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8.02 - 𝙎𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙩𝙖

KINGSLEY HAD GOTTEN out of bed later than usual. He sat in silence at the edge of his bed in the dark as his curtains had yet to be pulled back. All he could hear was the white noise of complete silence as he sat there deep in thought.

In his high-rise apartment, the man finished showering and then brushed his teeth. He made sure to moisturize his face before combing his greying hair. As he looked into the mirror the man wiped his glasses and put them on.

He had breakfast alone. Kingsley, now in his suit, sat at his dining table eating the omelet he made himself. Classical music played from his stereo system and he stared out of the floor-to-ceiling windows as he chewed.

The man also had his answering machine playing the messages he missed. Some were usual business matters but a couple of them were from people he knew closely. The first was from Norman.

"Hey, Roderick. It's Norman. Was informed last night that Qeng Enterprises pulled their offer. Not surprised after the fiasco a few days ago and what happened to the board. But we still have to address the media. Call me back as soon as possible."

The machine beeped. Kingsley kept eating and it moved on to the next message. It was from Ned Leeds.

"Good morning, Mr. Kingsley. Sorry I wasn't available the last few days. Just been...feeling weird suddenly. But I'm better now. I'd like to continue working with you. Call me back. Or I'll just see you at work. Yeah. Okay, bye."

There were no more messages. Roderick finished eating and put his dish away before getting his briefcase. He adjusted his tie in the mirror by the door.

"Pipe dream? Time to prove them wrong."

Roderick walked away from the mirror and left his home.

Osborn had woken up bright and early. In his penthouse, he stood by the window with the curtains pulled back looking out into the city. He smirked before walking to the bathroom.

The man finished showering, brushed his teeth, and did some light shaving. He also put some eyedrops in and blinked away the excess water that came from it. As he did, he suddenly heard contemporary music in the dining room.

Norman joined his son for breakfast. He was surprised that Harry had woken up earlier than usual and chose to eat with him. Although Norman wasn't really fond of the music his son would listen to, he let it continue as they dined.

The delicious food was made possible by their butler, Bernard. Norman chewed his food and looked to his right where Harry sat a couple of seats down. He stared at his son.

"That feeling all right?" Norman asked pointing at his head.

Harry glanced at his father, knowing he was referring to the injury he sustained at the festival a few days ago. He just shrugged and changed the topic.

"You still haven't told me where you were that day."

Norman let out a breath through his nose. He still held his fork as he replied.

"Didn't I say I was stuck in traffic? I had to do something at HQ before getting there."

"All right." Harry muttered.

He understood that the young man felt some type of way for being somewhere and almost dying with his friends while his father was nowhere to be found.

"Look, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have gone through that. Just know that what Roderick and I are planning is a step toward taking on maniacs like—"