Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Paint The Town ❯ Consultation ( Chapter 3 )

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Paint The Town

Consultation

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"Aeris?"

"Yes, Zack?"

"I have this friend who has…well, he's got some problems."

Aeris rolled her eyes and went back to weeding her flowerbed. Whenever anyone dared to seek her advice with a problem, it always started with the mysterious 'friend'. She wondered what was bothering Zack this time.

"What's his problem, Zack?"

The SOLDIER sat gingerly on the edge of the front pew with his hands clasped on his knees. "He's got no friends at all." Aeris looked up at him, puzzled. "That's the main thing. I think I know part of the reason he's all alone, but the rest of the story is beyond me."

Aeris considered for a minute. It certainly could not be Zack himself who had that kind of problem. He had plenty of friends. And admirers. And Zack was not the type to worry about his own issues anyway. He always had a plan, something positive for a future full of hope. The way he sat now, slumped forward and head bowed, he seemed unnaturally defeated and almost as if he were praying for divine intervention. So, Zack had a friend who had no friends?

"He can't have absolutely no friends if you're there, Zack."

He actually chuckled at that. "I guess you're right. Still, I don't see anyone else hanging around to talk to him."

A friend to the friendless, Zack certainly was that. He stuck by her no matter how many more beautiful women flirted with him. Though he liked to tease, he was always on his best behavior with her and he listened to everything, even if he did not understand.

She leaned back on her heels. "What's wrong with your friend?" she asked. Zack brushed his hair back and frowned as he thought of how to answer.

"He's…mean." He looked at her apologetically, but that was the best he could offer.

Aeris was confused. "Mean?"

"I don't think it's really intentional, but anytime he says something, it's cold. It's like it's a reflex or something." When Aeris said nothing he continued, launching into a full list of his friend's problems. "He's got no people skills and he keeps driving people off. He keeps acting like he doesn't want anyone around him."

"Maybe he really doesn't want anyone around him," Aeris said wryly and continued yanking weeds.

"No," Zack leaned forward into an oddly precarious position. "It's not like that. I think he needs company. He…does things sometimes." He wrung his hands, unwilling to divulge all he knew, even if he had not told Aeris his friend's name. "And sometimes, he gets this look on his face and he seems so sad."

Aeris leaned back on her heels and considered. This sounded serious. "What was your original plan?"

Zack sighed and raised his eyes from the flowerbed. "I was just sticking close by him. You know, give him somebody to talk to if he feels like opening up, get him to take his mind off work now and then." He sighed again. "I keep an eye out if he ever tries anything crazy again."

"This is at work?" Aeris asked. Zack nodded. No harm letting her know that, he supposed. He had lots of buddies in SOLDIER. It could be anyone and Aeris did not know all that many Shinra personnel anyway.

Aeris pushed her hair away from her face with a forearm. "How well do you get along outside of work?"

Zack frowned. "Outside of work?" He looked all around as he considered. "We don't do much outside of work, really. I mean, I've sat around with him a couple of times but not really under normal circumstances." Realization dawned as he watched Aeris smile knowingly. "I should do something after hours with him, you think?"

Aeris nodded. "Sure. You hang out with your other friends a lot, don't you?"

Zack blew a stray hair from his eyes. "Yeah, but I really don't think this one's the drinking type." He felt a bit uneasy admitting that to Aeris. He really wanted to be perfect for her and that meant not coming off like a wild man who drank his paycheck. She did not seem to notice though, so he kept going. "He's all work, really. Like he's married to his job and honeymooning in Paperwork Island. I don't know what he'd like to do."

Aeris yanked a toughly rooted green blade from the earth and reached for her watering can. "Why don't you ask him? Or at the very least hang around with him till you get some idea of what he would appreciate."

Zack considered it and then gave her a lopsided grin. "Hang around after hours. God, it'll drive him nuts!"

Aeris rolled her eyes. "You're not just doing all this to annoy the poor guy, are you?"

"Aeris, you wound me," Zack declared melodramatically, a hand at his chest and mock-grief on his face. "How could you think I would ever do such a thing to that poor soul?"

"I know you, Zack."

"Oh yeah," Zack ducked his head, chastened but smiling. He still did not lean back in the pew. It was a wonder he did not fall off.

"Zack, why don't you lean back and relax. I don't know how you're managing to stay seated like that."

Zack looked vaguely horrified and this time, it was real. "I can't lean back, Aeris. My back is hurt." Aeris stood up and walked over to him.

"Turn around. Let me see," she said quietly. Zack stood and found himself obeying before he though about it. The girl had an unusual touch with healing, and she had a way of giving orders too.

He felt her hands tug at his knit shirt. He yanked it out of his pants and pulled it over his head. Two tiny hands touched the small of his back where the bruise began. It was smaller than it had been, no longer trailing in a narrow line up the ridge of his spine, but what crested over the horizon of his belt was still an ugly shade of purple. Zack inhaled sharply as Aeris touched a tender spot. She drew her hands away just as quickly.

"Did that hurt?" There was so much concern in her voice. Zack answered between deep breaths.

"No, it's okay." It had not been pain he felt when her hands touched him. He felt her fingers touch him again and had to force himself to stay perfectly still. It had been so long since he had actually had anyone touch him like that. He had given up stopping for burgers, as the saying goes, and directed all his attempts to bringing home the steak. Quitting cold turkey had not been easy though and now that he had Aeris touching him, he could hardly help himself.

"Drop your pants."

"Huh?" He whipped around to look at her, afraid that he had heard wrong. There was nothing but clinical concern on her face.

"Drop your pants a bit, Zack. I need to see the whole thing if I'm going to do anything about it."

Zack nodded and turned around again. He bowed his head to hide a blush he did not have and fumbled with the belt's huge buckle. He held his breath when a pair of slender arms snaked around his waist to help him. He could feel Aeris' warm breath on his bare back. So what if he wasn't getting lucky tonight? He had a pretty girl undoing his belt. That was never a bad thing.

She let him handle the zipper alone. His hands seemed all thumbs as he worked. All he could think of was the way she was tracing the edges of the bruise while she waited. He finally succeeded and let his pants slip a couple of inches lower than they had been. Any lower and he would be showing Aeris something he was not sure he wanted her to see just yet.

"It's big," she said. Zack felt his mouth go dry. Her hands were on his back again and there seemed to be a soothing coolness flowing from her fingertips. His back felt slowly better under her light touch. She kept running her fingers over his tender flesh. If there was some pattern to it, he could not tell. His mind was almost blank, capable of nothing but thinking '…girl…hands…pants…'

Zack felt his knees go weak. His grip on his baggy pants loosened and there was a rush of cool air as they sank to the ground.

"Zack!" Aeris shrieked.

The SOLDIER woke out of his daydream and reached too late to rescue his pants from plummeting. He flailed and stumbled and hit the wooden floor on his stomach with a loud smack. He rolled over as quickly as he could, paying no attention to the residual pain in his back and yanked his pants back up, hoping he had not terrified Aeris with the sight and that the gods would not punish him too harshly for his behavior in church. He got the belt buckled with record speed this time and stood up, definitely blushing now, to face his young girlfriend.

Her eyes were wide with shock at what she had seen. Zack felt his heart sink. If she thought he was some kind of weirdo after this…

"Zack," she whispered, breathless with surprise. He braced for the worst. "Dancing moogle boxer shorts, Zack?"

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Time: 1 hr, 42 mins

Music: My Heart Beats Like a Drum - ATC

Notes: I'm currently scrounging for internet access and it will be a month before I actually have an address again. I'll keep up the best I can, but don't worry. I'll catch up with everyone and everything when I'm done with Summer Moving: Episode 2. Later, gator! =D