Chapter 175: Believe (1/2)
”Are we really doing this?” Rakna deadpanned as he looked at Flavia sitting on a bed and tapping the spot next to her. ”There's another bed right there…” He insisted and pointed at the unoccupied bed of the large room they were in. ”I could just-”
”Denied.”
”…”
Evelyn giggled as she cleaned all the alchemical equipment on her bed. ”Give up, you won't be able to escape this by talking,” she said. ”Though I would have liked it to be me instead…” She muttered inaudibly the last part.
Rakna sighed and glanced at Nyx who was already lying down on her bed with a book open in her hands. ”Was this 'sleeping together' your idea? I don't believe these two would try to ask me that like this.”
The night goddess let out a faint smile and turned the page. ”They were pestering me about being unfair and whatnot. I replied; why not make it fair then? Take it however you want.”
”{What a clever response! Did you hear that?}” Higure said laughingly.
'…'
”{What's wrong? Did you begin to salivate as you recalled my body through my voice?}”
'Shut up, horny cat.'
”{And proud of it. More seriously, however, are you truly that nervous about this little thing? And here I thought nothing could embarrass you…}”
'The situation itself doesn't bother me. It's the social implications of spending the night in a room with three other women, on top of sharing a bed with one.'
”{I think I understand that feeling,}” Fray hummed. ”{It is one of those cases that scream 'there is something wrong going on' but you can't do anything about it.}”
”{Is that from experience?}”
”{You could say that.}”
Rakna shook his head. ”There's something even worse,” he muttered loud enough for the girls to hear and look at him questioningly. He sighed. ”Fine… I'll do it. At one condition.”
”What is it?” Flavia asked confusingly.
”If I start thrashing around, don't try to wake me up.”
”Why?”
”Because I don't want to kill you.”
”…” Flavia was struck speechless for half a minute while the others fell silent.
”I never truly slept with someone nearby before except my uncle. Only he could safely deal with me. He told me that during my nightmares I had tried to kill him unconsciously,” he said with an even colder tone than usual. Something he was doing on purpose to dissuade her. ”Think about it carefully. Are you sure you-”
”Yes.” To his distress, she interrupted him before he could even finish.
He sighed. ”That's just reckless…”
”Don't worry!” Flavia replied smilingly and leaned over the edge of the bed and hefted Tyran up onto her lap. ”He will protect me if anything happens. He doesn't need sleep and now that he is my pet, I've already started to feel the empathic connection. He'll know right away.”
Rakna blinked and cast Appraisal on the little T. Rex.
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❮ ◈ ❯
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Name: Tyrannos Mors
Age: 13 | Level: 55
Race: Undead Ancient Dreorin – Tyrannosaurus Asura Rex
Title: King of Dreorins – Anti-God
Masters: 1. Rakna Xiorra / 2. Flavia Jeina
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❮ ◈ ❯
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'Two masters…' Rakna thought. ”Did you two form a contract when you entered the Dungeon?”
”We did. My AI me told me it was possible.”
”Well… if Tyran watches over, it should be all right,” he said and turned toward his pet. ”Pronos, if you feel that something is happening too, don't hesitate to do anything to stop me.”
The little snake seemed a bit hesitant but nodded nonetheless.
”I would also like to say to say that I'll intervene if needed but…” Nyx scowled. ”Your supposedly recent skill will make it hard.”
Rakna felt a bit wry at that. He hadn't even thought of that. This Sin of Sloth had the potential to make things even worse. But at the same time, now that he was reminded of it, he supposed it was not a bad idea to try and do something about his nightmares so that he could get full advantage of the effects.
”Right… I'm sorry, I can't turn it off now. And it will ironically be even stronger when I sleep,” he said with a helpless tone. ”Fortunately Pronos should be able to bypass that.”
”So, we're all set then?” Flavia followed up and he rolled his eyes.
”Sure…”
”Good! Now, here,” she said victoriously and tapped the pillow next to her with a wide smile.
Rakna sighed and under the eyes of everyone, let out a inoffensive snarl without warning and his fangs elongated along with his fur. In the midst of the transformation, he jumped on the bed as a wolf no taller than half a meter thanks to Gigantism's shrinking.
Flavia blinked several times as she watched the lupine curl around on the bed and lay his head on his crossed legs. ”…eh?” She uttered stunned and the wolf snorted.
”Makes it less awkward,” he replied impishly. ”You never specified. Don't worry, as far as I've seen of this form, I don't shed any hair.”
The Chaos Witch blinked again until she ultimately pouted. ”That's cheating…” She mumbled and pulled the sheets over her body in one tug but Rakna's form didn't stop her from scooping over to him and borderline place her head on him.
Nyx let out a chuckle at the sight and when Evelyn was ready to go to sleep, the lights of the room were automatically switched off and the windows darkened until no light could shine through.
Rakna sighed silently as he could feel Flavia's warmth as well as her breath. He remained still for about half an hour without moving an inch and keeping a steady breath. It was a feat he could do without a problem and for a while, after he was sure she was asleep, he contemplated whether he should start meditating or not.
He would effectively be betraying Flavia's goodwill but he would avoid risks. He could try and get over his nightmares on his own at a later date.
'Can I even do that though?' He thought to himself deprecatingly. He had no qualms lying to others for the most part but Flavia was one of the people he almost felt incapable of deceiving. He could keep things to himself as much as he wanted, but he could never lie to her.
”{Is that it, devourer?}” Higure spoke up quietly, without her roguish energy which she replaced with a calmer tone that didn't break the peace of the night. ”{Are you scared?}”
'…scared?' He replied oddly. He wasn't mad about her claim. In fact, he was rather curious to know what she meant.
”{You know it yourself. Don't act as if you're unaware of it. Rakna, you live with both a craving and a fear of emotions. I already told you this. You are scared of lying to her because you do not want to lose her, in more ways than one,}” she said. ”{You are such… such a well-oiled machine.}”
'…what?' He exclaimed confusingly.
She chuckled. ”{You have so many cogs turning in that head of yours. But sadly, very few of them are tailored as they should be. But you are trying everything you can to build them. I find that to be one of your best traits, you know?}”
'What are you getting at, Higure?'