“I’m surprised you came to get me. I expected to see you tomorrow.”
“Really? I’m not going to invite you to my home city and not be there to get you when you arrive. I’m sorry I couldn’t get out to greet in the airport; Kandi has been all over me lately. I guess paparazzi were spotted near my flat—we’ve had to up security around the block for a bit to make sure no one is intruding on my neighbors.”
“Oh.” Luka’s chest clenched. “Is that going to be an issue with me here?”
Reno wrinkled his nose and had to admit, “Maybe. Probably. We might need to lay low for at least the first week you’re here so we can make sure no one’s getting too close. I’ll keep you updated, though.”
“So, you probably can't come out with me to go sightseeing.”
Reno turned the full force of his attention onto Luka. “I will always be honest with you. I do not know right now if I can come with you, but I will do everything in my power to give you what you want.”
Luka felt conflicted until Reno took his hand and brought it to his lips. Luka asked, “What if we got you a wig? Or, a big pair of sunglasses.”
“I may be able to pull that off. What color do you want me to wear?”
Luka’s fingers were so warm where Reno gripped them. “Black, maybe. It would be interesting to see you with more natural-looking hair.”
“Oh, I could wear really long like T-yan. Think I could imitate his moody look, too?”
“That I doubt.” Luka felt himself smiling. Reno had slid his fingers between Luka’s to hold his hand. “I don’t think your face is capable of looking that serious.”
“You doubt?” Reno cracked a wide smile before holding his free hand up to block Luka’s view of his face. When he slowlylowered it, he wore a comically serious expression that he held for all of two seconds before starting to giggle.
“Yes, I doubt.” Luka leaned forward and placed a light kiss on the corner of Reno’s mouth. “You were built to be smiling.”
Reno hummed contently before tilting his head to catch Luka’s lips. Luka could feel Reno smiling against him before his lips softened, parting and pressing back. He was so warm, so comforting, that Luka turned more, fell deeper into Reno’s taste.
Reno’s fingers squeezed Luka’s hand before he moved back just enough to say, “I can’t believe you’re here.”
Luka shook his head a bit, saying, “Me either. Everyone’s been telling me we are insane.”
Reno sat back, pushing his hair away from his face with his free hand. “Is that so bad?”
“I don’t know. What do your friends say?”
“They have always told me I am mental.” Reno cocked his head to the side, looking amused, eyes shining. “But whatever is going on up in my head that's weird is working in my favor, so I don’t fight it. It got you here, didn’t it?”
“I think that was my own insanity," Luka admitted. “If I were even justslightlymore of a rational person, I don’t think I would have said yes.”
“I’m so lucky you are insane with me, then,” Reno said sagely, before cracking into laughter.
The driver pulled into a parking spot in front of a charming building with a lantern-shaped street lamp out front. It seemed quaint to Luka, in a way that felt very British that he’d only seen in movies or TV. Reno busied himself putting on a face mask and hat to hide his hair and got out before the driver could open Luka’s door. Reno got there first, so the driver shrugged and went to the trunk to get Luka’s bags.
“Welcome.” Reno’s eyes curved into beautiful crescents when he smiled. He helped Luka out of the car and then pointeddown the street to the end of the block. “My place is just a few streets down. Feel free to bother me whenever you want. This is my spare key for you to borrow.” He handed the key over and attached to it was a small keychain of a pink fox. “Here is the key to your apartment.” He hooked a second key onto the fox keychain with a small carabiner.
“Thank you.” Luka stared at the key to Reno’s place with a very strange feeling building inside of him. “I probably won’t bother you without warning, though.”
“Oh, Luka. Don’t you know it would make my day to have you suddenly appear in my flat?”
Luka took in a big breath and wrapped his hand around the key, letting the feeling of it press into his palm. “Okay.”
The driver had all his bags on the curb, and Reno took a moment to brush his fingers, feather light, against Luka’s cheekbone before moving to lead them inside. Between Reno and the driver, Luka didn’t have to lift a finger as they went into the building and up one flight of stairs to the apartment door.
The apartment was nicely furnished, comfortable and clean, and just big enough for one person. The view from the window was decent, showing the street out front and the buildings across from it. In the near distance was an area that looked like a downtown, with huge skyscrapers all clustered together.
Reno came up behind him by the window. “That one there"—he pointed to one of the buildings in the cluster—“is where I work. Easy to find me. If you come by while I am working, just ask for Jasmine at the front, and she’ll bring you to me. Including right now, if you can’t sleep and get bored. It’s about ten minutes by bus, twenty-five if you walk.”
Reno pulled him to the kitchen counter, where he took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out for Luka to see. In light, sketchy lines, there was a hand-drawn map,with different squares labeled in small, cramped writing that Luka assumed was Reno’s.
