An Exception

Chapter Two

"Beautiful?" He reached up to touch the patch over his eye, his brow furrowing as though he was pained, "No. Not anymore." Zamasu slipped from the bed before Hearts had a chance to stop him. "We should get our breakfast before Fu suspects anything further." He began to pull on his tattered overcoat and waistband. Zamasu picked up the large cover that had been on his shoulder, but placed it back on the floor, "I don't think I need that . . ." His shoulder was tinted purple where that grotesque arm had been. His eye was like that too, right? Or so Fu had said. Would they really never return to their former appearance? His beauty . . . his perfect form . . . ruined for eternity.

Fu's awful comments from yesterday were still eating at him? Was he really so bothered by that? What did the words of someone like Fu matter? "Zamasu . . ."

". . . what?" The god glanced back over his shoulder as he straightened out his clothes as best he could.

". . . no, it's nothing." Hearts had half a mind to tell him he really was beautiful, but that would only make things strange, wouldn't it? What reason did he have to tell him that? Zamasu would probably only accuse him of trying to get in his pants. Not that he was against such a thing, but . . . "By the way, can't you fix them?"

"Fix what?" Zamasu went to the door and unlocked it before turning the knob. Why was Hearts lingering for so long?

"Your clothes. Kai's can fix and change their clothes at will, can't they?" They could probably remove them instantaneously as well. That was an interesting thought.

"Yes, I could do that." Zamasu glanced down at his torn clothing before exiting the room with Hearts right behind him.

"So then why do you keep them torn? Wouldn't you feel better with your clothes restored to how they were?" Hearts was still pulling his coat on as they walked down the hall toward the kitchen.

"So I don't forget. Every time I see the holes, the tears, the singed edges . . . I remember who did this to me. I want to stay angry until the day I finally make them pay for this." Zamasu grit his teeth before shaking his head. No matter what, he just couldn't stop thinking about Fu's words. Why did it bother him so damn much? That only irritated him further. The words of someone so insignificant had shaken him to his core.

Ugly . . .

"No more about this." He'd already said too much, anyhow. Hearts didn't deserve to hear any of the thoughts in his head, though he claimed that he could 'hear his heart'. Was that true?

"Alright." He'd let it go for the time being, but he wanted to talk to him more about it later. It was very clear that he was bothered by Fu's words, by the idea that he had been ruined because of that one part of him. Wouldn't it be best to remove that cover and see it for himself? It would have to wait, though.

- - -

Following breakfast, Fu asked Zamasu to come back to the lab with him for a routine injection. Fu told him it was necessary to make sure his body wouldn't become disfigured again, but was that really what it was? It wasn't like it could kill him, but the god couldn't help but be suspicious of this guy. Even Hearts didn't seem to really trust him.

"You can sit in my chair if you don't want to get up on the table." Fu motioned to the chair he was referring to before going over to his supplies to begin prepping the injection.

"You said this is to maintain my body?" Zamasu looked at his arm. He had reason to believe Fu, given the man had fixed that absolute monstrosity, but what had he made that could possibly have fixed such a thing? This guy was like a mad scientist of sorts, but . . .