"Markus, Markus!" Edward whispered loudly as soon as he saw his friend enter the office. Edward was already at his desk, the backpack with Ikarus lying at his feet. It had been ten minutes since he arrived and he was already getting some curious stares from his coworkers.
As soon as he saw Markus walk through the elevator doors, it was like a beacon of relief. Edward immediately stood up— carefully grabbing the backpack in the process— before he slowly made his way over to his friend.
Markus's eyes were wrinkled heavily and his back was slouched. Edward assumed he had been gaming all night but wasn't surprised. Markus had done all-nighters gaming before, so it wasn't unusual for him to appear completely exhausted at the office.
'He probably became too engrossed in Avalon Online,' Edward thought to himself. He clapped the shoulder of his friend— startling him awake in the process. However, as soon as Markus's eyes gazed at Edward, they immediately widened. He looked first into Edward's eyes, then turned to his hair. Finally, he ended up staring directly at the scar on Edward's lip.
"Markus," Edward whispered. Markus shook his head, focusing his attention on where it belonged, as he began to listen to Edward.
"Edward, it… it didn't happen to me," Markus whispered, though his voice was a little too loud for Edward's liking. Edward already knew what Markus meant to say, as the man's physical features hadn't changed at all.
"Follow me," Edward whispered as he dragged Markus into the elevator. His friend watched in confusion as Edward pressed the button for the top floor. His eyes glanced to the corner of the elevator, where a camera watched their every move.
"What are we-"
"Not here," Edward interrupted. Soon, the elevator began to move. The backpack squirmed— probably Ikarus reacting in surprise to the sudden elevator movement, "Wait until we get to the roof."
There were no cameras on the roof, after all. Markus nodded, though he seemed too tired to understand the situation anyway. The man desperately needed coffee. After a moment, the elevator finally stopped on the top floor— only a single flight of stairs away from the roof.
"C'mon," Edward whispered as he quickly rushed out of the elevator. Markus nodded and followed closely behind. The two of them ignored the curious gazes of the employees on this floor— accountants, most of them— before finally arriving at the staircase. There weren't any cameras here, but Edward didn't like how close it was to the office.
He led Markus to the roof— a small fenced in yard of concrete with nothing important or noticeable— before closing the door behind Markus.
"What's this about?" Markus asked. The urgency of the situation seemed to have woken him up a bit, "If you wanted to talk, we could've just done so in my office. Nobody would've heard us from there."
"The cameras, Markus," Edward replied, "I can't risk the cameras seeing him."
"Him? Huh?" Markus asked. He looked at Markus with even deeper confusion, "What are you talking about."
"I know you can keep a secret. You already did so with my sudden change, but this one is massive. It'll be the biggest secret you can even keep," Edward said. Markus immediately nodded, his face stern and serious. Edward smiled at the trust he was shown by his friend. He didn't even have to ask for Markus's trust— he already had it.
Edward slowly set the backpack on the ground before he opened the zippers. Markus also crouched down as he curiously gazed into the bag. Edward then reached his hand to reach Ikarus and slowly pulled him out.
As he revealed Ikarus from the bag, he turned to look at Markus. Upon seeing the baby dragon his friend's eyes immediately widened in surprise and he backed away.
"What is that thing?" Markus asked. His voice was filled with a wide variety of emotions. He was surprised, excited, and even a little confused. However, his eyes and body shook with the most powerful emotion of all. Fear.
"Markus?" Edward mumbled, confused by his friend's reaction. He turned from Markus to gaze at Ikarus, but the baby dragon's eyes were as wide and cute as normal. How could anybody be afraid of this little guy?
"Answer me, Edward. What the hell is it?" Markus asked once more. His voice was full of fear but the shock in his expression seemed to have lessened. Now that he had been given a good look at Ikarus he was reacting calmer.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. This is Ikarus. He came from Avalon," Edward answered. He sat down, then set Ikarus down on his lap. As soon as the baby dragon found itself in the familiar environment it began acting like its familiar self once more. Ikarus rolled onto his back— demanding belly rubs, "He's a dragon, as you can see."
"He's from Avalon? How is that possible?" Markus stammered. His gaze was still lingering on Ikarus, his fear no weaker than it was a moment ago. His curiosity at the moment allowed him to push past his fear.
"I have no idea. Hell, my own avatar's appearance has taken over my body— how the hell is that possible?" Edward asked his friend, "The point is, I wanted to introduce you. See, I need help taking care of him while we're working, so I was hoping you might be able to help."
"Wait you want me to babysit that thing? That?" Markus asked, "I'll die. I swear, man, you actually want to kill me! Why are you so casual with it?"
Edward raised his eyebrow, confused. Why was Markus so afraid? Ikarus was in his cute mode right now, for heaven's sake! His childlike act of demanding belly rubs and scratches was exactly like a home cat!
"Why are you so afraid? He's acting perfectly safe, right now. Come! Pet him," Edward said. Ikarus looked up at Markus, the little dragon's expression excited and happy. However, Markus refused to move any closer to the dragon. His body shook so badly when he looked at Ikarus that Edward thought he might faint if the two of them touched.
"No! I'm going back inside! Keep that thing away from me!" Markus yelled. He quickly turned around and moved back into the building, leaving both Edward and Ikarus staring in bewilderment. After a few moments of silence, Edward finally stood up and put Ikarus back into the bag.
Disappointed, Edward walked back into the building without saying another word.