Sometimes, he hyperfocused on certain activities, to the point where he wouldn’t respond to anything but physical contact. Accordingly, she came up behind him and reached out to touch his arm, only to see—
What in the world was he writing?
Because she was almost certain she’d just inadvertently read something about Cupid and lube and harnesses and dildos the width of a woman’s forearm, which—
Oh.Oh.
Her head gave a warning throb. “Are you writingfanfic,Alex? For your own character?”
That got his attention.
“What?” It was an absent question, devoid of his usual sharpness.
His head turned in her direction, his gaze fuzzy with interrupted concentration, and he sort of looked through her. Then his eyes focused and widened as he fully registered the situation. Immediately, he fumbled for the mouse and minimized his word processing screen.
“Oh, fuckballs.” He sighed. “How much of that did you see, Nanny Clegg?”
Letting out a breath through her nose, she pursed her lips. “Not much? Enough.”
“Hmmm.” He eyed her assessingly for a long moment before shrugging. “Eh. Whatever. I suspected you’d find out at some point anyway.”
All concern gone from his expression, he maximized the window again. “This is my first fic. I’m just doing final edits before posting. You’re welcome to read it if you want, but FYI, there’s some graphic content. As in, most of the story involves pegging.”
“I shouldn’t.” Dammit. “Alex, this is the sort of thing I’m supposed to report to—”
“I figured since you won’t let me have any fun in real life, I could at least have a good time in fiction.” He grinned happily at her. “I’ve been writing a few words a day. It’s been fucking amazing, actually. In the story, I work through a lot of my unhappiness about Cupid’s character arc and how Ron and R.J. completely slaughtered—”
She pressed a hand over his mouth, but he continued to speak.
“—Veebus mmmd Jupimmmmr are totmmmf manipumm—”
“Alex,” she said, raising her voice over his and doing her best not to notice how surprisingly soft his lips felt against her fingers, “stop talking. Ron and R.J. would want to know about this. The less you say to me, the less I can tell them.”
He licked her palm, eyes sparkling wickedly, and she jerked away from him with a glare.
“There. That’s better.” Turning back to the computer, he frowned for a moment, then changed a word. “Yes,thrustinstead oframmedin that sentence. A vast improvement, if I do say so myself. And now the story is ready to post.”
She rubbed her forehead hard enough to hurt. “Alex.If Ron or R.J. found out you were publicly criticizing the show, even under a pseudonym and through a fictional story, they’d probably have grounds for legal retaliation. And what would other directors and producers think? Would they still want to hire you if they knew you’d insulted your own production?”
His career. He was jeopardizing his entirecareerfor the sake of a story about pegging, and she didn’t understand. Maybe she would after she read the entire thing, but not now.
“Look, I’d rather you not report me to Ron, but do what you have to do. You’re an honest person, and I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position.” He swiveled to face her. “I’m going to post the story, though, no matter what, so don’t bother arguing with me about that. I need to do this, and I will.”
This day was always going to come. She’d known it from the beginning.
Her duty had finally collided with her personal loyalty to Alex.
She tried to clear her head.What is the right thing to do?
With him so close, storm cloud eyes intent on her, she couldn’t corral her thoughts, and she didn’t have any idea how a good, honorable person would choose to act in this situation.
“I need to think,” she finally told him.
Then she turned on her heel and fled the mini-castle as if the evil undead from Tartarus were chasing her.
LATE THAT NIGHT, she checked AO3 and found his story.
She read it and tried not to wonder which of his exes might have inspired the character of Robin. Then she went back and rewatched scenes from the last several seasons ofGods of the Gates. Specifically, the scenes involving Cupid, Venus, and Jupiter.
