Through years of effort and toil, Troy had learned to keep some things to himself. This self-control did not extend to everything in his life, not even by a rough stretch. He still had problems when it came to keeping his face straight.

Yet there was still one subject he had learned to keep out of public view. A topic which needed to be kept low, or it would create dilemmas for not only him but also everybody involved.

Work secrets and everything involved with it was kept inside a safe place, locked inside the deepest places in his mind. If the plan was to come to fruition, those memories would never reach the surface once the digging was complete. It wasn't like Troy was supposed to know of them, to begin with, making the aimed for result all the better.

If only he could do the same with everything else. To create an impenetrable barrier of pure void, one which could never be infiltrated by any means, and one which could never be overloaded by what hid within. Only one sealed box had yet to be made, but there was vigour in the creation of another. The prototype proved it possible, and there was no way he would be letting the occasion pass by.

Oh, what could be done, if Troy had created them before any of the shit started to be fanned around. There would have been no worries about showing the truth to any that watched him. The awareness of being constantly watched was grating his nerves, and he had already been told to not acknowledge the presence of them. There was no reason for him to keep his head down, his eyes twitching around, and his pulse keeping itself high. It took constant effort not to have those signs on him, at times like these. Nothing was around the man to keep him distracted from the reality that had been forced on him.

No, it hadn't been forced on him. He had said yes to the offer, for the simple reason of wanting more information. How had that gone for him? Was that reward for accepting worth it?

As Troy continued his walk down the hallway, he wasn't sure what the answer to that was. Even if it wasn't showing too badly, the stress was slowly killing him from the inside. The fact that he had not begun losing hair was nothing short of a miracle. Those weights on his shoulders had not been placed gently down, and they likewise weren't planning to get away from it all any time soon.

What was even being prepared? Why had Dr Hale decided to tell him anything? Troy didn't understand why she did it. There was nothing to gain from him knowing of it. The only considerable outcome of him knowing anything about it would be that he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut. Or it could be that it would be forced open as Dr Fidelis had talked about earlier. It would be easy to make people talk, with or without modern techniques. Intimidation would probably be enough for him. The young man wasn't one who could deal with much pain. Being threatened with losing nails was not something he could scoff at, no matter what he liked to think of himself.

In the current moment, the deal made was not worth it. Being in a constant state of cautiousness was not fun, and the compensation for his work was not looking as near as Troy needed it to be. Dr Hale had ordered that nothing would be said about anything relating to their possible treason. They would need a way to go unheard, and she had a growing suspicion of just who had the technology for such a thing.

In essence, Troy had been asked to get restricted, and possibly illegal, devices out of the pockets of a man who was not too trusting of anything that had to do with him. He… had to trick Charlie, in a manner of speaking. Make the man give him things he likely didn't want to ever part with, technology created for the sole goal of personal usage.

It was clear that something like it existed. That modified key-card of his was obviously not something any sane person would fling around a superior's neck. Troy had even been asked to keep quiet about it, excuses having been made about it. Excuses that he had been expected to imitate, else the man would be found out. Could it be blackmail that was the key? Could it be the way that needed to be taken, for Troy to get access to his desired device?

It would likely work. Charlie clearly intended to work in the place for a long time. Many scandals could be pushed through, but seeing things not meant to be seen was something few would allow. If it was on accident, as it had been with Troy’s case so many times, it could be looked past. Yet, if the person had personal, unrestricted access to these secrets, there wasn't any chance the security would be lenient. What were the sentences for governmental espionage again? It certainly wasn't low. High enough to be a powerful motivator.

…

Yeah, no. Troy couldn't make himself do it, even if he wanted to. That muscular man had done more for him than possibly any other human being alive. While that might not have said something to most, it meant a lot to him. Already, there was so little a chance that he could ever repay Charlie. Putting even more of a load on that bill was not part of his current agenda. Helping him with his problems was the only proper way to bother the man.

And what was Charlie’s current problems about? What part of the man’s life could Troy help him with. What plagued his mind more than anything else? The answer to that was readily apparent, as a certain person began to come into view.

Standing outside the cafeteria, looking like he was impatiently waiting, was an especially muscular man. With the foot-tapping away on the floor in a fast-paced rhythm and the eyes constantly scanning both directions, it was obvious that Charlie was not standing around to rest his legs. And as the eyes swept over the floor, only to focus on Troy himself, it was clear what that intent was.

“You are here two minutes later than your usual time,” Charlie noted, his tone a lot more curious than the dead-serious eyes on his face. “Did you stop on your way here?”

They hadn't even gotten into the cafeteria yet, and the muscular man was already fishing for information. If there had ever been any doubts about which issues could be helped smooth along, there certainly wasn't any more now. That look on the man's face, quickly looking over his entire body for anything out of the ordinary. It had been a long time since something like that had been done, and at that time it had been done by somebody much younger. It almost made him nostalgic, if not for the fact that Charlie tried to pull up his shirt, something Troy couldn't remember happening when he was a teenager.

“My superior was keeping me behind, wanting to ask a few questions. My male superior,” Troy said, putting extra pressure on the gender of who held him back, as the context of his words only made Charlie try to pull up his shirt even more. Did that man not realise the two were closer enough to those cafeteria doors than anybody could walk out at that moment? It was a stroke of luck that nobody was around to witness the physical harassment going on. “And, would you stop trying to take off my clothes.”

In response, Charlie took a step back from the younger man, readjusting his own clothes as if they were the ones being pulled on. Troy did something to the same effect, only having a much better reason for doing it. He couldn't understand what was going on with the older one, and why he was having a sudden need to see his bare chest… Oh, wait, shit. The muscular man wasn't going after his chest, but something a bit further down.

“If you don't want to do it where others can watch, I am fully fine with that. My lab isn't that far from here, and I do have some food stashes to eat there,” Charlie calmly stated, clearly trying to get under his clothes in any way possible. And worst of all, it was working on Troy, as he knew exactly why it was happening now. “I just need to get a better look at you.”

No matter what might have been conceived about the man’s attitude towards work, Charlie was nothing but a sympathetic person, ready to give his all for the sake of other people. He was a good person, better than anyone had any need to be. One could see it as him holding the average up by himself, making others look better by just having him exist. He was somebody that could bring a smile to another only for the sake of having those lips move a little.

Troy did want to just say yes straight away and get on with things. No matter how stressful the situation might have been, how much he wanted to just appease Charlie with one blow, there was still one thing holding him back from doing anything worthwhile. And that was his stomach, the one organ which seemed to have picked up the pace. It could consume so much organic material, and act like it didn't bother it in the least. Sometimes, there were drawbacks to a healthy body. The largest was the amount of hunger which was so easily felt at the most inopportune of times.

“Is it not enough that I say everything is fine?” Troy requested, just wanting to get inside and getting himself something to eat. While it may not have been grumbling, the stomach was still showing its displeasure in a way of spasms. Spasms which were not appreciated, especially not with the prior problems in that area. “Your place is too far.”

“Clearly not, when I can literally see you grimacing in pain,” Charlie answered, not budging in the slightest. He was like the brick wall that his arms looked like. Even if it was a direct hindrance to his goals, Troy could respect the man for it in some abstract way. That determination to make sure others were okay, even if that person was directly rejecting the idea of it. That resolve didn't just pop up but was something naturally grown after many years of caring for the fellow human beings.

“It's just me being hungry. You know, just have to adapt to the new meal plan. This body of mine just needs a few jabs, and it will be as good as new,” Troy said, forcing himself to smile contentedly. He thought he had done a good job, but the recipient did not look amused from it.

“Either you walk with me right now, or I will be carrying you over there. I can accept that you want a little privacy, but not to the level where you're hiding its existence,” Charlie said, making it unmistakable just what was in store if Troy wasn't going to do exactly what was being asked of him. It was with the tone one would use on a rowdy child, who didn't want to bed, didn't want to eat their greens, or just didn't want to go to school.

It was a tone normally followed up by something more physical, but the only thing that the young man got was another hard stare down. He had never been able to handle those. Maybe, if it had been Dr Hale, her presence affected him in a very different way nowadays. But, with that tall figure staring down at him, was there really any chance that he could have ever said no? Probably not, but that did not stop one last attempt.

“What kind of carry are we talking about?” Troy inquired about, wanting to delay for a little while more. If he could find some minor weakness, he could get around the muscular man, and get into the cafeteria. There was no way he would carry him out from there, right?

“I would have preferred to do the over-the-shoulder, but it's clear that wouldn't work with the current situation,” Charlie said, eyes glancing down Troy’s body for a moment. Just like before, the distance between the two was shortened, as the taller of the two moved forward. Troy had already put his hands before his stomach, ready to defend against any unwanted attacks. As prediction-based manoeuvres dictated, this was exactly what Charlie wanted, as he put his arms around the right side of the younger man. “Therefore, a bridal seems to be the easiest alternative.”

In mere seconds, Troy had been swept off his feet, getting to be laid in Charlie’s arms instead. This was not the image the young man had in his mind when imagining going over to any sort of laboratory, but reality once again did not care about what he had imagined it to be. Neither did Charlie, apparently, as the quick pace already started up before any more objections could be made.

“... I feel a strong desire to hit you with my knee,” Troy noted, staring daggers at the muscular man. For once in their conversation, this brought another expression to appear. It was one that fitted much better on Charlie, as it was a coy smile.

“You shouldn't do that now, it would hurt you more than it would hurt me. And that's a bad trade-off if you ask any clever person.”

It most certainly was, but that didn't stop the young man from wistfully imagining it.