It was a tight fit.
Peter was so stiff that he didn't know what to do; he only felt his cheeks burning hot, his thick tail thumping violently and uncontrollably against the bed.
[Human warmth.]
[So warm.]
Finn's thoughts drifted lightly into Peter's mind, carrying a hint of soft dependency.
Meanwhile—
And then there was his own heartbeat, amplified to the extreme.
Chapter 15: Friend Category
Peter lay on the bed, holding Finn in a stiff embrace.
He also didn't know why it had suddenly developed into this.
Finn's head naturally rested on his shoulder, his breathing remaining steady and even, with no sign of waking.
Peter's heart, however, was racing for some inexplicable reason, the sound of his tail uncontrollably thumping against the bed still echoed clearly in his ears.
Finn's hair brushed against his neck, bringing a faint, imperceptible itch, as warm breath seeped through his pajamas. Peter didn't dare move at all; from this angle, he couldn't see the young man's face, but he could catch a glimpse of the golden sunlight falling warmly upon the young man's soft, fluffy hair.
Peter could even smell a fresh, soft sweetness—perhaps an expensive shampoo? Or a body wash?
There were soft footsteps on the stairs, but Spider-Man remained stiff and lost in his thoughts. By the time Peter reacted, Catherine was already standing at the bedroom doorway. Last night, Peter had optimistically hoped that Finn might sleepwalk back to his own room in the middle of the night, so he had intentionally left the door unlocked; now, the scene was exposed before Catherine's eyes without any concealment.
On the bed, two young men lay embracing each other, their posture excessively intimate.
Peter maintained his posture of holding the Young Master, while his heart erupted in a panicked scream: ".." I can explain!
Spider-Man subconsciously jerked his hand back, which instead felt somewhat like an attempt to cover up his guilt.
Catherine showed the same look of surprise she had when she first saw him with a long tail last night, then she gave a gentle smile.
However, this time there was an extra step: the woman reached out and gently closed the bedroom door with care.
—An excellent butler would turn a blind eye to the "private lives" of the young master and his guests.
Peter: ".." This kind of consideration only made him even more embarrassed.
He knew that Finn's butler was a married couple, he didn't even know how Catherine would describe the scene upstairs to her partner after coming downstairs; just thinking about it made Peter's ears burn again. No, he would have to explain later that this was just a misunderstanding caused by Finn's sleepwalking.
Oh, no.
Peter's distressed gaze stared at his thick tail—was there not even a shred of responsibility on his tail?
Peter? Why am I here?" Seeing Peter pull his hand away, Finn actually woke up slowly. He looked around the room and then gazed at Spider-Man in front of him with a look of confusion, quickly accepting his current situation. "Sorry, I have a habit of sleepwalking.
"It's fine." Seeing Finn wake up, Peter actually felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Anyway, this is your villa, so it's only natural that you can swim wherever you want.
"I slept quite well at your place." Finn didn't think anything was wrong with that, he stretched comfortably.
Looking at Finn, Peter suddenly thought of the boy character named Sleepless Summer that Finn had created with him as a prototype. He had the same hairstyle as Finn, but it was more like the messy, fluffy look one has just after waking up, with a few playful tufts of hair sticking up, adding a touch of vitality. The boy also wore a loose, flowing white top and white pants, with a pair of small wings on his back that looked like little clouds, making him appear innocent and cute.
Peter had always been following Finn's art account, titled [A Man with Seven Ailments]. He knew that the sudden viral success of the chibi version of Mr. Suit had caused the follower count to skyrocket; perhaps it was because office workers felt that their real-life bosses could never be quite that adorable. In an attempt to help smooth things over between the two brothers, Finn and Harry, Peter often used chibi stickers of Mr. Suit whenever he messaged Harry.
On the drawing account platform of [The Person with Seven Major Ailments], there were actually quite a few characters that had gained attention due to the traffic from Mr. Suit, with many netizens claiming they had discovered a hidden treasure of a sickly artist. But Spider-Man's favorite was still the character design of [Sleepless Summer] created by Finn. Especially in the recently updated stickers, [Sleepless Summer] was running on a hamster wheel, panting heavily, with the boy's round cheeks flushed a light red, the small wings on his back trembling slightly with his rapid breaths. He looked both hardworking and adorable, leading many fans to leave comments asking: why couldn't [Sleepless Summer]'s small wings fly?
Finn’s brow furrowed slightly as he felt a faint, stinging sensation in his abdomen.
The young man felt somewhat puzzled and reached out to lift the hem of his loose pajamas.
He could only see that some small red marks remained on the fair skin of his abdomen.
After Peter took a single glance, he averted his eyes, not daring to look any further.
"Am I having an allergic reaction?" Finn thought it was a bit strange.
It didn't seem to be there when I went to sleep last night.
"It must have been accidentally poked by my tail," Peter said hurriedly. He only said it was an accident, not daring to let Finn know that last night, his lizard tail had actively wrapped around the boy's waist while they slept. Spider-Man prayed silently in his heart that Finn's system, called System PP, would definitely not save the footage from last night, let alone play it back for Finn to see.
I see." Finn didn't take it to heart, but when he looked up at Peter, he noticed something. "Your ears are so red.
"It's nothing, it'll be fine in a little while," Peter replied vaguely.
Why has it turned red?" Finn's curiosity was piqued. He reached out instinctively, gently pinching Peter's hot, soft earlobe, then rubbing against the burning rim of his ear. "Is it because you just woke up?
For some reason, Peter didn't even pull away; he simply looked toward Finn, his gaze somewhat awkward and stiff.
Peter even felt that not only were his ears turning red, but the temperature in his cheeks was also rising.
System PP had been holding it in all night and could no longer resist saying, [Host, you cannot just pinch other people's ears.]
"But I wasn't just pinching anyone's ears; I was pinching Peter's ears," Finn said, subconsciously letting go of his hand, yet still offering a self-justifying explanation for his behavior.
System PP: [Peter also falls within this range; such actions between humans fall under the category of intimacy.]
"But I only pinched him because I thought it was curious to see his ears turning red," Finn said while still staring at Peter's flushed ears.
Spider-Man could not hear the voice of System PP, but he could hear every single word of Finn's inner thoughts.
Every single sentence seemed to strike his sore spot.
Help, stop talking!
You're just a newbie system, you're trying to teach me how to do things?" Finn suddenly thought of something and said indignantly, "Of course I know that physical contact can strengthen friendships. Before Peter and I fell out, we were maintaining a good friendship, so this kind of behavior is normal. Doesn't Noah often pat my head too?
System PP was still agonizing over whether or not to bring up last night's video for Finn to see: [..] Does the act of using one's tail to wrap around the Host while sleeping also fall within the scope of friendship?
Let's go have breakfast," Peter said, taking a deep breath as he tried to end the topic immediately. "Mrs. Wilson has already come up once just now.
When Finn and the anxious Peter came downstairs, Catherine and Butler Joseph still looked as gentle as ever, but Peter hardly dared to meet the eyes of the two housekeepers because of that embarrassing scene from this morning.
"Please wait a moment; Butler Joseph is making the maple syrup pancakes that Young Master Finn likes, they will take a little while longer." Catherine held two exquisite white porcelain bowls and placed them gently on the coffee table in the living room. Inside the bowls was blueberry granola yogurt; the fresh blueberries were plump, the granola flakes were neatly arranged, even the yogurt was drizzled into beautiful swirls, making the plating as exquisite as a work of art.
Finn was already sitting on the sofa with his bowl in hand, he patted the spot beside him casually. "Peter, come watch some TV with me. What do you want to watch?"
"Anything is fine, what do you usually watch?" Peter sat on the edge of the sofa, but this time he deliberately kept a rather large distance from Finn.
"I've been watching Korean dramas lately," Finn replied casually while scooping up a spoonful of yogurt with a small spoon, completely unaware of Peter's deliberate attempt to keep his distance.
"Korean dramas?" Peter was somewhat surprised, seemingly not expecting that Finn was the type of young man who enjoyed watching Korean dramas.
"Yeah, the plot is quite captivating." Finn nodded.
[Actually, it's mainly to observe and learn from the heartbreaking plots within; Korean dramas are very skilled in this regard.]
"Then let's keep watching the K-drama." Peter suddenly found it somewhat amusing and went along with it; he also wanted to know exactly what Finn had learned.
As soon as Finn started playing the Korean drama, Peter noticed that Catherine also sat down on a single sofa nearby, watching it with great immersion. She even held a tissue in her hand, appearing to be fully prepared to shed tears for the emotions of others.
Peter: ".." You're a butler who loves watching Korean dramas too?
Spider-Man had never seen this Korean drama before; having started halfway through, he only saw the male and female leads wailing in each other's arms on the beach. The sound of the waves in the background mingled with their suppressed sobs, the sorrowful emotions surged and overflowed like the incoming tide—clearly one of the most heartbreaking tragic turning points in the plot.
Peter had little interest in this kind of trope, yet his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward Finn beside him.
Finn was mindlessly scooping yogurt, the spoon hovering at the edge of the bowl for a long time without moving. As the plot progressed, the young man's eyes turned completely red, his long eyelashes drooping with moisture, carrying a sense of grievance, as if he were on the verge of tears. Even though it was someone else's story, the young man empathized with it completely, his lips unconsciously pursed, revealing a sense of heartbreak.
Those beautiful emerald eyes were misty now, brimming with tears, the corners of his eyes were tinged with a faint red.
Peter's heart skipped a beat for no reason.
He wanted to comfort Finn a little, but he held back, after all, it was just watching a TV show and there was no need for that.
They are truly heartbreaking." Finn's inner thoughts continued to drift into Peter's ears, carrying a hint of teeth-gritting accusation, "The screenwriter is simply inhuman.
System PP, help me record the heartbreak keywords: 'car accident,' 'amnesia,' and 'cancer.'" The heartbreaking plot had clearly provided Finn with new creative inspiration, but then again, if he possessed such songwriting skills, wouldn't collecting 100 Misery Value be child's play? "At the necessary moment, we can also stage a car accident, fake amnesia, create cancer.
Peter: ".." You really don't need to work this hard.
"I just get easily moved by these kinds of K-dramas, you don't have to go out of your way to comfort me," Finn explained to Peter, turning his head with moist eyes.
Sitting on the other side of the sofa, Peter was instead stunned.
—Me.. comforting? Did I comfort him? I didn't even say anything.
In the next second, Spider-Man lowered his head in a belated realization, only to find that his uncontrolled lizard tail had, at some point, crossed the distance between the two and wrapped around Finn's waist once again. Fortunately, the tail was long enough that it could still rhythmically and gently pat Finn's back, as if it were soothing the young man's emotions.
Pupil Tremor · Peter: "!!"
Catherine's gentle gaze swept over as well, the heat in Spider-Man's ears reached a peak at that moment.
—What on earth is going on with this tail? Why is it completely out of my control!?
Author's Note:
Entering the VIP section soon with three updates a day. More completed works are available in the column; feel free to come back and check them out.
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