Nebula quietly yawned contently as she pressed her face against Solus' face, and cuddled close to him in her sleep. Nebula nibbled the inside of her mouth before Solus rolled Nebula until she was on her other side and facing away from him. Solus yawned and climbed out of his futon while his bones made creaking clicking noises.
Solus stretched his arms and his horns gained a teal glow as Solus used his telekinesis to pull his school uniform out from his wall closet. Solus donned his white t-shirt, a purple blazer-like hoodie, and black trousers. Solus waited for a second before glancing to his closet, and sighing upon seeing Tsarina (with a sleeping Zu on her head) sleeping in his closet while being wrapped in a scarf with a black, white, and purple repeating stripe pattern.
Solus defeatedly exhaled and increased the strength of his telekinesis to lift Tsarina and the scarf. Tsarina instantly awoke the second she was floating out of the wall closet. Solus brought Tsarina to his face, and she nervously giggled.
"Oh... fancy running into you here, Solus," Tsarina murmured shyly.
"Yeah... fancy running into a guy when you're in his bedroom," Solus remarked, causing Tsarina to quietly giggle again.
"So... how are you feeling?" Tsarina mumbled.
"Same as ever, to think it'd take seven days for my body to recover," Solus uttered, but as he looked at Tsarina he noticed she was solemnly looking at the ground and pouting.
"Not that I'm complaining... since I didn't have to train with Luminous as intently as usual," Solus remarked. Solus' words put a small smile on Tsarina's face, and she raised her head.
"So...," Tsarina uttered before Solus' expression informed her he knew what she was about to ask. Solus placed his hand on his face and shook his head.
"Why are you so insistent on making a spirit pact with me?" Solus asked. Tsarina slowly clambered out of the scarf blanket and hopped off it before flying in front of Solus. Tsarina meekly held her hands behind her waist while averting her gaze from Solus.
"... because you're...".
"Yeah?".
"You're the only person who helped me when Zu was sick," Tsarina muttered meekly.
"So, you feel obligated to repay me?" Solus asked.
"That... and your mother mentioned to me your azur-" Tsarina said, but she was cut off by Solus placing a finger over her mouth.
"So, you know what it is?" Solus asked. Tsarina nodded and Solus removed his finger.
"No wonder you were insistent; I was under the assumption you wanted to take Nebula's position as my sole spirit partner," Solus remarked in a joking manner. Tsarina had a shocked expression and adamantly shook her head.
"Of course not; if I didn't know about your unique situation, I would never have asked!" Tsarina proclaimed embarrassedly while shaking her fists up and down. Solus rubbed the back of his head and awkwardly looked away.
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"Ok... that was an oversight on my part for not considering any of my family members or the shrine spirits mentioning it to you," Solus uttered. Solus abruptly did a standing bow to Tsarina, causing Tsarina to meekly float backwards a little from shock.
"I apologise for thinking badly about your intentions without asking for clarification, from you," Solus stated. Tsarina embarrassedly pleaded for Solus to raise his head and even grabbed his face before struggling to lift his head. Solus raised his head, and Tsarina let go of him.
Tsarina noticed Solus' teal glow-covered paintbrush float over to them. Solus grabbed the paintbrush and raised his hand to his left horn. Solus went to prick his finger against his horn, but a faint murmur echoing from below made him pause. Solus and Tsarina glanced down at the murmuring to see Nebula angrily pouting and staring straight at Solus' raised hand. Solus sighed and lowered his hand.
"Look Nebi... we go through this every month; spirit pact marks require the blood of the spirit wielder," Solus stated calmly. Nebula sulked and frowned defeatedly.
"But why do you need to stab yourself?" Nebula said sulkingly, while pressing her face into the futon's pillow. Tsarina tilted her head confusedly before tapping Solus' shoulder to get his attention.
"I could suck the blood out if you want?" Tsarina said.
"Oh right, vampires' fangs act like syringes, so it doesn't leave any damage," Solus remarked. Solus glanced at Nebula, and Nebula begrudgingly agreed to Tsarina's offer. Solus offered his left arm to Tsarina and she lightly grabbed it.
"So, how much do I need to draw?" Tsarina asked whilst she eyed Solus' arm for the best vein and location to take blood from. Solus opened his bedroom door, and a plastic pill cup floated into the room while being covered by Solus' telekinetic energy.
"About two-thirds of this cup," Solus stated. Tsarina nodded before scanning Solus' arm until she stopped at his wrist area. Tsarina bore her fangs before awkwardly angling one of her fangs against the largest vein on Solus' wrist.
Tsarina eventually found a good angle and dug the tip of her fang into Solus. Solus twitched his hand as a cold sensation grew in his wrist. Tsarina pulled her fang out of Solus' wrist before she puckered up her lips and shot the blood into the pill cup like a water pistol. Solus walked over to his desk by his window as Nebula and Tsarina walked behind him.
Solus grabbed his gaming chair, pulled it to his desk and sat down on it. Nebula lept onto Solus' lap and sat down before raising her right hand. Solus dipped the paintbrush into his blood; he tapped the soaked paintbrush against the inside of the cup before moving the paintbrush to Nebula's right hand. Nebula closed her eyes as the sight of Solus' blood entered her peripheral vision.
Solus pressed the tip of the paintbrush against the back of Nebula's right hand, and her body shivered. Solus quickly painted over the extremely faint ring-shaped mark on the back of Nebula's right hand; the blood circle shined a bright yellow and lime colour before losing its shine and becoming a none-glowing spirit pact ring with a katana surrounded by a galaxy inside of it. Nebula quickly dropped off Solus' lap before she dive-bombed under the futon's bedsheet.
"Tell me when you're done," Nebula blurted out with an agitated tone. Tsarina slowly flapped her wings to lift off the ground and apprehensively sat on one of Solus' knees. Tsarina raised her right hand, but the second Solus brought the paintbrush to her hand Tsarina dropped her hand down.
"Wait no, it shouldn't be on the same hand as Nebula," Tsarina muttered loudly to herself before she raised her left hand. Solus rolled his eyes before he drew a blood circle on the back of Tsarina's left hand. The blood circle shined as brightly as Nebula's had before it died down and became a yellow and lime spirit pact mark ring with a spiked scythe and a spider-themed cloak inside of it.
"Neeto~," Tsarina said giddily as she was mesmerised by the spirit pact mark on her hand. Solus slightly amusedly rolled his eyes, but he looked down at Tsarina when she went quiet, and Tsarina lightly tapped her index fingers together.
"Is something wrong, Tsarina?" Solus asked while moving his head slightly forward and leaned his head over Tsarina's head. Tsarina lightly squeezed the tips of her index fingers together before looking up at Solus with a meek expression.
"Could I... drink the remainter of the blood?" Tsarina asked quietly while tripping over her words. Solus sighed and picked up the blood-filled pill cup before handing it to Tsarina. Tsarina happily drank the blood while swinging her legs back and forth.