The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 113: Warm and Cozy

Chapter 113: Warm and Cozy

"I said I’m sorry!" Lane called, trailing after Damien. The man was just walking, but with his long legs, much longer than Xavier’s, it was hard to keep up with him when he quickened his pace so much. "It was just a joke, I wasn’t thinking!"

To be fair, he didn’t sound sorry at all. Rather, like he was on the verge of laughing. Which was in fact the case - Lane was proud of his retort, and even more so of the mortified expression on Clara’s face it caused!

Damien stopped all of a sudden, making Lane ’accidentally’ crash into his wide back - his reflexes just ’happened’ to temporarily malfunction, okay?

"I’m not angry," Damien finally said with a heavy sigh. "It’s just... embarrassing."

Lane pouted his lips in response. "Hmm? Making out with me is embarrassing?"

"No. Of course not. But losing control of myself in public is... And getting caught by my sister..."

Naturally Lane wasn’t unaware of what Damien meant. Just because he himself was shameless, it didn’t mean he lacked understanding of societal norms. And even with his shamelessness, if he were to get caught in a steamy situation by Nyla, it’d probably feel awkward... Even if he’d never let it show. However, while he might have understood Damien, the man getting all flushed and shy was so adorable that he just couldn’t help but want to mess with him!

"Well, it’s not my fault you couldn’t wait until we got to my place..." he muttered, his fingers tracing the lines of Damien’s muscles, tangible even under two layers of clothes.

Damien instantly tensed up, his already straight back straightening even more, no, arching backward actually. "You’re right," he admitted, his voice a bit hoarse. "It was... my fault this time."

"Hmm. Alright, I’ll forgive you!" The corners of Lane’s lips lifted up, and he attached himself to Damien’s arm once again. "But now, let’s head over to my place, hm? Before you can embarrass yourself again."

Lane’s words were such an obvious bait that even with his ’guilt’ openly admitted just a moment ago, Damien glanced down at him with his brows arched. Still, he ended up saying a quiet, "Okay."

They were a couple now, right? And Lane promised a calm and cozy quality time together. Things finally seemed to be moving in the direction Damien was hoping for...

And so they ended up on Lane’s living room couch.

"So, what movies do you like?" Lane asked, scrolling through his - or, well, Xavier’s to be precise - recommendations on the streaming platform, nested comfortably in Damien’s powerful arms.

They had things to talk about - the conversation Damien had with Clara, why she was so against Lane and whether they should do something about it, or that bit about Damien’s mother... But, Damien wouldn’t talk unless Lane asked, and Lane... Lane was still going by his rule ’no personal topics because they can lead to emotional attachment.’ Completely ignoring the fact that the attachment was already there, on both ends, and only growing deeper with each passing day. Almost as deep as Lane’s denial.

And so, the conversation was put on hold, until god-knows-when.

"Hmm." Damien’s chest vibrated with a low hum, the sensation spreading to Lane’s back, like a soft massage. "I don’t watch movies often, to tell you the truth."

Lane’s brows shot up, and he turned his head to glance at the man. From up so close, he could count the thick, long, dark lashes framing Damien’s emerald eyes. Such closeness shouldn’t be anything new, not after all those times they kissed, and yet, perhaps because of the coziness of lounging together on the couch, it felt... different. So much so, that Lane involuntarily gulped, his heart skipping a beat, and his head so fuzzy he forgot what he was about to say...

"Xavier?" As there was no reaction to his words for quite a while, Damien lowered his eyes and met Lane’s gaze.

Lane blinked a few times, waking up from his daze. "Right! Then, what do you do to relax?"

"Hmm. I like to read a bit, when I have time."

"Ah."

For a moment Lane thought Damien was going to say something ridiculous, such as ’there’s no need to relax’, or ’do chores’, or even worse, ’organize documents’! But even Damien wasn’t that crazy, it seemed. Reading was a normal choice for a relaxing pastime. While Lane personally didn’t care for it, he could more or less understand the appeal.

"Right! Romance, wasn’t it?" he said, recalling the book that he saw at Damien’s place.

"Well... Yes, among others, but we can watch something else if you’d prefer?"

However, Lane had already switched to the ’romance’ options. "Nah, that sounds good to me," he shrugged his shoulders, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips. "Hmm... Let’s go with this." Not waiting for Damien to answer, he pressed ’play’.

The title he picked was the corniest looking romantic comedy proposed on the first page. He didn’t bother to read the synopsis or anything, but there was no need to - all of those movies were more or less the same. Not that Lane had seen many of them to know it for sure... But it was just about two people getting together, how interesting could that be? Still, at least it might help set the mood... And, since it was unlikely to be too engaging, they could move on to something more interesting once they got bored of the show...

At least that was what Lane had in mind when choosing the movie. However, he highly underestimated the dullness and predictability of the plot, and perhaps even more so, the comfortableness of Damien’s arms... He hadn’t even realized when he dozed off.

By the time he finally woke up, five hours had passed, and the movie was long over, the living room fully submerged in darkness.

"Mph..." he stirred, instinctively wanting to pull the blanket... But it was weirdly firm and heavy. And there was a herbal scent surrounding him, completely different from the detergents his current laundry shop was using, but pleasant and familiar... And the warmth and firmness of his mattress seemed different as well...

It took a few seconds for the realization to hit him - it was not the edge of a blanket he was pulling on, but Damien’s arm! He was still lying in the man’s embrace, his back resting on Damien’s wide, warm chest, just like when he started the movie.

"Awake?" Damien’s low, mellow voice sounded just above Lane’s head, his hot breath brushing his hair.

"Haha, sorry. I guess I found it a bit boring," Lane chuckled, and quickly turned around, straddling Damien. "Now, how about..."

He never got to do anything though, because Damien caught his wrist, stopping him. "It’s late. I have to go."

"Oh come on..."

"Not today. I need to get up early tomorrow, to catch up on the work I didn’t do today."

"But... We just got some sleep, haven’t we?" Lane tilted his head in confusion.

But no. Damien didn’t sleep. With Lane cuddling to him in his sleep, how could he possibly doze off? When his thoughts started turning in an unruly direction...

Lane made a few more attempts, but as Damien was unyielding, he had no choice but to get up from the man, scoffing in disappointment. "You should have left after the movie, if you didn’t want anything else," he couldn’t help but pout. It was frustrating for him as well, to be given such false hope, okay?

"I didn’t want to wake you up."

"...What?" Lane arched his brows, glancing back at Damien. In the darkness of the room, he couldn’t see the man’s expression well... But it was kind of weird. Was Damien sitting quietly on the couch doing nothing for so long... just because Lane was asleep? It was seriously hard to comprehend.

If it’d wake him up, then it’d wake him up, that’s all, what’s the big deal? No one ever cared about not disturbing Lane’s rest, and so he didn’t either. Sure, he’d probably grumble and complain, but...

He scratched his head, averting his gaze.

Yeah, it was weird. As pretty much everything related to Damien. Rather than dwell on it pointlessly, shouldn’t he just start getting used to it? Since it seemed that he’d be stuck by Damien’s side... longer than it was originally planned.