“No wonder Asan’s mother was so uncooperative,” Noah rubbed his chin deep in thought, sitting comfortably in his exclusive, premium-quality Levi-seat. “Even if she can avoid being implicated personally, those illegal drug trials will still be causing her a massive headache for quite a while. Also…” Noah’s amber eyes squinted, much like a cat enjoying a petting, which was exactly what his fluffy head was currently receiving from his human chair, “She must have entrusted this project to her son, and now that things went south, she is protecting him in her own way.”
Pleased by how well-behaved his human was today, kitty Noah rewarded the other by leaning back into his warm and comfortable chest. “Even if one of them is clean, the other certainly can’t be. Someone with high enough authority had to grant those unknown communicators access to the lab, and the only two who could have done that were the two of them. What else can she do but remain tight-lipped and threaten us with lawsuits? Plead guilty? Or sell out her own son? Speaking of which, did you guys question Asan yet?”
Noah waited for Fynn’s response, but the other said not a word.
“Um… Fynn?” Noah’s head tilted to the side.
“Mn? What did you say?” Fynn sat across from Noah, leaning his chin on his two intertwined hands, his eyes bloodshot. ‘Aris, believe me, I am really, really trying to concentrate on what you are saying, but it’s a bit hard considering the fact that… the blinding sight in front of me is burning my fucking eyes off!!!
(ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻
‘Can’t you two spare some sympathy for the single dogs in this room and stop with whatever you think you are doing?!? щ(゚Д゚щ)And, Aris, how the fuck do you expect me to concentrate on serious matters when I’ve got this deadly image of an orange tabby with tousled fur meowing in front of me?!?’
Ok, sure, the devastating cuteness was pleasing to the eyes, but not to the heart! 〒▽〒
…Not just because the sight kept rubbing in the fact that this beauty would never be his, but also because…
‘For fucks sake, can’t you see there is a big and fierce jar of vinegar, staring daggers behind your back into whoever dares look at you for longer than two seconds!?!’ щ(゚Д゚щ)
Fynn had little expectation from the start, so he wasn’t too heartbroken when his love interest got together with someone else. But seeing this scene in front of him, he suddenly felt really unwilling to let it go!!! Aris was too good to be taken away by this shameless rogue!
Look at how good he was! Just letting himself be cuddled with an understanding attitude of “sigh~ fine, if he wants to play, just let him play…”
And what was that intent he was picking up?? He even wanted to reward the rogue for being obedient?!?
Fynn felt like he might cough out blood at any moment, ‘…there is no justice left in this world…’ _(´ཀ`∠)_
Blackie, (°ー° lll) ‘…um …buddy, I understand your plight; the sight of my host is indeed unsettling, but… Hearing such words from a cop is a whole different level of disturbing!!! (⊙_⊙;)
‘Pal, if there was a list of lines a cop should never say, “there is no justice left in this world” would definitely be among the top three!!!’ (◞‸ლ)
Fynn, ‘Obedient, is he?! What kind of evaluation standards are you using for him to be considered obedient?!?’ (ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻
A good question. Why exactly did Noah consider Levi’s current self as “well-behaved”?
Of course, it’s because there was no movement down there! (/≧ω\)
(Blackie, ‘…that’s because your hubby has been “exercising” before and after bed…’ (¬_¬;))
Not only was Levi’s lower half well-behaved, but even his upper half was no longer as clingy as an octopus – he only hung one arm around Noah’s waist today!
(Blackie, ‘…only because he no longer fears you’d run away, so he has enough leeway to use the other arm to stroke your head…’ (–_ლ))
And that was not all; he even didn’t bury his nose into Noah’s hair today or sneak in kisses! ╰(*°▽°*)╯
(Blackie, ‘…that’s because your scoundrel of a husband is too preoccupied with warning all the men and women in the department to keep their eyes and thoughts off of you! ಥ‿ಥ Can’t you see him glowering at all the heads circling around Fynn’s office and peeking between the window blinds?’)
All in all, Noah was convinced that Levi had gotten tired of teasing him and was now settling for less over-the-top, and by extension less embarrassing, displays of affection. In short, Noah was in an excellent mood, even thinking that this was the kind of good behavior that ought to be rewarded!
Blackie, ‘Host…are you aware that you sound like you are training a dog?’ ಠ_ಠ
Also Blackie, ‘Great! (ノ*^o^)ノ*.☆゚・:*☆ My host has finally been enlightened! My baby host is growing! ಥ‿ಥ This system is so proud! One really can’t use normal human methods to discipline a horndog of a husband!’ ╮(╯∀╰)╭
The mentioned dog of a husband, (ꐦ  ̄︿ ̄) ‘How am I a horndog?!? It’s not like I think about doing my baby 24/7! Can’t I also enjoy my baby in a pure and clean way?!’
Blackie, ‘The way you worded that sentence is an answer in itself. (¬‿¬)’
Levi, ‘You know that’s not what I meant!’ (ꐦ °Д°)
Levi indeed had the right to feel wronged. Before meeting his precious, he rarely thought about sex. Just look at him! A rich and handsome stud, yet still a virgin! What else could be a better proof that he was unjustly accused?!
Other than when he was fapping, he did not imagine doing his baby nor did he undress him with his eyes! Of course, he, Levi, wanted so much more from his baby than to stick it in his baby’s little behind!
…it was just that his baby’s little behind was too seductive… Even if he wasn’t in the mood or thinking about it, just accidentally seeing that perky bottom would make him think about it… (/≧ω\)
But that couldn’t be blamed on him! It’s not like he wanted to get a boner in public! He didn’t have that kind of fetish! It was just that he had zero resistance to his darling’s charms. It was like his baby carried with him a potent aphrodisiac – regardless of his own pure intentions, his body would involuntarily respond to the slightest of provocation.
Luckily, he now knew what to watch out for, and even his baby had grown more self-aware, (he no longer struggled in his hold nor wriggled his ass on top of him.) Thus, the scene of his “obedience”.
Also, it helped that his baby’s soothing was back to 100%. ╮(╯∀╰)╭ Made it much easier to focus on what he wanted to focus on.
“Did you guys question Asan yet?” Noah repeated himself, and this time the question finally penetrated through the fog inside Fynn’s mind.
“Not yet,” Fynn shook his head, “I sent my men to get him early this morning, but he wasn’t at home. According to servants of the manor, he prefers to stay in one of the other residences owned by his family.”
“That’s true,” Noah shrugged, “He never got along well with his mother. So you haven’t located him yet?”
“Right. Suffice to say, his mother had not been very helpful. We’ve also tried calling him, but he isn’t picking up.”
Noah uneasily shifted in his lap-seat with a deep furrow of his eyebrows, “Could it be that the terrorists did something to him to cover their tracks?” From Aris’ memories, Asan was a gloomy and withdrawn type who lacked initiative. Noah could see him turning a blind eye to something clearly shady for the sake of profit or maintaining the status quo, but he couldn’t imagine him being a terrorist.
Besides, Asan had good future prospects. What would he gain from joining a terrorist group?
However Noah looked at it, it seemed like a stupid thing to do.
The “well-behaved” and “obedient” husband, Astar Levi, noticed his darling’s worry, thus he immediately jumped to console him. His hand flew to gently rub his baby’s waist, and his voice softened, “It could also be that Asan is avoiding the peacekeepers because he has something to hide. He might be holed up somewhere right now, perfectly fine.” The light touch left Noah feeling ticklish. His cheeks flushed pink, and he quickly covered the naughty hand with his to prevent it from further movement. The sight of all this made Fynn’s teeth ache, hence, he abruptly interrupted the lovey-dovey scene with “Aris, how about you two go back home, and we talk about the rest through a video call?” Baby Noah didn’t have mind-reading powers, thus, he turned to Fynn to blankly stare with his head tilted to the side, “…why???” Seeing a confused ginger kitty with wide amber eyes, Fynn almost blurted out, ‘Why??? Because even if I close my eyes, your sugary intents
Fynn nodded with a triumphant smile, “And that’s exactly why they have been just hoarding bullets instead of using them this entire time! They were putting off the full execution of their plans until Swiftrain sent you to the other side!” Noah, “…” ‘I appreciate your enthusiasm, and I don’t want to rain on your parade, but… As a bro that came from the other side, I can confirm that their plan was 100% effective…’ 〒▽〒 Blackie, “Too bad it didn’t occur to them that sending goes both ways, ah! If they can send people to the other side, the other side can send people over right back!” (☞゚∀゚)☞ Noah, “…” (◞‸ლ) ‘I appreciate your attempts of lifting the mood, but that just sounds really creepy… like… rise-of-the-undead level of creepy…’ Fynn’s declaration still echoed in the room, yet Noah remained silent, his expression unreadable. There was nothing wrong with Fynn feeling a sense of achievement and victory due to this big breakthr
Noah had a thin face and hugging in public was embarrassing enough; he really couldn’t handle anything more! And on top of it all, with every minute that passed, the harder it became for him to distinguish the act from reality. He didn’t like this, he didn’t like it at all! Even if it was all an act, his feelings weren’t an act! Everything happening felt real to him, so once the act was over, how would he be able to just pretend like nothing had happened?! Being kissed so gently like this, only a block of wood wouldn’t feel their heartstrings quivering! Levi, whose eyes never left his baby’s face, noticed Noah’s momentary flash of regret and, like a seasoned general, seized this opening to strike. Looking very remorseful, he dropped another gentle kiss on Noah’s supple cheek, “I’m sorry, baby, don’t be angry. Next time I kiss, I’ll make sure others can’t see.” Noah’s eyes widened, and he attempted to turn his head away to avoid further kisses, “Still acting?
Noah just couldn’t enter into this mental state of make-believe. Regardless of the intention behind it, it was still a hug! How could he view it as something other than what it was? But this inability to pretend was his own psychological issue… He shouldn’t make Levi suffer due to it. The right thing to do would be to grit his teeth and pull through these remaining couple of days. Noah let out a long and heavy sigh, but his arms that had been crossed defensively in front of him loosened. He skittishly eyed Levi’s torso, thinking about how to best go about returning the hug. ‘Noah, you can do it!’ He encouraged himself, ‘How come you didn’t feel shy hugging Levi a few days earlier? Why are you suddenly making such a big deal out of it?’ Before he could even finish that thought, Noah answered his own question, ‘How could it be the same?! A few days earlier, I was hugging my good and straight brother-in-law! And now I’m hugging my own not-e
“And?” Noah tilted his brown head. “Since it’s still in development, we don’t have a large database of people to compare it against just yet…” Noah’s nose wrinkled, “So nothing?” “On the contrary,” Fynn’s mouth curled up, “Since we didn’t have a database, I pulled up some footage of the last city council meeting for testing purposes. Who would have thought we’d actually manage to get a match.” Fynn’s smile disappeared, replaced by a frown, “Too bad that the technology is still experimental, and its results aren’t yet considered reliable enough to be used in court.” Noah leaned forward towards the light screen, his little butt nearly slipping off the sofa, “Heh, for testing purposes, you say? Weren’t you trying to check whether this person is councilor Desmond?” Fynn’s frown was once again replaced by a guilty-as-charged look, and he scratched his head sheepishly, “He is one of the shareholders of Druxa, and the main advocate for the monitoring
“… The owner of the other unknown number is not on our footage.” Fynn scratched his head helplessly, “But as you can see, the only way into the lab is through this hallway, and the only way into the hallway is through these doors that are under surveillance. Thus, everyone entering the hallway should be captured on camera. And yet, here we are…” Fynn sighed before continuing, “At first, we thought that the footage had been tampered with, but there are no missing periods of time nor any other signs it had been messed with. Besides for the Ghost, the times reported by the footage and the access logs match up for everyone else.” Fynn shook his head, “Under the assumption that it wasn’t an issue with the footage, we went back and turned the entire place upside down again. But we still did not manage to find another way into the lab. We even considered the possibility of this person being invisible, but there was no footage of the doors opening by themselves. And
“Exactly!” Noah kept nodding his fluffy head encouragingly, “You said that none of the people you questioned had anything to do with terrorists, right? However, you only questioned those that were on the list of people allowed entry into our lab, correct?” The weariness on Fynn’s face was replaced with agitation, “The Ghost is among the people that we didn’t question! He is one of the personnel from the other 4 labs!” Then he slumped back into his chair, “Ah! We worked through the entire night and barely managed to finish questioning all these people, yet now we have to track down and question more than 4 times the amount of others who had access to the other labs!” Noah felt that being a law enforcement officer was very pitiful, thus he mercifully extended a helping hand, “You might not need to do that. We can use the access logs to narrow down the potential suspects. Anyone who, according to the footage, entered the corridor that day AFTER Ghost’s entry was recorde
Noah immediately put that thought into practice. He stopped thinking and focused on just breathing. Luckily, the scent tickling his nose was inherently rather soothing. Mmm, he recognized this pleasant cologne. And this warm and wide chest. And the comfortable embrace that was like a big satin blanket, so cozy he didn’t want to move… It all made him feel very secure. Like everything was alright. Like he was exactly where he was supposed to be. Doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. This foreign yet familiar warmth trickled into Noah’s heart, driving away the chill. And the careful caresses patted down all of his metaphorically raised fur. And thus, the turmoil within Noah settled back down as quickly as it had previously risen up. Seeing his unresponsive darling’s ears finally heat up after a long and nerve-racking delay, Levi let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Phew! If his baby had the presence of mind to feel shy, it me