Chapter 1143: The Opposite End
For all intents and purposes, maybe it would’ve been best if Killian had braced himself for all this.
Because judging by Jax’s expression, none of this seemed random to him at all.
The redhead remained stubbornly kneeling despite having already been told to stand, sit, or simply do something else before finally answering with complete seriousness.
"Well... first, you stopped holding my waist."
Killian’s head snapped toward him so quickly that it almost cracked.
"The first time, you were all over me—"
"...!"
"But as the days went by, everything became more tame. Then you started turning the lights off."
Jax frowned thoughtfully.
"Or only doing it under the blankets."
"..."
"Or when it was dark."
"...!!!"
Killian opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Not only had Jax somehow continued speaking without interruption, but every additional sentence painted the official as some sort of shameless degenerate.
"At first I really didn’t think much of it," Jax continued, sounding more confused than anything else. "You didn’t say anything, and you’re usually the type to say something..."
He actually looked a little sulky.
And somehow, seeing someone built like a tank wear that expression felt vaguely illegal, and Killian wasn’t at all prepared for it.
"But today..."
The redhead lowered his gaze.
"When you fainted after seeing me under bright light, I finally realized it was because you don’t like what you’re seeing anymore."
He sighed.
"You even got a nosebleed from how ba—"
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
It was a long time coming, but it had to be done. Killian practically shouted the words.
If this conversation continued for even another five seconds, he genuinely couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t faint for a second time that day.
Oh, it was also at this moment that he had sighed what he felt like was the sigh of the century.
For what exactly was he supposed to do about this?
__
"Erase all of that from your brain. Erase it all! It’s none of that!"
Killian spoke so quickly that the words nearly tumbled over one another as he dragged both hands through his long hair in utter frustration, ruffling it beyond repair. If anything, Jax should’ve been the one feeling uncomfortable after everything that had happened, and yet somehow they’d ended up having a conversation that no sane person would ever believe had actually taken place.
"Huh?"
Jax tilted his head, genuinely puzzled.
"Then what happened? Why...?"
"Think about it!" Killian all but exclaimed. "Who wouldn’t react like that after accidentally seeing someone completely naked? As in... everything!"
He gestured helplessly, his thoughts scattering in every direction as he remembered barreling through a window like some common burglar, only to end up knocking off the very thing he’d rushed over to make sure stayed on, all in a desperate attempt to prevent a catastrophe he’d merely assumed was about to happen.
Not to mention the even bigger problem.
"And the bees! Gods, the bees!"
He stopped there, momentarily defeated.
How was he even supposed to explain that?
That, for one impossible, completely unreasonable moment, he’d practically become the bee who intruded on his bath time.
...No.
That wasn’t quite right either, since he definitely didn’t lose access to his own body.
Unfortunately, before Killian could sort through that impossible explanation, Jax casually latched onto what was, perhaps, the strangest part of the entire conversation for him.
"But why?"
The redhead looked at him with complete sincerity.
"Don’t you already see yourself naked every day?"
Killian blinked.
"Don’t we have the same hardware?"
The official simply gawked at him.
Finally, unable to bear looking the redhead in the eye any longer because he suddenly felt like some hopelessly old-fashioned relic despite having absolutely no right to lecture anyone about this after today’s spectacular series of disasters, Killian looked away and blurted out,
"That’s not the point!"
His voice rose despite himself.
"That’s... that’s not something you just show anyone!"
He rubbed a hand over his face before trying again, speaking much more carefully.
"Actually... all of this..." He vaguely gestured between the two of them. "These are things you probably shouldn’t be doing with just any—"
"But you’re not just anyone, are you?"
Jax interrupted so naturally that the words came out sounding less like an argument and more like simple confusion.
Killian stopped mid-sentence.
Every carefully prepared thought vanished on the spot.
He stared at the redhead, his mouth still slightly open from the interrupted sentence, while his brain quietly decided it no longer wished to participate in the conversation.
Then again, perhaps that was the advantage of not thinking quite so much.
People like Jax rarely seemed to spend hours dissecting every possible implication before speaking. They simply said whatever they genuinely felt, and because of that, they also tended to be much more forthcoming whenever life suddenly threw them into situations no amount of planning could have prepared them for.
Unfortunately, Killian happened to be standing on the exact opposite end of that spectrum.
While one person’s brain was currently frying itself trying to process every possible consequence of this conversation, the heir of House Taylor merely looked him straight in the eyes and, without the slightest hint of hesitation, simply said,
"But I don’t mind showing you."
"..."
"Or is it that you’re uncomfortable seeing and doing things with me?"
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
They simply looked at one another.
Killian could’ve sworn the air itself had changed.
Maybe it really had.
Or perhaps that was merely what happened whenever conversations wandered into territory they probably should’ve avoided from the very beginning.
The more cynical human between the two couldn’t help but feel that if the conversation continued drifting in this direction, then sooner or later he was going to drag someone utterly innocent into something neither of them had actually intended.
So, as the supposedly more responsible person, Killian reached over and lightly flicked Jax on the forehead.
"Don’t go confusing safety and comfort with the kind of thing I’m talking about," he muttered, unable to completely hide the faint flush creeping across his face as he deliberately looked anywhere except directly at the redhead. "And who’s uncomfortable? I’m just... rightfully embarrassed. Who wouldn’t be?"
He threw both hands up in exasperation.
"If this happened the other way around, don’t tell me you wouldn’t be embarrassed."
Surprisingly...
Jax actually gave the question some serious thought.
Killian almost wished he hadn’t.
The redhead tilted his head, genuinely considering the scenario before answering with complete sincerity,
"Huh?"
"Shouldn’t I just say thank you?"
"..."
Killian closed his eyes.
He suddenly understood why some people developed migraines.
