Ricky gave a quick dirty look at Vinny. At this point, he should be used to the youngest opening his mouth at the wrong times. Eventually Kuza was going to find out. The second he meets Chris, he'll see it. It's impossible to miss. Ricky was hoping he could tell him in a little more gently than how things came about. When the Hell does anything go as he wants it to, though?

"The oldest in the house," He said, "Has hazel eyes. He's... He's near the end. If he doesn't find someone in the next few weeks, he won't make it. That's why I was a little... um, starry-eyed when I met you. I never thought we'd find someone for Chris. I... I genuinely thought I was going to lose him. We all did."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" Vinny replied, "We don't even know if they'll like each other. Chris doesn't exactly make good first impressions."

Kuza slowly stood from Ghost's bed. He may have looked utterly terrifying but his heart was unbelievable soft. "Ghost and I don't have much time left either. Me especially. If I can buy myself time, that means buying her time. He can be as big of an asshole as he wants. I'll make the fucker merge with me even if I have to force him."

Ricky scoffed, "You don't know what you're getting yourself into. No one is as stubborn and controlling as Chris. You have to share a room with him though. You'll get plenty of alone time with him."

"Why are we wasting time talking?" He replied.

He sighed, "I have to admire your ambition." Ricky pointed towards the messy floor, twirling his finger around, "Clean this shit up before she wakes up. And stop staring at her. It's creepy."

"Sorry." Vinny spoke in a higher voice, entailing that he really wasn't that apologetic about it.

The older just rolled his eyes and continued to walk out of the room. Vinny was everyone's little brother. He was cute sometimes, but mostly a big pain in the ass. They still loved him unconditionally. There's no room for doubt or causally caring about anyone. You love your friends like family. That may be part of the reason Ricky was so hesitant about this.

Chris was never fond of newcomers. Despite how grumpy he'd been recently, he was actually one of the nicest people in the house. There's a few times he'll lock up and become an asshole. This is easily going to become one of them. If Kuza can't get him to develop even the slightest bit of a bond, they're both fucked.

Ricky haltingly knocked on the door. His icy eyes glanced up at Kuza. What was inside of his irises, it looked like sympathy. For whom, that was unknown. There was a call of "Who is it?" from the other side of the door.

"It's me." Ricky replied, "I just need to talk for a second."

"Door's open." Chris responded.

Out of respect for the two's friendship, and mostly out of hesitation from not knowing what he was walking into, Kuza stayed near the door. Ricky opened it and walked into the room without one ounce of fear. He had gotten so comfortable with his best friend that he tended to forget he was a startling sight at first. Chris was no different than Kuza in those regards.

His height was intimidatingly towering. Black hair against translucent skin caused his eyes to nearly glow. They looked like a glass of whiskey getting illuminated by the last drops of daylight as the sun set. That may have been the first thing Kuza noticed, but the next made him clench his hand around the door frame. Chris was fresh out of the shower, in only jeans. His strong chest glistened with droplets of water falling from his wet hair.

Chris was very quick to notice him as well. Unfortunately, it wasn't in an admiral way. He pulled a black and white striped sweater over his head, mostly using it as time to stall to think of what to say. "Who's he?" He asked.

"The reason I came to talk. He came here with a girl who isn't well. They need a place to stay." Ricky responded.

"And I'm guessing you gave them one?" He numbly said.

"I wasn't going to leave them out there to freeze to death, Chris." He had lost his patience with his best friend's attitude quickly. Ricky shortly sighed, "Look, you don't have to be happy about it, but keep those thoughts to yourself. There's only two beds left in the house. One in Vinny's room and one in yours."

"Put it out in the hall." He grumbled as he fell back on his bed.

"Chris!" He snapped at him. Ricky quickly lowered his voice to a yelling whisper, "Can you at least pretend to care? In case you haven't noticed, he's compatible with you. He might be the only one left on this fucking planet. Even if you are being an asshole, I don't want to lose you. So, please, try to get along with him. He's a nice guy."

Chris took a long sigh and ran his hands over his face. He needed a moment to rest his eyes and think. Just a split moment that allowed him to recompose himself. "Fine." He replied, sitting up, "I'll try. I know I haven't really been in the best mood lately but... Things are getting old."

Ricky knelt down to be at his level. "I understand. We don't have anywhere else to go, now, though. So, we have to make the best of it. We got a fucking miracle delivered to our doorstep." He stressed, "Don't take it for granted." He stood back up and looked over to Kuza. "I should get back down to Ryan."

He excused himself from the room, leaving the two strangers at a standstill. Chris ran a hand through his damp hair and took a few deep breaths. He glanced up at the new creature in his doorway. "Come on in. Close the door."

Kuza gingerly took steps inside. He closed the door as gently as he could, as not to make much noise. This structure was old and things creaked easily. He wanted to prevent even the slightest of noise from waking Ghost. In her current state, she'd probably be in a deep sleep for awhile. Regardless, it was built into his nature to care for her.

"I'm sorry if I gave you a bit of a bad first impression." Chris said, "Tensions have just been high."

"I understand. Ghost and I and the others were never too fond of new people either. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I should start with introductions." Kuza was beginning to ramble and he knew it. He wasn't exactly the most nervous person in the world. However, the weight of that world was on his shoulders right now. He couldn't screw things up with Chris. He cleared his throat some, "Um, my name is Kuza."

Chris stood up and matched his height. He noticed all the dirt and frost mucking up Kuza's skin. "Chris. I don't mean for this to sound rude but would you like to take a shower before you lay down?"

"Yes, actually." He breathed out a sigh of relief, "I haven't had a shower in... Weeks. I've really lost track of time." Kuza glanced around, asking, "Where can I set my things?"

"On that bed. The bathroom's through there." He replied.

Kuza smiled softly, "Thank you. I can't remember the last time I've felt hot water."

He placed his collection of bags, both his and Ghost's, at the foot of the bed. Then he laid his trench coat on the mattress. Nearly everything of value was inside that jacket. He figured it would be a measure of trust to leave it in the open like that. Kuza fished through one of his bags until he found a clean pair of jeans. It must've been the last clean pair he had.

The water of the planet had all been turned black. There was no way to get rid of it, even when they boiled it. It was still water that was drinkable. Kuza turned the faucet, receiving a steady shower of the dark liquid. It streamed down equally as black tile. He removed his remaining clothes and folded them over the sink.

Stepping into a hot shower almost felt better than sex to him. The water cascaded over his thinning body. Each muscle, each bone, and each curve had been strongly defined by his weight loss. His toned stomach may have looked wonderful but it was the result of starvation. There hadn't been a single morsel of food left to scavenge on this Earth. He and Ghost didn't have time to try to find any either. They just barely made it here in time.

Chris attempted to resist his screaming desires to snoop. Nothing was off putting about Kuza at all. He seemed to be a good soul simply looking for warmth and shelter. There's more than enough people who can put on a good facade, though. He dared to go near Kuza's long coat and began to search through the pockets. It was mostly filled with jewelry that didn't seem to mean much to him.

He wasn't sure exactly what he was searching for. Did he want to find something incriminating? Or was he hoping Kuza was as genuine as he appeared? No one is truly genuine. Everyone has at least one skeleton in their closet. Unfortunately for Chris, he found it. In the pocket that would typically rest directly over Kuza's heart, there was what looked like a string of glass marbles. They were much, much more than that.

| | |

Vinny was forced to be quiet out of respect for the sleeping beauty. Cleaning his room wouldn't have been so bad if he could've listened to music or at least talked to himself. Instead, he had to pick up his mess of clothes and what have you in utter silence. Ghost shifted in her sleep, catching the young creature's attention.

His excitement quickly diminished when he realized she wasn't waking up just yet. Her necklace had managed to slip out from under the collar of the dress. It was so gorgeous, it easily caught his eye. At the end of a silver chain rested a glass marble that looked shattered on the inside. It was as blue as the ocean once was. Vinny's eyes enlarged when he realized exactly what it was. He cautiously took steps backwards towards the door. Once he reached the handle, he ripped it open and bolted downstairs.