The Pretender

Chapter 6

The next week fell into a pleasant rhythm. After finding out what shifts Lunettes was working, Break traded a few with Oscar so he could have more time to work on befriending him. Not that it was difficult, since Lunettes was being rather openly friendly, and appeared to intend to make a habit of making too much lunch for him and Vincent to eat whenever they had a lunch shift. The food was welcome since Break usually went out to eat, not being all that good a cooking.

He paid him back for it by frequent donations of candy to Lunettes' desk and when Lunettes showed up for an evening shift looking upset and without anything like dinner Break dragged him off when it came time for the dinner break. Some careful probing Break found out that Nightray and Lunettes had had a row, though he wouldn't say what about, and there was a red welt across the back of Lunettes' hand that he flatly refused to talk about.

Nightray kept his distance during this week, approaching Lunettes only when their shift was over and they were heading home. But he glared daggers at Break whenever he could get away with it and Break was sure that if Nightray caught him alone on the back stairwell he'd probably be the one tumbling down them next.

"He's not that bad." Lunettes said one morning shift when Break had sat on the floor of his cubicle to escape all the pictures of Tamara at him own desk and stuck up a conversation. "He's just… possessive. He likes to think he owns a person and gets upset when they do things that prove he doesn't."

"Does he own you, Lunettes?" Break asked, looking up from his box of sweets. All he could see was Lunettes' back as the other man bent over his desk, writing. There was a muffling spell on the cubicle so asking a personal question wouldn't get either of them in trouble.

Lunettes' shoulders tensed, then they relaxed. "Liam." he said.

"What?"

"No one calls me by my first name these days but Vincent." Lunettes said. "I sort of miss it."

His eye narrowed but he popped another sweet into his mouth and said. "Well, why not. Wouldn't wanting you to go forgetting your own name." Unlike, he added internally, you apparently did your last name when you wrote those transfer papers.

Some of that sarcastic thought must have slipped into his tone because Lunettes turned to give him a an odd look. "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing." Break said with a grin that he hoped was terribly distracting. "Just thinking devious thoughts."

"I don't doubt it." Lunettes said dryly. "By the way, are you planning on ever finishing that report?"

He actually stopped to consider his answer before remembering where he'd gotten to in the recital of events on paper and then he gave his usual flippant reply. "Nope."

Though his expression said he hadn't expected anything else Lunettes -or rather, Liam, rolled his eyes. "You do know you're going to have to do it eventually."

"Well, I'm still on medical leave." he shrugged. "What does anyone care what I get up to when technically I'm going it on my own time?"

"That's not going to last forever." Lunettes said warningly. "And pretty soon someone's going to notice what you're up to."

Break made a dismissive gesture. "Well, of course. But in the meantime I'm free to do as I wish."

"When aren't you?" Liam muttered in a tone too annoyed to be sincere about it.

And Break threw a candy at the back of his head.

Two days from that talk Break had slipped out of the office to the back stairwell for a smoke when he had a most unwelcome visitor. One of the double doors creaking open gave him enough warning to turn and see Vincent Nightray entering before he was right behind him.

"Why hello there." said Nightray, the smile crawling across his face unpleasant. He made no move to take out a cigarette.

Break gave him a nod and moved so the man wasn't standing where it was so hard to see him. He was still getting used to having such a blind spot and the idea of Vincent Nightray in it made him quite nervous. He didn't quite reach into his pocket for his wand but his hand did itch to, there was something about Nightray that he just didn't like.

Drifting over to stand next to him Nightray somehow managed to position himself on the edge of his blind spot again, forcing Break to turn his head to keep him in his sightline. "That's quite a nasty habit." Nightray commented.

With a casual flick of ash off the end of his cigarette Break said, "Then I suppose it makes perfect sense for you to do it too. How fitting."

"Now that's not very nice." Nightray pouted. "Whatever have I done to you?"

Thinking about the red welt across the back of Lunettes' hand and the way the man flinched when Nightray touched him Break gave him a grim little smile. "Oh, nothing."

The step Nightray took toward him had the distinctive cast of something threatening. "You know, I have noticed the large amount of time you suddenly seem to be spending around my partner. Trying to fill a hole, Break?"

The offhand mention of Tamara made Break grit his teeth. "Your partner is nothing like her."

"Then why are you trying to steal him away?" demanded Nightray, his voice suddenly vicious.

Cigarette halfway to his mouth Break froze. "What?" he asked.

"That is what you're up to, isn't it." Nightray's tone had dropped to a deadly hiss and the hand he dipped into his robe came up with his wand. "Pouring poisonous thoughts into his ears."

For the first time Break really looked into those bicolored eyes and saw the insanity lurking in them. How on earth had the rest of world failed to see this? How had he? He arranged his face into a mildly surprised expression. "It looks as if you already have some poisonous thoughts of your own. I'm not after stealing your partner."

He moved even closer. "Ah, but that's exactly what you would say if you were."

"You don't leave me a lot of room to prove my innocence." Break said, quietly letting his cigarette fall from his fingers so both his hands were free. "It seems as if you have already made up your mind that I'm guilty."

"Because you are." Nightray said calmly. And then he lashed out with a spell.

Thankfully Break had been expecting this and he had his wand out before the spell was even fully formed on Nightray's lips. The shield he summoned bounced the spell back at Nightray, who had to dodge out of the way to avoid it. Break took the opportunity to back up toward the opposite wall to give himself room to fight.

Both men observed each other, wands drawn, each practically vibrating with adrenaline and restrained urge to do violence on each other.

They might have done just that had the door to the stairwell not opened just then. Oscar Vessalius paused at the scene he'd walked into and blinked. "Um… do I want to know?"

That broke the tension which had been edging toward bloodshed. Nightray was the first to lower his wand, followed by Break. The smile Nightray gave Vessalius was innocent. "Just a minor disagreement."

Break made a vague sound of assent; he had yet to take his eyes off of Nightray, who he expected of anything at the moment.

"Right." Oscar said, his voice skeptical. "Minor, huh?"

"Very." Nightray stowed his wand. "So minor I don't feel it worth pursuing further. And there's work for me to get back to, Liam will be most distressed if it's not done." So saying he began to drift toward the door.

"Yes," Break said. "I imagine Liam would be."

Nightray's shoulders stiffened. The he turned just enough to give a razor edged smile over his shoulder. "Keep imagining." he said and then left.

A few moments of stunned silence later Oscar brought a cigarette and thoughtfully lit it with his wand tip. "You know, I don't think that could have been more awkward."

With a sigh Break too got out a cigarette to replace the one of the currently on the floor and ground the first one out with the toe of his boot. He lit the new cigarette and very gladly took the first comforting drag off it. "It could have been worse."

"You had each other by wand point. I don't see how it could be worse than that." Oscar said.

"I'm not bleeding at the bottom of the stairs." he pointed out. "Everything's up from there."

"Did anyone ever tell you you're quite the optimist?"

"Aaaaall the time." Break drawled back. It was fine that when Oscar moved to stand next to him that he was standing on his blind side, Oscar Vessalius he trusted.

"You have been spending an awful lot of time hanging around Lunettes. The office is rife with rumor, especially since no one's really ever seen you look twice at someone let alone take an interest in them." Oscar blew a smoke ring. "I don't suppose you'd decide to let me in on what you're trying to do, beyond braving Nightray's wrath by befriending Lunettes like we're all too leery of those scissors attempt to."

"Now that would ruin all the fun." he chirruped cheerfully. "And you're assuming I have some grand, elaborate plan behind what I'm doing. I could just be making this up as I go along."

"Because I know you." Oscar replied just as cheerfully. "And you're not the type to take interest in people unless there's something holding that interest. Plus looking at Lunettes with a casual eye it's hard to see what would make you so interested."

"He might surprise you." Break blew a cloud of smoke and then made a small motion with his wand, which made the smoke into a nice little star, before it dispersed. "He's got quite a temper."

"I've actually noticed that already," chuckled Oscar, "He's come after me a few time times because my paperwork's been off. And don't change the subject."

Break shrugged. "Well, feel free to think up some spectacularly evil shenanigans for me to be involved in. I would hate for my reputation to be besmirched by not sounding as if I'm half as conniving as the others think I am."

"I'll get right on that." Oscar replied.

What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?

(The Pretender)

TBC