There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 95 - 92. House Visit

Chapter 95: Chapter 92. House Visit

If Radia was surprised by the revelation, the man didn’t show it. The esper just looked at Zein calmly, as if observing him, staring straight into his eyes. He only said a simple "I see," and added, "That makes sense."

The one that was reacting quite strongly was actually the driver. The summoned creature--Radia called him Nyx--was trembling slightly. Not his body, but his mana wave. Just slightly, almost unnoticeable. But of course, his Master and the sensitive guide could sense it.

Zein put no more mind to it, though, since they had arrived and he needed to get out of the car. And for some reason, he felt exhausted, even though all he did that day was looking at fish tanks and ate in a very expensive place. All he wanted to do was lie down and rest, even though it was still early evening.

His plan to sleep, however, was disturbed by a blinking message in his commlink.

[Are you still with Radia?]

Zein stared at the adorable little snake icon blinking at him, and unconsciously smiled. He was about to type a reply, but his fingers stopped midair.

For some reason, there was a stuffy feeling in his chest and guts. He wondered what it was...a guilty conscience? Perhaps because Bassena was the one who first realized his connection to the shard, and the one who was always with him when he got sucked into the world of the shard fragment. Moreover, Bassena was the one who was there when he found out the truth about his ability, his origin.

And yet, the person Zein told first about him being a fragment was someone else, and he felt a little bit guilty because of it.

"How weird..." Zein muttered while following the small snake’s movement in his interface. He had no obligation to tell Bassena about it, and he only told Radia because they had a deal.

So where was this uncomfortable feeling coming from? Feeling as if he was cheating on Bassena somehow...

Rather than typing a reply, his finger moved to press the call button instead.

It rang for five seconds before he heard Bassena’s voice, along with the sound of something clattering. [Hey?] the voice sounded startled and a bit in a daze, perhaps because Zein had never made a call first before.

It was quite cute.

"Hey," Zein closed his eyes, and the image of Bassena with surprised, blinking eyes entered his mind. "I just get back."

[That’s quite long, what in the world did he make you do?]

Suppressing a desire to chuckle, Zein answered casually while looking for a nice position to sleep in. "We went to look for a fish tank,"

[...a what?]

"There’s this thing called aqua...whatever. I’m going to install it in my room,"

[An aquascape?]

"Yeah, that," he took off his mask and rolled to put it on the nightstand. "It’ll get installed tomorrow, wanna see it?"

Bassena didn’t reply for a while. Zein, who was laying down on his stomach, almost drifted to sleep because of it.

[You mean...at your place?] his voice came before Zein really closed his eyes, sounding very much doubtful.

Now that Zein thought about it, he never really had anyone in his room. Abel was there for the first time just to show him the room, and of the two times Bassena was here, it was just a short stop.

"You don’t have to if you don’t--"

[I’ll come!] the response came in a hurried exclaim. And then, in a calmer tone, he added, [I’ll be there, I’ll bring breakfast too]

"You’ll be here from the morning? You don’t have any...shoot or whatever?" Zein replied drowsily, eyes already closed again. "Sure, whatever you want..."

Was it because he already felt exhausted, or was it because of Bassena’s low, husky voice that felt oddly familiar and calming? It felt hard to keep his eyes open just to complete a conversation.

He couldn’t even find it in himself to push the end call button. All he remembered was the low, warm voice wishing him good night, before drifting into sleep.

* * *

"The S-Serpent Lord?!" the owner of the store, who came to assemble Zein’s requested aquascape almost drop his precious toolbag when he arrived at the guide’s dorm. The three staff that came with him was frozen stiff in the hallway.

They knew that they would work in the residence of the Trinity guide that had been talked about these days, but they didn’t expect to have Bassena Vaski opening the door for them.

"Come in," the esper said casually, opening the door wider to let the crew come inside. They entered the suite to see their client guide clearing up the table from what looked like the remnant of a sumptuous breakfast.

Nervously, the owner approached the guide with a tablet screen in his hand, feeling almost like he was in a daze. Not only he got the Radia Mallarc paying him a large sum of money to clear out the store for an hour yesterday, but now he also got to see Bassena Vaski in the flesh.

"Umm...this is the mock-up we made based on your request yesterday, Sir. If there’s something you want to change..." he paused out of nervousness when he saw Bassena peering into the screen from behind the guide. More so when the amber eyes suddenly glint and the sharp brow raised.

"Is this..." Bassena looked at the two-tiered lake design with a big three at the end of the upper level. It wasn’t very similar, but he got the idea.

"Mm," Zein replied with a short hum, and Bassena could tell that he wasn’t really satisfied.

Well, that was to be expected, since other than the two-tiered lake, everything else seemed different. With a smile, the esper took the tablet screen and looked at the owner. "I can modify this, right?"

"H-huh?" the owner and the staff were taken aback, but Bassena had already sitting on the couch with the tablet in his hand, tapping on the screen with gleaming eyes. "Uh, yes...s-sure?"

Confusedly, they watched Bassena play with the design, looking visibly enjoying it. The guide stood behind the couch, propping himself on the backrest and looking with interest.

"Ah..." the guide exclaimed softly as the design came together under Bassena’s hand. The blue eyes that seemed to be rather downcast before now turned brighter.

Finally, after fifteen minutes or so, Bassena lifted the screen slightly for the guide to peruse. "Like this?"

Zein stared at the almost exact replica of the core fragment’s lake on the screen. Of course, it had been adjusted to be practically possible to be made inside a rectangular, 1000-gallon tank. But it was similar enough to what he remembered; the big tree where the shard rooted was placed on the left side, the top peeking on the edge, and the lake pooling beneath it cascading down to form a waterfall and another big pond below. Bassena even accurately put the bushes and other plantations around the lake, as well as the natural stairs made of stones that connect the two levels.

"Mm," another hum, but it was much more pleasant.

With a satisfied smile of a job well done, Bassena gave the tablet back to the flabbergasted owner. "Is this doable?"

The man blinked and stared hard at the screen, frowning for a bit as his eyes ran through the entire design. But he soon nodded and replied in a professional tone. "Of course, we bring our dimensional storage, so we can make anything that you want, Sir."

Bassena nodded in satisfaction, although he wasn’t the actual client. "Good, it’ll be placed over there," the esper pointed at the long cabinet that separated the sitting area and the bed, just below the elevated platform. With four viable sides, Zein could look at the aquarium anywhere, whether he was laying on the bed or sitting on the couch.

Without further delay, the staff started to work, using an empty corner to unload the tank and all needed supplies. Considering the size and the client, they dared not to be tardy, determined to finish the job quickly but perfectly.

"You should have gone with me yesterday, I’ll be able to give a more accurate illustration for reference," Bassena said as they watched the staff working from the balcony, iced coffee in hand.

Zein glanced at the esper, who really came in the morning with hands full of food and beverages, dressed casually in jeans and a white shirt, hair down like he was fresh out of a shower and looking a bit younger because of it.

Zein liked that appearance the best, to be honest.

Which was why he didn’t mind humoring the slightly sulking esper. "I was about to call you yesterday," he said, which wasn’t a lie. When Bassena looked at him without blinking, he added. "But the guildmaster already called me before I could."

"You...wanted to go buy the fish tank with me?"

"Mm," Zein nodded, sipping on his own iced coffee, this one with sugar and cream--despite Radia’s advice yesterday.

There was a strong slurping sound from the esper, and the iced coffee in his hand disappeared in an instant. Bassena turned around then, leaning on the fence and laid his blushing face on the railing, facing away from the guide.

What is this? Bassena closed his eyes tight as his heart was racing fast. From suddenly calling him first yesterday, to inviting him here, and now this...

If Bassena didn’t know any better, he’d think Zein was making a move on him. But that couldn’t be, since Zein wasn’t the type to make a move. And why would he, when it was Bassena that was pursuing him?

But this...almost felt like a date.

If it wasn’t for the four people working on the aquarium, Bassena would think so. It was hard to hold back from asking for a kiss after the guide implied his intention of going somewhere with him.

Suddenly, in the middle of his mental gymnastic, Bassena heard the sound of the balcony door being dragged. He turned around, just in time to see Zein close the door and isolated them from the other four people.

Again, Bassena might be tempted to think that it was a move to seduce him, if it wasn’t for the solemn look on the guide’s face. He straightened his back as Zein walked to the railing, stopped beside him, and stared at the garden below.

"The guildmaster came to tell me about something," Zein said, elbows propped on the railing, gripping the iced drink in his hold. "About my mother."

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