Levi didn't miss any of Noah's little expressions and mannerisms, so he immediately noticed how the other was glancing towards the butter, which was just out of his reach. With his eyes both gentle and sparkling with amusement, Levi picked it up and moved it in front of his little darling.
Noah's eyes lit up, and he looked at Levi with a mix of appreciation, gratitude, and what Levi would like to think to be adoration. Levi felt himself melting into a puddle under his precious darling's 'loving' gaze. Ah, ah, he had indeed been living life wrong for the past 24 years!! Now, THIS was how life should be like!
Cordia mommy glanced at the two harmonious boys, and her sharp motherly instincts caught on to something…peculiar. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something strange in the air? 🤔
Cordia daddy, on the other hand, was too busy scrolling through the news on the light screen projected by his communicator to pay attention to how his son was getting 'the little wife treatment' from his son-in-law.
"Oh, honey, are you alright? I heard about what happened yesterday." Cordia mommy remembered what she had wanted to talk to her son about yesterday, but didn't get the chance to because Noah was out late and then just went straight to bed after coming back.
"That's right, what happened?" Cordia daddy put down his work for a moment to concentrate on his beloved son. The fact that spoke clearest about how busy the city lord was is that Noah got into an incident yesterday, yet the man only now asked him about it.
Of course, that's because the city lord was well informed about everything that happened in his city and knew that Noah was ok, but still, hearing it from someone else was one thing, hearing it from his son's own mouth was another.
Levi's gaze, which had been glued onto his little darling, snapped to look at his father-in-law. 'What?!? It will soon be 24 hours since the accident, and you still haven't talked to my precious baby about it?!?'
Levi's eyelid started twitching with how much effort he was using to refrain from shooting the man an icy glare. 'What kind of a father are you!? How could you have the time to worry about your overworked daughter and not worry about my precious overworked baby?!? What blatant favoritism!!'
Levi mentally noted down this slip up against his father-in-law. If he still didn't need this father-in-law's approval to be with his precious baby, Levi would have really shown him a piece of his mind! How dare he neglect his precious baby like this?! He'd remember this! (≖_≖)
Father-in-law: I've been wrongfully accused!! QAQ My baby girl was working the whole day while my baby boy was in a good enough of a mood to spend the entire day goofing off! It is obvious which one I should be worried about!!
(ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻
You are clearly the one with blatant favoritism issues, not me!!!
"I'm fine. How could I not be when I've got such a good bodyguard?" Noah laughed it off, while not forgetting to put in a good word for this new bodyguard of his.
Levi's head snapped back to his darling, looking wronged. QAQ!!!
Which man liked hearing his precious little darling praise another man in their presence?! More so if that man was a competitor for the said darling's heart?!?
Noticing Levi's look of a kicked puppy, Noah turned his attention to placate this cute brother-in-law.
"What is it? Does your tummy hurt again?" Noah spoke softly as if talking to a scared little furball or a crying child in need of coaxing.
Levi: When did my stomach hurt?! How long will this misunderstanding go on for?!
(ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻
Ah, but his baby was too lovable, speaking to him in that caring voice dripping with sugar…
(／≧ω＼) ♡ Ah, ah, really want to eat him up!!
The corner of Levi's mouth twitched as he shook his head.
He wasn't the only one with a twitching facial expression; father and mother-in-law were looking at Noah strangely as well.
The sight of their adorable teenage son coaxing a tall, dangerous-looking man 6 years his senior… they half expected the other to snarl or get up and leave in a fit of fury for being treated like a child.
Instead, what was that pink flush creeping up the loner wolf's ears?? And was it just their imagination, or did that icy glare turn doting and gentle for a second there?
Father-in-law: "…" (・―・) …for a moment there I thought… no… can't be…
Mother-in-law: "…!" (⸝⸝⸝ºωº⸝⸝⸝) Ah, the children are getting along so well!
"Then why aren't you eating? Is the food not to your liking?" Noah still continued to worriedly coax this tall, dark and handsome man-child that was his brother-in-law. "If there is nothing here you'd like to eat, we can go someplace else that serves it?"
Levi: Ah, ah, all I want to eat is right here, but it isn't on the table. (／≧ω＼) ♡
Oh, how nice it would be if 'it' was on the table! ♡ Levi's mind couldn't help but conjure up an image of his favorite 'food' splayed naked on top of the table, ready to be eaten. He swallowed hard and crossed his legs under the table. Levi junior, don't you dare raise up in this situation!!
Seeing as his baby was still waiting for his answer, Levi responded by grabbing a random thing off the table and stuffing it into his mouth as if to say 'All is fine. Look, I'm eating.'
Noah gazed at him in concern for several moments longer, making the other's flushed ears turn a deeper shade of red.
Levi: Ah! My baby is staring at me so intently! What to do?!? (／≧ω＼) ♡ Really, really want to eat him up for breakfast!!!
Sensing that Levi's gloomy mood had flipped into something on the opposite emotional spectrum, Noah was finally relieved enough to turn back to what he was doing – placing a loaf of bread into the toaster.
"Anyway, I'm alright, but many people were hurt, and the investigation has yet to find the cause. I am worried that this isn't an isolated incident." Noah's eyebrows scrunched up in worry. "What if the same thing happens again? Next time I might not be in the vicinity to resolve it without causalities."
"The council members are worried about it happening again as well." Concordia city lord rubbed his temples and sighed. "The conservationists keep on hounding me to approve some absurd law to limit and monitor high ranked power users. Especially councilor Desmond. I swear that old fart will be the death of me. Whenever we make progress, those old farts in league with him are pressuring us into taking a step back."
Concordia city lord let out a tired sigh, "Even the liberals are proposing we make power registration mandatory for everyone."
Both Noah and Cordia mommy threw the city lord a similar half-encouraging, half-consoling looks.
"Endure for a while longer, honey. This whole incident will blow over soon enough." Cordia mommy squeezed her husband's knee in comfort.
"Even if that blows over, what about the union of Concordia and Astarea?" Cordia daddy groaned. "With the wedding on the horizon, all the naysayers are popping out of the woodworks left and right without an end in sight!"
"Of course they are. People are afraid of change." Cordia mommy cooed her grumbling husband.
Their worries weren't entirely unfounded. Since the views of Cordias and Astars were so different, people were worried that this so-called 'union' was just a takeover in disguise. They were afraid they would lose their current personal freedom and be oppressed in a different regime.
Levi didn't sympathize with his father-in-law over these issues. He had already been a vice city lord for two years, and by this point, he had taken over a lot of the work off his father's hands, yet he had never had such issues. In his opinion, all of this was all too easy to solve.
Someone was annoyingly yapping nonsense in their ear? Just kick them out.
Don't agree with how I want to rule my own city? Fine, then move to another city.
It's that simple.
What's all this nonsense about freedom of speech, listening to the voices of the people, and all that nonsense? If some old farts don't learn to behave by the time his baby takes over the city lord's position, hehe… if they dare make life difficult for his baby, then off with their heads!
Blackie: Heh, you gonna off your own head too? Cause I don't see how fucking your own brother-in-law to death is not making his life difficult. (¬‿¬) Not just life, even his death would be difficult! 😂
Levi: What could be more important than keeping his baby happy and in good health? These in-laws of his really didn't have their priorities set straight! (≖ ‸ ≖)
No matter. His precious darling has him, Levi, to look after him. And Levi will definitely take good, gooood care of his precious treasure. ╰(*°▽°*)╯
Blackie: Can you get any more shameless? Even a wolf promising to take good care of a little lamb would sound more credible than you!! 😂
Levi: 'Oh no! My greedy little kitten has just run into an accident and needs my immediate assistance!!' (っ °Д °;)っ