Cyrus stared up at Killian,at the almost neutral smile on the man’s face, and saw it for what it was—a mask.
Knowing it was fake didn’t tell him what the Siren was thinking, but he could guess. Hiding usually meant the man was either too unsure of himself to express his emotions, or…he was feeling vulnerable and therefore defaulting to protecting himself.
“Killian, you were right. Someone’s world was ending. You just didn’t realize it happened to be mine. Because the fact is, I do not want to be in a world without you in it. So I…” He hesitated, taking a deep breath before trying again. “So, I changed it. But after I did, I couldn’t see anything. I still can’t. I kept trying. I didn’t know what else to do. Because I had to make sure I was doing everything I could to not lose you. I can’t lose you…”
“That’s…” Killian hesitated, and Ender didn’t give the man time to go on.
Cyrus hissed in pain when the Gorgon yanked his fangs free, the man gagging as he sat up and snapped, “Fucking disgusting, that’s what it is! How dare you flirt around me, while my teeth are sunk in?!”
“You have an odd understanding of what constitutes as flirting, Ender,” Cyrus drawled with a snort as he sat up. His face twisted slightly while wiping at the wet spot on his shirt, the pain only a slight sting now. “Speaking of disgusting.”
“H-how dare you!” Ender sputtered. “It’s just spit and a little blood! Don’t be a baby!”
Killian snickered softly, but said nothing.
He rolled his eyes, and grabbed Ender’s wrist to check the monitor. The Gorgon hissed, but didn’t pull away.
“Up to eighty.”
“Good. Now, get away from me and get out, both of you!” The older Cryptid pointed to the door, glaring at him specifically with his fully elongated pupils.
He couldn’t find it in himself to feel that threatened by the look, especially as Ender had his bottom lip popped out slightly. If he knew the Gorgon better, he would have sworn the man was pouting.
Snorting, he got off the bed and slipped his shoes back on. Killian did the same, and together they left.
But they had only walked a bit down the hall before the Siren turned to him and said, “What—” Killian cut off when the Siren’s stomach rumbled loudly, the man’s face flushing.
Cyrus chuckled. “Why don’t we grab something to eat before continuing our conversation?”
His boyfriend sagged a bit. “We probably should. I tend to think clearer when I’m not hangry.”
Killian continued to eat his sausage biscuit sandwich, eyeing Cyrus as the man quietly listened to what Ship Captain Bricker was saying.
He had on another borrowed coat, and while it was still a bit chilly, it did feel warmer than last night. So he could only surmise that something had improved…or had possibly been fixed…maybe.
The moment Bricker walked away, Cyrus looked at him, hesitating.
He smiled and wiped his mouth as he finished his sandwich, setting the napkin down on his tray as he said, “Why don’t you go to whatever meetings you have to, and while you do, I’ll gocheck on Skya and the other little ones? We can continue our talk after?”
“Sorry.” Cyrus sighed. “But it would probably be a good idea, in both cases. They did another full review of the damages, and there are apparently some new problems to deal with. I need to find out what’s going on there, and it would likely be good for you to check on the tiny Nymph, as she and the other little ones you had with you were pretty upset after being separated from you yesterday.”
He winced. Upset would be an understatement. The little kids, especially Skya, had basically had a full-blown meltdown. But as much as Killian had wanted to stay with them, he’d needed to help the injured more. And after that, there had just been so much else to do that he hadn’t gotten a chance to check on them before going to sleep.
“You keep eating, I’m going to go track down Severo, and then the rest of the children.”
Cyrus chuckled. “You’ll find both in the same location, as Severo got the lucky job of watching them all. They converted a large lounge room into their bedroom and play area. If you follow the main large hallway past our room, it’s all the way back, right before the divide. There’s a sign.”
Nodding, Killian stood and left the cafeteria, taking the door he’d come out of the day before with the scared children. He followed the hall until it branched off, going right, before finally walking through a pair of automatic doors into the larger main hallway on that side.
The main ring of the ship was spread across three floors. The main floor being in the middle, was the largest floor, and held the living quarters, various other living spaces, and the ship’s hospital, along with the main engine room.
The upper floor, based on him now knowing what model the ship was, held mostly machinery rooms, and likely a weapon storage.
The lower level was the second largest, and held more weapons and machinery, but also was the location of the now destroyed ship port, along with a large storage haul and the converted cell they’d escaped from.
The middle floor had an outermost main hallway that went around the full circle, and then smaller more maze-like halls inside that.
Killian found the room easily enough, it being where Cyrus had said, right before the ship’s divide. A sign to the right of the door readPlayroom. And that was what it was, even if shit was still chrome.
