Chapter 60 Not Even Tits
As Ender called out, “Okay, okay, break it up, boys! It’s a draw!” Cyrus released his grip on Soren.
In a mirrored action, he and the Harpy flopped down onto their asses on the mat with a groan.
Wiping at the sweat on his face, Cyrus eyed Soren as he panted. The Harpy was sweating as much as him, and was just as out of breath. It had definitely been a draw, and a fight that likely wouldn’t have gone on for much longer, even if Ender hadn’t called it.
Cyrus could definitively say that the reports saying that the Second in Command of Cryptid Means was not a man to be taken lightly in a fight were accurate.
Though, based on everyone else he’d fought against there, none of them were.
Ender’s people kept in good shape, and more importantly, they likely made sure to maintain the skills they already had.
Not a single person was rusty, that was for sure, and that was not something he could say for all of the agents in the Bureau.
Considering he’d mostly been working behind a desk for over a hundred years now, Cyrus keeping in shape, to be honest, had been more about vanity than anything. Well, that and his Baby liked his muscles. And Killian wasn’t alone in that now, as Ender seemed to like them quite a bit too.
After a moment of sitting there, he pushed to his feet, as Soren did the same.
“Good match,” the Harpy grunted.
He nodded in response, while he snagged a towel from a nearby rack and started to wipe at his face.
“Getting out of practice, Toddles,” Ender teased as he approached them, a wide smile on his face.
The Harpy snorted. “Hardly.”
Scoffing at the two men, he started to dry off his chest when Ender snatched the towel from his hand. “Allow me!”
“Uh…” Cyrus’ eyes widened slightly when the Gorgon started to dab at his chest, Soren staring in clear disgust as this went on.
“You’ve got some lovely tits, you know that?!” Ender chimed, while giving up all pretenses of helping him to dry off, by grabbing his pecs and squeezing.
“Excuse me?!” Cyrus choked out.
The Harpy burst into laughter when he unfortunately met the Cryptid’s gaze over Ender’s head, and the man continued to laugh as he walked away seconds later.
Completely baffled, he looked down at Ender while the Gorgon continued to grope him, seemingly without a care in the world, the man just very focused on his ‘tits’.
After a few moments had passed, Cyrus sighed and asked, “Are you going to be done with those anytime soon? I want to shower.”
Ender huffed. “I’m just checking to make sure they weren’t hurt.”
He opened his mouth to respond…and found he didn’t really know what the fuck to say to that, so eventually, he just slowly murmured, “I see…”
Killian looked up when the door opened, smiling at Ender as he walked in. “Done ogling?”
“Yep! They finished sparring, so there's nothing really to look at now. Got to play with Cyrus’ tits though.”
A laugh forced its way out at that. “Groped him, did you?” Even as he jokingly asked his question, Killian yet again tried to see if he felt anything about Ender touching Cyrus.
But just as with all the other times he’d checked, he found he didn’t care.
Or rather, he was now slightly turned on by the idea.
The Gorgon let out a happy hum and took the chair next to his. “I was only helping to wipe away the sweat.”
He snorted. “I see.”
Ender tilted his head slightly. “You two are very alike, you know that?”
“In some ways, I suppose.”
Cyrus and him could be very similar when it came to how they reacted to things, and they could be equally as detached about various situations.
“How’s it going?” the Gorgon asked, his gaze now on the screens.
“Boring.”
“I imagine,” Ender snickered.
“I’m about done.”
“Fast and efficient, I like that. Bring up what you’ve got so far.”
Killian quickly brought up the various bits of information on the continuous curved screen on the wall. “Here’s what I’ve found on their existence, from birth to current, but everything seems pretty unimportant.”
After a few moments, Ender said, with a deceivingly happy hum, “Can’t say I’m not disappointed.”
Killian frowned. “What?”
“Keep digging into all of them. The only hint I have for you is that maybe if you stop thinking they are unimportant, you’ll find what I want you to find.”
He sighed. “I knew this was a test.”
“Of course, it’s a test. I only want the best working for me. Now dig.”
Killian sighed again, as he started back at the first name on the list.
Ender sat there unmoving in a chair at the table, staring at Halus, with a smile he couldn’t control on his face, while trying with all his might to show his hatred in his eyes, not knowing if he succeeded or not.
“I know you’re upset,” Halus said softly.
At least, Ender thought he was speaking. Who knew, the words could have been put directly into his brain. He just couldn’t tell. For all he knew, the man wasn’t even standing in front of him, just projecting images into his brain.
Ender did know that he couldn’t speak himself, so he thought the words instead, as it was all he could do. Go to hell.
“You’ll get used to it. You’ll have to get used to it, I’m afraid.” The Fate sighed. “I really do want to free you, my sweet. But we both know I can’t. You’ll fight, and I would hate for you to get hurt. That said, I know what you are going through. It’s hard losing Nyla and Kovo.”
HOW DARE YOU SAY THEIR NAMES?!
“Now, now, don’t get so flustered.” Fear rose up as the Fate walked around behind him and reached down to place a hand on his stomach.
Ender would have flinched, or even lashed out at the man touching him, but he couldn’t move. He wasn’t in control. He hadn’t been since the second day he'd woken up there. The only thing he could do was think…listen, and…feel.
“I know it hurts. But—” The man started to caress his stomach. “—I’ll help you replace them.”
Ender’s eyes snapped open, waking up as his stomach twisted violently. Lying there, he barely managed to swallow back the bile that rose up. What he couldn’t suppress were the trembles running through him as the memories and feelings lingered.
Ender still felt it. The shadow touch of someone who wasn’t there. The cruel, heartless words, the disgust…
He wished he could have said what he felt was anger…but his racing heart betrayed him. Swallowing hard, Ender forcefully shoved down the feeling of shame that tried to well up on waking up afraid instead of angry. But then, at that moment, he had been afraid…
No, he’d been terrified, and at that point in captivity…hopeless. It had been the one time he’d been grateful that pregnancy didn’t come easy for his kind.
Behind him, Killian snuggled closer, while at the same time, Cyrus’ arm tightened around him, plastering him further against the man’s thick chest as the Fate, obviously still asleep, murmured, “It’s okay.”
While there was comfort there, not even amazing tits, which he had very much appreciated before falling asleep against them, could stop him from noticing that the scent the man was engulfing him in was so very similar to that asshole’s.
It was still different, of course, but the underlying scent of what the man was sent another cold shiver down his spine.
Lying there, pinned between the two men, Ender took a deep breath, trying to let their warmth soak back into his bones, almost desperate for it to drive away the cold.
He looked towards the fake windows that mimicked day and night. The lack of even a hint of fake sunshine told him it was still too early to be up.
Knowing he likely wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, Ender took another deep breath, closed his eyes, and just attempted to relax.