~7.

[NYX]

“…shit,” he muttered under his breath.

He set the tray down a little harder than intended, fingers tightening against the polished surface before he forced them to relax.

Get it together.

“You good?”

Skyler’s voice came from the side, casual but observant.

Nyx didn’t turn immediately.“I’m fine.” He lied

Skyler snorted softly. “Yeah, no. You only get that stiff when something’s off.”

Nyx finally glanced at him, pulling at the edge of his sleeves as if adjusting it.

“Just a table,” he said. “Nothing new.”

“Mm.” Sky leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “Rich, masked, and already asking for private service five minutes in?”

Nyx exhaled through his nose. “Standard.”

But his mind wasn’t there, it was still at the table.

On him.

The one who hadn’t touched anything.

The one who watched.

Nyx reached up, pressing his fingers briefly against the bridge of his nose beneath the mask.

“What’s got you thinking?” Sky pressed.

Nyx hesitated.

“…the quiet one.”

Sky perked up immediately. “Oh? The scary one?”

Nyx shot him a look. “He’s not scary.”

Sky raised a brow. “He looked like he was about to file a lawsuit just sitting there.”

Despite himself, Nyx let out a small breath of a laugh.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Something like that.” He paused. “You think he’s a cop or a private investigator?”

But that wasn’t it.

Not really.

It was the way he looked.

Not at his body.

At him.

Like he was trying to solve something.

Nyx’s fingers curled slightly.

He hated that kind of attention. But it always found him either way.

It was the one thing his mask wasn’t built for.

“I mean…even if he is…it’s not our problem. We can always play victim.Did he say anything weird?” Sky asked.

Nyx shook his head.

“No.”

A pause.

“…not exactly.”

Sky narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

Nyx leaned back against the counter, tilting his head slightly.

“He was just…staring.”

“That’s normal.”

“Not like that.”

Sky waited.

“He noticed.”

Sky straightened a bit. “Noticed what?”,he reached up and lightly touched just beneath his eye.

“My eyes,” he said finally.

Sky’s expression shifted.

“Oh. I mean it’s not really a hidden feature of yours”

“Yeah.”

“Most people don’t clock that,” Sky muttered.

“Exactly.”

That was the problem.

Nyx’s jaw tightened slightly.

“He didn’t stare like the others,” he continued. “Didn’t act like it was… a novelty.”

Sky frowned. “Then what?”

Nyx’s voice dropped.

“Like it meant something.”

Sky studied him for a moment. “You sure you’re not overthinking it?”

Nyx gave a quiet, humorless huff. “I don’t get paid to overthink.”

“You kinda do,” Sky said lightly.

Nyx pushed him away playfully, “you’re the worst”

“…he didn’t touch anything,” Nyx added.

Sky blinked. “What?”

“The drink. The menu. Nothing. Just asked for Whiskey.” Nyx’s gaze drifted toward the curtain. “Just sat there. Watching.”

“Creepy.”

“No,” Nyx said immediately.Then paused. “…yep, creepy.”

Nyx straightened slowly, rolling his shoulders back.

“You going back?” Sky asked.

“I have to.”

“They ordered the full set. You know you don’t have to…no one is forcing you”

Nyx glanced at him.

“I know.”

Sky hesitated. “You want me to swap tables with you?”

Nyx shook his head instantly.

“No.”

Sky caught it.

A slow grin spread across his face. “Ohhh. So you are interested.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Mmhm.”

“I’m working.”

“Sure you are.” Sky snorted.

“Don’t make it weird.”

“I’m not the one making it weird,” Sky shot back. “You’re the one thinking about a customer.”

Nyx stilled.

It was the first time he ever did. And it wasn’t thoughts of disgust or self loath.

“I think about all my customers,” he said smoothly.

“Yeah…while puking in the restroom”

“You always want to have the last word, don’t you?”

“Damn right I do”

Nyx stepped back into the crimson haze of the club, two other hosts trailing behind him.

Back to the mysterious man.

Back to the hawk-eyed gaze that zeroed in on him once he stepped in.