Chapter 59: Doesn’t it hurt to hold it?
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
When Heinrich sent the video message, Lin Xu had just stepped out of the shower with his towel on. He was sitting at his desk, his towel on his shoulders, his wet hair still wet, water droplets rolling down the ends of his hair.
When he pressed the answer button, Heinrich’s face appeared on the screen, and from Lin Xu’s point of view, all the food he had ordered for Heinrich had already been settled.
But only a few sips of the blue fruit wine had been taken, and Heinrich had an already drawn up work plan to complete in a little while, so it was not good to go over with the smell of alcohol.
“You… How are you handling things? Do you need my help?”
Heinrich did not expect Lin Xu had just finished taking a shower, covered with only a bath towel on his shoulders, wrapped slightly to cover his chest, but the cold pale skin exposed looked whiter than the soft beige bath towel.
Because of the thinness, when he breathed, he could see the faint traces of ribs under his skin. Heinrich immediately turned the video screen into a one-way visible opaque state. Ryan did not know what was happening across the room, only saw a flash of color, “Professor Lin is okay?”
Heinrich scanned him, “He’s fine, he’s just working on something.”
Lin Xu watched Heinrich’s face change on the other side of the electromagnetic wave, wanting to laugh, but the feeling of his chest falling and tightening made him uncomfortable.
“It’s nothing serious, no need to help.” Lin Xu replied, pulling the towel around his shoulders.
The dripping water from his long hair soaked the towel, and even though the milk spilled out some more from the heat and friction, the already wet towel covered it up, and the person across from him could not see anything unusual through the screen.
He didn’t mind that Heinrich’s gaze fell on him constantly, but at such times, Lin Xu felt as if Heinrich’s gaze was penetrating, making him stiff with embarrassment for no reason.
Heinrich himself was oblivious to Lin Xu’s state of mind and continued to watch his every move with penetrating golden eyes, “I brought you new crystals and put them in the remaining half of the eggshell.”
Lin Xu glanced at the half white eggshell lying on the bed, which was indeed filled with colorful and translucent crystals.
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
Lin Xu didn’t say anything else, and his eyes were as bright as ever, like an impenetrable morning mist. No one knew that the droplets were sliding down into his groin, following the curve and gathering in a puddle on the seat, sticking to his skin. He waited for Heinrich to finish the torturous communication, with the thought of taking another shower immediately after.
Heinrich followed him in silence for a moment, then spoke, “Lin Xu, can I come see you tonight?”
“No.” Lin Xu didn’t even think about it, but realized that his tone was uncharacteristically rushed, and adjusted himself to add, “I’m grading homework tonight.”
When Ryan heard the word “homework”, he looked up sharply and met Heinrich’s stern eyebrows, then hunched his shoulders and lowered his head, pretending he didn’t exist.
–
The fleet sailed in the vastness of the galaxy, and the countless portholes always threw countless cool starlight or dazzling stellar rays into the Victoria. The stars were beautiful, but the passengers on the interstellar voyage could no longer confirm time by the movement of these celestial bodies.
When Heinrich returned to his room after a series of errands, he found Lin Xu standing in front of his closet, followed by a half-human, round, intelligent housekeeping robot with a mountain of uniforms in its robotic arm. Lin Xu arranged the uniforms and combat uniforms one by one and hung them back in the closet.
Heinrich’s military uniforms, regular clothes, and regalia were all made in black, and the combat and space uniforms would be coupled with two more in white and gray.
The nest Lin Xu built in his room was also in these three slightly monotonous colors, but he made a mess of it, adding a touch of humanity and warmth to the monotony.
With the birth over and the physical desire for a safe and warm nest dissipating, Lin Xu washed all the “materials” by hand. He had the intelligent housekeeping robot take them for a second wash and sterilize them, and finally hung them in different categories according to type and color.
When he opened Heinrich’s closet with the cleaned clothes in his arms, he found that Heinrich’s once full closet had been stolen by the nesting mermaid, leaving only a few clothes.
“Are you… just back from work?”
“Hmm.” Heinrich approached.
“It’s six o’clock in the morning on a twenty-four-hour day, and you haven’t slept all night?”
Heinrich paused for a moment to look into Lin Xu’s beautiful eyes; he often lost track of time when he was engaged in his work.
“No.”
“Go get some rest, I’ll finish up soon, I won’t disturb you for long.” Lin Xu did as he said, speeding up the hanging back of the clothes in his hands.
“You can leave them at your place.”
“What?” Lin Xu inclined his face and raised his eyebrows at him, his mind still struggling to make sense of Heinrich’s words.
Heinrich, “Maybe next time you’ll need another nest.”
“Next time?” Lin Xu asked again. Heinrich suddenly realized that there was an offensive implication in his statement and tried to make amends, but Lin Xu shook his head and smiled, “I hope there won’t be a next time.”
“This time… This egg is not a normal product.” Lin Xu continued, “The gene is selfish, under the extreme crisis of the Sand star, it thought I had no way to live, and wanted to create a new carrier to continue itself, the nest built can give it… give me the safety and shelter to breed and produce the next carrier, but a single egg with only half of the chromosomes, there is no way to birth a new life. It failed, and I am still alive.” Lin Xu talked about the crisis and death that had approached him, but he didn’t stop moving his hands, not in his space uniform, but in the old clothes he had brought from Endymion.
A black turtleneck sweater covered with a thin knit shirt, not new and delicate clothing to reduce some of the cold hardness, it was fluffy and soft. After the end of pregnancy, the sweetness of Lin Xu’s body should have faded a bit, but Heinrich smelled a little bit of milk, not juvenile, but reminiscent of the early morning daylight.
The starship sailed in the vacuum of the universe, there were no clouds of air, the Tindal effect diffused as if the solid column of daylight could not be formed. The stellar light penetrated straight through the special glass, creating sharp and regular geometric shapes on the edge of the steel ground.
But the early morning daylight between the mountains and the lake was always dreamy to unreal, and the milkiness of the air was also faint at times, so Heinrich could not confirm. He took a combat suit from the robotic arm and slipped it onto the hanger, “I’ll do it.”
“It’s okay.” Lin Xu continued the action in his hands. Heinrich didn’t persuade him anymore, and together with Lin Xu, he put the cleaned clothes back into place, but the place where he hung the clothes back made him hesitate for a moment.
These things were previously complited by intelligent robots, which usually sorted clothes according to their use and wash dates, not by Lin Xu.
Heinrich faced a row of hanging uniforms, thought for a moment about Lin Xu’s sorting pattern, and hung the combat uniforms in the closet as he thought.
Lin Xu looked at the faint greenish black under Heinrich’s eyes and asked again, “Can’t sleep again?”
“… Yeah.” Heinrich pursed his lips and spoke quietly. During Lin Xu’s pregnancy, Heinrich would sometimes go back to work after helping Lin Xu with his fishtail agitation and cleaning him up, but sometimes he would fall asleep with Lin Xu in his arms.
He would lie on his side, close his eyes and stop moving, but Lin Xu listened to Heinrich’s breathing and knew it would take him a long time to fall asleep. Lin Xu also had a period of difficulty sleeping. His busy schedule at the base made him work in a chaotic manner and he could not form a stable biological clock.
He was still in an administrative position, without the physical enhancements brought about by his powers and transformation, and the intense work streak had left him with tension headaches and physical weakness. Even so, every time the sun rose on a new day, Lin Xu had to gather himself again and appear in front of people with a calm face, a sincere smile and concerned sympathy. Caught in an atmosphere of apocalyptic despair, the base survivors needed a strong, yet gracious leader to give confidence and comfort.
The interstellar era of the Marion Empire was not perfect, but at least on the surface, they were thriving, not spreading irredeemable despair and decay. But the crux of the work pressure was not the peace and prosperity of the society, but the work itself that had to be done in a systemic industrialized society.
Lin Xu was able to put aside his work at the Ancient Earth Natural Science Museum for a while, but the Abyss Fleet Marshal, in charge of an entire fleet of ships, had no chance to relax.
Lin Xu thought as he quickly hung the last of his military uniforms in the closet and closed the heavy door. The door made a dull sound and Heinrich asked, “Are you going back?”
It was logical that this should be the case, Lin Xu had just said that he would not bother Heinrich after finishing his clothes. Lin Xu didn’t answer right away. He bent down and pressed the shutdown button of the housekeeping robot, and the green light on the robot’s round head blinked twice and then went off.
Heinrich was still puzzled, Lin Xu had taken a step closer, tilted his head slightly and looked into Heinrich’s eyes at close range, “Marshal Chu, I have a question.”
This address made Heinrich nervous, what did Lin Xu want to do again? “The uniform is made of tough material, doesn’t it hurt when you keep holding it against it?”
Heinrich’s breath missed for a split second, instantly reacting to what Lin Xu was saying, and just then, Lin Xu hooked the palm of Heinrich’s hand, tickling it slightly like a feather tickling it, and he raised his knee again.
This time it was not a fish tail, not covered with hard scales, much softer and more dexterous. It didn’t hurt, but now it’s starting to hurt too. Heinrich’s expressionless, cold face didn’t change a bit, but Lin Xu could see many things, he took Heinrich’s hand and came up to his ear, “Want me to help you? It won’t take long, and you can still get a good night’s sleep afterwards.”
It wasn’t that Lin Xu wasn’t willing to take a step closer, it was just that his current condition wasn’t very convenient. But it probably wouldn’t be hard to learn to be a handyman.
The blankness and bewilderment of the mind after venting could make one forget a lot of things, whether it was the annoying work or the hustle and bustle of humans of all kinds. Empty your mind, and you can get a good night’s sleep.
The light hit Heinrich’s face from top to bottom, his high brow bones casting a shadow in the eye sockets, covering the upper part of his golden eyes, while the lower part was like transparent golden amber under the light.
He gazed at Lin Xu, who looked straight back, without shyness or timidity, and smiled, “Marshal Chu, you need to talk. I’m right here in front of you, on your flagship, and you can order me to do anything.”
What the author has to say.
Although up, but after all, it is the unused thing being used up, and not the second development of the mammary gland.
This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.
