"Oh, come on." Case whined, "Aren't you on a break? Don't you know what being on leave means? Every time you are on break, you can't sit still at all and insist on running off to do some free labor you call charity." He gave Noah's silky hair one last good ruffle before letting go.
Verbally though, he bit in and refused to let go, "Hm? What do you have on tomorrow? Visiting the nursing home to make a bunch of old people feel good about their soon to-be-over lives? Or are there a bunch of major funerals going on, and you intend to go help the grieving with getting over their loss? Oh! Or are you actually taking a day off for once and visiting the zoo to make a bunch of little critters happy?"
Noah sighed in helpless vexation, "I don't know yet. How about I let you know when I find out?"
"Alright, alright, then I can keep you entertained through all those boring charitable things." Case let out a heavy sigh as if he was doing some kind of big sacrifice for brotherhood. "Don't forget to send me a message!"
Case was pulled out of his chair by an annoyed Asan. The grumpy teen attempted to drag him towards the exit of the restaurant. However, Case dug his heels into the ground and wouldn't concede until he received an affirmative answer from Noah: "Alright, I'll send you a message."
"See you <3" Case jokingly (or maybe not as jokingly as Noah thought) blew a kiss in Noah's direction, making all the men besides himself scrunch up their faces in a mix of disgust and anger. Noah was the only one that just rolled his eyes in mock-disgust and shoed him away with a smile.
Peace and quiet finally returned to their two tables again.
And was broken soon after by Levi's displeased tone that carried finality that most would dare not question: "I can accompany you in doing those things too. I don't have anything on."
Noah was caught by surprise by his statement, and his head abruptly snapped towards Levi's direction. It took him a few seconds to process what Levi was trying to say, before remembering that Case previously wanted to accompany him in doing charity work.
Brother-in-law… wanted to spend more time with him? What's with those fiery eyes saying 'I will definitely go with you, don't you dare call that wild blond punk!'
… was brother-in-law… jealous?
Noah's eyes curved into crescents with a mix of gleeful amusement. His lovely lips, still wet with fish oil, let out a musical chuckle that made Levi's heart feel like it had been stuffed with honey, "Then, we'll go together?"
"Mn." Levi hummed his agreement.
'Sorry Case, it seems I won't be seeing you tomorrow either.' Noah apologized to Case silently in his heart, yet felt little remorse. He'd rather spend that time with this awkwardly cute brother-in-law. While Case was a good friend - he was a friend that Aris made, not Noah. Thus, Noah just couldn't feel the same comfort and enjoyment spending time with him as he did with Levi and Trey.
Noah's agreement calmed down Levi's growing restlessness somewhat. It would seem that, in the little guy's heart, family was more important than some random, so-called friend.
For a moment there, Levi had felt like a father would if his little princess, whom he had raised with love and care for two decades, suddenly got defiled by a rogue.
If Noah knew he was the princess in that analogy, he would have spewed blood in outrage. Where do you see a princess?!? I am clearly a big man, ok!?!
Still, Levi didn't feel safe leaving this topic as it is. It would be better if he could get Noah to stop associating with that Case guy.
And thus, Levi, as efficiently as possible, without wasting any time on pleasantries or attempts to sugarcoat things, went straight to the point: "That guy is pursuing you. Do you like him back?"
Noah, who had just brought his glass to his lips, choked on his water. His wide doe-like eyes darted towards Levi's grim ones, "He what?!?" Noah squeaked in a mix of bewilderment and shock.
There was no such thing in Aris's memory!! Or, at least, Aris wasn't aware of it!
"Blackie, is this true?!?" Noah still held a glimmer of hope in his heart. "Is Case in love with Aris?!"
Blackie mercilessly shot his hope down with a popping p, "Yup."
Nani?!? Was Aris blind?!?
"You mean, just as blind as you?" Blackie didn't forget to add insult to injury.
QAQ …alright, alright, so looking back at it now, there were indeed some clues in the memories… But those things could have easily been written off as Case's frivolous personality!!! How was he supposed to know they were attempts of courting?!? How do you expect a wordlborn who had never been courted before to be able to recognize courting attempts?!? It's not his fault!
"Oh. So, you didn't know." Levi mused more to himself than to Noah. It would seem that this cute little guy was still very inexperienced in terms of romance.
No wonder Aris, the most eligible bachelor of Concordia, was still single. It turns out it was because the little prince was deaf and blind to the pursuit of interested parties.
Actually, the real reason why Aris had still been single was because the young man had been too preoccupied with his career to dedicate any time to romantic affairs… but yeah, surely being deaf and blind contributed a lot...
Levi finalized the topic with a nonchalant "Then… pretend I didn't say anything."
Noah nearly choked on his drink again.
How do you expect me to pretend like you didn't say anything?!? I don't have Alzheimer's disease!! Once the beans have been spilled, they cannot be unspilled!!
Though, to be honest, after his internal outrage, Noah was glad that his brother-in-law wouldn't continue talking about this embarrassing topic. Having your brother-in-law know you were being pursued by a man, was awkward enough, he didn't need to have the are-you-gay talk.
"So, do you like him back?"
Noah, who just avoided choking for the second time, ended up choking again after all. Didn't you say to pretend like you said nothing?!? Brother-in-law, are you messing with me?!?
Due to the exertion required to cough the water back up his windpipe, Noah's face turned red, and tears welled up in his eyes. Seeing that devastating picture of a frail beauty looking as if he'd just been defiled, Levi's heart first skipped a beat, then started galloping like a pack of wild mares. His throat once again dried up, and his blood began to boil up, rushing into the most awkward of places.
He could only avert his eyes in an attempt to control his own racing heart, but he was worried about Noah really choking, so he couldn't just sit there and wait! He had to pat his back!
But this time, Trey was faster in implementing the plan than him. He appeared by Noah's side and started to gently pat and rub his back. Trey didn't forget to throw Levi a reproachful look, though he couldn't hide the self-satisfied glint in his eyes.
Levi nearly cracked his teeth in anger from how hard he was grinding them.
These rogues with perverted intentions towards his innocent little brother-in-law keep popping out from the bushes, one after the other!
Finally, Noah's cough settled down. Since he still couldn't speak properly, he shot Trey a thank-you with his eyes. The other reluctantly pulled his hand off Noah's back, though his eyes took on a wistful look as if he was still immersed in how it felt to caress the warm and smooth back.
The fork Levi was holding bent out of shape from the tightness of his grip. When he saw Noah turning back to face him, afraid that his displeasure would be discovered, he quickly used his power to bend it back into shape.
Noah didn't notice a thing. After taking several breaths to calm himself down, he finally mustered enough energy to weakly respond to Levi's previous question, "He is a good friend. I don't have any romantic feelings for him."
He didn't wish for his brother-in-law to misunderstand! Noah was absolutely not into guys!
Well, technically, he was not into girls either, since worldborn were asexual, but his brother-in-law didn't need to know that.
The stuffy feeling in Levi's chest lifted, and he nodded in satisfaction.
'Phew,' Noah let out a breath of relief internally, 'Safe! Now brother-in-law shouldn't think I am gay?'
'Phew,' Levi let out a breath of relief internally, 'So the cabbage I raised won't be eaten by a pig. Good.'
If Noah knew what his brother-in-law was thinking, he would have choked to death this time: 'What do you mean cabbage you've raised?!? We practically just met for the first time today!! And who are you calling a cabbage!?! I am clearly a very lovely pearl! Not a cabbage!!'
But as neither had mindreading powers, one was thoroughly relieved. And the other diverted his attention to another problem at hand - Levi gave Trey an accusing glare tinged with wariness. Now that one pig was successfully shot down, he only needed to protect his cabbage from one other, more dangerous pig.