There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 148 - 143. Road Trip

Chapter 148: Chapter 143. Road Trip

There were two things waking up Zein that morning; an alarm from his commlink, and the weight of Bassena’s arms around him. The weight helped him not to become disoriented about where he was though, otherwise, he would have waking up confused.

This bedroom...was as big as his dorm. It even had a seating area and a big ass screen across the bed. One section of the glass window was actually a door leading to a small garden--and by small, it was as big as a normal household garage that could house two cars.

Zein had given up trying to understand Bassena’s house with his plebian perspective at this point.

Apparently, the unit was actually one of the things Bassena inherited from his mother, which explained the existence of the garden. It was a place where she would stay at when she got too fed up with the Vaskis--one of the things she hid from them too, apparently.

Zein heard all that as he guided Bassena last night. They were too sleepy and wary of all the bad things happening yesterday that Zein didn’t care anymore and just told Bassena he would guide the esper while sleeping--just like how they did it in the Capital. Bassena told him about the place as they drifted into sleep, as one of those...bedtime stories, he supposed.

But why did he put on the alarm again?

Zein tried to reach the commlink he put on the nightstand, but Bassena’s grip on his waist did not allow him to. It was almost as if the man was afraid he’d disappeared in the middle of the night.

"Hey, let go," Zein nudged the man with his elbow, but what he got were a muffled sound of groan and an even tighter hold. The esper even nuzzled on his side, just like a giant puppy with white fur. "Bas, I’ll never come over again if you don’t let go."

The amber eyes fluttered open, and the puppy gave him a sulking face. "Meanie..."

"You’re getting more and more alike with Shin--"

"Ugh--God, no!" the esper shuddered and loosened his hold--just enough for Zein to get up slightly with a smirk and reached his commlink.

The alarm sound had stopped ringing, but the screen still blinking with the note he wrote there. [Neyta. 10 a.m]

Oh...

"Why are you waking up so early on Sunday?" Bassena squirmed and stretched out beside him, before rolling to his stomach and laying his head on Zein’s thigh. "Just stay here and play with me today..."

"I can’t," Zein answered immediately, in such a nonchalant and dry tone that deflated Bassena’s hope.

He thought things were progressing? He thought since the date yesterday was pretty much ruined, he could sneakily ask Zein for one today. He had a good feeling that Zein would easily accept it with the way things were progressing between them, but it seemed like he was getting too confident...?

"I have an appointment today," Zein said, tapping Bassena’s sulking cheek lightly, and brushing his fingers over the messy blonde hair. "I need to go to Neyta at ten."

Bassena perked up then, brows raised slightly. "The yellow-zone? What for?"

"I’m going to meet Old Man Dan’s daughter, to talk about the orphanage plan," Zein replied while typing a reply to the old man’s text, who had been asking him about today’s plan.

He had made the plan before the black gate incident, and had asked the old man if he wanted to come too. But with him being hospitalized and then the news about the outbreak yesterday, the old man asked if Zein wanted to use the day to rest instead.

It was honestly a tempting offer. While he already got a few hours of sleep, his mind was still exhausted from last night’s barrage of information regarding his father and the Templars. And Bassena’s place had so many interesting things, especially the swimming pool.

Zein wanted to learn how to swim. There was no way he could do something like that in the end-zones, so he never learned how to. And while there was a pool in the dorm, there was no instructor that could teach him. It wasn’t like he had the time too...

But Zein did not like postponing an appointment unless it was an emergency, because he didn’t like that being done to him. Also, he had no idea if he could conveniently move again in the future, with the unpredictable danger looming over them.

With the theory Bassena came up with last night--that the force of the Deathzone needed time to recuperate their energy--the best time for him to go would be today. So he told the old man that they would proceed as planned.

Or at least, more or less as planned.

Because the plan was for him and the old man to go, with Jock as the driver like usual--guard duty and whatnot. But when he looked at Bassena, the amber eyes were suddenly staring at him with sparkles. They were bright, fresh from thorough guiding and a good night’s sleep.

Zein could almost see it; the wiggling puppy ears.

"...do you want to come with me?"

"Yes!" the answer was immediate, almost sounded like a child getting excited about going for a ride.

Well...having an additional passenger should be alright. An extra guard too, if it came to it. Tapping the excited cheek, Zein couldn’t help but feel a bit excited too, and let out a soft smile.

* * *

When Zein said he was somewhere else and going to come to the dorm at ten, Old Man Dan did not think the guide would come rolling with Bassena Vaski.

Although, now that he thought about it, the two were together during the instant outbreak accident yesterday.

Jock, the driver-cum-guard, didn’t seem to know too. The man didn’t look surprised, though. At this point, they already understood that the Serpent Lord would almost be there where his guide was.

"He’ll come too?" the old man asked, glancing at the energetic esper that was casually tapping on the car’s roof as a response.

"I’m the extra-extra guard," Bassena said with palpable cheerfulness, looking like an innocent child about to go on a field trip. The way he drummed on the car felt like telling them to hurry up and start the journey--even though the one with a business there was Zein.

The old man, who was only hitching the ride for a parental visit, stared at the esper’s bright complexion despite the busy day he must endure yesterday, before shifting his gaze toward Zein. "I guess a month would make even the strongest man clingy," he muttered in that red-zone grumbling tone while opening the car door.

Bassena responded with a soft laugh and opened the door--for Zein, because he was a gentleman and shit.

The guide, meanwhile, only realized it then; that yes, Bassena had been locked up in the Tower for a month not long ago. Because of the hectic situation with the black gate and the outbreak, and all the new concerns about the Deathzone and his father’s news, he forgot about it.

No wonder Bassena seemed to be so frustrated about the day being ruined yesterday. The man already sulked since Zein came straight to Mortix after they visited the Seven Ether a few days ago, and when they finally got the chance to go out again, an outbreak happened.

He remembered the disappointed face on the esper’s face when he said he couldn’t stay and spend time with the younger man today. Even the way Bassena held him tight in their sleep...

Zein was wondering why did Basssena act so clingy, but perhaps he could understand it better now. Bassena also mentioned that he was quite sensitive these days, so there was that too.

"You sure you want to come?" Zein asked as they entered the car. "Wouldn’t it be better if you just rest..." he stopped though, seeing the hardened line on Bassena’s face.

"Wouldn’t it better if you just rest?" the esper threw the question back. "I had my cleansing and my sleep. What about you?"

"I had enough rest in the hospital,"

"That’s not resting," Bassena huffed as the car started to drive away. "And I’m not talking about your body--well, that too, but..."

"I got it," Zein tapped the esper’s hand to shut him up. "I’ll be fine."

"It’s rather fun seeing youngsters flirting, huh?" the old man grumbled from the front seat. He didn’t sound annoyed, though. That was just how he talked. "But that aside, I do think you need some rest, young man."

It hadn’t even been a week since he forcibly discharged himself from the hospital. And the guide already running around the office, facing an outbreak, and making a personal business trip as if he was running on steroids.

Now that even the quiet old man told him off, Zein turned to look at his reflection in the car window. Did he look exhausted or something? Zein felt he looked completely normal, although to be fair, he almost never looked into a mirror, so he wouldn’t really know.

"It’s your eyes," Bassena whispered.

Hmm...Radia did say people tended to notice Zein’s eyes first, with him wearing a mask and everything. It was just baffling to him that they could analyze his condition through the brightness level of his eyes.

"People who spend a lot of time with you will notice," Bassena added again, as if he could read what Zein thought, and smiled playfully as a bonus. "Like me."

Zein scoffed and flicked the esper’s forehead lightly. But he leaned back and started to think that perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea to have some rest. Organizing his thought about his father and the Templars, about the creeping force from the Deathzone, about the reclamation project...

Now that he thought about it, he needed to start focusing on the shard again. With all the incidents happening, he had this thought that maybe he could try touching the specter’s core. He never tried it before, but perhaps he could find something from there. Even if there wasn’t anything, familiarizing himself with the specter’s mana waves might be beneficial.

Mm...he would think about that later. Now that the guildmaster banned him from entering dungeons without Bassena, he had quite a bit of leeway. He never thought about it, but perhaps he could use one of that...paid leave thingy...and ask Bassena to take him somewhere.

Somewhere...the Temple...the one with the lake...didn’t they make a plan to go to the sea too...

"Zein,"

The blue eyes opened with a start. Blinking confusedly, Zein realized he was leaning on Bassena, head laying snuggly on the esper’s shoulder.

Did he...fall asleep?

Glancing at his commlink, he realized it was noon already. He blinked again, and slowly lifted his gaze, greeted by warm amber orbs that felt like a pair of suns.

"Good morning," Bassena whispered softly, chuckling at the guide’s blank eyes. He tilted his head toward the window, where Zein could vaguely see the shape of civilization. "We’re here."

Straightening his back, Zein could finally see a city--or rather, the beginning of a region--at the end of the road. Bigger than Althrea, and way more bustling with life.

The nearest yellow-zone city from Althrea; Neyta.