While Tavras resumed talking about his plans for his future fish, Val watched Foofy carefully.

He trotted uncomfortably close to them as they carried the big tank. Continuously, he risked getting under their feet, especially Val’s feet.

“Foofy, get away.”

At the command, he bolted several yards up the sidewalk where he stood. Calmly, he blinked as he waited for them to catch up and then started getting under their feet all over again.

“Foofy, get away!”

Like this, they went on.

Tavras had not even finished his spiel on fish before they had arrived back to the apartment. They arranged the bowls, set up the tank, and got everything ready for their new fish arrivals.

“Let’s go back and get the fish!” Tavras cheered. “I am so excited.”

“I can see that!” Val jogged to catch up with him and had to consciously walk fast to keep up with Tavras’s eager pace.

“We do have to make one quick detour though,” she interrupted. On the way back to the pet store, Val stopped in a grocery store to buy a bag of big carrots.

“Why do you want carrots?” Tavras asked as he paid for them.

“They are treats for Foofy because he was such a good boy, helping us carry the fish tank!”

A scowl of confusion pressed down Tavras’s face. “He was getting under our feet the entire time, and you had to yell at him a lot.”

“Yeah, only because he was trying to help!” Val headed back out of the store with the precious dog treats in her arms.

Sitting down in front of Val, Foofy looked on with big, expecting eyes. It was almost as if he knew these carrots were for him.

“Were you a good boy Foofy?”

His gaze intensified as he waited for the moment to come.

“Good boy!” Val had opened the bag and offered the biggest carrot of them all down to Foofy’s nose.

Gently, he accepted it and lay down on the sidewalk to begin his munches and crunches of the giant carrot.

“Are you really going to make us stand here and wait while he eats that carrot?”

“Yes. We are going to watch him and admire how cute he is.” With all fascination, Val watched Foofy snap bits of carrot off and roll them around in his mouth.

Tavras crossed his arms and leaned against the nearest building. “This is probably how you felt when I was talking about fish, so I will accept this.”

“I liked hearing you talk about fish!” Albeit, watching Foofy do literally anything was better than fish in Val’s opinion.

Sometimes, bits of carrot fell out of his mouth. Then, Foofy would have to twist his head down to the ground and eat his treat off of the pavement. This went on until he had gobbled up the entire carrot.

“Yes! Good boy.” Val gave him some pats on the head as he got up, and they were off.

At the pet store, they purchased so many bags of fish that the store gave them each a box to carry back.

Looking down to the box of fish in his arms, Tavras smiled broadly. “I have lived a very long and fulfilling life,” he began, “but let me tell you, Val. This is the pinnacle of what life has to offer right here.”

She nodded along. As old as Tavras sounded when he talked like that, she had to agree with his sentiment. “Yes. Pet ownership is very fulfilling.”

“No, I was specifically talking about fish. Some may try to say: ‘ascend to godhood’, but no. It’s overrated. The key to life is actually fish.”

Val laughed. Fish were fine, but she put becoming a goddess on a higher level of priority for some reason. “If you say so Tavras, I will believe you as my mentor.”

They carried on back to the apartment. This time, instead of walking right under her feet, Foofy ran ahead. Maybe he felt excited about the new arrivals to their home. Val liked to think that Foofy would enjoy looking at the fish, but that was when he started up in some deep woofs.

A figure stood near the door to their apartment. The blazing red hair allowed the imposing man to be easily seen. None other than Arius was loitering outside of their apartment, waiting for them to get back.

“Now, that is creepy.” Tavras’s knuckles turned white as he shifted the weight of the box to balance it in one arm. His other hand stuck out to point at Arius. “As far as I know, he did that all on his own. Arius figured out where we live without an ability, that fucking stalker.”

Val looked on at him with horror. Arius just had to show up after she had finally managed to lift Tavras’s spirits. A massive frown pulled down her lips because she was concerned for Tavras, but also for herself. Why did Arius have to show up at their apartment? Hopefully this had nothing to do with her hidden identity.

A tight swallow slid down her throat. Yesterday, Val thought that she had done a good job in her guise as a boy in front of Arius and Evalaite. She could not have been found out after not even two days had passed on the Summit. If she had done something wrong, hopefully Arius would just be upset that she had not been aware of his role as a god of love.

In retrospect, calling Evalaite a love goddess instead of sex goddess had been quite the terrible mistake. Arius had every reason to take offense to that, given their dynamic in the past. He had been nothing but kind, while Evalaite had been nothing but manipulative. With any luck, that would be the issue.

Simply put, Val would pay for putting her foot in her mouth a hundred times over if it meant that her gender would go undiscovered. For some reason, she did not hope much for this. Arius was a god of war. He could probably see through a ruse as far as his keen eyes could see. There was nothing that Val could do about that now, except to think of her bargaining chips that she had with Arius.

With boxes of fish in hand, they approached to see what he wanted.