CHAPTER 365: SUSPICIONS

The door closed, and the numbers on the panel next to it soon started changing, as the elevator descended, carrying Clara away.

FINALLY.

"Lane, you..." Damien started, once they were left alone, but Lane only looked at him with the most innocent expression on his face he could possibly muster.

"Hmm?"

"...Never mind," Damien sighed, shaking his head. "Let’s go back inside."

"Sure thing!" Lane didn’t have to be told it twice. He rushed back to the apartment, grabbing Damien on the way, and dragging him to the bathroom. "It’s late, so let’s shower together to save some time!"

...How was that saving time? It’s not like there was only one bathroom available! Each of the bedrooms in Damien’s apartment had its own bathroom with a shower, and there was also Lane’s apartment upstairs, which was only a jump away... In fact, it would probably be faster to shower separately, as Lane couldn’t be trusted to keep his hands to himself!

However, to Damien’s surprise, Lane was actually well-behaved this time. That is, if personally washing Damien’s whole body with utmost care, making sure not to miss a single spot, could be considered ’well-behaved’... But at least for Lane’s standards, it was very tame.

Damien only climaxed once before they were done washing up.

Which, considering the fact that they had been stuck in the dungeon for a few days and hadn’t had any opportunity to get on, was truly astounding. It must have been out of consideration for the fact that Damien had work the next day and had to go to sleep soon, as well as the fact that they hadn’t had a proper meal yet, that Lane didn’t try to take things any further.

He just rubbed Damien and himself off once, they both washed each other, and then they were out, Lane tapping on his phone to put an order through. Although it was late, they hadn’t eaten anything besides roasted monster meat for so long, so they should have at least one light, tasty meal before bed!

"Lane." Once the food arrived, and they both sat down at the table, Damien finally spoke up. "Why do you insist so much on keeping your involvement in the scouting mission a secret?"

He might have picked up on it immediately back in the dungeon, but that didn’t mean he understood what exactly was going on through Lane’s head.

Lane’s smile faltered slightly at the sudden question, but he quickly regained his composure. "Because I don’t want Ethan to report that to the Allens, of course!" he explained.

Damien, however, shook his head. "I get that much... But why?"

Why indeed.

"Well, if they discover my other abilities, they could use them as blackmail material..." Lane tried, but Damien was not convinced.

"The map doesn’t prove anything," he pointed out.

That... was true. There was a difference between something being suspicious, and being proof. Damien was intelligent, if he thought about it and analyzed the map, then he could tell that the map, while oddly detailed, didn’t reveal any information Lane wouldn’t have been able to gather with just his ’air manipulation’ and good equipment, which he most certainly could afford. When combining this with his observations from fighting the monsters, it was possible for him to draw such a detailed map. Difficult, especially considering how little time it took him, but possible.

And yet, how much he cared about hiding it didn’t match the gravity of the situation. When Clara had confronted him about it, he clearly lost his composure, which was... unusual.

Lane was used to hiding his identity and abilities. Damien had experienced it personally, when trying to corner the man in the past. Lane could keep on playing dumb and spout his excuses as he tried to weasel himself out of the situation when the stakes were seemingly much higher - that is, Damien discovering his Possession ability, which was far bigger of a secret than his scouting capabilities - so why had he been so anxious when facing Clara? Well, perhaps ’anxious’ wasn’t the right word, but he had obviously been on edge.

It was... because of the bigger picture, of course. From his activity as the Boss of the secret organization, to his plans to destroy Damien, it all required him to keep a lot of things a secret. But...

How was he going to explain it to Damien?

Damien still knew nothing... Or pretty much next to nothing about that part of Lane’s life. And it wasn’t exactly an easy thing to say... It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Damien, but...

Damien was a very righteous person. There was no way he was going to approve of it.

What if he decided to go against Lane on it? There were dating, yes, but surely there must have been a limit to how much Damien was willing to tolerate...

Besides, it wasn’t just about Lane. It also concerned the secret organization. And Diana. If not for anything else, at least for Diana’s sake, he had to be careful about it...

So, he just shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know. I just think that the less they know, the better... I’m... more comfortable that way."

Technically, it wasn’t a lie... It just wasn’t the full truth.

Was Damien convinced? Judging by the look in his emerald eyes, probably not. And yet, he still dropped the topic.

If it was something Lane didn’t want to talk about just yet, then he wouldn’t push him. He was a considerate partner...

But this considerate attitude of his only made Lane feel worse, as guilt squeezed his chest tightly, making it harder to breathe. It wasn’t fair to Damien to be hiding something so big.

He soon dismissed this feeling, though. Fair or not, at least for now, nothing could be done. Besides, spies and secret agents in movies also had to hide their identities from their lovers...

It’s not like it would last forever, anyway. Although whether this ’not forever’ was about their relationship, or the secrecy, Lane didn’t quite know...