The silence after Milo's flustered confession stretched, heavy and charged. Elias simply watched him, that intense emerald gaze unwavering, and Milo felt a prickle of something beyond nerves. It was a bizarre blend of discomfort and a magnetic pull he couldn't fight. He was a moth to a very dangerous, very horned flame.
Finally, Elias broke the spell, his deep voice cutting through the hum in the air. "I do not require your... commentary on my physique, human." The disdain was back, sharper now, but Milo caught the subtle shift – it wasn't pure contempt. There was a faint flicker of something else, a defensive edge that betrayed a hint of self-awareness.
"Right. My bad," Milo mumbled, still flushed. He stood abruptly, needing to move, to break the stifling intensity of Elias's stare. "So. You're done with the pad thai. Need anything else? Water? A blanket? A tranquilizer dart? Because you're still looking pretty tense for a guy I just saved from dying in an alley. In Westkilo, Calin City, no less. Not exactly a prime vacation spot."
Elias said nothing, his gaze following Milo as he moved around the room, picking up stray magazines, straightening a cushion. There was an unnerving quietness to him, a predatory stillness that made Milo's skin prickle even when his back was turned.
"Look," Milo said, turning back, forcing himself to meet Elias's gaze. "You're probably in pain. That was a pretty nasty tumble you took, or whatever the hell it was. I've got some heavy-duty painkillers, but they're a bit strong. Might knock you out for a while."
Elias's eyes narrowed. "I do not require chemical alteration."
"Right, because mythical creatures are just too pure for Advil," Milo retorted, rolling his eyes. "Fine, suit yourself. But you should probably lie down properly. That armchair isn't exactly built for comfort, especially for someone with... extra parts." He gestured vaguely at the horns and tail. "The sofa is a pull-out. It's got a proper mattress, probably comfier."
He walked over to the large sofa, which by day looked like a regular, plush three-seater. He fiddled with a latch at the back, pulling it out with a practiced ease until it transformed into a surprisingly comfortable full-sized bed. The duvet and pillows were stored neatly in a built-in compartment underneath.
"Ta-da!" Milo said, gesturing with a flourish. "Guest accommodations. Five-star, for a dragon-man. See? I'm not totally rude. Just mostly." He turned to face Elias, a challenge in his eyes. "So? You gonna sleep on a real bed, or you gonna be a stubborn ass and suffer in that armchair?"
Elias pushed himself slowly out of the armchair. His movements were still stiff, but there was a coiled power beneath them, a subtle tension in his muscles that made Milo's imagination run wild. As Elias moved, the too-large sweats couldn't quite hide the lean, hard lines of his body, the impressive definition of his abs. Milo swallowed, his gaze snagging for a second too long, and felt the familiar flush creep up his neck.
Damn it, Milo, focus! He's a guest! A weird, horned, tailed, fluffy-eared guest!
He mentally berated himself. The dark, thick scales along Elias's back and shoulders seemed to shimmer more prominently now, a stark contrast to his otherwise human-like skin.
Elias walked past the pull-out sofa, his gaze fixed on a doorway further down the hall – the entrance to Milo's bedroom. Without a word, or even a glance at the offered guest bed, he simply kept walking. Milo watched, bewildered, as Elias moved with that stiff, powerful grace, past the bathroom, past the hall closet, and into Milo's private sanctuary.
Milo stood there, gaping, then quickly followed. He found Elias already at the side of Milo's large, king-sized bed, effortlessly peeling back the duvet with one hand, as if it were his own. The smooth, expensive sheets looked impossibly soft beneath the dark bulk of Elias's absurdly large T-shirt.
"Hey! Whoa, hold on a second!" Milo blurted, his cheeks flaming a furious red. "That's my bed! The pull-out is right there! You literally just walked past it!"
Elias turned, those dark grass-green eyes meeting Milo's. There was no apology, no hesitation, just a profound, almost innocent certainty. "This bed is larger," Elias stated, his deep voice calm, utterly devoid of any recognition of Milo's boundary-breaching protest. He seemed to genuinely see no issue. He even tilted his head slightly, his wolf-like ears twitching, as if awaiting approval.
Milo's mind short-circuited. He couldn't articulate the sheer impropriety of it, the colossal invasion of personal space, especially with someone as intensely... Elias... as this creature. The heat in the room wasn't just from the apartment's heating system anymore. It was radiating from Milo's face, his neck, his entire body.
He took a shaky breath. "Well, yeah, it's... it's a king. Because I like to spread out. And it's... it's my bed. Where I sleep." He pointed a shaky finger at himself, then at the bed.
Elias simply stared at him, unblinking, his cold gaze somehow still holding a flicker of something unreadable. He seemed to genuinely not grasp the concept of "mine" in this context, or simply didn't care. With another deep sigh, a soft rustle of expensive sheets, Elias simply lowered himself onto the bed. He shifted, his body settling, and then, with a barely perceptible twitch of his powerful tail that brushed against the duvet, he curled up, turning his back to Milo. His long hair fanned out over the pillow, obscuring the view of his face. His wolf-ears lay flat, seemingly at peace.
Milo remained rooted to the spot, heart pounding a furious rhythm against his ribs. He just stood there, watching the impossible creature, the one with horns and a tail and soft wolf-ears, settling into his bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The silence was thick, but now it was a silence filled with a different kind of tension, a dangerous intimacy that Milo was utterly unprepared for.
He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Right," he finally whispered, the word barely audible. He turned off the main lights, leaving only a soft lamp in the corner of the living room, casting long shadows. He glanced back one last time at the bedroom doorway. Elias was still. But Milo couldn't shake the feeling that something monumental had just happened, something that irrevocably tied them together. And a small, very stupid part of him, the part that was now completely and utterly flustered, felt a strange, unsettling warmth.