The feeling of being tricked, even though he knew the expression was made up to tease him.
Haimar must be doing this because he knows Ben is strangely weak to his face.
This is no monster, it’s a mischievous creature.
If this were to be displayed as attack power, the screen would surely show:
[Player Ben Plaskun has received a Critical Hit! HP remaining: 100.]
This kind of facial attack had increased noticeably since they became a couple, but Ben desperately gathered his remaining virtual HP with the mindset of building up his defense and immunity.
This is an illusion. I am seeing an illusion. I must not be fooled.
He continuously disciplined himself, feeling like a monk reciting sutras to attain enlightenment.
How many times had he given in and been swallowed whole like this?
A person had to show progress.
He could not keep losing.
As long as he was the Guide, and Haimar was his Esper and lover, being cleverly tricked and giving in could no longer happen.
The man easily controls and toys with people in the palm of his hand, yet why does Ben feel like a beast trainer teaching a savage animal patience in this moment?
Ben desperately searched for an excuse to escape the beast’s jaws.
“How can you compare yourself to pi-pizza. This can get hard again! Then it’s delicious…!”
Ben realized belatedly that his clumsy excuse to escape the crisis was bordering on innuendo, and he gasped, covering his mouth.
Haimar, looking slightly puzzled, softened his eyes and opened his mouth as if to say something, but Ben quickly took his hand off his mouth and used it to cover Haimar’s.
This was an instinctive action, knowing that if Haimar spoke even a single word here, Ben would be drawn in again.
“I will…!”
“You will?”
Ben had no time to logically think through his next words, prompted by Haimar’s subtle voice from under his hand.
Just say it!
“I will! I’ll ask you to do it l-later tonight!!”
“Ckh…”
He’s laughing? Someone is deadly serious right now, and he’s laughing?
“When is later?”
“T-tonight…?”
When Ben reluctantly rolled his eyes and suggested a time that seemed appropriate, Haimar’s laughter grew louder.
It was nice to see him laughing so brightly for several minutes, but Ben felt a little complicated.
In any case, judging by the situation, it was only a matter of now or later; he just wanted to avoid his unkempt state after returning from outside.
He was hungry, and he wanted to eat the pizza while it was delicious. So the conclusion he reached was simply to ‘avoid it now.’
A worry briefly surfaced that he might be paying a larger price to avoid the immediate crisis.
A slight regret also washed over him, wondering if simply accepting it might have been better.
Then Ben realized this wasn’t the first or second time he had dug his own grave this way.
Yet, the fact that his heart wasn’t as frantic as before proved that humans truly are creatures of adaptation.
“I’ll look forward to it?”
“…Don’t tease me.”
When Ben shot him a sharp look, Haimar lightly pressed his lips to his cheek and pulled away.
He then put on the shirt he had taken off and got out of bed, seeming to have decided to listen and hit the brakes.
Ben, who saw significance in that, awkwardly got up to follow him, and they moved to the dining room together.
It was a secret that he secretly patted himself on the back, having reached a state of enlightenment regarding the mess he had created by letting out a small sigh.
“Is it edible?”
“Hmm, it’s not bad.”
After Ben quickly washed up and changed, the two decided to eat pizza in the living room, turned on the OTT screen on the large TV, and sat side by side.
Haimar’s comment, after neatly cutting the stringy cheese and wiping his mouth, somewhat reassured Ben, who immediately picked up a slice of pizza.
“It’s quite hot. Did you reheat it?”
“I did, but not in the microwave.”
Ben, surprised by the pizza steaming hot despite the time that had passed, asked.
Haimar wiggled his finger along with the answer.
He meant he had used his ability instead of the microwave to keep the pizza from cooling down.
An SS-grade Esper using his power just to reheat a pizza—this was a severe waste of talent.
However, the fact that Haimar did it for him made Ben secretly excited, so he pushed aside the extraneous thoughts and took a large bite of the pepperoni section with a thankful heart.
Munch, munch.
His tightly closed mouth moved diligently.
The combination of savory cheese, mushrooms, and bell peppers, blended with tomato paste, was a pizza that stuck perfectly to the basics.
Ben put down the slice after a few more bites, pulled out a beer, popped the tab, and took a refreshing gulp.
“Whew. Delicious.”
This is the taste.
The warmth in his mouth from the pizza was instantly cooled by the unique carbonation of the beer as it went down his throat, popping and fizzing.
With the clean gulp and the exhaled Hoo—, he cast off the fatigue of the day that had accumulated in his body.
Moreover, sinking into the large beanbag they had recently bought made his shrunken stomach feel better, as if all the wrinkles had been smoothed out.
The moment he saw the new pizza place on the street he frequented, he inexplicably craved pizza and beer today, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
It would be perfect if they put on an interesting movie or drama.
For Ben, pizza and beer were always better enjoyed while watching something than sitting stiffly at a table.
Others might disagree, but that was Ben’s logic regarding the pairing of pizza and beer, so he looked around for the remote control.
Then he met eyes with Haimar, who was staring intently at him with interest.
Ben soon realized Haimar’s hand was empty and quickly sat up straight, handing Haimar a new beer.
“We didn’t toast. I forgot.”
Haimar chuckled at the sight of Ben’s face, whose eyes sparkled with a serious demeanor over a mere toast.
However, feeling a little awkward that he had jumped the gun and drunk his beer first, Ben personally opened the tab for Haimar, placed the can in his hand, and lightly clinked their beers together to complete the toast.
Personally, Haimar didn’t much care for ordinary canned beer bought at the supermarket, but with the slightly excited Ben as his side dish, it was perfectly enjoyable.
“What do you want to watch?”
“Hmm, I haven’t decided on anything… A movie is probably the safest bet, right?”
Haimar, remembering Ben’s movement to find the remote control just now, found it and handed it to Ben.
Ben gladly took the remote and carefully scanned the OTT lists, manipulating the buttons.
Melodramas or certain dramas risked being boring.
He could watch horror, but he didn’t particularly enjoy elements that were designed to shock you artificially.
“Do you have a favorite genre?”
“Not particularly?”
He asked, wondering if Haimar had a preferred genre, but Haimar’s answer was quick and decisive, with no hesitation.
From the time Haimar awakened as an Esper until he decided he needed to lock himself away somewhere, everything in the world was over-stimulating.
The things he saw, the sounds he heard, the smells, and the everyday occurrences of the world touching his skin were all sources of stress.
Since only extreme silence helped stabilize his fragile sanity, there was no way Haimar would have a preference for music or videos.
“That’s the same answer you gave when I asked you about your favorite food before.”
“Was it?”
“It was.”
Ben sipped his beer and recalled the time they shared a cake he had bought from a famous bakery.
Although the cake barely maintained its shape due to the unexpected chaos, he remembered it being delicious.
“I think you ate the strawberry cream cake well. Should we have it again sometime? Let’s try other kinds together then, too. You might find another one you like.”
“Perhaps.”
For Haimar, cake was cake—it was all in the same category of things that tasted neither good nor bad to his palate.
However, Haimar readily accepted Ben’s suggestion.
Preferences and dislikes are areas to be explored through experience.
For the old Haimar, that was a useless waste of energy and outside his sphere of interest, but now it was a little different.
It would definitely be interesting to go along with Ben, who was trying to feed him things, and in turn, discover Ben’s own tastes.
Small things like not enjoying coffee, disliking asparagus, or being able to eat sweets in moderation.
Furthermore, it wasn’t a total loss for Haimar himself, as he was slowly developing preferences, albeit rarely.
First and foremost, Ben Plaskun had become his preference.
In terms of alcohol, he preferred wine and whiskey over beer.
And perhaps the combination of this pizza and beer tonight might be something he could occasionally enjoy.
“Should we watch this? Moria said it was fun when she watched it with Riran.”
“Sounds good.”
After browsing for a few minutes, the movie Ben finally chose was the most popular film series these days.
It was an action movie perfect for killing time, mixed with an appropriate romance narrative, starring an Esper and a Guide.
Ben pressed the play button, put another piece of pizza in his mouth, and began to focus on the screen.
Haimar, who had been sitting on the sofa, slowly moved and settled onto the large beanbag with him.
