No. Those were dangerous thoughts. He had to stay focused. Just because Kel was showing an intense interest now didn’t mean it would last. Rin couldn’t risk dropping his guard and falling into the trap of glitz and glamour. He needed to think about what was best for him and his brother.
His emblem-slate went off then and he checked it, barely controlling the urge to roll his eyes when he saw who it was from, the contact details Rin had changed that morning the only thing holding him back.
His Imperial Prick:You aren’t where you belong, Flower.
“Who is it?” Brennon asked, finishing off his coffee. The other tables in the small shop were empty, and outside the sky had darkened dramatically since their arrival. “Whoever it is, ask if they want to grab a drink with us somewhere. Let’s forget about the results today. We’ve spent the whole day running around for this dumb case.”
“Can’t,” Rin said absently, distracted as he sent a reply off to Kelevra.
Rin:I’m on campus. You know, where I go to school?
The response came back almost instantly.
His Imperial Prick:It’s dinner time. School is over.
Rin:We aren’t in elementary. There’s such a thing as late classes.
His Imperial Prick:Your only late class is on Friday. It’s not Friday, Flower.
That was…
“What?” Brennon cocked his head. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” He’d memorized his schedule? Why? His skin started to feel tight and he adjusted his collar. He hated feeling like there was someone keeping tabs on him other than his brother. It felt…suffocating. Their father had done it and it’d driven them both mad.
Rin:Are you stalking me?
His Imperial Prick:If I was, I wouldn’t be texting to complain about how you’re not here. Come home.
That…didn’t make him feel much better. Did it? Maybe they needed to talk about boundaries—Rin laughed, this time unable to hold the reaction in. Their first interaction he’d been forced to take a random drug, butnowhe was worried about boundaries?
His Imperial Prick:Come home, Consort.
Rin:Can’t. I’m working on the case. I’ll probably be at it late into the night. Makes more sense for me to just sleep in my dorm.
Where all of his stuff was. Seriously. He couldn’t believe the guy thought he was going to move in with him in less than twenty-four hours. He’d barely wrapped his mind around the whole engagement thing, now he wanted him to leave his dorm too?
Rin:I’m uncomfortable.
It sucked admitting it, and it was risky but…It was a little easier to be vulnerable through this mode of communication. Nothing else seemed to work either. Kel apparently liked it when Rin got mad, and when it’d been something else, he’d overpowered Rin in other ways. Even his damn senses weren’t immune to the Imperial Prince.
Honesty might be the only course of action left, so why not give it a try? The worst that could happen is it failed and he felt like a bigger idiot than he already did, but so what. Pride had never really been a burden of his. You had to care what people thought about you first, and Rin only cared about appearances when he needed to use them to protect himself and his brother.
Rin:It’s stifling. I just…I need some time.
“Everything good?” Brennon asked, reminding Rin that he was even there.
“Yeah, just trying to figure this whole fiancé thing out.” He laughed, but the sound was hollow even to his own ears. “Can you do me a favor and grab me another coffee while I deal with this?”
“Sure thing.” Brennon took his empty cup and headed over to the counter to order refills.
Rin’s multi-slate rang then, signaling a communication and not a message. He inhaled in an attempt to calm his nerves and then answered, slipping the small earbud attachment in and hitting the green button. “Hey.”
“Are you shutting down?” Kelevra’s voice came through the line steady and strong.
“Am I…What?”
“Like you did in the shower,” he elaborated. “It’s a regulation issue, isn’t it? You struggle to maintain control over your emotions and they can sometimes overwhelm and overload your system, causing you to shut down.”
