5.2

The next morning, well into midday, his Host finally woke up. Because the heat was just the result of a shoddy drug, it only lasted until it left the system. And thanks to sex, it would do so very quickly.

Ira was already awake at this time. He had been waiting for this moment so the minute his Host woke up, he zoomed in.

His Host blinked in confusion, his big eyes blinking repeatedly as he stared at the hotel room he found himself. Ira took a sip of his hot chocolate and leaned back on his couch, watching with avid interest as his Host finally realized that this was reality.

"What did I do...?"

His Host muttered to himself. As if timed, the alpha his Host had ensnared entered the bedroom from the connecting bathroom.

It was the typical alpha. Tall (above 190 centimeters), defined muscles and a domineering aura. There were still droplets of water sliding down the alpha's body and Ira watched, confused, as hus Host stared hungrily at the alpha. Well, at least his Host was attracted to males...? Ira hadn't been sure when he picked this BL world.

It wasn't something that he wanted to think about.

His Host was shocked into silence by the arrival of the alpha, meaning that he missed it when the alpha made some remarks about how this was a one-time thing and they would never see each other again. His Host just nodded distractedly.

The alpha gave his Host an intrigued look.

Was his Host... actually seducing the alpha through obliviousness?

Ira gagged.

He zoomed out, no longer as interested in watching. Instead, he curled up on the couch and turned on the TV. Leafing through the channels, he finally arrived at a movie. Snuggling deeper into the couch, he sighed in pleasure and dragged up a blanket to cover himself.

Worlds with TVs were the best.

During a commercial, he absentmindedly observed his Host going home alone with a cab the alpha had called him. His Host appeared to be in the midst of a panic attack but it wasn't like Ira was getting paid to deal with that.

The movie ended some hour later. At this point, it was about one in the afternoon, so Ira finally got out of bed to go grocery shopping. Becuase he was an ordinary beta living alone in a modern world and had to deal with inconveniences like that. He supposed that he could order food home, but he didn't like takeout and one could never be sure of the quality when ordering groceries online.

So off to the grocery store it was.

Ira wrapped himself in a long coat and a warm scarf as it was winter. He locked the door behind him as he left his new apartment.

Because he was in a mob character, the apartment was neither big and fancy nor small and worn. Instead, it was a perfect middle ground, which was certainly good enough for him.

It was much better then worlds he had stayed in where the average was poor as dirt. A few times he had even been homeless, becuase that was the actual norm.

The grocery store was just a few blocks away from his apartment and so he walked there to save money. And also because he didn't have a car and he couldn't find this body's bus-card. But regardless, he walked there at a slow, leisurely pace. His Host had returned to his home and was panicking there now, getting comforted by his roommates.

Like this, his Host really seemed like a delicate flower.

It was disturbing.

Ira shivered in his disgust and stepped into the grocery store. He grabbed a basket and started wandering the aisles. Humming a little under his breath, his eyes lit up when he saw the candy aisle. He immediately veered toward the chocolate.

He grabbed many different ones, becuase there wasn't a thing such as too much chocolate.

He kept on walking through the store, grabbing anything that seemed interesting. Popcorn was a must, of course, and chocolate pudding too. He unfortunately had to get some actual food as well or this body would die, but he wasn't very invested in that.

He just grabbed whatever.

When it was his turn to pay, he loaded all of it onto the counter and swiped his card. It was much easier than carrying cash around, although he still preferred that. He guessed he was old-fashioned.

As he left the grocery store, he almost smacked right into another person. At the last second, Ira twisted and walked around him.

He walked away without looking back.

At home, he unloaded his groceries and packed them all away. Finally, he sat down and grabbed a chocolate cupcake that he had bought. Strangely, it didn't taste as good as the ones Silas had made for him. He wondered why.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts and being as he was in the middle of eating a chocolate cupcake, he blatantly ignored it.

Ten minutes later, someone knocked again.

Ira sighed and stood up from his very comfortable, if slightly too big, couch. He licked his hands that were covered in chocolate from the cupcake as he pulled the door open. He blinked when he caught sight of the man on the other side of the door.

"Silas?"

The man grinned widely at him, looking genguinly pleased about something. He was about Ira's height, with a slender body and long brown hair caught in a high ponytail. Behind him stood two very obvious to notice bodyguards. Silas took a step forward into Ira's apartment before he could react.

"We ran into each other at the grocery store and you dropped your wallet. I'm here to return it." Silas stated and walked further into the living room, settling down on Ira's couch as if he owned it.

Ira furrowed his brow but shoved his hand down in his coat-pocket. His wallet really wasn't there.

"Okay." Ira nodded and walked on over to Silas. "Where is it?"

"Well, would you look at that." Silas said with blatantly fake sincerity. "I left it at home. What a horrid mistake I have made."

Ira stared at him with a deadpanning look. Silas just laughed at him and spread out further on the couch, throwing his legs up onto it. At least he had removed his shoes, but still, what was Silas doing here? Ira couldn't figure it out. Wasn't it usually the other way around? With Ira finding Silas? How come Silas had found him first?

Ira pushed off Silas's legs from his couch and settled on it, crossing his arms and leaning back against the backrest. He threw Silas a suspicious glance and found that Silas was staring right back at him. It startled him badly enough that he jumped a little in his seat.

Silas was... not usually that forward, right?

Come to think on it, was this him being forward? Ira didn't actually know enough about human mating rituals and Silas's current incarnation was an omega so... a beta was of no interest, right?

Then why was he still staring a hole in Ira's body?

Silas waved in his bodyguards. They closed and locked the front door behind them and stood behind Silas like looming shadows of death. Well, considering that Ira could see at least two guns and three knives on both of them, that wasn't an exaggeration.

"Ah, I brought you a gift." Silas said when he saw the weird look Ira was giving him.

Ira rose an eyebrow and deadpanned, "You brought a gift, but not my wallet?"

Silas grinned at him. "That's how I forgot your wallet at home in the first place."

Ira shrugged, no longer interested in continuing this conversation. It wasn't like it mattered what became of his wallet, he'd just get a new card from the bank, no big deal. As a System, such a little thing was easy. No, he was much more interested in this gift from Silas...

After all, Ira loved presents.

Seeing the look on Ira's face, Silas' smile softened and he motioned for one of the bodyguards to hand it over. The wrapped present was handed to Silas, who then presented it to Ira as if it was an offering to a god.

Ira glanced at it, and snatched it before Silas could change his mind.

One never knew with humans. They changed their minds disturbingly often.

He tore the wrapper off the gift. It was about two decimeters in diameter and he couldn't help but wonder what it was. This was the first present that Silas had ever given him.

It was... amusing.

As the wrapper fell on the floor, Ira's eyes widened in delight. He opened the box with joy singing in his heart and stared with a salivating mouth at the delicious-looking chocolate cake. It was thick and wide, with sugar decorating the top and a mouth-watering smell wafting from it. Ira's head snapped around to stare at Silas.

"For me?" he asked in a low voice.

Silas smiled gently at him. "Just for you. I baked it myself."

Ira felt something swell in his chest and his heart thundered, just once. Then the moment passed and he didn't think more of it.

Instead, he practically flew into the kitchen, gather tools and milk to drink. He returned to the couch like a whirlwind, settling down all of the things on the coffee table and breathing in the tasty scent once more. Carefully, he cut himself a piece of the cake and then closed the box and moved it into the fridge.

Silas frowned at him. "You're not going to eat it all once?"

"Silas baked me a cake. I need to save it for later, it's precious."

There was no cake that had ever tasted as good as the ones Silas made for him. Silas was a master baker and in Ira's humble opinion, he should just open a bakery. In fact, he should open a bakery in his every life and then Ira would be his number one customer. Seriously, Ira wasn't kidding. He would buy all the cakes.

It sounded like Silas was laughing, but Ira had already been lost to the wonderful cake. He was no longer aware of his surroundings.

By the time he had eaten the whole piece of the chocolate cake and looked up again, there was a bunch of boxes in his apartment. He blinked in surprise and glanced around the whole place. All of his belongings were being carefully packed into boxes by more people who looked like bodyguards.

He furrowed his brows together and turned toward Silas, who still sat on the couch next to him and was in the middle of a conversation on his cellphone.

Ira asked, "What's going on?"

"You're moving in with me."

"Hah?" Ira tilted his head to the side. "I am?"

"Yes." Silas responded and snapped out an order to the person on the other end of the phone. He ended the call and regaled Ira with a smile that was so gooey it made Ira lean away from it on principle.

Silas' eyes glittered at him, like a predator who had caught its prey. "I'll bake you anything you want, whenever you want, if you move in with me."

There was no hesitation as Ira announced, "I'll do it."

The cakes. So many cakes. All for him and Silas would bake them every single day.

Silas stood from his seat and walked over to Ira. Easily, like he had done it a thousand times, he dropped a kiss on Ira's forehead and then moved on to order his lackeys around. Ira was still stuck on how many cakes he would soon be getting. Chocolate was his favorite, but if Silas was making them, he would even consent to trying other kinds.

Ah, this was a good world. Ira beamed to himself and went to make sure his chocolate cake wasn't damaged in the move.