Aftermath

Seeing Noir's beautiful face restored, Solis could finally set his mind at rest. He instructed the people around to make arrangements so that he could take Noir home as soon as possible.

Then, thinking of something, he turned to Noir. "What happens if someone takes the second potion first?" Solis asked curiously.

Noir frowned. "You're not supposed to do that – it won't have any effect at all. You can still feed them the first potion after two hours or so. They'll most likely be in a coma for a long time, though, but the toxin will be dispersed," he said and looked up at Solis quizzically. "Why do you ask?"

Before Solis could explain, Teacher Artemis, who had found a hazmat suit and dressed herself in it, came into the room.

Noir stood up with Solis's help as soon as he saw her.

"Thank you, Teacher Artemis," Noir said gratefully. "You saved my life."

Teacher Artemis grinned brightly at him. "No, dear child, you saved yourself. If you hadn't listed out those ingredients, I would never have been able to synthesise the antidote for you. Thankfully, I remembered some things my teacher taught me when I was your age and was able to come up with a couple of formulae which could be used," she told him. She wanted to pat his shoulder, but seeing Solis hovering like an overprotective guardian angel, she decided not to.

Noir was quite curious about how Teacher Artemis had brewed the required solutions. He was about to ask her, when Solis, guessing his intentions, said softly, "Won't it be better if we went home first? We can relax and discuss the details comfortably there."

"All right," Noir agreed easily. A warm feeling crept up in his heart when Solis said 'home'. He looked down at himself. "I need new clothes, though," he said. "These clothes need to be burnt, and I need a lot of rubbing alcohol and antiseptic soap and a very hot shower."

Solis glanced at the two researchers, who were trying to minimise their presence and they came running.

"Make sure Noir has everything he needs," he told them.

"But…clothes…" the man murmured fearfully. "We only have hospital gowns and robes and hazmat suits in the facility…or we could borrow someone else's…"

There were no shops in the area, and they'd reach home in the time it took to send someone to buy clothes for Noir. And there was no way Solis was going to let him wear someone else's clothes!

"It'll do," Solis snapped. "Get him a gown and a robe and slippers."

Noir didn't really mind. There was a time when he had been sent to live in the wild for nearly two months for survival training by his Master with absolutely nothing. He'd had to hunt for food and make clothes for himself, too. Until he found a big prey and was able to make a rudimentary tunic for himself, he'd had to make do with a loincloth made of rabbit fur.

Solis, however, frowned deeply when Noir appeared after cleaning up. The hospital gown barely reached his knees, and the robe was even shorter.

"Get me some new sheets," Solis barked and two minutes later, he was handed a packet.

Noir was quite amused when Solis wrapped him up in bedsheets like a mummy and picked him up in his arms. However, he didn't say anything. He could feel the concern and worry radiating off Solis and he could feel a small ripple in his heart. So he let Solis do as he pleased.

It was not until they were at home, with Noir dressed properly and stretched out on the sofa like a lazy cat with his head in Solis's lap, that the two of them felt fully relaxed.

Teacher Artemis watched the two young men with great amusement. She had never seen Solis behave like this before. In fact, if someone had told her before today that the aloof, indifferent Solis she knew could actually act so clingy, she'd have unhesitatingly sent the speaker to a psychiatric hospital!

Solis carded his fingers through Noir's hair in soothing, gentle movements. Noir hummed contentedly as he listened to Teacher Artemis recounting her analysis and synthesis of the antidote. She also told him how they had used Ela and Jovis to test both the concoctions.

Solis's fingers trembled for a moment. He wondered if Noir would think him to be too cruel…but he had no regrets. He would do the same thing a thousand times over. It was good enough that he had already sent the follow up antidote to Jovis. He had also instructed the lab assistants to notify Jovis of the entire situation when he woke up, and then let him decide if he wanted Ela to have the first antidote. She would fall into a coma, but the toxin would disperse and there would be a chance of her waking up in the future. Otherwise, she would simply die in a matter of days. Solis didn't care either way – Ela's own children could decide on this matter.

But Solis did care about Noir's opinion.

Noir felt the nervous trembling of Solis's hand in his hair. He looked up curiously, wondering what was wrong.

Solis didn't say anything.

Teacher Artemis rolled her eyes and spoke up instead. "Noir, do you think it was too cruel of us to test the two potions on Ela and Jovis?" she asked.

Noir shook his head. "I'm just glad that Jovis got the right combination instead of his mother," he said. He suddenly understood why Solis was nervous and rolled his eyes. "You're worried that I'd blame you?" he asked Solis.

Solis bit his lip, not uttering a word.

Noir sat up and pinched the older man's cheeks. "Are you an idiot? Why on earth would you think that?" he demanded. "Do you think I'd forget that you took these measures to save my life?"

A smile finally bloomed on Solis's face.

"Silly child," Teacher Artemis murmured fondly.