How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Staring at the pile of ingredients that had been measured by Noah, because the dragon didn't trust Kaden to weigh them out himself, Kaden debated how he'd ruin the food.
He was still thinking about it when Noah looped the black apron around his back, pulling it taut against the curve of his waist. He raised his arm when Noah moved to roll up his sleeves, careful not to skim against his skin and cause any adverse reactions.
When Kaden looked up, he realized that several pairs of eyes had turned to watch them. He frowned, tilting his head. "What is it?" He asked to the nearest classmate.
They flushed and turned away, washing the soap off their hands. "Nothing! Nothing, sorry, I didn't mean to stare."
"Is it really nothing?"
"Yes!"
"You're awfully jumpy, aren't you? A telling sign of somebody with something to hide, flustered because—"
"Kaden." called Noah, directing him away from bullying the poor classmate, and back to the counter of ingredients. "Pay attention."
Kaden nodded obediently, glancing over the spread again. Macarons, he'd heard before among the whisper of chattering in the hallways, were a popular and fancy sweet that was also difficult to make.
Fragile and pesky things that refused to shape themselves unless treated with absolute delicacy. And Kaden, evidently, did not have a feathered touch or careful hands.
"I think I should just watch you. You demonstrate it today, and I'll make it for you another day. What do you say?" After all, he was much more interested in tasting the sweets than the process of it.
Well, it wasn't a lie that he wanted to learn how to bake and cook, seeing as he hadn't the opportunity in his past life. But watching Noah bake or cook proved equally amusing and insightful, so he didn't mind that either.
Unfortunately, the dragon wouldn't let him off easy.
"I'll instruct you. And you'll follow my instructions."
Kaden hummed. "I don't think that's a good idea, really, my dear Bellamy. There's no teamwork in that, we should be working side by side, don't you think?"
The dragon stared at him coldly. "Then should I hold your hands and guide you to each step?"
"Oh, I understand your ploy now."
"And that is?"
"You're seeking reasons to hold my hand. Bellamy, you need only ask and I'll spread my fingers and interlock them with yours, as you wish."
Leave it to Kaden to make something such as holding hands sound odd and obscene. Noah shook his head dismissively, debating whether to strangle the amused character in front of him, or to educate him.
Instead, he tugged the bowl of chopped dark chocolate for the ganache filling, and raised up a piece to Kaden's endlessly talking mouth.
Kaden blinked at the offering. "Is this the chocolate that's sweet as I?"
"Sweeter." answered Noah flatly.
Satisfied, Kaden took a bite of the rich, 90% cocoa dark chocolate and scrunched up his nose at once, frozen in an expression of bitterness. Noah had never felt more satisfied in his life.
Despite his reaction, Kaden slowly chewed the chocolate as it coated his tongue, letting the sinking and rich bitterness fill his mouth, and swallowed reluctantly.
"Your verdict?" said Noah knowingly, moving to grab the egg whites and a whisk.
Kaden paused, walking to the side to sip on some milk. He walked back and smiled. "I understand. You don't think of me as sweet, but rather sophisticated and elegant, with a deceiving appearance that hides bitterness."
Noah decided to not attempt and understand the nonsense that Kaden whipped out of thin air, and grabbed two eggs within his long and defined fingers. Kaden's eyes lit up in a moment, a sparkle of innocent curiosity.
A premonition brewed in Noah's stomach as he watched Kaden walk over. The man stared at Noah's hand that held an egg and asked, "Can you crack it with one hand?"
'I don't have a habit of doing so."
Why would he crack it with one hand, when he had two hands he could use to guarantee success?
Logic over skill factor—he had no interest in appearing cool.
Though according to the peeping stares around the pair, he was interesting enough already.
Kaden, however, was surprisingly persistent. He'd seen it once, in the window of a famous bakery along the streets of Corpus. Not that he'd been allowed to eat the pastries created by eggs cracked with one hand.
But it was Noah. Noah, the great. Noah, the fabulous and likely annoyed.
Certainly the dragon could demonstrate, and Kaden would have the satisfaction of eating food created by a skillfully cracked egg.
Of course, it wasn't as if he knew that his interest was childish and a little silly. But he'd seen it back in the slums, a boy with bones for limbs that could only dream of eating such foods.
He didn't want to hold onto regrets anymore.
He wouldn't die with regrets again.
Noah seemed to register something in Kaden's expression and sighed, placing one of the two eggs down before bringing one against the counter. He tapped twice, and spread his fingers, prying open the shell.
He separated the yolk from the whites after and lazily glanced sideways at Kaden. "Satisfied?"
"One more time." Then, a little sheepishly, he added, "Please."
"So you've learned how to ask properly."
"You're a good teacher, Bellamy." praised Kaden. "Therefore, you should indulge in your students wishes."
"Were you my student, I'd have failed you."
"Really? Not even, say, a 60% grade?"
One kept raising the grade, and the other kept lowering it. There was no possibility of meeting in the middle.
Instead, Kaden grinned. "Now, oh fabulous and charming Bellamy, since I've already failed your class, aren't you going to give me supplementary classes? You can begin by showing me how to crack eggs."
'Persistent.' thought the dragon, not without affection.
Noah tilted his head, and reached out to grab the second egg, performing the same set of motions. Kaden watched, fascinated. And clearly, it wasn't anything otherworldly or magical, but he found it skillful and wonderful.
No doubt, if he tried, the shell would splatter into the yolk, combining yellow and whites together to form a pale mixture.
Although egg shells were a source of protein, he'd argue.
Regardless, for all the things he couldn't do, weren't they akin to magic?
His eyes had curved while watching, softening the sharp and feline green eyes, as his lips curled in faint delight. Genuine delight.
It was because of those reactions that even the first time, when Noah had felt dread seeing Kaden step into the classroom and into his space, his space to feel comfortable and safe, he hadn't dropped the class.
The dragon had considered it. While he had been interested in discovering Kaden's true face, he hadn't originally wanted that man to occupy his every moment.
But Kaden stopped pretending in moments like this. When he wasn't busy worrying about the public eye, when he wasn't lost in the trappings of his own dark thoughts. He was silly; he believed in the little things.
Kaden himself didn't realize, but the group of girls gossiping on the next table did. They saw, with delight and inner squeals, how the collected dragon's gaze turned gentle, and his frowning lips smoothened into a straight line—
—for Noah Bellamy, the man who rarely smiled, such softness could not be anything other than a smile.
The girls squealed and whispered, "Although his lips are still forming a straight line, if we measure it on an angle... it's definitely not the same 90 degrees!"
"Yes, yes! There's a small tilt! I swear on my mathematics grades!'
The dragon was frightening, certainly, with an in-born strength that could kill a regular human in moments. A gaze carved of sharpened glass, chilling and terrifying. Students both wanted to befriend him for fame and also shy away.
The group of girls in particular had similar feelings and had been gossiping when Kaden Chauvet, an equally infamous character for much worse reasons, slipped behind them with a relaxed smile playing at his lips.
The green eyes, circling with an unfathomable cruelness. He'd smiled, then raised a finger to tap his lips.
"Spreading rumours about my dearest Bellamy, are you?" he had asked.
Without waiting for a response from the shocked cluster of girls, he continued. "I don't advise it. He doesn't enjoy others speaking about him behind his back, so I won't condone it either. Alright?"
What other answer could they give but yes? And after that, they'd loyally joined the small fan group of men and women alike who paid attention to the duo.
After concluding that Kaden was thoroughly satisfied, Noah passed the bowl of separated egg whites to Kaden.
"Whisk it."
"Can I take your silence as an embarrassed admittance—"
"Now."
Kaden silently grabbed the bowl and started whisking, lest the dragon threaten to stop teaching him, as he did during their first lesson.
At some point, his arm grew sore and heavy and he couldn't help but complain—and though to most, his complaints were something he kept to himself, Kaden felt like irritating Noah wasn't so bad.
He'd learned that complaints were awful and not to be said.
They were things he shouldn't burden on others.
But the dragon, despite his scowls, listened to his every complaint. He didn't ignore, dismiss or shut Kaden out. He didn't beat or abandon either.
Really, Noah was too kind, wasn't he?
Noah, standing at the side and mixing the almond flour with icing sugar, glanced sideways at his silent companion, who looked on the verge of complaints but said nothing yet.
Without a word, Noah scooped away the bowl and placed a pot with heavy cream in Kaden's hands. "Heat this to a simmer. When small bubbles appear."
Having his task taken away before he could speak, Kaden felt reluctant. "No, I'll continue whisking." said the man, his lazy arms protesting.
"Heat it. You'll prepare the ganache—with the chocolate that's as sweet as you."
"...how was I supposed to understand the," Kaden paused, contemplating ridiculous nonsense in his head. "The depth and poetry and meaning in your choice of dark chocolate. I didn't know you felt for me so intricately?"
Noah stared, unamused and Kaden moved over to the stove silently. They remained in silence for a few moments, before the latter, not by choice, had more questions.
"By small bubbles, how small is small? And how many of said bubbles are necessary to bubble on the surface to be adequate?"
Kaden took off one glove, feeling his palms sweat. The scars were faded enough to go unnoticed temporarily, and it would only be while he hovered near the flame.
He deeply feared messing up Noah's dessert, and making a mistake. While doing so, he nervously tilted the pot and the edge of hid finger, right where his skin separated from the nail, grazed past the burning metal.
Noah noticed; Kaden did not.
The man continued peering at the heavy cream in the pot that didn't bubble at all, and wondered how long it would take. Abruptly, his hand was yanked sideways.
"What—!"
Kaden tossed his head up, alert and startled at the gloved hands that wrapped around his wrist.
A dark flicker of irritation crossed the dragon's face as his raven eyes skimmed the faded scars, then moving to the burst of red from being burnt. Kaden realized and attempted to pry himself away. "Oh. It's fine. It doesn't hurt."
"Does it not hurt, or have you grown numb to the pain?"
"Is there a difference?"
"There is." grumbled Noah lowly as he dragged Kaden to the sink, running lukewarm water over the burned area. "And you are a fool for not knowing."
Kaden could only wonder how Noah's glove-wearing speed had become so proficient, and wonder why the dragon cared at all. He lowered his gaze to the gloved hand around his, the layer of fabric separating Noah's touch.
He mumbled, "It really isn't as big of a deal as you're making it."
The grasp around his wrist grew painfully tight. "If you burn yourself, I'll run water over your wound. If you stab yourself, I'll clean and bandage your body. I do not care if you enjoy risking your own health and safety—I will not."
Noah's words were a strange concoction of warmth and kindness, with bitterness and grating anger. Of a loyal friend, and something more.
A person who cared for him while wanting nothing in return. To scold him for his careless behaviour, and tell him in some odd way to take care of his body better.
The last to have done that was Rosa Alexandra Chauvet.
A sharp sting of pain throbbed at her memory, and for a second he saw red again. And it wasn't the same as the many corpses left in his wake. No, Rosa was a bleeding pool of murkiness, melted skin and body crawling to save him.
She'd died smiling, softly, as a mother would. As the closest thing he'd ever have to a mother, to a parent.
"Kaden." Her voice whispered, and Kaden swiveled his head in confusion, wide-eyed. His face paled as he turned again. "Kaden. Remember me, Kaden."
"Are you happy?" the ghost spoke softly, kindly but all Kaden heard was a taunting of his own imagination. Telling him, why and how could he be happy, enjoying life trivially like this when the weight of his sins never really left.
He only pretended they did.
"Kaden Chauvet!" A body held onto his shoulders as he slumped to the ground. Cold but reliable hands, a deep voice that penetrated his ears. "Wake up!"
Kaden's eyes snapped open, and when they did, he recognized familiar stares of horror from his classmates. They watched him, as if he were a monster, a horrible thing of their nightmares.
His head throbbed.
At first, in his daze, he didn't understand why.
Then he saw it.
The way the walls distorted, shapeless and curving eyes blinking into the smooth surface, how the shadows begun to stretch out into branches of arms toward the lights.
And the red, a dark and putrid colour, running down his skin and bleeding into the greedy floorboards, eagerly clicking with sound as they wobbled, and crooked, stiff worms squeezed past the cracks, spilling in piles at the students' feet.
Noah stared at him deeply, shaking his shoulders with a firmness that could break through bone. "Wake up, Kaden Chauvet." He said again, calmer after seeing the recognition in the other's face. "Your delusions—your ability is going out of control."
Kaden suddenly felt terribly cold, but it was a welcoming one. It was comforting and familiar, and it beckoned him to its embrace.
It didn't give him the safety of Noah's cold arms; it stirred the madness of his mind. Tugging at power stirring in his depths, of illusions and imagination hidden.
"Kaden." warned Noah once more.
"I can't. I can't." Kaden said slowly, trying to break free from the chill inside to focus on the cold of Noah's hold. "I don't know what happened."
"Have you overexerted your abilities? The Professor warned of such things."
"I've hardly used my abilities. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not that foolish. I... I've only used it a few times."
"Then there may be another trigger." Noah sighed, a frustrated and worried sort of sigh that only made Kaden more confused. "Close your eyes."
A pair of cool hands, that even the layer of fabric between couldn't smother the soothing calm in the dragon's fingertips, rested over his eyes.
Noah pulled him closer, slumping to the ground to regain a sense of balance.
"Breathe."
Time seemed to freeze around them, and Kaden wondered if it really had, if Noah was risking his own ability in order to drag Kaden back to reality. But it worked, and the sinner fell into a routine breathing.
The shadows begun to recede, the blood and worms slithered between the cracks. The eyes gradually closed, fading into the smooth surface of the walls.
Time begun to move again.
And the door burst wide open, a huffing, well-dressed Professor standing.
Professor Raymond's calm, gentle appearance paled, looking gravely. "Mr. Chauvet. I'm afraid I'll need you to step outside with me."