204: 5.14 Stay

5.14 Stay

Wyatt swallowed thickly and blocked Terra's feelings from his mind before he approached them, deliberately making his steps louder to announce his arrival. There was no way General Kai wouldn't notice his presence like that. "What happened?" He instantly went to check on Terra only to be shocked when he found fat tears rolling down the guide's cheeks uncontrollably. He was trembling and trying to stand by himself only for General Kai to tighten his hold around his shoulders. His face was crumpled yet based on his confused eyes, he didn't seem to have an idea what was going on with himself either.0

"He's in shock." Wyatt concluded from the wheezing sound Terra let out from his lips. "Hyperventilating. Give him to me, General."

Wyatt looked up to see a flash of fury in General Kai's eyes which disappeared as soon as it came. He blinked. What was that? Red rimmed the General's bloodshot eyes and he seemed to be affected by Terra's emotions, judging from the way his jaws clenched and unclenched and the throbbing veins on his forehead. Alarm bells rang in Wyatt's mind. Nothing was more dangerous than having an emotional guide and an almost out-of-control sentinel close to each other. "Give him to me, General." He repeated, firmer with a hint of threat in his voice. He had grabbed a few syringes on his way here and wouldn't mind stabbing the General with them if he had to.

"I—" Struggles and apprehension flashed through his eyes and he was looking at Wyatt as if the doctor was demanding to cut his limbs instead. The General leveled him with a hard stare for a solid three seconds before nodding jerkily. "Take care of him."

Wyatt almost snorted at that. He had taken care of Terra for a whole year, okay? He would still do it even without anyone prompting him to do so. However, when he tried to bring Terra away from General Kai's hold, he was shocked to find Terra's hands fisting on the sentinel's shirt! So tightly at that! His knuckles turned white and he looked down at his own hands with a frown. In the end, he looked up at Wyatt and shook his head, his breath still hitching once in a while.

"No?" Wyatt tried to guess. "You don't want me to chase him away?"

Terra shook his head more insistently and this time, he leaned even closer toward the General. If he could, he might have already climbed the man's body and hung there like an accessory. Wyatt's eyes almost popped up in shock. Was this still the violent guide he knew, who would hiss and bare his teeth every time someone approached?!

General Kai bit his right glove off with his teeth and slid his broad palm to the back of Terra's neck, massaging the soft flesh gently. "That's settled then, doctor." If Doctor Wyatt hadn't read his file and knew his cold-blooded reputation, he might have thought that the man looked so smug and proud of himself.

Miraculously, Wyatt could feel Terra's tumultuous emotions calming down along with the General's touches. His eyes fluttered shut and he let his head fall into the General's shoulder. 

Before the doctor could say anything, a deep frown appeared on the General's face as he turned to the open hallway. Doctor Wyatt followed his gaze to see nothing but an expanse of darkness. He had just wanted to ask when he heard a horde of thumping footsteps. In front of him, Terra tensed and General Kai hushed softly, his hand scratching the guide's scalp even as his whole body was taut like a bowstring, preparing to fight a battalion of army. 

"Doctor Wyatt!" Turned out, it was the reinforcement that Wyatt had requested for fear that he would find Terra and the General tearing at each other. He almost facepalmed on the spot. How could he forget so easily?! He signaled General Kai to calm down as he went to assure the group that nothing happened and told them to focus on apprehending the four intruders instead. 

When he returned less than ten minutes later, Terra was already dozing against General Kai, still standing. His eyelids were red and puffy and his cheeks still damp with tears. But to see him falling asleep in such an unguarded state… this was the first time Wyatt had seen it. General Kai was slowly bending to slip his arm below the guide's knee and lifted him up in one swift movement. Terra didn't even rouse from the act, his head lolling down peacefully. 

It was only when General Kai went into the room and slowly lowered Terra into the bed did Doctor Wyatt finally scrambled together a semblance of senses enough to question. "Is his name Terra?"

General Kai nodded minutely, his gaze on the guide was so tender it made Doctor Wyatt feel as if he was intruding on an intimate and private moment. But this was their first encounter, for God's sake! How high was their compatibility that they could act like they had known each other forever? This was interesting, very interesting indeed.

"How do you know that?"

The General shrugged. "I just know."

Hmm, was this a case of a very high index of compatibility? Doctor Wyatt didn't have enough data to make a conclusion. In the first place, the highest compatibility ever recorded on the pair of sentinel and guide was 92% and it was already ages ago. Scientists could only make theories on how it would go if the number went higher than that. This might be a new case, Doctor Wyatt assumed, unable to hold back the rise of excitement.

"Are you okay, General?" Wyatt gave him a scrutiny once over. "You look fine at the moment but if there's something wrong, you should tell me quickly. You have just awakened a special ability afterall."

"There's nothing wrong." General Kai blinked and swiftly changed the topic. "But I heard that my room is unsalvageable."

Doctor Wyatt sighed. "Right. It's lucky that fate is on your side. I can't imagine what would have happened if the assassination has succeeded. Oh, I almost forgot to thank you for saving my life. You have my sincerest gratitude, General. Without you, I won't be standing here right now."

The man murmured under his breath. "I didn't do it for you."

"Pardon…?"

He shook his head. "Now that my room is destroyed, can I stay here for a while?"

The corner of Wyatt's eyes twitched. "Here…?"

General Kai grunted and gestured at Terra who was still holding onto his shirt even in his sleep like it was the most natural thing to do in the world. The corner of Wyatt's eyes twitched even more. Oh no, he might even get a headache at this rate. When he finally granted his approval begrudingly, the look on General Kai's face made him think that the man had seen the attack coming thus calculated it in such precision that led them to the current situation. 

But how could that be possible?

Doctor Wyatt chuckled at his own imagination and shook his head. After making sure that General Kai and Terra were both okay, he left. His smile dropped as he closed the door behind him, warmth dissipating from his eyes. It's time to interrogate the four intruders and hunt down the sneaky rat that had been hiding amongst them.

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