#answerwed ask

“And he didn't even look at me! I’m never going to find someone who likes me!” The voice ended on a high pitched wail and quiet sobs.

Nyx stepped forward, before stopping again as he heard a response.

“That boy is an idiot and fool for treating you like that. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but you will find someone who appreciates how special you are.”

“But, how, Uncle Cor? No one even looks at me.” 

Nyx blinked as he finally recognized the voice, now that the tears were slowing. What had happened to Iris Amicitia? He peeked around the corner to see Iris in her school uniform, leaning against Cor, who had an arm around her. Nyx stayed where he was, not wanting to interrupt.

“If I can find someone, anyone can find someone.” Cor’s voice was wry.

“But you’re important! You’re the Marshal!” Iris didn’t sound convinced.

“I’m also pretty bad with people. You know.” Cor nudged Iris, and she giggled. “But Nyx doesn’t care.”

“He loves you?”

“Yes, and I love him. Very much.” Cor sounded fond.

“How did you get him to fall in love with you?”

Cor huffed. “I don’t know, but I’m eternally grateful that he did. He makes my life better just by being in it.”

Nyx put his hand to his cheek. His face was burning, he could feel it. He should go, he shouldn’t be listening to this. But he couldn’t quite make himself leave.

“How did you meet?”

Cor laughed. “It’s a funny story. Nyx gets embarrassed by it, but I knew the moment I saw him that he was going to be it for me.”

Nyx almost walked out then. Cor wasn’t really going to tell her, was he? Apparently he was.

~~~~~~~~

Cor grit his teeth as he walked down the street. Those stuck up pricks! Just because they were on the council, they thought they knew best for everyone. They had no idea what it was like out there for regular people. Cor snorted at himself. Not that he really did, either. But he knew more than those assholes. He walked faster as he pictured himself punching that sanctimonious asshole in the face. 

When he reached the park, he made himself take a deep breath and slow down. The whole point of this walk was to lessen the desire to stab idiots. It would defeat the purpose if he just kept running and didn’t stop to enjoy the scenery. He might as well take advantage of all the money they spent on this place. The perks of being a park within walking distance of the Citadel.

He was a few minutes into the park when he heard the sounds of fighting. He frowned. It was broad daylight, less than a mile from the Citadel. Who was stupid enough to start a fight here? He picked up the pace, towards the sounds.

When he turned the corner, he saw a group of people fighting. It looked like they were in their late teens, fighting a tall man in black. It took him a second to realize it was a glaive uniform.

“What is going on?” Cor barked out in his best parade ground voice.

The group split up, panic on the faces of the teens. The glaive straightened, but didn’t otherwise move. It wasn’t until the others started to back off that Cor noticed the glaive was standing protectively over a blond kid on the ground. 

Cor’s frown deepened. “I want an explanation.”

One of the attackers started spinning a story about catching the kid pickpocketing and deciding to teach him a lesson. Cor tuned most of it out, eyeing the condition of the glaive and the kid on the ground. He raised his hand to stop the talkative one, who had started to expand on the dangers of immigrants. He dismissed them with a wave, and they ran off towards the entrance. 

The glaive glared at him, and Cor was a little insulted. Of course he called it in, and the troublemakers would be taken into custody at the entrance. Honestly. 

The glaive had blood on his face from where someone had gotten a few lucky punches in, and wasn’t moving from his position in front of the kid. Cor was impressed. Most people were intimidated by him, and he bet the glaive knew who he was. But the glaive looked ready to throw down with him, too, if necessary. A sentiment Cor appreciated.

“Relax, Glaive. I’m not here to cause more trouble. I just wanna check on the kid.” Cor put his hands up, trying to look non-threatening. He wasn’t sure he was pulling it off.

The glaive stared at him a moment longer, before lowering his hands and stepping to the side. “You know all that shit they were saying is bullshit?”

Cor snorted. “Yeah. You in one piece, Glaive?”

“Ulric, Nyx Ulric.” Nyx introduced himself. His lips twitched into a wry smile. “And I’m fine, thanks.” He turned to help the kid up.

Ulric. Cor recognized that name from Drautos’ bitching sessions. A lot of promise, reckless, insubordinate, savior complex, according to Drautos. Seems like he wasn’t wrong about the savior complex. Cor looked him over as Ulric helped brush the kid off. The kid seemed none the worse for wear, thank the Six. Ulric ruffled the kid’s hair with a smile, looking more beat up than the kid.

Nyx looked back over to Cor with a considering gaze. “What now?”

Cor smirked a little. “Now we get you and the kid some medical attention, and then we both fill out a bunch of paperwork. Those punks should be in custody by now.”

Nyx’s eyes widened in surprise, and again Cor felt a little insulted.

“Thanks.” Nyx smiled at Cor, and Cor had to ignore the warm feeling in his chest. 

Anyone willing to stand up to him in defense of others got his attention. Nyx had to know the risk he was taking getting involved in a fight in uniform, this close to the Citadel, over the defense of a immigrant kid, but he did it anyway. And he was willing to keep doing it even against the Crownsguard. If he didn’t know Drautos would scream bloody murder, he’d offer Ulric a position with the Crownsguard.

Cor ignored the voice in his head telling him how attractive Nyx was, even covered in dirt from the fight. Nyx’s eyes were a striking shade of blue when flashing in righteous anger, and were just as beautiful when warm with gratitude. And if he wanted Nyx to keep smiling at him, that was nobody’s business but his own.

~~~~~~~

“But why didn’t he just kick their asses?” Iris sounded confused.

Cor snorted. “He could have, sure. If he hadn’t cared about killing or permanently injuring them. It’s a lot harder to win a fight when you don’t want to actually hurt the other party. And Nyx is a good man, he could tell they were just a group of stupid kids, not deserving of a lethal response.”

Iris hummed and leaned further against Cor’s side.

Nyx’s face was on fire as he stood hidden in the shadows. He can’t believe Cor had told Lady Iris Amicitia about the time he got in a fight in the most popular park in Insomnia. And Cor had made him sound all heroic about it, too. What Nyx remembered about that was mainly being extremely annoyed, both at those bigoted assholes picking on a kid, and with himself for not being able to walk away. He was making Cor come up with a different story.

“What happened then? If you knew he was the one.” Iris looked up at Cor.

“Well, after those punks had been dragged off to jail, and the medics had seen to Nyx and the kid, we went back to the Citadel to fill out the paperwork. I made sure to talk to Drautos so Nyx wouldn’t get in too much trouble. And then I just hung out in the Glaive HQ, trying to figure out how to talk to Nyx.”

Iris giggled.

“I told you I was bad with people.” Cor sounded amused. “Thankfully, Nyx took pity on me and asked me out for a drink when he ran into me loitering around. Best walk of my life.”

Iris sighed. “I’m never going find someone like that.”

“You will. You’ll find someone who will appreciate you for how special you are. Though hopefully, they won’t be covered in blood at the time.” Cor smiled fondly.

Iris giggled again.

“Now, I think your brother should be finishing training about now, why don’t you go find him?” Cor helped Iris up from the bench they were sitting on.

“Thank you, Uncle Cor.” Iris threw her arms around Cor’s waist before running off in the direction of the training grounds.

“You knew I was standing there the whole time, didn’t you?” Nyx knew he was still a little red as he walked up to Cor.

“Maybe.” Cor said as he turned to Nyx.

Nyx could see by the look in Cor’s eyes that he had. Not really a surprise. “Did you have to tell her that story?”

“It’s a good story. You made a good first impression. Angry is a good look on you. It’s hot.” Cor smirked as he pulled Nyx into his arms.

Nyx laughed and put his arms around Cor’s neck. “Is that so?”

“Well, when it’s not aimed at me,” Cor amended.

More explosions and gunfire rang out from behind him, and he twirled, katana in hand. But he didn’t see anything, the fighting must be going on further away. He debated going towards the gunfire, but something was drawing him forward instead. Where were the guard in all this?

He finally reached a clear area and just stopped in shock. There were Imperial ships above the city and a giant demon the likes of which he’d never seen. But what stopped him in his tracks was the statues fighting back. Regis had told him about the Old Wall, but he’d never thought to see it in action. If the Old Wall was activated, where was Regis? What the fuck was going on?

Cor moved closer to the action, determined to find Regis and help him defend Insomnia. He must be close, to be controlling the Old Wall. He dodged falling debris as he got closer to the fighting, ignoring the voice in his head that sounded like Clarus berating him for his recklessness. He narrowly missed being crushed by a piece of building as the giant demon slammed into one of the statues. As he rolled out of the way, he caught sight of two smaller figures fighting midair.

No.

No. It couldn’t be. 

One of them was General Glauca, one of the most dangerous people in Niflheim’s army. Cor had run into him a few times throughout the years, and he knew how skilled and powerful he was. If this truly was a full attack by the Imperial army, it would make sense that he was here.

But how had they gotten past the wall? He shook his head. It didn’t matter now.

The other figure rammed Glauca, and Cor’s heart caught in his throat. He would recognize that silhouette anywhere. 

Nyx!

Cor started running in that direction, praying he’d reach them in time to assist. Of course Nyx would be in the heat of the battle, of course Nyx would attack General Glauca. But he couldn’t let Nyx face Glauca alone. Not now, not when he was here.

Time seemed to slow as Cor moved. He watched the two figures slam to the ground and out of his line of sight. He ran faster in the direction they landed, but he didn’t seem to be getting any closer. He jumped over rubble and cars, keeping the last location he’d seen them in his mind. His heart was pounding, breath coming too fast, but he didn’t seem to be making any progress. He was taking too long. 

Nyx!

Finally he burst out into a destroyed courtyard. And stopped. It was over. He was too late. Glauca lay on the ground, Nyx’s kukri sticking out of his heart. The helmet was off and a part of Cor wanted to go over, finally see the face of the man who had terrorized so many. But the man was already dead, so all of Cor’s attention was on Nyx.

Nyx, who had lines of Crystal magic shining throughout his body. 

Cor couldn’t help the dread crawling down his spine as he fell to his knees in front of Nyx.

“Nyx?” Cor reached out, but stopped before touching him. He didn’t want to cause Nyx any pain.

But Nyx wasn’t even looking at him. It was as if Nyx couldn’t see him at all.

Nyx rested his arm on his knee and sighed. “Not the worst way to go. Rule well, young king.” He closed his eyes as he raised his face to feel the dawn.

“Forgive me, Cor,” Nyx whispered, almost too quiet for Cor to hear.

Cor gasped and reached out as Nyx faded away, turning to dust in front of him, burned by the magic he’d been using.

“No!” Cor cried out and scrabbled at the ground where Nyx had been, grasping for something, anything.

“No,” Cor sobbed as he pressed his face to the ground where Nyx had sat. “Don’t leave me, please!” 

Sobs racked his body as he lay there, but Cor paid no attention. All his attention was on the space where Nyx had been, the look on Nyx’s face as he had disappeared.

Too late, he’d been too late, and now he’d lost the most important thing in his life.

How could he go on without Nyx?

“Cor!” Hands shook him, hard, and Cor sat up to tell them to fuck off.

Only to find himself looking into Nyx’s worried face. He was in bed, in their bedroom, in their house. Which was in one piece, and not rubble.

“Nyx?” Cor touched Nyx’s face gently, worried it would disappear under his fingers.

“There you are, love.” Nyx smiled and leaned into Cor’s touch. “You had me worried with the way you were thrashing. Bad dream?”

“Nyx!” Cor pulled Nyx into his arms, aware he was holding on a little too hard, but not able to stop himself. He buried his face in Nyx’s neck, reveling in the warmth of him. He knew he was probably making a mess as he cried into Nyx’s shoulder, but he couldn’t care. Nyx was alive, in his arms, and that’s what mattered.

“Cor, love? What’s wrong?” Nyx tried to pull back and look Cor in the eyes, but Cor just tightened his grip.

“I’m here, love. I’ve got you, you’re safe.” Nyx rubbed circles on Cor’s back with one hand, and ran his fingers through Cor’s hair with the other.

Cor let Nyx’s voice wash over him as he counted Nyx’s heartbeat, and tried to match Nyx’s breathing. Nyx was here. Nyx was unharmed. It had been a dream, only a dream. Ever since he’d touched that damned Solheim artifact, he’d had weird dreams, but this was by far the worst. 

Eventually, his sobs slowed and his breath evened out. He was wrung out, like he’d just fought a battle, even though he’d never left the bed.

Nyx pulled back and used his thumb to wipe the tears off Cor’s face. “Hey, love. Do you want to talk about it?”

Cor shook his head, then stopped. Maybe he should. Maybe airing it would help get rid of the image of Nyx fading to dust in front of him. He put his hand over Nyx’s as he leaned into Nyx’s touch, looking into those beautiful blue eyes.

“May I kiss you?” Nyx stroked his thumb over Cor’s cheek while he waited for an answer.

Cor nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet.

Nyx leaned forward, pressing their lips together gently. Cor surged forward, needing to taste Nyx, to prove to himself that Nyx was here, with him. Nyx made a noise of surprise, and Cor chased it, using the opening to deepen the kiss. He ignored the taste of salt in the kiss as he devoured Nyx, relishing every little needy sound Nyx made.

Nyx pulled away, panting. “Gods, Cor.” Nyx was breathless and when Cor opened his eyes, he could see Nyx’s pupils were blown, only a little blue remaining.

Cor sat back, breathing hard, as he pulled Nyx into his chest. Nyx leaned into him as their breathing evened out.

Cor buried his face in Nyx’s hair, and took a deep breath. The scent of Nyx’s shampoo filled his nose and the familiar scent soothed some of the chill he was still feeling. He was safe, home, with Nyx.

“You died.” Cor’s voice was rough, like he’d been screaming, and nearly startled himself. “In the dream. You died, in front of me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Oh, love.” Nyx pulled away enough to press a soft kiss to Cor’s jaw. “I’m alright, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Cor let out a shuddery breath.

Nyx pushed up to kiss Cor properly, and Cor let Nyx take the lead this time. The kiss was soft, and gentle, and full of Nyx’s love. Cor shuddered as some of the tension bled out his shoulders, Nyx’s presence clearing away the last of the chill from his nightmare.

Nyx rested his forehead against Cor’s. “Do you really think I would leave you that easily? You’re the love of my life, the best thing that ever happened to me.” He knocked their foreheads together gently and sat back with a smile. “We’re going to grow old and grumpy together, just you wait.”

Cor laughed, despite himself. He knew the risks of their jobs, they both did. Still, when Nyx looked at him like that, he couldn’t help but believe him. He didn’t know what that dream meant, if anything, but he would hold onto Nyx as long as he could. Do all in his power to make sure Nyx never ended up in that position. At least not alone.

“You’re right, love.” Cor kissed Nyx’s forehead.

Nyx smirked. “I’m always right.”

Cor laughed again. “If you say so.” He nuzzled the side of Nyx’s head. “I’m not going back to sleep anytime soon. I don’t suppose you could think of anything we could do instead?”

Nyx chuckled, and kissed Cor’s jaw. “I can think of a few things.” Nyx hooked his hands behind Cor’s head and pulled Cor down on top of him. 

Nyx blinked and turned to see Titus looking at him with worry in his eyes. It was only now, as he remembered where he was, that Nyx realized it had been Titus’ arms around him that he’d been struggling against.

Nyx sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah, I’m alright. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Do you want to talk about it?” Cor reached out to take Nyx’s free hand.

Nyx made a face. “Not really.” He looked at Cor, seeing the same worry shining out of Cor’s eyes, and sighed again. “Just nightmares. The usual.”

Titus slid an arm around Nyx in a loose hug, while Cor squeezed Nyx’s hand. 

Nyx squeezed back and leaned into Titus’ hold. He closed his eyes and let the warmth of his boyfriends chase away some of the chill of his nightmare. 

He opened his eyes to find Cor and Titus still watching him with concern. Nyx looked away. “I don’t know if it’s better or worse that I don’t remember most of it.”

Titus pressed a kiss behind Nyx’s ear. “Probably for the best.”

Nyx frowned. “But what if I told them something I shouldn’t have? Or they let something valuable slip?”

Cor leaned forward to kiss Nyx’s forehead. “The investigation didn’t find any evidence of sensitive information they couldn’t have gotten through other avenues. And we didn’t find any connections between the perpetrators and anyone else in Insomnia, so odds are there wasn’t anything important you missed. You don’t have to worry.”

Nyx looked skeptical. Ever since he’d been released from the hospital, he had these dreams or flashbacks. He couldn’t even remember enough to tell if the dreams were based in reality or if his mind was making them up. It worried him, that he might have done something, compromised something without knowing.

Titus’ arms pulled Nyx tighter against his chest, encouraging Nyx to lean back against him more. He rested his chin on Nyx’s shoulder as he said, “I could order you not to worry.”

Nyx barked a laugh and patted the hands around his waist consolingly. “No offense, Ti, but when have I ever just obeyed orders?”

Titus blew out a breath that ruffled Nyx’s hair.

“It’s part of my charm,” Nyx added.

“Is that so?” Titus said, dryly.

Cor smirked. “Have I mentioned how glad I am he works for you and not me?”

“You have, yes.” Titus sighed but rested his head against Nyx’s. “We’ve got you. You’re safe here with us. The nightmares aren’t unexpected, but we’ll get through this together.”

Cor reached out and stroked his thumb along Nyx’s cheek. “You’re not alone.”

Nyx leaned into Cor’s touch and brushed a kiss against Cor’s palm, before turning his head to kiss Titus’ cheek. “Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Titus kissed Nyx’s hair.

Cor ran his fingers along Nyx’s jaw. “Do you think you’re ready to go back to sleep?”

Nyx smirked at Cor. “I can think of a few other things we could do.”

Cor laughed. “Some of us have to work in the morning.”

“Fine.” Nyx huffed and turned his head, leaning more fully into Titus.

“Don’t be that way, love. You’ll be off medical leave soon enough.” Cor slid his arm around Nyx’s waist and tugged him over to Cor’s side of the bed.

Nyx resisted for a second, before allowing Cor to settle him in Cor’s arms as they laid down again. He could hear Titus grumbling behind him, but Titus just scooted closer so he could stay in contact with Nyx. Nyx relaxed as he settled in between Titus and Cor, letting the security of their embrace soothe him.

“You could always come meet us for lunch,” Titus whispered in Nyx’s ear.

Nyx jerked a little, already half asleep. “That sounds good. Astrals know someone has to make sure you two actually eat something.”

“We’re not that bad.” Cor protested as he ran his hand down Nyx’s arm.

Nyx snorted. “You really are.” He ended on a yawn, resting his cheek on Cor’s chest.

“Sleep. You can come make sure we take a break tomorrow.”

Nyx was asleep before Titus finished talking.

The next day, Nyx went all out cooking lunch for Cor and Titus. He always went a little stir crazy on medical leave, and Cor and Titus, the bastards, weren’t above having him physically removed if he tried to come back to work before he was medically approved. So they had worked out some options to keep Nyx occupied before he drove all three of them crazy when he was injured. Cooking was one of them. Nyx found it soothing, and Cor and Titus enjoyed the fruits of his labor.

He had just reached the point in his leave where he was feeling a little claustrophobic, so the offer to have lunch with Cor and Titus was perfectly timed. Cor had even made sure the kitchen was fully stocked for Nyx’s recipes. He truly did have the best boyfriends.

Cooking, and then cleaning up, took most of the morning, but Nyx was in a much better mood afterwards. He was even humming an old Galahdan tune as he packed up the food, already anticipating the time with his boyfriends. He hadn’t gotten the vacation he’d been hoping for, but they had both spent as much time with him as they could while he was on leave, and Nyx appreciated it. It was nice to be able to do something to pay them back a little, like make sure they ate actual food at lunchtime. He slipped the food in the armiger for safekeeping as he left.

The place he shared with Cor and Titus was much closer than his apartment in Little Galahd, so it didn’t take long to get to the Citadel. Titus still insisted Nyx drive, not wanting to have something else happen, so Nyx took the keys Titus had left him and parked in Titus’ spot in the garage. Might as well take advantage of some of the perks of driving Titus’ car.

Nyx locked the car and headed into the Citadel. He thought he’d go to Cor’s office first, to avoid any ribbing by his fellow glaives. Besides, he was much more likely to find Cor in his office than Titus. Cor spent his mornings on paperwork, while Titus tended to be out running training drills, saving the paperwork for later. So he bypassed the path to glaive headquarters and headed to the Crownsguard offices.

The hallways were less busy than Nyx expected, but then, it was lunchtime. Maybe everyone had left already. Three Crownsguard turned the corner and started heading down the hall opposite him. Nyx moved closer to the wall to let them pass, even though there was room. But they slowed down instead. Nyx grit his teeth, not wanting to justify his presence here. He wasn’t in uniform, and he knew the majority of the Crownsguard’s opinion on Galahdans, but he hoped they weren’t about to start something. Surely they would recognize him?

“You have a lot of nerve showing up here, rat.” One of the Crownsguard sneered at him as the other two flanked Nyx.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Nyx did his best to keep his voice even. He didn’t recognize them, which meant they were probably low level grunts.

“You’re the reason the king’s security was compromised. We’ve all been working double time to fix your fuckup, all because you let yourself get taken by some Nif spies.” The talkative one leaned into Nyx’s space, backing Nyx into the wall, and slamming a hand next to Nyx’s head.

Nyx pressed further back into the wall, and repressed his flinch at the sudden movement. Now was not the time to show weakness. But what the hell were they talking about? Cor and Titus had told him that everything was under control, that he hadn’t given anything away. 

“Maybe it wasn’t an accident. Maybe he was working with the Nifs.” The one on Nyx’s left caged his other side, trapping him.

Nyx bared his teeth and considered pulling his kukri. “You assholes should stop straining yourselves trying to think and get back to your jobs holding up a wall.”

The one that had accused Nyx of being a traitor fisted his hand in Nyx’s shirt. “Fuck you, Ulric! We-”

Nyx grabbed the hand on him and prepared to twist and throw the asshole into his friend. Cor wouldn’t be happy with him for fighting in the hall, but he wasn’t going to just let these people lay hands on him.

Before any of them could make their move, a shout rang down the hall.

“What the fuck is going on here!?”

Everyone froze. 

Nyx could just see Titus stalking up over the shoulders of the guards, and relaxed a little. He would recognize that angry tone anywhere. Titus was using the voice he used whenever someone had really fucked up, like the time Tredd had been tinkering with some grenades and accidentally blew up half the storage building.

The Crownsguards glared at Nyx, but they let go and all took a step away from Nyx. 

After they all fell into parade rest, the one who had first confronted Nyx said, “We were just having a friendly discussion.”

Titus gave them his best stare down, and Nyx could see them start to sweat. He enjoyed that more than he probably should. Nyx was so immune to Titus’ glares, he sometimes forgot most people were intimidated by them. 

“You have something to discuss with Ulric, you come to me. After you fill out the appropriate paperwork. Now, go before I call Leonis to find you something to do with your free time.” 

The guards saluted and scuttled off before Titus could change his mind. 

Titus watched them go with narrowed eyes, waiting until they turned the corner before turning back to Nyx. “You alright?”

Nyx took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

Titus stepped closer, but didn’t touch him, even though Nyx could see he wanted to. They had a strict no PDA rule at the Citadel.

Nyx smiled, though he could tell it was a little weak. “I’ll be fine. You’re here early, I thought I might have to drag you out.”

Titus’ lips lifted in a half smile. “I didn’t want to waste any time with you.”

Nyx’s smile grew more genuine. He really did have the best boyfriends. “Let’s go find Cor, then. I made some of your favorites.”

“Can’t wait.” Titus walked close enough to touch Nyx, and Nyx appreciated it.

Nyx nodded at Monica on their way in, then knocked and let himself in without waiting for an answer. Titus was directly behind him, and Nyx could hear the click of the lock as Titus closed the door. 

Then Titus stepped forward and pulled Nyx into his arms. “How are you, really, sweetheart?”

“What happened?” Cor’s chair scraped the floor as he stood up from his desk and made his way over to them.

Nyx sighed and sagged in Titus’ hold. “I’ll be alright. It wasn’t the welcome I was hoping for, though.”

Titus' fingers ran through Nyx’s hair. “Some guards had him cornered in the hallway.”

“What? Nyx, what happened?” Cor put his hand on the small of Nyx’s back as he embraced Nyx from behind.

Nyx lifted his head from Titus’ chest to look at Cor. “They told me I compromised Citadel security. I thought you told me I didn’t tell them anything? Cor?” 

Nyx felt sick at the thought he had compromised security, and he looked at Cor, desperately hoping for reassurance.

“Oh, love.” Cor leaned forward and kissed the side of Nyx’s head. “I don’t know what those assholes thought they knew, but security wasn’t compromised. We increased security as a precaution, but you didn’t give up anything sensitive. I promise.” He rested his head against Nyx’s as he rubbed circles on Nyx’s back.

“And you’re going to discipline those assholes for threatening Nyx.” Titus’ voice was firm.

“Of course.” Cor turned his head to look at Titus without lifting it from where it rested.

Nyx snorted. “They didn’t actually hurt me or anything. It was just threats.”

“Bad enough,” Cor countered.

“I could have taken them.” Nyx smirked and straightened up.

Cor snorted as he backed off. “I appreciate your restraint. The paperwork, alone…”

Titus leaned down to kiss Nyx’s forehead before letting go. “Besides, it will be much more satisfying to let Cor deal with them.”

“It will.” Nyx was downright gleeful at the prospect. 

“Now, let’s not let lunch go to waste.” Nyx pulled out the food containers and placed them on the table in front of Cor’s couch. 

“Smells delicious.” Cor snagged Nyx by the waist and pulled him down, next to him on the couch, while Titus sat on Nyx’s other side.

Nyx laughed, and thought, not for the first time, how grateful he was for Cor’s ridiculously comfortable office couch. “I’m glad you think so. Don’t let it get cold.”