At that moment, Noah finally realized why his pitiful brother-in-law looked so undead in the morning. Not only was his sleep quality poor, getting tormented by nightmares, but he even ended up destroying his room!
How horrible would one feel if, in a blink of an eye, they destroyed their own home?!
Never mind the stress, pitiful brother-in-law was the one who lost the most in this accident, yet instead of mourning his own loss, he even had a crushing sense of regret and guilt! Feeling as if it was his fault, as if there was something wrong with him!
After what happened in the morning, his miserable brother-in-law had already felt vulnerable, fearing he would destroy what he cared about once again, yet the terrorists just had to pick this day to add the final nail to his coffin!!
Noah felt his anger towards the terrorist boil up again. No wonder Levi wasn't willing to talk about it! It was like digging into the fresh wound all over again, yet the agony did not stop with the flesh. It was surpassed by the terror of your blood disgusting or scaring away your most precious people!
Noah swallowed the lump in his throat. "Did anyone get seriously hurt?"
"…housekeeper had a heart attack." Levi mumbled under his breath, and then added with a tinge of panic, "But he's fine now!"
Noah quietly gazed into Levi's pair of beautiful blue eyes that refused to look his way.
After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Noah asked a seemingly stupid question that he already knew the answer to, "Then why are you so reluctant to talk about it?"
Unsurprisingly, silence was his only answer.
But Noah didn't want an answer; that wasn't why he had asked the question.
"Do you feel like you've done something wrong?"
Levi nearly imperceptibly winced.
"But that can't be," Noah tilted his head cutely, as if confused, "You said it yourself - it was an accident! If there was nothing you did wrong, nor could have done differently… if it was something out of your control - why would you feel guilty about it?"
Levi's eyes had long stopped roaming around, fixedly staring towards the wall yet not really seeing it. All his attention concentrated on the clear voice tickling his ears.
"If you made no mistakes, if there is nothing to feel guilty about, then why would you be skirting around the topic?"
Levi once again did not respond, but he couldn't stop himself from sneaking a peek at Noah from the corner of his eyes.
Noah still stared right into the other's evasive eyes, bits and pieces of today and yesterday flashing in his mind, "Are you worried about what others would think if they knew what happened? Think that you were…" He recalled the words Levi had used earlier in the conversation with mommy Astar, "Dangerous?"
This time, Levi very visibly flinched, recoiling back as if he'd been burned.
Noah no longer felt like eating. He put down his fork, "Brother, how often does such a thing happen to you? Accidentally destroying your surroundings?"
Levi didn't feel like eating anymore either. As his anxiety rose, his hunger abated, and he started to restlessly fidget in his seat, "This… is the first time."
"I see," Noah softly mused, "Brother, do you think deer are dangerous?"
The abrupt change of topic caught Levi by surprise, his eyes involuntarily raising to lock with Noah's, "…No?"
"Ah," Noah gave Levi a profound look, "But deer kill 130 people annually."
Blackie couldn't help but interject, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but… that's the annual death statistic from Cradle…"
Noah completely ignored Blackie and picked up his napkin, "And how many do YOU kill annually?"
Hearing such a dark question spoken with such a light tone made Levi not know whether to laugh or cry, "None?"
"Hmm… if deer kill…" Noah made a show of trying to divide 130 by 0 on his fingers, "…infinitely more people than you, yet are not considered dangerous, then why should you be considered dangerous?"
Astar Levi couldn't understand just when, how, and where the suffocating gloom within his chest had disappeared to, but right now, the only thing he felt was a ticklish warmth. So cozy, so gentle, like a butterfly kiss. Unbeknownst to him, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, "There is just one of me, but who knows how many deer."
"That's true," Noah nodded, "But 0 multiplied by the number of deer is still 0, ah!"
(Blackie: "Host… do you, yourself, even believe the nonsense you are spewing?")
Noah gave Levi an apologetic look, "Sorry brother, but given the existing empirical evidence, I am forced to conclude that chances of dying from a deer are higher than dying from you having a nightmare."
Every and each time Levi thought he couldn't possibly love his darling more than he already did, he would be proven wrong.
Levi felt so charmed by his darling's obviously flawed logic that all the remaining traces of his dark mood dissipated into smoke. How could his baby be so cute?! How could anything in this world be so, so, so CUTE?!? Twisting the facts like this just to comfort him, his baby was simply the most adorable thing in existence! ❤ o(≧▽≦)o ❤
His naughty hands unbearably itched to touch his precious darling, so Levi took a wet wipe to both clean them off and distract himself from his growing urges.
In sheer contrast to Levi's amusement, Noah still looked deathly serious. "Do you know what else?" He gently wiped his lips with the napkin, making them redden alluringly.
"What else?" Levi cooed, his eyes locked onto that enticing mouth. 'Ah, ah! Want to kiss so badly!'
"Do you know how many people would have been saved if there had been a Soother present?"
"How many?"
(Blackie: "It's none! None!")
"I have no idea," Noah cutely shrugged, "But I sure as hell know that everyone would be safe from your nightmare induced destruction if you don't have another nightmare! And ensuring you don't have a nightmare is simple." A dazzling smile bloomed on Noah's face, "Heh, I'd like to see you try having a nightmare while inside my soothing field!"
Levi's heart skipped a beat, then started to gallop like a herd of deer. This must be how those 130 people died!
Blackie felt sick to his non-existing stomach from the IQ-negative dialogue he had been forced to listen to, "…I'm pretty sure those 130 died due to a deer-caught-in-headlights car accident…"
Noah finally took a moment to respond, but his response made Blackie want to cough up blood: "Blackie, I remember you mentioning how you come with many super useful functions. Do those functions include a mute button?"
Blackie: "…" (ꐦ ◠‿◠) 'Heh… heh… sure… that's why I won't be saying a word later when you beg me for help after your "good brother" rams his thick cock into your little virgin ass!'
The mentioned "good brother" was indeed thinking about just that. His breathing became heavier as his fervent gaze burned holes into his delectable baby.
Was his baby offering himself as a permanent sleeping pillow?!? Well, it didn't matter what his baby really meant; he, Levi, would take it as such!! Definitely take it as such!! Sold! No take-backs!!