The comm pulsed again.
Gregoris remained motionless, albeit with coiled attention, a stillness that preceded violence. Rafael, meanwhile, looked like he might actually pick a fight with the Empire itself. The glare he leveled at the device was so venomous it was almost heroic in its futility.
Gregoris watched him for a moment and, infuriatingly, laughed. Something low and dark, entertained in a way only he could be while half the world was apparently trying to intrude on his night.
"You find this funny?" Rafael demanded, scandalized that anyone was amused when everything was clearly terrible.
"Yes," Gregoris replied without shame. "You look like you're about to declare war on technology."
"I want to declare war on whoever is calling," Rafael hissed.
Gregoris's grin sharpened into something that shouldn't have been allowed to exist in polite company.
"Same," he said.
The comm pulsed again.
And that was the last second of peace.
Gregoris didn't answer.
He straightened.
