Noah’s sister wasn't the only one who had trouble falling asleep that night. Somewhere in Concordia, there was a dimly lit room with all of its window sills shut tight in an attempt to keep the proceedings inside private. A futile effort since neither the tightly shut windows nor the thick door could keep the loud and agitated bits and pieces of the conversation from leaking out.

"How is he fine and well?!?"

"…don't know!"

"Didn't you say… estimated power… SS-rank Soother?!?"

"I told you… results… unpredictable!"

"Didn't… increase the doze?! How is… Astar Levi… fucking fine?!?"

"Differences in mental power? Differences in the level of… abilities? For all we know… soothing power …increasing…"

"So we are fucking training the enemy to counter our plans better?! Is that it?!?"

A sharp sound of glass breaking could be heard from within.

"Maybe we should…"

"No, no, no! We were so close!"

"We might not get another chance…"

"They will be on guard now…"

"Maybe… bachelor's party…"

***

Staying up late had its benefits. When Levi got back to his darling’s bedroom, he was finally exhausted enough to fall asleep without further issues. He drilled beneath the covers, found a comfortable spot near the middle of the bed, and then, of course, pulled his adorable baby into his embrace, hugging him to sleep like a giant teddy bear.

For a few minutes, before he drifted into a peaceful slumber, Levi laid with his darling in his embrace, thinking how truly blessed he was. Not only was his baby a heavy sleeper, allowing Levi to stick to him like plaster, but he also slept quite serenely. Didn’t fidget or kick, didn’t even snore or mumble in his sleep. Simply a little angel!

(／≧ω＼)❤

‘A little angel?’ Blackie snorted, ‘More like a dead pig…’

***

That night was Noah’s best sleep ever since he came to this world; thus, he found himself waking up fully rested earlier than usual.

He didn’t know why, but that night he had felt especially relaxed and comfortable. He was surrounded by pleasing warmth, and there was even a comfortable weight on top of him. Not too light nor too heavy, but just right. Like one of those therapeutic weighted blankets, he had always wanted to have in his previous life.

So that’s what all the hype was about! Sleeping under a weighted blanket was indeed worth all the hype!

‘Wait… Aris doesn’t own a weighted blanket!’ Noah’s hazy mind slowly cleared at that thought. His eyes snapped open, and then, a moment later, shut again in fright. ‘Calm down, calm down.’ Noah chanted internally, ‘There is nothing to be flustered about! Your brother-in-law is just using you like a body-pillow in his sleep!’

Blackie snickered, ‘Using you as a body pillow? Oh. Is that what we are calling this 1000%-too-intimate embrace?’

Noah inhaled a big but quiet breath in an attempt to calm down his wildly beating heart. He knew plenty of kids in the orphanage that were little octopuses when asleep. His brother-in-law was just like a big kid, unconsciously finding something to hug in his sleep. If he took into account how traumatic yesterday was for his brother-in-law, it was actually perfectly justifiable he would subconsciously search for comfort. Right. Nothing outrageous.

It’s just that… how could he possibly calm down when his brother-in-law’s bare chest was plastered all over his back!?! And when his brother-in-law’s head was practically nuzzling his neck, his hot breath tickling Noah’s sensitive skin?!?

And there was even a strong arm wrapped around Noah’s waist, whose hand was resting comfortably on his chest!

And let’s not even mention their intertwined and 100%-naked legs or that one particular right leg that caged Noah in between the bed and Levi!!

In short…

Noah wanted to die of embarrassment then and there! QAQ

No matter how much Noah’s brain tried to convince him that the current situation was only a bit awkward but perfectly reasonable, Noah’s wildly beating heart just couldn’t accept it! The best he could do was to try controlling his short breaths and hope his flush would be the shade of a cooked shrimp instead of a tomato.

No matter how he tried to see his brother-in-law as a little kid, the reality was that his brother-in-law was not little in any way! He was a tall, dark, and handsome adult man!

And as if the very universe was against Noah’s attempts to see this big man as a kid, it chose this very moment to give him a “hard” reminder that his brother-in-law was, indeed, a fully grown man.

That’s right! With rising horror, Noah felt his brother-in-law’s third leg also rise up! The python that had been slumbering underneath Noah’s bottom sharply rose its head to poke him straight in the ass!!

This one hard poke was enough for Noah’s steaming brain to fully crash. His fidgeting abruptly stilled, his entire form stiffening unnaturally as if a gut instinct of a frightened possum.

At first, playing dead had been an instinctual response to avoid confronting this embarrassing-to-death situation. But later, when Noah’s stalled cogs started to turn with difficulty, he determined that the best course of action was to subtly wake up his brother-in-law while continuing to feign sleep. That way, his brother-in-law would get up on his own and go to take a shower. Then Noah could take advantage of the time it took Levi to finish his shower to fully calm down. Subsequently, he would pretend this accident never happened.

A great plan!

At least in theory.

Unfortunately for Noah, it was impossible to wake up those pretending to be asleep. Thus, no matter how Noah “accidentally” kicked or elbowed Levi, this very professional dead possum continued playing dead. Sure, his breaths grew hot and heavy, and his shaft swelled up a size, but he successfully resisted the great temptation to grind and thrust his hips.

This battle of endurance lasted for an unbearably long time, all the way until Noah really couldn’t take it anymore! Judging by his brother-in-law’s growing “problem”, if Noah continued to pretend to be asleep any further, his brother-in-law’s thing would really end up literally up his ass!!!

Damn it all! This current situation, no matter how embarrassing, was 1,000 times better than having his virgin asshole violated!

And thus, this dead possum revived with a jolt and started to furiously squirm in Levi’s embrace.

At this point, how could Levi possibly continue to pretend to be asleep?! His baby’s wiggling ass had nearly squeezed milk out of him! He had to let go before he ended up shooting his load!!

And thus, miraculously, both men “woke up” at the same time and ended up staring at each other’s “just woken up” performance face-to-face.