The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 339: Lunchboxes

Chapter 339: Lunchboxes

Meanwhile, at Damien and Lane’s table.

Lane plopped down on the chair with a heavy sigh. Finally, it was break time! Not that he had done much - inspections consisted only of walking around, pressing buttons on the Mana fluctuation measuring device, and noting down the result. And Lane didn’t have to do even this much. Damien had assigned him to the guard squad, meaning he was supposed to keep an eye on the surroundings, and defend the team in case there were monsters around, but none appeared - but still, he was tired. He had spent the past few hours listening to Clara and Ethan talk trash about him, after all. Even if he didn’t care about being insulted, it was still draining...

The two were still at it when he finally left them, but Lane no longer could be bothered to eavesdrop on their conversation. It was a break, after all, and he could finally bother Damien! Earlier he hadn’t, because they were at work, and there was not only Ethan, but also other high-ranking Team Leaders present, so he thought it was best not to disturb Damien... But during a break, it no longer mattered.

"Is something wrong?" Damien asked, as he took out two lunch boxes from his spatial bag, and pushed one toward Lane.

Of course there was something wrong. Lane sat all silent and dispirited, his eyes dark, and his brows furrowed, almost like Damien’s.

"It’s because of that sister of yours," Lane muttered. "She found herself a new friend..."

"A new friend?"

"Ethan." Lane rolled his eyes. "It turned out they have the same hobby."

Damien lifted his brows questioningly, to which Lane let out a mirthless chuckle, and explained,

"Talking shit about me."

"...Oh." For a moment, Damien didn’t quite know what to say. The conflict between Clara and Lane had been going on ever since the two of them met for the first time (in Lane’s real body), and even as time went on, it didn’t seem to be getting any better... Even though Eloise and Samantha had long accepted Lane, and were trying to help. "I’m sorry about her..."

"Never mind that," Lane waved his hand dismissively. He’s expression was already much brighter...

Because he had just opened his lunchbox, and seen its content. It seems that Damien had predicted that the first day on the newly arranged team might leave Lane frustrated, so he had prepared a lunch that would perfectly suit his taste.

That is, a very sweet and sugary lunch. More like a dessert. With sugar-coated mini donuts filled with strawberry jam, protein bites in various flavors, mini cupcakes, chocolate dippers, and waffles (still warm, thanks to being stored in a spatial bag) with chocolate and strawberry sauce, and lots of whipped cream. Damien also had a variation of this lunch, since he didn’t have time to prepare two separate, except that his only contained waffles, fresh fruit, and a few plainer protein bites, since he couldn’t possibly endure the same amount of sugar as Lane.

As Lane took one of the mini donuts and stuffed it in his mouth, his frown soon disappeared, replaced by a smile. "Thanks! You’re the best!"

"Mn." Damien nodded his head, the tips of his ears slightly reddened. He picked up one of the waffles, and started eating as well.

Just then, Clara finished her conversation with Ethan, and came marching, her eyes dark and brows furrowed. She plopped down on one of the empty seats without a word, and almost slammed the two lunch boxes she carried onto the table.

Lane’s eyes flickered with amusement, and he stole a quick glance at Ethan. Could it be that the two of them argued? Was their Lane-hating alliance already over?

He didn’t get a clear answer, though, as Ethan still looked calm. But at least he didn’t join their table, instead taking a seat a few feet away. Close enough to know what was going on at Lane, Damien, and Clara’s table, but far away not to make it obvious that he was eavesdropping.

Even though everyone at Lane’s table suspected him of eavesdropping anyway.

Maybe except for Clara, as her attention was stolen by something else.

"What’s up with your lunch?" she asked, staring at Damien’s box, confused. Then, her eyes shifted to Lane’s lunchbox, and her frown deepened. "And what’s up with HIS lunch?"

Their lunches were very obviously homemade. And she could recognize the snacks as Damien’s handiwork... Not to mention, she already knew that Lane’s skills in the kitchen were limited to boiling water and using a microwave. It was just that...

It didn’t seem like a lunch that Damien would take to work! Damien always made himself cheap, but healthy meals. While this? This could hardly be called a meal! More like a snack, really!

"It’s not your food, so mind your own business," Lane said, dipping one of the protein bites in the chocolate sauce, and tossing it in his mouth.

But how could Clara possibly ’mind her own business’? Or rather, she thought it WAS her business! She made all of her siblings’ relationships her own business.

"It’s you who asked him for this, isn’t it?" she scoffed. "My brother is already so busy. While you... Not only you ask him to make food for you, but-"

"Lane didn’t ask me to do anything," Damien interrupted, rubbing his furrowed brows. "I wanted to make it myself."

It was the truth. Lane had never asked Damien to do anything (aside from having sex, of course). He didn’t ask him to cook, or to do laundry, or to clean... He always offered to take care of it himself. By hiring people to do it for them, but still. The only reason why Damien did anything was because he chose to. Especially when it came to cooking, that was how he expressed that he cared...

Clara went silent. She was Damien’s sister, and she knew him well, so she understood that much... And with how Damien cut her off just now, she knew it was pointless to try to argue any further. So, she just took one of the boxes, and handed it to Damien.

"Try this instead," she said. "Elly and Sammy made it for us."

Damien glanced at the contents of the lunchbox, hesitating for a moment, but eventually, he accepted. "Thanks," he nodded his head, and picked up a fork to eat. Although he had the lunch he had prepared... The meal that Clara had brought was much more up to his taste.

The corners of Clara’s lips lifted slightly in a proud smile, as if she had just won something. Even though it was rather ridiculous - she didn’t score any win against Lane, it was only that Damien had chose the lunch from Eloise and Samantha over the one he himself had made. If it had been a lunch made by Lane, then that would be a different thing, but...

Even Clara knew that if Lane had actually cooked anything, then Damien would choose it over anything else, no matter how bad it might taste.

She ignored such unpleasant thoughts, trying to just cherish this small ’victory’. She also ignored that there was one more lunchbox made by Eloise and Samantha hidden in her spatial bag... She didn’t have any ’brother-in-law’ that she might acknowledge, after all, so she would just leave it for herself for later!