There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 656

Chapter 656: Side Story 2. Dance of Flame and Shadow - 15

"How much did you drink?" Agni asked while climbing the stairs to the Captain’s quarters. Ron, upper body swaying on his shoulder, pursed his lips and grumbled.

"’unno..."

"Idiot," Agni flicked the back of the scout’s head. "A scout needs to be aware of their surroundings."

Ron pursed his lips even more. He wasn’t that far gone and definitely still aware of his surroundings. But he did feel a bit loose and woozy--still! It was a celebration!

"I was," Ron grumbled and laid his head on the berserker’s warm shoulder. "They are friends and there’s you."

See? This uncle fetch him right away despite all the rejection the man gave him. Would he get this reaction if he wasn’t drunk? Ron doubted it.

"Haa..." Agni shook his head exasperatedly. "Why do you have to be so good with your mouth?"

Ron flinched slightly--it wasn’t palpable, fortunately, the way his heart jumped to his stomach. Did thus uncle realized what he was insinuating with that?

...probably not, huh? Esther did say Agni had no romance bone in his body, and that the man seemed to have low sexual drive. Damn--what an ordeal for a hot-blooded youth like Ron.

Ron pressed his lips to restrain the heat spreading all over his body--although...wasn’t he drunk? It didn’t matter then, since his face was already flushed anyway.

Ron cleared his throat and asked curiously. "W-why aren’t you drinking?"

"I have to watch over those people," Agni replied tiredly. "And this one is the perfect example of why."

He proceeded to smack the young esper’s butt, and Ron let out a high-pitched cute yelp that got him clasping his mouth and suspecting the berserker actually had drunk something. "Ouch!" he protested and hit the older man’s back. "Hmph--you’re just like Dad!"

That got Agni paused a little bit, before opening his bedroom door and entering it. He’d like to just throw the kid to his own dorm room, but a rookie stayed in a four-person room, and Agni didn’t want to suffer questioning look from the kid’s roommates.

So he threw the kid to his bed instead. Ron immediately kicked his shoes away and rolled to his stomach, as if he was ready to spend the night there. But what he did was grumble into the sheet. "Always taking care of others and forget about taking care of themselves..."

Agni rolled his eyes while filling a glass with filtered water. "I’m taking care of myself."

"Liar!" Ron turned his head so he could see the older man’s back. "If you take care of yourself, you won’t let yourself be confined here."

"I thought we were over this conversation already," Agni raised his brow as he walked back to the bed.

"No."

"No?" Agni chuckled and nudged the kid with his knee. "Drink."

Ron sluggishly got up and sat at the edge of the bed, taking the glass of water from the berserker’s head and gulping it quickly. It sobered him up a bit, but not enough to restraint his mind--not to mention his mouth.

"You--hicc--always tell me to get out, get out! You’re still young and--hicc--should see the world and whatever, but..." Ron jutted his lower lip and swung the empty glass in his hands, which was fortunately caught by the man he was whining about. "Didn’t you come here when you were just thirty?"

Agni placed the glass on the side table, far away from the kid’s reach. "I’ve seen enough."

"Really? The whole world?" Ron narrowed his eyes dubiously. It was the berserker who told him about being broke. "You have nowhere else you want to visit? To see?"

Agni pressed his lips. Naturally, someone who had to work in the military to pay their debt wouldn’t have enough resources to roam the world. He did get to scout every inch of the Federation in the five years being a part of Nolan’s special squad, however.

That was something, right?

"...some people spend their whole lives in one place. There’s no guarantee for me to be able to go all over the world even if--"

See? See?! You’re denying yourself! A liar!" Ron stomped his hands and feet and pointed at the berserker like a tantrum child. Almost reminded Agni of the first time Ron brought the kid over. "You can’t tell me what to do when you’re not doing what you want to do!"

"Idiot," Agni flicked the kid’s forehead. "I’m not here by choice."

"But you chose to...to replace me!"

Agni wasn’t sure whether Ron was really annoyed or just drunk, but the way he said everything with a frown and a pout made the berserker unable to snap back in exasperation. His heart softened, and he let out a quiet sigh.

"How could I let a kid get chained here forever?" he crouched in front of the sulking kid. "No, I don’t have a choice, but..." he reached out and stroked the flushed cheek in front of him. "You do."

Ron’s lips trembled slightly before he pressed them so tightly they almost disappeared. Agni chuckled and continued to stroke the side of the scout’s head, ruffling the brown hair.