"I'm ready to talk," Terzo says when Alpha answers the phone a few days later, completely bypassing the standard 'hello'. He has to move quickly. Terzo isn't sure how long his courage will hold out. "Can you and Omega come to my home? I'd like to see you both."
There is silence on the other end for such a long time that Terzo pulls the phone away from his cheek and checks that the call hasn't dropped. "Are you sure, man?" Alpha's voice is gentle and free of judgment, and Terzo feels a knot ease in his gut. He hadn't realized how worried he had been that Alpha wouldn't take his call at all, after how he left them. Or that if Alpha did answer, it would only be to tell Terzo off.
"I'm sure. Can you head over now?"
"Hold on." There's a rustling, and Terzo can hear the sounds of a muffled conversation, Alpha talking and a higher voice that is immediately recognizable as Omega's. A moment later, Alpha is back. "Yeah, we can come now. What's your address, I'll plug it in the GPS."
Terzo recites his address, and the call is over. He waits for the nerves to set in, for the urge to call back and change his mind, but it doesn't come. Terzo really does want to see them, and clear the air. He's regretted how he ran out on them ever since he'd done it, but at the time, it was the only thing he could think to do. Now, he has to explain. Even if nothing comes of it, he at least owes them that.
* * *
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Alpha shouts when they pull up in Terzo's long, long, ridiculously long driveway. "It's a lair. This is a super villain lair. Omega, we're here to get tied up and threatened with lasers, I guarantee it."
"I think you're right. I bet he has a water pit full of sharks in his living room." Omega gets out of the car and looks up at Terzo's house--mansion--lair. It's two floors from what Omega can tell at first glance, a sprawling building set back on a huge, rolling lawn. The house itself is as much glass as it is actual house, wide windows dominating many of the walls and offering a glimpse inside at the tasteful, modern furnishings. There seem to be two chimneys rising from the roof, and Omega can bet one of them is from the master bedroom. It seems like that kind of place.
They walk up the stone path leading to the door and Omega rings the bell, rolling his eyes at the elaborate chime that follows, sounding like it would be more at home in a church bell than a private home. Terzo must have been waiting for them, because the door opens almost immediately. Omega's chest goes tight just at the sight of Terzo, and that same ancient instinct he's been feeling since they met rises up again and chants 'mine, mine, mine.' It hurts to push that away, but after how Terzo reacted to them days ago...Omega doesn't even know what Terzo wants, or how this is going to go.
"Omega. Alpha. Thank you for coming," Terzo says stiffly, moving his body aside so the two of them can come in. He's barefoot, Omega sees, and he stops to take his shoes off without asking, leaving them in the entryway. Alpha does the same, and together they follow Terzo deeper into the house.
The entryway isn't carpeted, and Omega doesn't expect the rest of the house to be, but when they get to the living room his toes sink into plush gray carpet that is so thick and so soft it almost feels like fur, or a blanket. It makes sense that Terzo would splurge on carpet like this, since he'd told them that he doesn't prefer to wear shoes or socks.
