Chapter Text
Tamsy pulls the handle to Corvus' office, reports in hand. The door creaks drawing Corvus' attention spinning his chair, tattoo now out of sight, to see who's entering his office. The room felt cool as Tamsy walks into the space before he stops at Corvus' desk.
"Yes Tamsy?" The other man questions. Staring at him with a slight furrow in his brow. As per usual. Tamsy smiles politely at him in response. Tamsy's pretty sure Corvus despises him, and yet, Tamsy can't help but find himself drawn to this person who is -very rightfully- suspicious of his every move. Seeing Tamsy's smile seems to make Corvus inclined to assume a more neutral appearance despite that what reservations he may hold. "Semiu wanted me to hand these reports to you." He places the reports on the desk as he feels Corvus scrutinising his every action.
The office returned to silence, with the low whistle of the breeze coming from the slight crack of the window to accompany them. The sound is met with the rustling of paper as Corvus skimmed through the reports. After looking through them, Corvus pushed them to the side of his desk and clasped his gloved hands together. “Thank you, Tamsy. I’m sure Semiu appreciates the help especially with the latest overload." Corvus said. "Of course, it's my pleasure. It was the least I could do to help things run smoothly." Tamsy replied smiling softly.
When Tamsy saw Semiu laying over her desk, overwhelmed with missions and reports, it was really a no brainer to offer to help. It would give him an easy excuse to come a talk to Corvus after all. Speaking of Corvus, the man looked a little rough around the edges. At first glance no one would really notice, but as Tamsy looked at him he noticed the slightly deepened eyebags on the man. Tamsy supposed that made sense, if Semiu was overrun with cases, it's not that hard to assume Corvus was also facing part of the brunt of the work backlog. Although his work is a lot more hidden from other cleaners' view.
"Tamsy?"
"Yes boss?" Tamsy refocuses and looks upon Corvus' concerned expression. Annoyance bubbles up at the look Corvus gives him.
"I was just saying you're free to leave. You don't seem to be paying attention; you should get some rest." Tamsy frowns slightly at this, as he looked blankly at someone who was hiding his exhaustion. Corvus sits patiently and seemingly unconsciously drags his hand over his face, rubbing under his eyes. This grabs Tamsy's attention as he watches the gloves.
"Boss." Tamsy stated. Which causes Corvus to pause in his movement.
"Yes?"
It's odd. The only other people Tamsy has seen wearing gloves like those are supporters but seeing as they're normally out on the field dealing with trash beasts it makes sense. What could Corvus' reason possibly be to wear those gloves?
"Why do you wear those gloves?"
The energy in the room shifts immediately, as though everything got sharper. Tamsy blinks in surprise as he watches Corvus tense and stare at him. Tamsy can only look back, directly into Corvus' eyes. This seems to make Corvus more uncomfortable as he goes to unconsciously tug at the sleeve of his glove before abruptly stopping when he realises what he's doing. Touchy subject then. Still, Tamsy continues to watch Corvus' reaction despite the suddenly hostile office environment. Tamsy internally sighs, it was only an innocent question. He observes how Corvus attempts to school his expression in front of Tamsy, before choosing to verbally respond. How cute. It makes Tamsy want to tease him more, it wasn't his intention at first, but this is fun.
"Of whose concern, is it?" Corvus responded in a cool tone. Tamsy returns this mannerism. "Mine. It intrigues me is all. It reminded me of the question you asked Follo after we returned from our mission." Tamsy pauses, considering if it would be wise to keep pushing Corvus. He looks and sees Corvus’ face, a carefully blank expression is etched on his face, though his brow does furrow. That expression, it made something in Tamsy itch, he needs it to change. Why not take this a step farther then?
He smiles lightly before continuing, "It seemed a little accusatory is all boss. I mean no disrespect, it was odd to ask, because as a supporter, Follo was doing his job. I don't think there's anything suspicious about him activating and using his Jinki with his gloves still on." As Tamsy said this he watched as Corvus' expression shifted until he was fully glaring at Tamsy.
There it is.
That's what Tamsy wanted to see. Tamsy grinned at Corvus' look, to which Corvus' expression changed to one more confused, at Tamsy’s smile. "It was odd at the time, but maybe a question like that has something to do with your own Jinki. But Of course, I don't know anything about that." 'Not that anyone does' is left unsaid as Tamsy raises his hands as a sign of relent, the sleeves of his coat falling down his arm, exposing them to the cool temperature of the room.
Corvus let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't know that weighed on your mind so heavily. I assure you, my question to Follo was without malicious intent." Corvus stops for a second to look intently at Tamsy. Oh? They're doing this again? Tamsy only gave a polite smile in response. This only seemed to piss him off. "The question I posed also has little with how my Jinki works with my gloves. It was not a projection of any sort, as you readily implied. Tamsy." Corvus said bluntly. "Of course, my Jinki is none of your concern." Corvus finished off with venom seeping through with every word.
Tamsy supposes he really touched a nerve. Still, this is better than what he was expecting, which was no response at all. Or an avoidant one, handwaving the question away. This is something new, to see ever composed, charismatic Corvus, angry. Maybe Corvus is more tired than Tamsy originally thought, he normally seems to have more restraint than this. It's exciting, with no crowd of people around for Corvus to act for, Tamsy faces his animosity head on. Tamsy's now free to poke and prod, to get to know different aspects of Corvus. What would this be? Irritation. Tamsy doesn't suppose it's full-blown anger, but it's definitely a bit of agitation. A little bit of fear, especially at the initial mention of his gloves.
Tamsy wonders if he should continue to press Corvus further. He looks at Corvus' expression and decides against it. Corvus is suspicious of him as is, there's already so much plausible deniability one can have, especially if he continues to ask about his Jinki. Though he's not sure how much that matters considering existing Corvus' wariness towards him. It would be wonderful to see more of these parts of Corvus though, he's always been an enticing character, with his charming personality which wins people over and gets them to imbue their trust in him. It makes Tamsy want to peel back his layers, see what's under all that, there must be more to the leader of cleaners. Just seeing this small part of a potentially sleep deprived, angry Corvus. It makes him so happy, he wants to see more, it draws him to Corvus.
Tamsy crosses his arms and scrutinises Corvus, who has been watching him think in silence for a good minute now, he still has a slight frown, intensity lessened due to Tamsy's lack of response. He looks at the brown skinned man, certainly physically attractive, but that's not what Tamsy is interested in. It's his emotions he wants; he likes those about Corvus most, wants to see more. Not the polished stuff outside of this room, the raw, unrefined parts of him. He likes those parts. Tamsy says as much.
"I like you."
Everything freezes.
"Pardon?" Corvus responds after a beat, just. Confused.
"I like you." Tamsy repeats.
The room goes silent as Corvus attempts to compute the frankly bizarre statement Tamsy has just said to him. Tamsy doesn't move as he watches Corvus look him up and down. Almost in an attempt to make sure Tamsy is real, which makes him smirk slightly. At that, Corvus frowns, leaning back into his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"What?" Corvus seems genuinely stumped. It makes Tamsy beam even more. This is amusing.
"I like you." Tamsy repeated.
"I heard you Tamsy." Corvus responds curtly, which makes Tamsy giggle a bit in response, covering his face with the sleeve of his coat as he watched Corvus seem to fight with himself to ask a follow up question. Considering if it was worth even hearing the potential answer. Or even bother continuing the conversation all together.
"Why?" It was worth apparently.
Why?
Tamsy closes his eyes to think of a way to express why he likes Corvus, he can't exactly say he likes seeing the shattered, fractured parts of Corvus no one else really sees. He wants to see more parts of Corvus particularly those that can be cruel and messy. That would definitely stop whatever is happening right now. So, he goes for something that isn't exactly a lie. He opens his eyes back up to stare directly into Corvus'.
"I like passionate people."
His answer hung in the air for a second, as Corvus considers it. Tamsy likes this look on him too, eyebrows wrought together in disbelief and shock. It makes Tamsy laugh more which draws Corvus' attention back to him, with more irritation on his expression now. Tamsy likes this, not the carefully constructed facade Corvus wears outside. Maybe Corvus' fatigue has played more of a role than he thought, seeing all of these expressions so far has been wonderful. If Corvus were less tired, it may be harder to pull these emotions out of him so easily. Still, it would be worth it. Definitely worth it.
Tamsy stops laughing -though his smile doesn't drop- to address Corvus' irritated glare. "Sorry, sorry. You just have lovely expressions." He said whilst waving a hand in front of his face. Corvus seems to take it as a slight affront. "I'd like to see more of them some time." And he meant it. Corvus pulled a face at this, looking somewhat uncomfortable at the sincerity that’s been quickly bleeding into the conversation.
"Tamsy, I still have things to do. Please go and rest. Thank you for the reports." Corvus said after a beat of silence.
Ah. Seems he's had enough. Tamsy's smile drops. Not unexpected, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Also, it's late. He feels he can be a little disappointed though, he's not sure when he'll be able to get Corvus alone like this again. Might as well use this as a last chance before he has to leave.
"I'm aware you don't trust me. But I don't lie about things like that." Tamsy tilted his head slightly, as he gazed at Corvus. "I do like you."
Corvus doesn't respond. His face blank, before finally, "Goodnight Tamsy." Corvus says lightly. The final signal to leave the room. Tamsy replies goodnight before turning to leave the office, shutting the door.