Zelgadiss sat in front of the new AI unit and shook his head. He didn't know what the intention of the prototype program had been, but it sure wasn't doing anything of any value. In fact, it was rattling off a bunch of lines of code that really didn't seem to make much sense. Not that computer code was his speciality or anything; he was much better with hardware.
"Any luck?" Rezo asked as he came up behind his grandson.
"No, it's still doing it. I'm starting to think they gave us the wrong equipment."
"That would explain some of it. Though I would think Zellas would've noticed something like that before now."
"I don't know, she's apparently pretty distracted with some changes they're making to the Realm."
"Oh really?" Rezo asked with a frown. "And how would you know that?"
"Her son's a friend of mine." Zelgadiss replied as innocently as he could manage. "They mentioned it when I went over for dinner the other day."
"Zelgadiss -- "
"Don't even start complaining. You're the one that wanted me to spend more time with people outside of the Realm. You never said I had to stay away from anything relating to the Realm."
Rezo scowled but he relented. "At least you're talking to real people, even if their values are a little mixed up."
Zelgadiss gave his grandfather a curious look, but the older man had apparently said all he intended to on the subject.
"Since they're such good friends of yours you can drop by and see if they sent the wrong equipment." He called over his shoulder as he walked away. "Just don't spend too much time over there."
"All right." Zelgadiss answered with a grin as he took the motherboard out of the AI unit. He really didn't mind the errand, even if he didn't get to see anything related to the Realm. Xellos had apparently been spending all his afternoons in the lab. Going over there might provide an opportunity to see the beautiful boy outside of class for the first time in over a week. If he didn't know better, he'd say the younger boy was avoiding him.
Okay, so he didn't know better. Xellos WAS avoiding him and he didn't know why. With any luck it was just shyness and uncertainty. After all, that could be worked through. Possibly in the most expedient manner possible. Wouldn't that be fun?
He was smiling when he walked into the computer lab and was met by Martina, who was now wearing a similar expression. "You look like you're in a good mood." She said as he approached her desk.
"I am. I think someone here made a mistake."
"And that's making this a good day?"
"No, but coming over here is. Who do I talk to about the units they sent us?"
"Hmmm...." She thought about it for a few moments and then shrugged. "That depends on what they gave you. Let me see the serial number."
Zelgadiss pulled out one of the pieces and handed it over to her. Martina flipped the computer board over until she found what she was looking for and ran it through a scanner. The result made her frown.
"This is definitely a mistake. There's no way they'd want this out of the lab. Let's see. Professor Metallium isn't in today, so I'll have to send you to see Xellos. His office is down the hall, CS-703A."
"Thanks." Zelgadiss said with a grin as he took the equipment back. This had worked out better than he could have imagined. The hallways he walked through were rather boring. He found that a little odd, given that most other offices had papers and other information posted on bulletin boards outside of the doors. On the other hand, all the teaching offices for this department were on the lower levels of the building. They didn't have a bunch of undergraduate students walking around up here, so why leave information out for them? He found Xellos' office and managed to knock on the closed door even though he was still carrying the box. After a few moments it flew open and he was faced to face with an incredibly annoying little Xellos.
"I thought I sai -- Zelgadiss!" He broke off the complaint with shock and began to blush. "W-w-what are you doing here?"
Zelgadiss grinned. For whatever the reason, he loved seeing that reaction. "I came to return this stuff. It wasn't working with the AI and Martina says it's not what you were supposed to send to us."
"No?" Xellos frowned and let him into the office. Zelgadiss heard the door shut behind them as he rested the box on an incredibly tidy desk. There was a large computer unit with the most sophisticated Realm-gear he'd ever seen on the other side of the room, and basically nothing else. "What is it?"
"I have no idea." Zelgadiss replied. "All I know is that the AI unit does nothing but talk code. Which, obviously, is not what it is supposed to be doing."
Xellos walked up behind him and Zelgadiss moved to the side so that the younger boy could examine the contents of the box. He was watching closely, and was therefore able to see the look of shock that passed over the purple-haired boy's features.
"Something wrong?"
"How could she let something like this out of the lab?" He muttered and then shook his head with disbelief. "I don't understand her sometimes."
"It's that important?"
"That's putting it mildly. It's also the reason the project I'm working on right now has so many problems. Half the equipment we need is this box."
"Strange."
"Oh well. Thank you for bringing it back. I'll see if I can find the units you're supposed to have." He straightened up from the desk, and finally seemed to realise that he was standing very close to Zelgadiss. "I-it'll just take me a minute." He stammered as he began to blush again.
"No hurry." Zelgadiss replied, deciding to take a risk. Reaching out, he slipped his arms around Xellos' body and heard the other boy's sharp intake of breath.
"Zelgadiss, I..."
"Yes?" He whispered, learning down slightly as he pulled Xellos closer so that he was now talking directly into the smaller boy's ear. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes, no, I, I don't know."
"Want to find out?"
Xellos gave a soft moan/whimper instead of an answer, but he didn't try to pull away. If anything, he seemed to lean closer. Taking that as an encouraging sign, Zelgadiss began to nibble on the other boy's earlobe. Finding no resistance to that either, he moved lower down the line of Xellos' jaw and then finally captured the sweet boy's lips. This time Xellos definitely did moan, and then opened his mouth slightly to let Zelgadiss within. He accepted the offer enthusiastically, wanting there to be absolutely no doubt in Xellos' mind that this was what they both needed. The younger boy was already clinging to him tightly when the knock on the door interrupted those plans.
Xellos pulled away quickly, his face flushed dark red. "Come in."
"Xellos, Martina said -- " Zellas stopped talking as she looked between the two boys, then smiled. "Did I interrupt something?" Xellos scowled and ignored the question. "What did Martina say?"
"That Zelgadiss had come with the hardware we were missing."
"Yes, apparently it was sent to the engineering lab by 'mistake.' We'll have to try to avoid that type of carelessness in the future."
"Of course. Well, do give him the proper equipment, Xellos. After all, we have a lot of work to do." She left then and Zelgadiss turned to find Xellos gazing at the door, the calculating expression back on his face. After a moment he shook his head and looked up again.
"I'm sorry, I think that means you're supposed to go."
"Apparently." Zelgadiss agreed. "When do you think your work will be finished?"
"Another couple of days now that we have this back."
"Good. We should go to dinner again when it's done."
Xellos blushed again, but he nodded. "That sounds like fun."
Zelgadiss grinned and caught the younger boy for one more kiss before they were forced to leave the office. If nothing else, this trip had worked through some of the shy uncertainty, and that was a definite step forward.