Profound thoughts, I tell you!

What followed after was exactly as one would expect. Ambulances took many people to the hospital, and firemen quickly put out the remaining flames. Policemen took Noah's and Trey's statements first, then proceeded to question other witnesses. The two were told that they would be contacted for follow up questions shortly by the investigator who will be taking over the case. And since Aris worked with the police regularly due to his identity and Soothing abilities, he'd probably just get a call from one of his inspector buddies.

All in all, they were done with the hassle very quickly. Would have been done sooner if Noah hadn't insisted for the medical personnel to give Trey a checkup. And then for them to clean up and apply bandaids to those few slight cuts and bruises, much to Trey's utter red-faced embarrassment.

Noah himself, thanks to Trey's careful care, didn't receive any injuries whatsoever. He only looked a bit ruffled from all that rolling about, a testament how clean the streets of this futuristic city were! All hail the cleaning robots! (/*^o^)/*

And so, Noah and Trey took a leisurely stroll through the chaotic station and, as if it was just another ordinary day, boarded a Magcart. It's worth noting that the Maglev tube wasn't damaged in any way, high-quality construction! Five-star rating!

The Magcarts inside the tube, which were small, bullet-shaped vehicles, were also perfectly fine. The interior of a Magcart was just made of two rows of comfy seats facing each other. It was basically this world's version of a cab. You'd get in with your companions, input a destination from the control panel, and enjoy the brief yet comfortable ride.

Or at least, what should have been a comfortable ride.

Trey sat there stiffly, with his back ramrod straight. His eyes darted left and right, desperately trying to find a distraction that would take his mind off of totally inappropriate thoughts he'd been having.

But try as he may, he just couldn't stop thinking about how comfortable it felt to have Noah's slender body straddling his waist. Nor could he stop wondering how it would have felt if he hadn't hesitated back then to grab his waist.

Noah, sitting opposite of him, was also lost in his thoughts, not feeling any less uncomfortable:

Ah, curse his poor sense of time! He was already running late for his lunch date with his sis!

No, wait! With so many burn victims coming in, will his sis even be able to take him out for lunch?!

Noooo!! But his stomach was grumbling in protest! This overworked Soother needed feeding!!

Would he be a bit of a dick if he didn't wait for her and went to have lunch all by himself?

No, no, his priorities were all wrong! What's of most importance right now is…!

…deciding where to go for lunch! How about that newly opened spicy food restaurant down the street? Or maybe that famous seafood place downtown?

Blackie: "…" Are we not going to discuss what just happened?? The Blazer rampage? The sniper? Anything even remotely important?!? w(°A°w)

Noah let out a quiet sigh. So hard to decide!

On the other side of the room, Trey also let out a sigh.

Last week, when he had heard the news that one of the Cordia family guards would be promoted to become Aris's personal guard, he didn't dare hope he'd be the one chosen for the position. He had only ever heard good things about this young master, and he had heard many, many things over the years from Aris's previous bodyguard who was now enjoying his retirement:

"Young master is very warm and humble", "Young master treats everyone with the same amount of respect, be it a guard or a housekeeper", "Young master is easy to get along with", "Haha, yes, young master is quite a charmer!", "Young master might be of prestigious birth, but I believe there is no one in this world that deserves it more than him.", "Young master is working hard every day with firm dedication to make Concordia the best city it can be!"

He heard such things thousand of times, but nothing could compare with meeting Aris in person.

Brave, confident, selfless, decisive, smart! The list of virtues only grew.

Perhaps Trey had been too nervous when meeting him this morning, or perhaps it was because he had been too preoccupied trying to give him a good first impression, but he had failed to notice just how dazzling Aris was as a person.

Only now that he was sitting opposite to him, did he realize just how blind he had been the last couple of hours.

Cordia Aris was simply a perfect image of a prince charming in the hearts of every young girl… or boy.

Slender limbs with flawlessly white skin. Messy light brown hair that glittered like strands of gold under the sun. Long thick eyelashes framing his soul-sucking honey-colored eyes that perpetually sparkled with warmth and optimism, as if everything he laid eyes upon was inherently beautiful.

When he gazed at you with that pair of eyes, which was completely free from any form of judgment or pretense, he made you feel like he was looking only at you. Like his eyes saw the beauty within you that you yourself didn't know you possessed. Being the target of his attention made you feel that you were special, valuable in some way.

Just being by his side, the world around you would suddenly become more pleasing to the eye.

And when that pair of eyes glittered mischievously, or those lovely pink lips pulled into a warm smile, you would become unable to tear your eyes away from the sight.

Unfortunately for both men, the Magcart ride was way too short to allow them to come to a decision in regards to their worries.

Thus, when the ride came to its end, one came to a profound realization that he seemed to have started developing feelings he shouldn't be having for his charge, while the other arrived at an almost as equally profound realization that he could just eat lunch at one place and eat dinner at the other!

…alright, so there was nothing profound about what Noah was thinking…

At long last, or to be more precise, in less than five minutes, they arrived at the Central Hospital where Aris's sister worked as a Healer.

Healers were nearly as rare as Soothers. So, his sister's position in the hospital was pretty high up. But this also meant that there weren't many who could stand-in for her.

As Noah had clearly experienced when he knocked on her office door and found it locked and empty.

"Aris? Are you here to see your sister?" came a familiar deep voice from behind.

From the door opposite came a handsome, gentle-looking doctor. He wore a white lab coat over a dark green sweater. The forest green eyes that focused on Aris through his thin glasses were curved in a smile

"Shaw!" Noah's lips spread into a dazzling smile. This kind doctor was a personal friend of the Cordia siblings. When Aris took his sister out for lunch, Shaw would often join them.

Seeing Noah's brilliant smile, Shaw's gaze softened further. He found this cute junior was especially adorable today. He had an appearance of a ruffled kitten yet strutted about proudly as if everything was in perfect order.

"Yeah, I'm here to pick her up for lunch. Have you had lunch yet? Want to join us?" Noah invited.

Shaw chuckled warmly in response, "I would love to, unfortunately, both of us are on duty so we can't go. We just received many second and third-degree burn victims."

Shew waved playfully as he hurried down the hallway. "Have to run, Aris."

"About my sis…!" Noah jumped in agitation.

"Check your communicator." Shaw advised with a clearly amused tone.

Noah looked at his left wrist, around which was the said communicator. It looked like an elegant smartwatch. On the small screen, unread message notification was blinking, sender: Sis.

Oh yeah, he seems to have heard a new message ringtone while he was busy retelling the events to the cops.