"Well," Cass started, placing his hands on his hips as they stood in his office, the sunlight dipping below the horizon, "I guess we’re going to be down Sam and Byron from this point on." Edgar and Gideon nodded, both of their faces solemn.
"I’m sorry we weren’t prepared, Cass." Gideon apologised and Cass turned and gave him a furrowed, confused look.
"Why are you apologising? None of us were prepared. Should I apologise to you two for not setting anything into place?" He asked and watched as the two friends looked at him, shocked.
"What? No! You’ve done nothing wrong!" Gideon blurted out and Cass snorted. He gave a short nod, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, so then why are you apologsing? They aren’t going away forever. This is a good thing, and honestly, there was never going to be someone who could replace either of them, let alone both of them. We’ll just have to adapt." Cass said, sounding and feeling more optimistic of the situation then he thought he would.
Sam and Byron were gone. Lucian had to go with them because Byron, being the baby of the group despite being about as tall as Lucian, had over-estimated himself. He thought he could hold out for his lovely mate, but he was just a baby. Cass still was shaking his head at him, even as worry turned his stomach into knots. He knew that with Lucian going with them that everything was going to be okay.
While Lucian’s usual plan of attack was more physical in nature, he tended to be good in most situations. Cass hadn’t really regretted getting Lucian’s help for any of the situations he had problems with, and once he did get involved things did get handled. Cass just hoped that this was a similar situation.
"I’m worried about them. Byron did not look well." Edgar muttered. "Lucian didn’t look that bad when he left." Edgar muttered and Cass sighed.
"Yeah, I think that might have been the problem. No blame to Lucian, but they’re both dragons. I think pride comes in handfuls as soon as they age up from a fledgling. Seeing Lucian able to handle himself might have convinced Byron that he could do the same." Cass felt a strange sense of sympathy for Byron. "It’s like thinking I could handle what Cassian had gone through with his heat for years on my first try. It’s foolish, and until you go through it, you can’t ever understand it. We’re just lucky that Lucian is so capable." Cass muttered. Both Edgar and Gideon stared at Cass, their eyes filled with emotion.
"It surprises me that you can be so calm about this." Edgar told him, before he looked embarrassed that he’d even said that. "No, don’t respond to that. I just-" Cass chuckled, and Edgar halted.
"Edgar, when in the world did I say we couldn’t talk about this? My goodness, you’re practically my stand in Sam when it comes to office-y things. You have every right to ask me any of these questions, especially because you’re also...you." Cass ended, his face warming. He turned his gaze to Gideon. "The same goes for you. You’re allowed to ask me questions. I don’t know why either of you is hesitating now. You used to question everything I did before." Cass said, an amused smile on his face.
The two did not look as amused. In fact, they were pale. They didn’t seem to find it as funny as Cass did.
"We were in the wrong back then." Edgar said, sounding somber. Cass snorted.
"You had every reason to question me back then. I wasn’t a good man. I was doing bad things and then doing good things for my own personal gain, not to help anyone else. You’re allowed to still be curious about what I’m doing, I’m acknowledging that your intentions have changed. I don’t want you to stop being you." Cass said. "I like you best when you two are yourselves." Cass told them. The two seemed to freeze. Both men flushed, turning away from each other and looking very, very cute.
The tension in Cass’ gut faded slightly as he smiled at the foolish men. He gave them a moment, wondering what the hell they had been thinking about when Cass couldn’t really leave his rooms, before shaking his head with a sigh.
"Either way, Eddie, I wanted to ask something of you." Cass said and Edgar stiffened, his face warming at the soft way that Cass called his name.
"Yes? What do you need, Cass?" He asked and Cass moved towards him, taking his hand in his own and pulling him towards the solo bookcase that covered the secret spy room that Cass still hadn’t dealt with.
"Well, do you think we could fit a door on this far wall?" Cass asked and Edgar gave Cass a strange, confused look before he came to a halt beside Cass to stare at the wall.
"A...door?" Edgar repeated and Cass nodded.
"Yeah. A door." Cass felt Gideon come up behind them and he made a thoughtful sound from Cass’ right side, Edgar on his left.
"Hmm. I think you could. It would have to be a thinner door until you wanted to move the bookcase." Gideon said. Cass gave a sigh.
"We can’t, unfortunately. There is technically already a door there, I just haven’t dealt with it." Cass said. Both men looked at Cass in confusion but he wouldn’t clarify. "So, a thinner door? Hmm, I guess we’d just have to bring everything in one at a time." Cass had a brilliant idea and released Edgar’s hand to slam his fist against his palm, spinning so that he could see each other’s faces. "I can just make two doors and give the bigger door to the one into the hallway! That’s a brilliant idea, Gideon!" Cass said, excited and both men stared at him like he had two heads.
"What is going on, Cass? I’m afraid I’m not able to follow." Gideon said slowly, glancing at Edgar to see if he was able to catch onto what Cass was saying. Edgar gave a subtle shake of his head and Cass laughed.
"Well, I was worrying about how to maintain the structural integrity of the mansion while also potentially expanding my rooms and then I kicked myself for not using my whole brain. I have magic, I can just magic spaces. Normally you’d need the permission of the royal family, but since they can all kiss my ass, I don’t need that. Plus, I’m not a normal mage, so I really don’t need to go through the normal channels either. It would probably mean having to announce to the world that I am also a hero, and I don’t really want to do that either. Not like this, at least." Cass made a vague gesture to all of himself before turning and gesturing to the wall. "So! I decided that I’d just magic a space up instead!" Cass told them excitedly.
The two did seem to share in his excitement once he explained himself, but they still seemed a little confused.
"I’m glad that you found a solution, but I don’t think I’m able to see what the problem was in the first place, Cass." Edgar said carefully, like he was afraid to upset him. Cass beamed at Edgar.
"I wanted to give you your own office space. You’ve done so much for me Eddie, and I don’t think it’s fair that here you’re always bent over on the couches. However, I don’t really want to mess with this space because while it is mine now, it was Cassian’s first. I want to keep some of his safe spaces intact, but that doesn’t mean I can’t add to his spaces, right?" Cass said with a smile. "So, to reward all of your hard work and not take away from the promises I already made to you guys about sharing my space with you, I thought I’d just magic up an office space for you!" Cass told him excitedly.
Gideon’s face went blank, before a bright, lovely smile crossed his face. Edgar looked stunned. His jaw dropped, his hands raised to his lips and horrifyingly, his blue eyes started to water before spilling over. Cass panicked, Gideon panicked, and both men reached for him and pulled him into their arms. They layered him, Cass from the front, Gideon from the side as Edgar’s whole body shook.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you." Cass murmured. He should have asked instead of assuming that Edgar would want an office next to him. Maybe he wanted his own space? Cass didn’t want him far, but maybe he could make his office down the hall? Outside of his rooms but just? If that was what he wanted, Cass didn’t mind. He just didn’t think he could part from him for long.
"I-I’m not upset." Edgar gasped, the words sounding painful. He could barely speak through his blubbering, and Cass was shocked that he was crying so hard. He hadn’t seen him cry this hard in a while. "Y-You want to give me an office?" Edgar’s voice pitched strangely and Cass blamed the tears. Edgar looked embarrassed at the sound but Cass just gave him a squeeze.
"Yeah, I do." Cass told him. "But if you don’t want it attached to mine, that’s okay. I should have consulted you about where you’d like it. I just...I was kind of hoping to surprise you with the gift but I got too excited and everything with Sam and Byron made me want to think of something positive. I’m sorry if this was a shock to you." Cass apologised and Edgar cried harder.
"Don’t apologise." He sobbed. "This is more than I deserve." That made Cass frown and Cass raised his head to look at Gideon. Cass was shocked by the look in Gideon’s eyes. It was tender and sweet, yes, but he seemed to be able to understand where Edgar was coming from. Cass didn’t like that.
"Eddie, you do deserve it." Gideon told him softly. "You’ve been helping Cass by his side all this time. You’ve been acting as his hands and eyes, even his feet while he’s been confined. You’re doing far more than you think." Gideon spoke as if he understood exactly where Edgar was coming from, and what was wrong. Cass didn’t like that.
He had a sneaking, suspicious feeling that it was because the fool was thinking in the same way as Edgar was.
"Giddy, do you think I don’t have anything planned to reward you?" Cass asked and watched as Gideon jerked. "Or that I haven’t heard that you’ve been pushing yourself too hard?" Cass asked. He reached his arm out, pulling it out from in between Edgar and Gideon and wrapped it around Gideon’s back. "Do you think that I also haven’t noticed how you have been working so hard for me? Do you think I am incapable of rewarding both of you? I was only thinking of Eddie first because this was something I could do on my own, without others’ help. I wanted Eddie’s input on how to decorate his own office." Cass stared at the shocked, surprised, and confused face of Gideon while Edgar continued to cry between them.
"But I was just doing my duty." Gideon said solemnly and Cass growled. Edgar jerked, Gideon’s eyes going wider as Cass narrowed his. The happy, excited feeling was being replaced with anger. Not true anger, but he was growing frustrated with this pair. He pulled them both closer, squeezing them tightly.
"If only I was Lucian then my arms would be wider." Cass grumbled, annoyed he couldn’t hug them both the way that he wanted to. "You damn fools. Do I need to hold you both down and shower you in affection? What in the world have you two been thinking all this time? Why are you so surprised that I’m upset that you’ve been foolish?" Cass asked, knowing damn well that if Edgar was crying now, he was going to be inconsolable after Cass was done with him. Gideon wouldn’t be better.
They both froze, then began to look guilty. That only made Cass more annoyed. He had a feeling he was going to find their thoughts very familiar, and that only made him more annoyed.
Growling, Cass pulled himself away from them both only to grab their wrists and yank them towards the door to his office. Fools. He was going to prove it to them, right now.