Chapter 203: Reasonable [Win-Win]

Rex did not argue.

That, more than anything, told Arik how tired they both were.

"I will seal it myself," Rex said at last. "And if Cain appears?"

"Do not engage alone."

Rex let out a thin laugh. "Look at you. Growing reasonable."

"I am exhausted, not reformed."

"Tragic." Rex paused, then added more quietly, "Take care of him."

Arik’s gaze moved to the bathroom door again.

The water had stopped.

"I am trying."

"I know."

The call ended before Arik could correct him.

For a few seconds, he sat on the edge of the bed with the comm dark in his hand, his hair a mess, his shirt creased from Liam’s fingers, and his entire body aching with exhaustion sleep had failed to solve.

Behind the bathroom door, Liam muttered, "If you are plotting anything else without me, I will know."

Arik closed his eyes.

Goliath, at the back of his mind, stirred with something disgustingly close to amusement.

"You are supposed to be washing your face," Arik called back.

"I can be clean and suspicious."

"You are very talented."

"I know."

That time, Arik smiled despite himself.

Then his comm lit again.

Damian.

Gabriel.

Joint priority line.

Arik looked at the ceiling.

"You are awake," Liam said from behind the door.

"That was an accusation."

"It was an observation with teeth."

"My parents are calling."

A pause.

Then Liam said, slightly muffled, "Do not hide in the bathroom from them. That is my territory."

Arik stood, because apparently even poisoned engineers could issue orders with imperial force if sufficiently irritated.

"I am going to shower," he said.

"Good. You look like you lost a war against me."

"I did."

"You deserved it."

He accepted the call as he crossed toward the adjoining washroom, one hand already unfastening the ruined collar of his shirt.

Damian appeared first, golden eyes too sharp to belong to a man pretending calm. Gabriel appeared beside him half a second later, elegant, composed, and looking like he had already decided who would suffer if Arik said the wrong thing.

Arik looked at them through the comm projection.

"Good afternoon," he said.

Gabriel’s brows rose. "That is a brave opening from a son who ignored six messages."

Damian leaned back slightly. "Seven. I sent one too."

"One," Gabriel said dryly, "because you are pretending restraint is a personality."

"It is a strategy."

"It is a transparent one."

Arik dragged a hand through his hair. "I was asleep."

Gabriel’s eyes flicked over him, taking in the rumpled clothes, the exhaustion, and the ward light still faintly reflecting from the bedroom behind him. "Under Liam?"

Arik stopped.

Damian’s mouth twitched.

Gabriel folded his arms. "Noah told us he woke. Marin told us the ward pulsed irregularly for hours. Mezos told us about Canmore Mansion, the blueprints, and the artifacts. Kamal told us enough about Felix that your father considered crossing the border without clearance."

Damian’s gaze sharpened. "I am still considering it."

"You will not," Gabriel said.

"I might."

"You will not without me."

Arik closed his eyes. "So everyone told you everything."

"No," Gabriel said. "Everyone told us enough to make it clear that you were about to explain poorly."

"That is unfair."

"Is it?"

Arik said nothing.

Damian smiled faintly. "Wise."

The bathroom mirror lit as Arik stepped inside. He set the comm on the counter, angled so they could see his face and not the rest of him, then started unfastening his cuffs.

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. "Are you undressing during a family crisis?"

"I am trying to look less like Liam won a fight against my shirt."

"Did he?"

"Emotionally, yes."

Damian made a sound suspiciously close to laughter.

Gabriel did not. "How is he?"

Arik’s hands stilled.

"Tired," he said. "Hurt. Angry. Still asking questions."

"Good," Gabriel said.

Arik looked at him.

Gabriel’s face softened by a fraction. "If he stops asking questions, worry."

Damian nodded once. "Anger means he is still standing inside the bond, not outside it."

Arik’s throat tightened.

He turned away before either of them could make anything of it and stepped under the shower, keeping the comm close enough for sound. Hot water hit his shoulders. He braced one hand against the wall and let his head bow.

"I told him," Arik said. "Not all. Enough."

"We know," Gabriel replied, quieter now. "Marin said Liam asked about Felix. Kamal filled in what you probably could not."

Kamal had told them.

Arik exhaled beneath the water. "He should not have had to hear any of it from Felix."

"No," Damian said. "He should not have."

There was no softness in that answer.

No attempt to make Arik feel better.

Arik preferred it.

Gabriel’s voice cut in, silk over a blade. "But now that he knows, you will stop handling him like an unstable relic."

Arik lifted his head, water running down his face. "He is injured."

"He is an engineer," Gabriel said. "A poisoned, furious, bonded engineer with access to a Gate older than modern borders. He will not become calmer if everyone treats information like a sedative to be rationed."

Damian looked sideways at him. "That sounded specific."

"I have experience being underestimated after medical events."

"You mean labor, coma, and dismantling Olivier’s shard alone?"

"I mean events."

Arik, despite himself, huffed a laugh.

Gabriel’s gaze snapped back to him. "Do not think that saved you."

"I would not dare."

"You always dare. It is genetic."

Damian looked pleased by that.

Arik rinsed the soap from his hair, then reached for a towel, wrapping it around his waist before stepping out. He looked at his reflection and briefly understood Liam’s disappointment in missing technical archives. He looked like a badly annotated disaster.

"The Gate has Goliath’s name on it," he said. "Or better said, it reacts to my gold ether."

Gabriel’s expression changed.

Damian’s amusement vanished.

"Yes," Gabriel said. "Mezos mentioned Liam remembered something."

"He wants the blueprints."

"Of course he does."

"He wants the retrieval plan."

"Of course he does."

"He wants a chart."

Damian’s mouth curved. "Smart man."

"With colors," Arik added.

Gabriel’s eyes gleamed. "Excellent man."

Arik pointed one accusing finger at the projection while reaching for a clean shirt. "Do not encourage him."

"I intend to encourage him extensively," Gabriel said. "He is the first person in two empires to look at reincarnation and ask for schematics. I admire his priorities."

"He looked disappointed in me."

Damian laughed.

Arik glared. "Father."

"No, forgive me." Damian looked utterly unrepentant. "You returned with a dead emperor’s memories and failed to include the engineering appendix. That is careless."

Gabriel’s mouth curved.

Arik stared between them. "You are both enjoying this."

"Yes," Gabriel said. "Because if we stop enjoying that part, we will focus on Felix."

The air changed.

Even through the comm, Arik felt it.

Damian’s gold eyes went hard. "And if we focus on Felix, I will leave for Wrohan before your mother finishes threatening the flight clearance office."

Gabriel did not deny it.

Arik buttoned his clean shirt slowly. "Rex is sealing the piano room; it seems to be another relic."

"Good," Gabriel said.

"Mezos will move for the blueprints?"

"He already adjusted the plan," Damian replied. "He sent it ten minutes ago with the title ’No More Romantic Improvisation.’"

Arik closed his eyes.

Gabriel’s smile sharpened. "I like Mezos."

"You like anyone who insults me."

"Not anyone. Standards matter."

From the other bathroom, a door opened.

Liam’s voice came from the bedroom, hoarse but clear. "If that is Gabriel, tell him I still want the chart."

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