Chapter 203: A Kiss, or Perhaps More: He Likes the Tipsy Feeling Ulysses Gives Him

[I-It ended? (stunned)]

[Don't do this, An-shen! Write a little more! I haven't even seen the eggs being laid yet, or the hatchlings breaking out of their shells!]

[When Xi'an and Claire's story ended, we could still watch the real-life version. But now that the Tianjia Emperor and the Male Zerg's story is over, where are we supposed to go for the rest?! (sobbing loudly)]

There might not necessarily be no continuation.

Those who knew some of the inside story understood that perfectly well.

But Ulysses no longer wanted to give them any attention.

He switched to the chat page and sent the application he had prepared long ago.

His Excellency didn't like being disturbed while writing. During this period, Ulysses had restrained himself and refrained from presumptuously bothering him, finally waiting until that Tianjia pregnant with double eggs reached the end of his story.

At last, he could submit a date request.

An Ruo received the application. Ulysses was asking him to go out and enjoy the scenery... now? At night?

An Ruo stared outside in astonishment at the darkness.

Night had only just fallen. A bright moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by countless stars.

An Ruo froze.

This was the first time a Zerg had ever invited him out at night.

Would he still be able to come back?

No, wait. Would he make it back in time to sleep?

An Ruo hesitated for a while, but ultimately agreed.

He had just finished a novel, and he really did want to relax properly for a while.

Go outside and get some fresh air.

He changed into another set of clothes.

They were clothes Ulysses had given him before.

He barely managed to pick something relatively understated from among all those haute couture outfits.

Although once he put it on, there wasn't anything understated about it at all...

Ulysses arrived faster than he'd expected.

An Ruo had only just finished changing when he sensed a spatial fluctuation.

Fortunately, this time Ulysses stopped outside the door.

An Ruo hurriedly put away the clothes he'd changed out of. One piece had been tossed over the stuffed toy.

He took the clothes off the toy and discovered that its face seemed to have turned slightly red from being covered.

Ulysses had already arrived, so there was no time to pay much attention to it. An Ruo gathered up the clothes, tossed them into the washer-dryer, then hurried over to open the door.

Only as he opened it did he remember that Ulysses hadn't actually rung the doorbell. He had simply been waiting outside.

Perhaps it was because of the nighttime lighting, but An Ruo noticed that Ulysses's face also seemed a little red, while his gaze appeared to dodge and wander ever so slightly.

When he looked more carefully, however, Ulysses's gaze was perfectly upright and his expression steady.

Sure enough, he'd probably just imagined it.

An Ruo's gaze swept over the faint flush on the tips of Ulysses's ears. He paused, then continued:

"I'm ready. Where are we going?"

This time, he didn't even know where they were headed before deciding to follow Ulysses out.

Even An Ruo himself hadn't realized that he had come to trust Ulysses this much.

He could let Ulysses take him anywhere, trusting every arrangement he made.

He hadn't even requested leave from the prison authorities.

Uh... surely Ulysses had taken care of that too?

Uriel wouldn't come looking for him, right?

"To a place... that I think you'll like."

Ulysses took his hand and guided him closer, then wrapped an arm around him and stepped backward, bringing him into the spatial passage.

An Ruo realized that Ulysses was becoming more and more practiced at holding him.

He had already reached the point where he could simply do it without warning him beforehand.

Of course, An Ruo didn't mind.

When they emerged from the spatial passage, an endless expanse of fields and grassland stretched before them. Countless stars dotted the sky, while tiny specks of light flickered beside them as well.

An Ruo blinked, then looked more closely.

Tiny points of fluorescent green light, flickering on and off.

"Fireflies?"

He was astonished.

"Yes." Ulysses replied, "Based on... a dream I had before, as well as information about fireflies from virtual games, I found a similar species. They aren't Zergs, but just like the ones you wrote about in your book, their abdomens glow."

They were exactly like the fireflies An Ruo remembered.

They were beautiful.

At the same time, he noticed something in Ulysses's words.

"A dream?" An Ruo asked in surprise.

"You've dreamed about fireflies too?"

"Yes. You were there in the dream as well. You as a child." Ulysses spoke softly, his voice carrying a sense of cherishing remembrance.

An Ruo was stunned.

Ulysses had always been perceptive. He immediately noticed the change in the male's expression, as well as the word "too" in what he'd just said.

"'Too'? You mean..."

Ulysses looked at him with surprise and anticipation.

An Ruo told him about his own dream.

The little mountain village, the night scenery, the fireflies, Ulysses tearing through space to reach him, and the two of them quietly keeping each other company.

"I think I was fortunate enough to have you share your dream with me," Ulysses sighed after hearing it.

An Ruo didn't know what exactly had happened either. It sounded as though Ulysses had experienced the same dream as him.

It was as if some invisible thread had connected their dreams.

It was incredibly wondrous.

As though the distance between them had grown even smaller.

An Ruo looked at the scenery, so much like the place in his dream yet even more beautiful and expansive. He breathed in the slightly cool air carried by the night breeze and smelled the grass, trees, and flowers, feeling incomparably relaxed and refreshed.

He tugged on Ulysses's sleeve, sat down on the small hillside, and motioned for him to sit as well.

Ulysses took a military cloak out of his spatial button and spread it on the ground so An Ruo wouldn't have to sit directly on the slightly prickly grass.

An Ruo had no idea where he'd learned this. Perhaps he'd learned it from the Tianjia Emperor in the book. He was actually using a military cloak for something like this.

Ares had been stranded on a desolate planet and hadn't had anything else to use as a mat.

But Ulysses had deliberately planned this outing... Perhaps he simply didn't have anything else in his spatial button either.

An Ruo sat on one corner of the military cloak, feeling a little guilty about it, though it really was more comfortable than sitting directly on the grass.

Ulysses sat beside him, pressed close, watching the stars and fireflies together with him.

But more often than not, Ulysses was watching him.

His gaze lingered over the male's beautiful face and brushed across his bright eyes.

"Do you like it?" Ulysses asked.

An Ruo cupped his face in his hands and nodded.

"You can lie down and watch. It'll be more comfortable," Ulysses said.

An Ruo lay back.

As he lowered himself, Ulysses reached out and wrapped an arm around him. Thus, An Ruo ended up lying in the crook of Ulysses's arm, with only a turn of his head separating him from Ulysses's chest.

An Ruo paused.

It really was comfortable.

The night breeze was slightly chilly, but Ulysses's embrace was warm.

He shifted his head and nuzzled against him, then raised his eyes and met Ulysses's attentive silver gaze.

Under this night sky, his eyes looked like pale gray stars, bright and dazzling.

An Ruo suddenly felt...

Ulysses's eyes were prettier than the stars in the sky.

Prettier than the countless fireflies too.

And his nose was exceptionally handsome as well.

His lips looked good too.

Somehow, An Ruo remembered the photo Ulysses had sent him and thought about the cherry stem.

He really could tie a cherry stem into a knot with his tongue.

So impressive.

An Ruo was still lost in thought when he suddenly realized that Ulysses had lowered his head and moved closer. Then something strangely warm and soft pressed against his lips, somehow combining firmness and softness in a wonderful way.

Ulysses had the ability to see straight through a Zerg's heart.

When the male's gaze lingered on his lips, Ulysses took it as a hint.

He wrapped one arm around the male's waist while his other hand supported the back of his head, gradually deepening the kiss, showing the male the results of all his practice and eagerly awaiting his evaluation.

The male's hand came to rest on his arm and lightly gripped it.

Gripping his arm meant he wanted him to slow down, so Ulysses should ease the pace.

If the hand climbed onto his back, it meant he wanted him to continue and liked the current pace. If the male held him tightly, perhaps that even carried a hint of urging him on.

If he lightly patted Ulysses's shoulder or pushed him, that meant he wanted him to stop.

After only a few kisses, Ulysses had already accumulated a wealth of experience from the male's reactions.

This would be a lifelong subject of study for him.

Ulysses slowed down and took his time.

Eventually, that hand slowly climbed onto his back.

Ulysses's heart trembled. He continued the kiss with even greater focus and passion, as though a wildfire had ignited in his chest, burning until the blood throughout his entire body seemed to boil.

Only when he realized that the male could no longer keep up with his breathing did he hurriedly pull away.

An Ruo lay on the military cloak, his hair scattered around him, his entire mind hazy.

His lips seemed to have gone numb, yet at the same time every sensation seemed magnified. With every breath, all he could smell was Ulysses's pleasant scent, completely overwhelming the fragrance of flowers, grass, and earth across the fields.

Ulysses braced himself beside him, his silver eyes bright, and asked once again:

"Do you like it?"

The last time he'd asked, he'd meant whether An Ruo liked this place.

The fields, the night sky, and the fireflies.

But this time, he wasn't asking only about those things.

There were other things too.

A kiss, or perhaps more.

An Ruo couldn't answer. He could only stare blankly at the handsome female Zerg above him.

But his heart probably liked it.

His body liked it too.

It felt wonderful, leaving him pleasantly dizzy, almost as if he were drunk.

Were Ulysses's pheromones actually alcohol?

An Ruo didn't drink.

But he liked the tipsy feeling Ulysses gave him.

He felt very happy.