Xie Luan was still a bit shocked by the situation and did not react when the owner of those eyes moved.
However, the young man did not make any big movements, he only leaned in slightly in order to sense the youthâs familiar scent. He then turned his head to the side and with his lips, he gently touched the white fingertips that had before been nestled in his hair.
But it didnât seem enough.
The markings, his scent, that were left on the youth were simply too light. The cold and beautiful young man had not shown any expression up until now, but his actions of touching the youthâs fingertips seemed very serious. After a slight pause, he repeated his movement and dragged his lip across the tip of the youthâs index finger.
Although the two movements made it seem as if he was kissing the youthâs fingers, the nox was in fact only following his instincts and marking Xie Luan. He had after all just advanced from the cub form and had no concept of kissing.
Feeling the cold and soft touch on his fingers as well as the otherâs warm breath, Xie Luan finally reacted. His brain that had been shocked blank went into overdrive and his thoughts were a mess. He had to force himself to calm down a little and take a deep breath before he could make sense of the situation. He then looked up and met those light cyan eyes. He already knew deep inside who it was, but he felt the need to call out his name.
âYa YiâŠâ
After figuring out the otherâs identity, Xie Luan felt a bit relieved, however he was still puzzled as to how the originally small fluffy cub could suddenly grow so big.
Except for the eyes and the tail, the nox raceâs adult form looked no different from a human.
The contractible pupils were the same as in cub form, but the tail⊠It had gone through a drastic change and looked completely different in humanoid formâŠ. The fluffy tail was gone and in its place was a powerful tail covered with hard scales, similar to that of a dragon.
The tail in front of Xie Luan had gleaming silver scales and although it was very beautiful, it also gave off a cold feeling similar to that of ice.
When he had called the cubâs name, the pupils of the silver haired man in front of him had slightly contracted and he had looked up at him. This reaction had confirmed what Xie Luan had already suspected.
This person was really the nox cub.
Noticing the youthâs sight, Ya Yi moved his silver tail closer to Xie Luan and then looked at him silently. As a cub, the nox often called out to Xie Luan, however ever since he had crossed over to adulthood and transformed into a humanoid form, the nox had not said a word.
The first real word a cub said after advancing into humanoid form was special. Just like how humans taught their child to say mommy and daddy, a majority of the races in the interstellar did the same. They would teach the cub these phrases in hope that they would one day be able to hear the cub say it.
However, cubs who grew up without parents were not the same as other cubs, they had never been taught this.
The first word was therefore something they had to choose themselves, and Ya Yi had this vague feeling in his heart of what he wanted to say. He knew that it was related to the human youth in front of him, but he could not remember the exact phrase.
Ya Yi silently squinted his eyes and looked at Xie Luan.
I think this is an important thing.
Xie Luan had already taken back his hand from the otherâs head and as he now looked down at his own fingers that had been kissed by the other, he felt a bit conflicted.
If the other had still been a small fluffy cub, Xie Luan would certainly not have thought anything about it. After all, the other often used to lick and stroke against his fingers when he was a cub. However, despite knowing this, the action felt completely different after the cub had advanced into his adult form and looked more human. But knowing that it was unintentional and just a matter of two fingers, Xie Luan dismissed it as nothing and calmed down.
Seeing the silver tail that had been moved closer and was laying in front of him, Xie Luan briefly thought about it and then looked up at the nox to get permission as he reached out to feel the wonderful scales.
When it was touched by the youth, the tip of the silver tail unconsciously bent upwards, just like how the fluffy tail had done when it had tried to grab onto his wrist.
Noticing the familiar action, Xie Luan smiled and could not help but feel that the silver haired man in front of him was not that different from the small cub he knew.
Xie Luan finally relaxed as he sunk into his old pattern and treated the nox as he had before. However, it was at this time that he noticed something strange that he been too rattled to think about before.
The nox was actually not naked but was wearing the same staff uniform as all the other caretakersâŠ
Xie Luanâs work clothes were still lying folded on the small wooden cabinet in his room, so he could not fathom how the nox possibly could have gotten the clothes, no, wait⊠could it be because of his ability?
[T/N: Damn it! He had clothes on! Me and every fellow pervert out there â
(âŻÂ°âĄÂ°ïŒâŻïž” â»ââ» ]
As a cub, the nox had repeatedly run over to his room at night, even though the door was always locked at night, the cub still managed to get inside. Therefore Xie Luan felt that it probably wasnât hard for the adult nox to get the clothes from wherever the club stored them.
When Xie Luan later brought the silver haired young man with him and showed him to the employees, everyone except Zarad got paralyzed by the shocking turn of events.
âThe noxâs cub period is very short. However, whatâs different about this race is not the short time in itself but their strength.â Looking around, Zarad saw his stunned colleaguesâ faces and touched his chin as he took on the task to explain.
Because the condition for transitioning into adulthood and being able to transform into a humanoid form, was strength. It meant that the younger a nox cub was when entering adulthood, the greater its innate strength was.
This was the first time Zarad had seen it with his own eyes, but he felt that even with the cub being a nox, the speed was unusually fast.
However, it was quite understandable when thinking about it. The rate of which nox cubs accumulate strength was much faster after hatching but even as an egg it would slowly accumulate. This cub had been on the brink of death and had not hatched for 30 years. Even though the power accumulated by eggs was very small, after such a long period it would certainly be big enough to speed up the cub period.
There were so many races in the interstellar and they all had their own characteristics, with many incredible abilities. Xia Qi therefore quickly accepted Zaradâs explanation, however they now faced a problemâŠ
âAh LuanâŠâ Xie Qi glanced at the nox who was standing next to the youth. She then said with some hesitation âThe cub has now grown upâŠâ
Although Xia Qi didnât finish the sentence, Xie Luan could easily understand what she meant. However even though the nox next to him had physically grown up, he was still a cub at mind and it was obviously impossible for him to leave the branch at this time. Xie Luan therefore said, âThis is the cubâs home, since we are still missing manpower, why not have him work here as a part of the staff?â
Since the nox was an amazing race and Ya Yi seemed to have an ability, Xie Luan felt that he would certainly be an asset to the team.
No one rejected Xie Luanâs proposition and so it was decided. However, they now had another problemâŠ
As the cub had already advanced into adulthood, he could no longer sleep together with the other cubs in the club. He could of course neither sleep with Xie Luan.
Thinking about this, Xie Luan decided to clean up an empty room at the staff quarters and had Ya Yi move in.
However, when Xie Luan entered his room in the evening and was about to go to sleep, he noticed that, like normal, there was a white fluffy creature nestled beside his pillow.
The noxâs ear slightly moved when the youth entered the room and he followed the youth with his pale cyan eyes.
When noticing the fluffball, Xie Luan abruptly stopped his actions and wordlessly stared blankly at him for two seconds. He really didnât understand what was happening. Walking over, he picked up the nox that now had the same small fluffy form as when he was a cub.
âMeah.â Being held in the youthâs arms, the nox allowed Xie Luan to turn, raise and feel as he examined his second big change for the day.
Compared to his other form, he could get closer to the youth in this one. Although he did not understand the reason why, Ya Yi could clearly feel this and had therefore changed back.
The youth had a warmth that made him want to be close. This warmth easily incinerated the cold and darkness that he had once felt.
Xie Luan made it all go away.
When he had been inside the egg, Ya Yi had been conscious of everything happening around him. However, this was not a good thing⊠Because during all those years he had heard every single thing the caretakers around him said and he had strongly felt that the world did not welcome him.
Inside the egg was only darkness, but at least the dark had been safe. The world outside held light but to Ya Yi it had been new and hostile. However he had still longed for it, he had wanted to see it with his own eyes. But he wasnât welcome, no one had wanted him to be born.
Then he had heard the voice of Xie Luan and everything changed.
Hearing the young voice of the nox in his arms, Xie Luan felt a bit conflicted, but he ultimately placed the cub back on his usual spot beside the pillow.
Once the nox was back on the bed, he moved around a bit to find the most comfortable place and then laid back down, forming a fluffy white round ball as he nestled close to the pillowâs softness.
Having advanced into adulthood or not having advanced into adulthood, Xie Luan felt that it didnât matter as long as the nox stayed in his cub form and didnât take up all the space on the bed.
Xie Luan was never one to struggle with a problem for long and he therefore quickly accepted the situation and laid down on the bed. Turning his head sideways he could see the familiar white fluffy cub laying close to the pillow and without a worry in his heart, Xie Luan gradually closed his eyes.
However, even after Xie Luanâs breathing became lighter and the quiet of the night set in, Ya Yi was still awake, thinking about the matter from this morning.
The first word I want to say is-
As he said this sentence in his mind, his eyes moved to the youthâs peaceful sleeping face and he finally found his answer.