Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Security to the max
Elias let his head thunk back against the seat and stared at the roof of the car, trying not to notice how the leather still smelled faintly of Victor’s cologne and his own iris, the two scents tangled together in the small, climate-controlled space. "I’m done negotiating," he muttered. "We’re almost at the office. In two minutes I’ll be free."
Victor’s grin didn’t dim. His thumb drew one last slow circle over the back of Elias’s hand, warm enough to make his skin prickle. "If you think going back to the office saves you," he murmured, "you haven’t been paying attention."
Ashwin groaned quietly from the jump seat, dragging a hand down his face. "Please tell me you two are going to stop flirting and start working once we’re out of this car."
Elias cracked an eye open. "Aren’t you supposed to be a silent shadow? I’m starting to see some... attitude creeping in, Ashwin."
"Well, of course," Ashwin said, deadpan. "And it’s only your fault."
Elias turned his head enough to squint at him. "How the hell is that my fault?"
"Because you made Mr. Victor kind of human," Ashwin replied, shrugging one shoulder. "He used to scare the whole building with one look. Now he smiles and does thumb circles. Do you know what that does to my threat assessments?"
Victor chuckled low, crimson eyes glinting in the dim light. "Don’t blame him, Ashwin. I was always human."
Ashwin snorted. "Yeah, sure. Human-like a thunderstorm."
Elias smothered a laugh against his knuckles. "See? Even your bodyguard thinks you’re a natural disaster."
Victor’s thumb swept another slow arc over Elias’s skin, unbothered. "And yet here you are," he said softly, "sitting next to the disaster."
Ashwin rolled his eyes heavenward. "Third wheel to the apocalypse. Great career choice, Ashwin. Great career choice."
Elias grinned despite himself, leaning back against the seat. "You signed up for this, remember?"
"No," Ashwin said darkly. "I signed up to keep people from dying. Somehow I ended up babysitting two people who could end the world in between lunch reservations."
Victor’s laugh was soft, the sound wrapping around them like smoke. "Get used to it," he said. "This is the new normal."
—
A week slid past before Elias even realized it.
Every morning at six Victor still dipped the mattress, still murmured "Up," and still frog-marched him out the door before the coffee had finished dripping. Every morning the same tinted car, the same croissants and thermos, and the same thumb at the back of his neck as if the gesture alone could anchor him through another day of Numen Corp.
On paper, it looked like a routine. In practice, Elias thought of it as being walked like an unusually well-dressed pet. Victor called it "integration." Ashwin called it "shadow duty." Elias called it "kidnapping with snacks." But he came anyway. He showed up, he read the files, he sat through meetings, and when Victor’s crimson eyes cut across the room, he pretended it didn’t warm something inside his chest.
The schedule helped. There were so many acronyms, budgets, and project briefs that some part of him almost believed he’d buried that cathedral of red filaments and the god behind Victor’s human face. Almost. He still dreamed about it. He still caught himself reaching for threads in the air when he was overtired. He just told himself it was exhaustion.
Now, late in the afternoon, the office hummed the same way it always did, muted voices, the faint hiss of the espresso machine somewhere down the hall, and Victor’s low baritone drifting out of a conference call behind the glass wall. Elias sat at his borrowed desk with a tablet open, stylus idle between his fingers, eyes blurring over a page of numbers.
He let out a slow breath and looked up.
Across the glass partition, under the harsh white glow of the break area, the vending machine stood like a beacon, rows of crisps, candy bars, and energy drinks gleaming behind the Plexiglas.
Elias twirled the stylus once more, debating how fast he could make it there and back before Victor noticed. A muted voice drifted from behind the glass wall, Victor still on his call, the cadence calm and lethal as always. Perfect.
He slid the stylus onto the tablet, stood, and muttered to no one, "Bathroom." The security guard outside didn’t even blink. Ashwin had ducked out ten minutes ago to take a call, and Robert was nowhere in sight. Freedom.
He slipped through the side door into the open-plan floor, shoulders easing a little at the change in air. The murmur of keyboards and low voices washed over him. No one stopped him; by now they were used to seeing the boss’s pale-clad "mate" ghosting through their territory. Only a few curious eyes followed him as he cut across to the break area.
The vending machine glowed softly under the overhead lights, rows of crisps, chocolate, and neon energy drinks stacked like treasure behind the Plexiglas. Elias crouched a little to read the labels, fingers already fishing coins from his pocket. "God of spreadsheets, meet the god of snacks... round two," he murmured, the faint, traitorous smile tugging at his mouth again.
He punched in a code, listening to the satisfying whir and clunk of a packet of crisps dropping into the tray. He was reaching for a second selection when a voice behind him froze him mid-reach.
"...Elias?"
He turned his head slightly, a frown already forming.
Luka stood just beyond the break-area threshold, dark hair a little longer than he remembered, badge clipped neatly to his pocket, tablet tucked under one arm. He looked like he’d been on his way somewhere else but had stopped dead, caught between surprise and something warmer.
"Luka." Elias straightened from the vending machine and reached out to shake his hand. "Nice to see you again."
Luka took it, his grip firm but hesitant. "Yeah," he said with a small huff of laughter. "I honestly thought I’d never get close enough to say hello. Your security is... something else."
Elias’s mouth quirked. "Tell me about it. Half the time even I feel like I need a pass."
Before Luka could answer, a familiar light tread came up behind Elias; Ashwin’s silhouette filled the edge of the break area, his expression neutral but his eyes cool as he clocked the scene. One smooth step and he was just off Elias’s right side, angled in such a way that Luka would have to go through him to get closer.
"Afternoon," Ashwin said mildly, hands in his pockets but his posture sending a clear message. "Everything all right here?"