..
Colt suddenly jumped up.
Timothy turned his head. "What's wrong?"
"Joseph is looking for me. I'm going down to reply to his message and will be right back." Colt didn't bother taking the elevator; instead, he passed directly through the wall and descended, landing in front of the Quantum Superbrain on level -3.
The Virtual Earth rotated slowly there.
Colt glanced at the light blue hoodie he was wearing, then rushed upstairs to grab a lab coat, put it on, button it up. Only then did he return, sit upright, initiate the communication request.
Joseph's projection appeared before the Quantum Superbrain, questioning, "It took you three minutes to connect. What were you doing just now?"
"Writing a paper." Colt focused intently, pulling up the paper he had just written, posing a series of questions, requesting data on the Interstellar Warp Ship's interstellar navigation.
Joseph entered teaching mode and forgot to continue questioning. It was only after receiving a notification that nearly half an hour had passed that he stopped teaching and said, "Tomorrow is Christmas. I can't make it back, so are you going to spend it at Avengers Tower with Edwin?"
Colt shook his head. "I'll spend it with Robin Bird."
Joseph gritted his teeth. "You can invite friends to celebrate with you."
Colt shook his head again. "He has family, so he will definitely want to go home."
Joseph's ferocious expression softened, a look of guilt appearing in his eyes, his tone became gentler: "Be careful with the Quantum Teleportation Device tomorrow. I instructed my assistants before I left on my business trip; they will be sending gifts for the holiday. If you want something, buy it yourself, if you don't have enough money, transfer it from this account. We will connect again tomorrow evening at 18:00."
Joseph seemed very busy on his end; as soon as the half-hour was up, the communication was cut off, the projection vanished instantly.
Colt breathed a sigh of relief.
To say something impious, Colt was actually glad that Joseph wasn't coming back. Christmas wasn't much of a holiday anyway; Santa Claus had never given him any gifts, so he'd rather celebrate Thanksgiving, where at least he could eat turkey, even if the turkey wasn't particularly tasty either.
Colt returned upstairs, Timothy was still buried in the dense light screens, the Healing Lamp having already ceased its operation.
Colt moved the arm of the fixed examination lamp aside to check Timothy's injured leg. His spiritual power permeated inside, surpassing even the finest X-ray, making even the cells clearly visible; the cracks in the tibia were improving. The air in Gotham was thick with Joker Venom, Fear Gas, Bane Venom, Amber Gold, Lazarus Pit Water. Gothamites had always possessed strong self-healing abilities, Timothy was the finest among them; the Healing Lamp was operating at 200% efficiency on him.
Timothy moved his injured leg. "I feel almost better."
Don't move. The Healing Lamp has a pain-relieving effect, so of course you don't feel any pain." Colt used the Polymer Splint purchased this morning to re-wrap Timothy's leg. "It's expected to be irradiated every six hours, it should be completely healed in three days.
Compared to plaster, the polymer splint is more lightweight and breathable.
Timothy leaned in and gave Colt a kiss.
Colt checked the time subconsciously. "It's not even evening yet."
“We're dating,” Timothy said seriously, giving him another kiss, “no need to wait for goodnight; you can kiss me anytime.”
Even though they had already kissed many times, even having shared deeper kisses, once it was explicitly mentioned, the simple kiss took on a different meaning, Colt's heart skipped a beat.
Colt looked into Timothy's eyes and tied the bandage into a bow.
He could kiss him anytime.
Colt thought to himself as he kissed Timothy's lips with earnestness.
He wouldn't just kiss his cheek or his forehead; when he kissed, he wanted to kiss his lips.
Timothy clearly wouldn't let a single opportunity for intimate contact pass. The kiss gradually deepened, only when the young body came to a halt due to excessive excitement did Timothy stroke the dark circles under Colt's eyes and say, "You didn't rest last night; go to sleep early tonight."
Colt deliberately scrutinized Timothy's expression, attempting to discern any hint of ambiguity within it.
Sleep together?
Do you mean sleeping in the literal sense?
If it's a sleep involving physical movement, isn't that a bit too fast?
Wait, you can't engage in strenuous activity with a broken leg, right? That should count as strenuous activity, shouldn't it? It seems like there's a position where one person lies still while the other is responsible for moving..
Colt wasn't ready to sleep, not mentally, not physically, not even in terms of his belongings; he wasn't ready for anything!
The two prepared dinner together, which included steamed fish, pan-fried tofu, stewed meat, shredded radish salad, stir-fried greens, rice.
Colt looked calm, but his heart was racing. Fortunately, he had set a timer on the Quantum Terminal in advance, so the tofu didn't burn. He suspected Timothy was also panicking; despite Red Robin's steady hands, the shredded radish he cut was surprisingly uneven in size.
..
No matter how slowly the second hand moved, the hour hand still pointed to 20:00.
Timothy was on a call with his family in the study, while also taking over the task of putting Birdie to sleep, so Colt went back to his room early to take a bath and sleep.
Colt decided to take a bath; he simply felt like taking a bath suddenly, rather than thinking that taking a bath would naturally consume more time.
Colt knew how men did it, but he still took advantage of the running water to search online for instructional videos about [sleeping]. The visuals were even more shocking than the text; Colt truly felt he wasn't prepared yet. However, as he projected himself into the protagonist of the video, he felt the one below was more acceptable to him than the one above. He immersed himself naturally, without any psychological barriers, he just didn't know which one Timothy would choose.
No matter which one Timothy chooses, he will overcome his psychological barriers!
In short, although Colt was not prepared, he still washed himself exceptionally clean.
By the time Timothy returned to the room, Colt had already changed into his pajamas and was sitting on the bed. His pajama buttons were fastened all the way to the top, his hair was dried, with only the tips still carrying a hint of moisture. His gaze followed Timothy's movements, his expression calm, though his face was flushed a bright red.
"The clothes are ready. Your injury still can't get wet, so it's best not to take a bath." Even though their relationship had clearly progressed, helping him bathe would have been only natural, Colt was too nervous to bring it up.
"Okay." Timothy smiled as he circled around to the bedside, leaning down to kiss the corner of Colt's mouth before sliding toward the bathroom.
He didn't ask for my help.
Colt secretly breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt a faint sense of disappointment. He looked intently at the "Molecular Biology" in his hands, but he couldn't even focus on the words; his ears were filled with the sound of splashing water, his mind was filled with thoughts of undressing for a bath.. undressing..
"Timothy still has a limp; I need to listen more closely, just in case he falls and I need to rush over to save him." Colt made an excuse for himself, feeling much more at ease.
Timothy had finished showering, was brushing his teeth, drying his hair, getting dressed.. He wasn't using a wheelchair; he came out limping on his injured leg.
Colt's heart leaped into his throat.
Chapter 50
Colt's gaze was fixed on the book when the mattress beside him sank slightly. The book was pulled away from his eyes, a hand reached over from the edge of the pillow. A warm breath brushed against his face; even though they used the same shower gel and shampoo, the faint fragrance seemed elevated, infused by Timothy's body heat.
A kiss landed on Colt's lips.
"Goodnight." As the voice faded, the warm breath began to drift away.
Colt looked at Timothy in disbelief: Just like that?
Timothy patted his head. "Go to sleep early. I'll wait for you to fall asleep before I go next door."
What are you going to do next door?" Colt forgot that he had been thinking about how to refuse just a few seconds ago, grabbed Timothy's pajama sleeve. "Didn't we say we'd sleep together?
“Of course, we said we'd sleep together, so we will.” Timothy smiled. “In the study next door, I still have some documents to handle; typing here would easily disturb you.”
Colt blushed at his smile, but still stated his position: "There's no need to go to the study. Once I take off my hearing aid, I won't be able to hear anything, I won't be distracted."
Timothy didn't say yes, nor did he say no; he gazed intently at Colt, a smile in his eyes and the corners of his mouth curling upward.
It was that kind of doting smile, just like people described online.
Colt covered Timothy's eyes, "Even if we don't count our previous lives, I'm still three days older than you; you can't look at me with those kinds of eyes."
“I am looking at my lover; that kind of look should be allowed.” Timothy grabbed Colt's hand and kissed his palm, "I never forbade you from taking care of me either."
Colt thought seriously, "Alright, you're right."
He exchanged a kiss with Timothy.
A kiss belonging to lovers.
"Goodnight." Colt curled up under the covers, pulling the quilt up to his mouth, his eyes fixed on Timothy.
Timothy leaned over to turn off the bedside lamp on Colt's side, then returned to his side and sat back against the pillow, opening his laptop. "Go to sleep, I'll be right here."
Colt finally took off his hearing aid, instead of placing it on the nightstand with the Quantum Terminal, he tucked it under his pillow and closed his eyes in satisfaction.
His hands were also under the pillow. The hearing aid didn't actually need to be placed against his ear; skin contact was enough to trigger the transmission of sound signals. Colt felt that the tapping sound of the keyboard was second only to the rustling sound in terms of how pleasant it was to hear.
The clicking sound paused for a long time, so Colt quietly opened his eyes to steal a glance.
Timothy discovered his peeking.
Colt withdrew his hand without making a sound, letting his world fall into silence. This should have been a silence he was familiar with and accustomed to, but as he closed his eyes, there was nothing before him but darkness, his mind involuntarily drifted into philosophical thought.
Do I still exist? Am I really in the same bed as Timothy? Perhaps it is all just a dream..
Colt habitually shifted into a fetal position, hugging himself.
The mattress shifted.
Colt opened one eye halfway and saw Timothy close the laptop and turn off the bedside lamp, seemingly preparing to sleep.
【47↑】
It was only nine o'clock at night, Timothy was still full of energy; it wasn't even his bedtime yet.
Timothy reached under Colt's pillow for the hearing aid and put it on him: "Since you can't sleep, how about we have a chat?"
As sound returned, Colt relaxed his curled-up body and nodded toward the lying Timothy. "Chat about what?"
"Anything," Timothy smiled at him.
Colt felt something poking through his blanket. He reached out and felt a hand. That hand hooked into his palm, fingers sliding through his fingers.
Fingers interlaced.
Colt thought for a moment, shifting slightly toward the center as he searched for a topic. "Do you know what your father and Tony want to use the Interstellar Warp Ship for? There are so many interstellar warp ships on Earth; why do they insist on building their own, why do they insist on having cross-dimensional functionality?"
Timothy also shifted toward the middle and said, "As far as I know, Iron Man discovered that our lives are nothing more than comics in the eyes of five-dimensional beings. He said he wanted to go and verify it, to see his own ending. If the ending is fine, then he'll leave it be; if the ending is bad, he'll demand they change it. It might just be a joke of his, but he does intend to explore the Five-Dimensional World, your father is the person on Earth who understands the High-Dimensional World best.."
All of Joseph's knowledge regarding the High-Dimensional World came from his research into Colt's current situation.
The two were so close that only two layers of blankets separated them.
Colt grabbed both of Timothy's hands that were tucked under his quilt, suddenly changed the subject: "We used to sleep like this before, too—first grade's school pajama day, second grade's spring camping trip, third grade's Christmas Eve."
Timothy's hands tightened: "How much do you remember?"
Colt shook his head. "I'm not sure how much. Sometimes they are images that suddenly flash through my mind, sometimes they are dreams, but they are all fragments related to you."
Timothy suddenly pulled back the covers and moved backward. "Come here, Colt."
Colt was tempted, but he didn't move. "No, if I turn over, I'll hit your wound."
I've used the Healing Lamp so many times, I'm almost healed," Timothy said, tugging at him. "If you don't come over, I'm going to start calling you 'President'.
Threatening people with their dark childhood history all day long—what kind of superhero is that!