Disclaimer: Still not mine...need to go win the lottery and buy Hasbro first...
A/N: As usual, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated and lurved! ^.^
- Chapter 2 -
It was impossible not to make the obvious connection once the trucker told me his name, especially since he was climbing into a big blue and white truck, but I firmly reminded myself that Magnus was an actual human name - a Scandinavian one, too, which fit with his looks - and told him it was nice to meet him before saying goodbye and turning back to the bus stop. I even managed to wave as Magnus drove past a few minutes later, and he waved back.
I called in to work sick the next two days, too agitated to think straight. My mind kept going in is-he-or-isn't-he-an-Autobot circles, and when it wasn't doing that, it was trying to decide if either result was good or bad. I made myself go back the third day, though, knowing that Eric would start making pointed comments about my job otherwise. I was distracted all day, and it wasn't until I dropped an order that I snapped out of it. The fuss over that got me focused on my work again, and then I was back to business as usual, putting the whole subject behind me as irrelevant.
Until Magnus showed up again two weeks later. With a friend. Who was pretty much impossible to not recognize, even before Magnus introduced him.
"Uh, nice to meet you, Orien," I said, trying my best to act normal as Magnus introduced his 'brother'. I was having a hard time not glancing out into the parking lot constantly at the flame-decaled Peterbilt that 'Orien' had arrived in. It was official - I was serving the - holoforms? robotic avatars? - of Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime. Either that or there was a coincidence of cosmic proportions occurring.
"Likewise," Orien said pleasantly, smiling.
"Soooo, coffee for both of you?" I guessed.
"Tea, actually," Orien replied.
"Earl grey or herbal?" I asked.
"Do you have mint?" Orien asked in reply, and I nodded. "I'll have that."
"Alright, I'll be right back with your drinks then," I said with a smile, and headed off. I took a brief detour on the way to get their drinks, ducking into the bathroom and staring wide-eyed at myself in the mirror as I tried to make the surreal sensation of that short conversation go away. Apparently Optimus Prime liked mint tea. Or liked to pretend to like mint tea? I shook my head, telling myself to stop being silly and get back to work.
It only got worse when I emerged from the bathroom, though. I was carrying 'Orien' and Magnus's drinks to them when I happened to glance out at the parking lot...and saw a bright yellow-green search and rescue hummer and a huge black truck with familiar smoke stacks parked next to the Peterbilt. Somehow I was unsurprised when the two guys entering the restaurant just as I looked up, a gruff looking army guy and a paramedic, headed in the same direction as me, arriving just before me. I waited for them to sit down before handing Magnus his coffee and 'Orien' his tea, then looked to the two newcomers.
"Anything for you two?" I asked , wondering if my voice sounded strained to any of them, or if I was just imagining things.
"Coffee," Ratchet said.
"No," said Ironhide, glaring up at me.
"Alright, be right back," I replied, forcing a smile, and got the extra coffee as quickly as I could before heading off to help my other tables. Hyper-aware of them as I was, it was impossible not to notice that one of the four from that table seemed to be watching me at all times as I went about my duties, and I grew more and more tense as my shift wore on. When Chelsey finally showed up to replace me, the four of them were still there, talking quietly amongst themselves and still on the same drinks. I disappeared to the back and stayed there, watching them on the security camera in Eric's office, waiting for them to leave. Eventually, however, I gave up and just snuck out the back...only to discover the big black truck had moved. Unsurprisingly, a few moments after I stopped dead, staring at the truck, Magnus and Ironhide came around the corner.
"Oh, Terry. I thought you'd left awhile ago," Magnus commented as he saw me.
"Ya-huh," I said, turning to look at him blankly. "What do you guys want?" It was their turn to freeze.
"What do you mean? We don't want anything," Magnus said after a beat.
"Yeah. Sure," I said dubiously, glancing from them to the truck.
"We don't," Magnus insisted.
"OK, cool, then why did you guys wait until I left to leave the restaurant? And why did this truck move around back, when it was out front to start with?" I asked innocently.
"Er -" Magnus paused.
"I had a friend move it to get it out of the sun. And we're just leaving now because we're done," Ironhide grumbled, stalking over to the truck and opening the door. Climbing in, he turned and glared at me. "Are you done interrogating customers now?" I rocked back on my heels and debated my possible answers.
"Yeah, I'm done," I finally settled on, feeling far too frazzled to go toe-to-giant-toe with Ironhide right now. "Going home now." I suited actions to words, heading off without a backwards glance.
Magnus was back the next day, apologizing for his 'friend'.
"He's just a little gruff with people, it's his way," Magnus finished - he'd caught me outside enjoying the sun on my break, so I didn't really have an excuse to cut him off when he came up and said hi.
"That's fine, I was being unnaturally paranoid anyways," I said shortly, doing my best to get across that I didn't want to talk. There was an uncomfortable silence. "I'm sure Chelsey would be more than happy to serve you your coffee," I said without looking over at him.
"I don't exactly come here for the coffee," he said dryly, and I frowned over at him.
"You like to teeter on the edge of the 'creepy' category, don't you?" I asked.
"Only in regards to you," he replied, looking amused. I gave him a suspicious look.
"I'm not sure whether I should be flattered, or running back inside and calling the police," I said finally, more for show than anything else, because I was honestly starting to get curious as to what he, a giant robotic alien, could want with me, a lowly waitress that had been very careful not to show any signs of being anything unusual.
"I'd prefer flattered, but it's your choice," Magnus said with a faint grin.
"Well, I'd need more information to make an informed choice," I replied, pondering.
"How about I give you whatever information you require to make that choice over dinner? Say, tonight after you're off?" Magnus replied pleasantly. I stared at him, for perhaps a few moments longer than was normal, before replying.
"Ok." Somehow, I just couldn't turn down what sounded suspiciously like a date with an Autobot.
Magnus left after my break was over, and didn't show up again until I was off - apparently he already knew when I was going to be off. I was glad I kept a change of clothes at work, just case, so I didn't have to go meet him in my uniform, but it was somehow worse that way. The uniform had been a kind of barrier before - it was available as an excuse to escape. But now, here, climbing into Magnus' cab - I tried to be somewhat surprised that we were taking 'his truck' - it felt far too real and I was unexpectedly tense. Magnus glanced over at me as the engine started, and frowned slightly.
"If you're not comfortable riding with me, you could take a cab," he offered. I fought back a giggle and tried not to make a comment about how much of a downgrade a cab would be.
"I'm fine," I said, and did my best to summon a reassuring smile. Magnus didn't look like he believed me, but he pulled out of the parking lot, heading down the street. "So where are we going?" I asked once we were on the street, to avoid an awkward silence.
"There's a restaurant not far from here that, I've been told, makes some amazing pasta. I figured since your menu is a little scarce on that, you might appreciate it," Magnus replied.
"Good choice," I commented. "I love pasta." We made more small talk as we drove to the restaurant. It was a bit classier than I was used to, but it didn't have a dress code, and my clothes were ambiguous enough to pass for classy. I was impressed that Magnus actually ordered food, and sipped from his drink. I was even more impressed when he actually ate the pasta he ordered, and wondered why he and the other Autobots hadn't eaten or drank while they were at Eric's restaurant. We chatted throughout the meal, about nothing in particular - I danced around anything prior to my arrival here, and he tried not to give away anything odd about his past, so we were a little limited on personal history topics. It was enjoyable, however, and I found that we had some similar ideas and opinions, unless he was just completely pulling my leg. I tried to steer the conversation away from human-specific topics as much as I could, anyways, though it was a bit sticky if I stopped and thought about it too much. We mostly ended up with philosophy for a topic, which was interesting, since I hated philosophy.
Eventually, we finished eating, and after an after-dinner wine, Magnus paid the bill and we headed out, falling quiet as we headed for his truck.
"So, is there anything planned for after dinner?" I asked curiously.
"I figured I'd wait and see if you'd decided to be flattered or call the police, first, before I made any further plans," Magnus said conspiratorially as we paused by his truck. I laughed.
"I think I've settled on flattered, if a little confused," I told him honestly.
"Confused?" Magnus asked, seeming amused.
"You show up in my restaurant one day, act like a creepy stalker, then a couple months and some random encounters later, you ask me out on a date. Where did this come from?" I asked, waving my hand vaguely through the air. It was an honest question, if vague and open to interpretation depending on what one assumed the other person knew.
"That's generally the big mystery, isn't it?" he asked, grinning, and I gave him a wry smile, half wishing I could tell him that I knew he was an Autobot just to get a real answer. Then again, it was entirely possible that the answer would be the same. Which was...an interesting thought. "So, since you've decided not to call the police, I hear there's some good movies playing in the theatres."
"Oh my, dinner and a movie? Aren't we going all-out," I commented, but reached for the door handle, climbing into the truck as Magnus headed for the other side. "What did you have in mind to see?" I asked once he was in.
"I figured we could decide once we got there," Magnus said with a smile as the truck started. Of course, that prompted a pre-decision discussion about the movies that were playing, so that by the time we got to the theatre, we'd pretty much decided on the new Star Trek movie, which amused me to no end, especially since Magnus was politely neutral about it (but we both agreed that it was better than anything else playing).
Watching the movie was fun, since Magnus kept squirming in his seat every time there was technobabble, until I asked him quietly if he had a problem with the tech in the movie. At my prompting, he dropped the normal-trucker routine for the first time that night, explaining in an undertone to me how the things they were mentioning weren't physically possible. He managed to relate it to known human physics - what I knew of them - which impressed me, but he went above and beyond my high school science courses. I inwardly mused that it was a good thing I knew he wasn't a normal trucker, because he'd just totally blown his cover - not that there weren't intelligent truckers out there, but generally someone who knew as much about advanced physics as he was letting on to would probably, y'know, have a job dealing with advanced physics. As it was, I didn't bother pressing him for how he knew all of this, though any normal girl might have.
After the movie, we both agreed it was time for me to get home, since it was late, and Magnus drove me there once I gave him instructions, even walking me up to the door of my apartment. I wasn't sure what I was expecting at the end of the night, but I was pleased with the hug and polite 'goodnight', as well as the usual 'I had a good time, and I hope you did too - we should do this again soon' type comments, complete with the silly grins that meant the comments were genuine and not just either of us being polite. I went up to my apartment with a grin on my face, and later, as I climbed into bed, I decided that I was going to treat the whole he's-an-Autobot thing like my arrival here - it didn't exist. I would pretend, for as long as it was possible, that he was exactly what he presented himself to be.
Having made that decision, it was surprisingly easy to stick with. I was perhaps a bit more understanding about certain things than I would have been if I hadn't known - always taking his truck around San Fran, for example - but that couldn't be helped. So I just enjoyed it as Magnus kept showing up at odd times, sometimes coming in only for coffee, sometimes making plans with me. The other staff found it both hilarious and weird, since they'd all heard about 'creepy trucker dude' from his first few visits. Eric just rolled his eyes and enjoyed reminding me about the time I had him take over waiting tables for me.
Our dates were fun, though Magnus could probably go down in history as the least pushy guy ever for a date. It was a month before he tried a kiss, but he seemed awkward enough at it that I suspected the delay was because it was a human thing, which the Cybertronians had no equivalent for. Anything more was probably similar, so I just let him lead. I was still trying not to think too hard on the whole 'is Ultra Magnus really interested in me in a romantic sense?' question anyways - I tried one night and spent most of it just staring blankly up at the ceiling, thinking in circles. There wasn't much I could sort out regarding the reasons for his sudden interest in me without getting more information - information which would require revealing that I knew about him being an alien. So I just let it be. He could tell me when he wanted.
It was six months down the strange, but enjoyable, road when I walked into work to find Eric and Chelsey waiting for me, grins on their faces.
"Uhm - am I missing something?" I asked, wide-eyed. Chelsey grinning like that was never a good sign. Eric grinning like that was an even worse sign.
"Yes, the start to your vacation," Chelsey replied.
"The what?" I asked in surprise, looking over at Eric.
"Your boyfriend stopped by awhile back when you weren't in and asked if you had any time off. Since you didn't, and you haven't had any since you started working here, I told him to pick some time and I'd kick you out. He picked this weekend," Eric said. "And don't worry, I'll give you extra shifts to make up for the time lost."
"Oh, but -" I looked around the restaurant, confused.
"He's out back," Chelsey supplied.
"Now shoo. Go enjoy yourself," Eric made shooing motions with his hands, and shaking my head and laughing, I went. Magnus was indeed sitting around back, lounging in his driver's seat, and grinned when I came around and hopped in the passenger side.
"I hope you don't mind," he said first off.
"I hope you realize I have nothing packed," I told him with equal good humour.
"Ah, to that you have two options - you can either use the trip for some shopping, or we can go pick something up from your place now," he said.
"Considering I don't want to wear my uniform for the rest of the day, and I'm flat broke in the clothes shopping department, I vote for the second option," I replied.
"You wouldn't have to pay," he commented, but pulled out and headed for my place anyways. I teased him about having unlimited money, and we had a slightly surreal conversation about how much a trucker earned vs. a waitress - surreal for me, at least, because I knew that wasn't how he made his money. At home, I packed quickly, and simply. Eric had said the weekend, and since it was Friday and I normally had Mondays off, I only had to pack for three more days. I was back in Magnus' truck, my bag tossed in the back, within half an hour, and we were on the highway less than an hour after that.
"So where are we headed?" I asked as we drove.
"I figured I'd show you where I hang out when I'm not in San Francisco, being creepy," Magnus teased. He, like Eric, still brought that up occasionally. I groaned.
"Oh come on, let it drop already!" I whined, only partly serious, and he laughed.
"In all seriousness, there's a nice town in northern California called Tranquility," Magnus responded. I forced myself to keep a straight face.
"So all this time you've been, what, 5 hours away?" I took a guess based on distances and what I knew of the location of Tranquility, looking amused, and Magnus chuckled.
"I do travel a bit, you know. But yes, when I'm not doing anything else, I'm 5 hours away," he said. We chatted a bit more, but eventually the conversation fell silent. I wasn't one for talking during long trips in a vehicle - I enjoyed the scenery too much, especially when I hadn't seen it before. And as a bonus, after a few minutes of me watching out the window in interest, Magnus turned on the radio to a classical station. California landscape plus classical music, and amazing company, made the trip already worthwhile. Magnus seemed pleased.
I didn't know what to expect when we got to Tranquility, so I tried not to be too surprised when he pulled up at an actual house.
"It's my brother, Orien's - his and his wife's," Magnus supplied as I shot him a curious look. "Come on, I'll introduce you." I found myself surprised as I was introduced to 'Ariel', who welcomed me to the house, and as I looked around, for the first time I wondered if I might be wrong about Magnus being an Autobot - the house looked normal, and lived in by Orien and Ariel. It was very strange and surreal, and I was a good deal more tense than I should have been when Ariel gave me the official tour. Apparently, Magnus and I were also staying there, Magnus in 'his' room, and me in the guest room - so long at I didn't mind. I was quick to assure Ariel I didn't.
After the tour of the house, Ariel made some comment about getting supper ready, and I made an offer to help, before Magnus pulled me out 'for a walk'. He seemed to think I needed rescuing or something, and as we headed out past the pink motorcycle in the rear driveway, I realized I did. I tried not to look around for a familiar big blue truck that was probably following us as we walked, just enjoying the occasional conversation with Magnus and trying to relax.
It wasn't so easy to do once we got back to the house, however. It felt surreal to have supper with three maybe-Autobots, and I readily took to Magnus' suggestion of showing me around Tranquility after supper. He seemed to know how tense I was, keeping the whole thing very casual, but around ten, he turned and gave me a serious look.
"If you're not comfortable at Orien's, I can get a hotel room. It's not a problem," he said.
"No, no - it's fine," I said. A hotel wouldn't make anything easier.
"Are you sure? You seem...tense," Magnus commented. I shrugged, digging for an excuse.
"It's just, y'know, weekend away...meet your family. Bit stressful at first. I'm sure I'll relax," I said, going with the tried-and-true. Magnus seemed a little startled at the excuse.
"Oh, of course, I should have thought - I'm sorry," he apologized. "I should have rented a hotel for the weekend."
"No, it's fine. It's nice to meet your family," I said with a smile - and it was. As weird and strange as it was to have dinner with who I assumed was Optimus Prime and Elita One, it was nice to meet some people who knew Magnus. For once, the in-jokes and teasing were in his direction, and not mine, like they were at the restaurant.
"As long as you're sure. I can rent a hotel room at any time," he offered seriously, then when I, laughing, reassured him again that it was fine, he started up his engine and headed back. Orien and Ariel were nowhere to be found when we were back - even their vehicles were gone - but I was feeling tired after the trip, so Magnus and I said goodnight, going to separate rooms. It was weird, that, but the goodnight kiss I got was also one of the more enthusiastic. I wondered if Orien and Ariel were going to disappear mysteriously every night, and if that was the point of the trip. I decided not to think too much on it, and went to bed.
Orien and Ariel turned out to be gone for the entire weekend - Magnus explained somewhat sheepishly the next morning that apparently they'd decided to sneak off on their own romantic weekend, since he was there to play host and watch over the house. I suspected there was a bit more to it than that, but I didn't question. I also didn't question the occasional flashy vehicles that stopped outside the house, nor the brief visit from Ariel's 'student', one Sam Witwicky - I spent it hiding behind a book (they actually had nicely stocked shelves, with a variety of subject matter) in the living room while Sam and Magnus talked quietly in the kitchen.
All in all, the weekend was enjoyable, if still a little weird and surreal. Magnus still didn't progress beyond some lusty goodnight kisses and snuggling - I was beginning to doubt that he ever would, and I was still trying to figure out if I was fine with that. I mean, sex would have been nice, but I wasn't one of those girls that would dump a guy over his performance, or lack thereof, in bed. So the total absence of sex wasn't too hard for me to accept, even if it was a big change from every guy I've ever dated.
In the end, when I was back in San Francisco on Monday, I had enjoyed the break, and was more relaxed and happy than normal when I returned to work.
Two days later, an official-looking man showed up and asked for Eric. The resulting meeting in his office produced a tight-lipped Eric telling me the gentleman wanted to speak with me. I went cautiously, aware that I may have a few more enemies than I knew about due to my relationship with Magnus. Still, it was in the middle of a restaurant in the middle of the day - there wasn't too much they could do. And Magnus had given me his phone number awhile back, and there was a phone in Eric's office - my cross-reality cell phone had stopped working awhile back.
"Miss Gorman, is it? Why don't you have a seat," the suit said as I entered Eric's office. He was in Eric's chair, putting him closer to the phone, but I didn't want to panic just yet, so I sat. "My name is Trevor Hammond. I'm with Citizenship and Immigration Services." I inwardly groaned - nothing suspicious and Autobot-related here, just my own shit coming back to bite me.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mister Hammond," I said outwardly, keeping my voice pleasant.
"I hope it's likewise," he said gravely. "I'm here because we've recently had some concerns raised about your citizenship. It seems your official information is not on file, and Mister Foster -" Eric, "- doesn't have it, either."
"In other words, you want to know if I'm an illegal immigrant," I said, stalling for time as I tried to think of an excuse. Those employers that would hire under the table usually didn't ask too many questions, so I hadn't had to come up with one before now, though I realized too late that I really should have.
"In a word, yes," Hammond replied, sitting forward and giving me a direct look. "You don't fit the profile, but the lack of information is damning." Fortunately, as he said that, I had a brain storm, remembering a problem one of my friends had had, before I ended up in this reality.
"Yes, well, if the guys who issue birth certificates weren't so difficult, I'd have information," I told him. "My mom gave birth at home, with a midwife. My dad was supposed to file the birth certificate, but he was a bit flakey and never did. It's been causing me trouble for years. I've been trying to get the government to admit I exist since I was sixteen."
"Ah, yes, we do run into this problem occasionally," Hammond seemed relieved. "How about I speed things up for you, then?" Reaching inside his jacket, Hammond pulled out a form, laying it on the desk and grabbing one of Eric's pens. "You fill this out, and I'll get your birth certificate all sorted out and get you a social security number so you don't have to see me again." I hesitated only briefly before taking the pen - I knew this was where it was going to fall apart. Still, I took the form and filled it out as truthfully as possible, though I changed the locations from Canada, where I'd lived pre-reality switch, to the States. I handed it back with a smile that was more relaxed than I felt, and Hammond said his goodbyes before heading out. Once he was gone, Eric looked at me and told me to go home - he'd already called in a replacement, not knowing how long I'd be (or, unsaid, if I'd get deported), and I wasn't looking that good either. I thanked him, made sure I did still have a job, and then headed home.
I was both unsurprised, and not, to find Magnus there. I wondered briefly if he'd been the one to send Hammond, but he had a smile for me, so he either he had no part in it, or the background check hadn't come in yet - in fact, it might not come in for weeks, I realized. The government was slow that way.
"Hey, this is a surprise," I said pleasantly, pushing it all from my mind as I gave Magnus a hug.
"Well, I stopped by the restaurant, but Eric said you'd gone home early," Magnus replied. "You OK?"
"Yeah, fine. Just tired and stressed," I told him, then motioned to my apartment building. "Want to come in?"
"Sure," he said, following me inside. "I'm sorry that the relaxation from our weekend has worn off so quickly."
"It's no big deal," I said, giving him a small smile. "Just getting used to the grind after time away, I guess."
"Ah, of course," Magnus said with a smile, and promptly did his best to distract me from work for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It worked, too, until Hammond showed up at my door. I knew he was coming before the doorbell rang, because Magnus suddenly tensed, drawing away from me. We'd been cuddling on the couch, making fun of a TV show, before that, so I knew something was up, and I wasn't surprised when I found Hammond was on the other end of the intercom. Even though I'd tried to convince myself that it could take weeks for the background check to come back, I'd suspected it wouldn't. I didn't bother asking Magnus to leave, since I figured at this point, he had to know something unusual was up, and would want to know the details anyways.
"So. You're back," I said as I invited Hammond to have a seat. I didn't bother asking how he'd known my address - it was one of the few true facts on the form I'd given him (at least in this reality).
"Yes, I am. Which, unfortunately for you, is not a good thing," Hammond said seriously, and tossed the form I'd filled out on the table. "None of your information checks out. Your 'parents' don't exist, neither does the 'midwife'. None of the schools you listed have evidence of you having attended them." I smiled sadly at the form - the midwife I'd put down was actually one of my aunts, who was a practicing family doctor. "So. Where are you from, Miss Gorman?" I couldn't help but chuckle at that, somewhat bitterly.
"Nowhere," I told him, and picked up the form. "Most of the information on here is correct - just not the places. But it wouldn't matter, because I've already looked everyone up with the right places and can't find them. So far as I can find out, I don't exist, and none of my family does, either."
"What are you talking about?" Hammond looked confused, and I didn't blame him. I glanced over at Magnus, who seemed to be listening just as intently as Hammond at this point. I figured, with him here, it was probably safe to come as clean as I dared.
"I was born and raised in Canada. My mother and father were, too, as well as their brothers and sisters. Their parents, my grandparents, were likewise from Canada, albeit from opposite sides. We were legal citizens, with all the appropriate paperwork, and I had jobs, even went to university. Technically I have a BA from the U of C, though you won't find any record of it," I said seriously. "Because one night, I went out drinking with friends in Calgary, and I woke up the next morning in the drunk tank here in San Francisco and discovered I didn't exist anymore. Every evidence of my presence, and that of my family and friends, had disappeared, official or not. No bank accounts, no facebook - my cell phone worked for about a month before getting cut off, and that's probably because I was piggybacking on someone else's account. I have no idea what happened, I've just been trying to work around it."
"You didn't think to contact the government about this?" Hammond asked incredulously.
"And tell you what, that my life doesn't exist anymore?" I asked with a snort. "As far as I knew, you guys could have been responsible, and it's a pretty unbelievable story, besides."
"I suppose," Hammond said. "I'm not sure I would believe you even a bit if not for how you defy the illegal immigrant profile. I'm still not sure that I -" Hammond was cut off by his phone ringing, and he excused himself to go answer it. Once he was gone, I turned to look at Magnus, who was watching me curiously.
"So, now you know my deep dark secret," I said with dry amusement. "Any thoughts, comments?"
"You are amazingly resilient," he said after a moment's thought.
"Thank you, I think," I said with a small frown.
"It's a compliment," Magnus reassured me, leaning over and giving me a peck on the cheek.
"So what about you, any deep dark secrets?" I asked teasingly, knowing the answer and curious to see what he'd say. He chuckled.
"If I do, you'll just have to wait until a government agency calls me on them," he replied just as teasingly.
"Ouch! That hurt," I said with a laugh. We joked back and forth a bit more before Hammond returned.
"Alright, I've got to go, but I'll look into your situation for you. For now, it's business as usual for you. I can't promise it'll stay that way, but I'll try my best," he said with a smile.
"Thanks for trying, at least," I said, shaking his hand before seeing him out. Once he was gone, I returned to the living room where Magnus was, frowning around me for a moment. "Is it paranoid to think that was a little too easy?"
"He did imply he had more important things to look into, and you're not exactly a threat to the country," Magnus commented with amusement.
"I suppose," I said, continuing to frown. Magnus got up from the couch and came over to me, cupping my face in his hands and making me look at him.
"It will be fine," he said soothingly, then kissed me lightly. Afterwards, he grinned. "If worst comes to worst and you get kicked out of the country, I'll just follow you, anyways. I'm creepy like that." I laughed and shoved him away.
"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" I asked.
"Nope," he replied unrepentedly, returning to the couch, and I joined him as he grabbed the remote and flicked it back on.