Tour (Part 2)
As they walked forward, Snow realized the empty spot right after the portrait of a woman. It might have passed as the end of the row for most, but it felt too obvious; it felt like something was missing.
“Is something supposed to be here?” Snow murmured, his voice light, but his gaze hooked on the empty spot.
Sulien stopped and peered over his shoulder to look at what Snow was talking about. “No, that’s the end of it.” He turned around to face Snow. “Why?”
Snow studied him sidelong, noting how his voice didn’t quite match his expression. He hummed. “Nothing. It just seemed like there’s supposed to be a portrait here.”
Sulien’s mouth curved in that dangerous half-smile. “If you’re volunteering to join them, I can arrange a frame.”
Snow glanced at him and laughed under his breath, shaking his head as he moved on, fingers brushing the wall of the empty space before returning them back into his pockets. “Keep dreaming.”
Sulien watched him walk ahead, the echo of Snow’s laughter still hanging in the air. He smiled to himself. He’d made him laugh. It wasn’t hard to admit that the sound was… pleasant. A tune he wouldn’t mind hearing again.
“Hold on,” Sulien said, amusement curling in his voice. “People might think you’re the one giving the tour.”
He lengthened his stride to catch up, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Do you even know where you’re going?”
Snow glanced over his shoulder. “Your house can’t be that complicated,” he said lazily. “I’ll find my way around.”
Sulien chuckled again, low and genuine this time, but took the lead anyway.
“Confident,” he said, his tone dipping into amusement. “But it’s easy to get lost if you don’t know the way.”
Snow didn’t miss a beat. “Well, it won’t be the end of the world,” he murmured. “Besides… I trust you’ll find me.”
Sulien stopped mid-stride. The words “I trust you’ll find me” hit harder than they should have. He looked back. Snow met his stare with a perfectly straight face, only one brow lifting — questioning, unbothered, not even aware of the impact he’d just made.
Sulien scoffed under his breath and snapped his gaze forward again, resuming his walk with a little too much focus. He forced his steps to even out, shoulders settling into the effortless confidence he wore like a second skin. But the last words Snow had uttered lingered under his skin, both irritating and intoxicating in equal measure.
Snow followed a few paces behind, his footsteps light on the polished floor. The air between them shifted, no longer cold or distant, but something threaded with a subtle pull. It was something that made Sulien far too aware of the presence at his back.
For some reason unknown to Snow, the walk settled into a strange awkward silence. Sulien hadn’t said a word in a while, and Snow wasn’t the type to fill silence just because it existed. He let his eyes wander from door to door, taking in the mansion at his own pace.
There was a sudden halt and Snow, who was walking closely behind, didn’t catch it in time and bumped lightly into his back. He blinked, stepped back half a pace, and leaned to the side to see what the hold-up was.
Sulien was standing before a door, hand resting on the handle but not turning it. He stood there as if contemplating to open it or not.
Snow tilted his head, voice dry. “Another room I’m not supposed to see?”
Sulien huffed a quiet laugh, the sound low in his throat. “Mm. You’re perceptive.” His fingers drummed once against the handle. “This one is… private.”
Snow didn’t push. He just nodded, a soft hum of acknowledgment.
Sulien let go of the door and continued down the hall. Snow followed a step behind, the silence settling comfortably this time. The air changed as they walked, there was a faint scent of greenery replacing the sharper chill of marble and stone.
They stepped through a glass panelled door and into a conservatory.
Glass walls arched overhead, letting in a soft wash of sunlight that pooled across the floor. Tall plants climbed trellises, leaves a glossy green that caught the light. A sitting area rested at the center: a low, long table, two divan sofas, everything arranged with an effortless sort of elegance.
Snow slowed instinctively.
His hand drifted out, fingertips brushing over the edge of a broad leaf as he passed. The plant bowed slightly under his touch. He glanced around, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
Sulien watched him from a few steps ahead, something almost amused tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Didn’t peg you as the type to like plants,” he murmured.
Snow shrugged, stopping by another pot, thumb rubbing along the velvet-soft texture of its leaves. “I could say the same about you, really.”
“Mn,” Sulien’s smile deepened. “I have my charms. You could try getting to know me.” He drifted toward the white sofa, sitting with the kind of lazy confidence that seemed like he couldn’t care less about anything.
Snow shot him a sidelong glance, unreadable as always, then hummed under his breath and continued inspecting the plants. His pace was unhurried, fingers tracing leaves like he was cataloguing them.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Sulien drawled, his voice carrying easily in the glass dome. His eyes followed Snow’s movements: the messy hair tied in a low ponytail, the loose strands catching the light, the way he drifted through the greenery like he belonged there, his fingers trailing the leaves of the plants.
“No questions? I’m feeling generous enough to answer.”
Snow stopped. Turned. Looked at him.
For a moment he said nothing, eyes slightly narrowed in that calm, detached way of his.
Then, in a voice almost offhand:
“So you’re really part of the mafia?”
Sulien stilled. Not offended, just caught off guard for the briefest second. His pale eyes sharpened, a spark cutting through them.
“You only realized that now?”
The Author Has Something to Say
Sulien: Why was I emotionally compromised by a sentence?
XL: That’s a you problem.
Sulien: You said you trusted me.
XL: …Okay?
Sulien: SAY IT AGAIN.