Page 10 of The Bull's Head

“Then I’ll be there.” He squeezed Alp’s hip. “Love you.”

Seeing Alp’s cheeks flush a moment before he turned and hurried down the hall was so worth it. Teddy appreciated that they didn’t try to hide they were together. And after movie night, he could tell that not one of the people who saw them cared.

Mal, a huge smile on his face, turned back toward Teddy.

“First? Can you show me where I’ll be working?”

Mal winced. “I can, but…. Well, I don’t think you’re going to like it too much.”

“Oh? May I ask why?”

Mal stood and beckoned Teddy to follow him. He led Teddy through several corridors lined with doors. These had been a few of the labs that were converted to rooms for the people who lived in Wald. They continued on for a way, shocking Teddy, who hadn’t seen the entire complex and had no idea how large it was. When they got to their destination, Mal stopped and regarded Teddy with a sheepish grin.

“This will be your office. Kinda. It was really a storage room that we’re using for an office until the other wings can get done. If you find you like the job, we’ll see about getting you an actual spot of your own.” He scrubbed a hand over his head. “This might be the most difficult assignment yet.”

He twisted the knob and pulled the door open. Teddy gawped. The place was piled high with boxes of all shapes and sizes, stacked from floor to ceiling, most overflowing with papers, some of which had fluttered to the floor. He stood there, stunned.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” Mal said.

“So many boxes,” Teddy whimpered.

“This is only one room. There are three more, all stacked to the ceiling with boxes like these. And each of them has papers in them that have to be scanned into the computer. Lydia will need access to them, as much of what’s in here contains the files on the shifters Hyde used for his experiments. She wants them in digital format to ensure she can check them from here or her other job. She does some covert testing for us over there.”

“Why aren’t they on the computer already?”

“A lot of stuff is, but Hyde was paranoid about his research and kept hard copies in a locked vault. We had to get someone in here to drill out the lock, and when they opened it, we found this.” Mal sighed. “If this is too much work, or?—”

“What? No, this looks like fun.”

And it did. Teddy was over the whole bodyguard thing. Sedate and quiet sounded good to him. Plus, they wanted him to work with Callum, so that was a bonus.

“You and I have very different definitions of fun,” Mal griped. “Mine involves a certain rabbit.”

Teddy shook his head. “I don’t need the details, but thanks.”

Mal threw his head back and laughed long and hard. When he finally got himself under control, he leaned in close to Teddy. “I wasn’t talking sex, you nit. My ideal day would be to take Alp down to the lake, so we can lay back and watch as day turns to night. We haven’t had a lot of free time, so I’m keeping that thought tucked in the back of my mind just in case we do at some point.”

That sounded nice. Teddy had never had a lover. Most of his time was spent with Ivan, and when they were out on a job with Damon, they never had a chance to relax. On those few occasions they went with the family, once Damon had everyone sequestered in their rooms, he would tell Ivan and Teddy to go out and have some fun.

Ivan, of course, being the garrulous person he was, loved to drink and socialize. He’d sit at the bar and down black Russians. Though the drink wasn’t created in their homeland, it seemed to make Ivan a little nostalgic about the place. Teddy hoped he’d never have to go back there again. Not only for their stance on LGBT people, but for their crackdown on dissent in any form.

Ivan teased Teddy and told him he was what Americans called woke, and Teddy wore that as a badge of honor. He had a thing for the underdog and was forever rooting for them, hoping to see them come out on top.

“Teddy?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

“I could tell. Again, if you’re too tired, you can start this tomorrow. Or if you want to go spend some time with Callum, that would be fine too.”

“I will see him this evening. After dinner, I’ll stop by the cafeteria and see about finding him something special.”

“Talk to Lydia. She knows a lot about what we like in shifted form.”

“Thank you, First. I’ll do that.”

After Mal explained some more of the job, the machines Teddy’d be using, and the like, he left Teddy to settle in. As Teddy began to put the mess into some semblance of shape, his thoughts drifted to Callum.

He couldn’t wait until this evening.

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