His Angel

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning he sat at his desk, a laptop in front and the monitor to the side. She was still sleeping, surprisingly she had actually used the bed. He suspected she finally gave in, sleeping on the floor wasn't that comfortable. Lancy entered the room in stride, a set of papers in his hand

"Sir, here's this morning's updates about Kremlin" Max hated that nickname, but it was next up in the rotation.

"Thanks" he muttered, a cup of coffee in his hand. Luckily he wasn't hung over, he was never hung over anymore, his body had gotten so used to abuse that it had seemingly adapted to cope. Lancy bowed, turning away to leave when Max stopped him with a single word, a grumbled 'wait'. The older man turned back, watching as Max opened the top drawer of his desk, pulling out a small device. Max knew he was being ridiculous, the thing was so old it took forever to load, and it didn't even have internet capability, not that he would have allowed her to have that anyways but still. The pause/play button also stuck sometimes, meaning sometimes the songs didn't stop and start when you wanted them to.

"Give this to her" Lancy reached out his hand, taking the small MP3 player, wrapped in a set of earphones with fraying ends close to snapping.

"The girl? but, why?" Lancy queried "I could go to the store and purchase a new one, load it with all the music she desires-"

"Don't" Max's response was a quick snap, but that didn't bother Lancy much, he was used to it. For some reason, Max felt embarrassed handing over that music player, he looked away, cursing himself for his sudden outburst for no logical purpose. He tried to think of a reason, any excuse as to why he should be giving that thing to her in particular, something that would make sense that wasn't she likes music.

"It'll be too expensive... a waste of your time" he grumbled, keeping his head down towards the laptop screen "I don't use it anymore, anyways. It would just continue to sit there and collect dust" was his small addition.

"If you wish, Sir" Lancy held the player gently, walking from the room and closing the door behind him. Max didn't look up to watch him go, his eyes kept fixated on the screen displaying his work communications, any tiny thing to distract his mind from what he has just done.

What the absolute fuck am I doing?!

It was later that morning when Harmony rolled slightly in bed, fluttering her eyes and staring up at the white ceiling for just a few moments. She didn't know how long she had slept for, but it certainly didn't feel like long enough. She had tossed and turned the whole time, too hot and then too cold, an itch or a need to stretch. It was as if her body was doing everything it could to keep her awake, for no apparent reason of course. She sat up, running a hand through her messy bedhead. She noticed the silver tray on the desk, with a dome lid to keep her breakfast warm as she slept. She needed caffeine, quick to get up and walk across the room. She grabbed the still-steaming cup of coffee, suspecting that Lancelot had dropped it off no more than ten minutes before. She took a sip, the cup still against her lip when she noticed the small device next to the lid.

She picked it up, surprised it was some sort of music player. It looked like it had seen better days, with a crack at the edge of the screen, covered in small, almost transparent scratches. The housing didn't look much better, all the black paint had been stripped from its edges, leaving metal jagged lines and corners. But, it did look well-loved. She pressed the button, watching as the screen rose alight, placing the worn earphones into her ears and playing the first song. The sound quality was pure dog shit, but she still appreciated it nonetheless. This thing was certainly well-loved, and she would continue to treat it as such. She wasn't going to ask him why he gave it to her, she suspected he'd probably think she was looking a gift horse in the mouth. But, it wouldn't stop her from wondering...what the hell?!