Chapter 1144: Try Harder
Unfortunately for the already bedridden official, there was no time to succumb to a migraine.
There were far more pressing matters looming over them, and whether he wanted to deal with them or not, Killian simply had no choice but to trudge onward.
He dragged a hand over his face until it completely covered his eyes before saying with the sigh of someone already re-thinking the next few minutes of his life, "I think we should at least get the Elders. Or maybe Luca."
"Huh?" Jax looked genuinely contemplative. "Why? What’s wrong? If it’s an emergency, then maybe we can tell them to try harder."
Killian slowly lowered his hand.
It was now his turn to wonder what exactly that was supposed to mean.
Bracing himself because experience had already taught him that absolutely nothing straightforward ever followed whenever Jax said something that sounded completely ordinary, he asked carefully, "What do you mean... try harder?"
"Oh."
The redhead blinked as though just remembering something important after getting sidetracked by everything else that had happened.
"It’s because they couldn’t really get in here."
"Huh?"
"I called everyone over after you fainted." Jax casually pointed toward the room’s entrance. "They all rushed here."
Killian frowned.
That...
Didn’t sound right.
He slowly looked around the room.
There were definitely only the two of them.
"...Expound."
"They’re all outside."
"WHAT?"
Killian practically lurched upright despite having only just regained consciousness.
"And you couldn’t have started with that?!"
"Oops."
Jax clicked his tongue before scratching the back of his head, looking almost sheepish.
"Sorry. I forgot. I figured I should apologize first because what if you fainted again?"
Killian stared at him for a long moment before simply waving a tired hand.
"No, it’s... fine."
It wasn’t.
It really wasn’t.
But at some point over the past several days, he’d apparently exhausted his usual quota for surprises.
Besides, when it came to things entirely beyond his control, wouldn’t it be better to simply leave them to fate? If even the likes of the Elders, or Luca for that matter, occasionally had to "try harder," then what more could someone like himself possibly do?
So, in the end...
It should be fine.
Right?
Rubbing at his temple, he instead asked the more important question.
"But why are they stuck outside?"
"The bees have been really agitated ever since you fainted. In fact, quite a few of them left the room this time," Jax explained. "And every time someone tried to come any closer, they’d detach from the walls. They just kept flying around and buzzing like they were trying to stop everyone from getting in."
Killian’s brows slowly drew together.
That wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing he’d ever heard.
If anything, it sounded suspicious enough that under normal circumstances, he’d already be preparing for several contingency plans. But just as he was beginning to wonder what exactly could’ve provoked that sort of reaction from the swarm, another thought quietly crossed his mind.
Because if everyone else had been unable to get inside...
Then...
What about the other way around?
__
Unfortunately, the inverse was apparently true.
Killian immediately swung his legs off the bed and started toward the door, only to stop after taking a few steps as the room suddenly filled with an intense chorus of buzzing.
The sound rose so abruptly that it resembled some sort of warning, and before his hand could even reach the handle, wings were already beating frantically as countless bees detached themselves from the walls and ceiling, gathering in front of the exit until they formed what could only be described as a living barricade.
"Ah... and that, too."
Jax raised a finger as though just remembering another important detail.
"I tried going out earlier. Or at least opening the door for the others." He shrugged lightly. "But no can do."
What the hell?
"Are you saying we’re stuck in here?" Killian asked, his brows knitting together as he stared at the swarm hovering between him and the door. It was the first time he’d ever seen the bees behave like this. Not even when they were swarming around Jax did they exude this level of outright threat.
Normally, they quietly clung to the walls or peacefully drifted around the room, but now they moved with unmistakable purpose, buzzing loudly as they refused to let him anywhere near the exit.
The young official kept his eyes on the door as a thought quietly surfaced.
"It was probably intentional..."
"Hm?" Jax looked over. "Did you say intentional?"
Finally, Killian turned away from the door and angled to face him.
"I think..." He paused, wondering how exactly one eased into sounding completely insane. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a graceful way to say what he was about to say. "This is going to sound crazy, and I swear I’m not making this up." He even raised both hands in surrender before continuing. "So just to be absolutely clear, this isn’t a pickup line."
Jax blinked.
"I think I can see you through the bees."
There was a brief silence before Killian hurriedly clarified.
"I mean literally. As in... through their eyes."
Honestly, even he thought that sounded exactly like the kind of ridiculous pickup line someone would come up with after reading one too many impossibly fictitious romance novels. Considering everything that had already happened today, the last thing he needed was for shameless flirtation to become yet another addition to the already impressively long list of degeneracy he’d somehow managed to accumulate.
Much to his surprise, however, Jax didn’t look embarrassed, uncomfortable, or even confused.
Instead, the redhead’s eyes lit up with realization.
"Oh."
He nodded to himself.
"So those weren’t dreams?"
Killian frowned.
"...What?"
"The dreams."
"What dreams?"
"Well..." Jax scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "The other day... did you actually move your two o’clock schedule around? And finish a meeting in under five minutes so you could make it back to the dungeon space on time?"
Killian’s eyes widened.
Slowly, almost mechanically, his entire body turned to fully face the redhead.
Up until that point, Jax had answered with the same straightforward honesty he’d shown all along. It was only when he reached the next topic that a trace of hesitation finally crept into his voice.
"And yesterday..." he said a little more slowly. "Those honey lemonade popsicles that I desperately hoped for... you really went to the Captain and asked him to freeze them for me?"
A cough escaped Killian’s chest before he could stop it.
Then another.
Not because he was sick.
But because now that someone was putting those things into words, he couldn’t help but think how ridiculous they sounded.
Unfortunately, before he could even begin figuring out how to explain any of that, the redhead, standing in all his tall, poised glory, suddenly smiled. His eyes squinted into easy crescents as he looked at Killian with the sort of uncomplicated fondness that somehow made everything even worse.
"How could you be so cute?"
"..."
"..."
He could swear that the words got catapulted straight at his head, causing the young official to nearly choke on air.
Was this how he was going to die?
Who the hell was cute?
More importantly...
What kind of fresh hell was this?
