Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Between siblings
Ruo set her tablet down with a soft click, leaning one hip against the edge of Victor’s desk. The blue of her suit caught the light, sharp against her dark hair. "You know," she said brightly, "I was starting to forget what daylight looks like. Now that Adler’s safely a god and not hunting me, I can finally get back to actual work. My lab’s been begging for me."
Elias raised an eyebrow over the rim of his can. "Your lab or your ego?"
"Both," Ruo said without missing a beat, grinning. "And maybe my favorite tenant. Someone has to keep you from drowning in acronyms. My apartment still has your room exactly how you left it. Floor-to-ceiling windows, an espresso machine older than the building, and stacks of papers everywhere. It’s like a shrine to your introverted habits."
Victor’s crimson gaze flicked up from the contract he was scrolling, thumb still idly resting at the base of Elias’s neck. "He’s not going back to that room," he said mildly. "He has work here."
Ruo’s brows lifted. "Work?" She looked from Victor to Elias and back again. "You’ve got him on a leash now? I was hoping to steal him back for my department. No more gods breathing down my neck, no reason not to."
Victor’s mouth curved in a smile that was all teeth and charm at once. "If you try, I’ll kill you," he said in the same tone other people used to order dessert, eyes still on the screen.
Ruo snorted. "Please. You’d have to catch me first."
Victor finally looked up, crimson eyes glinting. "You’d be surprised."
Elias set his can down with a quiet thud. "Oh my god," he muttered. "You’re both ridiculous."
Ruo leaned toward him conspiratorially. "You hear him, Eli? He’s scared I’ll get you back to your own room."
"I hear him," Elias said flatly, sliding his stylus across the tablet again. "And I’m trying to work."
Victor’s thumb brushed the mark at his nape in another slow circle, the motion unhurried but unmistakable. It was grounding for Elias, but the look he flicked up at Ruo made it clear it was also a warning.
"He stays where he’s safe," Victor said simply, his voice low enough to carry no further than their corner.
Ruo’s grin only widened. "You really are possessive now," she murmured. "I go off the grid for a few months and suddenly you’re a god playing house." She straightened, smoothing her jacket with one hand and tucking the tablet under her arm. "Fine. I’ll let you two get back to your spreadsheets. I’ve got experiments waiting for me anyway."
She pivoted toward the door, muttering something about cell lines and deadlines as her heels clicked across the floor.
Elias tipped his head a little, eyes still on his screen but his voice dry. "You two done marking territory? Some of us are trying to work."
Victor’s thumb made one last slow circle at his nape before retreating. "She started it," he murmured, crimson eyes glinting.
Ruo laughed over her shoulder without turning around. "Keep telling yourself that, Mr. Numen," she called lightly as she disappeared through the door, heels clicking away down the hall.
The office fell quiet again except for the low hum of the city through the glass. Elias blew out a quiet breath, stylus poised above the tablet but not moving. "I should run away," he muttered at last. "Please tell me she doesn’t know that I touched your core."
Victor leaned back in his chair, crimson eyes glinting, thumb still drawing a lazy circle against the back of Elias’s neck. The smile he gave him was dazzling and unhelpful, bright, full teeth, the kind of smile that meant he was enjoying himself far too much.
"You did," he said simply.
Elias groaned, dropping his forehead briefly into his hand. "Perfect. Now she’s going to put me in a petri dish."
Victor chuckled low, the sound warm and smug at once. "Relax," he murmured, thumb tracing the mark again. "Ruo already wants to. I’m the only thing standing between you and a hundred electrodes."
Elias peeked at him from behind his fingers. "You’re enjoying this."
"Of course," Victor said, shameless. "You’re adorable when you’re plotting your escape."
The stylus rolled from Elias’s fingers onto the desk with a soft clatter. He let his hand drop, eyes narrowing at Victor’s grin. Then, almost without thinking, he reached out and caught the end of Victor’s tie between two fingers.
The burgundy silk was warm from Victor’s body. Elias gave it a light tug. "You’re impossible," he muttered.
Victor bent immediately, not resisting, the smile still in place but softer now that they were eye-to-eye. His scent curled up around Elias again, smoke and something older, a note of heat sliding under the crisp cologne, and the lazy circles at the back of Elias’s neck never stopped.
"What are you doing, little engineer?" Victor murmured, his voice dropping low enough to brush across Elias’s skin.
Elias didn’t answer. He leaned in over the small distance he’d made, closing it the way Victor always seemed to close distances with him, and kissed him.
It wasn’t anything dramatic, just a press of mouth to mouth, but Victor’s breath caught anyway, the smile breaking against Elias’s lips. They were impossibly soft, which he did not believe would define Victor. For a heartbeat, the office, the city, and the mark on his nape were all background. There was only the warmth of Victor’s palm against his neck and the taste of him, smoke, coffee, and something faintly sweet, sliding across Elias’ tongue.
Victor’s hand shifted, splaying wider over the back of his neck as if to hold him there without force. When he finally drew back a fraction, crimson eyes glinted close enough to catch the tremor still in Elias’s breath.
"That," Victor said softly, his voice now a low rasp, "wasn’t in your escape plan."
Elias gave the tie another small tug, lips quirking. "Maybe it was," he murmured.