A fleeting moment,

Brings joy and peace.

Moments before,

The hungry feast...

*Chirp*

*Chirp*

“Ugh... Fuuuuuck.”

Rai’s body was unbelievably sore. He also felt... much heavier for some reason.

*Khaaa...

Foooo...*

Sin laid atop Rai’s body. She was sound asleep.

Ah... that’s right. We killed a leviathan yesterday. Then we collapsed in bed together...

The light of Zenith’s twin suns bled through the curtain, and put a soft shine on Sin’s face.

She’s beautiful. So beautiful.

Warmth enveloped Rai’s heart. He gave Sin a gentle head massage as she slept. From the timepiece on the wall, Rai gathered that they’d slept for 12 hours straight.

We were exhausted... I feel like I used Stormflow for 6 hours straight... It really felt like I did at least. Half of that time was spent doing nothing but resting, but I still kept Stormflow on just in case anything happened that required me to react fast. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea in hindsight though...

Rai’s mana reserves were fine, even though he’d used Stormflow for that long. The more he thought about it, the more Rai began to understand the subtle evolution that Stormflow had gone through.

Or maybe... I’ve had a bit of a growth spurt. Stormflow was only able to last that long because I was being efficient and adaptive with my mana use throughout the day. I think Stormflow’s gotten to the point where I use it like a limb... I can’t tell if that’s a good or a bad thing just yet though.

*Shuffle*

Sin moved a bit on Rai’s body. But she kept her head and resting hand on Rai’s chest.

They both wore loose, comfortable, clothes. Neither of them had time to change into anything different since Kallad’s spell was to wear off by the time they’d gotten in bed.

Rai found it funny that they both looked for an excuse to do this last night. Sin just went with Rai’s bogus question, and they ended up sleeping together. All it showed was that they both wanted it but neither of them were sure about how exactly to get there.

Butterflies began fluttering around in Rai’s core. He was excited for Sin and his mum to meet. Reiki knew of Sin since they’d met, but she’d never met her officially. Neither had Aunt Elly. Only Jin had actually met Sin. All Rai wanted to do right now was to have Sin meet his mum. He just wasn’t sure how...

Wait... that history project! We have to go to our clan capitals and learn about our clans or whatever, and Sin can’t go back to her home because she’s an Aspect’s child! Since she has to go to another clan’s capital, I should ask her if she wants to come with me, then she can meet mum! Hehe, and then she can never say that I don’t listen in class!

Rai smiled to himself.

*Nnngh*

Is she awake?

Sin rolled off of Rai and stretched her arms and legs out.

*Click click clack*

Rai was mildly impressed that so many of her bones just clicked so easily.

“Morning.” He said.

Sin turned onto her side to look at Rai.

“Morning.” She whispered with a gentle smile.

“Sleep well?”

Sin nodded against the soft pillow with one of the biggest smiles on her face.

Rai grinned.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“Me too.” Rai said.

Sin nuzzled up against Rai once more. She kissed his neck.

“... For a fighter, your chest is really comfy.”

“Haha! Thank you thank you, I do try to keep my skin well.”

“Oh it definitely shows. Just one of the many many many things that I... adore about you.”

Rai didn’t fully notice the slight apprehension in her speech, given how fleeting the moment was.

“Rai...?”

“Mhmm?”

“Let’s go on a date.”

“I’m more than happy to... but I’ve never been on a date...”

“I’d think our little meetings back in Acies would count as dates, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, I suppose when you look at them in a certain way... we were a bit young though.”

“Maybe you’re right... well consider them half-dates then.”

“In that case, I’ve been on many half-dates.” He said with a cheeky grin.

“You’ve always been this dopey haven’t you?”

“Yep. It’s why you fell for me.”

“Now now, I fell for you because of many different reasons, but yes that is definitely one of them. Besides, you fell for me because I’m so assertive.” Sin said with a determined look on her face.

“Pfft. Well, you’re partially right.”

“... Only partially?”

“Like you said for me,” Rai caressed the side of Sin’s head, “I fell for you because of everything about you.” He leaned in to kiss her, but Sin stopped him with a hand between their lips.

“Eh?”

“Teeth. Brush. First.” Sin chanted as she pointed towards Rai’s washroom.

She looked deadly serious.

“Ah. Ahahaha! A lesson learned is a lesson never forgotten, I see.”

Rai and Sin managed to get out of the bed after a little while. Their bodies were still a little sore from the previous day, which made it much more difficult to stand and walk.

But, after a bunch of stretches and light healing magic, the two of them could at least function like living beings.

Sin pretended that she couldn’t climb her stairs, so she used her Domain to grab her toothbrush and then brushed her teeth in Rai’s washroom.

As she did so, Rai sorted out his bedsheets and pillows, as he did every morning. He was surprised to find so many stray red hairs on his bed though. If this continued, then Rai imagined being able to make a full on ball out of Sin’s shed hairs.

He would have to wait and see whether it was really possible though.

Once Sin was done in the washroom, she stomped impatiently over to Rai, who was sat on the edge of the bed, and made a seat on his legs.

She smooched him.

Rai was thrown off at first, but he loved how much Sin wanted him. The desire that they shared for each other was palpable.

Sin enjoyed herself. She loved how soft Rai’s lips always were. But now, she had to lay out the plan for the day.

Sin let go of Rai’s lips.

“Mmm. That was good. Very needed.” She said with a nod. “We have to move on though! Here’s the plan!”

“Yes! Planning time! You tasted very minty by the way, but yes planning time!”

“Hehe. Okay! We have a date to go on. So, that means we have to 1. Dress up nice. 2. Smell great. 3. Spend some money on a fun night out. 4. Have fun with each other like we did when we were kids, but this time with more kissing and touching!”

“More kissing and touching!” Rai exclaimed as he shot his fist into the air.

“Yes! I want to...” Sin thought that maybe expressing her desire to be literally all over Rai wasn’t going to help the plan all that much, “... Have a g-great n-night with you!”

“Me too! Alright, we’ve got the plan, but the plan doesn’t tell us where to go...”

“Right. That’s step 0. Find a place to go!”

*Snap*

“Perhaps you’d find yourselves a good time at the ports. There’s a great nightlife area there, where you two could enjoy a night together.”

Rai and Sin turned to Kallad, who was stood in Rai’s doorway.

“Sleep well, you two?”

Sin’s face immediately went pale.

Rai noticed Sin’s embarrassment. He thought he’d mess with her a little.

“It was wonderful! Sin slept with me last night. She said that she loved using my chest as a pillow!”

Sin turned and looked at Rai with horrified eyes. She was so preoccupied with Rai’s tease, that she didn’t realise that she was still sat on his lap, which made this all the more hilarious to Rai.

Rai simply grinned at her with squinted eyes.

“Well, I’m glad you two lovebirds had fun. Now, will you please get off of your future husband and come to the lounge. We’ve got a problem.”

Rai giggled as him and Sin got up.

Sin pouted at him after Kallad left the room.

“You...”

“Game’s the game, gotta do what you gotta do.”

“What does that even mean?!”

“Not sure honestly. It just felt right.”

Sin sighed as she facepalmed. The two closest men in her life continued to prove to her that they were somehow both absolute idiots.

They walked into the lounge and sat on the sofa opposite Kallad, who was sat in a chair.

“Right. You two have a problem.”

“Eh? I thought you said we have a problem...” Rai said.

“Well yes, if you two have a problem, then by extension I also have a problem.”

“... I see.”

Sin remained quiet. She still felt embarrassed from before.

“There’s heat on the both of you.”

Sin felt the heat on her face, that’s for sure.

“What does that mean?” Rai asked.

“You’re achieving a lot in a short period of time, which makes certain people want to make contact with you. These are people you do not, under any circumstances, want to interact with at this stage! You’re both growing and you’re growing fast, so signing yourself away to an organisation now would just stifle your growth.”

“Wait wait wait. No one’s signing themselves away Kallad. We don’t even know what kind of organisations you’re talking about here.”

“... Right. I got ahead of myself. There are scouts from some of the guilds that want a chat with both of you. You won’t like hearing this, but they’ll use both of you to get to the other, depending on who they want.”

Sin’s eyes widened.

“Is... is that the consequence? You said that there would be some kind of consequences if me and Rai went public...”

“It’s one of the consequences yes. I told you to do what your heart desired, and that is what I want you to keep doing. You just have to learn to live with the outcome.”

“I... I see.”

“Well, now that that warning’s out of the way. I’ve got a date to get to.”

“Huh? You’re going on a date as well Kallad?!” Rai asked.

“Uh... yeah? I’ve been a widower for nearly 20 years now Rai, I’ve gotta get out there at some point.”

Sin reached over the table and placed a caring hand on her father’s. “I believe in you.”

“... Thanks?”

Kallad soon realised that his youngest daughter actually had no faith in him whatsoever.

“Alright, see you later dad. Good luck!” She smiled at him all bright and cheery.

And now Sin was getting rid of him. Well, Kallad saw this coming, at least, but he didn’t expect it to come this fast.

“Yeah, see you two later. Don’t forget, go to the ports tonight if you want to have some fun. They’re open until way into the morning, so you can have as much fun as you want! Just don’t drink. It’s not good for you. Dance your hearts out though!”

Rai’s face brightened.

“Oooh dancing?! Yes please, let’s go there Sin!”

Kallad left as Rai expressed his excitement.

Sin thought that going to the ports sounded fun.

“Yeah! We’ll go there! But before that...”

Sin tackled Rai so that she was lying on top of him on the sofa.

“I want you.” She whispered.

She kissed him and then cuddled with him.

Today was a ‘spend every moment with Rai’ day for her. After killing the leviathan, and dealing with some... unpleasantness, Sin thought she deserved at least that much.

Rai was very happy to provide that for her.