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Troy paused in his work, turning to face Milo fully. “Help me how exactly?”

Oh, Milo had several ideas.

Notes:

You go, little matchmaker! So back to superheroes (yes, I know I have a problem! XD)

Rowan, disguised as Umbra, is like, shit! I’m caught! But he still doesn’t know that Milo, aka The Ivory Bandit, knows the truth, right? He’s aware that if he bolted at superspeed, since he’s been presenting Umbra as just a normal un-powered thief, he’d be found out, so he has to play things cool.

Rowan is not good at playing things cool.

Rowan is smart enough, however, to realize the jig is up as far as his listening device is concerned, since Milo was there waiting for him. And Milo, totally eating up that Rowan is panicking and failing at playing the witty, confident thief he’s been pretending to be, is laying it on THICK, like… why don’t we team up? Making it very obvious he means “team up” in more ways than one. XD At first, Rowan isn’t buying it, figures Milo just wants to learn his identity. So Milo says, “Keep the mask on. I like a little mystery. But maybe take the rest of that costume… off?”

It would be crazy to accept the offer. Sheer insanity! Stupid too, since it would leave Rowan vulnerable to his nemesis who HE thinksdoesn’t know it’s him. But damn it, what Rowan ends up saying instead is... “Convince me.”

Notes:

Ahahaha, okay, okay, more superhero stuff in the ending notes! But first someone else needs a little convincing…

Raina.

ROWAN

“RoRo, baby boy, favorite of mine among our siblings—don’t tell the others I said that.”

Rowan was pretty sure they knew.

“Whatare you thinking? I mean, you’ve always been a little off your rocker, and I love you for that, but this? It’s certifiable!”

Needless to say, Raina was not convinced that Rowan’s relationship with a newly awakened Milo was a good thing. She hadn’t let it go all day.

All.

Day.

Unless they were deeply involved in work, be it lunch, a quick break, or just some general downtime like now, Raina kept diving right back into how Rowan was out of his mind.

He certainly felt like he was with her constant badgering. He was already distracted from work by being away from Milo, wondering if he was truly okay with Troy, who seemed pleasant and trustworthy enough, but Rowan didn't actually know him. Rowan had almost gone down to check on Milo in person multiple times throughout the day, but every time he sent a message instead.

Rowan: Everything okay, Milo? Contact me immediately if you need anything.

Milo: Everything is great, Rowan! We are learning so much! Troy and I have even read some of the same romance novels!

Milo, well, derailed things in a different direction than Rowan expected, and he felt like he would seem far too needy and neurotic if he went down there for no reason. Milo was fine, having fun even.

Without him.

“Raina, it can’t be certifiable if it’s a situation that no one else has ever experienced before.” Rowan spoke slowly and to the point, keeping turned toward his workstation so he wouldn’t have to look at her.

“We’ll just see what the rest of the family has to—”

“You are not putting this in the family chat!” Rowan whirled around in his chair after all, ready to slap the phone from her hand. She wasn’t holding it but smirked at him like she’d won some private bet with herself.Rude. “This isn’t just personal information anymore, remember? It’s proprietary. It was bad enough when Ruben ran into us at that museum.”

“Rubenmet your build-a-bot?” Raina exclaimed. “He knew before I did?”

“He is not a build-a-bot! I mean…” Rowan cringed at not being able to deny that the term was technically accurate. “He’s more than that now, okay? And Ruben just thinks Milo is my boyfriend. Myhumanboyfriend. Milo was wearing sunglasses when they met.”