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 breakthrough in the case. But Noah just couldn’t bring himself to feel the same. He didn’t think there were any winners here. Many people were harmed, Aris lost his life, and once caught, the terrorists would lose everything BUT their life.
In the end, there would be no gains, just varying degrees of loss.
–No, actually, if they were to talk about benefits, there was one person who DID gain a lot out of this – Noah himself. If the terrorists hadn’t acted out, Aris wouldn’t have died, and he wouldn’t have been sent over to replace him.
But how could Noah feel joyful about his gain when he knew that this happiness was built upon someone’s sacrifice? And yet no one would ever know of this sacrifice, nor that their future peaceful lives had been paid in blood by a soul that quietly disappeared from this world.
When he had thought that Aris’ death was an accident, he just felt it was a pity. At the time, there was no one to blame but the fickleness of fate. Yet, now that he knew that all of this had nothing to do with luck and was manmade, there was this indescribably stifling and bitter feeling in his chest that Noah didn’t know how to vent.
The only thing he could do was to direct this suffocating indignance into loathing for the psychopaths who caused all of this. He couldn’t bring Aris back; the only thing he could do for him was to make sure that people who harmed him rotted in prison while the people whom he had loved lived in bliss.
While Noah remained uncharacteristically quiet and still, Levi, too, felt immense fury bubbling in his chest. How could he stand the idea that there were people out there that made it their goal in life to take his precious darling away from him forever?!
If you asked him, tearing off their flesh and drinking their blood would be letting them off easy!
Well, the blood-drinking was, of course, metaphorical (the only one he actually wanted to “drink” and “eat” was his baby (/≧ω\)), but the sentiment behind it was real.
Yet, even though rage boiled inside him, as long as his lifeline was there, sitting on top of him, he could neither lose his temper nor his head to anger. Especially when he keenly felt the changes in his baby’s mood. Changes that instantly dumped a cold bucket of water on top of Levi’s internal flames.
What he needed to do right now was not to plot how to dismember the terrorists but to comfort his darling!
And thus, Astar Levi did what he was the best at – distracting his baby. Levi wrapped both of his arms around his favorite person, brought him fully into his embrace, end then started to drop soft consoling kisses on the side of his face. From the corner of those beautiful amber eyes, to those soft pink cheeks, towards those tempting plump lips. Even managing to whisper sweet nothings in between the words: “Don’t be afraid. From now on, no one can hurt you.”
Noah, who was so “violently” interrupted by this sudden assault, completely lost his train of thought due to sheer shock! –No, not only did he forget what he was feeling down about, but it would be more accurate to say that his mental train flew out of its tracks!!!
What was this fiancé of his doing?!? And he even thought the other had turned over a new leaf in life, acting very obedient today!! Yet he was just laying low, waiting for an opportunity to pounce!!! (ꐦ °Д°)
How could he drop so many kisses onto another man’s face so casually?! Hadn’t he already taken this whole play-pretend too far?! Give him an inch, and he wanted a mile! Was sitting on top of his lap in public still not lovey-dovey enough?! What kind of nonsense was going through that head of his?! щ(゚Д゚щ)
‘You think people won’t believe we are together unless they see you leaving saliva all over me?! What are you? A dog marking his territory?!’
Noah struggled to push Levi away from his vulnerable face, but the other refused to let go – since a kiss had already been dropped, then he might as well kiss some more. Judging by his baby’s angry little face, who knows when he’ll be able to be this intimate with his precious again?
In his desperation, Noah was forced to turn towards Fynn to ask for a moment to “settle” this naughty child from his household, but before he could even let out a single word, Fynn got up and marched out with, “When you are done, head back home. Let’s continue this discussion remotely.”
Fynn didn’t even wait for a response before slamming the door behind him. A useless effort because the door was immediately opened again by Levi’s and Noah’s bodyguards, who lined up to exit as if passengers lining up to board lifeboats off their sinking ship.
Ai, they better stand guard outside! Good bodyguards knew when their masters needed some privacy…
Seeing everyone flee the room as if there was a fire alarm, Noah felt so embarrassed that his shame turned into anger. His cheeks flared up into shades of neon red, with only half of the reason being due to anger and the other half… ahem… (/≧ω\)
Anyway, Noah whirled around to glare murderously at Levi and spat, “Acting lovey-dovey sure comes naturally to you! I think there is no need to practice it further!”
Levi eyed his puffed-up kitten, and seeing no remaining traces of gloom left, he let out an internal breath of relief. An angry kitten he could handle. It was the sad kitten that he couldn’t bear to see.
Levi remained silent for a moment, seemingly pondering over something. Then his lips parted, and a confident, husky hum came out, “That isn't so. I feel like there is still room for improvement.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” Noah was so angry he laughed. “As a matter of fact, so do I! Your acting is so over the top that I think we should practice social distancing next! Stay six feet away at all times and learn how to express your ‘love’ without touching!” (ꐦ ◠‿◠)
“That won’t work,” Levi protested, “The difficulty level is too high and the time given too short. It’s too late to start practicing other methods of expressing affection now.” (︶^︶)ノ
Noah’s vision turned black for a moment. This person was completely missing the point! “If the difficulty level is too high for you, then forget it! If they think we are a fake couple, so be it.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Noah regretted it. He had let his anger get the best of him. He didn’t really intend to let Levi take the blame for this entire marriage change fiasco. He just… he just… wanted Levi to tone it down a bit…
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
Fynn understood the rationale, but it still didn’t feel right, “But why did the two have to meet up, anyway? If it was just a discussion, it could have been done remotely. Did the councilor come to pick up drugs and see the research results first hand? But since councilor Desmond had access to the lab, couldn’t he have just gone in and taken the drugs himself? Why the need to meet up?” This time, Noah was the one to speak up, “Would a paranoid person, such as Asan, trust the other to quietly take a few drug samples and see himself out? He had to be there to supervise the other and make sure he didn’t do anything he shouldn’t.” Fynn paused a moment to consider Noah’s words, then he spoke up again, “But if the councilor had access rights to the lab, couldn’t he have dropped in at any time, all by himself?” “What makes you think he had permanent access rights? Asan could have granted his number clearance each time they were supposed to meet and revoked them afte
After the matter of tuxedos was resolved, the natural progression of things led the two grooms to the topic of rings. Both wedding AND engagement rings! When Levi realized that he was getting married to his baby, yet not only had he not officially proposed, but his baby’s lovely hands didn’t even have his ring on, he felt so sour inside that his face scrunched up like a squeezed sponge. This needed to be corrected! Right now! (ꐦ °Д°) But how could he correct it when he didn’t even have the rings yet?! (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻ What was he supposed to do? Reuse the rings from the previous engagement? Of course he couldn’t do that!!! Even if there was no issue with the ring size and the feminine design, how could he let his precious wear things that were not just picked by someone else but even worn by someone else before?! Even if he used his feet to think, he still wouldn’t manage to come up with such a stupid idea! But, ah, the realization that those slen