Levi didn't need to do anything for a silent crack to form in everyone's mind. A subtle change of perception that grew and grew until what they saw looked nowhere near what was initially there.
Their perception was like a mirror. The image reflected on a smooth mirror was clear, but once the mirror cracked, the reflection would become distorted and split until it could no longer be recognized.
Back when everyone had distanced themselves from him, he had even felt it was a good thing. His power was excellent - not only was it very convenient in many ways, but it also kept unwanted company away.
Yet, what made him delighted caused his parents endless sleepless nights.
Unlike outsiders, they did not fear him. They didn't even desire to change this unreasonable side of him. They were just worried.
Worried that one day he would become so fixated on something he'd self-destruct.
They only managed to relax somewhat when a famous psychotherapist they called over, pointed out what they also knew to be true. Astar Levi had far too little interest in anything to develop an unhealthy fixation. Instead of worrying about him destroying both himself and the world to obtain the object of his obsession, their concern would be better spent on worrying about his disinterest leading to depression.
In his 24 years of life, Levi did not yet develop any signs of depression. But he thought that if his baby drifted away from him due to the little cracks in their relationship, he'd undoubtedly develop severe depression overnight.
Yet even if he knew all that clearly, how could he fix what had already been done? He didn't even know whether there were any cracks, let alone how to fix them. He could only grope around in the dark, hoping that he'd inadvertently stumble onto all imperfections, and then keep poking at them until they were either fixed or broken beyond repair.
"My power..." Levi's hoarse voice reached Noah's ears, "What do you think about my power?"
Noah uncomprehendingly tilted his head to look at Levi, "It's awesome!" He blurted out with shiny eyes. "Really useful, ah!" He sighed softly, "I… I enjoy being a Soother, but when something dangerous and unfortunate happens, it makes me feel useless. Enforcers, Shielders, Healers, all of them can protect lives in their own way. But my power cannot. Sometimes I feel as if it is superfluous. Just a convenience that makes lives more comfortable, but cannot do much when it matters."
Levi's eyes shook, and he opened his mouth to refute, but before he could get a word out, Noah interrupted him, "I know that it was due to my soothing that the power rampages were successfully resolved, but these are a special case. Usually, I am not nearly as indispensable."
"But you are indispensable!" Levi vehemently protested, "You are indispensable to me!"
Noah's amber eyes curved along with his smile, instantly dispersing the heavy atmosphere, "Yes, yes, I know. As a Soother, I might not be indispensable, but as your good brother, of course I am indispensable. As you are to me."
"Mn," Levi's heart skipped a beat. Could he take that as a love confession?
Blackie: (⇀_⇀) 'No. Nice try though.'
Levi heatedly stared into his darling's glittering, gem-like eyes. Indispensable. Irreplaceable. In every way.
Feeling Levi's fiery gaze, Noah naturally felt as if he had been scorched. His ears flushed, and he tried to prop himself up on Levi's chest, putting some distance between them, "Brother, are you feeling better now? Have you had enough of hugging yet?"
"No," Levi deadpanned, and without a single change in expression, he pressed his darling back into his bosom.
He ignored the little one's helpless resignation and quickly diverted the other's attention, "When I asked you about your thoughts on my power, I didn't mean the technicalities of it. I meant, what do you think about Enforcers?"
And indeed, Noah, this worldborn with an attention span of a goldfish, was quickly distracted once again. He didn't quite understand where this conversation was going, but he knew that his brother-in-law felt vulnerable right now and needed to be comforted and reassured that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with him.
And there was really nothing wrong with him! His lovely brother-in-law was perfect the way he was! And since he was the one here right now, it was up to him to let him know that!
"Ah, Enforcers are very badass! Unlike weak chicken Soothers like me." Noah's eyes glittered with mischief as he joked, "What can we even do? Give people a mental hug?"
Noah cutely stuck out his tongue, "But you guys can do so many super awesome things! You can move stuff without touching it, and even fly!"
Initially, Levi's heart felt tickled by the little one's words, but as soon as that cute pink tongue appeared, his mind flew straight to the gutter. Suddenly, his throat felt unbearably parched, and the places of contact between the two felt as hot as magma.
'Darn it, baby! 〒▽〒 I am trying to be serious here! Must you undermine my efforts like this??'
This wife-slave found his little future wifey too irresistible even if the other just stood there. So how could he possibly resist it when the other started acting coquettishly?!?
And within his arms to boot!!!
And thus, while wifey Noah was sincerely ranting about how awesome his future husband was, all in attempts of making Levi feel good about being an Enforcer, this horndog of an Enforcer needed just this one Soother to feel good.
Levi put on a face of listening full-heartedly, while most of his attention was actually focused on tentatively sliding his hands down Noah's back.
Noticing no rejection from the other, Levi grew bolder, creeping down all the way to Noah's lower back. He was so close to the forbidden fruit that if he stretched his pinky, he could even slip into that alluring slit between his baby's round little globes.
Levi mentally clicked his tongue but dared not go further. He had enough self-awareness to know that the little one might currently be too preoccupied with other thoughts to discover their current intimacy, but he definitely wasn't preoccupied enough to miss his cute little ass getting groped.
Levi continued to torture himself by hovering on the dividing line. While listening patiently and very enthusiastically to his baby's clumsy but sincere praise of himself, he even started to stroke his baby's waist and lower back.
"What are you doing? It's ticklish!" Noah offhandedly commented, wiggled his waist a little, and then resumed his previous train of thought. Levi naturally ignored his coquettish complaint and continued stroking his darling's tender flesh through his shirt.