Work Text:
Deep within the confines of his office, Ego sat at his desk with his head loosely resting upon his palm—that of which was anchored by the elbow on the mahogany desk. His eyelids threatened to sink, and his eyes dulled by the minute. There was no entertainment within the black text that contrasted against stark white digital documents. Nothing worth his time. Yet he pushed through anyways, glazing over the numbers. Routine, routine, routine met with the smile he fixed specifically to stay resting in a thick facade.
Slow and gentle knocks tapped against the CEO’s office door, warranting raised eyebrows from Ego. “It’s pretty late,” he murmured to himself, pushing away from his desk to stand upright, staring the door down as he marched toward it. Indeed, it was fairly late at night. Almost midnight, to be exact. The only person who was supposed to stay was Ego himself to look over some mistakes in some reports and figure out which loonie lackey of his to scold in the morning, and a janitor or two. But they knew not to disturb the boss while he locked himself away in his office.
He gripped the doorknob, starting with a slight annoyance, though breathing in just as slowly as he opened the door, revealing a man around his height. Lanky in stature—with slicked back white hair that had some mixture of blue and red strands. And while his hair had been previously neatly gelled, it was obvious there were times of stress that led to him dragging his shadowed claws through it all, messing it up just slightly.
Edacity.
Ego’s smile dipped a little at the sight of the weary man, gripping onto his own sleeves of the black dress and coat he sported, as if trying to comfort himself. “I didn’t know that you stayed tonight,” Ego chuckled as he leaned against the doorframe, “would it trouble you if I asked why?”
Edacity’s mismatched irises focused solely on Ego’s own eyes, finding a gentle smile tugging at his lips. “I couldn’t bring myself to go home tonight. And there’s something that’s been lingering in my mind for days—nay, weeks now…” His voice trailed off. After taking a light inhale of the air around him, Edacity tilted his gaze past Ego and into the office. “May I?”
The door opened wider, with Ego stepping to the side and gesturing for his now esteemed guest to come in. “Pleasure’s mine.”
As Edacity slinked into the office, Ego quietly shut the door behind him, turning to watch as the guest examined the decor. He seemed to be taking in the amount of books, and shelves lined with expensive liquor, and trophies that Ego hadn’t yet admitted were all simply decorative as means of patting himself on the back with his seemingly infinite funds. In that moment, through Ego’s examination of the man in front of him, he noticed some tension within him. His blackened claws pressing against his palms, yet not piercing the skin. His heel digging into the floorboard with some light scraping noises, yet delicate enough so as to not damage it. And alongside all of that…
“What’s got you so shaky, Edacity?” Ego tilted his head inquisitively. He nearly reached out a hand, but decided against it, simply watching with an amused smile as Edacity only looked to the floor. While he didn’t entertain the idea of reaching out to him, he reluctantly took a step forward to close some distance. Just in case this was some sudden attack. He could never be too comfortable.
Though it felt nice. It felt right. Standing in that dimly-lit fortress alongside Edacity, seeing how the yellowish light splayed itself over his face—how the soft music playing from the speakers in the back of the room danced around the two of them, tying together some sort of fateful tie.
“I…” Edacity’s voice was frail and shakier than before, as if he had been pressing the lid of a pot of boiling water shut with all his might. “I—”
“You? Well?” Ego placed a hand on his hip. “You have to spit it out sometime,” Ego raised a hand, waving it about, “you can’t keep me waiting forever you know?”
Without sparing Ego a glance, Edacity’s hand snatched Ego’s own, holding it steady.
Heat flushed Ego’s face. “E-Edacity?”
“I just want to sit with this for a while,” Edacity muttered, turning to face Ego fully. He brought his other hand to Ego’s upper arm, the claws tracing all the way up to the plane of his shoulder blade. “I want to look at you before we change.”
Ego’s smile dropped. “You’re…” He hesitated for a bit. He did trust Edacity. Though that knowledge was pushed down for God knows how long, he just had an instinct that he could trust him. They were made for each other, after all. The other half of one another. But he couldn’t shake that catastrophizing away. “You’re not here to finally kill me, are you?”
The other man shook his head with an amused yet soft smile. “No, I simply couldn’t live with myself if you died before me.” He loosened his grip on Ego's hand and brought his claw up to Ego’s cheek, cupping it gently.
They weren’t sure how to label it. They never had that talk. They never wanted to. Well, not that they needed it. In fact, refusing to put a pin in it made it all the more exhilarating. At least, that's what they thought the other had decided.
“I feel comfortable here,” Edacity pulled Ego closer by his back, wrapping his arms around Ego’s waist securely. “I feel safer.”
Ego wanted to wrap his arms around Edacity’s neck; To find that anchor that was once the weary cell of his desk now in the freedom of the man in front of him. Ego wanted to give up all of his acts, fibs, and half-truths and finally let himself lay weakly alongside the one who he thought had truly seen him for him. The two who were made to truly care for each other, no matter what. Even if this sensation had simply been programmed within the two of them, at that moment Ego did not care. He didn’t mind. He wanted to stay there forever.
He brought Edacity into a hug, holding himself steady in the moment. A tension rose within his throat and a chill chased it back down his spine as he felt Edacity’s claws run up the nape of his neck. And there, within that anxiety, he found the courage to finally speak as himself. Not as Ego-Ideal, but as Ego.
“Eda,” Ego loosened himself, “I love—”
“Ego, I worship you.” Edacity tightened his arms.
Silence struck Ego like lightning. It burned, coursing through his veins. What was once smooth and saccharine had now stung, like raging pain. He couldn’t believe it. “What?” Though he could, at the same time.
“Ego, ever since you swept me away from that nothing church I found myself trapped in, I’ve found myself growing more devoted to you.” Edacity’s voice trembled as his hands moved to the back of Ego’s work-casual button up, holding onto it for dear life. “When you look at me, you truly see me. Your voice courses through my blood like the poison of the sweet yet forbidden fruit when you beckon me to serve you,” his grasp grew shaky. “Tonight I’ve finally come to the realization of the true idol that you are…”
And when Edacity looked up to Ego with tears in his eyes, and his smile that was once hiding so much behind it now looking relaxed and relieved, and with the feeling of those accursed claws almost ripping holes through the back of his shirt… Ego understood.
He was too far gone to seem any semblance of normal. He had climbed too high to be seen as anything even close to mortal. The game he was playing was dangerous, and he knew that before placing a wager.
“Ego,” Edacity sobbed with a grin, “I will devote every fiber of my being to you. Just say the word and I will obey. Let me be of use, that’s all I find myself living for these past few months.”
It hurt.
“Edacity.” Ego muttered, forcing himself to bring the devotee impossibly closer instead of pushing him away in disgust. But he accepted it. He had to. With a frown, he brought Edacity back into an embrace, burying his head within Edacity's neck. “...of course.”