Impressions in the Heat

Childish and immature.

Adrian thinks he finally has one lasting impression on Cassidy - or at least, her eighteen-year-old self. By this point, saying that she had completely become the exact opposite of her adult self would not be enough anymore.

"This goes beyond simply making a one hundred eighty degree turn..." he muttered with a sigh, annoyance written over his face.

"I feel like hiring a babysitter instead of a doctor this time-"

"Hey, what's up with this mattress?! It's so big and bouncy!"

At his wife's sudden exclamation, Adrian snapped out of his mulling-over and rushed back to their bedroom. He was inside their bathroom this entire time, trying to take his mind off of everyone's incredulous reactions earlier while he changed his clothes at the same time.

Thinking that Cassidy is up to something strange again, he hurried to where she is without realizing that he's still shirtless. He then feels his eyebrow twitch in miff the moment he finds her doing something childish once more.

At this very moment, his wife is jumping on her bed like an ecstatic toddler, looking as if it's her first time seeing something of its kind.

"Whee...! I feel like flying~!" Cassidy chirped blithely in delight.

"And I feel like dragging you back down to reality and telling you that you're supposed to be eighteen - not five," Adrian deadpanned with his arms crossed, not the very least amused.

"Well, you know what they say~ If you wanna live long, you gotta be young at heart."

"You took it to a whole new level, though."

"Oh, come on, you're being too serious...~"

That's when she finally turned to face him and came to a halt. While he only eyes her sternly, she just flashes an ebullient grin, looking all sunshine and rainbows.

This is probably the most evident change Adrian found in Cassidy. His wife never made that kind of expression so easily and genuinely. Though she may look as childish as ever, she appears very bright in his eyes for some reason - seemingly far from her dull and bland character.

"I bet you never tried this before. You should enjoy the smallest things, you know! Otherwise, even the big things may not be able to satisfy you," she quipped as she jumped out of the bed and approached him.

"Huh? Wait, what are you-"

"Come on~ This will be fun, I promise!" she cut him off, snatching both of his hands and forcefully dragging him to the bed.

Now, this is quite a dumbfounding position to be in.

Adrian never imagined being invited to bed by his wife like this - for a reason that's completely different from what most people think, that is. Instead of some adult and steamy stuff, he can't believe that they're going to do something as childish as jumping on the bed.

"Nope. No way I'm gonna do this," he then muttered firmly, not having any of it.

Refusing to entertain Cassidy's ridiculous request, he abruptly pulled his arms away from her but to no avail. Her hold stubbornly remains on him, refusing to budge. That's until he decided to put more force into it and retrieved his hands once more.

"Kyaaa!!!"

But then, it ends up being too forceful - just enough to throw her off guard and cause both of them to topple over.

As a result, they find themselves landing on the bed unceremoniously, bodies so close and faces mere inches apart from each other. While Adrian reacts purely surprised to this, Cassidy is both taken aback and somewhat annoyed.

"This guy... Did he just threw me away...?!" she bolted out in her head, huffing indignantly.

"And here I am being friendly! He's really asking me to headbutt him right here and now-"

Then, she froze.

All of the sudden, Cassidy comes to a pause as soon as she feels her hand brushing against something hard and solid. Her eyes then widen in nonplus the moment they dart down to take a look at it.

What comes into view is her husband's aesthetic physique - so jaw-dropping that she lost words to say. His toned muscular build sports these breath-taking six-pack abs while his arms look really ripped that she can almost see his veins popping.

Cassidy.exe stopped working right then and there.

Her eyes only bulge in surprise and awe for the next seconds to come. Rather than the imposing decorum that she laid eyes on earlier, this one really took the whole cake.

All the while, Adrian just continues looking back at her in puzzlement. That's until he notices how her cheeks start to bloom like the color of roses - her flustered expression catching him off guard.

"S-S-S-S-S-Shirtless...!" she then eventually blurted out after a brief pause on her part, blushing madly.

"W-What do you s-shirtless?!"

"What do I what-"

"I-I mean! Why the heck are you shirtless?!"

"Why are you only noticing now?" he deadpanned before sighing, an incredulous, flat expression splattered across his frame.

Adrian just can't believe this woman. Though Cassidy acts all tough and strong-headed, she still gets flustered by such a shallow thing.

"Just pipe it down. It's not like this is the first time you're seeing me like this," he voiced out nonchalantly, not breaking eye contact.

"Well, my eighteen-year-old self never saw a man half naked! A-At least, n-not in personal..." she retorted, her entire frame heating up even more as her eyes continued scanning his mouth-watering figure.

"Get used to it, then. We're sharing a room, so you ought to adjust."

Cassidy initially thought that all she had to get used to in this place was the tremendous amount of luxuries, but now, it seemed like she also had to be acquainted with Adrian's indifferent attitude towards her mental state.