When Xavier dropped the line, "I’m kinda dating Angel," Oliver froze mid-motion like his brain had just blue-screened.
He blinked once. Then twice. His eyes went wide, then narrowed, then widened again—like he was trying to make sense of what the hell he just heard. Then ca the squint, followed by a slow, suspicious side-eye. "You’re... what now?"
Xavier didn’t even flinch. "You heard ."
Oliver leaned in slightly, still giving him that are-you-for-real look. "Nah, hold up. How did that even happen? And when the hell did you two start talking like that? You and Angel? The Angel?"
Xavier shrugged, resting his elbow on the table, trying not to smile. "It just happened, man. Didn’t plan it. She’s been around, helped with a few things, and... well, one thing led to another."
Oliver leaned back, still squinting like Xavier had told him gravity stopped working. "I’ll be honest—I never thought you’d go for her. I an, of all people..."
"Yeah, tell about it," Xavier said with a low chuckle. "Even I didn’t think so."
Oliver tilted his head. "You’re serious?"
"Dead serious."
There was a pause. The faint hum of the tavern’s background chatter filled the air between them. Then Oliver finally sighed. "You’re unbelievable."
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
Oliver’s voice cracked a bit through the mic. "You’re seriously telling this now? After a dungeon run?"
"Timing’s everything," Xavier said, standing up from his chair. "You wanted details—there’s your headline."
Xavier sat up straighter, glancing at him. "Look, I hope you don’t mind."
Oliver frowned, confused. "Why the hell would I mind?"
Xavier leaned back again. "You’re the one who introduced to her. Figured you should be the first to know before it starts making rounds."
Oliver blinked. "Oh. Yeah, no—no problem, bro. Just didn’t see it coming, that’s all. You do you."
"Good," Xavier said, getting up and stretching. "Because that would’ve been awkward."
Oliver laughed under his breath, still shaking his head. "You’re insane."
"Yeah, and you’re slow," Xavier shot back with a faint grin. "Co on, let’s log out before the devs notice I am on and summon to plan the next event."
They exchanged a quick nod, and both opened their nus. The shimring logout sequence wrapped around them, pixels breaking apart as the tavern dissolved into white light.
It was late night, around three. The city outside was dead silent except for the occasional hum of air traffic. Xavier’s room was dim, bathed in a mix of ambience and mood lights that shifted lazily between soft blue and amber. So chill background music played low from the speakers, the kind of track that faded into the air rather than demanded attention.
He leaned back on his chair, staring at the holo screen floating in front of him, replaying everything that went down that day — he returned from the Underworld auction, then Ethan and Maxmillian’s hunt, and then the VR ga, the dive into the ruins, the loot, Oliver’s dumb reaction, Angel’s laugh echoing in his head. He let out a long sigh and rubbed his face before pulling up the holo call nu.
The call connected almost instantly. Angel appeared in the fra, her hair tied up, focus glued to so screens in front of her. It looked like she was in her workspace — dark, ssy, filled with data streams and docunts floating midair. She didn’t even look at him when she spoke.
"Hey," she said, voice calm, eyes moving fast between tabs.
Xavier leaned his elbow on the desk, smirking. "You sound busy."
"I am," she replied flatly, then paused for a breath. "Still no leads on Victor. Every ti I get close, his trail goes cold. He’s probably swapping locations multiple tis a day. There’s soone skilled covering his tracks."
Xavier tilted his head. "Didn’t call for that."
That made her glance up for the first ti. "Oh?"
"It’s hasn’t been long since we started looking for him. I didn’t expect him to just pop up that easy anyway," he said, shrugging. "Relax a little."
Angel blinked at him, then frowned slightly. "Then why’d you call?"
He smirked again, voice dropping just enough. "To talk to you."
Her eyes flicked up, caught off guard. "To... talk to ?"
"Yeah," Xavier said, leaning back and stretching a bit. "You know, normal people do that sotis."
Angel shook her head, hiding the small smile threatening to show. "You’re ridiculous."
"Maybe," he said with a half-laugh. "But you didn’t hang up, so you clearly don’t mind."
Angel was typing sothing on one of her floating screens when Xavier leaned in closer to his cam and said, "You always this serious at night or just pretending so I won’t distract you?"
She didn’t even glance at him. "I’m working, Xavier."
He smirked. "Working, huh? That what you call avoiding now?"
That made her pause for half a second. "You think too much."
"Oh, I know," he said, sitting back lazily. "But if I stop thinking, I’ll start missing you instead. Can’t have that, right?"
Angel finally looked at him, eyes narrowing just a little. "You’re annoying."
"Cute when you’re annoyed," he said, grinning.
"Xavier." She tried to sound stern, but the corner of her mouth twitched.
"Don’t ’Xavier’ like that. You’re just mad I look this good at 3 a.m."
She scoffed, shaking her head. "You really have no sha."
"None," he said proudly. "Also, you smiled just now. Don’t deny it."
"I didn’t."
"You did," he said, leaning forward like he’d caught her red-handed. "That little corner thing your mouth does when you’re trying not to laugh? Yeah, that one."
Her cheeks puffed slightly as she exhaled through her nose. "You notice too much."
"Only when it’s you."
Angel’s eyes softened just a little, and for a mont, she stopped typing. "You’re really not going to let work, are you?"
Xavier smirked. "Not when I can make you look like that."
She stared at him for a second before turning back to her screens, but he caught the faintest smile tugging at her lips.
"Fine," she said quietly. "Five minutes. Then I’m back to work."
"Five minutes," he repeated with a grin. "Plenty of ti for to make you blush again."
The call went on like that — playful, easy, unplanned. Just Xavier being Xavier, and Angel trying not to let him win.
Angel groaned, but she didn’t hang up — which, to Xavier, ant he was already winning.
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