“Blood, please,” Lawrence said, exasperated, running a hand through his hair.
I glanced at him, having to tilt my head back quite a lot to look around the fluff of my new puppy—which appraisal called Fenrir, the king of Frost Wolves. We were still in the labyrinth.
“Ye?” I asked.
“You can’t keep the dog. We can’t just steal a dungeon monster and expect it to listen to us,” Lawrence complained.
“But it’s not attacking me,” I pointed out as we walked to the portal through our large straight line of holes, the walls of the labyrinth broken in, “I tamed him! Come on, Lawr, things will be fine. I have a new puppy!”
I rubbed my helmet in the puppies nice fur. Lawrence sighed, shaking his head as he gave the wolf pitying eyes. We walked out of the dungeon, and I set the puppy down.
“Fenrir, sit,” I ordered as I reached up. My hand paused as Fenrir turned, looking at me with happy blue eyes, tongue lolling out. His paws were turning blue, shards of light escaping him as he turned into dust, “Fenrir…?” I asked, tears filling my eyes. I crouched, immediately sobbing, “No, Fenrir! Don’t leave me! Please,” I begged, clinging to his soft fur desperately, tears streaming down my face. I’d known him maybe half an hour, but he was my best friend. Lawrence was a close second.
I sobbed as he died in front of my eyes, shoulders shaking as I put my hands to my visor, unable to handle the sudden grief.
“F-Fenrir,” I said in a broken tone.
After I finished crying, my hands flopped down in my lap. All around us, military men milled around awkwardly, shifting. Rage filled me.
“You bastard. Fine, you want to die? I’ll fucking kill you, you’re a core dungeon, what do I care?” I snapped, turning and storming right back into the dungeon.
I stormed in, ignoring the new layout and punching my way to the center. Lawrence didn’t follow me.
~
Lawrence turned, watching as Blood—who had immediately broken down the second his new life partner died—stormed back into the dungeon, “Blood—agh, fuck,” Lawrence sighed, scrubbing at his face, “Fuck.” His hands dropped, and Lawrence slumped to the ground right there, staring up at the military men, “How long have we been in there?”
The men glanced at each other, “About five minutes.”
Lawrence groaned, throwing his backpack down and laying his head down. Blood would either die or walk out of the dungeon before he could prepare himself and go back in. Soon, Blood sprinted out of the dungeon, tripping over Lawrence and knocking down all of the soldiers that were waiting. Fifteen black shadows were wrapped around Blood, and he was gasping for air. The dungeon vanished from sight as if it’d never been there.
“F-fuck, the dungeon was disappearing while I was still in it,” Blood muttered, pushing himself up as the shadows turned into glowing motes and disappeared. He stared down at the person he was on top of, “Oh, fuck, you aren’t dead, are you?”
“No,” The soldier groaned, eyes already open as he stared up at Blood, “Just in a lot of pain.”
“Oh, shit, oops, uh, Lawrence,” Blood called, panic obvious in his tone, “Save me!”
Lawrence closed his eyes peacefully as he sighed, finally able to relax. One of his hands idly reached up, and he snapped his fingers, magic reaching out. The soldiers only had deep bruises and some fractures, Lawrence taking the majority of the steam out of the blow Blood would certainly have done.
“Blood—“
“I told you to call me Sammy when my cameras off,” Blood mumbled pathetically, sounding like he was sulking.
Lawrence sighed, “Sammy. Can I quit my job? You stress me out.”
Blood hesitated, magic shifting as a great deal of care and affection filled him. Lawrence sighed for the third time in less than a minute, opening his eyes. That’s the exact reaction Blood had when he’d first seen Fenrir, who was trying to bite his arm off.
What did Blood see? Did they have a military-service dog around? Lawrence hesitated, realizing Blood was looking at him. His face grew red hot in an instant. Lawrence felt embarassed, shoulders hitching up as he looked down.
“Why are you just smiling at me?” Lawrence whined.
Blood chuckled, the sound warm and gentle, flowing over his ears and making him automatically relax, “Because I adore you. You’re a good friend, Lawrence.”
Lawrence’s face couldn’t grow hotter, so the heat spread to his ears, “Are you just saying that so I won’t leave you?”
Lawrence immediately regretted saying that when Blood’s small amount of magic stopped reacting so positively, curling into a tiny ball within Blood’s chest. Blood’s head tilted down as his magic grew even tighter, curling even smaller.
“No,” Blood said quietly, his magic releasing. It was cold, though, almost static with how little movement was within his glowing sternum, “If you truly wish to leave, you can feel free to. I…” Blood’s voice grew even quieter, “I will still care for you.”
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Lawrence swallowed, staring at Blood with a mix of hurt and shame. He reacted, darting forward and wrapping his arms around Blood. His own magic reached out to Blood’s, wrapping around it in what he hoped was a comforting way as Lawrence spoke, his voice humming with magic.
“No, Blood. I promised I’d never leave you. Remember?” Lawrence said firmly.
Blood’s magic broke, and Lawrence’s eyes widened. He reacted quickly, patching the magic back together, only to relax with a relieved sigh when it clung to his magic, Blood’s grip on him tightening very marginally, the man clearly scared to hug him tighter.
“Yeah, I remember,” Blood said, his shivering and broken core of magic clinging to his magic as Lawrence slowly patched the man’s core back together.
Most didn’t need a mana core, Lawrence mused, the knowledge flowing into him like he’d known it all his life. Blood’s magic would kill him if it didn’t hold it’s form in at least a soft mana core, though. It seemed… Blood’s intent to find the artifact he was looking for or die trying was quite strong, if his magic would attack his body so quickly after control was lost.
Blood’s intent was extremely strong, Lawrence mused solemnly as he healed all the damage Blood’s magic did to himself. It was such a short time… did he really have such a strong intent to hurt himself? That… no. Lawrence dismissed the thought. That was inconceivable. Who would want to hurt themselves? Something else had to be going on.
Maybe Blood was just under a lot of stress. Yeah, that had to be it. Lawrence held Blood, and Blood clung desperately to Lawrence.
~
I took a deep breath, sighing it out. All I could smell was Lawrence, his presence almost overwhelming to my senses. I relaxed within the eddies of his presence, arms relaxing around him, my eyes closing for a moment. The darkness wasn’t Lawrence, though, and I opened my eyes just to stare at the dust-covered blue suit that he wore. He was holding my head to his chest, arms wrapped around it. My arms were around his lower back, his legs on either side of me, his knees on the ground and his feet behind him.
I felt like I was floating in a sea of Lawrence. It was nice and peaceful, and the hurt I’d felt at his words eased.
No, Lawrence wasn’t like the others. He was different. He promised. He even had a scar!
Deception—and outrage—disgrace—for shame~ My music played out, speaking of a scar. My shoulders shook at the amusement. Ah, what good timing. Lion King 2 wasn’t good, but the music track was pretty wonderful.
He is not one of us, The music sang out as Lawrence pulled away.
Yeah, I know, music. I know. He’ll soon gain friends other than me, and he’ll soon abandon me just like everyone else has—he’s never been broken, of course he would leave. He doesn’t understand the intense and extreme significance of what he vowed. That’s okay, though.
I would enjoy this while it lasted.
I stared up at the beautiful scar that marred his perfect face, his chocolate gaze warm and gentle as he smiled down at me.
“Hmhm,” A soldier awkwardly cleared their throat, shifting to the side and looking uncomfortable.
Lawrence and I glanced at each other, Lawrence standing up and helping me up. He turned, reaching for his bag. I turned to the soldiers, ignoring them and looking around. Soon, seeing the man I was looking for—Big Dick America—I walked up to him. He, who had been awkwardly observing the forest around, turned his pale blue gaze to me.
Nodding silently, he straightened, turning. I followed him, Lawrence squeaking. I glanced behind him as I saw him shaking his head with great vigor.
“No! No no no no! You got it all wrong!” Lawrence cried out, his hands raised in surrender. Huh? No one was pointing their guns at him…?
“So, uh, we, um, didn’t know you two were a couple. Sorry, should’ve given you some privacy,” Big Dick America muttered awkwardly, gaining my attention.
“Huh? Oh, we’re not,” I sighed heavily, “His promise is for delving, and he thinks I’m a dude. He’s a very, uh… innocent mama’s boy? That’s why he hugs a lot.”
Big Dick America coughed, his cough turning into a cackle, “Tough luck, then, huh?”
I shrugged, humming, “I value him greatly as a friend. I was pinned to the wall by a really hot guy, once, I think that ruined all my future relationships. I can’t see Lawrence as anything except an innocent and naive golden retriever-type of guy. He’s great.”
“Just not your type?” Big Dick America mused, nodding, “I can respect that. He does seem a bit… innocent, for the line of work he does.”
“Yeah,” I sighed out, agreeing as I glanced behind us, seeing Lawrence looking at me with an embarrassed expression, still talking quietly to the other soldiers, “I hope I didn’t ruin him by taking him with me. People like him are extremely hard to come by, nowadays.”
“Soft cityboys?” Big Dick America asked derisively as he opened the flap of a tent, saluting me as I walked past him into the battle tent, following me soon after.
“No, genuinely good, pure people who aren’t cruel or careless,” I commented lightly, “Soft city boys are a dime a dozen, nowadays, aha.”
Big Dick America chuckled alongside me, agreeing with a nod. Before I could do anything, the president appeared. Not on a screen or anything, physically, in front of me. I stared at him, struggling not to take a step back.
Oh. Uh… I stared at the president. This… wh… Big Dick America, you cuck, stop doing this to me! I looked at BDA. He was standing guard at the tent’s opening, back to the side of the tent and standing in a ready pose, his arm in a salute.
“At ease, BDA,” I muttered, turning as BDA coughed at my words, relaxing and putting his feet apart and his hands behind his back.
“So you’re the man who’s stronger than the country,” The president said grandly, hands remaining at his sides, not offering his hand, “Even strong enough to order America’s highest military commander around.”
I glanced back at the president, “That’s you, not him. You’re the highest… nevermind,” I sighed shaking my head as I turned back toward the president, “Hello. Did you need me?”
“Yes. We’re making a presidential address. The people are no longer listening to me. I will pay you handsomely to endorse me live on camera.”
I hesitated, turning, crossing my arms as I stared at BDA, “Big Dick America.”
He turned to me, saluting, “YES, SIR!”
“I don’t know this guy—I haven’t been able to pay attention to politics as of late. Has he given you any orders yet?” I asked.
“YES, SIR! THEY ARE TOP-SECRET, SIR!”
“Great, I don’t need you to tell me any details. In your opinion, is the president a fucking dumbass, or is he relatively competent, given the situation?” I asked.
BDA hesitated, “I WOULD RATHER NOT SAY, SIR!”
I nodded, turning, “Very well, I’ll do it. Live, right? Also BDA, the stronger I am, the louder everything is. Speak quiet when you talk to me, and make sure you tell the others.”
BDA rested his arm, only to salute, “I will do that now, sir.”
I nodded, uncrossing my arms, “So how much we talking, here?”
The president smiled, relaxing, “Ten million.”
I nodded again, “Impressive!” Not. I was going to ruin this man live on camera, for everyone to see.