In the silence of the bedroom, Noah's quiet sniffles seemed terribly loud.
Slowly, he moved his red-rimmed eyes away from his bedside table and looked towards the bed he was currently lying on. Or rather, the bed that he WASN'T lying on, for what he was really lying on was a broad and hard chest of a big koala bear known as Levi.
Remember how Cordia daddy had decisively made Fynn send Noah home? Yeah, a significant factor in making that prompt decision was this big brother-in-law that hung off of Noah and refused to let go.
Just think what tomorrow's news would say if he was seen outside clinging to his own little brother-in-law like an abandoned child hugging a giant teddy bear!
This catatonic in-law simply wasn't fit for the public! He was a PR catastrophe waiting to happen!
And thus, the two were shipped home and ended up resting in Noah's room on his huge bed.
Since Levi was stuck to Noah like glue, speak nothing of properly cleaning them up, the housekeeper aunty couldn't even get the bloody clothes off of them. She had been forced to call in a Cleanser, otherwise, before their young master managed to wake up, he would have suffocated from the rotting stench of blood.
Thank god for Cleansers, right?
Noah squinted his eyes, trying to make out Levi's facial expression, but the room was too dark, and his eyes too blurry.
Damn those onion ninjas! ＞︿＜
In the end, since he couldn't see clearly, he could only settle for feeling Levi's mental power.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine after a good rest," Blackie's attempt of comforting his host was met by silence.
Only a long time later, did Noah speak up, "It's good this way."
"…What?"
"It's good that they didn't separate us. While inside my soothing field, he'll be able to sleep in peace, without nightmares." It's just that… this position of being tightly hugged to sleep was a bit…
When Noah had just woken up, he had been too preoccupied with finding out what happened to pay attention to his current circumstances. At the time, he didn't feel like there was anything wrong with his sleeping posture; he even thought it was warm and cozy, simply too comfortable.
But now that he knew he was being hugged to sleep, suddenly, he felt as if there were ants inside his pants. Everywhere felt itchy, and he felt a bit hot, and he didn't know where to put his hands, and his tears had probably irritated his cheeks because they burned. And now that he was paying attention, he could hear Levi's steady heartbeat, which was relaxing, but at the same time, it served as a reminder of how close they currently were. Which only made him feel all the itchier.
Unable to fall asleep or calm down, Noah attempted to gently wiggle out of Levi's hold. But as soon as the other felt Noah slipping through, he unconsciously tightened his arms, making the already awkward embrace all the more embarassing.
Blackie watched his silly host's growing distress, and couldn't help himself, "Actually, it was you who grabbed on and refused to let go first. Your brother-in-law just followed your suit." (¬‿¬)
Noah, with his feathers ruffled, immediately jumped to refute, "I grabbed hard so that his power wouldn't be able to fling me away!"
"Yes, of course. Why else would you hug him like that?" Blackie chortled merrily, "Why are you getting so defensive? When you try so hard to justify yourself, you just end up making others feel more suspicious of your true motives."
"…" ಠ_ಠ "What true motives?! My motives are clear for all to see, ok?!"
"Yes, yes, of course. There is nothing in your heart other than pure and touching brotherhood."
Noah paused, Blackie's tone was matter-of-fact, yet why did he feel like the other was mocking him?
In the end, Noah huffed and let it go. "It IS a pure and touching brotherhood! See that? For the sake of saving his good brother's life, brother-in-law didn't even hesitate to do mouth-to-mouth with another man! If that isn't pure and touching brotherhood, I don't know what is."
Blackie… was rendered speechless by his host once again.
Alright…
It all made sense now.
It wasn't that his idiot of a host was in denial; he was clearly aware that he really liked Levi, and was even aware that Levi really liked him back.
It was just that this retard couldn't tell the difference between different types of likes!!
His moronic host thought that no indecent thoughts equaled pure brotherhood! But of course, he, this little worldborn virgin with naturally low libido, had no inappropriate thoughts! Even if he was head over heels for the guy, he still wouldn't be able to recognize it unless he was poked in the ass!
Luckily, Levi wasn't as stupid, otherwise, this romance would have no progress…
Now that he thought about it, those two were really well matched, ah! His little pure-hearted virgin of a host really needed a horndog to snap him out of his illusion of a platonic friendship!
Blackie gave Levi a deep look, followed by a mental salute, 'Ganbatte! My host's harmonious sex life depends on you!'
Then he turned back to stare at his host, who was still fidgeting around in the loving embrace of his "good brother". Blackie couldn't help but smirk. "You are right. It is rather touching. Who needs a significant other when you have such a good brother?"
Noah almost fell into the trap and agreed on the spot. Only at the last second did he stop himself, "It isn't the same, ah." He sighed ruefully, "You can't always be together with your good bro. Once he finds his darling, you'll be relegated to number two."
He sighed again, "And then when the first kid pops out, you drop to number three, and if there is another kid… ah, by the time the first kid has a kid, your priority might slide all the way to two digits. Now that I think about it, it is a bit sad, ah…"
Blackie: (￢_￢;) 'So you do know the difference between lovers and brothers? Could have fooled me.'
"Don't get me wrong! I'm not complaining; it's how it should be. Lovers over brothers! It's just…"
"A pity?" (¬‿¬)
"Mn. A bit." ಢ_ಢ
Blackie looked towards the sky in desolation, 'Host… That feeling has a name. It's called jealousy.' (◞‸ლ)
This so-called jealousy didn't last long, because Noah, this ball of sunshine, of course, got distracted again. Now that they were speaking of significant others, where was his sister? Why was she not here, coaxing pitiful brother-in-law?!
The more Noah thought about it, the more indignant he felt on Levi's behalf. Such a good husband needed her, and where was she?!
"Healing the mess her husband made, ah." Blackie retorted.
"It wasn't he who made a mess!" Noah argued, "It was the terrorists! Hmph! And it's not like she is the only Healer in the city! There isn't anyone who needs her more than he does right now! Her priorities are all wrong!"
How could she just run off healing some random people while her broken-hearted husband laid in bed with her brother?!?
Blackie nearly choked on his virtual spit. 'Oi, oi, I think you are focusing on the wrong half of that sentence!!'
Distracted by his inner dialogue with Blackie, Noah failed to notice that somewhere along the line, Levi's breathing pattern had changed. Noah's fidgeting would have managed to wake up the dead, let alone Levi, who was neither dead nor comatose. He had been unwilling to close his eyes, to begin with, only falling asleep due to exhaustion. So, although his sleep wasn't restless due to Noah's soothing, it wasn't deep either.
If this was at any other time, Noah's careless moves would have definitely resulted in a hardon. However, with his baby's unbreathing image still haunting him, even this horndog couldn't get it up.