The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 63: Still Pending

Four days passed before Lane saw Damien again.

What took so long? Lane had no idea. Finding a healer to take care of the injury couldn’t possibly take that long, not for S-ranker, who should have access to the best resources at the Association. And even outside of it, there must have been many willing to help Damien, just so that he would owe them a favor.

It was unlikely he went on any inspections either. He would have needed to find a suitable replacement for ’Noah’ first, after all, and that was likely to take some time.

Either way, he didn’t send Lane any guiding requests throughout most of the week.

Lane should have been happy. Having a break from Damien’s vigilance, to just relax.

And yet, he only felt more unsettled. Perhaps it was because his application to become a field agent was still pending, which made him impatient, but he really didn’t like this silence.

So, when on Friday noon the request from Damien finally appeared on his profile again, he unwillingly breathed out with relief.

As he went down to the fifth floor, where they were scheduled to have their session, Lane couldn’t help but pause right in front of the door. Instead of going in, he made a detour, going to the public toilets.

The rooms each had their own tiny bathrooms, of course, with showers even. But, Damien was most likely inside already. And Lane needed some time to prepare.

It was the first time he would have any contact with the man since his little... outburst, and he didn’t quite know how to feel or behave. It shouldn’t give him away in any way, since he had never lost control of himself like that when he was ’Evan’ or ’Noah’, but... The thought that Damien now knew this side of him was just weird, maybe unsettling, Lane couldn’t quite wrap his head around what emotions he was feeling.

But if Damien was disappointed, having discovered that Lane’s cheery and friendly persona was just a front he put, at least to some extent, wouldn’t he lose interest in Lane? Then, would he still try to catch him? Perhaps he would, just to figure out what he was doing, possessing other people...

"Haaah..." Lane shook his head, and turned on the tap, washing his face. Then, with his fingers wet, he brushed back his hair, trying to style it in a sexy way. There wasn’t much he could do with Aidan’s average face, and he couldn’t make up for it with his clothes, since he had to wear the Association’s uniform, but at least he put on some effort.

Once he appeared fully calm and composed, he finally went to the private guiding room.

As expected, Damien was already there. He lifted his eyes from the laptop, greeting Lane with a simple "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon." Lane put on a polite smile, walking toward the couch. He took a seat fairly close to Damien, although not so close so that they would touch. His eyes involuntarily drifted to Damien’s face, examining it carefully.

Damien looked much better. His complexion was back to normal, and the shadows underneath his eyes were gone. He was also perfectly put together, with the exception of one loose strand of hair, which must have slipped throughout the morning. It was, without any doubt, the Damien Lennox that Lane was most familiar with. As for his shoulder...

"I had it healed," Damien said, as if guessing what Lane was thinking. "Would you like to see and confirm?"

"Ah..." Lane hesitated, just for a split second though, before saying, "Yes, please. I want to make sure you kept your promise." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Naturally, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Damien on that. However, why would he refuse when the man was offering to strip in front of him? Last time, with everything that was going on, he didn’t get to take a good look...

Damien gave him a long glance, perhaps sensing his true intentions, but he still unbuttoned the shirt, pulling it down his shoulder.

"Let me see..." Lane instantly scooted closer, touching Damien’s chest and arm, and examining his shoulder up close.

There really wasn’t even a trace of the wound left. His skin was supple, with honey undertones, warm and soft to the touch, with no unevennesses or discolorations. Lane’s fingers softly went over Damien’s broad shoulders, the prominent dip of his collarbone, one hand sliding down his well-developed bicep, while the other down one of his pecs, brushing his nipple...

Damien adjusted in his seat, withdrawing a bit. "Well, since you’ve confirmed," he said in a slightly suppressed voice, "Can we have a guiding session today?"

"Ah... Yes, of course." Lane nodded absentmindedly, watching with regret as Damien fastened his buttons again, making his chest disappear from sight. "Um, by the way. What is that?" he gestured at the box standing on the table with his head.

"Cupcakes. I’ve baked them last night."

"O-oh? And, ahem, may I ask what did you bring them here for?"

"They’re for you."

Lane’s eyes twitched. He expected that much, but... Was Damien really trying to bait him with sweets again? That was simply cruel...

"Ahem, and what’s the occasion?" he asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Hmm. You can think of it as a thank-you gift. For the last time."

"...The last time? You mean..."

"I mean the things that you said. Telling me to go to the healer," Damien quickly explained, before Lane had a chance to say anything inappropriate. "You were right. It was irresponsible of me to go untreated for so long."

"Ah... Anytime." Lane scratched his head, a bit taken aback. He wouldn’t have expected his outburst to be seen in such a positive light.

Not that it mattered.

"Ahem, however, I’m not too fond of sweets, I’m afraid," he added, twisting his lips in a half-smile of sorts.

"Is that so?" Damien didn’t appear particularly surprised. "Then, should I take it back?"

Lane glanced at the box again. He should probably reject the gift... However, judging by the protein bars he had the chance to try in the past, Damien was pretty good at making sweets... Lane would be lying if he said he didn’t want to try it out.

So he eventually said, "There’s no need. Since you’ve put your effort into making them, it would be impolite not to try... I’ll share it with the people at the of... I mean, with my friends later."

Sharing it with ’friends’ was the best. Because if it was ’friends’, then Damien wouldn’t have a way to know that the only ’friend’ Lane shared the treats with was himself.

"Hmm." Damien looked at Lane, a shadow of smile playing in his eyes. However, whether he suspected what Lane’s ’sharing’ plans were about or not, he didn’t say anything.

"Alright then!" Lane took his eyes off the enticing treats, moving his gaze to a different ’treat’ instead. "Shall we start then? Perhaps... using the same method as last time?"

Damien’s shoulder tensed up, his ears reddening a bit at the thought. Still, he agreed, "If that’s alright with you... Then we can give it another try."

The corners of Lane’s mouth unwillingly went up, and he moved closer, climbing onto Damien’s lap without any hesitation.

At least there was something for him to enjoy, while he was still stuck in the General Staff...