XXII

I hope nobody notices me, Raja thought as he ascended the ship with careful steps.

He quietly sneaked to the room that he and the others had slept in. Luckily for him, the doors to the various rooms had been left ajar by the students when they had scurried out of the ship in excitement. He rushed to the bed he had slept in and swiftly searched the bed and its bedding.

“Fucking toy,” he cussed in Hindi as he retrieved his yo-yo from within the pillow case of one of the pillows.

Raja jumped to the floor with a thud and rushed out of the room without shutting the door. When he rushed through the hallway, muffled voices were coming from the captain’s quarter. He paused to listen, inclining his head just as he recognized Raaf’s deep, dull voice. Curiosity made him silently tiptoe to the door. He pressed his ear to the door in order to eavesdrop. His eyes shone at the clarity of their words and what the people were discussing about.

“...not like I know. Even if just one of my Level Os misbehave or go feral I will know. This...” The person dragged out a long, tired sigh. “These aren’t mine. Mine are better than these. Just look at their faces. They look tremendously ill,” the person said slowly.

Raja frowned as he raised a brow, silently taking his head away from the door. That’s right. Those things last night weren’t so normal. He pressed his ear to the door again and listened to the light rumble of the person’s voice as he continued talking. As soon as Raja recognized the voice, his eyes widened partly as he thought, this person... could it be—

“Raja I know you’re out there. I can smell you,” the person said, laughter in his voice.

Raja stiffened and pulled away from the door, giving it a weird look. “That really frightened me,” he mumbled and pulled the door open.

In the room stood Zee, Raaf, Tobe, a young man, and an older man who stood still in the farthest corner of the room. The remains of one of the Level Os was splayed on a metallic table that was in the middle of the room.

But the sight of Tobe made Raja’s eyes widen. “Um, Coach Tobe I—”

Tobe raised a brow and asked, “what are you doing here?”

Raja cleared his throat and muttered, “I uh... came to get something that I had forgotten.”

Tobe exhaled and shooed him away with his fingers. But before Raja left, he spared a look at the younger man. The young man was putting on a black attire and an amused smirk.

“Hello Raja Maikal, nice to see you again,” the person said, his smirk widening.

Raja narrowed his eyes at the man and grumbled, “same to you Old Man. Back so soon from the dead?”

Tobe raised a brow at his words. Old Man?

“How dare you,” Raaf hissed quietly. He wanted to jump at him, but the man merely stopped him with a raise of his hand.

The man snorted, his head slightly cocked. He slowly chuckled, his shoulders shaking as he said, “between you and Kimi, I don’t know who’s worse.” He looked into Raja’s eyes and folded his arms.

Raja snorted a short, unamused laugh and held onto the door. “Just to begrudgingly help you,” he said stiffly, “Kimi’s far worse than me Aurum. Prepare yourself.”

Aurum raised a brow, the corners of his lips quirking up. “Thanks for the warmup, but I’m all prepared.”

Raja rolled his eyes and pulled the door shut. If you say you are then get ready for hell Aurum, because death is even better, he thought as he shoved his hands into his pocket and walked down the hallway. Kimi is like a disastrously wrecked car.

*

“Um...” Dae-yang’s face was flushed in embarrassment at the sight of Raja’s nude torso. She whimpered and turned around, her gaze slamming on the Silver who’s wet hair was being towel-dried by Illiad. She huffed, folded her arms over her chest and said, “aren’t you guys concerned that I’m the only girl that’s here?”

Raja turned to her, a naughty smirk on his face. He wiggled his eyebrows and said, “why? Are you feeling hot and bothered by our—”

“Raja be sensible and matured for the first time in your entire life,” Illiad reprimanded quietly, staring blankly at him. “She’s a girl, respect that and always change in the bathroom. Got that?” He slung the towel over a shoulder and gave Raja a pointed look.

Raja’s eyes widened in disappointment, his hands shooting up in surrender. “Hey, but it’s not my fault that your fucking weird uncle placed all of us in the same room. I—”

“Will you like it if Dae-yang was to strip proudly in front of you?” he asked, his fingers swimming through Silver’s hair.

Raja huffed and forcefully took his nightwear and toiletries from the bed. He stomped all the way to the door but turned and said, “I wonder how your siblings deal with you and your fucking manners.” He pulled the door open, then turned again and hissed, “in fact I fucking wonder how Silver deals with you and all your bullshit.”

Silver snorted and softly said, “I deal with it just fine Raja, thank you very much.” He smiled warmly at Illiad and his boyfriend reciprocated the act with his own smile.

Raja just stuck out his tongue like a child and walked into the bathroom and broodingly kicked the door shut.

Dae-yang sighed in satisfaction. “Thank you.”

Illiad only shrugged and said, “with the kind of siblings I have I can handle multiple Rajas.”

“I fucking heard that!” Raja yelled from the bathroom, a tumbling sound following after his outburst. He started spouting curses in both Hindi and English, and this caused Dae-yang, Illiad and Silver to chuckle.

“Kids these days,” Illiad sighed, shaking his head with a bemused smile.

“Hey.” Silver pouted and lightly slapped his chest. “I’m a part of those kids.”

Illiad playfully scrunched up his nose and tapped the tip of Silver’s nose. “I know”—he pecked his lips—“and that’s why I said it you ice-cream baby.”

Dae-yang held a hand to her mouth in order to hold in her laughter. Silver blushed deeply, his face turning into different shades of red. He huffed and turned his back to Illiad, his cheeks puffed.

Illiad chuckled and quirked a brow. “Am I wrong?” He leaned in and blew his cold breath against Silver’s ears. This made Silver shiver blissfully. He wrapped his arms around his waist and sharply pulled Silver against him. Silver shuddered feverishly at the feel of his body against his.

“Hmm? Tell me ti sotiría mo,” Illiad said with a husky voice, accenting the Greek words he said.

Silver gasped and whiningly said, “Illiad, stop it. Now.” He swallowed slowly, taking in a deep breath as he turned around to look into Illiad’s eyes.

Illiad tightened his hold around Silver. He lifted a hand and held onto Silver’s chin, his thumb lightly caressing his bottom lip. Dae-yang’s eyes grew into saucers the moment Illiad’s eyes dropped to Silver’s pouty lips. Slowly, they moved their faces closer to each other, painstakingly tilting their head. Dae-yang loudly and gutturally coughed. This made aided them in snapping out of their daze. They looked at her in surprise, and she laughed in embarrassment.

“I’m... still here...” She ruffled her hair and stared at the rugged floor. “So...”

“Sorry, it will never happen again,” Illiad said, happiness in his voice. He looked down at Silver and gave him a quick kiss on his flushed cheek.

Silver looked at him with love in his eyes, his heart fluttering like the feathers of a happy nightingale. But when he suddenly remembered what that had happened earlier that day, he moved out of Illiad’s arms.

“Sil? What happened?” Illiad placed a hand on his shoulder, frowning in confusion at the drastic change in his emotions.

Silver gazed at Kimi’s empty bed, his eyes holding a heavy pain. He tiredly sighed, “it’s just Kimmy, he—”

“Hey I forget to tell you guys something,” Raja said loudly as he came out of the bathroom and banged the door shut.

Illiad stared at him with unamused, glazed over eyes. “What is it?”

“It’s just that when I had gone back to the ship I met—”

“Hold on,” Illiad said sharply, his voice cold and serious. He instinctively pulled Silver behind him and turned to face the door.

Dae-yang immediately stood up in response to his action and worriedly asked, “what is it? More Level Os?”

He didn’t answer. He simply stared at the shut door, his nostrils flared. His eyes were narrowed like a disturbed predator’s. Illiad tightly fisted his hands, his tongue pressing into his cheek. Irritation swam into his nostrils together with the faraway yet approaching smell of lavenders.

Raja slung his towel onto his shoulders and cocked his hip. “Dude you’re fucking scaring us.”

Silver placed a hand on his back and he felt his muscles ripple and tighten under his palm. “Illiad what is it?” Silver frowned deeply when Illiad flinched, his raised shoulders gradually loosening up.

Illiad dragged in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it through his nostrils. “It’s Aurum Caedis. And he’s coming here.”

Dae-yang stiffened, her hands flying up to her chest. “E-excuse me?”

Raja’s forehead creased into an uncomfortable frown. He shifted his gaze to the floor and glared at it. “Fuck why he’s here,” he mumble.

Silver bristled in panic, fisted his hand against Illiad’s back and stuttered, “w-why is he here? Why now?”

Illiad sniffed sharply. “Because he’s with Kimi.”

Silver’s eyes grew in shock, his surprised expression slowly morphing into a confused frown. “Why is he with Kimi?”

Illiad peered over his shoulder and said, “because Kimi had fainted.”

Author’s Note: thank you for reading the story. Please vote and comment and share. I may publish a new chapter tomorrow or the day after that. So watch out for a new chapter. Bye-Bye! (≧∇≦)/