It was half way through the day, almost time to sleep, when Kai found Nyxy crouching on a tree trunk that was carved into a bench.

Lighttime had already come and gone, leaving only the soft glow of the cooking fires to illuminate the scene.

Her chin rested on her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs. Her hair was short and as white as burning coals.

She was draped in tattered, earth-toned robes with half a dozen chains made of teeth and bones hanging around her neck and waist. All of them she had hunted herself.

Her sclera were black tapestries with red circles on them, and the upper part of her face was littered with mud-brown scales that finally joined into two short horns that pierced through her hair..

Despite living with her Heartshape for almost five years now, she had never learnt to fully deactivate it, wearing her Halfshape permanently, not by choice like her mother but by inability.

But that was far from her only oddity. Her skin had remained the pure white the shapeless were at birth, not darkening even after obtaining her heart. It was because of those features that the other children had avoided her.

To those without a heart, she was strange because she already had one at her meager age, while all those with one were too old to associate themselves with children. Thus loneliness had taken root. At least Kai thought it had.

The boy gulbed as he walked towards her. He gave his best to make it appear coincidentially, like he was simply stroding around without a purpose.

"Hey," he said as he stood near her. "Glad to see you here."

As Nyxy spoke, her head bobbed up and down, her chin still pressing against her knee. Despite the movement, her eyes remained fixed on the dancing and singing crowd.

"Impressive work with the Gazerbeast. You can wear that heart in pride."

Kai nervously scratched the back of his head.

His new heart hammered just like the old one did, but now he felt a rocking in his chest with every contraction.

"Yeah ... almost didn't make it. You should have seen me after the battle. MC had to carry me back. Without him and Aurora, I would be dead..."

A moment after the words had left his mouth, Kai already cursed himself. Why had he said this, just after she congratulated him for his feat?

His stupid brain apparently wasn't used to getting so much blood.

Kai snuck a look at Nyxy but she didn't seem interested in adding anything so she just sat there silent, the flames around them dancing in her black eyes.

After a moment of standing around, Kai coughed into his fist.

"Soo ... how come you are still here? I thought you didn't like big crowds."

"I don't. But its important to be with the ones that matter," Nyxy said, just staring at the world in front of her.

Kai suppressed a sigh but attempted again to get a conversation going.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Soo, are you scared that I might be stronger then you now?"

Nyxy exhaled through her nose, which almost sounded like a snort.

"Unlikely," she answered in her dry tone.

"Your attempt at including me is appreciated."

"Really?"

"Yes, but you shouldn't waste your time forcing yourself to talk to me. This…” she nodded her head upwards, like she wanted to point at the festivities with her nose. “... is about you. Go celebrate. We can talk tomorrow when the world is less noisy."

On the other side of the gathering, Groll draped one massive arm around Zaspa’s shoulders.

She was seated on one of the wooden benches scattered around the clearing, while he sat on the bare ground.

Despite it his head was still on level with hers, almost a bit higher.

Her thick cascade of hair spilled over his arm like bluish-white moss winding over a tree trunk.

Raising a heavy tankard to her lips, Zaspa took a long sip that visibly drained the drink’s contents by half before she set it down with a satisfied sigh, leaning back against Groll’s broad shoulder.

The bonfires’ light threw restless shadows over the ground, tracing their faces with flickering shapes that mimicked the dancers around them.

"How was your hunt," Groll asked.

This was the first time he had seen his wife since she had set out, and he was curious.

Zaspa slumped a bit under his arm.

"Terrible," she muttered, her voice rough with weariness.

"We lost Dalvil. Fought a fourth-dweller who wasn’t half bad.

If Aurora hadn’t patched me up, I wouldn’t be sitting here."

Groll's heart twisted at her words.

"That bad?" he asked, keeping his voice steady. His mind had been so consumed with catastrophes—Kai, the foreigner, Vestiya’s condition—that it hadn’t occurred to him to ask about her mission when she walked back in this morning.

When he saw her without any wounds and knowing his wife, he had just assumed everything went smoothly.

Any threat out there he was sure she could handle, most of them with ease. Yet he should have asked.

Noticing the concern spreading over his face, Zaspa gave a dry chuckle, nudging his chest with a finger.

She loved that about him. His overthinking, his unnecessary worry about her, and of course the massive wall of firm muscle that was him.

"You should’ve seen the other guy," she said with a smirk. "Though, he’s more like two-thirds of one now."

Groll raised an eyebrow. "Did you get him?"

Zaspa paused, then shook her head. "No. Slippery bastard. But I bit his arm off."

She made a gesture with her mouth, snapping her jaw shut with a sharp, theatrical click of her teeth, like a hungry beast.

They both chuckled quietly before leaning against each other again and allowing their eyes to wander over the scenery.

Suddenly Zaspa's gaze settled on something interesting.

“Would you look at that?” she muttered under her breath, her tone intended only for Groll.

She tilted her head toward Kai, who was awkwardly sidling up to Nyxy.

He looked nervous, scratching his head and shuffling his feet as though he had forgotten how they worked.

The faint blush on his cheeks made him look more like a nervous boy than someone with a heart.

Zaspa smirked, the sight confirming her suspicion—Kai was a lost cause when it came to girls.

Then again, she'd thought the same about Groll a few centuries ago, back when he was young and just as clueless.

And here they were, nestled against each other after all this time.

“How the time flies,” Groll murmured, a trace of heaviness in his tone.

Zaspa’s smirk softened. “I still remember having to pry them apart when she bit his finger off the first time they met. Good times,” she said, a hint of pride in her voice.

Groll chuckled, turning to press a gentle kiss on her forehead, his lips leaving a lingering, cool imprint. “She takes after you, honey.”

“Nah, I’d have taken the whole arm,” Zaspa quipped, her eyes gleaming.

After all, she had literally done sow a few days prior.

They laughed quietly, letting the warmth of the fires and the music carry their voices into the dark.

After a while, Zaspa looked back toward Kai and Nyxy.

“What do you think?” she asked with a playful glint only her husband and best friends ever got to see.

“Is Nyxy softening up to him, or just tolerating him?”

Groll followed her gaze, his chuckle a low, rolling sound.

“I can’t say for sure what’s going on in that head of hers. But his is the first Beheartening she’s actually shown up to, so… there’s hope for our little lovebird.”

He gave Zaspa a conspiratorial grin. “But him? Oh, he’s smitten.”

“Definitely,” Zaspa agreed, and they both shared a knowing look, watching Kai struggle through another sentence, his face flushed and tongue-tied.

Their daughter tilted her head slightly and answered some questions. Both knew this was a good sign.

Normally their child barely tolerated being around someone for longer then a few words.

Maybe there was hope after all. Or maybe not. Time would tell.

The music swelled, and some of the younger Shapeless began a new dance around the fires.

Groll stood up and extended his hand to Zaspa with a slight, almost teasing bow.

“Shall we join them?” He asked like he had something sneaky in mind.

Zaspa raised an eyebrow but set her tankard on the ground and took his hand.

“Think you can still keep up?"

"Think you can?" He answered, already pulling her up and wrapping his arm around her waist.

Their dance was more laughing and stumbling over each other feet but everyone was too drunk to care.