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 slender, white fingers still wore no rings of his was unbearable! No matter how he looked at it, it was no good! Yet, he could do little else but swallow down all the indignation and bitterness into his stomach, to silently brew until the day he would have a ring to put on those fingers! Which should be tomorrow afternoon. So… he should be able to barely survive it until then? 🤔
Noah sneaked a peek at his fiancé’s dark face, and his flipping through the ring catalogs involuntarily paused. Why was Levi suddenly looking like a personification of a storm cloud? Wasn’t he all smiles just a minute ago with his pig trotters touching everywhere?
Yet as soon as the women sent the ring catalogs over, it was as if he had been struck by lightning. His face turned black, and even his pig trotters forgot to make trouble!
Noah’s brown head tilted to the side, and his brain cogs turned and turned. …Could it be? Noah promptly nudged the other with his shoulder in what he thought to be a teasing gesture, but in the eyes of others, it turned into something clearly coquettish. “What’s wrong? Your tummy hurting again? Do you perhaps have gastritis? When was the last time you had a health check-up?”
Levi smiled a grimace filled with helplessness and bitterness – his baby still remembered those last couple of times he ran to the toilet! And he still hadn’t figured out that Levi didn’t have issues with his sensitive stomach but his sensitive lower half! Yet, Levi could neither explain himself nor deny the accusation because his stomach was indeed cramping right now due to the stress-induced acid!
Levi let out a long and heavy sigh, and his right arm wrapped itself around Noah’s waist. With what seemed to be practiced ease coupled with the demeanor of a wronged child asking for hugs and kisses, Levi pulled his darling into his lap. “Baby, don’t worry, I have regular check-ups every half a year and am perfectly healthy… I’ll feel better in a bit…” And with that, Levi’s head weakly slumped into the crook of Noah’s neck, his nose burying itself into Noah’s flesh to inhale a deep breath of fresh and fragrant scent unique to his precious darling.
Levi made this series of actions look perfectly natural, but red-faced Noah still didn’t find this close intimacy perfectly natural, ah! QAQ And what fresh and fragrant scent?!? He was a boy in the middle of his puberty who took his last shower half a day ago! How could his body possibly have a fresh and fragrant scent?!
Blackie, ‘Ah, you don’t understand, host! Your husband has a serious case of brain damage! ╮(╯∀╰)╭ To him, even your farts would smell divine! Try it if you don’t believe me! (¬‿¬)
‘…But, seriously, it’s only been half a day of sitting around, (◞‸ლ) you smell fine… Your fruity body wash hasn’t even fully evaporated yet…’
Noah didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, this fiancé of his was too brazen and left him feeling too flustered to concentrate on browsing the rings. On the other hand, he couldn’t stand the idea of the other being in pain, and if hugging him like a plushie made the other feel better, then… then… what else could Noah do but resign himself to being hugged? (⁄ ⁄> ﹏ <⁄ ⁄)
At least for now…
“How about we call Maery over for a round of healing?” Noah cranked up his soothing to its maximum output, and the tense muscles wrapped around his torso visibly relaxed.
“No…” Levi’s murmur tickled the sensitive flesh of Noah’s neck. “It’s not something a healing can solve…”
‘Then what about soothing?’ –was what Noah thought. But there was no need to voice the question because his Soother senses had already told him the answer. Since his soothing was super effective, then the cause of Levi’s bad mood couldn’t have been the stomachache.
Noah’s eyes darted between the catalog of super-expensive designer wedding rings and the black tuft of hair on his shoulder… Could it be that Levi found what they were currently doing annoying?
On second thought, that conjecture seemed reasonable. Levi didn’t look like the type who’d have the patience for ring shopping. Or any kind of shopping for that matter. He looked more like the type who’d enter the store and just buy the most expensive article he could find that looked acceptable.
For this groom of his, being forced to look at rings might feel like he was slowly dying inside, yet he voiced not a single complaint. Noah didn’t know whether he should feel touched or amused. In the end, he just covered Levi’s arm that was hooked around his waist with his own, “If you are not feeling well, you don’t need to force yourself. Lie down. I can go through the catalogs myself and narrow down the selection to a couple of candidates…”
Before he could finish, Levi interrupted him, “It’s not like that. I want to pick a beautiful pair of rings –no, two pairs– together with you… I just…” Levi trailed off, not knowing how to properly explain it, “I just don’t feel well thinking that we are getting married in two days, yet we are only now picking rings… it feels… rushed and insincere… I feel like… like you deserve better… like I’ve wronged you…” Levi uncomfortably kneaded his own chest as if doing so would make the heart (and stomach) underneath not ache as much. “I… I don’t like it… with Maery, this wedding was just a formality, but now it’s different… I want to do this right…”
Noah’s sugar-injected heart thrashed against his ribcage. This man was usually so eloquent, yet when talking about feelings, all that eloquence suddenly got swept away with the wind.
It was both cute and… and so easy for Noah to misunderstand… “Why is it different?”
Levi’s response came out clear this time, “I didn’t like Maery, and I didn’t want to marry her…” ‘…but I love you, and really want to marry you… of course it’s different…’
Noah couldn’t hear the second half of Levi’s words, but the possible implications were not missed on him. No matter how he told himself that he shouldn’t misunderstand Levi’s affection for infatuation, his own wildly beating heart refused to settle back down.
In the end, even he himself could no longer discern what it was that he wanted from the other.
Or maybe, he just didn’t dare think about it.
Noah sighed ruefully and poked Levi’s exposed cheek, “…Have you had enough yet?”
The head of black hair on his shoulder shook in denial, “Not enough.”
Noah’s two bright eyes unconsciously curved, “My dad will flip again if he finds you being so sticky when he gets back from his call.”
The threat did have some effect. Levi’s motionless form stirred. His head raised, and he rubbed his cheek against Noah’s soft one, “Just a bit more…”
Noah let out another sigh, charged to the brim with doting helplessness, “You are having too much fun with this play-pretend. Be careful it doesn’t turn into reality.”
This warning immediately roused Levi from his lethargic state, “Why be careful? Wouldn’t such a reality be a good thing? For a married couple to be happily in love, isn't that how it should be?” Noah fell silent for a moment, then his pink mouth opened to reveal what lay hidden in the depths of his heart, “That's only if it's mutual. If it's one-sided, it would just be sad.” Levi deeply stared into the little one’s two shiny orbs, “That’s only if it forever remains one-sided.” Then the bottomless abyss within the pool of blue was replaced with a shimmer of mischief, “But why would it be… ah! Don’t tell me you intend to seduce me and then dump me?!” Levi’s face warped into exaggerated shock and grief, “Ah, ah, you can’t play with hearts like this! You must take responsibility for me!” Noah’s melancholy was instantly broken, and his glorious bright red blush made its triumphant return. “Who–who–who is playing with hearts?! What ‘seduce and dump’?! And what ‘tak
Since neither Noah nor Levi were the ones who scheduled all that, they had to ask Maery to deal with… uh… canceling it? Maery, “No way! (︶^︶)ノI got two weeks off work for this! And now I don’t even need to bring that scourge along on my vacation! (ノ*^o^)ノ* Yatta!” In other words… “Dear brother, I don’t care where you go for your honeymoon, as for me, dead or alive, I am going to that spa!” (✧ᴗ✧)و Noah, “…” ( •᷄⌓•᷅ ) ‘…does that mean you intend to go with us – but not with us – on our honeymoon?’ Blackie shook his head, “Host, you are not asking the right questions here!”(︶^︶)ノ Blackie turned his virtual eyes towards Maery, “Do tell, o( ̄▽ ̄)d what plans have you made that would ensure your corpse gets smuggled into the spa? Come on, don’t keep us in suspense!” Noah, “…” (◞‸ლ) Feeling helpless due to both his sister AND his pesky system, Noah turned to his fiancé for help. Only to see the other crossing over prett
Noah looked at the loner wolf’s drooping ears and tail and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Something urgent popped up?” He guessed. Otherwise, why would Levi suddenly change his mind after coming out of a call with Astar daddy? The ‘ate a loss’ Astar Levi nodded his head weakly, “Mn. Extremely pressing. Has to be handled ASAP. I’m afraid I won’t be getting much rest tonight.” Then, seeing his baby’s concerned little face, he added, “Don’t worry. It’s only this one time. I’ll manage without soothing tonight, and you can soothe me to sleep tomorrow.” Blackie, ‘…Only this one time? ಠಿ_ಠ So you are saying that you intend to sleep WITHOUT my host only this ONE time?? ಠ_ಠ ‘…Host, how are you not picking up on this?!’ щ(゚Д゚щ) Seeing Levi’s determination despite the dejection, Noah didn’t wish to delay Levi from his urgent matter any longer. Though his heart ached for the other, what Levi needed right now were not empty words
And that’s how Astar Levi resisted the great temptation of sleeping with his baby tonight and resolved himself to stay up studying instead. With unwavering determination sparkling within his blue eyes, he gritted his teeth valiantly and declined his baby’s offer of soothing. Seeing his son turning back and heading for his own room, Cordia daddy’s face proudly blossomed into a victorious smirk. A smirk that would have turned upside down faster than the speed of light if only he knew that this win was actually a Pyrrhic victory. _(´ཀ`∠)_ ‘These pig teammates!!! (ꐦ °Д°) All of them…! All of them are working for the other team!!!’ (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻ ‘They are his parents, ah! Of course they are working for the other team!’ Blackie shook his virtual head in pity, ‘Tsk, tsk. No wonder the city lord of Astarea has his entire city in his pocket while you get schemed against by your own councilors! The difference in IQ is so big, ah!’
Worst still, even though these last few messy clauses were separated from the rest of the agreement in all ways, they were still considered to be a part of the agreement. And as such, once the contract was signed, everything on it would be valid indefinitely and could only be changed if both parties agreed to the change. Noah blinked his long eyelashes at the document and couldn’t help but complain, “The lawyer who worked on these last few clauses did a sloppy job …” And that wasn’t just Noah’s layman opinion. Education in this not-so-utopian world was rather streamlined. High schools were highly specialized, and university lectures and course materials were all available online, so everyone could study at their own pace. Those ready to spend more time and effort in their studies could finish their higher education years earlier. Which was exactly what Levi, Aris, and Maery had all done. In other words – yo, don't let Aris’ young age of 18 fool you! Aris, and
In the afternoon, both pairs of rings arrived. However, before Levi could even touch the marriage rings to check whether his instructions have been fulfilled properly, they were unceremoniously snatched by Maery for safekeeping as the best man–ahem, woman. With eyebrows twitching in annoyance due to this third wheel which kept popping up all over the place, Levi gripped the engagement rings in his hand tightly, lest the other snatched them away too. Tsk. No matter. He’d be putting that wedding ring on his darling’s finger tomorrow. As for today… Levi had wanted to propose to his baby, but on second thought, he found the idea stupid. After all, his darling had already agreed to marry him. Since Levi had already gotten the answer he had wanted, why would he ask this tricky question again and shoulder this unnecessary risk of the positive answer changing into a negative? Hence, he’d just skip the first half of the proposal and fast-forward to putting the
Hearing Levi’s bitter struggle, Noah realized that he had asked a stupid question. Like a boiled lobster, he turned pink from head to toe, only a single step short from letting out steam. His neck shrunk into himself, and his round eyes darted left and right, looking everywhere other than at Levi. Noah hesitated for a long moment before he managed to gather the courage to voice his doubts, “You… are you actually gay?” “I don’t know,” Levi replied very honestly. He hadn't been particularly attracted to any of the two genders until meeting his baby. So right now, he couldn’t really be sure whether his gender preference leaned towards men or if he just liked this one person that just happened to be a man. True, thinking of his baby’s little PP made Levi’s blood boil, but he also thought that if his baby didn’t have a little bird down there but a bird's nest, he would still be just as lovely. But what-ifs were, in the end, just speculation. Since this one
Seeing his baby acting like a pure and shy maiden, Levi’s mouth twitched in an attempt to suppress a smile, ‘If you feel so shy now, baby, what will you do after dinner, hmm? Didn’t you promise to soothe me tonight?’ After all, he had a clear goal to cuddle his baby to sleep today, and this time, there was nothing that could stop him from achieving it! He was fully prepared for today’s final round of battle with his father-in-law! And this time, he was not going back in defeat! 30 minutes later, the fully prepared Astar Levi ground his teeth as he hauled his suitcase away from the Cordia manor. What happened? Father-in-law directly kicked him out!!! And with a valid reason too! The groom couldn’t see the bride–ahem, the other groom before the wedding!!! As per the initial plans, the groom and bride should spend tomorrow morning preparing for the wedding separately, welcoming their side of the family in their own respective manors. When the de