The Dance of the Wicked [Black Hat x Reader]

19: Trust

 
  She was in her office, the bright coolness of the morning hitting her face as the sun’s rays creeped into her desk. It was clean, and there was barely any paperwork on her desk considering she had finished the entirety of it yesterday. There was a ball to attend, after all, and she didn’t want to have to worry about it stocking up and taking more of her time.  Right now, she was just fixing and tidying up her desk before going back to the manor with the books Dr. Apollo had requested for.

  The elevator behind her rang out, and she turned to find Alexei walking in, a yawn pushing past his lips. “Hello, Ms. (Y/n)!” He greets, his usual book bag slung over his shoulder.

   “Hey, Alexei, how are you?” She smiles down at the papers she was arranging, taking a quick glance at her assistant who plops the bookbag down on the couch of her living room.

  “I’m a bit better now, but other than that I think I’m going to take it a bit easy today,” He gives her a small smile, walking back in the office. His eyes darted to the desk, his brows shooting upward at the neatness. “Done with all the paperwork?” His lips tugged into a teasing grin. “Is there a special event I’m missing?”

  She chuckles, leaning back against the desk and tilting her head, her eyes examining the buildings out her window. “Actually, the Villain’s Ball is coming up and I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to worry about work while there.”

  “Oh, right!” Alexei brightens up. “The Ball! I forgot all about that. But are you sure you’re going to attend this year? I never saw you bother to last time.”

  To her surprise, no feeling of embarrassment or shame filled her stomach, instead she found herself giving out a small chuckle at the memory, rolling her eyes. “Yeah well the only reason I wasn’t able to attend last time was because I was afraid Black Hat would see me.”

  She pushes herself off her desk, walking to her living room and scanning the bookshelf for the books that Dr. Apollo might need for his research. 

  “Really? Why?” Alexei sounded amused.

  “I don’t really know, I guess I thought I was ready to see him again but I never really was.” She shrugged, hooking her finger around the spine of one book and furrowing her brows.

  “What is this one doing here?” She grumbled under her breath, eyeing the black and white lined book and then glancing at the 3rd spot on the shelf. “I could’ve sworn I put you in here.” She sighs, pushing it back in its proper place.

  Alexei walks up beside her. “Wow, and now you’re going with him to it, huh? How does that feel?” She could see the smirk on his lips, seeing him leaning against the edge of the bookshelf.

 Unhooking another book from the pile, she scanned through the pages and then put it down her coffee table. “Honestly? Frightening and kind of exciting. I don’t know how people are going to react with me finally attending after suddenly securing a partnership with Black Hat and now I’m attending as his date to it after turning down the invitations from previous parties.”

  “Is it really that bad?” Alexei tilts his head to the side, watching as his boss flips through the pages to another book and either returns it to the spot or puts it on the surface of her coffee table. 

  “Kind of?” She shrugs. “I don’t know-- I think the nervousness comes with knowing that both the CoE and Starlight and Sapphire would be there.”

  Alexei seemed to visibly cringe. “That is bad. But hey, Lord Black Hat would be there, wouldn’t he? I’m sure he wouldn’t let anyone talk horribly about you.”