Devion always felt guilty whenever he put Khal in the same painful experience. He could not help but blame his own reckless decisions, which were the reason they were here in the first place.

Both from how he got this curse and why he needed to return and look for Khal one last time. All of these decisions spiraled.

Khal sighed and leaned into his touch, kissing his palm. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, there was now a trace of a smile on his lips.

"Don’t worry, I’m not that tired."

Of course, he was not convincing anyone in this room.

Devion frowned. "Stop lying."

Anyone could see the exhaustion in Khal’s face, and his eyes almost drooped, decreasing the usual chill in them.

"You’re tired, Khal." Ayen ignored his discomfort and intervened.

The two glanced at him with different expressions.

"See? Even Ayen agreed with me." Devion sighed again and pulled Khal closer to him, hugging him.

He took a deep breath and urged again.

"Seriously, you need to take a rest."

Khal also had his stubborn side. He did not reply to that; instead, he noticed Ayen’s state.

"IS there anything uncomfortable?" Khal softly asked, but it could be seen he was only asking to let Ayen say it himself.

Devion’s attention also shifted to Ayen, finally noticing it as well.

His expression changed slightly.

Ayen moved to their side, hand reaching out to grasp Devion’s hand.

"Another backlash, maybe." Ayen witnessed how the expressions of his espers quickly turned into alarm, satisfying something within him.

The discomfort lessened somewhat. Most of it was aftereffects of the guiding session; that curse was truly a nasty thing. Most of its words almost get to Ayen.

But now with the presence of Khal and Dveion, they were pushed out again.

The other half was actually the backlash. Since this was still considered a guiding session and used his wavelength, the backlash was bound to happen. One was that he used most of his energy, and another was that he only guided one person.

The two espers’ attention quickly focused on him.

Devion put Ayen’s hand in his lips and kissed it as he felt his temperature through it.

"Do you need anything?" He directly asked.

Most of the backlash symptoms Ayen experienced were unpredictable; there were times they repeated, but usually a new one.

Khal, though exhausted, also became attentive. Devion had stopped to make him rest, knowing how stubborn Khal was in this regard.

Ayen moved closer and leaned on Khal’s body, not pulling his hand away from Devion. They were now so close to each other, making him satisfied.

"I don’t know," he replied once he was done moving closer.

The two watched him; the gloom dispersed because of how adorable he was. Even Khal’s lips quirked up.

Devion chuckled lightly.

"We have to know so we can help you."

Ayen shifted his gaze to both of them. He honestly did not know what he wanted. There was this feeling of wanting something, but he could not quite put it into words yet.

Also, this behavior calmed the two somewhat. As Ayen could still act like this, it meant one thing: the backlash was not that serious.

"Think of it more." Khal gently assured him. His eyes were also drooping; Devion itched to put him to rest.

Fortunately for Khal, Devion had to drop it and focus on Ayen. If Devion urged him, Khal could not refuse him for so long.

Ayen moved closer to Khal, as though wanting to enter his body. Khal and Devion noticed it.

"Oh, maybe you want physical touches?" Devion made a guess.

There was that kind of backlash, leaning more on intimacy. Even now, Ayen was playing with his fingers, and his legs touched Devion’s.

Ayen thought about it.

Probably?

Khal’s arm went around Ayen’s waist and easily scooped him up, putting him in his lap. Devion did the same with Ayen’s legs, wrapping them around his waist.

Khal then embraced Ayen from behind. This was also calming his mental state.

Ayen sighed in contentment. Maybe it was indeed the case. The discomfort disappeared... mostly.

Devion began massaging his thighs, more of a playful gesture.

"The guiding session went well." Ayen shattered the comfortable silence. He felt Khal stiffen, and even Dveion paused in his movements.

He knew the reason. The guiding session was indeed risky but necessary. That did not mean the danger was alleviated, but this confirmed one thing: it was not hopeless anymore.

He looked at Devon and then turned to Khal.

"You won’t stop me next time, right?"

This first guiding session could also be part of a process; they could prepare more by the next time. And soon, it might not be as dangerous anymore.

"Do you want to know what I saw... or experienced?" Ayen dispelled the solemn atmosphere.

They knew that the guiding session would happen again. It was just that this experience was fresh in their minds, making them reluctant.

Khal and Dveion exchanged glances; slowly, they sighed. Devion could not dwell yet in his condition and was unable to know the effect.

But he did feel lighter after waking up.

"You entered my subconscious." Devion was not conscious enough to know, but he was at least aware of this much.

Ayen nodded. A smile threatening to curl on his lips. He did not know if this was also an effect of the backlash. He felt soft all over, and even his emotions seemed to be so. He also had this urge to tease them.

Since he was greedy, he also held Khal’s other hand with his free one. He leaned more on Khal’s chest, and so if he looked up, he could see his expression, and when he looked forward, Devion was there.

Truly... He was satisfied.

As he said, there was no need to choose. Why not all of them?

"I saw you both," he paused, as though increasing the suspense. Khal and Devione exchanged glances and decided to play along.

Ayen was in a backlash... But he was so adorable to resist, that they almost forgot about everything else.

"The younger you," Ayen continued, with a teasing tone.

Devion and Khal paused. Maybe... They spoke too soon.