Noir's Care

Solis and Noir were quite busy with handling the matters of Rosea and Chaos Demon. Teacher Artemis, who was getting bored at home with Noir too busy working with Solis to entertain her anymore, decided to go back to her hometown.

Solis and Noir were really apologetic, and quite sorry to see her go – but the truth was that even if they persuaded her to stay with them a little longer, neither of them had the bandwidth to keep her company!

Thankfully, with Noir's help, Solis wasn't drowning in work as he was wont to in the past, where he would often go days without sleep or meals.

In fact, the one time these days Solis tried to pull an all-nighter, Noir was so annoyed that he picked up Solis in his arms, carried him to the car and drove him straight home!

The only saving grace was that there was no one in the office to witness this – otherwise Solis would have surely lost his "cool CEO" face!

When they got home, Noir had dragged Solis to the bathroom and dumped him into the bathtub, suit and all, totally uncaring of the fact that the expensive business suit would be completely ruined by his actions.

"Er…I'd have preferred to take off my suit before getting into the bathtub," Solis said mildly.

Noir narrowed his eyes at him. "You would have preferred to work in office all night," he snapped.

Solis didn't have a counter to that. He stood up slowly and started peeling off his wet clothes. Even though the bath water was at a perfect temperature, thanks to Noir calling Butler Hans on their way home and asking him to prepare a warm bath for Solis, it was unpleasant to wear drenched clothes. Especially since wool tended to get itchy.

"I just wanted to finish off the proposal before I left," Solis murmured in a complaining tone. "Aren't you overreacting…?"

"I'm overreacting because I don't want you injure your nerves again!" Noir hissed. "If that inconveniences you, then so be it, but I'm not letting you take any risks with your legs again!"

"I feel fine," Solis retorted.

"Do you?" Noir mocked and loomed over the bathtub. He grabbed Solis's hand and pressed an acupoint.

Solis cried out in pain, nearly convulsing from the horrid sensation, as if his nerves were set on fire!

"What did you do?" he demanded angrily.

Noir pressed another point and the pain subsided. "I showed you what would happen if you continued like this for some more days," he said flatly. "You don't even understand your own body and its limits – you'd better leave these things for me to decide."

"But there's work to be done!" Solis protested.

"Is work more important than your health? Is work more important than your life?" Noir asked coldly.

Solis sighed and rubbed his temples. "I won't apologise for working," he said after a while.

"I'm not asking you to," Noir said. "But I will ask you not to interfere when I'm trying to take care of you."

Solis sighed again and tugged at Noir's hand. "All right," he murmured. "I'll listen to you. Will you stop being angry?"

"I'm not angry," Noir murmured, sitting down at the edge of the bathtub. "I'm…worried about you. I know it's annoying for you…but I can't afford to take chances with your well-being. I'll let you work as you please until I detect early signs of fatigue. Once that happens, even if you hate me for it, I won't let you work until you have rested properly and regained your energy."

Solis rubbed his temples, frustrated as well as touched by Noir's concern. "Noir, I…" he began, but stopped short when he saw tears welling up in his fiancé's chocolate brown eyes.

Solis felt terrible. That awful ache in his chest was back, stabbing at his heart. Trying his best to ignore the pain, he reached out and took Noir's hand, and brought it to his lips, planting a reverent kiss on it.

"Don't cry, my little darling," he said softly. "My heart hurts when I see you in distress…"

Noir shook his head, wiped his eyes and looked up at Solis. Then he froze.

"That…that…on your chest…what…how…MASTER?!" he cried out, shocked to the core.

Solis looked down at his chest and found a glowing pattern emerging on it. It looked like a tiger. His chest hurt even more now, and his head throbbed as if there were needles being pricked into it from all directions.

Seeing Noir's horrified yet strangely expectant face, Solis tried his best to gather his bearings, but to no avail. He could only close his eyes and rest his head against the wall and wait for the pain to subside.

He had no idea what was happening.

Then, suddenly, memories of another life started pouring into his head, making it even more painful than before. Solis groaned loudly.

His pained groan brought Noir out of his daze.

"Solis?" he cried anxiously, rushing to the tub and picking up the nearly limp figure in his arms. "Solis? Solis! Talk to me! Say something! Please!" he begged urgently.

Solis groaned again in response.

Noir quickly took him to the bedroom and put him down on the bed.

Solis remained conscious, but was clearly in a lot of pain. The glowing pattern continued to emerge on his chest until it finally evolved into a complete figure of a reclining silver tiger.

Noir sat by his side, anxiety eating away at his gut and confusion eating away at his brain. He didn't understand what was happening at all. The tiger insignia that emerged on Solis's chest just now was exactly like the one his Master used to have…but how could Solis have the same mark? Was Solis really a descendant or a reincarnation of his Master…? But in that case, why was the pattern not there before? Why did it appear now all of a sudden?

Noir could only wait anxiously for the answer.