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Sneaking through the dark halls with just a towel wrapped around his waist Fu felt like a pervert. And it wasn’t like he wanted to be running around the cleaner hq half naked but he hadn’t washed his clothes since he and Hii had escaped Zodyl’s artificial trashbeast. His raider uniform was crusty and disgusting much like himself from a week of running after Enjin to become his minion. He’d been grosser in the past and hadn’t really minded the gunk and sweat encasing his body, it had only been a week anyways, but the cleaners leader Arkha Corvus and his secretary Semiu had ordered him to get cleaned up. They said someone would be sent by his temporary room to give him clothes but after waiting for a couple hours nobody had seen him. His skin was starting to crawl the longer he didn’t follow the order he’d been given and Hii had also been getting quite agitated because of his agitation and it became a loop before he decided to bite the bullet. He’d stripped, showered, and now was making his way through the doorway of the in house laundromat he’d luckily glimpsed earlier when Gris had been kind enough to give him a quick tour.
Throwing his clothes into one of the smaller washing machines and with a little searching finding a cabinet with some detergent he started the wash cycle and sat down at one of the rooms tables. He shivered as his back hit the cold plastic of the chair he was in but he stayed put. Rubbing his arms for warmth and drawing his legs underneath him he let his mind wander. Following Enjin had been a decision…. His decision… he hated when he had to make choices but Hii had reassured him that following Enjin would be better than sticking by Zodyl. Enjin hadn’t abandoned anyone and was pretty cool in general from what he had observed. Hii was in the back of his mind now, muttering about how the others were too quick to welcome them and how, suspiciously so. “I don’t think it’s suspicious, I think it's good.” He chided “It’s fucking dumb. If they really trusted us that easily they’d be morons. Besides, the only reason those twins stopped trailing us is because their actual bodies are asleep.”. His other half growled. He sighed but knew Hii was right. He’d do his best to prove his loyalty, stay at the cleaners and by Enjin’s side. He let his focus go back to his clothes and frowned seeing that they still had 24 minutes left to wash. Putting his feet back to the ground and adjusting his towel he slumped forward onto the table. He rested his head in his arms and sighed heavily, closing his eyes. “You could have brought a blanket instead of a towel dumbass.” Hii prodded his mind snarkily. “That's not fair Hii! You should have said something!” He whined.
“Who the hell are ya talkin to?”
Fu rocketed up, practically jumping out of his skin and barely catching his towel from falling as his hips hit the table and he landed back onto his seat. Folding over himself in pain he smacked his head on the table in his haste so now his body throbbed in two places. Hii was cackling at him in his head as he blearily looked through the tears of pain filling his eyes to see the boy Jabber had requested to fight. Zanka was peering at him judgmentally with crossed arms. “Ummm! My… My doll Hii! He was ah…” Fu clenched his hands around nothing but air. He’d left Hii’s main vessel behind in his room to make sure he didn’t accidentally throw him in with his laundry like a previous time before. Zanka gave him an unimpressed look “Uh huh. Why are ya naked?” the cleaner probed. “I’m washing my clothes and don’t have anything else…” he mumbled, embarrassed, gripping his towel tighter around his waist. He hated when others saw him in any state of undress. He knew he was smaller than most his age and skinnier than he should be but he’s not the only one on the ground like that. “You seriously don’t have anythin else ta wear?” Zanka asked with a raised eyebrow, his stance relaxing. “No! I’m telling the truth! I’m not doing anything weird I promise!” He was starting to really get restless under Zanka’s critical eyes. Zanka sighed and cursed someone named ‘August’ under his breath. “Come ‘ere.” the tall boy said and he stood up immediately. Zanka slipped his haori from his shoulders and stepped close to warp it over his. He let out a small gasp and stuttered a small panicked “It’s ok.” the sudden closeness flustering him. Zanka just grunted and stepped back, the haori resting on his shoulders now. He let one of his hands dislodge from his towel and he gripped the gift tighter around his body. Zanka nodded then swiftly stepped behind him, put a hand on his lower back and began leading him away out of the laundry room. “Wait! Wait! Wait! I still need to switch my clothes over to dry!”
He wasn’t too concerned about where Zanka was taking him. The Cleaners were known to only deal with trashbeasts and not dabble in torture like The Hellgaurd or even The Raiders. Not having his clothes dry by morning and being unable to complete his orders from Zanka’s boss was much more concerning. “You can do that later. We’re heading to my room first.” The other said, still guiding him through the halls by his back. His body flushed red but he didn’t try to dig his heels in at all, just let himself be guided along. “You’re so pathetic.” Hii insulted him. Hii was always insulting him though so he knew it didn’t have any real bite.
It wasn’t a long walk and luckily they didn’t run into anybody before they arrived at what he assumed was Zanka’s room. Stepping inside he took notice of the warm lighting in the room illuminated a style he’d seen once passing through Kamuatari District. The room was quaint and there was a faint smell in the air he couldn’t place but was quite comforting. Zanka removed his hand from his back and shut the door behind them “My dresser is over there, take your pick.”. Fu was dumbfounded. There was no way Zanka was really just offering up his clothes to him. “Are you sure?” he asked, turning to look at the other. It almost felt too nice to be genuine but since he’d come to the cleaners everyone had at least been tolerant of him.”Yes I’m sure now hurry up before my patience wears thin.” Zanka rolled his eyes and raised a hand to flick him in the forehead. Wincing at the hit and rubbing his face he walked over to the dresser and began to look through it, trying to control his reddening face. Tossing Zanka’s haori on his bed Fu found some grey sweats and a plain black t-shirt, both relatively soft from use and put them on. Zanka was polite enough to turn around as he did so and Fu was grateful for that because the moment the fabric wrapped around him he finally placed what he’d smelled the whole time.
The strong scent of chamomile and mint wafted to his nose and he couldn’t stop himself from lifting the collar of the shirt to his face for a deeper sniff. He could feel his eyes closing and Hii was even settling down in his mind. “Are ya done changin yet?” Startling at Zanka’s question he dropped the collar, the shirt coming off of one shoulder and turned back around to face Zanka’s back. He could see that the others' ears were bright red for some reason. “Y..yes! Thank you again for the clothes.” he expressed his gratitude, twisting the bottom of the shirt in his hands (missing the mirror just past Zanka).
“I”ll be going now to put my clothes in the dryer. Thank you again.” He bowed low and scurried past the taller boy to the door and flung it open with more force than necessary. “Sorry!” he squeaked, slipping out and closing the door with just as much force before Zanka could reply.
Bolting down the hall, face aflame, chamomile and mint leaving a scented trail behind him. He decided that even when his clothes finished drying he could put them on tomorrow.