Striking while the iron was hot, Levi concluded it with, “That’s why being intimate with me is ok.”
But then, feeling he hadn’t been clear enough, he added, “Being intimate with others is not!”
Noah’s eyelid started twitching, he felt like there was something wrong here, but he couldn’t quite put into words what exactly.
Still feeling that his words had left room for error, Levi sternly clarified, “By ‘being intimate’, I mean kissing, hugging, caressing the head…” Levi’s list of ‘family-only’ acts went on and on.
Noah listened to the other's earnest recitation in a daze.
It seemed to make sense. His brother-in-law was being protective like a good older brother but... but... Why did he still have this feeling that something wasn't right somewhere?!?
Wait, wait, wait!
Noah’s body shook with a sudden realization! He knew where this feeling of ‘wrongness’ came from!!
How did his lecturing of his brother-in-law about his inappropriate behavior turn to the other lecturing him instead?!?
This bad, bad brother-in-law had deflected his attack and turned it around on him!!
(ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻
Blackie : (눈_눈) ‘…really? That's what's bothering you the most right now? Not the fact that your brother-in-law’s list of family-only things included seeing each other naked, bathing, and sleeping together?’
In Noah's defense, his pure mind translated those to bathing your younger brother and sleeping together in the same bed with your younger brother. He took care of the younger kids in the orphanage too once upon a time. He knew how it was like to be an older brother.
Put in ‘taking-care-of-a-younger-brother’ context, all of Levi’s strange behavior sounded much more reasonable. And once Levi’s role of elder brother was established, it was hard for Noah to break out of that perspective and view what the other did as anything else.
Finally running out of things to list out without entering some strange kink territory, Levi stopped to ask Noah’s confirmation, “Understand?”
At this point, Noah had long become numb. Wishing nothing more but to put this embarrassing matter behind him as soon as possible, he nodded stiffly.
He should… should just concentrate on more important tasks at hand, such as not running late for their meeting with Fynn.
Yeah, if his brother-in-law was gonna be childish, then it was up to him to be a proper adult. And as a proper adult, he should be perfectly aware of their current priorities, which did not include having a lengthy discussion about the meaning of life with his silly brother-in-law!
And besides, it’s not like his brother-in-law was taking liberties with him. He just didn’t know better.
When put into perspective, though embarrassing, the previous matter was just a minor accident not worth fighting over.
***
Fynn’s background checks didn’t come up with much, but he did manage to draw various connections between the two cases that might be or might not be relevant.
For example, when checking rival pharmaceutical companies that had attempted to recruit the Fluxer, Fynn managed to find several employees of those companies that also had a connection to the Blazer.
Fynn had also looked at the name list of people who weren’t on good terms with the Concordia city lord and found some of them held shares at those pharmaceutical companies.
To be honest, searching for connections was like finding a needle in a haystack. But they had to start from somewhere. After all, if one wanted to dig out gold, one had to start digging. Even if the place you started to dig at was wrong, you still had a higher chance of finding gold digging there than if you didn’t dig at all.
Besides the search for connections, Fynn had gone back to the scene of the second power rampage.
Since the officer capable of tracking people by scent couldn’t enter the restaurant due to the overpowering stench of vapor, Fynn had asked him to sniff around the restaurant.
They had wanted to try their luck and see if the Fluxer and his companion had left their scent in the vicinity of the restaurant. If yes, they might be able to backtrack their steps.
In the end, they didn’t manage to lock onto their scent, but they DID stumble onto something interesting.
“Do you remember the sniper from the first incident? When we sent our guy to sniff him out, he couldn’t pinpoint which scent belonged to the sniper because the bar had been filled with too many scents.” Fynn started.
Noah tilted his head, “Yeah?”
Fynn leaned back in his chair, “While sniffing around the restaurant, my man caught a scent that he had also smelled in that bar.”
Noah snapped to attention, “Are you saying that the sniper from the first rampage was also at the scene of the second?”
Fynn nodded then shook his head, “There was definitely a person that was on both scenes. However, we still can’t confirm whether it was the sniper or someone else that coincidentally just happened to be present.”
Trey, who usually kept quiet unless spoken to, opened his mouth, “The windows of the restaurant were facing open waters.” Noticing Noah and Fynn’s encouraging looks, he continued, “Since there had been a sniper last time, I paid special attention to prevent sniping this time. I checked the line of sight of every window and door. The sniper might have been at the scene, but it would have been impossible for him to shoot at anyone in the restaurant.”
“That might be why we weren’t shot at this time,” Noah pointed out.
“If we pursue this line of thought, a lot of clues start to add up,” Fynn cupped his chin in thought, “Terrorists want to turn their target into a bomb that will explode with devastating consequences. The sniper is working with the terrorists, and the person who he shot at in the first incident was Trey because he was containing the Blazer’s rampage.”
Fynn paused to take a breath, “When you blocked his line of sight to Trey, he changed the trajectory of the bullet to avoid hitting you. He couldn’t kill you because you were a part of the plan – a high ranked Soother capable of reverse-soothing.”
Noah continued Fynn’s train of thought, “In the second incident, it’s not that he wasn’t there to interfere, it was just that he couldn’t interfere. He couldn’t enter the restaurant because that would put his own life on the line due to the rampage. And he couldn’t snipe from a distance because of the circumstances.”
“That brings us back to the question, why this restaurant?” Fynn looked at Noah, “The location was inconvenient for sniping and didn’t even contain many people.”
“Perhaps it was an accident.” Noah offered, “Perhaps they had planned for the power rampage to happen before they arrived at the restaurant, but they failed to administer the drug, or its effects didn’t show until the Fluxer reached the restaurant.”
“Or their real target was within the restaurant, which unluckily happened to be snipe-proof,” the usually silent Levi spoke up. “Either way, instead of chatting here, we should be looking for the Fluxer’s companion.”
Noah nodded and looked towards Fynn, “Did the Fluxer wake up?”
Fynn shook his head in denial. “Let’s go ask around at Pharmath.”
The Fluxer was a very valued employee of Pharmath; thus, the executives were very accommodating towards the investigation. Soon enough, the quartet had questioned all of the coworkers the Fluxer had been in regular contact with and checked the surveillance footage.The security cameras (that they had been given access to) captured the Fluxer briskly leaving the building around lunchtime in the company of another man. The timestamp of them leaving was several minutes after the time Noah, Levi, and Trey had left the private beach.“That’s the man!” Noah shot up from his seat inside the security footage monitoring room, “That&rsqu
Ever since the event, the man had been on tenterhooks, constantly looking over his shoulder. The only reason why he came to work today was because 1) he feared that not coming to work would be suspicious, and 2) he felt that Pharmath building was far safer than his own home.Corporate espionage was punishable by law; thus, the man had taken all the precautions and guarded this secret well thus far. The quartet had managed to extract a confession from him this easily only because the man was already close to the breaking point.Sure, a guilty conscience was eating at him, making him unable to eat and sleep properly.
After the questioning, the man returned to his post, leaving the quartet in silence. They would need to follow the chain of command further up to find out which superior ordered this most recent aggressive recruitment.However, before the four could discuss their following moves, a large light screen popped up in front of them without any warning.On the other side of the screen, in a black leather chair, sat a cold middle-aged woman with short black hair. Her looks were average, however, the way she carried herself was not. She only sat there quietly, but her manner was more imposing than most men.
Both helplessness and amusement danced inside Noah’s glassy orbs as he shook his head, “Asan might find me displeasing to the eye, but I highly doubt he abhors me to the point of murder. In the past, we used to be friends, and although we no longer see eye to eye, we don’t have much enmity between us either.”“Why did you two stop being friends in the first place?” Fynn wondered.Noah pondered over how to explain the reason why Asan and the original Aris had a falling out.“There was no particular
Trey’s pupils dilated, his arms shot out to envelop Noah in front of him, his shield following close behind, yet, before either could fully reach Noah, an overwhelming burst of force erupted from Levi.Like a tsunami, the crushing pressure exploded in all directions, directly pulverizing Trey’s shield that was yet to solidify fully.As if hit by a truck, Noah and Trey barreled back, slamming heavily into the bullet-proof glass of the Magcart behind them. Trey, who received the brunt of the blow, coughed up blood and fainted on the spot. Noah fared comparatively better; he had the air knocked out of his chest, feeling as if he had been punc
Astar Levi’s eyes were open, but all he could see and hear was noise.His mind could not register nor comprehend a single thing. As if he was not an intelligent being but a wild beast, ruled only by subconscious urges.He hung suspended in between consciousness and unconsciousness. Unable to think but still able to feel everything.And everything was wrong. All wrong. Uncomfortable, unbearable, irritating.Wrong, wrong,
It was then that the paramedics and peacekeepers swarmed the scene. But Levi noticed none of the changes around him. The only thing his two eyes could see was the precious treasure in his embrace, and the jarring crimson liquid gushing out of his mouth.The cacophony of footsteps, voices, and sirens blended into one. People were speaking, yet he could not understand a word of what they were saying. Familiar faces appeared in his peripheral vision, but he could not recognize a single one.Then someone put their paw on his darling’s back, and Levi nearly attacked them in response. Only at the last moment did he realize that the person was a healer
As soon as Noah’s life signs had stabilized, Fynn had given Noah’s father, the city lord of Concordia, a call. Their family’s spicy old ginger had immediately connected many different things together and issued his verdict – rest at home.Since Noah was fully healed, there was no need to go to the hospital. Not only would he have more privacy and comfort at home, but he would also be safer and better cared for.His son just needed to rest and recuperate. And what would happen if he was allowed to stay in the hospital? Forget the privacy issues, the noise, the people, the reporters crowding around the hospital, etcetera, what wa