Moments of pure relaxation had escaped Khan's life for many years. The Slums couldn't provide them, Ylaco's training camp didn't either, and everything past that had been a complete mess which had left him in a constant tense state.
Liiza had been the only true exception but experiencing that happiness had ended up cursing Khan. Reebfell should have given him peace, but he had never fully accepted it since he had always known that his departure was set in stone.
Jenna could come close to Liiza, but her relationship with Khan was complicated. He could completely relax with her, but he also had to put clear limits on his behavior. They both had.
However, when everything went away and the countless problems of the universe stopped shouting, Khan could see himself as an ordinary man. A man who happened to like a woman.
That perspective was a complete lie, but it offered unbound freedom. Khan's many problems still existed, but he could stop thinking about them while those timid lips rested on his mouth. The room had turned into a safe space, and he didn't want to leave it.
Of course, Khan couldn't simply stop thinking. He wasn't built like that. Explanations for that event formed in no time, but he left them in the back of his mind. He didn't want his problems to return just yet.
Monica slightly lifted her head to study Khan's reaction. She had spent all her courage, so she waited for Khan to do something. Her heart was in his hands, and he could shatter it with a single word.
Khan didn't speak. His hands left Monica's waist to run on her back and pull her again. The two fell into another kiss, and Monica couldn't contain her smile. The previous second had been terribly tense for her, but everything was fine now.
The second kiss lasted longer and allowed Monica to relax a bit. She gradually grew used to that situation, which made her reactions more honest. She even voiced a cute whimper when a tongue slipped inside her mouth.
Everything was cute, even romantic, but Khan had been beyond that for a few years. Kissing Monica felt nice, incredibly nice even, but he wanted more, and holding back would defeat the whole purpose of that safe space.
Khan rubbed his fingers on Monica's back before returning to her waist and reaching for the edges of her tight turtleneck sweater. His hands soon went under it to caress her bare skin, and he kept them there to wait for her to get used to them.
Monica had tensed up under that direct touch, but that reaction lasted only a few seconds. She soon relaxed again and immersed herself deeper into the kiss.
Khan saw that as the chance to move a bit forward. His hands crawled across Monica's back until they reached her bra. Finding the hook wasn't a problem, but Monica's arms abruptly left his neck and grabbed his shoulders to separate herself from the kiss.
"Wait!" Monica panicked before speaking again in a pleading tone. "Wait."
"Too much?" Khan asked, and Monica eventually nodded.
"I'm new to all of this," Monica explained as her gaze fell on Khan's chest. "I don't want to move too fast."
Monica was an open book to Khan. Her honest reactions and thoughts created a picture that was easy to read for someone like him. She was a bit scared, but not of him. She wasn't even thinking about her family. That simply was her first intimate experience, and she wasn't ready to go all the way.
A different type of panic replaced the previous. Monica shot a glance at Khan only to lower her eyes again. She didn't want to mess things up, but the same went for forcing herself.
"You truly are shy," Khan commented.
"I told you I'm difficult," Monica pointed out.
Khan ended up chuckling. Monica could go from utter shy to bold in a mere second. Her mood seemed impossible to predict, and Khan found himself liking that.
"What?" Monica complained.
"I found something else to tease you about," Khan smirked, fully expecting a loud complaint. Still, Monica surprised him.
"Don't make fun of me while we are like this," Monica whispered while lifting her head to match Khan's gaze.
Khan was ready to voice one of his many jokes, but his mind went blank. He ignored the bra and pulled Monica to kiss her again. She complied, and her hands left his shoulders to fondle his short hair.
"You cut it too short," Monica scolded when the kiss ended.
"I didn't have a choice," Khan revealed as he made their noses touch. "I had to cut away the burnt roots."
"Burnt?!" Monica exclaimed while retreating a bit to see the entirety of Khan's face.
"What can I say?" Khan laughed. "I faced some problems in the last month."
"How did you even burn your hair?" Monica asked.
"I got hit by a spell," Khan explained. "Then I proceeded to jump on it. That probably didn't help."
"Wha-?" Monica gasped. "What did you even do down there?"
"I'd rather not talk about it now," Khan stated. "I'm kind of in a different mood."
Monica recalled her current situation, and she couldn't help but panic a bit. Her position was so lewd, and she even noticed something new in Khan's groin area. Also, his hands were still under her sweater, which didn't help her mental state.
"That's enough for today," Monica announced while trying to push Khan away.
Monica wasn't putting any strength into her push, so Khan laughed and slipped one hand out of the sweater to reach for her cheek.
"Come here," Khan said in a serious tone, and Monica melted. The two kissed again, and Khan moved to her neck once their lips separated.
Monica seemed to like the kisses sneaking under the turtleneck. She nestled in Khan's hand until her common sense returned and made her push herself away for real.
"This is way too dangerous," Monica exclaimed. "You need to leave."
"We were just getting to the fun part," Khan teased.
"Fun?!" Monica raised her voice before jumping off Khan's lap and leaving the bed. "You definitely need to leave."
"But this bed is so comfortable," Khan complained, "And you are so soft."
Monica stuttered but didn't get fooled. She grabbed Khan's right arm and pulled him up before pushing him toward the door. He could oppose that, but it was funnier to let Monica get all worked up.
"Not even a goodbye kiss?" Khan laughed as the entrance drew near.
"Shut up!" Monica shouted as she opened the door and pushed Khan past it.
"I had a bag," Khan reminded while the door closed.
Only a second had to pass for the door to open again and the backpack to fly out. Khan grabbed it, and the entrance closed in that instant. Everything had ended far too soon, but he found it hard to wipe his smirk from his face.
'She has quite a temper,' Khan snickered in his mind. 'How fun.'
Leaving the room made the problems return. Khan was outside the safe space, so thoughts started to assault his mind. Sorting them turned out to be challenging since his mood didn't cooperate, but he eventually reached a satisfying result.
How did Monica manage to create that safe space? That was Khan's main question. His relationships after Liiza had never been able to isolate him from the outside world, and the matter didn't only involve temporary pleasure. He had tried that with Delia, which had felt completely different.
Khan could find quite a few explanations, but only one of them sounded reasonable. Maybe, just maybe, he had finally moved on. Maybe, just maybe, he was ready to give the entirety of himself again.
As for why, Khan blamed Jenna. She had pushed him toward finding himself and striving for something he truly desired. Her words alone couldn't accomplish that change in such a short time, but the Nele's arts had accelerated the process.
Khan's questions obviously didn't stop there. He couldn't take Monica's status lightly, and the two had barely talked about their situation. Khan didn't even know how he was supposed to act the next time they met. Yet, he looked forward to it.
'Is this how normal people behave?' Khan wondered as he strolled through the corridor. 'Doing what they want without caring about consequences?'
Khan recalled the word heard during the fight against the third-level warrior. His mana wanted him to flow, and that probably didn't only apply to external influences. Maybe he had to follow his desires without locking them up behind paranoia and worries.
'You would want me to be happy, wouldn't you?' Khan sighed. 'You would want me to try, wouldn't you?'
Khan entered the elevator while his mental speech continued. 'Fine. I'll really try. I won't care if I end up planting countless flowers or creating bloody rivers.'
A tiny but significant change happened in Khan's mind, but he remained unaware of that event. That wasn't something he could sense. It was akin to a new posture developed after fixing an annoying injury. Some would simply call it growth.
A familiar presence touched Khan's senses before he reached his destination. Then, the entrance opened, and Bruce's figure unfolded in his view. The man was smoking a cigarette on Khan's floor, and his reasons appeared obvious. He was waiting for him.
"I was too late," Bruce sighed, blowing smoke out of his mouth. The grey gas didn't spread through the corridor. Instead, it moved toward the ceiling, where small openings sucked it away.
Bruce's timing was terrible. Khan was brimming with resolve and coldness, and his arrival hinted at his previous actions. He had left with Monica, but he had just reached his floor. Anyone could assume that he had been with her until then.
"Easy, soldier," Bruce joked while raising his hands. "I come in peace. I honestly thought you were in your room."
"What are you doing waiting here?" Khan asked. "You could have called."
"I wanted to give you some well-deserved rest," Bruce explained. "I can only imagine what you have been through in the dock."
Khan didn't falter at the mention of the dock, and his reply came swiftly. "Did you plan on waiting here all day?"
"Only a few hours," Bruce revealed. "Amanda would bug me if she found me in my room."
Khan felt inclined to believe Bruce. The building had no cameras, so Bruce couldn't have possibly known about Khan and Monica before that fortuitous meeting. Still, hesitation remained.
Luke had vouched for the Eerly family, but Khan's findings had put a target on the Cobsend family. Luke's reliability was more than questionable, so the same went for Bruce.
However, Bruce had just caught Khan red-handed, and his stance was unclear. It would only benefit Khan to have a talk and understand where his companion stood.
"What do you say about a drink?" Bruce asked before Khan could suggest anything. "I'll even pull out a nice bottle saved for special occasions."
Khan remained silent for a few seconds before accepting. "Lead the way."
Bruce crossed Khan and used one of the specific drawers inside the elevator to throw away his cigarette. Khan soon followed him, and the lift rose until the very last floor.
The corridor was a bit different there. It was larger and featured fewer rooms. Bruce walked directly toward one of them, and a beautiful meeting area unfolded once its entrance opened. The place was at the building's corner, so windows covered two of its walls and granted a fantastic view over Lower Level 1.
A long interactive table and multiple chairs stood at the center of the room. Some furniture occupied the metal walls, and Bruce opened one cabinet to take out a bottle.
Bruce drew two glasses from another cabinet before approaching the table and pouring the booze. Khan waited until the process was over to take his seat. The two men sat at the same edge, so only a meter divided them.
"I wanted to say something before you left," Bruce began to speak after taking a sip from his drink, "But I decided to stay silent. I didn't think you would have time for Monica between Jenna and the dock."
Khan would typically feign ignorance before moving to the main topic, but he was in no mood for games. "Something about what?"
"Francis," Bruce revealed. "It's never wise to go against petty figures who hold a stupid amount of influence and money."
"And how exactly am I going against him?" Khan wondered.
"Come on," Bruce said. "You two have flirted since landing on Milia 222. The dinner made things worse, and I'm not even mentioning what happened today."
"I wonder," Khan spoke. "What would you have done in my place? Being rude and endangering my relationship with the Solodrey family? Francis would have hated me even in that case."
"You know your way with words," Bruce praised. "You could have found a path that didn't put a target on your head."
"So, I'm a target now," Khan chuckled.
"You did this to yourself when you went out of your way to steal that damned bottle," Bruce scolded.
"Is my life worth less than booze?" Khan asked.
"As if you did that for the booze," Bruce scoffed. "I admit you fooled me back then, but everything became clear once Monica started refusing Francis' drinks."
"You are quite the observer," Khan mocked.
"That's my job," Bruce stated. "I let Luke handle the talks, but I'm also savvy in the political fields. Don't forget that."
"Forget," Khan repeated before emptying his drink. "I remember everything quite well. I recall how I saved everyone's asses on Istrone, and I definitely didn't forget how you awakened Martha just to get to me."
"I wasn't trying to belittle you," Bruce declared.
"What exactly were you trying to do?" Khan asked. "That Francis guy already hates me. I can't do anything about him now, which leaves me with only one question."
"Which is?" Bruce questioned.
"Will you side with him or me?" Khan asked, and his coldness tainted the synthetic mana to intensify the seriousness of his question.
Bruce revealed his political skills by remaining calm under that threat. He was scared, but he hid that feeling truly well. Still, he drew a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his forefinger before answering.
"I can't side with you openly," Bruce calmly stated. "You are only one soldier, while Francis can almost speak for an entire family. Yet, I can keep an eye on him and warn you if something is wrong."
"How do I know you won't do the same for him?" Khan questioned.
"There are no reasonable ways to prove my stance," Bruce uttered. "Though I do have a line that might reassure you."
"I can't wait to hear it," Khan played along.
"You are only one soldier," Bruce repeated, "But that won't always be the truth, am I right?"
Khan stared deep into Bruce's dark eyes to search for any clue that could reveal his real intentions. The synthetic mana around him helped in the inspection, but Khan couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
Bruce seemed to have spoken the truth, but Khan couldn't be too happy about it. The statement put Bruce on his side, but not as a friend. He was a political ally interested in Khan's future and nothing more.
Khan eventually moved his attention to the bottle and grabbed it to refill his drink. Bruce took that as an acceptance of his stance, and he wasn't wrong. Khan even recalled his coldness since that part of the meeting was over.
"Are you ready to tell me about the dock now?" Bruce snickered when Khan handed him the bottle.
"That intel is only for Luke," Khan explained. "Speaking about him, what's the matter with his uncle? Isn't our entire mission at risk now?"
"I told you," Bruce reminded. "Luke has yet to say anything."
"Luke trusts you more than anyone on Milia 222," Khan pointed out. "I know that you have something for me."
"You are overestimating me," Bruce exclaimed. "It's not about Luke and me. Mister Raymond is beyond my reach. Even if Luke knew something, he might be unable to say anything."
"I'm only worried about the mission," Khan responded. "I've already spilled blood for this investigation. Having bad intel might kill me."
"You shouldn't worry about that," Bruce reassured. "From what I've heard, Mister Raymond is an idealist. Money is the least of his concerns. He probably doesn't care about the factory at all."
