History Shows Again and Again

Chapter 31

June 3rd, 2021

Zeek was standing in front of a group of people in a lecture hall, a picture of Godzilla swimming being up on the large screen behind him with some writing. He had his sleeves of his white button up shirt rolled up to his elbows and his tie loosely done. He was asked to give a lecture about the king of the monsters to eager young college students who wanted to become 'titanologists'.

This was a new scientific field that had begun to crop up. Sure, MONARCH had declassified things about the Titans since twenty-fourteen, a bit slowly and sparingly, but it seemed like people wanted to be the keeper of all knowledge about the titans, to have their classes be about the titans and the history of them. Who was Zeek to deny them such a thing?

"Now," he was saying. "Most of what I'm saying beyond the twenty-fourteen and the Boston tragedies, most of the information I'm saying is purely speculative. Remember that. We only have surface information about Godzilla."

He paused when he heard the alarm on his phone go off in his pocket. "Well, looks like the day's over. Thank you all for coming and I hope to see you all in my next lecture if they invite me back."

He waved as the students ventured out, some waving back, others voicing their goodbyes. He dug into his pocket and noted a text message from Ren that was sent earlier in the day.

Ren:
'Let me know when you're done with that lecture.'

Zeek:
'Just got done.'

Ren:
'You free for the rest of the day?'

Zeek:
'Pretty much.'

Ren:
'Perfect.'

****
***

Zeek looked at the sign to a rather high-end club that was two floors, the music thrumming from the entrance. The sun was inching closer and closer to the horizon, and, at each passing minute, more and more people stood in the line at the door that had formed.

He tugged the color of his military green, short sleeve button up, shifting his weight as he watched as the line grew and there was no sign of Ren anywhere. He didn't know where the other man was, why he had told Zeek to come stand in front of the building and to wear a button up which was an oddly specific thing.

"Zeek!" Ren's voice called out, making him look at the door. Ren stood at the entrance in a long sleeve black button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The top two buttons were open and Zeek stared for a moment, so used to the other just wearing long sleeve shirts.

"Welcome to the spot I usually go to when I need to wind down." Ren stated as he walked over to Zeek. "Come on."

Zeek felt Ren grabbed his wrist in a gentle hold and began to lead him through the entrance and he could already smell smoke and alcohol in the air. He could already see a few people dancing on the dance floor and a few others milling about, eating and nursing their drinks. Then, he was being tugged over to the bar before Ren was gesturing to the menu that sat in front of them.

"Get whatever you'd like." Ren told him. "I'm paying for the night."

"Wha– I can pay for my own stuff."

"I want to pay." Ren insisted, his arm brushing against Ren's before waving over the bartender and ordered a 'Lightning Gold' whisky mix.

Zeek huffed and looked at the menu before I let out a snort when he saw that almost all of the drinks were named after the titans. His eyes scanned the drinks a few times before he was finally able to decide on the drink he wanted. "Atomic Blue."

He heard Ren scoffed playfully and he just gave the other a shrug with a grin. Ren ordered their food and, once they had gotten their drinks, he nudged Zeek towards a nearby staircase and onto the balcony that overlooked the DJ and the dancefloor.

"This," Ren walked through an open doorway into the room that held a table, a couch on either side with soft blue and red lighting. "Is the VIP lounge. They'll bring our food up once it's done."

"I never took you as a clubbing type." Zeek sat down on one couch, feeling the soft cushion. He sipped at his drink, noting the hint of blueberry and rum.

"I'm not." Ren sat down across from him. "I usually just spend my time up in the lounge, relaxing while having a drink."

Zeek listened as the music became more upbeat and the bass got deeper, and the rhythm almost got in sync with his heartbeat at times.

"So, anything new on your end?" Ren questioned after a moment.

"Got some more lectures I was to give in the surrounding colleges. Since it seems like I got something like a steady job that ties into the titans here, MONARCH will probably station me here permanently."

"Why do I sense that you aren't entirely happy with that?"

"I'm used to being out in the open ocean, watching Godzilla swim by, able to study him to an extent. Here...I sort of feel useless to MONARCH. I know I shouldn't but...that outpost was my home for five or six years."

He took another sip of his drink before their food was brought and set down in front of them. The two thanked the server before beginning to eat in a comfortable silence between them like usual.

"Here." Ren got up once they finished eating and drained their glasses, walked over to the mini fridge to grab two beers and handed one of the bottles over to Zeek. "I had them stock at least two in the mini fridge."

From the label, it was clear that Ren had him in mind as it was his preferred brand. He popped the cap and took a swig from it. "Thanks."

Ren simply nodded and did the same thing, though he took a bigger swig than Zeek. They lapsed in a comfortable silence between them, really just enjoying each other's company.

Then, a new beat accompanied by japanese lyrics began to play, making Zeek stand and walk over to the railing, leaning on it with his forearms with fingers still wrapped around the neck of the bottle. He looked down at the dance floor and saw that the club goers were still dancing away in the same way as all the other songs. He took another sip as he felt Ren walking up behind him and leaned against the railing beside him.

"This reminds me of back in college when I was dragged into a local club." Zeek stated after a moment.

"Someone actually got a...what's the word...nerd like you to a club when you were in college?" Ren asked in fake surprise.

Zeek snorted and elbowed him playfully in the side. "Hardy har har. It was the football team, said that I should live a little, get laid by a hot blond or brunette."

"So...did you?"

"Hell no. There wasn't any woman that interested me...mainly because they were women and I never felt for them in any way."

"Then any men?"

"Course not, it was a straight club. No way was I gonna try there."

Ren hummed. "And now?"

"No. No one down there interests me. Besides, even if some of them are attractive, I don't exactly do one-night stands."

He felt Ren move and, when he turned his head to look, saw that the other was leaning against the railing sideways, elbow on the railing and looking at him with some sort of look in his eye. Then, Ren was straightening up, taking a step into Zeek's personal space. Hand came up and found a spot on the back of Zeek's head before he was pushed forward and saw that Ren was leaning forward as well.

It took all of his willpower to not drop his beer on the pedestrian's below as their lips met. It was clear that Ren was keeping the kiss soft for Zeek's sake and even then, Zeek felt his heart pounding and his knees almost growing weak.

Zeek finally moved his free hand, needing to essentially cross his chest since it was the hand furthest away from Ren, and gripped the other's shirt lightly and that seemed to be the go ahead for Ren to kiss Zeek slightly harder, deepening the kiss.

Zeek didn't know what the hell had got Ren to do such an unexpected thing, but he wasn't complaining.

All he could focus on was the kiss and his heart matching the beat to the new song that was playing below them.