Page 21 of Static/Cling

“No, you should have. I should have thought of it myself. It was the right thing to do. Just turned out he didn’t need the assist.”

“I guess.”

“It’ll be fine. Just give it some time.” He sighed and turned his attention back to his reading. “I’ll get rid of it one way or another.”

Leif grunted and left him to it.

Since Kassian hadn’t gotten up for his coffee, Leif carried it over.

“You didn’t have to,” Kassian muttered, but he took it.

“No, I didn’t. But I’m not an asshole.”

“No. You’re not.” He set the coffee down and finally looked away from his screen. “Thanks for thinking of a Plan B earlier.”

“Thank Bjorn. He’s the one carrying a heart-stopping amount of static electricity in his body now.”

“Idiot. He didn’t have to do that. I had it covered.”

“You almost didn’t actually, and how’s this. You call him an idiot again, I will knee you in the nuts.”

“I have a black belt you know.”

Leif cocked his head. “So?” In his experience, a black belt didn’t mean a whole lot when you were trying to retrieve your balls from your nasal cavities.

Kassian snorted. “So nothing. Just thank him for having my back earlier.”

“You thank him.”

Kassian huffed.

Leif stood over him another heartbeat.

“Was there something else?”

“That suit. Will it really help him?”

“In theory. I have no way of knowing until he actually tries it, though.”

Leif nodded. “Fine. I’ll fix it tonight, and we’ll see.”

“Fix it?”

“Come on. It’s an orange construction overall with glow tape across the back and someone else’s name on it. Are you really that oblivious?”

“It’s what I could find. He’s not exactly small.”

“But it’s the lining that matters? Not what the suit is made of?”

“Natural fibres are better. Less conductive. Why?”

“I’ll sew it into his regular clothes. If it works, you can make some more so he can have more than a single outfit.”

“Sure I can.” His voice dripped with venomous sarcasm.

Leif curled a lip in distaste, because the tone didn’t suit him at all. “You will, because this is supposed to be a team, and that’s the part you’re really good at.”

Kassian blinked at him, clearly confused. “What part?”

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