His Muse

Slight detour through Feelsville

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"Nic has been comatose all day. I repeat, all day," Sav reported into her phone, and promptly sent it to Flo and Nora down the hall. Nic groaned from the futon where Olivia sat on the ground, leaning back so when she tossed her hair up behind her, it blanketed his legs and tickled his knees.

"I'd be comatose too," Olivia mused as she flicked through a powerpoint on her computer. Leo sat beside her, his hand hooked over her leg, and his other hand scrolling through notes. "I'm kind of concerned about people who just have that sort of money lying around," she said, looking up at Kieran. He was sitting across the room from them on his computer. He shrugged, and before he could say anything, Sav interrupted.

"I know, right? It could have come from anywhere. Like, a dubious drug deal or something," she said, only to be laughed at by Leo. "What?"

"'Dubious' is such a bizarre word," he said.

"It's a word, though, isn't it? Stop laughing at it," Sav whined, reaching over Olivia to flick him in the side of the head. "All I'm saying is that we already know Ronan's sketch. What's his deal?"

"It's the company his family owns," Kieran said, turning his attention back to his computer. Nic tipped his head to the side to see him frown, brow furrowing. "My grandparents hate them. They've been fighting them for years now over environmental legal shit."

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, intrigued. "Like, do you guys have a family feud with them or something."

"Hell no. I don't give a shit about their family," he said, scowling. "My grandpa's taken Ronan's company to court before, but they won a few years back. He's been trying to pin them down again ever since."

"What does the company do?"

"They own fracking corporation and have decimated the wildlife around their sites. But because there's basically no regulation on wastewater disposal, it's difficult to stop them from doing whatever the fuck they want with contaminated water," Kieran explained.

Nic sat up a bit, and the action caught Kieran's eye for a moment before he grumpily turned his attention back to his computer. "Yeah, but... I doubt that whole situation has anything to do with this. Like I said, it's not a family 'war' matter."

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked. "I mean, it sounds like Ronan would stoop that low."

"Whatever happens to me is irrelevant to my grandparents' company," he told her, forcefully jabbing the 'delete' key a few times before adding, "I mean, fucking with my boyfriend—pardon the French—would only pissed me off, which would only solidify my hatred for their company and do them no good. So... no. Not a family-feud situation. He's either seriously interested in Nic, or just wants to screw with one of us or both of us."

"And all of those options aren't exactly desirable," Nic commented with a huff, scowling across the room. "This sucks. I hope I never have to see him again."

"Well... at least you got something out of the whole endeavor," Sav commented. "I would sell my body and soul to anyone who gave me a grand per painting."

"It wouldn't be a good painting," Leo jested soto voce—just loud enough for Sav to hear and glare at him for.

"I'll have you know that I have excellent potential."

"You want to bet on it?" he retorted, casually flipping a page in his textbook as he turned a challenging eye in her direction.

Nic could practically feel the exhaustion in Olivia's sigh. "Whatever. So let's just assume Ronan is seriously interested in Nic. Wouldn't you say it's kinda weird that a twenty-something-year-old is into an eighteen year old?"