BXBX NOVEL Chapter 173 Three's A Crowd
Harker snapped out of it when he heard his voice.
"Hey, Harker. You need to drink your tea." Roland said. "Can you hold it yourself?"
He only realized now that he had finished the soup. Roland was at the door, while Mina and Joan were by his side. Mina was holding the tea cup that Roland had prepared. They had been calling out to him, but he only snapped out of it when he heard his best friend's voice.
"Oh…." He robotically took the cup and sipped it.
"Joan told us everything, if you weren't listening." He said. "I'll send my men right away to go after the Arctic Seer. They couldn't have gone that far yet, relatively speaking. They're probably still in the Arctic Ocean, that's what I'm sure of."
The tea tasted bitter. He had always made fun of Roland for liking bitter and bland things. He doesn't even add sugar or sweeteners to his coffee or spices in his food, and only eats sweets very rarely.
He had an old man's palette, Harker would say.
But now he felt bad doing so. He thought that this could be because of his health condition, or that Roland needed to maintain that perfect figure so he was severely health conscious. Either way, he always held back on not just the luxuries of good food, but luxuries of life in general.
He won't say no to any meal served to him, and would be amicable to everyone. He barely even expressed what he felt about something unless certain limits had been reached. He did everything to excel, and besides the video games and women, Harker had never really seen him pursue anything like a hobby or passion.
And people admired him for that. Living a dull, miserable life. He was set on the goal, and kept his focus there.
Roland contacted Alejandro and the others for this new mission of going after Victoria's ship. After that, he then excused himself. "I'll get going, you two make sure he recovers first before he even leaves this room."
Harker sat up. "No, wait! Don't go!"
He needed to ask him about Hanker. He knew that he was the one that clone was talking about, but he has no clue what exactly happened that led to these events. Hanker was gone.
So too were the memories he carried that may bring light to this mystery.
Roland turned back and sighed. The girls were also confused by this sudden outburst from Harker.
"What is it, Hark?" He said softly, but….
He looked a little hesitant to move closer to him.
Harker suddenly felt that this conversation needed to be private. So he said: "I…. I need to talk to you later. When will you get back?"
"When we find Victoria's location, I guess. I'd keep you updated with the communicator. But for now, you stay here with the girls for the whole day. You need to rest and fully recover before you try going after her again, since she seemed to have the same powers as Legion after all and had more control over it."
"Ok..." Harker said, and yet he still felt hesitant to let him go.
Roland furrowed his brows ever so slightly, then went on his way. Mina and Joan worriedly checked his condition, and Harker had to reassure them. He got out of the tub and changed into the hotel's bath robes. They all stayed in this one bedroom with a king size bed.
Mina told them about what happened with An Xin. Harker and Joan were surprised to learn that she was actually the cause of the earthquake, as even Harker wouldn't have expected that her screaming skill could be that powerful. He made a mental note of this fact for future use.
Speaking of Mina's skills….
"There are scales growing back again." Harker pointed out. "We need to exchange DNA."
Joan knew what exchanging DNA meant, and stood up. "I'll just be in the living room until you're done, then…."
But unexpectedly, Mina stood up and took her hand.
"No, I…. Well, I don't want to force you or anything. But you can stay here."
Joan looked beyond confused. "I can what? A-Are you sure?"
Mina nodded, looking more nervous than Harker had ever seen her before. She was usually so confident and assertive that it was like seeing another side of her.
"I have decided that…. If Harker would want to have you by his side, then I'd let him. I'd share the chance to love him the way I do, if that's what brings him happiness."
Both of them were too stunned to speak for a moment.
Harker then went to reach for Mina's other hand. "Are you really sure? What changed? After you showed me that….. I thought you wouldn't be willing to."
Mina smiled softly. "Well, someone made me realize that having someone to love you doesn't mean that I would get left behind. I have trust in you and your love for me, Harker."
Again, Harker knew she was talking about Roland. He could just feel it in his gut, it's always him. Always had been the one that sets things in motion.
Harker turned to Joan. "Would…. Would you be fine with that? The three of us?"
Joan took a while to get over her shock, and when she realized that this was really happening, that they really were accepting her in this relationship…
She cried tears of joy, and tackled both of them into a hug.
"Yes… I want to love Harker with you. I don't want us to fight. I never wanted that. I just love him, and you're right, I'd do anything for his happiness."
Mina smiled, and patted her back as they hugged tightly. "Thank you for taking care of him on the times I can't. I used to be envious, but now I'm just grateful he had someone."
After the hug, Mina went to lock her lips with Harker's. Harker kissed her fervently, not feeling anxious about Joan being around as they did. She slowly let go on purpose, and gestured at Joan.
Harker felt that warmth in his heart again because of this gesture, and kissed Joan just as he did with her. Mina thought there would be discomfort the first time, but there wasn't. She just felt light and free, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders. All the fears of abandonment being washed away once she allowed herself to let go.
Harker alternated from kissing them both, and the two women showered him with twice the love on that bed. As the saying goes, 'Three's a crowd' and it was pretty crowded for three people there. But it only felt warm and perfect for this cold rainy summer morning in London.