Meaningful Artifacts [Edward/Jacob]

nine.

Mike has no shame. He's up as soon as the door opens to the security room. Jacob manages to get one foot through the door before he's being interrogated. 

"So, how'd your date go?" he asks, bouncing on his toes like a kid with a sugar high.

Jacob had been so caught up in his own head the entire way back to the museum that he'd forgotten to prepare the barrage of questions that were certainly coming his way. How else was Mike supposed to get his gossip material?

"It wasn't a date, it was work, Mike," he sighs as he throws himself into his seat, eyes cast towards the ceiling. 

Jacob hasn't exactly had the best history with dating, but going to an auction while looking for a giant, useless weapon and then throwing up in the parking lot was too ridiculous even for him. Although, the outing did raise some questions that Jacob never thought he would have. He'd just sat for an hour with someone who he'd thought he'd never speak to again. A "man" that he'd thought he'd never want to see again unless he was being given the opportunity to maul him to death. 

He'd spent a solid five hours with him that felt like they'd flown by. Granted, that could be the hormones surging through his system due to the fact that he'd unintentionally imprinted on him. How was he supposed to be able to tell the difference?

Leave it to him to get over one unfathomably stupid crush only to find himself in another one with someone who was seemingly even more dangerous. Only him. 

"Do you always daydream about work stuff?" Mike sarcastically asks as he chugs what seems to be his third Red Bull of the day.

"I just went to an auction that smelled like hot breath and BO. Excuse me if I need a moment." Jacob huffs.

"Do you want me to get you something out of the vending machine?" Mike asks, clearly looking for a reason to bounce back out into the hall and get another energy drink. 

"No, I've had enough sprite and soup to last me a lifetime." He mumbles and immediately realizes his mistake when Mike, for the first time in the past thirty minutes, stops vibrating in his chair to glance over at Jacob.

"Soup? You guys stop at a restaurant?" Mike inquires.

Part of him wants to ignore the question, maybe pretend like he hadn't heard. There's about an hour and thirty minutes left in the work day and Mike was his ride home. He was going to be absolutely insufferable if Jacob admits that they'd sat down in an actual restaurant and acknowledged each other like adults.

Though, his silence seems to say enough as Mike gasps as if he was hearing something scandalous.

"So, it really was a date." 

"It wasn't a date. We'd been out all day, we had to eat at some point." Jacob interjects. 

"You could've stopped at a drive through." Mike points out, getting more and more excited as he pokes holes in Jacob's explanation.

Mike's got a sly grin on his face that falters ever so slightly as he casts his eyes back towards the screen. For a moment, he just sits there, staring up at a particular one.

"Jeez, how do you do it?" He mutters wistfully, completely throwing Jacob for a loop as he tries to follow the sudden shift. 

He looks over towards the monitors to see that Mike's watching the camera that shows the lobby and in said lobby is Eric. Eric, who is talking animatedly to Jessica. Jacob can tell even from here that it's a bit more than just two coworkers enjoying each other's company. Eric says something which causes Jessica to lean over into his space and whisper something into his ear. Whatever it is makes him blush.