Neville had relaxed enough to feed him snacks without thinking.

He wanted more of this.

Grayson accepted another chip when Neville offered it with slightly trembling fingers and slightly smiled.

"Thank you."

"It’s just chips," Neville muttered, his voice slightly higher than usual. "Don’t make it weird."

"I wasn’t making anything weird."

"Your face was making it weird."

"What about my face?"

"That—" Neville gestured vaguely at Grayson’s expression. "That smug look. Stop it."

Grayson’s smile widened. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Neville shoved several chips into his own mouth instead of responding, his cheeks puffed out like an angry hamster.

It’s really adorable.

Grayson really wanted to take a picture of it. But he managed to stop himself.

The line at the security checkpoint grew longer.

Grayson estimated that at least two hours would be required before they would be processed, given the thoroughness of the scanning protocols.

Two hours of Neville growing increasingly bored and restless, his earlier enthusiasm for the aquarium would be completely drained.

Grayson watched as Neville’s gaze drifted towards the guard mechas stationed at the exit.

The sleek black machines stood at attention, their armor plates gleaming under the emergency lighting. Standard security models were nothing special compared to military-grade equipment, but Neville looked at them with undisguised fascination.

The way his eyes traced the joint mechanisms. The slight tilt of his head as he analyzed their movement patterns. The faint curve of his lips when one of the mechas executed a particularly smooth operation.

It seemed that he really likes mechas.

It was nice knowing something Neville likes.

As advised, remember the small details.

But then, Grayson suddenly heard Neville.

"It’s a shame," Neville murmured, almost to himself. "We probably won’t have time to see the rest of the exhibits today."

Grayson’s chest tightened in urgency.

"But we could just come back another day, I suppose." Neville’s voice held a note of forced cheerfulness. "It’s not like the aquarium’s going anywhere. Well, the tunnel might need some reconstruction, but—"

"I need to have my mecha repaired." Grayson suddenly said out of nowhere, hopefully he didn’t sound too forceful about it.

Neville stopped mid-sentence. "What?"

Grayson hadn’t planned to say it. He was simply driven by a desperate need to prevent Neville from suggesting they end their day early.

"The explosion," he continued, saying half-truths. "My mecha took some damage when I deployed it. Nothing really concerning, but the outer plating needs attention."

It wasn’t entirely a lie.

There had been some surface damage, a minor scoring from the heat blast, and a few stress fractures in the left arm joint. It was not something that couldn’t wait for routine maintenance.

But Neville didn’t need to know that.

"Huh?" Concern flickered across Neville’s face. "Is it serious?"

"Not really. But it was better to check if there was really nothing wrong with it than to rely on blind guessing." Grayson paused, as if the next thought had just occurred to him. "There’s a facility I use for specialized repairs. The Mecha Research Institute. They have excellent technicians there."

"The Mecha Research Institute?" Neville’s voice pitched slightly higher.

Grayson suppressed a smile. "You’ve heard of it?"

"I’ve... read about it." Neville’s attempt at casual disinterest was almost painfully obvious. "They do development work there, too, don’t they? New models and things?"

"They do. They also have a bunch of simulation rooms for testing purposes." Grayson watched Neville’s expression carefully. "I’ve heard they’re testing new virtual pod technology, ahead of the market. If you wanted to pass the time while they handle the repairs..."

Neville’s eyes went wide.

There it was. That spark of excitement that Grayson had been trying to extract all day. It transformed Neville’s expression with an almost childlike eagerness.

"As in—" Neville’s voice cracked slightly. "The newest virtual pods?"

"The very same."

"And they would let us—I mean, would they let us use it? Just like that?"

Grayson shrugged. "They will."

Of course, they would, Maxwell Corporation funded half the Institute’s operating budget last fiscal year.

They would let him do whatever he damn well pleased.

"So," he said, keeping his tone deliberately light, "would you like to visit the Mecha Institute with me?"

Neville nodded so fast his silver fish glasses nearly flew off his face.

"Is that really okay, though?" he asked as if realizing that he shouldn’t be too excited. "It’s your day off, too. I—"

"It’s more than fine," Grayson cut him off. "It’s good to have someone go with me."

It’s good to have another excuse to spend more time with you, he thought, but didn’t say. Some things were better left unspoken.

○●○●

Neville’s brain short-circuited somewhere between "new virtual pods" and "would you like to visit."

Was this actually happening? Was Grayson actually suggesting they visit a mecha research facility?

With simulation pods?

New simulation pods?

[Host, you’re making a very interesting face right now! (☆▽☆)] Shelly’s nonsense was completely ignored

"I—yes." Neville’s voice came out slightly strangled. "Yes, it’s an honor to visit there."

Grayson’s lips curved into a smile.

"Good." Grayson stood, offering his hand. "Let’s go, then. I’ll arrange for expedited processing at the checkpoint."

Could he do that? Wasn’t that illegal?

But then Neville saw Julius arriving not far away.

It seemed that Grayson planned to use Julius as his ticket for a quick getaway from this place, an exhausting line of investigative scan.

Neville accepted the offered hand before his brain caught up with his body.

Grayson’s palm was warm and dry, his grip firm without being crushing. The contact lasted long enough for the warmth to linger on Neville’s skin like a brand.

The expedited processing turned out to involve a brief conversation between Grayson, Julius, and the security captain.

During this, several official-looking documents appeared on Grayson’s light brain, and the captain’s attitude changed from bored authority to nervous deference.

Neville didn’t ask what the documents contained since some things were better left unknown.

More importantly, the expedited process involved a much less invasive scan—surface-level biometrics only, no deep tissue analysis.

Shelly confirmed gleefully that it would only cost 500 points to cover for him this time.

[Lucky~! (^▽^)]

Lucky indeed.