Chapter 406: Pining

Words : 1292 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Chapter 406: Pining Luca wasn’t sure why his brother suddenly looked unwell. "Brother, are you that sensitive to lactose?" worried the golden-eyed boy, who didn’t expect this turn of events. But it wasn’t lactose, and even if he developed a bad case of lactose intolerance, Ollie would have powered through it for pizza. No, this was something deeper. A mortal wound. The kind of spiritual damage reserved only for those who had traumatized their good younger brother. And right about now, the pizza he had just guzzled up seemed like it wasn’t a luxury he deserved after failing him like this! "Luca, you need to be honest with me." Ollie started, his voice practically cracking as he tried figuring out how bad it was. "How are you? Did anything in that book scare you?" "Huh?" Now it was really Luca’s turn to blink up at the blonde, who looked like he was one push away from crying. Scared? Why would he be scared? Well, he didn’t think that he felt particularly scared after reading the book, but he sure as hell felt embarrassed after learning more about the truth and himself. Now that was a little bit scary, if he was being honest, because he never thought he’d end up being like this. This, as in whatever they would call someone who would look at the door whenever anything made a sound. Or someone who would sigh throughout the day to the point that a certain system had decided to make a tally just in case the doctors needed it for diagnosis. Ah, not to mention the sniffing! The more the little guide thought about it, the more he gravitated towards the concept of a pervert. Was he really a pervert?! Now, unbeknownst to the distracted guide, Ollie’s face had been contorting as he waited for Luca’s response for what felt like forever. His palms felt clammy, and his knees shook a little, but the blonde was determined to wait for his brother’s answer instead of rushing him, only to almost fall down to his death when Luca murmured his response. "Well, brother...I don’t think I found anything about the books scary. However, I-I think I’ve turned into a pervert..." he trailed, shrinking as he whispered each word softer. "A what...?" Ollie wasn’t sure if his ears had gone bad from not having to use much of it recently or if it was his brain, but it was impossible for someone like Luca to say that he’d gone and become a pervert in the few days he hadn’t been there to supervise, right? "A pervert, brother..." But then the good boy repeated it again, and maybe it would’ve been better if he had been shot straight away, as this seemed like a worse outcome than just being scared! "Luca! What do you mean by that? How could you be a pervert?!" screeched the slightly taller brother, whose voice was reaching unprecedented levels in his distress. "Shhhhh!" With a finger on his mouth, Luca tried to silence Ollie as his face turned even redder than usual. "I’m not yet sure, brother! But that’s why I’m here to ask!" See, this wasn’t the first time he was actually doing this, since he did remember Ollie saying that he didn’t actually have enough experience. So, when Luca started wondering if he was still normal, he thought about asking the Princess once more. It was just that when Princess Kira said that Luca needed to sniff more, Ada abruptly cut in to remind them that it was a part of their instincts as Orcs, but that wasn’t something that was mandatory for humans. Obviously, the Princess reacted violently at this as she couldn’t fathom ignoring the importance of scent when checking for attraction until her aide reminded her that she had never been able to smell her Bunbun. And from there, it spiraled into a conversation about what she would do if her fiancé ended up smelling like the sewers or worse, like elves. For a moment, Luca wanted to ask why that would be a problem, but when the Princess reacted by ripping her jacket and screaming about "sewer stink" and "elf betrayal", Luca decided to just glue his mouth shut until he found someone else to ask. And now here they were, with Ollie barely hanging on as Luca described how he’d sniffed bathroom products and stared too long at Xavier. Somewhere between that and D-29’s logging, Luca realized what he was doing and feared for Xavier, who didn’t seem to be exhibiting the same symptoms. While he had come to terms with Xavier likely being his crush and someone who was certainly special to him, none of the materials he’d seen mentioned his odd behaviors, which he was now in the process of unloading on his catatonic brother. "Ollie, is it that bad?" asked the fretting lad who was awaiting the verdict on his possible crimes. However, the judge had to process the information a bit as he tried to calm his fraying nerves. For one, it was great that his good brother didn’t commit anything untoward, but at the same time, he was not sure how it was possible for him to move this fast in the short time he’d start learning about romantic feelings! Clearly this was what great people were like as even his blood siblings sucked at love! "Ehem! Well...in my opinion, I think you were just pining for someone." "Pining?" Luca tilted his head, unsure about what that was, until Ollie went on to list a few words. "As in longing, craving, yearning, or just in general, missing him," shrugged the highlighter, who was now starting to recover the color that had earlier been drained from his face. "But how is that possible when we see each other daily?" "Well, brother, just because you see each other daily doesn’t mean that you get to interact as much." Ollie shrugged. "Just because you see someone doesn’t mean you connect with them. Like if I gave you a photo of me every day—wouldn’t you still miss me if we didn’t talk?" Luca went quiet. Too quiet. "...Luca. You’d miss me, right?!" "Oh! Of course, I’d miss you, brother! I’ve missed you since you’ve been out here!" finally responded Luca, who had been absorbed in his thoughts until Ollie almost shook him for confirmation. The blonde was thankfully easy to please as he felt far better and touched as his brother missed him while he was away. "See that?! If you’re busy and he’s busy, then you probably only see each other during training or meal times. And really, who would even get to talk in training when the probability of dying is just too high!" shivered the builder who somehow felt the benefit of having to work outside. "Then what do I do to fix it? Do I just talk to him?" "Hmm, that could work...But my mom usually asks for a hug. And I, too, think that hugs work best!" He gave a decisive nod. "When I miss everyone, I just hug Kyle when he visits." "So, hugs help?" "Definitely, also, getting tucked in at night," Ollie added, as if revealing an ancient secret. "Makes it easier to sleep." Luca immediately began taking mental notes before asking the important question. "Should I tell Xavier about this?" Ollie considered it. "Sure. Maybe even ask for head pats if you’re feeling bold. They work great." Suddenly, two cadets in the training hall sneezed at the same time, which caught everyone’s attention. Weird, thought Kyle, who wasn’t sure if a single sleepless night was enough to make him this weak to succumb to colds in such a place.

Chapter 406: Pining

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