Chase walked past Shelley without so much as a glance, his eyes focused on the room he entered. As soon as the door shut, the warlord looked around. The office was vast, decorated in dark carved marble. A giant window took up the wall opposite the door with a view of Hong Kong. Chase's eyes flitted over the other doors in the room before finding the sole other occupant.
Jack Spicer sat tall in his chair behind his large desk. He looked different then Chase remembered him. Cleaner, calmer, beautiful. As the warlord approached the desk, Jack stood up, his hand held out for a respectful handshake. This surprised Chase, but he went along with it and shook the younger man's hand.
"Chase, long time no see." Jack said cordially. Chase nodded, focused more on their joined hands. He was being as gentle as he could, remembering Jack's tendency to bruise easily, but Jack's grip was firm. They released each other smoothly, Jack gesturing to a comfortable-looking chair opposite him. They both sat, Chase could not help but notice the albino man lowering himself with grace.
"Can I offer you some refreshments? I have Tieguanyin or would you rather Jun Shan?" The courteous gesture of playing the good host had never failed Jack, but Chase could not help but stare. He decided to test this statement, quirking a brow just so.
"Jun Shan." Chase saw Jack begin to move forward toward a touch screen built into his desk before adding, "Please." A subdued smile split onto the pale man's face as he tapped in the order. Once finished, he sat back, intending to ask why Chase was sitting in his office when the ancient warlord was speaking again.
"You're much… calmer than I expected."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked slowly, a worry line in his forehead becoming more pronounced. Chase shifted purposefully in his chair, hiding his own uncertainty.
"To be completely honest, Spicer, I was expecting you to scream and attempt to have me thrown out." It was to the warlord's surprise when his host chuckled. A few robots came in, silently a placed a cup of tea before Chase and a mug of coffee before their master before leaving just as quickly and silently. Jack picked up his mug, breathing in the steam before taking a sip.
"Heh, come back three years ago for that reaction."
Chase picked up and inhaled the aroma of his tea before cocking an eyebrow at Jack.
"Oh?"
"Mm." Jack hummed, drinking his coffee. He set it down and considered Chase for a moment.
"Actually, that's only half true. It would've depended on the day. I either would've screamed at you or begged you to kill me."
Jun Shan Golden Needles tea is the rarest tea in the world, but that did not stop Chase from spitting it across Jack's desk. Gold eyes stared at the albino, who casually sipped his coffee as if what he had just said were the most natural thing in the world.
"What?"
Jack glanced up at the immortal Chinese man before setting down his mug and preparing himself for a long explanation.
"I was… In a very bad place. The company was having trouble getting on its feet, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and fell into depression. Like a moron, I turned to drugs instead of seeking medical help. I used whatever I could get my hands on, as long as it made me forget who I was and my failures, I didn't care what. I hurt myself and was constantly swinging between violent and melancholy." He turned his gaze to the window, a tiny smile appearing on his face as he continued, "The monks came to see me during those years. I'm pretty sure I scared them, when they saw me like that. I flipped out on them, had them thrown out. I was wasted… So gone. Probably be dead or in a crack house if it weren't for Shelley."
"Shelley?" Chase voiced, a swirl of curiosity in his chest beating back the jealousy that attempted to rear its head. Jack's smile grew wider, which was not helping.
"My assistant, she showed you in. I met her years ago when she was a business student at a party my parents' asked me to attend. I had called her up when I started the business for a few pointers. She came in to see how I was doing with it, found me passed out and took me to the hospital." Jack grinned, a breathy laugh escaping him. "Shelley knocked the sense back into me, helped me get back on my feet and helped me get my business to the point it is today. I keep asking her to be my business partner, but she tells me she has enough of a job as my assistant and stand-in mother." His voice trailed off, not quite looking at Chase as he reached for his coffee again.
They sat in silence for a while, the only sounds the occasional sips of tea or coffee until their cups were empty and left forgotten on the desk. Finally, Jack looked Chase square in the eye.
"So, why are you here after all these years?" There was no bite to his tone, though some part of Chase wished there were. Jack no longer sounded like the cocky wanna-be evildoer that looked up to him with so much adoration. He looked like a proper deal-cutting businessman, with a charitable hand despite his past discrepancies. The warlord rose from his chair and walked over to the oversized window, gazing out over downtown Hong Kong. He waited, listening as Jack got up and followed him, curious for his answer. When the younger man joined him in staring out over the city, Chase asked a question of his own.
"Why are you helping people? Improving society and giving your machines as charity?" Jack's smile was reflected in the glass.
"How else am I to get my technology into every home in the world?" Chase looked at Jack, surprised that he had to crane his neck slightly to meet his eyes as Jack looked at him. The albino genius was still smiling, but it was not a nice smile. In fact, it was the same cocky, villainous smile Chase remembered. At the cock of an eyebrow, Jack looked over his shoulder before doing something he had not done in a very long time. He began to reveal his plan to Chase.
"I've bought out several other companies that have or use my technology so most people won't even know they have it. Everything I sell has a base program that can't be manipulated or contaminated, no matter how often it's reused or reset. Even if it's wiped clean, the base program will still be there. Once there's a product in every household, store, business, etc. I'll activate the base program."
"And when you do?" Chase asked, sensing that Jack was waiting for the question. The smile got darker, more sinister, making the albino look malicious and, in Chase's opinion, delectably gorgeous.
"World domination."
