18. Volt
Volt
Volt forced himself not to pace while he waited for Wallace outside the bank, but he knew he was gripping the informational folder too tightly. The glossy paperboard was all bent, but it wasn’t like he needed it anyway.
With a decisive pivot, he marched down the sidewalk and dumped it in the trash.
It wasn’t the bank’s fault, of course. They’d just told him what he already knew.
A new “safety” regulation on sexbots had just come out, and if he took out another loan now to pay for the necessary upgrades, the interest rates would be so high that he wouldn’t have a chance in hell of paying it back.
Fuck, without a business plan showing how they could somehow make a shit-ton more money than what they were bringing in now, no one would be willing to lend to them anyway.
He’d hoped that asking for a loan in person would make a difference. But even though he’d spoken with his favorite spark teller, there was only so much she could do. The bank would be stupid to invest in a failing business like his.
She’d gently suggested that the best choice might be to sell the business and get out while he still could.
It was tempting… so fucking tempting… but it was also Magnolia’s home. Her dream. Angel was just as passionate about their mission in his own way, though Volt suspected that he could be persuaded.
They’d talked about it before, but Angel was hesitant, and they both knew that Magnolia would be devastated.
As much as Volt wished that Magnolia could live another hundred years, there was a tiny part of him that knew decisions like this would be easier after she passed on.
He felt incredibly guilty for thinking it.
It was just so hard keeping the business afloat. Sometimes he felt like he was breaking.
By the time Wallace’s car pulled up to the curb, he debated asking if they could just have a night in. He wasn’t sure he was up for socializing, even if it was just chatting with vendors at the park. Spending a few dollars to buy Wallace something from a food cart felt like too much of a splurge.
But then he saw his baby through the open car window, looking a little anxious but so happy to see him, and everything else came second.
“Hello, creampuff,” Volt crooned as he climbed into the car, going immediately into Daddy mode.
“Hey, Daddy,” Wallace whispered back, sounding shy and a little bit shaken.
Was something wrong? Wallace had called him after a rough meeting with his father a little while ago, but Volt thought he’d been okay by the time he left the office.
“You look luscious in your new shirt, baby girl,” Volt said, wondering if that was the source of the anxiety.
Volt decided that it had probably come from the men’s department, but the bright crimson was a bold choice, and the v-neck gave a tantalizing view of Wallace’s smoothly shaven neck and just the hint of his collar bones.
Wallace was getting more daring with his choices.
“Oh!” Wallace looked down, like he was checking that his clingy red top was still there, then looked back up, blushing. “Do you like it, Daddy? It’s just a t-shirt.”
Volt grinned as he mentally told the car to darken the windows for privacy, then sent it off to its next destination. “It’s adorable, sweetheart. It lets me see all of your luscious curves.”
Wallace blushed and looked away, but he didn’t deny it.
Then he was tumbling into Volt’s lap.
“Are you alright, baby?” Not that Volt would ever complain about a lapful of delicious boy, but usually he was the one initiating things like this.
“Yeah, just a really wild day.” He nestled into Volt’s arms, and Volt held him close, breathing in the scent of his shampoo and warm skin.
This was what made him a Daddy. He might not be able to save the company he was supposed to be running, but at least he could be his baby girl’s shelter in a storm.
He hated seeing Wallace upset, but knowing that he was the one who could fix it? It was like a balm on his own tortured soul. An escape that he would eagerly dive into and let the rest of his life float away.
“Your father?” Volt asked as he ran his hands down Wallace’s back, then across to his ass, squeezing once before snuggling him close.
Wallace rested his head on Volt’s shoulder.
“Yeah, my father was a jerk, but you knew that. He’s threatening to cut the only project that I care about.
And I know he’s not going to, because we’ve invested years of research into it, but now I’ve promised him all this shit and…
Dammit. It just took me by surprise how fucking manipulative he can be. He’s such an asshole.”
Volt had heard some of this earlier, but it was more coherent now.
He stroked Wallace’s hair and pressed kisses to his brow.
It was good to see Wallace angry instead of upset.
Hearing things like this made Volt burn with anger, the rage tangling with his fear and anger at a world where he couldn’t get a loan to keep Magnolia’s business alive.
“And then this creep harassed me outside my apartment, trying to sell me illegal mods. He’d recognized me from Prism, which was super ick, because don’t people sign an agreement not to tell who they see there?
And he knew that we were dating, because the mods were supposed to be for you.
At any rate, security chased him off, but super long day. ”
Volt forced himself to relax his arms, realizing how stiff he’d gotten at Wallace’s words. What the ever loving fuck? If this was related to all of the harassment that Prism was getting, he was going to murder someone.
With his bare hands.
Whatever bone they had to pick with Prism, they could come for him, but his creampuff was sacred.
It took an effort to make his voice smooth when he spoke. “Who was this, baby? The guy who was harassing you?”
“Colton Alexander, he said his name was. Not sure if that’s actually his real name.”
Fuck. “It is,” he said grimly. “Or at least the one that matched his background check. He’s already not allowed at Prism because he was harassing the customers. I don’t like that he knows who you are or where you live.”
Wallace shrugged. “I mean, it’s not like he can really do anything. He happened to see me outside, I told him no, and now he’s gone.”
Volt scowled. He didn’t trust that for a second. How would someone who’d been barred from Prism know that they were dating? “Well, I want you to stay away from him. Let me know if he bothers you again.”
Wallace smirked. “Feeling a little overprotective, are we?”
Volt squeezed him tighter. Overprotective and… terrified. “Always.”
Then he called Angel.
Got a sec?
Sure. Angel sent him a snapshot of an empty lounge. Did Wallace like the tarts?
Shit. Volt had told Angel that he was going to pick up some tarts for Wallace, when he was actually going to the bank. He didn’t want to get Angel’s hopes up… and it wasn’t supposed to have been a total fib because the place that made the tarts was the next block over.
But he’d forgotten after hearing the news.
And now they were halfway across town, and the tarts were the last thing on his mind.
They were closed, he lied.
Dammit. He hated lying to Angel.
That sucks. Want me to ask Magnolia for another recommendation?
No. Wallace is already with me, and he has some bad news.
Angel sent him back a gif of a cartoon figure tantruming on the floor, fists flailing with gushing waves of tears spouting from its eyes.
I almost don’t want to know, he added afterward. But please tell me.
I’ll ask if Wallace can tell you himself.
“Say hi to Angel from me,” Wallace said.
Volt snorted, surprised. He could never tell how Wallace did that, since their whole conversation had been less than two seconds.
“Angel wants to know if you’d mind telling him about the whole event. And I’d like to record it, too, if you don’t mind.”
Wallace’s eyes narrowed. “Is this a big deal?”
How much to tell him? “I dunno. But better safe than sorry. I don’t like the idea of anyone bothering you, especially someone who’s been banned from Prism.”
Wallace nodded, satisfied with that answer, though Volt was already wondering if he was screwing things up, not telling Wallace how bad the harassment had gotten.
But Wallace would want to do something crazy, like hire a PI and a security team for a ridiculous amount of money. Spending even more money on Prism, even when it wasn’t Volt’s, was the last thing that he wanted.
“Okay, uh, Angel?” Wallace asked into the air.
Volt transferred the connection to the car audio system.
“Hey, Wallace. How’s it going?”
“Good. Or well, not great. But I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
Wallace relayed the whole event, Volt’s nerves increasing with every sentence.
This felt targeted.
Personal.
“I think he’s just pushy,” Wallace concluded. “Like, he’s a smarmy salesman, and I’m sure those mods are illegal or at least bootleg, but I think he’s just trying to make a buck.”
Angel’s angry burst of static suggested that he believed that about as much as Volt did.
Wallace covered his ears.
“Oops,” Volt told him. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
Wallace looked up at him, puzzled.
“It’s a thing Angel and I do. Sorry it was loud.”
Wallace shrugged. “At any rate, this isn’t the first time he tried to sell me a nickel drive. The first time was the night that I asked you out and I, uh, ran out the door. He was pushing a…” Wallace paused. “Er, uh, a mod that was supposed to make you fall in love with me.”
“Did you take it?” Volt asked, unable to hold back his horror. His processors were running overtime, unable to keep up with his churning thoughts as they crashed against each other.