"Habibi, brew us some coffee first, to cool my temper" grumbled the professor.
"S-sorry Professor..." mumbled Reubert.
I made my way to the kitchen and placed some sausages in the microwave to thaw them, then proceeded to make the professor's coffee. I poured it into three cups and placed them on a tray. As I was nearing the den, I accidentally overheard the two of them talking.
"...but I'm really happy for you both, Professor, you finally met someone special!" Reubert said in a low voice.
"I told you, we're not like that! What do you not understand? We're just co-worker. Didn't you hear him calling me professor?"
I paused as I heard this.
"But... aren't you living together?"
"Yeah, but that's about it..."
"how can you say 'that's about it'?"
"Basta, it's complicated!" the professor mumbled. "And it's better than nothing."
Hearing that made my chest feel tight.
I unconsciously turned around and went back into the kitchen with the tray of coffee still in my hands.
So.
The professor does not know what kind of relationship we are in?
But, what, exactly is my relationship with the professor?
He is the mentor whom I look up to the most. That is why I gave him my everything.
Isn't it just right for me to do so?
Back in the Omega Palace, it was my duty so serve and to pleasure my mentor, Nauret, and though it was not asked of me, I find it gratifying to serve and give myself to the professor as well.
I mean... isn't that the best way to show him how much I admire him? He is the one I respect the most, after all, and though at first, I merely slept with him because of some silly reason, I have since grown very fond of him... I can even say that I... like him... right?
And yet...
How can we still look at each other as nothing more than partners at work?
"Habibi? Why are you just standing there?"
I turn around, surprised to see the professor standing behind me.
"O, why are you crying?!" he quickly went closer and brushed my cheek.
I touched my cheek as well. I did not notice that a tear fell from my eye.
"I'm not crying..." I told him, "I just... haven't washed my face yet." I faked a yawn.
"That's right, this is all Reubert's fault for disrupting our sleep," he breathed on his hand to check his breath. "I'll take the coffee out to Reubert. Go ahead and wash your face first."
The professor then gave me a quick hug and kissed me on the forehead.
"Thanks, Habibi, join us when you're feeling better."
I did as the professor suggested.
I went to the toilets, fixed myself, put on some proper clothes, then went back downstairs to the den. There, I saw the professor talking with his DOME. I sat by the professor's side and took hold of his hand.
"Ah, Habibi, I told Reubert about your inventions, he's sparticularly interested with your dominant omega `sniffing-out' perfume."
"I thought you were talking about Nathan?" I asked them.
"We were actually waiting for you," said Reubert who looked much better after drinking my coffee.
"I knew you wouldn't like it if we went on without you."
"Can I start now?" Reubert asked.
"Yes, please," I replied, "can you start by telling us what you did to the perpetrators?"
Reubert's face darkened.
"I actually met one of them in the same hospital where Nathan is confined," I added.
"What?!" Reubert glared at me from his seat.
"Relax, the bastard was still unconscious when he left the hospital. said the professor. "What exactly did you do to the bastard that made him act like an omega in heat? I guess you've gotten better since the last time we met?"
"I bombarded them with so much pheromones that they would be in rut for days." He showed us an evil sneer, "That's the last time they'll be cumming, anyway."
"Did you turn them into omegas?" I asked, though I knew that it was not clinically possible.
"Not exactly. I just made sure they won't be fucking anyone for the rest of their lives."
"So, you have made them impotent?" I asked
"Exactly. After 3 or 4 days of forced rut, their paraventricular nucleus which is associated to sexual arousal will be fried. They would never get hard or have an orgasm again."
"That's it?" asked the professor with a frown.
"Well, weren't you the one who told me not to go too far?"
"What's the point? You made them impotent for life, but there are still countless ways for them to go after Nathan or abuse other people. What's the use of that?"
"Just let them try," Reubert said in a cold, flat voice.
"You should have paralyzed them from the waist down!"
"That would be too obvious. I want them to think that the impotency is some drug related side-effect."
"And because of you, the authorities are thinking that a new drug is out in the streets!" said the professor.
"That's actually Dr. Webb's handiwork," said Reubert.
"Ugh... they would probably ask Universal Labs to conduct another investegation and explain what kind of drug it is and where it came from..." mumbled the professor.
"I'm really sorry, Professor, but Dr. Webb said he'll take care of everything. He's currently working with Dr. Gregorio to cover things up."
"Haaaaay..." Prof. Antonio literally gave a long sigh and pulled at his hair. "They'll probably go with the 'drug syndicate' excuse again."
I was surprised when I heard their conversation.
"You mean to say, you have done something like this before?" I asked him.
"Yeah, one of the reasons why they kept me alive after the incident in Tanay, is that I'm the only one who can make a pheromone bomb. They used it as an excuse and said the facility was attacked by a terrorist group."
"Professor! You told him about that?" Reubert asked with a frown.
"I don't hide anything from my Habibi!" said the professor. "That's why I'm telling you right now, if anything ever happens to the people I love, I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and make you regret the day you came back to the Philippines!"
Reubert actually looked nervous with what the professor said that.
"Don't worry, one of the things the Spider and I talked about is how to keep you and your family safe," he assured us. "Nathan's friends seem to be rich and influential. I know they won't just stay silent. Especially if they find out what they lost. I'm sure they'll look for someone to blame and try to reach out to Nathan again."
"I bet they would. Particularly if they find out that Nathan just disappeared from the crime scene."
"I doubt that would happen," Reubert snorted, "one of the side effects of a pheromone attack is memory loss for the last 2-3 days. They wouldn't even remember meeting with each other that day."
"That so?" the professor looked at Reubert thoughtfully.
"Ganon ba?" the professor said with a snort. "I guess the military really made a weapon out of you."
Reubert looked at me again with a worried frown.
"Professor, are you sure it's safe to talk about that here?" he asked, glancing at me.
"Don't worry, there are scramblers all over the place, and on top of this living room is my laboratory wich has wall-to-wall aluminum sheets up to the ceiling.
"Whoa, just like the Tanay facility, huh?"
"Yep, without the glass work stations, though. I've got all your samples stocked up there as well."
"Really, professor?!" Reubert looked at the professor adoringly.
"So, professor, what do you plan to do for now?" I asked, keeping us back on topic.
"That's right," he glared at Reubert, "just what do you plan to do now? We plan to say that it was I who took Nathan out of the place."
"No need, professor, I don't want you to get mixed up in this any further. I'll take all the blame myself. I'll tell them I saw Nathan and his friends unconscious inside the room.
"And if they asked why you weren't affected by the pheromone bomb?"
"I'm an omega," he replied. "Omegas who use suppressants aren't hit as bad by pheromone bombs made from other omegas. I'll just say that we left before the whole club was engulfed by the bomb."
The professor stared at Reubert with a frown.
"Aren't you hiding hte fact that you're an omega? Everyone knows you're a dominant alpha like no other! Are you planning to tell the whole world about your real gender?"
"Well..." Reubert squirmed in his seat. "If it's for Nathan then..."
"Idoit!" Prof. Antonio suddenly hit him on the head!
"Ow!" Reubert stared at him wide-eyed.
"There's no reason for you to put your life on the line! Just tell them the bomb came from Nathan's room itself! That's why you found them unconscious. Opening the room let the pheromone out and turned the place upside down! Besides, aren't you known as the 'Special Dominant Alpha' who stands on top of all other dominants alphas? That kind of bomb would be nothing for someone like you!"
"Wow, professor! You really are good at making excuses!" Reubert praised him, wide-eyed.
"You're just not using your head!" the professor snorted at him.
"And Sir, if it isn't too much..." he mumbled, "I would like to visit Nathan today..."
Again, the professor glared at him.
"Tell me, since when did you and my nephew have a relationship?" he interrogated him. "Why does it have to be him, of all people? You should have talked to me before you approached him!"
"Professor, you know we're not allowed to interact with each other, and I swear, I had o idea you were related to him. I do remember you telling me about Nat-nat when I was younger, but I never knew his whole name, much less his surname..."
"Haa... whatever... let's have something to eat first. I'm starving!"