"Not really, no." He exhales narrowly, shaking his head. By the time he tugs open the door at the far end of the office, Leo's already gone: either made his move to leave, or settled into the focus of the public eye.

Markus hopes it's the former. The latter could be disastrous for a man that's always been unpredictably fragile and keyed up all in the same breath.

He stops just in the hallway behind the altar's center point, halfway between the primary and emergency exits: a difference of risks. Leaving openly attracts attention, but leaving privately? It's like asking anyone loitering nearby to personally take up a career in rumor mongering.

"You?"