Elias didn't sleep that night either.
But this time, it wasn't because his mind refused to slow down.
It was because he didn't want the moment to end.
The realization unsettled him in ways he still couldn't fully explain.
For most of his life, he had treated time like a resource something measurable, manageable, optimizable. Moments existed to serve function. Emotional attachment complicated efficiency.
And yet now
He found himself wanting to stay inside a single moment for as long as possible.
Dominic was beside him on the platform near the main console, leaning back against the wall with one arm loosely around Elias's waist like it belonged there naturally.
Elias was beginning to suspect it did.
The system hummed softly around them again, but quieter now, less intrusive. The room no longer felt cold the way it once had.
Not with Dominic here.
Dominic glanced down at him after a long stretch of silence.
"You're staring again."
Elias looked up calmly.
"Yes."
Dominic smiled faintly.
"Should I be worried?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
Elias considered the question seriously.
"The outcome of my current thought process."
Dominic laughed softly.
"That sounds threatening."
"It is not intended to."
Dominic adjusted slightly, pulling Elias a little closer without thinking.
The movement was casual.
Instinctive.
And Elias noticed that immediately.
Not the motion itself
The ease of it.
Once, any unexpected closeness would have made him tense automatically.
Now
Dominic touched him constantly without either of them thinking about it anymore.
And somehow, instead of disruptive…
It felt stabilizing.
"You're doing that thing again," Dominic murmured.
Elias frowned slightly.
"What thing?"
"Getting quiet when something emotional hits you."
"That is an inaccurate simplification."
Dominic smiled.
"You keep saying that like it stops being true."
Elias didn't respond.
Because it was true.
He looked down briefly at Dominic's hand resting against him.
Then quietly said
"I have reached a conclusion."
Dominic immediately looked interested.
"That sounds serious."
"It is."
Dominic tilted his head.
"Good serious or bad serious?"
Elias looked at him directly.
"Undetermined."
Dominic laughed under his breath.
"Very reassuring."
Elias ignored the comment.
"For most of my life," he began slowly, "I prioritized predictability over attachment."
Dominic's expression softened slightly.
"Yeah."
"I believed emotional dependence reduced operational clarity."
"That sounds exactly like something you'd believe."
"Yes."
A pause.
"But recent evidence contradicts that conclusion."
Dominic blinked.
"…Recent evidence?"
Elias met his gaze steadily.
"You."
The word settled warmly between them.
Dominic smiled faintly.
"Okay, that one was smooth."
"That was not intentional."
"I know."
Dominic's smile deepened anyway.
Elias continued quietly
"My cognitive function has not deteriorated."
Dominic laughed softly.
"Romantic."
Elias frowned slightly.
"I am attempting sincerity."
"You are sincere."
Dominic looked at him carefully.
"That's why it works."
Elias paused briefly before continuing.
"In fact, my stress response has demonstrably improved in your presence."
Dominic stared at him for two seconds.
Then burst out laughing.
"Oh my God."
Elias looked mildly offended.
"That was a factual observation."
"You basically just said I emotionally regulate you."
"That is an oversimplification."
Dominic laughed harder.
"You're impossible."
But there was affection all over his face when he said it.
Elias watched him quietly.
Then
"I no longer view this as a vulnerability."
Dominic's laughter faded.
The seriousness in Elias's voice changed the atmosphere instantly.
"You don't?" Dominic asked softly.
Elias shook his head.
"No."
A pause.
"At least not entirely."
Dominic studied him carefully.
"What changed?"
Elias hesitated.
Not because he lacked an answer.
But because the answer mattered.
"You stayed," he said quietly.
Dominic's expression softened immediately.
Elias continued
"You continued choosing proximity despite repeated opportunities to withdraw."
Dominic smiled faintly.
"That sounds better when you say it."
Elias ignored that too.
"I have concluded that my previous framework regarding attachment was… incomplete."
Dominic looked at him like he'd just handed him something fragile.
"That's a big deal for you, isn't it?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
Then Elias added more quietly
"I think I want a future now."
The words changed everything.
Dominic went completely still.
Elias felt his own pulse quicken slightly after saying it out loud.
But he didn't take it back.
Didn't retreat.
Because it was true.
Before Dominic
The future had always been abstract.
Projects.
Systems.
Goals.
Expansion.
Now
When he thought about the future, he thought about someone standing beside him inside it.
Dominic's voice came softer now.
"What kind of future?"
Elias looked at him carefully.
"One that includes you."
Silence.
Dominic stared at him for several long seconds like he genuinely didn't know what to do with that answer.
Then finally
"You really don't understand how devastatingly romantic you are, do you?"
Elias frowned slightly.
"That was not my intention."
"I know."
Dominic smiled helplessly.
"That's what makes it worse."
Elias studied him.
"You appear emotionally affected."
Dominic laughed quietly.
"Yeah. Extremely."
A small silence settled again.
Warm.
Steady.
Then Dominic shifted slightly closer, his forehead brushing Elias's temple.
"You know what's terrifying?" he murmured.
Elias looked at him.
"What?"
"I can actually picture it too."
Something deep inside Elias eased at those words.
Not disappeared.
Not resolved completely.
But settled.
Like a piece finally fitting somewhere it was meant to be.
Dominic's hand tightened slightly around his waist.
"No running anymore?" he asked softly.
Elias answered immediately.
"No."
Dominic smiled faintly.
"Good."
Elias looked at him carefully for a long moment.
Then quietly
"I think I am ready to say it."
Dominic's breath caught.
Neither of them moved.
The entire room felt still suddenly.
Waiting.
Dominic looked at him carefully, almost cautiously now.
"You don't have to if you're not ready."
Elias shook his head once.
"I am."
A pause.
Then, for the first time without analysis, without hesitation, without trying to restructure the feeling into something safer
Elias spoke plainly.
"I love you, Dominic."
The silence afterward felt enormous.
Dominic closed his eyes briefly like the words physically hit him.
When he looked back at Elias again, there was something unguarded in his expression Elias had never seen before.
Something almost painfully soft.
"Yeah?" Dominic whispered.
Elias nodded once.
"Yes."
Dominic smiled then.
Small at first.
Then wider.
Real.
Beautiful.
And when he kissed Elias this time
It felt like the beginning of something permanent.
The thing that scared him most now…
Wasn't loving Dominic.
It was the possibility of losing the life they were slowly building together