39. Epilogue Volt #2
No updates, Angel finally replied. You two lovebirds go have fun.
On the surface, there was nothing wrong with the message.
The tone was even right. But it hadn’t contained any memes or silly videos. Not that it had to, of course, but Angel hadn’t sent one in… two days and six hours.
And Volt had caught Angel staring off into space more times than he’d like. Sometimes he looked a little sad. Sometimes he was just blank.
Angel always claimed that nothing was wrong.
Volt watched him now through the cameras. He was heading for one of the clients, probably to gently guide her toward making a choice.
So maybe he was just focused on his job right now.
A moment later, Angel sent a warm burst of static, and Volt wondered if he was just overreacting. Angel had always been a bit private.
Volt replied with his own gentle static, then followed it up with a picture of two cute bubble-shaped robots hugging each other.
See you later, Volt texted. Call me if you need anything.
I will, Angel texted. He was talking with the client now.
Well, it was all Volt could do. He’d offered to let Angel take nights off in exchange for his weekly evening out with Wallace, but Angel always refused.
He could only hope that Angel opened up to him sometime.
Meanwhile, he had a very cuddly armful of baby girl placing feather-light kisses on his neck and friends waiting for them.
It turned out that the half-hour drive was plenty of time for Volt to have Wallace crying out another orgasm in his arms, and still brush his silky hair and apply a bit of eyeshadow before they arrived.
None of that could hide the I’ve-just-been-fucked glow that made Ben cackle when he greeted them at the door.
“Hey, Wallace. Hey, Volt. Oooh! Someone had a good time on the way over here.”
Wallace blushed adorably.
Volt wrapped an arm around his waist and let himself look exactly as smug as he felt. “Twice.”
“Daddy!” Wallace whisper-hissed.
Volt knew he wasn’t truly that embarrassed, or maybe only in a way that would leave him squirmy and secretly aroused.
Plus, Ben liked stirring up trouble, and sometimes the best way to handle it was just joining in.
“Ben, be good,” came Oliver’s honeyed tones over the outdoor speakers. “Welcome, Volt and Wallace.”
“Hi, Oliver!” Wallace waved at the camera and Volt gave the knowledge a grin and a friendly nod. “Is everyone here already?”
“They’re all inside,” Oliver replied. “Come on in.”
“Wallace!” Quincy squealed, racing across the room before they even stepped through the doorway. “Wallace! I made a new cocktail for you! And look at this new color!” He wiggled his fingers, showing off his glittering nails.
Volt chuckled as he left the two of them to their hugging and giggling.
A chefbot trundled over to the pair bearing a sunset-colored cocktail with so many decorations on top that Volt wasn’t sure how Wallace would manage to find the drink below.
Volt knew that Quincy held himself back on the garnishes at the cafe where he worked, but apparently designing things for Wallace brought them all out.
Volt followed Ben to the living room, where he was met with the laughter of their usual Monday-night crew.
Evan raised a beer in greeting from where he was sitting on an overstuffed chair.
The beer had a fancy label that Ben would probably have spent hours choosing but then pretend wasn’t important, which already made Volt grin.
Their newer friends, Rashid and Justice, were sharing a couch.
Rashid’s posture was perfect, as usual, while Justice was sprawled over the furniture using Rashid’s thigh as a pillow.
Their flowing purple dress pooled over their long legs and their silver high heels dangled over the armrest, only held on by their toes.
Volt and Wallace had met the couple a few weeks after Oliver had saved Volt’s life. They had apparently been Ben’s Dominants in the past, at least for casual play, and the three still had a close connection.
They were also some of the top spark lawyers in the country, who had defended Quincy in his self-defense trial, and later Ben and Oliver when Wallace had turned Oliver in to the FBI in his attempt to protect Orbit.
Wallace had been terrified when Ben introduced them, ashamed of the role he’d played in harming Oliver and that he hadn’t spoken up enough to defend the knowledge in the boardroom.
But the couple had already heard plenty of good things about Wallace from Oliver, and Rashid remembered Wallace’s vote to minimize the restrictions, which had made a big impression.
Since then, Justice had taken Wallace under their wing as he explored wearing more feminine clothing in public. Rashid, meanwhile, reviewed all of Ben, Oliver, and Wallace’s new patents before they were submitted and went to battle against Orbit every time they tried to sue.
He’d won every time. Ben and Oliver never seemed to run out of ideas, and Wallace’s goals went in a very different direction than his old job had required. Wallace had been terrified at the first lawsuit, but now they just made him laugh. It was a nice fuck you to his old man.
The Pierces were good people. Part of the circle of friends that Volt felt lucky enough to have been included in.
Volt made his way over to them and handed Justice one of the bouquets, a bright flurry of crimson ranunculus and yellow lilies with a few sweet peas and carnations mixed in. “For you, madam.”
“Oooh!” They squealed, burying their nose in them. “These are lovely. Rashid?” They pushed them into his face.
He reeled back, then accepted them more gracefully with a fond look at his partner. “They’re gorgeous.” He took a delicate sniff, then looked back at Volt. “Do we need to put them in water?”
“No, they’ll be alright for a few hours.
” Volt assured him, like he usually did, though he appreciated that Rashid checked.
Volt always placed a wet paper towel in the plastic bag at the bottom before wrapping the whole thing in brown paper and sealing it with his sticker.
Oliver had designed the Stems & Stones logo and it gave the bouquets a playful, yet elegant air.
“Oliver?” He held the next bunch down to the three-sixty degree camera on the coffee table. He’d picked out sunflowers and garden roses, with some Queen Anne’s lace and eucalyptus.
“Beautiful, as always.” A serverbot appeared at Volt’s elbow to take them, then hold them up to another camera. “Are any of those ours?”
“No, but the hyacinths in Quincy’s bouquet are.” He’d been planting little copses of flowers, along with ornamental shrubs, all over Oliver’s property, though he wouldn’t know which ones truly worked for the light and soil until later in the season.
He was still hoping to move some of his plants from home up to the roof, but Angel had been mysteriously cagey about agreeing to it, without ever quite disagreeing either. One more thing that worried him about Angel, but couldn’t change right now.
Instead, he’d taken over a rectangle of soil in the back, after a lot of coaxing from Oliver—and surprisingly, Ben.
He’d wrangled the surprisingly large fleet of bots on the property, torn out the lawn, and planted a more commercial garden.
The hyacinths were some of the first that had bloomed outdoors, and he’d had a few bouquets left over from yesterday’s sales at the market.
Wallace had been right, and the vendor who sold the glass vases had been willing to share the stall with him, bringing both of them more business.
He wasn’t quite breaking even yet, with all of the outlays for plant lights and other incidentals, but he thought he might be by next year. It was a powerful feeling.
Something he’d done. With help, but still something all his own.
He handed Quincy’s flowers to Evan, who took them with a look of appreciation. “Thank you. He’ll love them.”
Volt supposed that he was really giving the flowers to both members of each couple, but Quincy and Justice got a particular thrill out of receiving them. To Oliver, he just brought them out of gratitude.
“Hey, where are my flowers?” Ben bounced in from wherever he’d wandered off to and perched on the arm of the couch like a manic gargoyle.
“My flowers are your flowers,” Oliver told him, a note of steel in his voice.
“Awww…” He whined. “But I wanted…”
“A spanking,” Oliver interrupted.
“Well, yes,” Ben agreed, with a shit-eating grin.
Everyone laughed, and Volt gave one of the garden bots outside a mental command to cut a few of the early-blooming hyacinths and daffodils. It would be funny to see Ben’s face when he actually got a bouquet.
With his flowers delivered, and still glowing a bit from everyone’s appreciation, Volt sank down onto the couch. “How’s everyone’s week been?”
Justice blew out a breath, their earlier good humor wiped away.
“Another day, another spark incriminated for daring to live her life. Somebody remind me that I love my job?” They kicked their feet over the arm of the couch, and Volt was certain that one of their shimmery shoes was going to fly across the room.
“Did something happen today?”
“Not yet, but the judge will probably come to a ruling tomorrow. It’s not looking good for the spark. Trespassing, my ass.”
Rashid curled one arm over Justice’s chest, twining their fingers together. “My love, you’re one of the top lawyers in the country, and I know that you’ve done everything in your power to defend her.”
“I know!” they snapped. “And it’s not enough!” They looked around the ceiling and then sighed. “Sorry, guys. Just having a rough day.”
“Could the Forever Fund help?” Volt asked.
It was a fund that Wallace had set up last month to support sparks’ legal rights and integration into society through several different civil liberty organizations and a few specific private practices.
Volt still felt a little weird about offering for someone else to use Wallace’s money… but that was what it was for.