There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 445 - 438. Underwater

"Bas, wake up."

Bassena registered the melodious voice that urged him, but the warmth he felt was too comfortable for him to willingly open his eyes. He just hummed and snuggled more toward the source of the sound and the warmth.

"Come one, baby--wake up," a nice peck on his temple, and Bassena smiled while snuggling deeper. And now the voice was annoyed. "You said you’ll take me to that observatory or whatever."

The tone was enough for the amber eyes to fly open; feasting at the sight of fair skin and soft black hair almost touching his cheek. He drank on the blue eyes as deep and brilliant as the sea, that made him smile sloppily like a fool.

"G’morning..." Bassena mumbled while raising his hand to touch the guide, but his fingers met empty air.

Finally succeeding in waking up his esper, Zein immediately left the bed to continue doing what he had been doing before he felt it was too late for Bassena to keep on sleeping; watching the ocean from the glass wall of their suite.

Bassena looked at the guide dumbfoundedly, stifling his laugh and lament as he realized he was no longer Zein’s priority on this vacation. No. It was the sea.

But it was such an adorable and wonderful sight to see Zein’s lively eyes or his impatient movement that Bassena couldn’t even act sulky. The guide had always been calm, reserved, and rarely showed any excitement. It was nice to see that Zein could pull out the inner child that he had been trapped deep inside his soul the moment he was being sold and saddled with two toddlers.

"Have you showered already?" Bassena stretched out on the bed, sniffing the scent of Zein’s body wash. Well...their bodywash to be exact.

"You said we should get there early."

"Is that why you frantically trying to wake me up?" Bassena chuckled as he stood up and headed to the bathroom. Zein usually let Bassena sleep in unless there was an emergency, but then again, for Zein, perhaps this was an emergency.

What if they couldn’t go to the observatory? What then?!

Bassena laughed inwardly as he imagined the guide’s inner turmoil. It seemed like even the event yesterday, including what they did in the shower and the bed afterward could not tire him enough for a new adventure today.

Or...could it be that Zein didn’t sleep last night?

Ah...at a time like this, Zein was truly cute.

"Zein, order some breakfast while I take a shower so we can go right after."

"Okay."

Bassena stifled his laugh. Zein didn’t like ordering food in a place like this. He said he didn’t know what’s what so it’d be better for Bassena to order instead. But right now, he did it with no hesitation, just so they could go faster by half an hour or so.

By the time Bassena finished washing up, Zein had already sat in front of the glass window again. He did say he never got tired of it before, but it was still a fascinating sight. Unlike before, with a stagnant lake, Zein was more animated this time, since the view of the sea was constantly changing.

The colors, the waves, the people who were now walking along the beach, taking a morning dip, and riding the waves on a board...it was something he hadn’t seen in the lake or the river. Through their high floor, he could also see the port where the passenger ships and fishing vessels were docked, as well as when they moved. He kept moving his head so he could see everything, and even took pictures with his commlink.

Aah...Bassena praised himself for booking this presidential suite with a 180-degree view of the sea two months in advance. He knew the place would be full-booked starting in June, so he had taken precautions.

He didn’t even ask Lex to do it. All by himself!

Bassena approached the guide and put his chin on the broad shoulder. "What did you order?"

"No idea," Zein shrugged. "I just told them we want two sets of breakfast quickly--ah, I told them to give me that sweet shrimps we had yesterday."

Bassena laughed. "You really like those, huh?"

"Well, it’s sweet!" Zein argued like it was something very obvious. He turned toward a structure like a small island a few hundred meters from the land that was connected by a long bridge. "Is that where we’re heading later?"

"Yes, the observatory," Bassena nodded. The ’island’ was not really an island, but rather a platform with said underwater observatory and several research buildings around it. "We won’t be using that bridge, though."

Zein raised his brows and the blue eyes blinked repeatedly in curiousity.

* * *

There are three ways of reaching the underwater observatory; through the air by helicopter, through the long bridge like regular tourists, and of course...underwater.

No, not by diving or a submarine, but by an underwater tunnel.

It was made of reinforced glass that allowed them to look at the sea while passing by. Naturally, the high maintenance cost means people have to pay a considerable sum to use this path, so the underwater tunnel was also called a VIP path.

Of course, it wasn’t a problem for Bassena and Zein, who were being driven through the tunnel in a convertible so they could easily look around.

The poor driver who got sent away yesterday by the royal guards was very happy when Bassena called him again. He was already polite before, but he became even more polite when he saw Bassena again.

"I’m not them," Bassena said curtly.

"Yes, yes, of course, you’re not!" the driver who was also their tour guide nodded enthusiastically. It seemed like he thought Bassena told him to keep it a secret rather than a serious denial.

Bassena sighed and clicked his tongue--it wasn’t like he could get angry at civilians, and he couldn’t blame the driver’s train of thought. Zein chuckled at the esper’s sour expression and patted his cheek.

"Mm, you’re not a prince," Zein said as he looked into the amber eyes. "You’re a knight."

My knight. My own paladin.

The corner of Bassena’s mouth twitched as the esper tried to hide his embarrassment. "It’s always great when you’re the one seducing me."

Zein flicked the esper’s forehead and got back to enjoy the tunnel which made him feel like going through a very big aquarium. When he looked up, he could see the light on the surface making a beautiful pattern, and fish swimming around the tunnel.

"It’s like we’re in an aquarium again..."

Zein muttered as he looked around. That being said, espers and people like him, with a higher sense and sharper eyes, could easily see the end of the glass tank in the aquarium. In the end, they couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was artificial.

But here, there was no end. Even when Zein put mana in his eyes to enhance his vision again, he couldn’t see the end of this vast water. It became his first question toward the guide of the underwater observatory.

"Theoretically, there should be another land at the end of the ocean," the staff told him politely. "Unfortunately, we couldn’t go over to see it. The grace of the Tower of Varna did not reach to the other side."

The staff then continued to explain that civilian activity, be it commercial or research, was only permitted up to the ocean’s green-zone. Starting from the yellow-zone, only esper allowed in, including the crew of the ships.

It was due to miasmic beasts which sometimes slipped out from the border. And talking about the border, yes--just like Zein’s borderland unit, there were also units watching the border of the sea.

They were situated in the orange-zone, with a huge mothership as the unit headquarters. They would patrol the sea from the sky and the water, stave off any miasmic beast trying to cross to the safe water.

If that was the condition of the zones with a tower practically in the middle of the sea, then a beacon from the land would be even weaker. Zein stared at the deep blue sea with a serious expression as he muttered. "We would need a strong fleet to defend the sea border, then..."

And clearing the miasmic beast in the water would be trickier than anything. He wondered if activating the fragment of Setnath would be enough to eradicate them, and how long would it take for them to be able to enjoy the beach and the sea after reclaiming the Deathzone...

As Zein contemplated by himself, he felt the gaze of a certain man and turned toward Bassena. "I couldn’t help it," he said with a chuckle. "It just came to mind automatically."

"I know..."

Zein smiled at the slightly downturned lips. "Then why are you sulking?"

"...’m not..."

With a soft chuckle that only Bassena could hear, Zein pulled the esper closer to him. "Don’t worry," he looked at the dimmed amber eyes. "Once we get on that ship, you’ll have plenty of ways to distract my mind."

Bassena raised his brow.

"And I don’t think there’s a need for us to leave the room," Zein whispered against the esper’s lips. "Ever."

Bassena arched his brow even more.

...oh?