The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 94: Hypnotized

Chapter 94: Hypnotized

Two hours later, Damien seemed pretty drunk. Wasted even. Although his speed dropped after the initial shots, Lane continued to sneakily push drinks his way, even switching the cups, until he got Damien to the point where his eyes were all blurry, speech slurred, and his shoulder slumped, supporting himself on the damp table without even realizing that one of his sleeves got soiled by a bit of spilled drink.

It seemed it was finally the time to start with the actual ’chat’ they came here for.

Lane stood up, instantly reaching out to support himself as his head spun. Even though he was nowhere as drunk as Damien, he also had to drink quite a bit so as not to make it too suspicious, more than he intended... Still, an opportunity like that might not happen again, so he moved out of his seat, and slid next to Damien instead.

"Hmm?" Damien moved his lazy gaze to Lane... Well, maybe not lazy. Although the man’s emerald eyes were deeply clouded, they were still intense, staring down at Lane so fervently they could start a fire...

Lane bit his lip, his breathing quickening. He maintained eye contact for a moment, before his eyes started wandering, examining Damien’s wet, glistening lips from up close, then sliding down to his strong neck with a prominent Adam’s apple, broad shoulders, and massive pecs... Those buttons on his shirt were begging to be saved from their suffering...

But Lane forced his gaze to move up. He almost wanted to slap himself on the cheek. He had to focus. It wasn’t the time to get horny.

So, he lifted his hand, caressing Damien’s jaw as their eyes met once again. Closing his eyes, Lane took a few deep breaths to calm himself...

And when he opened up his eyes again, they were shining with deep lilac shade, and he saw himself.

Lane exhaled with relief, rewinding Damien’s memories. Just a few minutes, as for some reason, he was a bit averse to the idea of going through Damien’s mind... Even though it never bothered him before. Now, he used Memory Scan just as a test, to check whether his abilities worked. Both this, as well as his hypnosis, were only A-rank abilities after all. Under any normal circumstances, an S-ranker would be able to defend themselves against them without any trouble...

It was different now that Damien was drunk, and his guard was down. Memory Scan worked well, so Lane quickly switched to hypnosis, Xavier’s pitch-black eyes glimmering with red light.

"I will ask you some questions, and you will ask me truthfully. Alright?" he whispered, staring deeply into Damien’s blurry eyes.

"Mn." Obedient like a puppy, Damien nodded his head, his gaze not leaving Lane.

Lane licked his lips, all nervous. It seemed to work. But... There was always a chance that Damien was only pretending. If so, then Lane could potentially be doomed after it... Well, not entirely, but it would be deeply troublesome.

He steeled himself a bit, before asking the first question. "Did you tell anyone about your suspicions about Evan, Noah, Aidan and Xavier being the same person? Or any of them having anything in common?"

"No," Damien’s answer was clear and short.

"No?" Lane blinked, a bit surprised. "Not anyone? Not even a mention?"

"No," Damien repeated again with full confidence.

"Why not though?"

"I didn’t want to."

"But... I might be committing a crime?" Lane lifted his brows, moving closer as he lowered his voice even further.

"Yes, if it’s an unregistered ability, which is most likely the case, then it is a crime," Damien agreed. "I should have reported you."

Furrowing his brows in annoyance, Lane clicked his tongue. "Then why didn’t you?" he scoffed.

Damien, however, just repeated, "I didn’t want to." Then, a moment later, he also added, "Because I don’t want you to disappear again."

"Haaah!" The air escaped from Lane, and like a deflated balloon, he collapsed within himself, resting his head in the crook of Damien’s neck. "How stupid."

"Yes."

"Shut up," Lane muttered through clenched teeth, annoyed by Damien’s confirmation. Yes, he said it was stupid, it most certainly WAS stupid, and he wouldn’t have expected it of THE Damien Lennox, who was such a stickler for the rules... But still, that was more or less what he was hoping for when he decided to use his ability to question Damien. Only that he didn’t expect it would be THIS good, that Damien didn’t even mention the issue to anyone...

He remained like that for a long while, inhaling Damien’s herbal scent mixed with the alcohol. Until his eyes slowly started closing on their own, as he was slowly drifting asleep from drunkenness and the comfort... As the waiter passed by their table though, empty glasses clinking as he picked them up, Lane was instantly startled away. He straightened his back, grasping Damien’s muscular arms, and canceling the hypnosis.

He quickly called the waiter, footing all the bill, before turning back to Damien. "Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go home," he said, getting up from the bench. The rest of their conversation should happen when they are both sober and conscious. "Can you walk?"

Damien muttered a short "Mn," which was most likely supposed to mean ’yes’, but his actions claimed otherwise. Scrambling out of his seat, he almost toppled over, and would have ruined his handsome face if it wasn’t for Lane catching him in time.

"Easy there. If you can’t, that’s fine, just lean on me." Despite the disapproval with which Lane shook his head, his mouth still curved into a smile, as he reached out, wrapping Damien’s arm around his shoulders. Damien was very tall, not to mention heavy and muscular, so it wasn’t an easy task to drag him along, but for the body of a B-rank Esper, it wasn’t all that much.

They stumbled up the stairs and onto the streets, catching a taxi.

"Where do you live?" Lane pushed Damien in onto the backseat first, climbing after him and closing the door.

"Mmnm..." Was the answer, resulting in Lane’s eyes turning red again. "Cross Avenue 48/2."

"Go there first," Lane nodded at the driver, leaning back in his seat with a sigh. He looked outside, watching the flickering city lights passing them by. Next to him, Damien was dozing off, his head tilting more and more Lane’s way, until landing right on his shoulder. Lane only gave him a glance though, and ignored the issue, letting him be. The man was pushed so far by him that night, and it wasn’t displeasing anyway. Rather the opposite, actually.

He didn’t want to ponder on that thought though. The only, absolutely only, reason as to why he was going through this trouble was because Damien had figured him out anyway. As for why he was taking him home... He was just curious how the man lived, okay?

The road was long. They were drinking close to the city center, but Damien lived far off on the outskirts, in a very cheap district. The block he lived in was old and cheap, covered in plenty of questionable quality graffiti. The staircase as they entered was also dirty, stinking of piss, weed, and who knows what else. Damien’s apartment - or tiny studio, to be precise, was no less cheap, filled with a mix-matched old furniture... In no way it was a place suitable for a high-ranking Esper to live.

But it was sparkling clean. Although poor, it was well-maintained, everything tiny, nothing, absolutely nothing out of order. The bed was perfectly done, all the cups and spoons washed, and even the towels were folded well. So much so that it could put Lane’s housekeepers to shame.

Lane put Damien in the narrow bed, and placed a cup of water on the bed stand. There was a book there - some sort of romance, as Lane noticed with surprise - so he put it away. So that it wouldn’t get ruined, in case Damien threw up at night.

Then, he excused himself, quietly closing the door behind himself. It would be nice if he could take a longer look around, but he told the taxi driver he would be back in a minute. Besides, he was pretty sleepy himself...

Well, perhaps he would have another opportunity in the future. For now, he was satisfied, having achieved his goal behind their ’date’.