Chapter 243 - 236. Impulse and Consideration
When Lex came out of Bassena’s office that evening, he was greeted by Zein walking down the hallway with a folder in hand.
"Is he inside?" the guide, as usual, always went straight to the point.
"Yeah,"
Lex replied while blinking. People usually just asked the person they wanted to meet in person through the commlink, especially when they were close enough. But Zein rarely did that, since he never had commlink before. He just came and went back if the person wasn’t available.
"Thanks," Zein said briefly before going inside, looking calm and nonchalant, but with a slightly more swiftness than usual.
Watching the guide disappear behind the closed door, Lex hummed as he continued walking toward the elevator. "Might as well have a coffee break," he muttered while looking at the time indicator on his commlink. "Maybe dinner?"
When the door to his office was opened and closed again, Bassena initially thought Lex was forgetting something, so he didn’t bother to look up from his screen. That was why Zein was being treated to a view of the esper leaning back crossed-legs in his seat, hand propping his temple, and amber eyes staring sharply at the rows of data inside the screen with focus.
For a while, Zein just stood there, leaning against the door and looking at Bassena wordlessly. The esper was putting on his Vice-guildmaster face right now, and there was a totally different vibe surrounding him behind that desk--definitely far from the man who kept nuzzling Zein’s neck for half an hour this morning and whining to have more cuddle time when Zein told him they needed to get up and go to work.
When time passes without any sounds, Bassena started to feel something was wrong, so he looked up and froze as he saw Zein was watching him from the door.
"Huh?"
Immediately, the sharp countenance broke into astonishment. The edge of the amber eyes softened, and the cold expression turned rosy and gentle as the hard lips stretched into an easy smile.