The shower cuts off, and Izz pads his way over the tiles out to the changing area where fresh clothes are waiting. Sinn'ous trails behind, which he can see boosts the boy’s confidence. The swagger in his stride, head held high, back straight. And the tiny smile he tries to hide by pulling his grey shirt over his head. It’s different, seeing Izz out of the orange, and not in a bad way, the grey suits him better.
Tugging on his own set of scratchy prison greys, Sinn'ous is dressed well before Izz. Standing back to watch the show, the curve in the boy’s back as he shimmies into his pants.
They travel together back to A-Wing. His senses picking up many eyes following them. Including Sinj, long dyed-red hair left hanging loose over his shoulders, lurking in the thick of a group of men. He lets his peripheral vision track the man’s movements.
Then they’re gone, stepping behind a bend in the corridor and walking down the final stretch to their Wing. Where he escorts Izz back to the boy’s cell.
First thing the boy does is carelessly toss his towel to the bunk, then swivels to face Sinn'ous. Who is toeing the line at the edge of the cell, both in and out of the space, testing what Izz will do.
He could walk in, there is nothing the boy could do to prevent it. No way for him to make Sinn'ous leave. It’s just the way he likes it, to be in complete control of every situation. And it’s not as though this would be the first time he’s been inside the boy’s cell, regardless of whether the boy objects to it. It’s just the first time Izz will be consciously aware of his presence here.
Izz visibly seems to ground himself, throat bobbing on a swallow, feet shifting from one to the other in an anxious shuffle. Looking anywhere but at Sinn'ous’s face. Nervous energy rolling off him in waves.
“I’m ah . . .” Izz’s eyes continue to dart everywhere, not catching in anything, “going to skip breakfast tomorrow to shower again . . . if you wanted to . . . do this again.” His jaw works as he bites his lip, Sinn'ous is sure the boy’s unaware of doing it. It stirs all manner of thoughts in Sinn'ous.
Then the context of Izz’s words settle, and Sinn'ous is taken off guard by how forward the invitation was. To shower together. Where the boy is most vulnerable. Of course, he’d be doing it either way, but to be actuallyinvitedto do it. It has him wanting to throw the boy to the bunk and fuck him raw right here and now.
Voice gone raw. He can’t answer. So he offers an uptick to his lips in a mockery of a smile, and gives a barely perceptible dip of his chin. He’s at a loss for anything, and if he stays here any longer he will break the rules of his own game.
So he leaves, gliding back down to the stairs platform and taking the metal steps two at a time. Retreating into the thick of men doing their own things.
That had all gone better than he planned when he went to find Izz in the showers. His long game of trust building is working.
Praise Satan.
31
SINN'OUS
He needs to call his brother. As much as he detested leaving Izz back in the cafeteria, he knows the boy will be safe when he is sitting with Reni’s mismatchedgroup known as The Gang. It’s enough to roll the eyes of the deceased. What a stupid name.
The lawyer had given him a sticky note with the scrawled number etched into it. A number to contact his brother at whatever ‘work’assignment he’s on.‘Work’meaning ahit. Some poor fuck who has had their ticket drawn by that Italian mafia boss of Zayne’s.
The number is for a disposable phone where he can speak freely to his brother. All he needs is a phone here that he can also speak freely into, not the recorded prison phones.
He isn’t more than two steps into the corridorwhen Sinj makes himself known. Long layered hair pulled into some messy bun type deal, wisps of hair poking out all over. Bedhead on steroids. Pristine tattoo sleeves artfully inked in gold, red, and black. A design of which must have tapped into his salary, whatever that would be working a job like this. Or more accurately, it was money given by the many men he’s bent over for. It’s the perfect cover really. No one would suspect a glorified rent boy to be an undercover—
Sinn'ous’s thoughts cut out when Sinj speaks. “You and the new guy got a thing?”
“Mind your business, rent boy.” Even if Sinn'ous didn’t know who Sinj really is under all the fake bullshit, he wouldn’t have offered any forthcoming reply.
Sinj lets out a faked airy chuckle. “Testy, testy.” As Sinj begins to walk on he casually throws over his shoulder. “Just thought you’d want to know he was grabbed by Friedrich’s crew and pulled into B-Wing. But if you’re not athing. ..”
The drawled-out sentence splutters into static noise. Sinn'ous is already sprinting down the corridor, feet eating the concrete in long strides. He shoves men from his path, seeing nothing but grey blurs thrown to the side.
He’s never considered himself emotional, no attachments or emotional investments. No clear-cut signs that anyone is more than a potential sacrifice waiting to happen. Yet in this moment he learnt the true meaning of heart dropping. His organs gave out, they just let go and dropped into his hips. His stomach. His heart. His lungs. All free falling.
He nevereverwould have considered that statement true, and now he knows better.
It is fucking true.
And his heart only plummets further at the terror fuelled scream that shakes B-Wing. It carries on its heels the surreal feeling of going nowhere. Everything putters out and slows to a crawl. He’s moving fast but it’s like his mind has slowed the world down. His thoughts are racing past his movements, to the point where he is experiencing hour-long thoughts in the space of one footfall. From his toes lifting off, to his heels touching down, a week of his life is gone.
Until it isn’t, and everything comes crashing back to punch through his chest and pulverize his heart.
The raging inferno of adrenaline that hits him is a hose set on full blast. It dilates his eyes so fast he can feel them expanding. Dual focal points of death incarnate.
Everything flickers red. And the slaughter he’s about to manifest is a 3D movie playing in front of him.
