Aeric chuckled under his breath as Xii stomped away from the café. She was muttering curses at the twins as they made their way to one of the bar/casino hybrids. “Do they do that often, prank you with things like that?”

“Yea, the little insufferable bastards. To be fair I get them back just as hard, although honestly being able to mess with each other like that is healthy for a team’s state of mind. They only do it for little things, not any big expenses. I’m not even actually mad I think, it’s more that it feels like the proper way to react?”

“Caught in your own little theatre play?”

She grinned at him, “Basically.”

“I’m not big on gambling by the way, I’m worried I’ll get addicted and end up squandering my money on it.”

“And that’s why Ali has the majority of our money. So we don’t have to worry about that. On another note, how is the planning for the fashion show going?”

Aeric scratched at his chin, “Well first of all I totally underestimated how much time getting everything arranged would take. Getting the jeans and the material for them will also take longer than I expected. Within a week? That was just plain stupid of me, need a month to have everything arranged properly. Maybe more.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to see how much I can do and help with before the expedition leaves.”

Aeric blanched, “What, does that mean the show would actually fall somewhere around the time you and Yi are gone? I’d have to postpone it till you’re back. A lot of the ideas I have are based on the pair of you as models. Plus I simply want you there to experience my first event.”

Xii grabbed his hand and squeezed, “Are you in that much of a rush then? Better to take your time and make a fantastic event than rush it and end up with something subpar.”

He smiled at her and nodded, “Yea, I should slow down actually, I keep thinking I have to get things done fast. But it’s not like there’s a deadline, plus it might actually be better to be a bit higher level. Who knows what kind of skill I’ll get at thirty. I shouldn’t be that far off anymore, another custom piece or two.”

She smiled at him and dragged him to the place she had in mind. The bar itself wasn’t that special and the casino had most of the games he was familiar with and a few he wasn’t. They tested out the variety of games and moved from one to the next. Xii had him taste a few of the drinks that the barman made, some magical cocktails were downright artworks on their own. Once they finished in the casino they moved onto the next area, meeting the prostitutes.

Night was falling and Xii led them through the darker alleys with the confidence of someone who knew the city well. The first prostitute they met was a rather lanky male drow, he was one of the ones Xii had in mind for oversight. The drow explained how his skill functioned as basically a bucket of cold water that was thrown over whoever got carried away. He told them that they wouldn’t be the first to ask for this kind of oversight. Many berserkers or other classes which held emotional skills often needed something to help push the brakes when things got a little heated.

Of the various people they ended up meeting, the one who Aeric felt the least uncomfortable with was a rabbit beastwoman. She was somewhat on in years and had plenty of experience. He got the distinct impression that she’d barely be paying attention to them if they did have sex. She seemed uninterested in the act itself and asked them if they’d feel bothered if she brought a book while she was there. She assured them that she could feel the onset of emotions and be able to stop them from getting out of hand in the first place. She had experience with similar things and keeping the balance just right was an art according to her.

Once they finished talking with her they made their way back to their home, where Xii still had to make dinner. Aeric looked at the sunlight just barely making itself known over the wall and the houses. “I’ll admit that having someone there to watch over me having sex is super weird.”

“A deal breaker?”

Aeric scoffed and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “I’m not that whimsical, I know I’m impulsive and can get carried away. But I’m more than willing to compromise on things, this is not even a real compromise. It’s just a cultural step that I have to get used to. It might be odd to me but I’ll get over it.”

“So who was your favourite? I got the feeling that if you had a man watching over us you’d feel extra weird.”

“Yea totally, having another guy watch? That’s just… might actually be enough to turn me off. Guys can be really weird about stuff like that, sorry.”

She laughed and tightened the squeeze on his hand, “It’s fine. We each have our own little things. I’m sure we can make it work, don’t think I didn’t notice your reticence about sharing our bed either. I thought that was a fantasy most guys had in common, having multiple girls in their bed.”

Aeric turned to her and pursed his lips, “For most guys that’s probably true, but as I’ve mentioned I really dislike sharing. I get possessive and I don’t want any part of the feelings you have for me replaced by another. A girl is a bit different than a guy because they don’t uhhh… Fill the same slot? So it’s not like you’re replacing me, but it’s still sharing. Again it might take some time for me to get over that.”

Xii tilted her head, “Even if I invited, say, Celina?”

“That might actually be worse, I don’t know. I haven’t given this much thought, but sharing our bed seems to me like the first step to polygamy.”

“Which you disapprove of?”

“No, people who can do polygamy are impressive. I remember watching something a while ago that said something in the vein of ‘I have more than enough love in me to share it with multiple people’. It was about a small group who shared their lovers, for them it worked and it seemed wonderful. But when I think of sharing? It twists me up inside and makes me jealous and uncomfortable. I just don’t think it’s something that I can do.”

Xii shrugged, “That’s fair. Well it’s not something that will be coming up anytime soon. But the date, good enough?”

Aeric grinned and leaned in and gave her a kiss, “The date was great, that was honestly the most fun I’ve had on a date I think ever. Still felt odd to be treated by the girl on the first date instead of doing it myself. Kind of felt like I broke an unspoken rule.”

“Well I’m a strong independent woman.” She winked at him. Tugging him a little closer as they slowly made their way back to their home.

They talked some more about the little things as they passed the threshold to the shop. They stepped through the doorway to the inquisitive eyes of Treeka, her gaze flicked between the pair of them before her beak opened and she smiled at them with a happy expression on her face. “I guess the date was a success, the two of you are glowing with happiness. It’s very cute.”

Aeric smirked, “Well we are already doing our best to win the cutest couple in Ursolf contest. Pretty sure I can get Xii to muscle out the competition.”

“And miss the chance to win the competition fair and square? I’d never.”

They chuckled as they moved up through the store, Aeric glanced at the lack of customers and turned to Treeka. Who blinked and raised a taloned finger, “By the way, that guy you made the dark suit for came and picked it up. He was more than happy with the suit and he paid Ali, without any haggling.”

“Well as long as both Ali and the customer are happy, I did my job. Is she in by the way? I need to discuss some things with her.”

“She’s in the back.”

Aeric nodded in answer as he and Xii passed Treeka and stepped into the workshop. The gaze of the girls working there landed on him and Xii for a moment and small smiles of contentedness lit up the room. Hurma nodded to herself, “I’m glad it went well for the two of you.”

Xii scratched the back of her neck and looked at the others, “Is it that obvious?”

Aliami looked up and snorted, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that at peace and happy. You look… relaxed. Content even.”

Aeric smiled and pulled Xii closer, “Well I won’t lie, I am feeling pretty content myself. You don’t have an issue with us dating?”

Aliami furrowed her brows, “Why would I take issue? The both of you are happy, and if you keep making each other happy that is good enough for me.”

The couple smiled and Xii bowed slightly to the leonid. Aeric cleared his throat, “I do have something else we should discuss though. The fashion show, I got way too hasty and we should probably postpone it till the expedition Xii and Yisillia are leaving on comes back.”

Aliami raised her brows, “Well it’s good you noticed that yourself, I was about to tell you how it would be exceedingly difficult to get it done before that.”

“Well I get caught up in things and this was just plain unrealistic. On another note, could we visit the cotton guys sometime soon? I just remembered I still have my old jeans lying in the wardrobe in my room. It’d probably be a lot easier for them to figure things out with a proof of concept they could reverse engineer.”

Aliami seemed to mutter a curse to herself, “I can’t believe I forgot about those pants. But yes, that would make things easier and expedite the process. We can go tomorrow, they were rather excited at the idea of being able to make a new kind of material.”

“Are they in on the uuuhh, worldwalker thing?”

“Of course not, we are still trying to keep that to ourselves. Despite how open you seem to be with that secret.”

Aeric blinked, “The only one I told was you and Po’al, she would have been a much bigger issue if she started to do some digging. People who investigate get noticed, I wanted to avoid that.”

“Should have done that without her apprentice present.” The leonid told him with folded arms and a disapproving glare.

Aeric sighed and sank into his chair. “Probably, but I was in damage control mode.”

“Well just keep it in mind when they ask you where the jeans come from and who made them and other such questions.”

Aeric nodded, “I’ll just say it’s an invention from farawayland, which is where I am from.”

“As long as you don’t use that actual word, that’s fine.”

Aeric grinned at her, “Well anyways, let's get Xii to the kitchen. I’m hungry for dinner, and I bet I get an extra special meal now that I’m the boyfriend.”

Xii laughed as Aeric pushed her up the stairs, the other girls rolling their eyes or having one of those fond exasperated smiles on their faces.