Where musical worlds collide

 The one thing that Floyd Pinkerton couldn’t get over after settling down in Hunger City was the stillness. No matter how smoothly the Martian and Venusian spacecrafts on which he’d spent a significant portion of his life glided through the galaxy, the fact remained that they were built to move. For the past few… years… ?… Floyd had woken to some sort of disturbance, maybe a faint humming or buzzing, or a gentle bump. But here in the bedroom– his bedroom, the one that he and his partner Ziggy had picked out once the Venusians had left and all the business with the People had been settled– all Floyd could feel was the softness of the mattress beneath him, and the warmth of Ziggy in his arms. Though he could tell from the sound of Ziggy’s breathing that he was awake, neither said a word to each other. Floyd was happy simply to luxuriate in the peace and quiet. That was another thing that he knew he'd have trouble getting used to– the lack of cars honking outside the window, or bright lights flashing in his face. Even though Floyd hadn’t seen a city, not a fully-constructed one anyway, for many years, he still had certain expectations when it came to living in one, and Hunger City had so far failed to meet most of them. Not that Floyd was complaining.

       He had no idea how long he and Ziggy lay there, the weak sun outside the window slowly crawling up the sky and transforming the room from blue to yellow, before Ziggy stirred against him, turning around in his arms so that they were face to face. “Hello,” he said.

       “Hello,” Floyd murmured, a fond smile touching his face. Ziggy’s dark hair was a mess of bedhead, his blue eyes crusted with sleep. Often Floyd wondered what Ziggy’s fans from the long-dead Planet Earth would have thought they’d seen him in such a condition. Their rock and roll messiah brought down our level… Now that he had been reunited with the human race, Floyd found himself pondering whether some of said fans had found their way to this planet. He knew, however, that he was the only one who would ever see Ziggy like this, and he took pleasure in having that privilege.

       Ziggy yawned daintily, in a way that had always reminded Floyd of a cat, before sitting up and tossing his legs over the side of the bed. “I suppose we ought to get up. I don’t know about you, but I could really go for a long, hot bath.”

       “A bath?” Floyd stated. It had been so long since he’d had access to the facilities necessary for taking a bath, let alone actually taken one. He wondered if Taraji, the person who had helped him get his flat ready, had left him any soap. 

       Ziggy nodded as he got out of bed and padded across the floor. “This place was built by Aresians, Floyd. And if their culture was anything like mine…” He stretched a few times, rolling his shoulders and touching his toes, before heading down the hallway that connected the bedroom with the rest of the flat. Floyd heard the sound of a light being switched on, followed by a satisfied hum. A moment later, Ziggy reappeared in the doorway. “They’ve got a shower and a bath. Come look?”

       Reluctantly, Floyd threw the bedcovers back and sat up, placing his feet on the floor. At once, his head swam with darkness. Must have been asleep for too long… He waited for his vision to clear, before getting up and following Ziggy down the hallway. Ziggy stopped at the first door on the left and gestured to it. “After you, m'dear…”

       Entering, Floyd discovered that everything was exactly as Ziggy had said. The room contained a shower and bathtub. But this wasn’t just any bathtub. Mounted in the center of the room, the tub was immense, nearly ornate, with several unfamiliar knobs, the purpose of which Floyd could only guess. He noticed writing as he crept over to inspect it further– the standard H and C, of course, along with a few J’s and curiously, an S.

       “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this was imported straight from Ares,” Ziggy said from behind Floyd. Floyd turned to find Ziggy hugging himself, gathering his too-long nightgown close to his chest. “Whoever designed and built this must have hailed from my country. I know it wasn’t the case with every culture, but… my people sure loved our baths.” He chuckled faintly, in a way that Floyd couldn’t interpret. Did he find the bath a painful reminder of what he had lost on Mars, or was it a welcome reminder of home?

       “I can read the letters, too,” Floyd murmured. He pointed to the S. “What’s this one stand for?”

       Ziggy came over to peer at where Floyd was pointing. “That’s for saltwater! We used to have the option to bathe in salt or freshwater. I’m not sure that it would work anymore…”

       “Probably hasn’t for a while,” Floyd agreed. Not since the flat had last had occupants, anyway. He gazed around the room, taking in its white tile, its blue walls, and a distinct lack of something. “Where’s the toilet?”

       “What?”

       “You didn’t have toilets in your bathrooms, on Mars?”

        “Oh.” Again Ziggy chuckled. “No, we didn’t. We’d have two separate rooms for that.” He pointed to the shower's frosted glass door. “These were only used if you needed to rinse off. Other than that, it was baths all the time.”

       “Sounds lovely.” And indeed, it was lovely, not only the thought of taking a bath, but to hear Ziggy share some stories about his own culture. It occurred to Floyd that now that they were living in a Martian-built city, Ziggy was bound to provide him with more learning experiences, and he couldn’t wait to know more.

       As they stood there inspecting the tub, Floyd recalled something that was sure to put a damper on the morning’s proceedings. “Ziggy, I’m not sure if we should use the bath. Didn’t Xyloto say that Hunger City is trying to conserve its resources?”

       At first Floyd expected disappointment, but Ziggy only looked at him, his blue eyes glowing. “Did you hear what you just said? You said we.”

       Bemusement filled Floyd. He’d been using we to describe himself and Ziggy to every lifeform he’d ever come across after leaving Planet Earth. “And your point?”

       “Well.” In a flash, a mischievous tone had entered Ziggy’s voice. He strolled backwards towards the shower, throwing its door open with a flourish. “If you’re so concerned about wasting water, why don’t you come and join me?”

       A shower with Ziggy. Floyd’s heart fluttered. The concept was deliciously novel. Throughout the years they’d spent together on various spacecrafts, showers had been hurried affairs, undergone to take care of the bare minimum. Now that they had all the time in the world, however…

       Floyd tried to recall if he’d ever shared a shower with anyone before. Certainly not with his wife. And if he hadn’t done it with her, he had definitely never done it. He wouldn’t have put it past Ziggy to have done so in the past, but he decided it was best not to ask.

       “I’d love to,” he said, and Ziggy smiled. “Good.” With one quick motion, he swept his nightgown over his head, exposing his pale, hairless chest. Although Floyd had seen Ziggy naked countless times, the sight still made his breath stutter in his throat. He’s so perfect. How did I ever end up with someone so perfect?

       Hastily Floyd began to undo the buttons on his own shirt, while Ziggy stepped forward to turn on the shower. With a clatter from the pipes, the water came gushing out of the shower head, with such force that it nearly startled Floyd. Ziggy fiddled with the knobs, before sticking his hand under the spray. “I’m not sure how it is here, but back home, our showers never got very hot. We used to use all the hot water for our baths. I hope you won’t mind?”

       Floyd shook his head, finally removing his shirt. “That’s okay.” This shower would be getting very hot in a few minutes. He slipped his trousers off, leaving himself bare except for a pair of briefs underneath. The usual flicker of worry came to him– an irrational worry by this point, but what could he do?– that Ziggy would turn him away the moment he caught a glimpse of him. But when Ziggy looked over, the warmth in his eyes made Floyd feel whole. He came up beside Ziggy and put an arm around him, idly rubbing his shoulder, as they waited for the water to get warm.

       Finally, Ziggy checked the water one more time and nodded sharply. “Let’s get in.” He stepped into the shower in a fluid motion. Floyd pulled off his briefs and gingerly followed Ziggy in. There wasn’t enough room for both of them to stand beneath the shower head, so he kept his back pressed against the door until Ziggy moved aside, water running in rivulets down his shoulders.

        The instant Floyd stepped beneath the running water, all thoughts dissolved from his head. Ziggy may have been concerned that the water wouldn’t be warm enough for Floyd, but he couldn’t imagine anything feeling better. The water pressure was high, pelting Floyd like a heavy rainstorm. A long, slow sigh left his lungs, every muscle in his body loosening. If Ziggy hadn’t been there, he could have stayed where he was forever, but he was mindful of his partner’s presence. They both needed to get clean.

       “Where’s the soap?” he murmured, belatedly realizing that neither he nor Ziggy had thought to check before getting into the shower. Thankfully, Ziggy pointed to where it was nestled in the alcove carved into the wall behind Floyd. As Floyd picked it up, Ziggy's nose wrinkled. “This was definitely not made by Aresians.”

       Floyd took a whiff, and wrinkled his nose as well. Instead of the antiseptic scent he’d been anticipating, the soap smelled musky, like a cheap cologne. “The humans must have made it,” he said, remembering how Mylo and Xyloto had described the human settlements surrounding Hunger City, and how each settlement was responsible for making its own materials.

       The corner of Ziggy’s mouth twitched up. “You’d think you weren’t a human yourself, Floyd.”

       “Shut up,” Floyd fired back, though it was a fair comment. After spending years interacting with the Venusians, sometimes he didn’t feel like a human. He rubbed the bar of soap between his hands, lathering up. “I don’t suppose we’ve got any shampoo as well?”

       “No,” Ziggy said, after a quick peek into the alcove. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll use the soap for now, and ask a settler about it later. Someone's bound to have figured out how to make shampoo.”

       Floyd grunted, not thrilled at the thought of washing his hair with something so strongly-scented. But as his eyes roamed Ziggy’s body, his annoyance soon became an afterthought. God, but he looked so gorgeous with his hair all damp and falling in his eyes, and water droplets decorating his chest. Inspired, he set the soap down and came forward, sliding his soap-slick hands across Ziggy’s body. Ziggy yelped in sudden surprise, though his eyes remained as warm as ever. “Just what are you doing?”

       “Turn around,” Floyd suggested, and Ziggy obeyed, tossing a squinty-eyed smirk over his shoulder. Once Ziggy’s back was to him, Floyd rubbed his hands across his shoulders. He picked up the soap again and began to scrub Ziggy’s skin, making sure that every area was clean. Ziggy sighed and leaned forward, his palms resting against the shower’s opposite wall. “Oh, Floyd, that feels good.”

       Floyd let out a soft, appreciative mm. Seeing Ziggy happy made him happy. And he couldn’t blame Ziggy for enjoying it so much. When was the last time we got to do something like this? The urgent need to release an album in order to afford repairs for Ziggy’s spacecraft had cut into their time together on Earth, and of course they’d still had so much to learn about each other back then. The entire time they’d spent together in space, their search for the Venusians and then for the human settlements had hung heavily over their heads, no matter how much they had enjoyed each others’ presence. And even after arriving on this new planet, there had been the matter of a veritable war to sort out, not to mention figuring out where to live and who the city really belonged to and oh god, how could Floyd forget the unexpected addition of Ziggy’s illegitimate son? Though their physical demands had been met, Floyd knew that it would take a long time to mentally process all that they’d been through. But they had the rest of their lives to sort that out. For the first time in forever, neither Floyd nor Ziggy had a goal to work towards or a deadline hanging over their heads. They could simply enjoy being with each other, and a shared shower seemed an excellent first step.

       Once Ziggy was thoroughly soaped up, Floyd stepped to the side and moved forward so that Ziggy could rinse himself off under the pulsing water. As he stepped under the shower head, Ziggy tilted his head back and let the water soak his face. Upon seeing his joy, Floyd couldn’t hold himself back. He came forward and gathered Ziggy in his arms, one hand sliding behind his head and the other drifting to his waist. Their lips and foreheads met, while the shower’s sprays trickled down their bodies to the drain. Floyd shut his eyes and pressed Ziggy’s skinny body close to his. He could feel the vibrations of Ziggy’s heart against his chest, its tempo slightly faster, as usual, than that of Floyd’s own.

       When Ziggy pulled away, his hands slipped from Floyd’s lower back to below his waist. His voice was a purr in Floyd’s ear. “Would you like me to—”

       “Wait,” Floyd said. Though the placement of Ziggy’s hands was very tempting indeed, he had a different idea in mind. Ziggy had proven multiple times in the past what his mouth was capable of, but Floyd had never worked up the nerve to return the favor. Now he was eager to do something for Ziggy, to communicate to him just how grateful he was that they were still alive and free to share moments like this. And of course, he wanted to please Ziggy in the way that he knew Ziggy liked to be pleased the most. He placed his hands on Ziggy’s shoulders and gave him a quick, gentle kiss, before lowering himself to his knees. Almost immediately, the unforgiving ceramic made him want to get back up again, but when he gazed up and caught the look on Ziggy’s face– equal parts stunned, amused, and delighted– all physical discomforts became meaningless.

       Floyd reached up and stroked Ziggy, in quite a different way than he had when he was washing him. This touch was light, yet with firm intentions; gentle, yet concentrated. Ziggy released a strange cooing sound from the back of his throat, a Martian sound that Floyd had come to learn meant something like whatever you’re doing, keep doing THAT. It wasn’t long before he was at full attention. Floyd couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Ziggy fully erect– he wants it. He wants ME. As many times as Ziggy had tried to convince him, it was always nice to be reminded. Gently, he angled his head and began to tease Ziggy lightly with his tongue. The lingering taste of soap made his lip curl, but beneath that was the unmistakable flavor of Ziggy’s skin, of which Floyd thought he’d never get enough.

       “Oh,” Ziggy gasped, a sound that brought goosebumps to Floyd’s flesh– or was that the cool air against his damp body? “Yes, Floyd, yes.” He reached backwards to steady himself against the alcove as Floyd, emboldened by the positive reaction, began to suck him. He felt a tremor run through Ziggy’s calves, which almost made him grin again. Getting weak-kneed already, I see…

       “While you’re down there,” Ziggy muttered. A second later, Floyd felt Ziggy’s fingers run vigorously through his hair. He pulled back, confused, to see that Ziggy had picked up the bar of soap. Something ran down the side of his face; when Floyd touched his cheek, he realized that Ziggy had rubbed the soap into his hair.

       “What are you…”

       “I don’t know,” Ziggy said, so nonchalant that Floyd could hardly tell that he’d been receiving pleasure only a minute earlier. “I thought I’d see how good you are at multitasking.”

       The statement blindsided Floyd so much that he burst out into half-amused, half-disbelieving laughter. “No!! Don’t worry about me, Zigs, just—” He grabbed Ziggy’s legs and dunked his head under the water, feeling Ziggy’s body shake with laughter as he did so. “Why don’t you wash your own hair, and let me take care of the rest, all right?”

       Ziggy’s voice was full of stifled laughter. “All right, Floyd.” He filled his hands with soap suds, before setting the soap back down and leaning forward so that he could work the soap into his scalp. Once Floyd saw his fingers disappear into the thicket of his hair, he resumed where he had left off, and felt Ziggy’s entire body jolt in response.

       The longer Ziggy spent attempting to wash his hair, the bolder Floyd became. If Ziggy was disappointed in Floyd’s lack of expertise, he certainly gave no sign of it, his soft coos and gasps soon becoming open-mouthed moans. At last he let his hands fall to his sides and threw his head back, the water running into his mouth and rinsing out his hair. As the soapy water ran down his legs, Floyd valiantly ignored its strong flavor, focusing instead on Ziggy’s reaction. His whole body was trembling now, his teeth gritted, a high-pitched whine emerging from his throat. That was another sound Floyd had come to recognize, though he wasn’t sure if it was strictly a Martian sound, or just a Ziggy sound. Either way, he knew what was about to happen.

       “Oh, Floyd, I— I’m— ah—”

       His eyes screwed shut and he stumbled forward, covering his face with one hand. Floyd felt Ziggy pulse in his mouth, seconds before a sour taste hit the back of his throat. He held Ziggy by the hips and swallowed as much as he could before pulling away.

       Ziggy’s hands landed on Floyd’s shoulders, steadying himself. Floyd could feel his fingers shaking. Carefully, Ziggy lowered himself down to meet Floyd on his knees. He brushed back his soaking hair, blinking rapidly.

       “Damn,” he muttered. “Got soap in my eyes…” A broad grin spread its way across his face, and Floyd felt himself mirroring the expression. Suddenly they were both laughing, collapsing on top of each other, an endless tangle of limbs on the shower floor.

       “Was that good?” Floyd asked, once he’d caught his breath.

Floyd: It took Floyd a long time to warm up to Jack. At first, he saw Jack as an intruder, someone who got in the way of his life with Ziggy. He even went as far as to try to persuade Ziggy that he didn't need to parent Jack and that he should ignore his responsibility. After spending some time apart from Ziggy, Floyd starts to come to his senses, but he still feels distant from Jack and rarely initiates conversation or any kind of interaction. Things change, however, on a day when Ziggy and Floyd accompany Jack and Julie to the riverside to go swimming. Jack ends up going too far out and nearly drowns, and while Ziggy is in a panic because he doesn't know how to swim and can't do anything, Floyd swims out to rescue Jack. In that moment, seeing how much Jack truly means to Ziggy makes Floyd start to reconsider his relationship with Jack. Though he still doesn't initiate conversation very often, he does become an active participant in Ziggy and Jack's conversations, and he starts taking an interest in what Jack is doing and what he likes. Eventually he realizes he's actually quite fond of Jack. He doesn't really consider himself to be Jack's father, but he does consider Jack to be part of the family, as evidenced by the fact that he passes down his old wedding ring to Jack for Jack to propose sometime in the future. In turn, Jack starts out trying to befriend Floyd, and then begins to avoid him once he realizes how much Floyd doesn't want him around. After Floyd and Ziggy reconcile, he still finds it hard to warm up to Floyd, but once Floyd starts showing interest in him, he's touched and begins to open up to him more. He does come to consider Floyd as his second father/third parent, though he never tells Floyd that because he knows it would embarrass him.

Haushinka

Ziggy: While Ziggy gets along very well with Jack, he never quite figures out what to make of Haushinka. Their co-parenting is very civil and involves minimal interaction- not because they dislike each other, but because Ziggy just has no idea how to interact with Haushinka. He doesn't see much of a point in trying to get close to her, either, other than to coordinate their schedules and discuss Jack's needs. Eventually, Ziggy comes to realize that Jack, while understanding that they'll never be united as a family, still wishes that Haushinka and Ziggy could spend a little more time together, if only because he thinks they'd get along better if they just got to know each other a little more. So on the rare occasions when the whole family is together (like on Jack's birthday, or other such big events), Ziggy will often go out of his way to talk to Haushinka, even dancing with her on Jack's 21st birthday. Interestingly enough, Ziggy and Haushinka only really become close after Floyd dies. Over the weeks that follow, Ziggy ends up spending much of his time with Haushinka, mourning and remembering Floyd with her, until Haushinka realizes that it's time to move on and tells Ziggy so. They still see each other a lot during that last year before Ziggy eventually dies as well, to the point where those who are only cursorily familiar with the family begin to speculate that they've begun a relationship, but Jack knows that Ziggy will never fall in love again, especially not with his mother. As for Haushinka, she finds Ziggy much too brazen and ridiculous for most of the time that they know each other, but she's also aware of his kindness and his love for Jack, and that makes him tolerable to her. She comes to respect him a little more as they both mature, and even develops a strange friendship with him after Floyd dies, but at the same time, being around Ziggy brings up bad memories of her time in Suffragette City, so she tries to minimize her interactions with him as much as possible.

Floyd: At first, Floyd hates Haushinka. Right away, he doesn't like it when Ziggy tells him that he's just discovered he has a son and that the son's mother wants him to step up as a parent. The resentment deepens when he sees Ziggy become an emotional wreck upon finding the messages that his family left behind on the walls in Hunger City. How could Haushinka demand that Ziggy start to co-parent Jack when he's going through such a rough time?? And then, on the first night that Jack spends with Ziggy and Floyd, Haushinka comes over in a blind panic because it's the first time she's ever stayed in her house alone (she stayed with the Mercurians while Jack was with Mylo and Xyloto- also, this isn't counting the times when Jack stayed out in the city without telling Haushinka) and she NEEDS to know that Jack is okay. And that's the final straw for Floyd. This results in him going over to her house the next day and cursing her out for dumping Jack on him and Ziggy. Unfortunately, THAT results in Ziggy breaking up with Floyd, because he is not happy that Floyd went behind his back and against his wishes, and he realizes how codependent their relationship has become. So, what's the solution? Why, have Floyd move in with Haushinka while Jack moves in with Ziggy, of course! This forced proximity actually improves their relationship, believe it or not (though it is ROCKY those first few days). When Floyd overhears Haushinka crying over Jack one night, he goes to her and sits with her while she basically trauma-dumps on him, and afterwards he feels that not only does he know and understand Haushinka a bit better now- he actually EMPATHIZES with her. Together, they begin to open up, trade thoughts, and finally heal. By the time Ziggy is ready for Floyd to move back in, he discovers that he's actually made a friend- a best friend. This friendship continues and never wavers for the rest of Floyd's life.

Julie

Ziggy: Ziggy likes Julie almost as soon as he meets her, although more in a vague, "she's a nice friend for my son" sort of way than as a friend for himself. He approves of Jack staying with her and her family while he and Floyd are getting settled, but mostly because Mylo and Xyloto are there, too. It isn't until Julie confronts Ziggy with questions about Aresian genders and how gender roles worked on Ares that he starts to really get to know her. At first, it's hard for Ziggy to understand just how important that conversation is for Julie, but when Julie starts reaching out to Ziggy more often following that conversation, he humors her and starts to gets to know her. Ultimately, he ends up adoring Julie and happily provides her with advice or just a person to talk to when she doesn't feel like talking to her parents or friends (though he does suggest that she should talk to Mylo and Xyloto first because he knows Mylo and Xyloto are good people who will sympathize with whatever Julie is going through).

Floyd: Floyd doesn't really make an effort to get to know or befriend Julie, because he doesn't consider himself to be that close with Jack. But he eventually starts to enjoy hearing Jack's stories about Julie, and he doesn't hate it whenever Julie comes over to see Jack. On the whole, Julie is far more interested in Floyd than he is in her, since she loves Pink Floyd's final album. Ziggy actually has to stop her from pumping Floyd with questions about it the first time they spend an extended amount of time together.

The OG Nadsats (Jagger, Sledge, Widdy, Dice)

Ziggy: Just like with Julie, Ziggy starts off only vaguely liking the Nadsats in a "those are friends of my son so I have to be nice to them" sort of way. He's lowkey horrified when he finds out how deeply they worship rock music, and this almost makes him continue his retirement from music, but with some persuading from Jack and Floyd, he realizes that he has nothing to do with how his music affects people. It's a creative expression on his part, and if someone takes it a little too far, that's not his fault. Still, he does try to persuade the Nadsats to see him as a normal person and not a rock god, which works for most of them, except Jagger. His fanaticism is so strong that Ziggy actually has to have a talk with him. In fact, he's never really sure if Jagger is a good friend for Jack, although he does have immense sympathy for him and starts to understand him better once Jagger goes on his own journey of self-discovery (but that's another story). He also doesn't see Sledge a lot, because Sledge keeps to himself and mostly prefers to interact with Jack. He seems to be the one Nadsat who is least affected by Ziggy's reputation. Widdy and Dice, on the other hand, Ziggy comes to adore as much as Julie, and they adore him. They even find his relationship with Floyd to be inspiring, as it's the first queer relationship that they've been exposed to outside of their own, though Ziggy doesn't fully understand the significance of this. They're also the biggest champions of Ziggy's music, and they actually learn to play music on their own with the goal of being in Ziggy's band one day.