I Am Tired Of Being A Hero
Chapter 123 - 400 old wine

Chapter 123: 400 old wine

Arlen did not accept the chestnut with his hand but he bent down, using his mouth to collect it from Ravi’s hand.

His lips had touched Ravi’s fingers and they trembled. Those lips were soft and warm. Ravi’s heart skipped several beats and he swallowed hard.

Please don’t do that.

Arlen chewed the chestnut and slightly tilted his head to the side before grinning brightly, "Sweet."

Ravi’s attention was still on those lips, pink and full, would they turn red when kissed. They would, right? He suddenly reached for his cup of watermelon juice and took a large sip of drink to calm his nerves.

"Your ears are so red." Arlen said, a low chuckle erupting from somewhere deep in his throat.

Ravi shuddered. That voice was like melted chocolate, so delectable.

He clenched his fist. He might be a fool if he thought that he could perfectly remain in control, his person seemed to dance around all his boundaries. He looked at him, those blue eyes were filled with mischief.

He sighed, "Would you die if you tease me?"

Arlen smiled, "I can’t help it. Your blush is just so pretty."

Ravi rolled his eyes as he took a cloth to wipe down the gas grill and cover it.

"Have you not heard that you should not refer to a guy as pretty?" He hated it, this delicate face of it. He was bullied for it all through his childhood and underestimated for it as a Sentinel. It was also the same reason that people referred to him as Alya’s boy toy.

Arlen looked at that face again, that charming and delicate facial features. A pair of slightly raised eyebrows and thin, long and slightly curled hazel eyes. A straight nose and a pair of red-tinted lips that made his face appear even more vivid.

"You are right. Pretty is not enough. You are just incomparable." He moved closer to Ravi, watching him with an intensity that far surpassed the one that he uses to look at case files, "An exquisite perfection."

Ravi’s lips parted and he looked at Arlen. He was not teasing him, he truly thought these words. Like a feather on the water surface, causing a ripple in the oceans of his heart.

"My turn."

"En?" Ravi had not yet left the fog that those words brought.

"Aren’t you going to compliment me?"

Ravi blinked at those puppy dog eyes, Compliment him? Ravi’s lips twitched. This Captain of his. Who asks for a compliment?

What should he say? Should he talk about his hair, like a golden spring of nectar or his eyes, those blue pools that he would be willing to drown in. Should he talk about his features, surely the immortals had gathered to create something so beautiful, like the sun, it was almost a sacrilege to behold with bare eyes. Everything about him was pleasing to the eye, he could talk about everything from his physical beauty to his personality.

Seeing the waiting eyes, Ravi decided to get a little revenge.

"No."

"Raviiiii!"

Ravi laughed and Arlen watched transfixed.

"Is this your revenge?"

Ravi nodded, "Yes."

"Okay. Now tell me where did you buy this gas grill?"

Ravi looked at the gas grill, "It is fairly used. I bought it online. I..." He suddenly recalled how much he lied to 10 grams of sugar that he needed to gas grill to earn his living selling grilled fish and peppered noodles and hoping he would give him three places. His cheeks turned red and he resolutely changed the question.

"Nothing. Let’s talk about the surprise you said you would give me. You said that you brought me something and I should look forward to it."

"You are changing the subject." Arlen said but he was too excited to continue about the gas grill. He had all the time to teach Retired River a lesson. He pulled Ravi with his right hand, almost running to the living room.

Ravi’s lips twitched as he watched his back but he allowed himself to be dragged into his own living room. Arlen opened the bag that he brought and gave it to Ravi.

His blue eyes were glittering with how much excited he was, he had connived with his brother in law to steal this gift from his mother.

Ravi received the steel box and looked at it. It was rectangular and long.

"Ravi. Thank you for saving my life and for the meal and for being my friend."

The word, ’friend’ dampened Ravi’s excitement a little. They were just friends, huh. It was good, he said he was happy with it so why was it disturbing him now.

He opened the box to reveal a sleek, dark bottle.

"This.."

"Tom was telling me how much you like wine. It is a 1663 Picho. Do you like it?"

Ravi could see an imaginary tail waving behind Arlen and he smiled. He had his suspicions but how can an ordinary small town Police Captain pull out a wine bottle that was over 400 years old.

His lips twitched, "I really like it a lot."

A smug expression appeared on Arlen’s face and Ravi chuckled, finally complimenting him a little.

"You are the best gift giver I have met." He then laughed some more when the other party raised his head round and started strutting about.

"Do you want me to tell me how to store it?" Arlen finally said, "I can help." He could control temperatures a little so he could tweak...

Ravi shook his head. He stored his wine to allow them to ferment, he was not in the habit of hoarding treasures.

"No need. Good wine is meant to be drunk. I will open it now." He looked up to see Arlen staring at him, his eyes so fixed on him that he could not believe what he was hearing or seeing.

"Ah! I can store it if you want."

Arlen shook his head, and his eyes softened so much that it was like a pool of water. Ravi looked away, did he know that when he looked at someone with those eyes, he made it difficult for someone to breathe.

"No. Good wine is meant to be drunk. Ravi, do you know you are more amazing every time we talk? You are so..cool."

"Cool?" Ravi asked and Arlen laughed, nodding his head and sporting a smile.

"Yes, cool. I think you are cool, Ravi."

It was quite the high school way to describe someone but he was too distracted with the sleek bottle of wine to care.

He looked at the window, if Arlen was not here then for sure, he would be drinking this beautiful bottle of wine on the rooftop but sharing it with Arlen was an experience too.

Ravi stood up to get two glasses from the cupboard, rinsed them and dried them.

"Should I cool the glasses?"

"Why?" Ravi asked, confused.

Arlen brows wrinkled, "Well, because, it would be chilled a little. Forget, let’s just drink it like we are 1663 and are suffering from pox."

Ravi chuckled, "Prayers. Prayers."

"You watched it too. Which episode are you in?"

"Done with the entire season." It was a historical series that was played on Tuesday at 7pm on KUD. Set in the 17th century about a girl who transmigrated to a capital city and had to live as a man in order to survive.

"Who is your favorite character? Can you guess mine?"

He pulled out the cork releasing a fragrance that had been sealed for a very long time. The aroma of the wine spread throughout the living and Ravi tipped the bottle into one of the glasses, "Richard."

Arlen blinked, his jaw slackening, "How did you know?"

The noble son who played detective and suspects that something was very wrong with Nicholas, the main character. He was bold, disproving of the traditional norms of the society, he smiled mysteriously, "Here." He passed the wine glasses to Arlen who swirled it for a few second.s

"Tell me, really how did you know?"

"A secret."

"Can I guess yours?"

"Okay."

"Frank?"

The rich baron who never liked to leave his castle and Nicholas’ employer.

"No. Anne."

"The orphan? Why?"

"I think she is quite brave for an orphan, I would not be able to do half of the things she did if I was in her position."

He drank down the wine, it was so smooth and silky, with a nutty flavor. Was that walnut, it was spicy as well, causing him to close his eyes and enjoy it. He savored it slowly, remembering the taste with his senses.

Good wine.

A really good wine.

"I did not think that. There is so much that I don’t know about you Ravi. I know, let’s play ten questions. You would ask me ten questions about myself and I would truthfully answer and if you do not want to answer it, you would ask for another question, deal?" Arlen said, tipping his glass so that Ravi could pour him, so more wine. He sat down cross-legged before him. It was the same living room that Ravi knew but with the person sitting in front of him, the room seemed to carry a different ambiance.

Ravi nodded his head.

"Okay, go first."