Vasili
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The air is thick with tension. Tight and ready to snap like a guitar with its strings stretched past its limits. Aether wouldn't stop glaring at Ashley and Vasha looked like he wanted to murder someone with his bare hands. Five minutes and nobody had said a word coupled with the fact that Vasha's blood was now dried and made his shirt stick to his skin, so yeah, pretty awkward.
"Are we going to order some food and talk or does everyone want to whip their dicks out so we can compare sizes, see who's is bigger?" I asked when the silence was starting to stretch more than it should.
"I'm obviously bigger than this shrew of an assistant you have but if you wanted to see my cock you could've just said so" Vasha replied reaching for his fly with a smirk, half at his jest at Ashley and half at the horrified look on my face I was sure.
"I do not want to see any wieners, thank you very much" I replied, throwing him the nastiest stink eyes I could muster at the moment.
"Trust me when I say you won't be saying the same thing when you swallow it down your throat like a good boy for me" came his reply to the jest I threw at him.
"Enough, Vasha. Let's not get carried away" Aether said, cutting off my reply and picking up his menu. It was a thin glass that looked like ice with blue swirls curling at the top and bottom of it. It had a little curl at the edges to assist with holding and picking it up and it had a program installed that read out the list of what they offered on the menu which I assume is for people with vision impairment and there was a feature that adjusts the color for color blinded people. All in all, it was pretty cool. Aether scrolled through the menu like he was tossing clothes into a hamper. It seemed like he wasn't going to pick anything but Vasili noticed the subtle twitch of his lips. If he wasn't paying close attention he would have missed it.
Aether tapped on an item on the menu then flipped the digital page and selected another, repeating the process twice more before setting his tablet down and it immediately clicked and descended into a shallow hidden compartment in the table. 'Fancy' I thought.
I picked mine up and scrolled, settling for a Mexican pasta with white wine and a serving of Ratatouille. Ashley was done placing his order and it looked like Vasha wasn't going to eat.
"Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way, why don't we talk about what brought us here?" I asked, throwing Vasha a mean glare for no reason at all other than the fact that I could. Yeah, I'm still a bit salty about not being able to read their minds. For all the shit I give myself about that annoying ability, it bothers me immensely that it just won't work on them.
"Why the rush? Let's enjoy our meals first and then we can get to talking" Vasha said and with the look he is giving me I can bet my life that he wants to throw in an inappropriate joke. Why he held back is a mystery but it's a good thing anyway.
It was a miracle Ashley wasn't fidgeting with how intensely Aether was staring at him, a blank look on his face, and a glass of red wine in his right hand and Vasha was glaring at him, a glass of whisky he sipped from occasionally. I wasn't sure what had them pissed off anymore. It could be what happened at the office the other day, Eddy's scent on us, what Ashley said about Eddy, or anything else at this point.
There was a curt knock on the door that signaled the arrival of our food, and just like always the aroma had me salivating already. Turns out Aether had ordered for Vasha as well.
Our food was placed on the table and we all dug in after ushering a quick thank you to the waitress. The sound of cutlery hitting the plates was the only sound in the otherwise quiet room. After our meal, we moved to a more comfortable part of the room separated by those bead curtains. A comfortable-looking sofa sat at the left corner, a center table and a bean bag at the right close to a mini fridge. A small smile tugged at my lip. Eddy still kept this room the way it always was aside from the bean bag which isn't usually here.
I walked over to the bean bag, a glass of pineapple juice in hand, and plopped down on it. "So, let's get to the talking bit of all this. What do you want? And don't go around with that bullshit of you being my Alphas. Being mated to someone doesn't necessarily always tie you to them" If being my mates is the only winning point they had today then they're in for a surprise. A look passed between both of them and Aether was about to speak when Ashley tripped on goddess knows what, spilling his sprite on me.
"Shit, Vas. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention and tripped. Here, use this handkerchief" he rushed out, an apologetic look on his face. "Damian just told me the councilman he's been tailing is here, he and Demetry spotted him walking in here and informed me a while ago. He just got up to go to the toilet and I needed to create a reason for you to go, sorry" That's why he tripped on air.
"It's fine, I'll just use the restroom real quick," I said, excusing myself.
Closing the door behind myself I reached out to Damian.
"Where are you?"
"In a room close to the one you're in, two doors to your left"
"Did he come alone?"
"No, he has an omega that is collared and two beta guards, one of which works for us but he went to the restroom alone. I don't think the omega wants to be here though, possibly why he left both guards to watch him while he went to the toilet"
"Alright, thanks. Let Ashley know to distract Aether and Vasha long enough for me to get something out of him"
"Roger that boss"
I made my way to the bathroom being as loud as I could without drawing too much attention from the people I passed but enough to get the councilman to at least be annoyed by all the unnecessary noise.
"I hate it when these stupid Alphas can't keep their hands to themselves and cause unnecessary trouble for others in the process," I said, stepping into a stall and quickly taking off my guns and the holsters, leaving me in the turtleneck, gloves, and combat pants, laying them gently on a mass of tissues I laid on the closed lid of the toilet seat and stepped out of the cubicle. I grabbed a few paper towels and started cleaning my shirt, making a grumbling show of it and letting fake annoyance seep into my voice to play the part right. Hopefully, this works, shitty plan but I didn't have much to work with so this would have to do.
"Tell me about it. I have to fight off a ton of those hungry Alphas off my omega. Annoying isn't it?" thank goddess he doesn't know how to mind his business, to a certain level at least.
"This is the fifth shirt I'll throw away in four days," I said with a dramatic sigh to portray the annoyance I wasn't feeling. I let my eyes get a little watery and sniffed with a whine to sell it all.
"Oh what a pretty poor thing you are. Don't let those stupid men trouble your mind. Pretty things shouldn't cry because of those bastards. Why don't you take a seat for a second and let your emotions calm down" the councilman said, coming to stand on my left. I obliged and hopped onto the counter on the pile of paper towels and made a show of taking deep breaths while he kept his distance a little. I could see the gears turning in his mind but I couldn't read him which was odd. I've never had an issue with people's thoughts unless they were witches who had sigils in their minds to keep their secrets locked away or Aether and Vasha.
The councilman looked like a sleazeball in fine clothing. From what we've dug up in the past months he knew how to cover his tracks well or he at least had someone capable of doing it for him on a payroll.
"That's it, take deep breaths and calm down. Did you come alone?"
"No, I came with a friend"
"Oh, that's good. Omegas shouldn't be walking alone especially one as pretty as you. You never know what's lurking in the shadows" A manic look crossed his face at that, subtle and gone too quickly but I'd seen it.
"What brought you here anyway? Is this friend of yours your date?"
"No, we came to discuss the terms of a modeling contract"
"How delightful. Here, my business card. If things don't go as you expect then give me a call and I'll look for an agency for you and your friend" I take the card and shove it into my pocket making sure to avoid touching his fingers. His eyes lingered on my outfit for a bit more and then he walked away, turning to give me one last smile before closing the door behind him.