"You *sniff* big meanie, I *sniff* thought that was the end of me."

Patting the back in an attempt to comfort the sobbing Ethea who was muttering as such in her thoughts and who had inexplicably turned into a shell of her former self in the form of a chibi Ethea that was closely hugging her legs as she sat beside me.

Yeah... I think I may have a promising career in acting.

Continuing to pat her, I awkwardly diverted my gaze from her to ahead of us at the two massive True Dragons destroying countless galaxies in their wake in their battle in the far-far distance ahead of us, not at all knowing how to comfort another person.

Well, I do know, how to precisely comfort Ethea, but I'm not too keen on manipulating the Free Will of someone who had done nothing to offend me and I don't think we're close enough for me to put her on my lap while hugging her and patting her head either.

It was a good thing I eventually managed to convince her that I don't eat pretty girls or anything remotely resembling a human and calmed her down enough, otherwise, she would have continued transcending the Infinite Dimensions and eventually come across something ungodly.

After that, I took her sobbing chibi form with me to the Immeasurable Gate which seemed to be her destination to begin with as well. However, instead of adventuring as she had probably originally intended, she just keeps sobbing rather pitifully. Although I find her pitiful expression extremely cute, I'm now starting to feel bad as she has been in that state for more than a dozen minutes now...

"Do I really need to resort to hugging and patting you after all?" I couldn't help but mutter, once again staring back at her pitiful shell of a self.

"Yes!"

"Huh?"

"*sniff* You *sniff* big meanie.."

There was a sudden clarity in her 'voice of thought' as she exclaimed 'yes' but it was suddenly gone as instantly as it came and she returned to her pitiful state. Heh, so that's what she's playing at, huh?

"I could process things beyond faster than all levels of infinity you know, I definitely heard that wisp of thought," I said, staring at her with eyes of suspicion.

There was a momentary pause, perhaps processing what I just casually revealed, but other than that, she continued sobbing as if nothing happened. She's quite persistent huh...

Hmph, this silly girl sure is competitive. She would go even further than me in an acting career. To actually control even her own thoughts on such a level…

Sigh... I guess I'll relent then.

So repainting our position in reality, she found herself atop my lap as her warmth graced my senses, and her divine fragrance not at all inferior to mine was welcomed by my olfactory as I proceeded to hug the Chibi Ethea like she's a stuffed toy while patting her head and leaning my face to rub my cheeks against her soft, warm, and very smooth ones.

So just as she had planned, I'm completely fawning over her. Thus she started giggling and proclaimed in a rather bright voice while raising both her chibi hands: "Hehe, I win~! I made you do something at my will~!"

"Yes, it certainly was an interesting attempt at gaining control," I smilingly said, her happy expression immediately freezing in place as she realized my wordings, then the smile was replaced by that of surprise as I said the dreaded words:

"Jokes on you, I'm into that shit!"

"You lose — fatality!" I delivered the finishing blow, even imitating the game's voice as her face seemed to have been stuck in place as she took in her first-ever losses in something, two consecutive ones at that.

"Heh, I'm two for two. Hahaha~ Give it up, lit' itty bitty princess, the only way you could beat me is if I allow you too~" I added salt to the wound.

"..."

"Hmph, you truly are a big meanie!" She finally stopped herself from also truly crying as she harrumphed and turned her head to the side in a pout which I just find cute while at the same time returning to her original size which was just as cute.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Seeing her puffed cheeks, I couldn't help but lightly poke her cheek before she got up from my lap which caused her to stare at me in a cute frowning expression for a good three seconds during which I just smiled at her like I am a benevolent Buddha.

It seemed that because my smile was very amiable and very benevolent indeed, she didn't pursue the matter and turned her gaze to the True Dragons who all were still having at it in the distance, their fight having evolved into a Universal one as they threw projectiles at each other, each one containing entire Continuums of Universes.

The two winged serpents seem to all be on par with each other, no one has lost yet at least. I don't know how long they had been fighting for, but I felt like it had been very long and this fight seemed to be of the perpetual sort like the ones in mythology, or in some other worlds like this one, cosmology...

After all, they were casually creating and throwing Universes with Complete Continuums at each other left and right. Thus a blink, which was what amount of relative Time it takes for the dragons to create and destroy an entire Universe, for us here beyond it — is an Endlessness of Time for those within them.

Funny how these things work, everything is relative.

"Those dragons sure are pretty..." Ethea mutters, she seems mesmerized by the perpetual dance of the dragons as her gaze focuses on their flickering forms. "I wonder if I could keep them as pets?"

"Pets? You need to care for, feed them, and occasionally walk pets you know." I said, while discretely making it so that the dragons would not go here and make themselves my snack. Then I continued, "Are you sure you can handle such responsibilities?"

"Hmph, I'm the Crown Princess of a Kingdom spanning hundreds of thousands of lightyears, you know!" She rather angrily retorted. "What do you think I am, a child?"

"Yes, a very cute one." I smilingly answered without hesitation as I asked: "And please, tell me at which percent of those responsibilities are handled by your Automated Mind Projection?"

"You..." She was startled enough to turn her gaze back at me with narrowed eyes, "How do you know about that? Are you actually Omniscient?"

"No, I'm not. Things just reveal themselves to me the moment they become convenient." I matter-factly answered as that was indeed the fact of the matter, subsequently giving her what I thought was an assuring wink and a thumbs up. Then I said on a side note, "Besides, even if I can be, I think Omniscience would be quite boring."

"Indeed, without the wonder for the unknown, the world would be a boring place..." She accented but then seemed to have realized something by my wink and thumbs up as her eyes widened a bit and her brows raised as she stuttered, "W-What do you mean by that wink? You… you aren't thinking of something l-l-lewd are you?"

"Huh? How'd the conversation go there?" I rhetorically asked, feigning innocence. "Oh, quite the naughty girl you are."

"You're the naughty one!" She angrily retorted back, her expression once again to the cute pouting.

"Well, I can't deny that I'm indeed a very healthy boy of my age." I twisted the words into more acceptable ones and accepted them. "But thankfully for you, I don't lewd cute lolies!"

She seemed to have become even more peeved at that statement though as her frown deepened and I saw her palm heading straight towards my cheek.

"Who're you calling a loli?!?!" She angrily exclaimed in her cute euphonious voice, attempting to give me a resounding smack. But I am no harem protagonist nor a weak-ass little shit who can't even evade something as simple as Causality Reversal, so her hand passes through my face instead as I simply turned myself Acausal.

"Hey! Why'd you phase through, you big meanie!" Her expression tells me that she was about to continue those tears at any moment now.

So I responded with: "To let you experience being inside me."

That in turn, causes her expression to be speechless, and then countless unholy thoughts form in her head in an instant and it explodes her to a bit of a daze as her imagination runs wild at my wordings. Such is the power of words, I suppose.

"But you really are one silly and very naughty girl, to think you'd instantly imagine all sorts of scenarios..." I said, poking about at her cheek while she was in a daze. "Also, I'm a boy!"

Mhn, I think this girl's just a little bit too into Yuri.

Although I've already controlled my charm, it seems I didn't really change all that much to her narrative. Do I really look like a girl from other's viewpoints? Maybe I should cut my hair and give myself a bit more masculinity than a hidden dragon after all...

But oh well, not like I really care all that much about how others perceive me. The only thing I should care about is how I perceive myself. I am, after all, a loner at heart, as I have always been throughout my life; I care not for social affirmations and contempt conformity above all else!

...Or at least that was the mindset I developed throughout my lonely life after failing to fit in even when I tried with great effort.

So to honor the thought, I suppose I won't be cutting my hair and changing the way I 'naturally' look after all as I already look 'perfect' in my opinion. Heh, I might even grow my hair even longer just to fuck with people. Hehehe, one of my long-standing mottos after all was 'If you can't join them, then fuck them!'

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Anyways...

"That was quite enough of ceremonious rhythmic dancing of the fingers into pink caves, young lady," I said, lightly tapping my index and middle finger like a certain anime character on her forehead as I brought her out of the endless prison of imagination brought by her close connection to the very Source of All Thoughts.

"Ouch! That hurts..." She came back, massaging her smoking forehead on which is a red imprint of my fingers while she stared at me in seeming annoyance.

"Well, you wouldn't come back otherwise," I said, that, however, was a bald-faced lie. I could have also brought her by just thinking about it, but I feel like 'unlocking' more of her many cute expressions.

Hmm, if I word it like that, now I'm starting to feel like they were some exclusive collectibles of sorts. Also, now I feel like the revealings of her thoughts in my head are starting to seem like a sort of sexual harassment, not only for her but also for me...

"Hmph, I'll have you know," She starts, lifting her index finger to point at me while making a pose like she was a certain Jojo character and was about to make a point. And a point she made:

"I'm not a loli, I'm a growing girl!"

To that declaration, I casually answer with, "Oh yeah? What's the difference?"

"A loli is a perpetual state of being child-like in appearance, and on the contrary to that, my body is changing and growing every day thus leaving the state of child-likeness." She argued rather confidently, she seems to be firm on this distinction.

"Are you sure about that?" I retorted. "Isn't The Mind a perpetual immutable constant everpresent throughout the endless Continuum of Existence? Doesn't that make you, the extension of that perpetualness who I deem to look like one, technically the most loli of all lolies on a conceptual level?" I added with a smirk.

"I... that's, uh...." And now she's struggling to find the words. "Dammit! Do you have to go to such an abstract level!? Stay on the levels of touching of grass, please!"

"Hehe, that's three for three, and once again — Watashi no kachi!"

"Eff you!"