Chương 141: Chapter 140 [Partner]

"What are you up to now? If this is just more of you guys sneaking off, then you could be a bit more subtle about it." Leo grinned and started to push his chair back.

"What did Klaus want earlier?" Shai asked. He settled back.

"Just apologising for how he acted at the tournament. Said he had a lot on his mind, and it affected the fight. We sorted it out." Shai nodded.

"He gets in his own head sometimes. I'm glad he said something."

"He's alright," Leo said.

"Good fighter too, once he wasn't trying to prove something." She smiled at that and let it go.

"What did you do before you came here?" Shai asked.

"For work, I mean."

"Loads of different things." Leo thought about it.

"The worst one was something called a call centre."

"What's that?"

"Imagine a big room full of people all on phones at the same time. Your job is to talk to strangers all day who are angry about something, and you have to stay calm and helpful no matter what they say to you. Doesn't matter if they're screaming at you or calling you names. You smile, you say you understand, and you try to help." Shai stared at him.

"That sounds miserable."

"It was. For eight hours, five days a week. And while that's happening, you've got a manager walking around watching how long each call takes, how long you spend writing notes after, and if you're a minute late back from your break."

"Yeah, I don't envy that."

"It's mentally draining. You go home and you've got nothing left. You haven't done anything physical, you've just sat there, but you feel like you've been wrung out." Shai shook her head.

"I'd rather fight the things that come down from the wilds."

"So would I. At least out here, if something's trying to kill you, you can hit it back." She laughed at that. The square had thinned out around them while they'd been talking, the earlier crowd settling into smaller groups.

"Phil's brought up anime a few times," Shai said.

"I've watched Dragon Ball Z, and I don't see why he seems to find it fun to tease you with it. I remember you and Sam acted weird about that one show he found. What was it called?" She frowned slightly.

"Something DxD, I think. What's that one about?" Leo opened his mouth.

"No dodging," she said. He closed it again.

"Fine. It's an anime that's deliberately kind of pervy. Lots of scenes of characters with their clothes off, sexual innuendo, that sort of thing. It's actually pretty funny, but it's not exactly something you admit to watching." Shai grinned.

"I thought it was something like that."

"You thought—""You and Sam were very insistent about not watching it. That's usually a sign."

"Right." Leo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well. Now you know."

"We should watch it sometime." He looked at her.

"Wait, really?"

"I liked Dragon Ball Z. It can't be that bad." Leo shook his head. The fact that she'd gone from never having seen an animated show in her life to voluntarily asking to watch High School DxD was not something I saw coming. I feel like I've gotten lucky in more ways than one.

"Tell me more about football," she said.

"Not how it works, I know that. More about what's so special about it." Leo thought about where to start.

"You know the arena from today. Imagine that, but with sixty, seventy, eighty thousand people in it. There are stadiums like that all over the world, just for football. The biggest tournament is called the World Cup. It's held every four years, hosted by one country at a time, so people travel from everywhere to watch it in person. The ones who can't go watch it at home, live. Billions of people.

It runs for about a month, games almost every day, until you get down to the two best teams left playing each other for the cup."

"Billions," Shai repeated.

"Billions. My country, England, invented the game. Over a hundred years ago. We've won the World Cup exactly once. Sixty years ago." He paused.

"England losing is kind of a running joke with everyone else." She smiled.

"But you still watch."

"Every time. And every time we start doing well, people start saying it's coming home. Meaning the trophy, back to where the game started. Nobody actually believes it. It's more like a ritual at this point. But the closer we get, the more you start thinking maybe this time."

"And then you lose."

"And then we lose." He smiled.

"But the month it's on, it's something else. You've got people from countries that would never normally cross paths, drinking together, watching together. Complete strangers acting like they've known each other for years just because they're both there. It brings people together in a way that's hard to explain if you haven't seen it." Shai was quiet for a moment.

"That doesn't sound so different from the festival." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Leo looked out at the square.

"No," he said.

"I suppose it doesn't." Leo and Shai continued to talk while around them the square slowly emptied out without either of them noticing. Shai looked around. The table was empty. Not just their end; all of it. Leo scanned the square. Diane was gone. Ronan. The whole group.

"How long have we been talking?" he said.

"A while." She looked at him.

"I can't see any of them."

"Phil was whispering to Torren and Luka earlier." Leo leaned back.

"I think I know what's happened." Shai sighed.

"Of course he did."

"Is it alright if—""You're sleeping at mine, Leo. Obviously." She stood, straightening her dress.

"Do you want to go?" He stood.

"Yeah." On the way out, they passed Koss, sitting with a small group near the edge of the square. She caught Leo's eye and smiled. He nodded at her. She gave a small wave and turned back to her conversation. Shai pushed the door open and stepped aside.

"Come on in."

"Thanks." Leo walked through, and she shut the door behind him. He looked around. The front room was mostly practical: a weapons rack along one wall, boots lined up near the door, a small table with a chair on either side. But there were things that didn't fit the utility of it. A clay pot on the windowsill with something growing in it. A folded piece of fabric on the chair that looked old, kept rather than used. Then he saw the pelt. It covered most of the far wall.

Black with white stripes, the fur still dense and deep despite however long it had been there. The head was mounted above it. It reminded him of a sabre-toothed tiger, except the tusks came up from the bottom jaw rather than down, thick and curved, built for goring rather than biting. The jaw jutted out further than felt natural, and the teeth further back in the mouth were still intact, still sharp-looking. He pointed at it.

"Is that the one you mentioned? When you told me about your parents?" Shai looked at it.

"One and the same. I keep it to remind me of what I lost. And what's still out there north of the border." She paused.

"It reminds me to stay vigilant." Leo crossed the room and took her hands.

"They'd be proud of you. I've seen the way people look at you around the village today. The respect, the way they rely on you. How much they love you." He meant it.

"They'd be proud." Shai smiled and squeezed his hands before letting go.

"Thank you." They looked at each other.

"About that kiss on my—" Shai started.

"We should probably tal—" Leo said at the same time. They both stopped. Leo grinned. Shai did too.

"You go first," Leo said. She nodded.

"The kiss earlier. Was it a spur-of-the-moment thing, or was there more to it?"

"It meant more," he said.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I'd been thinking about it beforehand." He smiled.

"Was that alright?"

"Yes." She held his gaze.

"I liked it. Even if it was a little embarrassing in front of everyone."

"Sorry about that."

"No, you're not."

"No," he agreed.

"I'm not really." He paused.

"There's something I want to talk to you about, though. If that's alright." Shai nodded.

"Sure. Have a seat." Leo sat down and thought about where to start.

"The UI mentioned there'll eventually be a way home," he said.

"I don't know when that is. Could be months, could be years. And I think about that a lot, because of the kids. I miss them." He paused.

"But when I think about actually going back, it's not as simple as it sounds." Shai was quiet, listening.

"Back home it's just... you get up, you go to work for some company that wants as much out of you as it can get for as little as it can pay, you come home, and you do it again. And that's it. That's the whole thing. We've got more technology than you can imagine, but half the time it just means you're reachable at all hours and there's always someone wanting something from you." He looked at his hands.

"Here, I feel alive. There's magic, there are dragons, there's actual danger—which sounds mad, but it makes everything feel real. And there's you." He looked up at her.

"I'm already thinking about what it means if I have to leave. And we haven't even started yet. That probably seems fast." Shai shook her head.

"I don't think it does."

"If there's a way to bring Jake and Olly here, I'd rather that than go back. I know that sounds like an easy thing to say, but I mean it. I'd rather build something here than go back to what I had." Shai was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "We don't know what the future holds. And given how you got here, who's to say there isn't a way to bring your family through as well?" She met his eyes.

"It's not worth giving up whatever this is before it's started over a what-if. If and when the time comes, we face it then." Leo smiled. The lads had said the same thing. Almost word for word, the same conclusion. He hadn't told her that. She'd just gotten there on her own.

"You're right," he said.

"I usually am." He laughed. Then he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Right. So. Back on Earth, we have names for what people are to each other. When it's official. You'd say girlfriend and boyfriend." He pulled a face.

"God, that sounds weird to say out loud." Shai looked amused.

"Does it?"

"It does when you're my age, yeah. It's more of a word for when you're younger. But it means we're a couple. Together. So..." He gestured vaguely.

"Does that sound right to you?"

"Yes," she said.

"That sounds nice." A pause.

"We just say partner here. Or mate, if it's more serious and one of the people is beast-kin." Leo grinned.

"It must have sounded weird the first time you heard us all call each other mate."

"Yeah, a little bit. I had no idea how close you really were as friends."

"Oh god, don't say it like that." Shai grinned.

"Well, now you have me. I guess I don't need to worry about what you all get up to when I'm not there."

"Please, never say that again." He laughed. The room was quiet.

"So. Partner."

"Boyfriend," she agreed. He stood up slowly, crossing the small distance between them. He brushed her hair back from her face, and she looked up at him. He paused for a second before leaning in, and she met him halfway. Their lips met. It wasn't long. Chaste and romantic more than passionate. When they broke apart, they were both smiling, and he pulled her into a hug, her arms coming around him, her head against his chest. They stayed like that for a moment.

"So," Leo said eventually.

"Sleeping arrangements?" Shai pulled back.

"You're not sleeping on the floor, don't worry."

"I was going to offer."

"There's no need." She raised an eyebrow.

"I know what the others probably think is happening tonight."

"And?"

"It will. Just not tonight." Leo blinked. He hadn't expected that.

"Right. Yeah. That works." He paused.

"How about we just cuddle?"

"That sounds nice," she said. Shai grabbed some things from a drawer and nodded toward the door.

"I'll change in the bedroom. Give me a few minutes." Leo waited until she'd gone, then pulled his pyjamas from his inventory. He'd packed them on the off chance; he hadn't known how the night was going to go, and sleeping in his festival clothes hadn't appealed. He got changed, folded his clothes over the back of the chair, and stood there for a moment until he heard her voice from the other side of the door.

"Ready." He walked in. The room was simple: a wardrobe, a small table with a candle on it, and a bed big enough for two. Shai was already in it, sitting up in pyjamas with a neat opening at the back for her tail. She patted the empty side without saying anything. Leo got in. She reached over and snuffed the candle, and they pulled the covers up. He settled on his back. After a moment, she shifted, resting her head on his chest. He put his arm around her.

"This is nice," he said.

"Hmm." He stared up at the dark ceiling. It had been a long time since he'd had this. Not just someone to sleep next to, but the feeling that came with it—the weight of another person close, the warmth of it, not being alone in the quiet. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed it until right now. He was a romantic at heart, always had been. The big gestures were easy to live without. It was the small things that got you. Holding hands. Someone's head on your chest. Feeling wanted. He kissed the top of her head.

A while later, he noticed her breathing had slowed and evened out. Then he heard it: low and steady, just audible in the quiet of the room. Purring. He smiled. He was asleep not long after.