"Back to the important topic.", with a swift movement, Silco let himself fall onto the couch and threw his head back. "You were gone for ages. That wasn't the deal."

Immediately annoyed, you dropped the bag on the desk, next to all the samples.

"The deal never implied that I am not allowed to leave.", you growled. "But don't worry, I won't be able to go anywhere any time soon."

"Oh? How so?"

Biting your lips, you considered if it would be smart to tell him or not. But if you didn't, Sevika might.

Sevika.

You turned to him, a sweet expression on your face.

"I'll tell you, but I need a favour beforehand.", you demanded.

Raising an eyebrow, he looked at you.

"What is it?"

"Sevika needs the day off tomorrow."

He shrugged.

"She not my only fighter. Fine. Now tell me what made you skip working on this project."

"You won't like it."

"I don't like it already."

"Hm.", you pulled out a capsule in which the raw shimmer material was trapped. "Know what that is?"

For a moment, his eyes scammed the green stuff. It took him a moment before widening his eyes in realisation.

"It's raw material...", he noted with a sceptical look on his face. "Where did you get that?"

Curling your lips, you tired to look as innocent as possible.

"I organised it.", you said carefully.

His eyes narrowed.

"Where?"

"Uh, let's say... uh... I found a way... to get my hands on it in a natural environment."

You grinned, but it was obvious that he wasn't convince.

With one eyebrow raised he tilted his head, his mouth a little open. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes and got up on his feet. As he approached he had his eyes fixed on you with such intensity that it could have made fire freeze.

"Samaritan.", he stopped right in front of you and looked down. "I'll ask one last time. Where did you get this?"

Swallowing hard, you took a step back. Your back hit the desk, your fingers clenching on the edge.

Silco followed, not backing away one single inch. His eyes were fixed onto you, burning into yours.

"It's almost impossible to find this kind of material naturally anymore.", he tilted his head while strands of dark, greyish hair fell into his face. "The only place to find it is Renni's cave."

He stopped. Slowly, his hand rose, grabbed the sample and raised it to his eyes. As he looked at you again there was a hint of disbelief shimmering in his eyes.

"You took this...", he raised the capsule. "From her?"

"Uh, yes?", you tried to grin. "I knew it wouldn't be possible for you to get it because of your business deals and boundaries with her. So I took matters into my own hands."

"And you managed to do so without causing a fuss? I'm impressed."

"Uhhh, about that..."

"You did cause a fuss."

"Yes. Very much so. But she doesn't know we work together, she also doesn't know I stole it for you."

"Me?"

"The project. You get what I'm saying."

Pulling a face, Silco closed his eyes and had to take a deep breath.

The warmth stroked your skin, chasing shivers down your spine.

"Very well.", he sighed. "I suppose you're a prisoner now because I won't let you leave."

You shrugged.

"Fine by me.", with a sweet smile you snatched the capsule from his hand and turned around. "I'll probably die going out at the moment, so let's just wait."

You paused as the feeling of his eyes dug into your shoulder. Your head tilted to the side and you wanted to throw a glance over your shoulder but froze as the tip of your nose brushed against Silco's cheek.

Struck by surprise, you held your breath.

His blue eye moved to you, his eyebrow rose as he looked at you in an expecting manner.

"Go on.", his voice was so smooth all of a sudden. "I just want to see how you work. Show me that the rumours are true."

As your lips moved, his eyes immediately jumped to them, glancing at the soft flesh for a way too long moment.

His own lips moved, forming a gasp that was so soft that it could be easily missed.

As you turned to the experiments again, his breath tickling over your skin made you grow goosebumps all over.

One step. One single step back and you would collide with his narrow chest.

Maybe he would grab you, let his arms wrap themselves around your body and hold you close. Maybe he would push you away, angered.

You didn't know why but the thought made you blush. The knowledge that one wrong move would make you feel his body made you shiver. But you weren't sure if it was out of fear or excitement.

"Your hands are shaking.", he noted as he watched you pick some samples from the raw material. "Am I making you nervous?"

Swallowing hard, you forced yourself to settle down.

"No.", you said in a determined way. "I can't think of a single thing that would scare me about you."

A sound escaped him, clearly amused. It was something between a chuckle and a huff.

As he straightened his back, Silco realised how easy it was to feel superior to you. At least physically. He wasn't a giant of a man, but fairly tall to make up for the lack of muscles.

While staring down on you he noticed how nimble your fingers were. Without hesitating, nor making mistakes, you grabbed things, mixed and added until your eyes found the mixture to be decent.

He stepped back in surprise as you turned around, holding the first sample up.

"It's not much, nor perfect but a start.", you said.

With a hint of scepticism, he took it.

"The colour is lighter.", he looked at the liquid from all sides. "But I assume you didn't just make a perfect cure for all my issues."

"No. That will need more time. But this sample can be tested."

"Tested? On me?"

"Yes? Nobody else is in your condition. The shimmer is modified to help you, not somebody else. We need to try it on you specifically."