The party sort of sizzles out fairly quickly.

 

As soon as Zaf passed out, that was our queue to get the hell out of here.

 

None of us really cared to celebrate. We only came because Henson said it was an order.

 

As everyone goes their separate ways, I make sure to drop Zaf off in his cell.

 

Anjak offered to take him instead, but I wanted to use that time to come up with what I’m going to say to Maksim.

 

Making sure Zaf won’t fall off my shoulder, I make my way down the halls.

 

It’s nearly bedtime so it’s not as busy.

 

Probably for the best. If they see he’s drunk, that’ll bring a lot of jealous people barging on our cells.

 

When I reach his cell, I see an android setting up a machine near the end of the hall. It’s on the last cell on the left.

 

It’s preparing to make a new batch of cells I think.

 

Why the hell would they need to make more space for those? There are too many empty ones around here!

 

Slipping into his cell, I carefully lay Zaf on his bed.

 

I slip his jumpsuit off and leave him in his underwear and his tank top.

 

After putting a blanket on him, I hesitate.

 

Should I turn his music on?

 

I have no idea if he listens to it while sleeping.

 

Eh, maybe I shouldn't.

 

He’s already sleeping after all.

 

Sneaking back out, I then make the walk to Maksim’s cell.

 

Should I blurt it out as soon as I see him? Do I take my time with it? Some small talk before asking him if he broke that promise is true?

 

I don’t know.

 

I think I’m more afraid of learning this actually happened.

 

Part of me is really hoping that Anjak heard from the wrong person. Surely Maksim wouldn’t have broken our trust for a silly little job.

 

If he did, I don’t know how I'd feel.

 

Hurt for sure.

 

We’ve always been close. We all think of ourselves as a little family.

 

The idea of him using a…sick family member is going to sit wrong with me.

 

As I’m nearing his cell, I hear shouting.

 

“I can’t believe you’re saying this,” Gus yells.

 

I freeze in surprise but hurry over.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever heard that man yell before!

 

“You promised all of us!”

 

Standing at the entrance, I see Gus standing in the middle and staring down Maksim. The one being yelled at is sitting and puffing a cigar as usual.

 

He glances at me and sighs.

 

“Now you’ve come to scold me too?” He chuckles and shakes his head to himself. “I’ll tell you what I told him. Yes, I did it! Yes, I’d do it again. No, I don’t think I took advantage of Zafiro.”

 

Glaring at him, I cross my arms. “So you don’t care for him anymore? Where the hell did this come from?”

 

He shrugs. “He was bored! I didn’t want him moping around with those dark thoughts over and over. What if that’s how we lose him again?”

 

I shake my head. “You think using him for profit is going to help? What if he snaps on one of your customers? He is dangerous, Maksim!”

 

He raises his arms and motions around him. “Am I in here for being a good person?”

 

Gus shakes his head. “Dammit! Why are you treating this as if it’s nothing? He’s sick! He’s getting worse and you don’t seem to care!”

 

“Of course I care,” He waves off. “I thought it would’ve been a good idea to treat him like a normal person. Someone I’d trust! It’s the same way I asked all of you. If someone declined, I was fine with it!”

 

Gus sits on his bed and punches his pillow lightly.

 

“He isn’t normal, Maksim,” He says, his voice rising. “You’re only going to get him in trouble! One day he could snap on another inmate and then we’ll never see him again! Do you really want that to happen? Well, do you?”

 

Maksim looks at Gus in surprise.

 

Hell, I'm surprised too.

 

It’s very weird seeing Gus like this.

 

He’s so quiet and shy usually.

 

“Believe what you want,” Maksim says after an awkward silence, “I think he’ll be alright. If anything it says a lot about you with how little faith you have in our dear friend. Are you sure you even care?”

 

Gus gasps and then glares at Maksim.

 

He looks at me and then back at Maksim.

 

Suddenly he slips into his bed and yanks his blanket, turning his back on Maksim.

 

Maksim sighs and reaches out to touch Gus. “Aw, come on Gus. I didn’t mean it!”

 

Gus smacks his hand away. “Don’t talk to me.”

 

Maksim looks at me and motions for me to help.

 

Sighing at the whole scenario, I simply leave.

 

This is ridiculous.

 

Now both of them are acting stupid!

 

I’ll just take care of Zafiro myself.

 

These two are acting like some kind of angry married couple. They can keep that drama to themselves.