forum This Is Just a Job. . . It Shouldn’t be Anything More (Closed with knightinadream (1/1) (Mature) (MxM)

Started October 03, 2023 by @RhysTheFirebird group

tune

(sorry for the late reply)

Ilya sighs, shoving the image out of his head. Though he briefly wondered what people would think of Ilya. Bright, intelligent, handsome Ilya, if they knew that he let his old man beat on him. He shudders, casting his gaze at Romeo.

"You ready?"

He motions to the screen with his controller. He smiles slightly, spinning once again to sit upright on the sofa.

He nods once, "Cars are like. . ." He thinks for a long moment, closing his eyes.

"An escape. A way to get away from everything. Expectations, stupid dates, boring parties." He sighs heavily, "All I have to do, is get into my car and drive out to the outskirts and there. There I am, in my garage or on the dirt track I made. Free."

Ilya hadn't been out there in months. He'd need so busy with the blind dates his father kept sending him to. Or the parties. Or the work. Ilya was smart, but he didn't want to be in his father's shadow. He wanted to make his own things.

Fyodor Aslanov made technology. Tablets, and computers. Entertainment and work friendly. But Ilya wondered if they could do more. He wanted to do more. And yet he was stuck here, being kept on a short and tight as hell leash.

"Fighting. . . What about detective work? Solving mysteries or problems?" Ilya peers at the male beside him, tilting his head slightly.

While giving a nod, he flashes a little smile then returns to staring up at the screen. His eyes watch the two character standing idle next to their race cars.

He wishes he had something that was a means of escape, something to clear his mind and relax himself. Even his favorite thing (boxing) is stressful. It fires him up but it is not like Ilya with cars. Romeo wonders where his client's interest came from. Doing it would be hard since he would have to be right there with Ilya. How free can he be when a guy hired by his father has to tag along?

"Sounds like you wanna go out and drive," He said, "It must be fun."

Romeo bites his lip while looking down at the game controller. Fighting is all that he knows. A lot of his life surrounds it. From schooling to all of his jobs, each and every single thing involves fighting of some kind. The only thing he has done that is related to detectives or solving mysteries is watching movies.

"All I've ever done was boxing or working as some type of bodyguard," He responds, "No detective work or solving mysteries….Plenty of problem solving though."

Ilya presses the start button and starts to select the track, "Oh, any particular favorite?" He glances to Romeo, tilting his head slightly.

Ilya had gotten his love of cars from his mother. She and her father had both been mechanics, her father owning a large car dealership. They had both taken to helping repair the cars that came into shop, and Ilya could remember spending lots of time there with his mother and grandfather. It wasn't until his mother passed that his father forbid him from going.

Though, hat didn't stop Ilya from getting his own car and working on it in the garage at home. He was proud of his baby, a color shifting car from dark blue to dark purple. She was fast, insanely so, as well as built in with her own AI. One Ilya had made himself.

Ilya closes his eyes, "I do, almost all the time. It helps to just get away sometimes. I don't have much of a role here except to look pretty. I swear father wishes he had a daughter or something." He opens his eyes and stares down at his controller once his hand.

"Right. . . How good are your natural problem solving skills then?"

To be honest, Romeo had no clue which track is his favorite. When him and his siblings used to play years ago, the oldest sibling would pick a number and everyone else would have to guess what it was. Whoever guessed right got to pick the track. If memory serves him right, he has only won about five times. Hugo and Athena's favorite is the Coconut Mall. Conrad's was Shy Guy Beach and Bella's was Rainbow Road. Anytime he won though, he just went with whatever one was the first one he saw. Going random has always been fun for him; at least, when it comes to video games.

Sitting up, he looks over at the screen, back at Ilya, then shakes his head. "No, not really," He responses, "I'm fine with you picking your favorite."

For a while, he just says nothing. He feels like he cannot really make a comment about Ilya and Mr. Aslanov's relationship nor how…pretty Ilya is? Is he supposed to say something? When his client opens his eyes, Romeo could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He looks away while slowly exhaling.

"Competent…Or proficient…" Good enough for him to win boxing matches, pass classes, solve regular family argument, get jobs like this, and protect clients like Ilya. While he is not the best (and only has been doing this for a couple of years), he has succeeded with every job he has taken. Usually anyone who gets injured were the ones who brought it upon themselves or Romeo. "They are good enough to impress Mr. Aslanov."

Ilya gave a small laugh at Romeo's response, the sound light and surprisingly genuine. He tilted his head, studying the man as if trying to piece him together like a puzzle. There was something unpolished about Romeo—rough around the edges—but it felt honest. That was a rarity in Ilya's world of polished surfaces and hidden intentions.

“Good enough to impress my father, huh?” Ilya mused, tapping a finger on the controller as he scrolled through the tracks. His smile faded, replaced by a faint, sardonic curl of his lips. “That’s no small feat. My father’s not the kind of man who’s easily impressed.”

He stopped on a track—Rainbow Road. A classic. Chaotic, bright, and challenging, much like Ilya’s own life. He selected it without hesitation, shooting a glance at Romeo. “You might want to strap in. This one’s brutal.”

As the game loaded, Ilya leaned back on the couch, his gaze flicking to the ceiling. “Proficient is good,” he said after a beat, his voice quieter. “Proficient might even keep me alive. That’s all my father cares about, after all. Keeping the golden heir breathing.” There was no bitterness in his tone—just a weary acceptance.

He sat up suddenly, leaning his elbows on his knees as he turned his full attention to Romeo. “But I don’t need someone who’s just ‘proficient.’ I need someone who can think on their feet. Someone who can handle more than just throwing punches. Can you do that?”

There was no challenge in Ilya’s tone, only curiosity. His green eyes, so often sharp and guarded, were softer now, seeking something in Romeo’s gaze that he hadn’t found in anyone else. Perhaps loyalty. Perhaps understanding. Or maybe just someone who would see him for who he was, not what he was expected to be.

There was something about Ilya that confused him, piqued his interest. Romeo thought he could've figured out this guy in a few minutes but now he was stuck; curious and wondering. He sat there, looking over with wide eyes, feeling as his hands and heart became stiff at hearing the small laugh coming from the client.

Ilya's smile was comforting. Though, much to his chagrin, it only lasted for so long when he mentioned Mr. Aslanov. Frankly, when it came to how easily impressed Aslanov could be, it sounded like the apple didn't fall far from tree when it came to Ilya. At least, that's what Romeo thought.

He looked down at the controller then up at the screen. Part of him still couldn't believe he was doing this while on the job. He just listened while nodding and staring at the loading screen. It was not long for him to glimpse over at Ilya. The look of him was something Romeo has only seen a few times. Ilya looked tired; not physically, but perhaps mentally or emotionally. Romeo wondered why.

New person. New bodyguard. New routine. Honestly, Romeo could understand the reluctance and tiredness towards him. However, the comments Ilya has been making about his own father also made him think that there's something else. His client already gave off his disapproval of having a bodyguard that his father had chosen for him, but now it seemed like Ilya has interest in him. Just the way his whole body is facing Romeo and the look in his gaze tells him that the client might be looking at him through a different lense now.

He sat the controller down on the sofa then turned to face Ilya. His hands rested neatly on his lap. "I can," Romeo nodded before adding, "I can do all of that and more…I wouldn't have applied for this job if I couldn't." He picked up the controller, holding it up for Ilya to see, giving him a small reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry. I'll protect you."