Outfit

The world is red. The blood of the weak splattered over the strong.

-09.09.102,014

Nia was looking at the face of the boy who was injured when she found them and wondering what could have possibly happened to him, to them? His injury was no laughing matter and for a moment there she wasn’t sure the medicine in her box could heal him. They had gotten lucky.

After leaving the last three of his friends, Nia climbed back down the stairs with a wash cloth and large basin in hand. She would clean him up as best she could as long as it was in an appropriate area for her to be touching. He wouldn’t even recognize himself when she was done with him.

Filling the basin with warm water Nia hummed a light tune. She was happy he was knocked out hard or she would have been embarrassed as she knew her voice was no joke and not in a good way.

Turning back to the boy lying unconscious on her dining table she let out a light sigh. Setting the basin down she lightly dipped the rag into the water hoping it was not too cold or too warm for him seeing as he would be unable to complain about it.

Gingerly Nia worked the cloth over the males neck and arms trying to be careful incase he had any small cuts as she did not want to aggravate them.  She had to keep dipping the cloth into the water as layers and layer of dirt and blood came off. It came to the point where Nia had to go and refill the basin.

By the time that Nia was able to focus on the malese face she had refilled the basin three times. It took her a moment while washing his arms to realize that his skin was rather dark, something that was rather exotic since the sun left.

Once half of the male’s face was clean of any grime Nia could see that he had a rather sharp jawline and thin lips that were pulled taut at the edges, they almost reminded Nia of her feline companion’s lips. It wasn’t until she finished cleaning his face though that Nia stopped and stared at the male in front of her with eyes wide and mouth agape.

He was desirable, very desirable.

She couldn’t see his eyes, but Nia could tell the male was very much a member of the desirable maybe even at her level. His sharp jaw led up to a perfectly placed hairline and both framed a face that could put any male in her classes to shame, in her mind at least. He had strong brows and she could tell his eyes would be slanted and give even more power to his feline look.

Taking several deep breaths Nia tried to calm herself down. She needed to gather her wits seeing as there were also five other people in the house that she would soon need to see and discuss somethings with.

As she thought about it Nia realized that if she were to talk with them then they would obviously need to be dressed and there was no way she would allow them back into those filthy cloths, she would burn those the second she could.

Unwillingly Nia parted herself from the desirable male and exited the room, but not without taking one last look at his handsome face. He was a diamond in the rough, she wasn’t even aware people could be so good looking.

Going from guest room to guest room Nia search for clothes that her brothers or father might have left. Nia was the most desirable in her family therefore she had the most luxurious place and her family liked to stay over. Just like everyone else they slowly stopped coming until one day they just never came back.

Despite being delayed by her own thoughts Nia finally gathered enough clothing for all the males. While short two pairs of male pants and a few shirts she was able to find some of her own clothing she thought might fit them and if they were a bit small they would still be better than the garbage they were previously wearing.

She gave a light knock to the bathroom door that connected to her room and quickly told the three males in the room that she would leave the clothing on the floor before the door. Next the went on and did the same for the other bathroom. The reply from the first bathroom was much kinder than the one from the second.

After all the clothing was deposited, Nia went back to the first male and set down a pair of pants and a shirt beside him. She dared not take any more liberties at touching him. Not because of how desirable he was, but because she felt it would have been too much for someone she had never met before.

Waiting Nia tried to straighten up the living room. She doubted that the males would care what it looked like, but she cared. It was not often that she had anyone over so she wanted to make a good impression of her home even if they had already seen most of it.

Hearing a gentle cough Nia realized she wasn’t alone. Straightening up from fluffing a pillow Nia turned around and for the second time in the past moments she was shocked and not in a bad way, or maybe it was.

“Uhm, who, who are you?” Nia was staring at a group of males she had never seen before. They were all desirables of varying levels, but she knew that any girl would be willing to take just about any one of them.

“So not only are you rude, but stupid too?” The snotty voice Nia automatically recognized as Yifan came from one of the more attractive ones. He was tall with  downward sloping brows and a tiny mouth set on a face that was framed by a jaw that formed a near perfect v-line.

It was possible that Nia’s worst nightmare had just come true. Those filthy males from before were suddenly transformed into some of the most desirable looking males she had ever seen. To top it off the rudest most inconsiderate one of them appeared to be the one with looks that anyone would kill for.

“Oh my lord.” She mumbled her face transforming with a look of awe. Each one was better looking than the last. There was one for any kind of male a woman could want. They were rather short, all beside Yifan who looked like he stole the other’s height, but their looks made up for the stolen height.

“Is something wrong?” The one with wide eyes and possibly the smallest face she had ever seen on an adult asked timidly. His gaze flickered between her and the floor thankfully never attempting eye contact. “Did we not wash correctly or are the clothes on wrong?” The male looked worriedly at himself as the others followed his lead and began picking at their outfits nervously.

“No, no that’s not it.” Nia vehemently denied as blood rushed up her neck and her skin reddened slightly. “You all are just more desirable than I ever would have guessed.” She was never one for beating around the bush.

Looks of surprise crossed over the males faces and they all blushd deep shades of red. Well, all other than Yifan who looked rather proud of himself as though he knew how good he looked. The look of self satisfaction that crossed Yifan’s face nearly made Nia take her words back and exclude him, possibly even say he was hideous.

“That is not important though.” Nia told them as she softly shook her head and motioned to have them follow her into the dining room so they could talk and watch over their friend. She assumed he would be waking up soon. “I cleaned him up a bit and figured he could do more when he wakes.” She smiled lightly to the one who looked somewhat drowsy as he thanked Nia.

“What is important is that you tell me who you are and what you were doing down there.” Nia made a motion pointing to the ground. The males all gave each other nervous glances before answering her. They tried to say ‘nothing’, but Nia was having none of that. “You’re friend just nearly died. No one does nothing and nearly dies.” She felt like she was reasoning with children.

“I’ve got an idea.” Yifan piped in and Nia just knew he was going to say something either stupid or rude. “Why don’t you just let us go.” There it was, something stupid. Honestly, did he not understand the situation they were in?

“Fat chance.”  She hissed glaring at the boy’s ugly huge flawless forehead, why couldn’t he have been hideous? “You seem to not understand what’s going on right now. I am the only person who is standing between you and death.” Nia was trying to be assertive, but after a life of just going with the current she was not doing too well.

“You keep saying that, but you aren’t giving us any reasons!” Yifan was getting riled up. He looked like a dog raising his hackles as if he were about to bite. “Give me one solid reason and maybe, maybe I’ll listen to you.” He had a point and she knew it. All she had done was tell them she was keeping them alive, but not how or why.

“Okay, I’m gonna lay this out really simple for you.” Nia told them as she braced her palms on the edge of her dining table. “You just came up from Level 00, that place has been abandoned for years and on top of that aside from you friend here you are all pretty much unscathed.” Nia was still quite shocked at these facts herself. They had to be some sort of mutants to be able to do something like that.

“That isn’t a reason.” Yifan told her seeming to have calmed down just the slightest as his puppy hackles lowered down and he was finally using a nearly civil tone with her. “I need a reason or we will leave.” He was serious and she could see it in his eyes.

“But that is a reason. No one and I mean no one goes below Level 150 with out a rebreather and lives, the fumes down there are toxic to us.” The males looked like they may have caught on. “The council would have you arrested and questioned, the doctors would turn you over without a second thought as their loyalty is to the council first just like everybody else's. They would have let him die if that was the council’s wish.” Nia could see the looks of horror cross over their face.

“So then why did you help him?” It was the one with cheekbones to die for and lips that were slightly upturned at the corners. “Are you a traitor ‘cause then we really can’t trust you.” He may have looked the most playful, but he was just as serious as the rest.

“I saw someone dying and I knew I had to do something.” Nia looked down at Tao’s face and she could see the bags under his eyes, he must have been exhausted. “But, I assure you that not everyone would feel such a way. Especially with how undesirable you looked before.” It was a hard fact of life for the undesirable, they would not always get the help they needed simply because their looks did not deem it necessary to do so.

“Why is it like that?” Yifan questioned and finally he looked calm and not like he was about to bolt out the door. “Why would you save us when even the doctors wouldn’t? Won’t you be punished then because that’s what it sounds like.” He was far more perceptive than Nia felt she was giving him credit for.

“That was why I had you act as though we had been drinking, to try and avoid punishment.” She explained. “As for why, the doctors are trained to turn over anyone the suspect may be a threat to the city, no matter what. I on the other hand don’t care as long as you don’t mean harm and honestly you stuck out like sore thumbs so I doubt you were going to attempt to attack the council or do something else dangerous.” Nia teased about their previous looks.

Again the faces of the male turned red as blood gathered from their embarrassment, even Yifan had turned slightly red. Nia was just glad to garner a reaction from the male that was not rude or violent.

“Now,” She called gathering their attention back to her from their own hands and feet. “Why don’t you each tell me you names and then explain what you were really doing.” She sent a pointed look in the single lidded boys direction telling him not to say ‘nothing’ again.

They each took a moment to introduce themselves formally to Nia and she was happily surprised that they did so willingly and she did not have to feel like she was pulling teeth from the boys. The one with single eyelids and a lopsided grin was Minseok, the one with the tiny face was Luhan, Yixing was the male who looked rather tired and Jongdae was the one with cheekbones she could dream of and a kitten like smile. Nia already knew Tao and Yifan’s names, but Yifan made sure to reintroduce himself and assured her Tao would as well.

“Care to tell me how you ended up at Level 00 and why Tao was bleeding out when I found you?” Nia questioned casting a short glance at the boy in question. He looked like the type that would go looking for trouble, but not the type to go looking for death.

“We were hunting.” Yifan tried to give the three word response like it was all she would need. Hunting? What was that? Nia had never heard of such a thing. “You know for food. We heard the region had some good bison meat.” What was bison and why eat its meat?

“What is hunting? What is bison and why would you want its meat, isn’t that cruel?” Nia figured it was an animal and she could not believe her ears. Few in the city ate meat and those who did were frowned upon. The animals had lives and souls and did not deserve such treatment.

“Hunting is where you go find and animal and kill it for your own survival.” The look on Yifan’s face said he enjoyed it and Nia could not believe she had saved such people. “Why would it be cruel, bison are the stupidest of all animals.” Yifan gave a light chuckle at his own words.

“Stupid? You think that an animal who has feelings and emotions is stupid?” The males had turned ridged at her words. “Let me ask you again, how did Tao end up like this?” Nia’s eyes were slitted as she stared one after another at the males in front of her.

“Well, uhm, one of the bison got free and in a rage it kind of hung Tao up.” Jongdae gave a chuckle at his own joke, but went silent at the glares he received from the others around the table.

“Seems the bison aren’t the stupid ones then.” Nia sneered lurching back in her seat and standing to go and pace the only window that still held a view. Hearing the wailing of the siren she realized it was already time for the curfew to start and that she would have to stay in her apartment with the murderers for the night.

A quiet overtook the house and it was not a pleasant one. Tension filled the air from the living room to the dining room and Nia knew it was her doing. Side eyeing the males she could see them sharing confused looks, but when they tried to look in her direction their gazes automatically averted themselves.

“I don’t see why you’re so angry, they are just some animals.” It was not Yifan speaking up against her, but the Jongdae. He was frowning deeply though his lips still seemed to have a playful look to them. “We need to eat them to live and it’s not like they can complain anyways.” He gave a careless shrug and Nia could feel herself cringing at his words.

“Tao couldn’t complain when I tended to him earlier.” Nia told him as she turned to look out the window as the lights dimmed. “Would it have been okay for me to have scrubbed as hard as I wished and to have used scolding water to clean his skin?” She questioned not turning to the boys as she could see them through the reflection of the darkened window.

Each male had a different reaction to her words. Yifan stiffened and looked like he was about to launch at her probably before he realized that I had not done such. Luhan looked as though someone had kicked his puppy, though she bet he could not own a puppy as he would eat it. Yixing looked the most remorseful as he glared down at his hands. Jongdae looked annoyed as he continued glaring at Nia’s back seeing a she had turned his words against him. Minseok looked ashamed and embarrassed as he sat meekly in his seat.

“The question is not, 'Can they reason?' nor, 'Can they talk?' but rather, 'Can they suffer?'; that is what you need to think of when you take action.” Nia was not trying to shame the males, though she was rather disappointed in them. She was trying to see things from their point of view, though she had no idea what that was. Maybe people where they came from often ate animal, but not in the city.

“So you were killing the bison and how did you get to Level 00?” Nia questioned just wanting to move on from the whole incident. She did not want to keep imagining some poor creature dying. “And how did you survive without any safety equipment?” That was what she was really interested in.

“We didn’t ‘get’ anywhere. We were already there. We just happened to find the elevator and remembered the elders saying it led to the sky people.” Yifan told her as he rubbed his fingers over his temples. “We were told that their powers were great, but that they were dangerous and to never go there.” Yifan let out a long grievous sigh and hunched forward.

“Sky people, who are they?” Nia questioned trying to remember if she had ever been told any stories of  ‘sky people’. Looking at the males she saw the looks they were giving her, as if to ask how dense she really was. After a few seconds, Nia realized why they were giving her those looks.

Her people were the sky people.

They sure did find the sky people then. Heck, they had even been saved by one of them. The boys really should have stayed wherever they were though. Their elders were right, her people were vry dangerous. Suddenly another thing Yifan had said registered to Nia’s mind.

“Did you just say you came from Level 00?” She breathed out and received similar looks to the last ones. “How are you alive with that environment? I was always told that no one could survive on Level 00 without some sort of gear and yet here you are in good health!” Nia could not believe what was happening.

“I’m not sure what gear you mean seeing as the only gear we have is our hunting gear,” It was Minseok this time from his spot at the foot of the dining table. “I doubt that’s what you mean though. Beside that we don’t have any ‘gear’ with us.” His voice stayed even and he looked the most calm out of any of the people in the room.

“How is that even possible?” Nia murmured to herself before burying her face into her hands. She had once gone down to Level 125 on a school trip and had seen someone nearly die when they took off their rebreather so she knew that it was true that she would die if she tried going down to Level 00. So, how were they perfectly fine.

Right as Nia was about to begin questioning the males again a groan cut through the silence. It had a different sound than any of the males she had talked with thus far so her gaze settled in on Tao who was still on her table. She quickly made her way over and could see his eyes scrunching and scrunching as his head lolled from side to side.

He was finally waking up.