Chapter Text
Arkha Corvus watches.
He watches Cleaners come and go, bruised and battered, safe and unharmed. He watches friendships bloom amongst his people, sees how they sometimes go beyond just that.
He watches Semiu folding over reports and requests, watches her indulging magazines on her spare breaks. He watches August flitting around the compound, bursting with ideas. He watches his door fall shut, not opening for days on end.
He watches the Sphereite Enjin dragged in growing close to his esteemed cleaners, watches him rejoice at the reveal of Gris’ survival. He watches the sky, a muddy grey only sometimes brightened by a dull orb that shows a laughable glimpse of the sun. Never fully there, never uncovered, always hidden from view.
Arkha watches Tamsy, and he knows Tamsy watches too.
Strong, almost graceful and always put together. He watches him welcome Rudo, keeping Delmon’s overenthusiasm in check. Outwardly welcoming, a friendly smile on his face.
A pretty face, Arkha notices, his observation having covered all bases. Not just handsome in the classical way like Gris or even Enjin, but pretty. Long lashes fluttering over white-gold eyes, his nose could almost be called cute. The scar running down the right side of his face only adding onto his beauty, but also his mystery. Arkha prides himself on being in the know about his people’s pasts and worries, provided that they give up that information freely. It shows trust and a sense of community. He knows keeping himself so hidden could almost be called ironic in this case, but it bothers no one. No one except Tamsy. The one person in the corps that hides much of himself behind his outward facade. Most people wouldn’t notice there even being one, workplace relationships rarely ever going deep enough to prompt the need to know. However Arkha does, he notices. He watches, he observes, and he notices.
He notices Tamsy’s smiles crack just the slightest bits when he has them mechanically plastered on for too long, becoming unnatural. He notices Tamsy’s eyes wandering, taking note of his surroundings. He’s careful. Practiced, precise, reliable. Someone a junior would call a good guy.
Yet it’s those traits, those wandering eyes, the frozen smiles, the mystery of his character, how he got his scars that don’t only intrigue Arkha, but also worry him. Tamsy wasn’t keen on showing anything beyond his work persona, so when he did allow the slightest chance of seeing more it didn’t go unnoticed by Arkha. He knows Tamsy’s calculated, has read enough mission reports to know this for a fact and given his demeanour, it’s only logical that it extends beyond the battlefield. When someone like Tamsy allows someone to see, it is not without reason. Arkha knows to be cautious of someone like that.
Confronting him about Amo’s boots opened the door to mutual suspicion, the tension created during their staredown never ebbing away, only increasing. Arkha knows nothing about that ordeal was foul on paper but his gut tells him something’s off. Tamsy’s gaze in that moment of unbreaking eye contact didn’t betray any hidden motives, it was hardly even wary, only slightly guarded. Not even defiant or upset at being accused. Even the way he stated his gripes with Arkha’s wording was calm and collected. But it was something about their eyes meeting, the tension between them, as short as it was, that set something within Arkha in motion.
He wanted to dig deeper, to unravel Tamsy’s shrouded net of himself, wanted to see. But he knew it wouldn’t be easy, Tamsy was already guarded enough, equally as smart as he was. They met on equal grounds.
Arkha respects people’s decision to withhold information about themselves, the value of information being high, he couldn't blame anyone for not giving it up willingly. But he was also a selfish man, honest but selfish. He has his uses for the cleaners, has his goals to reach and he has to know about Tamsy, at all costs. For himself and the sake of this organisation.
After the incident with Follo, it was clear to Arkha that he wasn’t the only one who knew something was up with Tamsy. Tomme appeared to be very perceptive but terrible at hiding her thoughts, allowing Arkha to see her confusion clearly despite his head exploding with questions, following Follo’s admission of using his powers with his gloves still on. He decided to file both of those things away for later. Asking Tomme such a specific question would only rouse suspicion among the ranks and unrest was the last thing he needed. He was also not keen on following up suspicions without proper reasoning. Which is why he watched.
He watched his door open to see Tamsy stepping in, his hair falling freely as if it had been freed from its hair tie only just now. He seemed almost joyuous, a slight smile on his lips as he informed Arkha of his plans to take some time off. Arkha let his gaze linger, not planning on denying Tamsy some free time but deep in thought. As he watched Tamsy sliding his hands under his wrapped, darker hair he realised that he has hardly ever seen Tamsy with his hair down. Even now he still had parts of it styled neatly, giving weight to his initial impression that it had been up in his regular style before he entered his office. It made Arkha think, meeting Tamsy’s burning but almost playful gaze; what was he playing at?
His thoughts held him captive so he only gave Tamsy a curt nod and watched him as he left the office, the door falling shut behind him.
Arkha had his ways of somehow always knowing what was going on despite not using a choker to communicate and spending days in his office or away. Semiu saw what he couldn’t but even things that escaped her watchful eyes, somehow made their way back to Arkha. However a cleaner away from HQ on official leave was a shuttered window, impossible to watch, activities flying below the radar. After all, everyone deserved some privacy, did they not?
He couldn’t deny, an itch deep down told him to keep tabs on Tamsy while he was away but he realised that even if he wanted to, he probably couldn’t.
However it wasn’t long until Tamsy returned, barely a week after he left, he waltzed back into HQ, greeting Semiu and dropping a stack of magazines on her desk as a souvenir. The receptionist grinned up at him and nodded in a thankful gesture, some sort of small talk keeping them engaged.
Arkha did what he always did; he watched. He was leaning on his office’s doorframe just down the hall, almost hidden from view. He realised however, that he wasn’t as inconspicious as he thought, when he saw Tamsy turn his head towards him ever so slightly, meeting his gaze head on. He nodded and Tamsy nodded back, lips twitching upwards.
Arkha continued to watch as the blonde bid his farewell to Semiu and started making his way towards him. For some inexplicable reason, Arkha noticed his heart picking up speed. How odd.
Tamsy, now stood directly in front of him, played with one of his dark blue hair strands while looking up at Arkha.
“Anything I can help you with Boss?”, he asked in that melodious tone of his.
Arkha shook his head, “Nothing of the sort, I was deep in thought, a lot of things have come up recently.”
Tamsy closed his eyes and hummed, a slight smile still on his lips, “Don’t get lost in them.”
Arkha stared at him, a bit puzzled by his somewhat cryptic answer. He knew what he meant by it yet that didn’t make his choice of words any less odd. He decided to ignore it.
“Your time off was well spent, I hope?”
“Surely.”, Tamsy glanced back up at him, the look in his eyes indecipherable.
The conversation had clearly reached its end yet neither of them looked away, once again caught in each other's gazes. It was as if both of them wanted to peel back the other's layers, uncovering what was hidden underneath. The phone started ringing down the hall and the tension broke, Tamsy excusing himself with a nod and starting to make his way to his room. Arkha, once again, watched him leave, none the wiser.
Time kept passing as usual, requests rolled in, teams left for missions and came back, then left again. It was like a practiced dance, a routine. Eventually Team Akuta left for the Doll Festival, HQ feeling emptier without them. Arkha was keen on finding out any news they might bring with them upon their return and bided his time doing his work as usual. However he couldn’t settle down, he felt restless. At first he chalked it up to just being high-strung due to Akuta’s possibly groundbreaking mission but he soon realised that that wasn’t the only reason. It was Tamsy.
Moreso, it was the slight changes in Tamsy’s behaviour around him.
He didn’t see him any more than usually, but when he did, it was as if he was being drawn in by an invisible string. The itch under his skin, the need to know getting stronger every time their eyes met in meetings, the cafeteria or even just passing by each other in the hallway.
He knew something was up before, he was sure of it now. He’d go as far as to say it wasn’t anything good at all. Protecting the cleaners was his priority but where there is no evidence, there cannot be prevention. And so his spiel of observing continued, he’d show his face eventually.
But it seemed as if Tamsy decided to show more of everything except that one thing.
Generally speaking, Tamsy was someone who rarely showed up looking any different from his usual uniform look; his blond hair was always up in one way or another, neatly sectioned off from the darker strands beneath it, and his clothes were as baggy as the ones most other cleaners wore. However it wasn’t unusual to see people out in shirts or tanktops when they had time off, but not Tamsy. To the outside world he showed himself wearing as many layers as he probably had personality wise. So when Arkha decided to take his occasional nightly trip to the training room, he was almost surprised to find Tamsy standing in front of a mirror in the changing room. He had loose pants hanging low on his hips and all his hair up in a bun, his lean upper body on full display. Arkha stopped in his tracks, not wanting to draw attention to himself just yet. His eyes traced over the scars littering Tamsy’s torso and he couldn’t help but wonder how he got so many of them. His train of thought was interrupted when the other undid his bun, his long hair cascading down his back, covering him back up for the moment. Arkha pulled himself out of his head and entered the room.
“It’s rare to see you here, especially this late”, he said, seeking Tamsy’s eyes in the mirror.
“Indeed it is, Boss. The later hours do have the charm of offering some solitude in here, as I’m sure you know.”
He began brushing his hair, eyes following Arkha’s movement in the mirror.
He did know, he always came here at night on purpose, preferring the emptiness provided by the average Cleaner’s exhaustion-induced early bed times. He did not know that Tamsy also enjoyed it. In fact he had only ever seen Tamsy here once or twice and never this late.
“Do you not like being around the others or why do you only ever come here at night?” Tamsy prodded, starting to gather his blonde hair up into a hair clip. So he knew about his schedule. A tinge of irritation flared up at the implication of Tamsy’s words but it was gone as quickly as it came. Arkha had finished changing his shoes, already having changed into different clothes in his room. He stood, moving to stand in front of Tamsy just as the other was tying one side of his blue hair together, turning around to lean against the sink below the mirror in the process.
“I have no issues with being around others,” Arkha locked eyes with Tamsy, moving to grab the other white ribbon, “I simply know to take an opportunity for some unwinding when it presents itself.”, he handed Tamsy the ribbon, not breaking eye contact even once. He watched, almost transfixed, as Tamsy tied the other part together and the way his tongue pushed his labret outward just the slightest bit. “Is that so? I see we understand each other in this regard then.”, Tamsy hummed, then sighed, “There’s been so much going on lately, I’m sure you must have a lot on your plate right now.” Arkha could detect a hint of disingenuity but he couldn't pretend that he cared. He preferred when people talked to him boldly, he may be their leader but he was still a Cleaner like the rest of them.
However he still did not want to let too much show.
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Tamsy’s gaze was as untelling as ever but its intensity rivalled his own, it burned and Arkha felt a different feeling worm its way next to his constant suspicious curiosity. He thought he couldn’t be entirely sure what it was yet but when Tamsy slipped out from in front of him to grab his shirt from the locker, he realised. His eyes followed the line of his body as he was pulling the shirt over his head, muscles stretched taut, and it was like a drop of water hit the ever-still surface of a pond, disturbing it in its calm. What he was feeling was attraction.
He averted his gaze, feeling too visible himself for once. This was the last thing he needed right now, the myriad of questions swirling around his head did not need another add-on to figure out. He moved back to his locker to put away his stuff, back turned to the room, blinking too hard once or twice.
“I’ll be retiring to my room then, have fun unwinding, Boss.”
Arkha bid him a good night without turning back around, missing the way Tamsy pursed his lips in something almost akin to playful disappointment.
Arkha’s training mood was dampened. He already had enough thoughts he did not want to be left alone with on the regular and this one, this brewing dilemma, was not one he felt too keen about dissecting yet.
But he did eventually have to. While this attraction was nothing bad in its purest form, he knew that indulging it came with risks. He couldn’t trust Tamsy, the questions about him and whatever it was that he was hiding looming over his head like a thundercloud. Of course he wanted to trust one of his own, wanted to believe he was overanalysing things and nothing was up after all but he knew that wasn’t true. He was sure of it even. Tamsy was impossible to read and whatever game it was that he was playing right now, was purposefully laid out by the blond. Whatever Arkha got to see these days, Tamsy let him see. He’d even go as far as to say that it wasn’t a coincidence for Tamsy to have been at the training room that late at all.
Despite that, Arkha felt tempted. Tempted to let someone get close, to let loose for once. Ever since he became the leader of the cleaners he’s put his personal needs and wants on the backseat, only chasing his goal. And whether Tamsy’s behaviour ultimately had his destruction as an end goal or not, mattered less to him the more he thought about it. This emotion, this thing you usually dealt with with only your heart & gut, was not that simple of a thing anymore when the object of your desire, no matter how shallow it might be, was Tamsy Caines. Logic was required here, he needed to think before acting.
While Arkha was getting lost in his thoughts, flipping a random pen with his fingers, over and over, he didn’t notice the door opening and Semiu stepping into the room.
“…Boss?”
It was only after the third time that he registered her voice, a bewildered look on her face. “Semiu. Is something the matter?”
“No, I…,” she broke off, squinting at him, “I just came by to drop off some reports. Are you alright?”
“Fine, thank you. I was just wondering how Team Akuta is doing”, a bold faced lie and he felt terrible about it. This was unlike him, losing himself to his thoughts, something like this. What was it that Tamsy said again?
Semiu gave him a look, obviously not buying it, but she didn’t press any further, neatly laying the stack of reports on the table before returning to her station.
Arkha decided to pore over reports to take his mind off of everything plaguing him but ultimately failed, a certain blond repeatedly appearing in his mind’s eye. Irritated he got up and left his office, deciding a stroll around the compound might help. He was bound to meet some people willing to talk to him about whatever was burdening them at the moment.
And there were; an odd location for a Trash Beast to show up, another slightly failed spell (courtesy of Remlin), another artwork covered wall in the cafeteria (also courtesy of Remlin). It was enough to take his mind off of things for a moment until he had circled back to the entrance, seeing Delmon and Tamsy in full gear, getting a request rundown by Semiu. He approached slowly, taking a look the document Semiu was holding; a possible Trash Beast causing disappearances nearby a city a bit north from HQ. A regular occurrence by now. He looked up to send them off the way he usually did whenever he passed by a team leaving, noticing the way Tamsy was back to his nonchalant but polite demeanour, not even close to how he had been acting around Arkha lately. It didn’t surprise him in the slightest, understanding the need to uphold an established image but it didn’t ease his worries at all.
With furrowed brows he once again watched Tamsy leave, his retreating back also not offering any answers. This time however, Tamsy looked back, turning his head just the slightest bit to lock eyes with Arkha. Whatever it is he was doing, it was on purpose.