Chương 142: Chapter 141 [Waking Up Together]

Leo woke up and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. For a moment he wasn't sure where he was, his brain taking longer than the rest of him to catch up. He realised there was a weight on his chest when it moved, and the memory of last night came flooding back. Not a dream then. Shai was still asleep, her head on his chest with one arm across him. She'd shifted closer at some point in the night, and her tail was moving slowly against his leg. He lay there and let himself enjoy it.

The light coming through the curtain was still early, and there was no reason to move. He couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up without immediately thinking about what the day needed from him. It was a good feeling. He leaned down and kissed her between the ears. She stirred slowly, letting out a long breath, and then tilted her head up with eyes that hadn't fully decided to open yet.

"Mmm. Morning."

"Morning." Neither of them moved, and Leo wasn't about to suggest it. After a while, Shai shifted, pushed herself up, and kissed him on the lips. It caught him off guard, even after last night. When he'd been with his ex, it had always been him making the first move, always him who had to initiate any kind of affection or intimacy. Shai just leaned up and kissed him without a second thought, and it made him happier than he expected it to. He grinned.

"So, you looking forward to their smug faces when we see them?" Shai groaned into his shoulder.

"I'd rather go back to sleep."

"You've got the guard tournament today."

"I know." She didn't move.

"I'm comfy."

"So am I." Her tail started moving against his leg. Then it drifted a little higher, and Leo froze, looking down. Shai stopped a second later. Neither of them said anything for a moment.

"Well," she said.

"I should have expected that."

"It's a totally normal reaction in the morning..."

"Is it really?" she smirked.

"Yeah. Having a beautiful woman in my arms doesn't exactly help either." He looked down at her.

"You going to stop anytime soon? I'm starting to get ideas." She smirked and leaned up to kiss him again, and he thought this might actually be going somewhere when there was a bang on the door.

"Are you two up yet?" Rika's voice came through the wall without any difficulty.

"Or do you need another half hour?"

"No way he lasts that long," Phil called from somewhere outside.

"This from the guy who managed to start and finish in the time it takes to listen to Kiss from a Rose," Luka said. Leo laughed. He heard Sam snort.

"At least I don't need a box to reach the bed," Phil shot back.

"If we wrapped you in a cloth and Torren picked you up, you could pass for a really ugly baby." Shai looked at him.

"Your friends are idiots."

"I'm well aware." He kissed her once more and sat up. He was about to get out of bed when Shai swung her legs over the side and reached for her pyjama top.

"Do you want me to step out?" Leo said. She looked back at him over her shoulder.

"I probably should say yes." She paused.

"But I woke up this morning thinking that when we get back to Monkhaven tomorrow, we go back to separate buildings. I don't think I like that idea after last night."

"I don't either. We'll sort something out when we get back."

"I hope so." She looked at him.

"So, are you going or not?"

"If I don't have to, then I'm staying." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She laughed.

"Suit yourself." She took her top off. Leo found out that Shai had apparently taken to what Monkhaven had to offer in the way of underwear. A black lacy bra wasn't what he'd been expecting. He stared, fully aware he was doing it, and couldn't quite stop. Shai glanced back and laughed at him.

"Sorry," he said.

"Don't be." She turned to face him.

"I believed you when you said the ears and the tail don't bother you. Seeing you look at me like that, though..." She smiled.

"You can stare as much as you like." Leo thought about that. I'm not sure if this side of her has always been there, kept under wraps, or whether last night flicked some switch I hadn't known existed. Either way, I am very much looking forward to finding out how far it goes. But not right now. He got up.

"I'll go tell them five minutes." He went to the door and opened it a crack.

"Five minutes."

"Round two already?" Phil said.

"Not all of us are as fast as you, dude." He heard laughter and shut the door. They walked out of the house, and Shai pulled the door shut behind them. Phil opened his mouth before they'd even cleared the doorway, but Leo and Shai walked straight past them.

"Well?" Phil said, following along.

"Well what?"

"Don't give me that. You know what we want to know."

"You don't need to tell them if you don't want to," Rika said with an excited smile.

"You'll tell me later though, right?"

"We got ambushed by Koss last night," Shai said without breaking stride.

"What does that have to do w—wait, what?" asked Rika. Leo glanced back at Brandon and grimaced.

"Sorry, mate." Brandon looked at him.

"What? Why?" Leo and Shai kept walking. Shai laughed.

"What just happened?" Luka said behind them.

"No idea," Sam said.

"But they dodged the question." Brandon spoke quieter.

"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?" As the group walked towards the square, they noticed people coming out of houses—some wide awake, others looking like they might still be slightly drunk. A few stalls were going up along the streets leading to the square, and a couple of people were sitting on a low wall looking like they'd had a very good night and were now paying for it. The scent of fried food drifted over from nearby, and the group slowed down, the smell too much for them to pass up.

Leo's stomach rumbled.

"Yeah, I think breakfast sounds good." The group nodded and headed in the direction of the food, Leo wondering if this world had sausage sandwiches. It turned out he was half right. It was a sandwich stall, but whatever was in it wasn't pork.

"What's the meat?" Leo asked.

"Bolfen," Torren said.

"Similar to a pig but with horns. Thin-faced, breeds faster than anything you've ever seen. They'd have died out generations ago if people hadn't started farming them—not much in the way of self-preservation. They'll walk into a predator and seem genuinely surprised about what happens next." He considered it.

"They get into villages sometimes if nobody's paying attention. By the time you notice one, you've usually got thirty."

"So basically a fantasy pig that's also a pest," Phil said.

"More or less." Phil stared at it.

"Is that a sausage and egg butty?"

"It's not called that," Torren said.

"But yes."

"I'll have four."

"That's a great way to make yourself sick," said Rika.

"Sorry, Mum," said Phil, rolling his eyes. They ordered. Torren pointed Luka toward a smaller board on the side of the stall listing vegetarian options. Luka ordered.

"It's strange. It's usually hard for me to find many options."

"More than a few people don't eat meat," Torren said while they waited.

"Some elves aren't keen, though it's not a race thing. A fair number from my tribe are the same. The love of the forest extends to what lives in it." He shrugged.

"Not everyone. And nobody looks down on anyone for it either way." Leo watched Luka take that in. The way orcs are always described in tales—savage and bloodthirsty. That is the furthest thing from the truth, and Luka's probably thinking something similar. Meanwhile, Torren was standing there telling them a chunk of his tribe didn't eat meat like it was the most unremarkable thing in the world. The lads sometimes took the piss, but they weren't serious about it. Why would they be? What did it have to do with them?

There was a difference between Brandon asking whether Luka needed to stop and graze every time they passed a tall hedge and acting like the fact he didn't eat meat meant he thought everyone who did was a dickhead. They received their food before finding a spot to sit down. The group ate for a bit, and then Phil put his sandwich down.

"Right," he said.

"Details."

"Okay, so I was sitting there waiting for Shai to come back when I saw you whispering to Torren and Luka. I was about to come over when Shai came back with Koss in tow," Leo said.

"Stop dodging the question. It's obvious you slept at Shai's last night. Was everything okay?" Leo realised this was Phil's awkward attempt at making sure everything was good between them. It was obvious he also wanted the details of what he thought had happened, but at least it wasn't just that. Leo and Shai looked at each other.

"We're together," Shai said.

"Properly. As of last night." She smiled. Phil laughed.

"I thought that was already the case. The way you two were holding hands all day yesterday."

"That was different."

"How?"

"It just was." She picked up her drink.

"But we are now."

"That's nice," Brandon said. Then, almost immediately, "Did you do the no-pants dance?" Sam spat out his drink, which made Luka pull his food out of the way, elbowing Torren in the process.

"Shit, sorry Torren."

"No problem at all, my friend." Leo laughed. Shai rolled her eyes at Brandon. Rika leaned over and punched Brandon on the arm.

"Brandon!"

"What? It's a reasonable question." Leo looked over at Parmo.

"On a different note, I saw you talking to Corren last night. You seemed very friendly." Brandon went still. He looked like Leo had just passed him a live grenade, the pin already pulled out. Rika turned and stared at him.

"What? We spoke about this already. She said she found my range admirable." Luka grinned.

"That's what she said." Leo kept eating, conversation once again dodged and Brandon once again thrown under the bus. Mission accomplished.

"We were just talking. I don't get what the problem is," complained Brandon. Rika glared at him. Sam leaned towards Phil.

"Is this going to be a thing?"

"Looks like it," Phil said. Torren took another bite of his sandwich and stayed out of it. Leo caught the chuckle he tried to hide, though.

"The tournament bracket should be up in the next—" Rika looked at the watch Leo had given her.

"—half an hour. We should head over to see when we're fighting, Torren." The group agreed and finished eating before setting off for the arena.