After realizing that his dallying in the bathroom became a cause for his brother's concern, Noah hurried up with his half-bath, half-shower as if on steroids.
Ah, he had really lost his mind crossing metaphorical swords with Blackie! To think it hadn't occurred to him that he might worry his good brother! And he even made the other wait for him for so long!
And thus, like a little pink hurricane, Noah whizzed through the bathroom in record-breaking time. Swiftly showered, dried himself with the towel, and then... abruptly halted in front of the door out as if he had short-circuited.
Ah...
Ah, ah! He still wasn't quite ready to face Levi...! (⁄ ⁄> ﹏ <⁄ ⁄)
How could he face him after everything that happened?!
Levi might not think much of it, but to Noah, what they had done wasn't something that could be written off as 'good bros helping each other out'! He, Noah, wasn't that kind of casual person! On the contrary, his opinions on love, sex, and marriage were quite traditional! To sum it up in 6 simple words: he was raised by a nun!
Thus, no matter how he comforted himself afterward, with his mind clear from the Levi-induced haze, the final verdict could only be that what they had done together was definitely not something that should be done between good brothers!!
Once that line of acceptable intimacy between bros was crossed, how could he possibly view his relationship with Levi in the same way?
And as if the situation wasn't messy enough on its own, now he has the whole Soul Coupling thing added to the mix as well! ○|￣|_
Previously he had been able to keep his mind away from the matters of romance because he had thought himself as destined to remain single for life. But now that a door opened in front of him to an entirely new world, he could no longer keep the same mentality!
Sure, he was caught off guard by the appearance of the door and left feeling complicated. Yes, he wasn't sure whether he should step through the door. And, indeed, couldn't tell whether the world on the other side was better or worse!
But that door was undoubtedly there! So how could he pretend it didn't exist?!
Bah, even if he ignored the whole soulmates thing, it was still a fact that he had done spicy things with Levi! So how could he still view Levi the same way now that there was a possibility that he, Noah, could like men?!
Apparently, Noah wasn't asexual, and judging by the fact that he had just been 'serviced' by another dude and felt no rejection towards the idea... it would seem men weren't a no-go for him! Sure, it was still too early to give out a final verdict on his sexuality, but judging by the current empirical evidence, his chances of being gay were much higher than being straight, ah! QAQ
In fact, if Blackie's story had even a smidgen of credibility to it, it would mean that this whole soul matching thing wasn't random and actually meant something. So what did it say about him if his own soul especially liked another man's soul?!
...Noah hoped it said something nice. 〒▽〒 Like, 'true love knows not for boundaries of race, age, and gender'. When he thought about it like that, being bisexual sounded pretty awesome!
Yeah, now that he thought about it, if he did turn out to like men, it wouldn't be that hard to accept. Yeah, yeah! If he liked someone, then why would it matter whether they had an extra appendage down there?
No, wait, wait, wait! If Blackie could be believed, this whole soul compatibility thing went both ways! So if Noah was a lovely openminded dumpling that had no issue with genders that just happened to find Levi especially pleasing to the eye, wouldn't that mean that Levi wasn't 100% straight either?!
Holy mother of...! 😱 Did that mean that associating with Noah, this non-straight dude, would put Levi's pitiful straight-man mentality in danger of collapsing?!? If one continuously plays with fire, one day, they'll get burned! If he accidentally ended up bending his brother-in-law, even if he died 10 times over, he wouldn't be able to atone for his crimes! His brother-in-law was an only child, ah! If he didn't have any offspring, the whole Astar family line would end with him!
Fine beads of cold sweat dotted Noah's white forehead at the thought. Fuck! How did this happen, ah?! He had just wanted to take responsibility for his half-asleep blunder!
(ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ ┻━┻
How was he supposed to know that it would lead to Levi touching him down there? Or that he would be so sensitive when 'handled' by Levi? Or that he would be able to get it up at all!?
Bah, this couldn't be blamed on him! His mental resistance had been nulled because it was Levi, this adorkable puppy, who was doing naughty stuff to him! And–and his brain had basically shut down earlier under the assault of the pleasure...
(⁄ ⁄> ﹏ <⁄ ⁄)
Right, right! So, ahem, it–it was no one's fault... they both just lost their heads in the heat of the moment... but it won't happen again! He had been taken by surprise this morning, but now that he knew of the other's 'fighting power', Noah would properly guard himself against it the next time around!
Abruptly Noah's prep talk halted, and he couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. What was he even worrying about? As soon as the truth about Levi's break up spread, girls and boys eager to take his sister's place would swarm Levi like bees chasing honey. With so many beautiful boys and girls presented to him on a silver platter, how would Levi still look for him to solve his morning issues?
At the thought, Noah felt an unexpected prick in his heart.
It would seem that he couldn't sweep this entire matter under the rug after all... he might be childish or silly... but... but after being touched down there... he couldn't just treat it as if he had been bitten by a rabid dog!
For a person who had been that intimate with him to later be even more intimate with someone else... it really made him feel indignant and bitter inside...
Noah released a heavy sigh. Why did his soulmate have to be Levi? If only...– the words got stuck with Noah's throat, and he couldn't finish the sentence. If only what? He didn't want to be soulmates with anyone else either! In fact, now that he thought about it, it was actually pretty good like this! Him and Levi being compatible, that is. If this wasn't the case, wouldn't he had ended up accidentally hurting Levi earlier? His pitiful brother-in-law was still not fully recovered from the previous attack! How would Noah bear to cause him further damage?!
Phew! Now that he compared it to the alternative, actually, this development was pretty good, ah? Like this, he didn't need to fear accidentally harming Levi. After all, in the future, even if Levi didn't attempt a reenactment of this morning, who is to say that he wouldn't get zapped while initiating a completely innocent physical contact such as head patting? All it took was for Noah to find his head patting sensual or too intimate, and bam! This pure and completely innocent puppy dog Levi would be crispy fried with no rhyme or reason!
Blackie, 'Pure and innocent?? No rhyme or reason?! Nani the fuck?!?' (⊙_⊙;)
All of a sudden, this entire regretful accident, after going through the many twist and turns of Noah's wonderous mind, turned into a blessing in disguise. Blackie had followed his thought process the entire way... but he still couldn't figure out how it had reached this end!!!
'So, let me get this straight, you got taken advantage of by a rogue and couldn't face the world afterward. But then you suddenly realized that the world was beautiful after all because you felt very thankful that the shameless rogue taking liberties with you didn't get his just desert?!'
（ ﾟДﾟ）
'...I think my processor just overheated.'
Author Note:
For a while now, I haven't expressed my deep gratitude for the wonderful people who have recently supported me on ko-fi and Tapas. I just wanted to let you know, even if I don't mention it, I still feel the same blissful appreciation just as much as always. Sending my warmest and cheesiest kisses to you guys! I am really very grateful! 😘❤ Every time I see you sending some ko-finated love my way, my little heart goes doki-doki!
On another note, sorry about the long introspection and talk with Blackie and all that; I know you guys are dying to get it over with. Alas, it was needed for the development of Noah's and Levi's future relationship, so it couldn't be cut. ╮(╯▽╰)╭
Ah well, next chapter, you'll finally get to see Noah and Levi interact again. 👍 And then the following rollercoaster ride will have everything you've been waiting for. (ಡ艸ಡ)