He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden greeting. He already felt out of place in the upscale bar. Milo was dressed in the plain sort of suit and oxford’s that plagued the white collar standard of dress. Yet under his blazer peaked one of those obnoxiously patterned shirts that can only be described as ‘quirky’. He adjusted the messenger Slung across his shoulders, seemingly still carrying his work with him.<br/>The solace of thick volumes and strong spirits had drawn him forth after such a long day. It was unfortunate that the person greeting him was partially to blame for the days mishaps. Milo wasn’t sure if it was simply that Radiant was deeply competitive, or if the two had some history, but he knew for damn sure that Radiant hated Flynt co. Or more accurately anything Flynn breathed on. Which is what had made Milo particularly weary of bumping into Flynn and yet it just kept happening. Flynn really didn’t seem like such a bad guy. Actually he was kind of charming….and his smirk of a smile made Milo go slightly weak in the knees. They had run into each other the first time when Milo was exploring the city’s more niche bookstores. He mentioned it off hand to Trip afterward. What a mistake that had been. Radiant nearly made it sound like Flynn was the city’s leading mob boss or drug dealer out to convert milo into utter hedonism. By the end of the scolding milo was so demoralized he quietly striked Flynn’s name from his vocabulary.<br/>So each time he met the CEO he began to feel more and more like he was betraying Tripp in some way.<br/><br/><br/>He wondered vaguely what it must be like to be so open and free like Flynn, not knowing how wrong he was.<br/><strong>“Yes actually,  can’t believe it took so long honestly. I’ve been meaning to come by for a while. I would ask if you come here often...but… it is your bar...”</strong>He replied with a nervous smile. Milo couldn’t help noticing that here all eyes followed Flynn and by association himself as they talked.<strong> “ uh...should I bring up the elephant in the room or are you here to avoid it?”</strong>He remarked curious about the article but not willing to pry.<br/><br/>Of the myriad of accumulating secrets his sexuality was near the bottom of the list. Compared to the possibility that he could go mad at any second or that he may have taken an oath to some sort of eldritch deity, it seemed fairly insignificant. Although he couldn’t deny that it felt like a sin how often his mind wandered when he got to see Radiant in that tight suit up close. No matter how much of a work-aholic he might be even he had cravings.<br/><br/>It was easy to see in Milo’s features just how rough a day it had been. He still wasn’t entirely settled in to his new job yet. He’d only lucked into it via the networking his former mentor had set up. It had caused some resentment among his co-workers. Many of which had attended ivy league schools and had much more experience. To those in the know he was ‘Silver Anchor’s nephew’, or lunaris, Radiant’s newest tag-along. The truth wasn’t quite so simple. It was true that if he weren’t  the pupil of a well connected hero there was no way in hell that a kid like him with a degree in history and hardly any work experience would land a job at such a prestigious company. Let alone the chance to mentor under his idol. The constant stress of trying to prove himself came on both fronts.<br/>He’d looked up to Radiant since he was teenager. He revered the man like a rock star. To be able to work under Radiant even if it was just cataloging, restoration and clerk work at a 9 to 5 was a dream come true.<br/>As expected the reality was far from what his childish fantasies had come up with. For one even when he had the pleasure of assisting Radiant in the field their styles sometimes clashed. That and milo was still new to being a little hero in a huge city. The situations he faced with Radiant were very different from the lost children and purse snatchers back home.<br/>Even his own powers were a constant source of turmoil.<br/>He struggled between trying to build its strength within himself and keeping it’s infection at arms length. The confusion only compounded by being unable to ask advice of the one person he respected most. Trip didn’t know yet that Milo was no born meta. The only person who had known his secret, the person responsible for his questionable powers had now passed on. Of course being born powerless wasn’t the real reason he kept secrets. He had the distinct feeling that if word got out that he had inherited the powers of ‘Abyss’ one of the most prolific villains past, Trip wouldn’t treat him quite the same way. It had been decades since the Silver Anchor cast Abyss down and resealed the source of his power. Both men were now footnotes in in the margin of history now.<br/>Leaving him alone to uncover the book’s mysteries himself.<br/><br/>Thus far he’d had enough control to both assist Radiant and not give away too many clues. Even so he’d never been a very good liar. The whole thing weighed on his shoulders heavier each time he donned the blue suit.<br/>Maybe it was that kind of isolation that made him keep his little meetings with Flynn a secret. He had found some sense of camaraderie in Flynn's love of books. Flynn could discuss not only Milo's favorite's but also recommend titles Milo had never heard of. Not an easy feat considering Milo had spent a third of his life buried nose deep in a book.<br/><br/>