Note:
- This chapter is the longest so far
- Another reminder, I have no plans of dropping this story. I just post whenever because life is a bitch and won't give me time. So please bear with me.
- I realised I'm going all past and present tense in this but I honestly majorly ceebz to fix it up. Just know it's meant to be past tense
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POV: 3rd person
Aiden whistled down the street, finally relaxing after everything he experienced at the party. Sure it wasn't all bad but he was still tensed throughout (except when he was on stage). He had managed to leave shortly after returning inside. All he had to say was that he forgot to feed his non-existent the entire day and ran out of the venue.
Sure, a couple of ladies and men managed to cling on to him and stuff their numbers into his pockets (his singing seemed to charm them all) but overall a success. He managed to get out and the next day, he finally got to go to work.
One second he was alone, cruising down the street and internally expressing his distaste for the couple who were eating each other's faces in front of the bar, and then next, Erwin was walking next to him in nonchalant.
Aiden didn't jump in surprise or shout in shock or didn't flinch, which made Erwin's face contort into surprise instead.
Aiden noticing this smirked at the spatial traveller but didn't stop his whistling. Instead, Erwin took the initiative with a curious glance.
"My sudden appearance didn't seem to cause a falter in your step."
"Well, when your boss has a bad habit of eavesdropping on private conversations and then proceeds to confront you on it, his hasty appearance wouldn't be much of a surprise."
"... Hn." And then silence had befallen on them. Aiden's ability to sense one's presence astonishes the CEO once again. Until Aiden had enough of Erwin's constant analytical and inquisitive glances. Why was he still following him anyway?
"Alright, spill."
Erwin didn't waste a second. "What the hell happened last week and what do you mean George has been taken away?"
"Of course he goes right to the crux of things." Aiden quietly mumbled to himself. He stopped walking and Erwin followed. "Do I have the option to say I don't want to tell you or mind your business?"
"No. Especially since I gave you a mini vacation."
"I didn't ask for that! I could've–"
"No, you couldn't have and we both know that. You needed that break."
"Then can't you be understanding and you know, not let me relive the memories?"
"No." There was absolutely no room for argument in Erwin's tone.
Aiden let out a surrendered sigh. "Fine you selfish bastard. Can we at least sit at the conveniently placed bench in front of the park fountain, across the street?"
Erwin looked over to the other side and found the object. He nod and they end up comfortable on the wooden planks, with Aiden's feet up on the bench and knees tucked under his chin, and the other man's leg spread out in front of him and arms over the back of the bench. This effectively put it behind Aiden and he had an arm as his cushion. Erwin had loosened his tie and ran his hands through his hair to deactivate the gel, leaving behind a just-shagged hairdo. It was doing wonders to Aiden's heart. His entire figure was doing wonders.
He coughed and looked forward, attempting to avoid looking at the man next to him the entire night. It was already proving to be difficult.
"So..." Aiden awkwardly started off, "how did you manage to get out of the party? You were quite sought out by many people."
"Threatened the very person who got me to go there and then just snuck out. Proved to be a bit difficult but not impossible."
"Right..." and then they're back to their awkward silence, which annoyed Aiden since it was the other man who wanted to talk and here he was, wasting time and saying jack shit. Aiden just wanted to go home.
"Oh I think I forgot to say this," Aiden said, in an attempt to fill the silence again, "but thanks for you know, saving me from my demise."
"Your demise?" Erwin's mouth quirks up at that.
"You know... pretending to be my date at the party so I wouldn't have to be fed to the beasts."
"Ah, that demise." Erwin was full blown smirking now. "Yeah, no problem. Just know you owe me now."
Aiden's eyebrows jumped up. He didn't hear about this. "I owe you? Was this all part of your plan then?"
Erwin threw his head back in laughter at the glare he had received. "Maybe, maybe not. I could just be really nice."
"If you were being nice, you wouldn't be saying that I owe you."
Erwin smiled at his bluntness. "I guess you have a point."
"You know I have point," Aiden emphasised confidentially. "But we're not here to discuss that right now. So I'd appreciate it if we got to the point."
"Not a fan of small?"
"I'm not a fan of dancing around the elephant in the room when I'm on the brink of being drunk and in desperate need to run back home."
Erwin blinked a couple of times before shrugging. "Touché. Then I'll be frank with you. What the hell is up with you?"
Aiden snorted at the question and sent him an amused smile. "I'd prefer if you didn't ask such vague questions or else we'd be on this bench for two days."
Erwin internally shook his head at his own stupid question but you couldn't blame him. His employee was a mystery case and he finally got the opportunity to crack it, so obviously his head was in a mess. It also didn't help that he was slightly tipsy. "In that case... what happened to George?"
"Now we're talking." Although the tone of Aiden's voice was nonchalant, the emotion on his face was grim and melancholic. "In summary, Marcel and Bradley decided to move George to another retirement home or some other place without telling me and they plan to hide him from me forever. The purpose for that is to have some sort of guarantee that I won't expose their misdeeds or get on his good side any further so that when he dies, his will won't favour me."
Erwin's expression morphed into surprise before it was changed into pissed. "What the fuck..." he breathed out.
"Yeah I know," Aiden continued, "and me being me, couldn't really handle that because I'm fucking lonely and only have two people in my life who I know who really care about and appreciate my existence and accept me for who I am and then my brothers, being the life ruiners they are, decide to take away one of them. Like don't get me wrong, I'm glad Nero is still in my life and everything, like love you and all but gramps is the only blood I have that I can consider family and now I don't even have that anymore and I couldn't really handle that, which left me to break down in the middle of the street, which is the second this has ever happened and the first time was when I was a kid. I wasn't meant to break down, like I was holding myself back pretty well but then you come along and look at me like... that and I kind of just lost it and yeah. That's my life story."
Aiden wasn't meant to produce that word vomit but once he started, he couldn't really stop and now he had bared his soul once again to his boss and wants to do nothing more but to sprint away and catch the next flight to anywhere else but here.
Erwin on the other hand, gave way no emotion throughout the ramble, just maintaining his neutral look. Once Aiden was done and left panting, his face changes to a caring expression he had while taking care of Aiden at his place. The expression was made up of a small, genuine smile along with warm eyes that makes the colour of his eyes shine brighter than usual. There's no wrinkles on his forehead and all the muscles were lax. It was a sight to behold and it absolutely fucked with Aiden's heart.
"What do you mean by loneliness? From what I see and hear, you have plenty of friends and you get along with almost everyone you can tolerate." There were no jibs or ill intent behind the words, it was said as a matter of fact and out of legit curiosity.
Aiden returns a brittle smile and looks out into the empty street. "Yes I can get along with them but by no means do they make me feel less lonely. They all have hidden intentions, whether it's to climb the social ladder, get to my money or get laid. No one wants to know me for me nor do they want to get to know me. I mean, I'm also at fault as well since I don't trust people that easily anymore but when I did, that's when I learnt humans are shitty and it's best to not associate with them unless you can trust them with your all... but it's not enough."
Aiden paused, figuring whether to continue putting himself in a state of vulnerability but Erwin's patience and reassuring smile told him that he just might be alright sharing his burdens a bit more.
"The thing is, I know all this but I can't stop. The lack of attention from my family – especially father – throughout my childhood has left me attention deprived in adulthood. Sure I had George but I couldn't see him all the time, so it wasn't enough." Aiden's helpless tone created a crack in Erwin's heart and he really wanted to just pull the smaller man in his arms and whisper encouraging words for the rest of the night. But he holds himself back to let the other man to continue his explanation.
"The deprivation made me into quite a slut in university and my need to impress everyone I come across overwhelmed me, all so they could feel the void of loneliness temporarily. The number of exes I have is probably longer than your weekly grocery list. Anyway, I figured if I did it constantly, the void would always be filled. Apparently, that was wrong and instead, I was constantly burnt out and having breakdowns. Once Nero and I let each other into our lives, we both gave each other harsh reality checks in our respective problems and I got better I guess.
Sure I get along with people but the damage from university still haunts me so I don't let them in easily and don't want to, mainly because I'm good at judging character. I still have one night stands but only to relieve any sexual tension or if I'm back into my depressive episodes. Look I don't know where I'm going with this or why I'm baring my everything to my boss who happens to argue with me on the daily but I'm sorry for getting you involved. You were never meant to find out. In fact, I shouldn't have told you any of this."
Erwin's emotions were in turmoil. He felt anger against the Trophs. He felt sad for the helplessness Aiden felt while growing up. He felt envy at Aiden's sleeping track record (but refused to acknowledge it at that point in time). He felt proud that he began doing better eventually. And finally, he felt ticked off and was sporting a mean frown at Aiden's ending comment.
He shifted closer to the other man while glaring at the other man (Aiden froze on the spot at the sudden movement). "Are you saying you're regretting telling me all this?" Erwin had the sudden urge to be one of the people who Aiden can trust, like Nero and George and he was beginning to get annoyed that Aiden was still refusing to let him in. Ever seeing Aiden under the rain, his sense of protectiveness grew a lot more sensitive and he found himself constantly worrying about the man during the week of his break. He wanted to help but couldn't and it was agonizing.
The electro user gulped. "I-I don't– yes? I do regret it? I don't know. I just don't want to bother you with my problems. It's none of your business and it's burdensome–"
"But I WANT it to be my business. I WANT you to bother me with your issues," Erwin burst out, surprisingly both men. Erwin's ears turned red and Aiden turned into a stuttering mess.
"I uh wha you huh? Why the fuck do you want that?"
Fuck, Erwin thought to himself. He's not one to put himself in an endangered position but it wasn't the time to lie out of defence. He's not that much of a dick. He took a deep inhale and smoothly replied,
"In all honesty, I just want you to trust me as much as you trust the other two. I want to get close to you, wanted to get close to you a week into you starting your job at Nichola and Co. Now that George has disappeared temporarily and I'm saying temporarily because we'll get him back soon, don't worry. Anyway, now that your grandpa isn't here, you've lost a support system, so you should gain another soon. Like now."
(Erwin cringed at his latter reasoning)
Aiden looked dazed and confused. "Uh, so you wanna be his replacement?"
Erwin scoffed. "Of course not. Look, I just want to be close to you and want you to trust me. Be someone you can lean on and depend on." Throughout, Erwin moved closer till their thighs were side by side (Aiden's feet are now on the floor) and his arms are over Aiden's shoulders.
The blue-haired man's breath hitches at the minimalised distance but doesn't move away. "Why?" He whispered out, afraid to shatter the tension between them.
Erwin leans closer until he rests his forehead against the other's. Closing his eyes, he said with the softest whisper, "Because I don't want to see you the way you were last week. Believe it or not, it broke my heart seeing you like that."
Aiden was stunned. And confused. And stunned. And frozen. And flabbergasted. And stunned.
The quiet enveloped them again and Erwin only moved away after a minute, keeping his eyes closed. He expected intense blushing or utter rejection when he opened his eyes. Instead, he was surprised to see tears escape Aiden's tear glands and run down his cheeks. But the man himself didn't seem to realise he was crying, if his gaping and owl eyes said anything.
Slowly and carefully, Erwin brought his right hand to cup his cheek and affectionately wipe away the incoming tears with his thumb. The action caused Aiden to flinch out of shock and help realise Aiden's predicament. Erwin's hand wasn't moved away but the flinching told him that he should probably back off.
But as he was about to do that, the other man shocks him again and jumped into Erwin's chest. He wrapped his arm around his torso and nuzzled into the taller man's collarbone, once again sobbing his heart out.
"W-W-Winwin..." Aiden brokenly sobbed out.
The nickname irked the man but considering the circumstances, he decided to not comment on it. Instead, he sighed, brought Aiden closer and rubbed his back up and down in comfort. Caught up in the moment, Erwin put a chaste kiss on the top of the other man's head, immediately hoping that he didn't realise. But guessing by another fit of sobbing after the action, Aiden did notice. He could also tell by the sensation of a growing smile against his skin, which brought a smile of his own.
♤♧♡♢
After Aiden was done crying again, they sat in comfortable silence for a while before he asked his boss whether he had some sort of tragic sob story. To his surprise, Erwin had a relatively ok childhood. He was an orphan who ended up jumping to three foster homes before his grandpa slash current CEO adopted him. Since then, we were spoilt rotten with love and he grew up to be a lovely man (Erwin's words, not Aiden's. Aiden refuted that comment) that was ready to take over Nicola and Co. when his grandpa retired. Except before he could do that, he passed away.
That apparently was Erwin's lowest point and Aiden comforted him to the best of his ability. After that, they talked about random bullshit, from favourite foods to Aiden's brother's bullying antics, before they went home to be rested for work the next day. Erwin was left agitated after hearing about the Trophs and was ready to pummel them before Aiden told him that Nero had first dibs when the permission was granted. The spatial user was very disappointed at that.
Aiden never verbally confirmed whether or not he was going to let Erwin in but from the actions and reactions tonight, both knew the answer.
The next day, Aiden assumed his life was going to go back to normal (minus the search for gramps in the background) but apparently, god wasn't done yet because Aiden came into work with a black eye and a limping leg.
He was really hoping, no, his atheist ass prayed to the devilish god that he didn't run into Erwin the entire day. But guess what?
He was the first thing Aiden saw when he entered.
The man was at the reception doing whatever, so his back was facing Aiden. So the latter went with impromptu plan B, which was sneaking past him to the elevators.
But again, that proved to be difficult when every second person who saw/walked past him gasped out loud. Aiden would cringe every time and look towards the CEO. Eventually, the gasps were so consistent that it finally caught the attention of the boss and he turned around to find the cause of his disturbance.
His vision quickly picked up on Aiden's appearance and the latter winced at getting caught. Erwin's eyes widened and in a flash, he was in front of his employee with his hands on his chins to inspect the damage.
Aiden is entranced by the moves for a second but his surroundings sobered him up and he batted the hand away with red ear tips. Erwin wasn't fazed by the action and scrutinised the injury, making Aiden extremely uncomfortable and regretful for not bringing sunglasses.
"What. The. Fuck. Happened?" Erwin growled out, deeper than his already sexily deep voice. Aiden swore caused all the ladies nearby to orgasm with that alone. Heck, he got half hard himself.
"Um... I fell down the stairs?" Aiden scratched the back of his head and sent Erwin a wobbly smile. The other man doesn't seem humoured or convinced.
"Falling down the stairs doesn't give you a black eye," Erwin said matter of factly.
"Well actually if you fall in the right angle and land in the right–"
"Aiden I swear to god if you don't tell me what happened lord help me I will–" Erwin snarled out impatiently.
"Ok! Don't get pissed, Jesus fuck. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed or something?" Erwin opened his mouth to retaliate but Aiden quickly shuts him up by more or less answering his question.
"I didn't fall down the stairs but you don't have to worry about it. It's fine, really. I dealt with it."
Erwin was clearly not satisfied and refused to leave it. "You were fine when we departed. Did you get mugged on the way home?"
Hearing the two were together last night got the surrounding people to raise their eyebrows in surprise and they began gossiping with one another. Erwin looked around the reception area at the eavesdroppers with a hard glare and almost all scattered away.
Aiden felt insulted and scoffed out, "As fucking if I'd get mugged. They wouldn't be able to touch a single hair on my body before I flung them across the globe."
"Did you piss off Nero again?"
"No, he wouldn't beat me up this badly. NOT that I got beat up yesterday. No sirey." Aiden cringed and knew he just exposed himself.
Erwin was livid now, with his fists clenched and a vein protruding out of his forehead. "So you DID get beat up. Who the fuck did it? Was it your brothers?"
"NO!" Aiden yelped out in panic. "It wasn't them. They're not that stupid. Really, it's fine. I already–"
"I don't care if you fucking think you've dealt with it," Erwin angrily spat out, causing everyone him to flinch. All the employees knew he was cold hearted but he was cold without anger. This was the first time they've seen him lose his cool and they're all shitting themselves. "I want to know what happened and determine it for myself."
Aiden was getting ticked off. "But it's none of your bloody–"
"Don't finish that sentence. I heard enough of it from yesterday." Erwin's tone eased a bit more. "I thought I expressed what I wanted Aiden. I just want you to lean on me and let me help you. Why are you so against it? Wait does Nero know?"
Erwin's previous anger was now replaced with gloom and Aiden began feeling guilty, especially since his boss looked like a big puppy who got his treat taken away from him. He stared at the man longer before finally giving with a sigh. "Don't pull that card on me already. Now I feel bad. You've got to cut me some slack. It's only been a day. And no, Nero does not know. I don't tell him EVERYTHING."
"I know but–"
"Shut it. I'll tell you so listen." Erwin smiled at the thought of knowing something before Leo's infatuation and leaned closer to listen more intently. "Long story short, my drunk abusive ex-boyfriend found where I lived and decided to pay me a visit to beat me up. Something about how it's my fault his life went to shit. I was still mulling over how he found my address so I didn't really pay attention."
Anger, as well as worry, flared through the taller man's eyes as he asked, "Was he an Oddity user? I find it hide to believe you got injured in any form."
"Huh? No, he's not an Oddity user. I let him beat me up."
Erwin blinked once. "You... let him... beat you up?" He repeated in disbelief.
"Yup."
"Let me get this straight," Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose as irritation overtook his entire body. "You would let your abusive ex-boyfriend punch the shit out of you but refuse to let a robber touch a single cell of your body?"
"Hmm pretty much, yeah."
If Erwin had Leo's powers, he would be imbued in fire and his hair would be floating like he was in super Saiyan mode. It made Aiden step back in fear but he was quickly pulled back by his tie to come very close to a very scary boss.
"You're about to get a second black eye if your reasoning for letting him fuck you up isn't good enough," the taller man hissed out. He let go of the tie and Aiden quickly jumped back.
"I-It was easier that way?" Aiden was no means a bitch and he usually stood his ground but Erwin was apparently a lot more terrifying than he anticipated so he couldn't help but say his words with a questioning tone.
"It. Was. Easier that way?" Erwin spat out.
"Yeah. The man was clearly drunk and needed a punching bag. After he fed his need to release his anger, he would leave, so it would be less work than fighting–"
Erwin had enough and was about to literally pounce at the man to slap some sense into him but his actions were halted by the introduction of a new, booming voice.
"AIIIDDDEEEENNNNNN!" He roared out.
Everyone in the premise snapped their heads in his direction, everyone except Aiden. Instead, the latter looked down at his shoes and finally cracked.
"Oh for FUCKS SAKE," Aiden turned his head towards his ex-boyfriend and yelled, "what the fuck do you want now?"
But he didn't give him a chance to respond as Aiden fast walked till he was right in front of Kurt and he has him up against the wall, holding him up by the collar. The outburst scared the shit out of everyone, including Erwin, who was sporting a pretty good owl impression.
"I let you use me as a punching bag yesterday and now you have the fucking audacity to come to my workplace and disturb my co-workers. Couldn't this have waited until I got home? You stalked me just so you got my address after all."
The choking man was having a hard time responding back, which took Aiden a while to realise. Slowly but reluctantly, he loosened the grip on his ex and the latter quickly pushed at Aiden's chest to create distance between them.
While he was having a coughing fit, Aiden heard from behind a smug but seething CEO comment, "It's been handled, huh?"
Without looking back, Aiden responded, "Shut. Up. And don't you dare take a step closer. I'll deal with him. Again."
"Who are ya gonna deal with?" Kurt scowled out, finally regaining stability.
"You," Aiden said in a deadpanned fashion.
Kurt's face turned red in anger, matching his redhead and giving himself a tomato look. He was jabbing at Aiden's chest with his pointing finger as he began ranting.
"You got a lot snarkier ever since we departed. Did the single life finally give you some balls?"
"No. I always had my balls of steel. I just never fought back because I'd break your feeble bones in a single punch."
"You!" The roles were reversed and now it was Aiden pushed up against the glass. The security and Erwin stepped forward to take away the harm but Aiden shook his head, non-verbally telling them he'd got this. "You need to shut the fuck up, you sad excuse of a bastard child. That's right, I know."
Aiden wasn't fazed by the insult, hearing it on the daily during his childhood. But he was impressed. "Oh ho, it seems you've... done your extensive research. I wonder... how you found out about... my background. I'm sure I removed... all traces of it." Aiden discovered that talking while being choked is a lot harder than the movies make it out to be.
Kurt looked pretty proud of himself, even loosening the grip on Aiden's neck due to the unexpected compliment. "I had my ways, not that I'd ever reveal it. Anyway, now that I know your secret, I need to be compensated to keep it that way."
"What way?"
"A secret. To keep it a secret, I need to be compensated and don't lie. You definitely get the funding from them if your apartment says anything. So you're more than capable of giving me hush money."
Holy shit the amount of self-awareness. Aiden bristled at Kurt's comment and snapped back. "As fucking if I still get money from them. That apartment was earned through my own hard work and my money alone. Anyway, I don't want to give you compensation, so I'm not gonna."
"What, why?! Did you forget your position? I know your secret and–"
"Yeah but I don't care whether it's a secret or not." That's a lie. Aiden very much cares whether it's a secret or not.
Kurt was stupefied and dropped his hands from Aiden's throat. Aiden took huge gulps of air and appreciated oxygen a bit more. "B-But you tried to hide it and you hid it so well and–"
"Pfft, I only hid it under their orders. The secret being a secret is a benefit for them, not me. In fact, if it got out, it would help me out a lot." Again, another lie. Aiden hid his relations with the Trophs for himself and it would by no means benefit him if it got out to the world. "So if you were to spill the tea, as the youngsters say these days, you would be dealing with them rather than me."
The cherry on top was the Cheshire Cat like smile Aiden sprouted.
Kurt paled and was stumped, realising that his plans completely backfired on him. So he did the one thing he was best at. Violence.
He jumped on Aiden, bringing both of them down and having Aiden knock his head against the hard ground. His vision blackouts for a bit before his sight is returned with random spots appearing every time he blinked.
He didn't even have a chance to complain as Kurt began yelling his woes two centimetres away from Aiden's face while clutching at his shirt's collar. "My life is RUINED because of you. I don't know what you did or how you did it but after you broke up with me, I cannot get with anyone. I WAS SO CONFUSED! I didn't get why but then I discover that somehow, you exposed my alcohol and ice addiction and it spread through the city. NOW PEOPLE ARE SO WARY OF ME, I DON'T EVEN HAVE FRIENDS!"
Aiden was very confused until he realised that yes, he did leak his ex's habits out of spite soon after the breakup. He didn't expose the abuse thing because... he doesn't remember why actually. Maybe he should've. Damn, missed opportunity.
"I want MY LIFE BACK YOU SLUT! GIVE ME YOUR MONEY OR I'LL FUCK YOU UP SO BADLY THAT NO ONE CAN RECOGNISE WHO YOU ARE! That or you'll just die."
Aiden looked straight into his eyes and simply said, "No."
Kurt lost it and brought his fists up to crash onto his exes face. Aiden closed his eyes ready for impact (his arms are held down by Kurt's legs and he's not going to electrocute someone this defenceless) when all of a sudden, the weight disappeared, replaced with a whoosh of air.
Aiden opened his eyes to come in contact with the ceiling and when he quickly sat up, he found Kurt to be on the other side of the reception area, embedded into the wall and Erwin standing near his feet. The man has his usual cold face but this time, it was associated with rage as well, giving himself a scarier aura. Aiden's ex was flung across the reception hall by his boss.
Kurt groaned and looked around in confusion but that quickly changed to fear when Erwin suddenly created a portal in front of Kurt, clamped at his arm and brought him in front of the CEO through the portal.
The (not really) poor man was shaking in his boots and looked ready to piss himself but Erwin wasn't done. He tightened the grip on Kurt's forearm, causing him to yelp and wince but it was ignored. Erwin losing his composure like that was a shock to Aiden since the man was notoriously known for never losing his cool. You could insult him or dis him all you want, but he'd shut hit back with cooler words or just look down on you condescendingly like you're worthless. He would never once break his mask and show any case of intense emotion, such as in this situation.
"Listen here and listen well," Erwin said chillingly. Each word causes Kurt to shrivel within himself. "I don't know where you got the guts or who the fuck you think you are to come into MY building and harass MY employee as well as MY friend. Causing disruption and ruining workflow is one hell of a pet peeve of mine and then finding out you were abusive to one of my mates aren't getting you any brownie points either. You deserve a lot more than hell but since I don't have convenient access to that, I'll let you off with something milder. If I find you anywhere NEAR this building or Aiden again, I will not be afraid to send you to the fucking moon next."
"W-W-Wuh–"
But before he could stammer out whatever, Kurt was sucker punched right on his cheekbone, once again flying across but this time, instead of landing back near Aiden, a portal was quickly formed and he flew into that, his screams disappearing into the white light.
Once the portal closed up, the floor was dead silent. No one moved or said anything, opting to just gape at the CEO. Aiden was one of them before he blurted out a pressing question.
"Um, where'd you send him...?"
Erwin looked down at the man with a sly smirk. "Nevada."
Aiden choked on his spit and looked at his boss disbelievingly and in a new light. Two thoughts were running through his head.
1. Thank the fucking lor– no, satan because the lord is a dick. Anyway, thank whatever divine being that I never actually pissed off Erwin the day we met
2. Fuck, I think I might be falling for the man.
3. Does it really take me being a damsel in distress to be wooed and won over in three seconds flat -_-?