Half-asleep, Noctis reached out beside him, only to realize that the other side of the bed was empty.
"Darling...?" he murmured hoarsely, rubbing his eyes.
But there was no reply, nor did he hear any sounds. Not from the room, the bathroom, or the hallway. Noctis sat up. He urgently needed to use the bathroom, and he was hungry. He got injured so rarely that he hadn't expected to feel this exhausted. Being healed was really draining.
He grabbed his phone and checked the time. It was just before midnight, meaning he had slept through the entire day. No wonder he felt so worn out, and it was even less surprising that Isaac wasn't with him.
He was probably painting again.
Noctis swung his legs out of bed and headed for the bathroom. As he relieved himself, his thoughts had already drifted to food.
Something savory would be nice.
Maybe he should stop by his brother's office. A lot had surely happened during the day, and Noctis needed to know whether there was any news about that damn bastard Levi. Then again, he also felt like moving around a bit, and his beloved had made him a promise before his long nap—one he would be more than happy to collect on.
By now, he couldn't feel anything from the gunshot wound. Not even the slightest twinge remained.
He washed his hands and decided to head to the kitchen first to make himself something to eat. He would take whatever he found to his brother's office, eat there, and then go see Isaac so he could hold him to that promise.
That way, he got everything he wanted—and if he ate while talking to Vincent, he'd even save some time.
He quickly hopped into the shower, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. Then he went to the kitchen, where he ran into Ashe.
She was making herself a coffee and pulling a bag of chips from the cupboard.
Isaac was still keeping an eye on her, but so far he hadn't noticed anything unusual. Should he try to get closer to her? After all, lying came more naturally to him than it did to his beloved.
Whatever. As long as I'm making myself something to eat, I don't have anything better to do anyway.
"Hey, brainiac," he greeted her.
Ashe spun around in surprise.
"Noctis?"
"The one and only," he said, heading straight for the refrigerator.
"We haven't seen each other in a while," she said after a brief hesitation. "Are you doing okay?"
Noctis glanced back at her over his shoulder.
She's not supposed to know about my little fight and the injury.
He smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh, it's just that things are so dangerous right now, and you put yourselves in danger every day," she replied with a smile. "I always worry about you all, as you know."
Noctis grabbed some leftovers from the refrigerator and closed the door again. Then he reached for a knife. The blade flashed in the light of the kitchen lamps. Within seconds, the ingredients beneath his hands were transformed into perfectly even pieces. The knife practically danced across the cutting board, moving so quickly and precisely that most people would have struggled to follow his motions at all.
Ashe fell silent in the middle of a sentence. Naturally, Noctis noticed her stare.
Good.
No one could match him when it came to handling knives. It didn't hurt to remind Ashe from time to time that behind his charming smile was someone far more dangerous with a blade than most people realized.
Whether Ashe was actually a spy or not.
"You do know that we're more than capable of killing anyone who stands against us, right?" he said casually. Even so, the threat should have been perfectly clear to Ashe.
He tossed mushrooms and onions into a pan and started frying them.
"Of course I know that," she replied. Picking up her coffee, she studied him. "What's Isaac up to these days? I hardly ever see him."
"He's working on a painting," Noctis lied. "You'd better not disturb him. It's been a long time since he's been able to do something for himself."
As they spoke, he threw the remaining ingredients into the pan. It already smelled so good that he was tempted to sneak a bite.
"Is he at least getting some rest? The past few weeks have been stressful."
Noctis shot her a sideways glance. He generally disliked it when anyone showed too much interest in Isaac. But considering everything Isaac thought about Ashe, her questions definitely carried a bitter undertone.
What are you hiding?
"You know how he is. He does his own thing, and once he finds something he can focus on, nobody can pry him off his stool."
She looked at him uncertainly.
She gave him a cool smile.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I make a great effort to keep him from getting bored," he replied. "Besides, he doesn't like being around crowds, and you know that perfectly well."
"You're such an asshole!"
"I suppose I am," he answered cheerfully. "You should go lie down instead of drinking more coffee before those dark circles under your eyes become permanent."
He picked up his plate and left the kitchen. Behind him, he could still hear Ashe make an annoyed sound, but he didn't look back.
There was no way he was letting Isaac go anywhere with her.
He had no idea whether she was a spy, but even aside from that, he didn't want Isaac running into one of Levi's men outside the hideout.
Or Levi himself.
Ashe wouldn't be able to protect Isaac, and Isaac had a tendency to completely panic whenever he saw Levi.
None of those were good prospects, which meant they weren't risks Noctis was willing to take.
He strolled toward his brother's office.
Ashe was acting completely normal, but he hadn't truly trusted her since Isaac voiced his suspicions. Something was off about her; Noctis just couldn't quite explain what it was. She had simply been different ever since Noah died. There was no way she could know that Vincent had given the order.
Still, Ashe had loved Noah.
When someone's lover was suddenly ripped out of their life, it changed the people left behind.
He didn't want to think about how he would react if Isaac died or was taken away from him. Better that Isaac stayed here in the hideout, hidden from the eyes of others. Nearly losing him to that damned cop had been more than enough.
Maybe he should think about something else.
Unfortunately, he was far too hungry for that.
Noctis decided to eat first, check on his brother, and then deal with everything involving Isaac.
So he opened the door to his brother's office.
"A wonderfully good night to you, dear brother!" he greeted him.
What he had not expected was a blood-soaked cop named Benedict staining the couch with his blood.
The cop looked at him wearily. They were alone; neither Lucy nor Moz was with them.
"Shit. Just what I needed—you showing up," Benedict muttered irritably.
Noctis raised an eyebrow, closed the door behind him, and sat cross-legged on the desk. He studied the cop while shoveling mushroom risotto into his mouth. Vincent was busy cleaning and stitching the man's wounds.
"You look like hell. Who pissed you off?" he asked through a mouthful of food.
"We don't know yet," his brother replied calmly. "I'll deal with whoever did this in a moment."
"So you got jumped?" Noctis asked, unimpressed. "That assassin must have been really terrible if they couldn't manage to take out a joke like you."
The cop let out an irritated groan.
"Can't you just piss off? And why are you even eating in here?"
Noctis shrugged.
"I wanted to see my beloved brother after sleeping like Sleeping Beauty," he replied, shoveling another spoonful into his mouth. "Though I wasn't expecting such an entertaining show. It's really satisfying seeing you like this after all the funny comments you were making last night."
He flashed the cop a smug grin.
"You damn—! Ugh..." the cop snapped. He jerked upright and shot Noctis an angry glare. "Has anyone ever told you that you're insufferable?"
"Please, come up with something original," Noctis replied with a bored expression.
"Lie back down, handsome," Vincent said before glancing over his shoulder. "Risotto? Are you saving me any?"
Noctis rolled his eyes.
"Sure, whatever," he muttered. "So? Anything new?"
Vincent shook his head.
"Nothing important. We've started making preparations, and Ashe is working on it. I'm curious to find out what our guest knows and who hired him. After all, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since you were attacked."
"Do you think it was Levi?" Noctis asked.
Vincent nodded.
"The odds are high."
Noctis set the nearly empty plate on the desk and got to his feet. He had originally intended to leave the office so he wouldn't have to watch the two of them flirt, but he decided to ask a little more about Ashe first.
"What's our resident genius working on, anyway?" Noctis asked casually.
It wouldn't hurt to get a better overview of things.
"She's supposed to gather information on several of the high-ranking targets on our list. Besides that, she's trying to find out who Levi is and where he's hiding," Vincent answered.
"Has she found out anything about him yet?"
Vincent continued stitching the wound without missing a beat.
"About Levi? No. Nothing that's actually relevant."
Thoughtfully, Noctis crossed his arms and leaned against the desk.
"It's unlike her not to find anything."
Vincent paused. "I don't like your tone. What's going on?"
Noctis's gaze drifted to the cop. His concerns weren't something he wanted to discuss in front of anyone except his brother. So he shrugged.
"What could be wrong? I just want to finally put down that piece of shit and go on my well-deserved vacation."
Vincent sighed.
"A little patience wouldn't hurt you. I'm already pulling every string available to me."
The cop looked over at him. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he was much paler than usual.
Must've lost quite a bit of blood, Noctis thought with amusement.
There was something undeniably satisfying about seeing the cop in this state.
"It's not just your hacker working around the clock," he said with an exhausted snort. "Today I gathered every file connected to this Levi. I just need to sort through them properly."
"Perfect," Noctis said, holding out his hand. "Hand them over."
"Forget it. I'm definitely not giving you access to police archives," the cop growled.
Noctis burst out laughing.
"As if we haven't visited your system a few times already."
The cop stared at him in surprise.
"Besides, you're probably not going to be doing much of anything over the next few days," Noctis continued.
Vincent set aside the needle and thread.
"I agree with that assessment. You should call in sick and get some sleep. You won't have much choice once I've healed you."
The cop cursed under his breath.
"You bastards really break into our system all the time?" he muttered in disbelief.
"Our hacker is pretty good," Noctis snorted. "So? The sooner we find Levi's location, the sooner this whole mess is over—and as you know, I have a very strong interest in killing him."
For a moment, the cop said nothing. Then he let out a weary snort.
"In my bag. The password is my badge number."
Noctis walked over to the backpack, pulled out the tablet, and entered the cop's badge number.
"You didn't seriously just type in my badge number from memory?!"
"It's not exactly a secret," Noctis grinned. He navigated through the system until he found the case files. "Thanks for the bedtime reading. We'll talk in a couple of days or something."
"If you do anything stupid with that, I swear to God!" the cop called after him.
Noctis looked back over his shoulder, his expression suddenly serious.
"Right now, I only care about Levi, no matter how much I'd enjoy ruining your life. So make sure you're fit for duty again, you incompetent moron," he said.
Then he turned his attention to his brother.
"Let me know as soon as you get anything out of our guest, Vince."
"Make sure you're in my office by noon tomorrow."
"Sure thing."
With that, Noctis left his brother's office and headed for Isaac.
He scrolled through the first case file for a bit and decided to look at everything more thoroughly later. It was going to require more effort than a quick glance.
When he arrived at Isaac's room, he carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
As expected, Isaac was sitting at his desk.
The room was lit only by a desk lamp, casting a warm circle of light across the workspace. Isaac didn't even notice him.
A smile crept onto Noctis's lips.
He quietly closed the door behind him and sneaked up on his beloved. Once he was standing behind him, he spent a moment watching what Isaac was doing.
He was weaving an intricate-looking leather bracelet, muttering to himself as he worked. He was completely focused on what he was doing, so Noctis let him continue for the time being.
He liked moments like these.
When Isaac lost himself entirely in something. When the world around him faded away and only the task before him remained.
It was kind of adorable.
Only when Isaac tightened the final strip of leather and critically examined his handiwork did Noctis make his move.
Silently, he stepped behind him, bent down, and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"Hey, darling," he murmured into his ear.
Isaac flinched violently.
"Damn it, Noctis!" he hissed, startled. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Grinning, Noctis wrapped his arms around his beloved and gently pulled him close.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he lied with a smile.
Isaac let his head rest against him.
"Stop lying."
Noctis chuckled.
"Was it that obvious?"
Isaac nodded and ran a hand along Noctis's arm.
"Did you get enough sleep?" he asked, noticeably calmer now. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm doing great, though I'm still a little tired."
"You can go back to bed. I just need to finish something."
"What are you working on?" Noctis asked with interest, taking the bracelet from Isaac. "This looks different from the other talismans."
"It's just a different technique I wanted to try," Isaac replied. "Give me your arm."
"Oh? Is this for me?" Noctis asked, pleased.
Isaac snorted. "Who else would it be for?"
Noctis smiled and held out his arm so Isaac could fasten it around his wrist. It practically pulsed with the amount of magic woven into it. Curious, Noctis tried to figure out what spells Isaac had worked into the bracelet, but he couldn't decipher them.
"I wasn't expecting a new talisman so soon," Noctis said quietly, his attention fixed on the bracelet. "What does it do?"
Isaac leaned back against him.
Only then did Noctis notice how exhausted he looked. Dark shadows lingered beneath his eyes, and his movements seemed heavier than usual.
"It's important that you have a talisman after you almost got yourself killed," Isaac said with a satisfied snort. "Like the last one, it's a shield. But this one won't just save you from dying—it'll protect you like armor. In other words, it limits the damage. Things won't simply bounce off you as if by magic."
Noctis laughed. The image was amusing.
"Too bad."
"Other than that, it can't do much. I actually wanted to build in some kind of alarm system that would warn you if someone with hostile intentions got close to you. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work."
"An alarm system?" Noctis laughed.
Isaac nodded.
"So you won't be caught by surprise again."
Noctis kissed his neck.
"Thank you, darling. But I don't intend to let myself be surprised again."
Isaac nodded.
"You'd better not. Otherwise I'll really have to scold you," he said softly. "I also made you some new cards. You have eighteen available again. Tomorrow I'll make more, but right now I can't muster a single ounce of concentration."
"You've been working hard, darling," Noctis murmured against his skin.
"I have," Isaac sighed. "There's not much else I can do at the moment, and the more I get done now, the more resources you'll have in reserve."
Noctis smiled. "Then you can relax now."
"I still have quite a few things to do," Isaac murmured.
"Then let me spoil you," Noctis replied. "You need a break."
He stroked Isaac's chest, brushed a thumb over one of his nipples, and let his other hand glide across his stomach. His muscles twitched beneath every touch.
"Can't we do this tomorrow?" Isaac asked with a quiet groan. "I really do have a lot left to finish."
Noctis pressed kisses along his neck. His hand drifted lower, coming to rest against Isaac's groin, where a telltale hardness was already forming.
"Haven't you done enough already?" he murmured. "Or are you tired?"
Isaac snorted and turned his head toward him.
"Who says I'm tired?" he challenged.
He certainly looked exhausted. Isaac needed more than a short break.
Noctis grinned.
"So you're taking a break, then?"
"A short one," Isaac agreed.
Isaac could make good on his promise another day—preferably one when they were both well-rested. Tonight, Noctis would focus on what Isaac wanted.