The Meaning Of Eternity (TMOE #1)

Chapter 14: Offshore stalkers

Lucius was almost embarrassed over how cheerfully he opened the door for Adrian. There were few times he really enjoyed spending time with someone given the others' condescending treatment of him. It'd gotten better over the past year for sure, but he always missed Adrian when he wasn't around. He seemed a little more mature than Lucius was but he was the closest age-wise and he sure brought a smile to Lucius' face whenever he was around.

And Lucius rarely smiled.

"Are the others out?" Adrian asked as he stepped inside the Offshore Stalkers' headquarters. Lucius shut the door behind them, sighing.

"Yeah, they... They're out. I'm on dog duty."

"Dog duty?" Adrian cocked an eyebrow. "Apocalypse is here?"

"Got a wound on his paw." Lucius waved Adrian to come along, entering the connecting room to the rest of the first floor. He stopped by the door to Apocalypse's room. "But honestly? I think Ravi's trying to exclude me from the gang, in a way."

"Oh? How come?"

"Well, for starters dog duty is a pretty stupid task, isn't it? It's not like we'd be out for long. Apocalypse can deal with his wound on his own." Lucius knocked on the door. "Poca? It's me."

"Are you su—" Adrian backed away as Lucius opened the door and let Apocalypse out, but frowned as the dog made no movement to attack or threaten. "Uh... Isn't Apocalypse pretty, you know, aggressive?"

"Depends." Lucius crouched down to pat the dog's back. "He's nice to me. And Ravi of course."

"Didn't know he was nice to you."

"I don't let a lot of people know." Lucius glanced over at him. It was strange. Perhaps it was their similar age, or just the fact that Adrian had successfully kept track of their money for more than a year, but he felt as if he could trust him. "It's a sort of safety line, maybe? In case I need protection."

"Huh. Didn't think you were that cautious about such things." Adrian seemed to hesitate before sitting down next to them. "Scared Ravi's gonna try sicking him on you?"

"Who knows?" Lucius shrugged. "He's already pushing me further away from the rest of the gang by having me stuck in these bullshit situations. Next he'll want to be rid of me completely."

"Why?"

Lucius arched his eyebrows.

"Scared, probably. He knows I could lead this gang better than he could."

Adrian snorted, and Lucius frowned, but kept his gaze on Apocalypse.

"Don't think I've heard you being so cocky before. It's pretty big talk coming from a..." He trailed off. "Wait, how old are you?"

Lucius grew flustered. He wasn't sure why. The way Adrian phrased it made it seem as though he viewed Lucius as a kid.

"Eighteen," he said in his best attempt to sound indifferent. He could see Adrian's sceptical expression through the corner of his eye though.

"Eighteen?"

"Eighteen."

"What does that make me, forty?"

"All right, so I'm not eighteen but you're not that much older!" Lucius shoved his side. "Fine. I'm sixteen. Or, almost seventeen. It's summer after all."

"So a seventeen year old leader?" Adrian didn't look too amused. His expression was more of a pondering kind. "I guess it's not impossible."

"Just gotta gain the others' trust, or I'll never be able to even get out of this house." Lucius pouted and scratched Apocalypse's ear. "At least I've got this one's trust."