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“C’mon,” Vi said, jerking her chin toward the roof. Over Powder’s head, Vi gave Mylo a stern look. Then the two girls were gone.
It was just Mylo and Claggor. “Let me practice on you,” Mylo said eagerly. He wanted to make up for how long it took him to pick a lock last time, for not being fast enough. If he just practiced enough, Mylo would be a pro at picking locks, both quick and efficient, and they wouldn’t be chased away from jobs.
Claggor settled into a comfortable position on the couch and then nodded. “Do your best.”
Mylo pulled out his pair of handcuffs, lifted from a visiting enforcer when he was younger. This was before Vander. Now, Mylo wouldn’t willingly go near an enforcer except maybe to kill one. Not that he’d been overly willing when he stole the handcuffs. Mylo gave himself a good shake, trying to brush off the memories. He secured one handcuff around the leg of the coffee table and the other around Claggor’s wrist. They clinked shut.
Claggor scratched his nose with his free hand. He watched Mylo through his blue-tinted goggles. “I can break through the handcuff,” he said as Mylo began to work.
Mylo scoffed. He inserted his tools into the lockhole and began to move them carefully. “No you can’t. Vander can’t break those cuffs.”
Now it was Claggor’s turn to scoff. “Sure he can. And so can I.”
“You can’t.” Enforcer handcuffs were difficult to get out of. The locks were tricky, for one, and they were stronger than they looked. Mylo was confident that Vander could break through the cuffs because Vander could do anything, but he didn’t think Claggor could break them.
“If it meant not getting caught I could.”
Mylo winced, fumbled with the lock pick, and winced again.
Shame washed over Claggor’s face. He looked away. “I...I didn’t mean it like that. You know that Vander...he calls us his sons, even though we aren’t. He took us in...I don’t want to disappoint him.”
Mylo took a deep breath to center himself. He tried again with the lock picks. “Do you...do you think that love would disappoint him?” Mylo asked, focusing intently on the handcuff and refusing to meet Claggor’s eye.
Claggor was silent for a long, painful few minutes. Finally, he said, “Hey, Mylo?”
“Hm?” Mylo’s heart raced in his chest. His hands trembled ever so slightly.
“Are you in love? I mean, would you call it that?” Claggor asked.
Mylo’s heart skipped a beat. It took a few moments to formulate a response that didn’t sound crazy. He finally settled on, “If I didn’t love you, Claggor, I wouldn’t have kissed you back.” Mylo raised his gaze ever so slightly, studying Claggor through his lashes. Sometimes he missed wearing a mask just because of how easy it had been to observe people without them noticing.
“Yeah,” Claggor said, sounding dazed. “That makes sense.” His face was colored red with a blush and he looked at Mylo from the corner of his eye, his face turned away.
Mylo convinced the lock to get a little closer to opening. For a while the only sounds were the din of the bar patrons above them and the quiet scritch of Mylo’s lock pick.
“I...I’d call it love...if I had to name it,” Claggor said quietly but firmly, the admission heartfelt. He brushed the knuckles of his free hand against Mylo’s cheek.
Mylo fumbled with the lock pick and it clattered to the ground. He reached for it.
Claggor tipped Mylo’s chin up.
Mylo froze. He looked into Claggor’s brown eyes, searching for a hint of...of something that he would know when he saw it. But Mylo didn’t see it, has never seen it, and he slowly unthawed. Claggor had kissed him first. Now it was Mylo’s turn. He leaned forward until their lips met in a kiss; their second one ever.
It was a sweet kiss. Claggor’s lips were soft and full against Mylo’s. He cupped Mylo’s cheek tenderly, like Mylo was something to be treated with care. Mylo was practically in Claggor’s lap. They chest-to-chest with each other, their hearts beating together.
The kiss ended.
Mylo and Claggor breathed in time with each other, breaths coming in faster than normal. They gazed into each other’s eyes. The look on Claggor’s face mirrored Mylo’s desire and they leaned toward each other for another kiss.
Yelling, a body hitting the floor and the sound of many boots against the floorboards made the young men jump and jerk away from each other. A fight had broken out upstairs. Someone probably got too drunk again. Vander would take care of it.
They gave each other sheepish looks.
Mylo sat back, scooped up his lock picking tool, and started working on freeing Claggor. His lips tingled pleasantly and he licked them.
Claggor shifted on the couch, spreading his legs just a little bit more. He kept his eyes on Mylo’s hands, silently watching him work. His lips were a deeper pink and curled up in a fond smile.
The seconds turned into minutes. There was still pressure on Mylo to free Claggor before someone caught them and made assumptions about what they were doing… but something else between them had settled and that eased a heavy weight. The lock clicked open and the handcuff fell from Claggor’s wrist, onto the floor.
“Not bad,” Claggor said generously. He lifted the coffee table and moved the handcuffs. The other cuff was still locked.
The door to the basement creaked open, bringing with it Vi and Powder’s voices.
Mylo kicked the handcuffs beneath the couch then threw himself onto the end opposite Claggor, trying to appear casual and like his heart wasn’t going a million miles an hour. He glanced at Claggor.
Claggor had his cheek in his hand, arm resting on the arm of the couch. The heel of his hand was positioned to hide his smile even though he was faced away from the basement door.
Mylo couldn’t help but smile in response. Now he knew that Claggor didn’t regret kissing him. How could he not smile about that?
Vi walked Powder to her bed. She glanced at Mylo. “What are you smiling about?”
“I finally picked a tricky lock,” Mylo replied.
Vi gave him a nod of approval.
Today was turning out to be the second best day of Mylo’s life.