"Better."
Bane smooths the lapel of the suit jacket I bought. Tucks the pocket square deeper into the breast pocket. Kisses his temple.
"Have fun, Maxie. Order the dessert."
"How did you—"
"Atlas is going to leave dessert up to you. He always orders the wine. Order the dessert."
"...okay."
"Promise."
"I promise."
Bane kisses his temple one more time. Steps back. Looks at Max with the small soft face he wears only around Max now.
Zero is already moving.
He doesn't go to Max gently.
He plants a hand flat on the wall beside Max's head and crowds in until their faces are an inch apart. His other hand finds the bond mark at the side of Max's throat with the unerring accuracy of a man who's memorized its location. His thumb settles there. His weight is a wall.
"I changed my mind."
"Zero—" I feel my nerves going haywire.
"I'm not letting you go."
"Zero—"
"Atlas can take himself to dinner. He's a grown man. You're staying with me."
"You—"
"I'll feed you. I'll put on music. I'll do unspeakable things to you on the staircase. You won't miss the duck."
Max is laughing, his hands fisted in the front of Zero's t-shirt and probably ripping that stupid hole bigger. Zero's looking down at him like he's genuinely considering kidnapping him on the spot.
For just a second I get the urge to get violent. To drag Zero away by the scruff of his neck and launch him off Max just for breathing the same air. But the feeling soothes almost as fast as it occurred.
I'm watching my brother flirt withmyomega in my father's foyer ten feet from me, and I'm—
Happy.
Quietly. Privately. Wholly.
Ours.The new thought. The one I'm still learning the shape of.
I let it go through me.
I let it stay.
"Tell me to let you go," Zero says, into Max's mouth.
"...let me go."
"Mm. No."
