Connor awoke to the feeling of squirming beside him...

-Shuffle!-

"Hmm..." He drowsily blinked his eyes as he struggled to stop himself from going straight back to sleep, fighting back a yawn when he heard it.

"Sheesh... you're finally awake," He turned to see a wide awake Mariya

"Good morning," She greeted him blithely, her body casually snuggling closer in his arms...

He smiled gently, "My arms are pretty comfy, huh?"

"Mhm..." Was all she said before she went back to napping.

...

...

"Sex—"

-Bonk!-

"Oww!" He didn't even finish his sentence before he was ruthlessly punished, "What was that for?!" Crocodile tears formed in his eyes as he painfully rubbed the top of his head...

She didn't answer, ignoring him as she opened the tent up to get some air in.

And only then did he realize where he was...

"Wait... how did we get here?" He tried recalling the previous night but just kept drawing up a lot of blanks.

"After we made up, we—" She pulled out a cigarette, "...Smoked a few of these while talking. Eventually, both of us fell asleep, and Malkov had to drag our sorry asses back to camp. Want one?"

"Sure,"

She passed one to him, "These are good stuff, but damn are they strong,"

He pulled out his own lighter and lit the cig. Instantly, the strong smell hit his nose and he completely woke up, "Mn,"

They sat there for a while, just silently smoking and thinking their thoughts—

-Rumble...-

Until Connor's stomach decided it'd had enough of that...

Mariya cackled at the immaculate timing of his stomach, except hers started to rumble too.

"Heh, look who's laughing now," Connor snickered at her fierce blushing.

She sent a glare his way, scoffing, "Hardy har har..."

He paid her no mind and made to get out, saying, "C'mon, let's get some grub,"

"Not hungry," She mumbled annoyedly, still sulking at her stomach.

He chuckled, pointing at her midriff, "Your stomach doesn't seem to think so,"

-Rumble...-

As if agreeing with him, her gut decided to growl at that exact moment.

"Tch! Fine, let's just get this over with so we can keep going," She stomped past Connor before heading towards the other set of tents, where Malkov and Sima were sitting.

Connor smirked, snubbed the butt of his cigarette, and followed her.

***

When they arrived, the two, Sima and Malkov, were already halfway through with their meals.

"Goof Morfnin'," Sima greeted while stuffing his face full of hardtack and jerky.

Mariya looked at him in disgust, "I'll never understand how you can shove what is the food equivalent of glass in your mouth and not weep in anguish,"

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

He smiled but didn't quip back, pointing to two plastic-wrapped containers instead, "You guys' food is there; I made sure to dip your hardtack in water to soften it a bit..."

She nodded in thanks and sat down with Connor, both ripping open their respective containers to dig in.

"So..." After a while, Sima tested cautiously, "...How are the two of you?"

"Your ciggies did wonders; I need to buy some myself," Mariya said as she snapped off a sizeable chunk of hardtack to eat, "The big baby was almost crying by the end of his apology,"

"Not true," Connor contested, his own hands busy with the jerky, muttering quietly to himself, "...At least I hope,"

"Hoh? You don't even remember a thing; how can you be sure you didn't cry?"

"That doesn't mean you can just lie!" He whined, but seeing the smile on her face, he grew increasingly nervous, "It didn't happen... did... it?"

"I think you already know," Her smile grew even wider, and he felt his stomach drop to the depths of hell.

"Dammnit!" Connor felt like tearing at his hair, "Past me! How the hell are you so uncooooool!!! Aaaaaaahh..."

"In any case," Malkov finally joined in the conversation, "I'm glad the two of you figured things out; it saves me the trouble of mediating between the both of you,"

"Yeah, yeah, you're just jealous your boyfriend's a psychopath and not my honey over here," Connor put a hand on Mariya's head and was promptly slapped.

"Oof, low blow man," Malkov groaned, putting one hand over his heart in mock-hurt...

Suddenly, Sima got up, brushed the crumbs of food off his pants, and left.

"Yo Sima! where are you going, dude?" Connor called.

He turned and raised his lighter, "Smoke Break,"

"...Why not do it here?"

"Malkov says he hate smokes. Doesn't want me hurting his sensitive nose buds," Before turning around and walking away.

Connor raised an eyebrow at Malkov, to which he admitted, "Never liked the things much: seen a guy cough up black blood from smoking too much,"

"I see," He understood and left the issue at that...

Soon, When they finished their meals and Sima returned, the group began to discuss their actions moving forwards:

The group of four stood in a circle, each with their own thoughts and opinions as they waited for someone to start the meeting. Malkov was that someone.

"So," He glanced at Mariya and Connor, "Have you dealt with your 'problem'?"

They nodded simultaneously, with Connor electing himself to answer, "We talked about it last night, and we've decided to come to a compromise," He pulled out a map and pointed at Aldahab.

"After we meet up with Don Khai here, we'll be temporarily separating: I'll head someplace random for the six months we have left while you guys find a way to destroy the spell," Pause, "Hopefully, they'll be too distracted with me to care about you guys,"

"...And if that plan fails?" Malkov asked.

Connor made a face, his eyes unreadable as he thought long and hard. Eventually, he answered with a pained expression, "In the event of failure... we'll both commit suicide as a last resort..."

"!!!" Everyone was shocked and appalled, but he kept up the straight face despite their stares.

"Y-Y-You... What the fuck does that mean?!" Sima sputtered, so shocked he couldn't even find the right words, "Is this some sick joke, you fuck?! Huh?! After all that waiting, you're gonna kill yourself?"

"—And you!" He whipped his head to glower at Mariya, "Is that what you really want? You know there's no coming back, right? Right?!"

"I know..." Mariya nodded without hesitation, "It's for the best: they don't get his help, and I can rest with my conscience cle—!!?"

She wasn't able to finish, her words cut short by the sword hovering right over her neck. Connor instantly reacted:

"Oi, Malkov, you don't get to fucking do tha—!?!" But was also interrupted, this time by a dagger.

"Let go, Sima," He growled at the man behind him, "You know I can kill you without moving, right?"

He didn't answer.

Connor stared at the unmoving blade, and just as he was about to repeat, Malkov began.

"You know," He chuckled mirthlessly, "You weren't the only ones to worry about this situation... Sima and I also discussed what to do just in case you two decided to do something stupid without us,"

"It's not stup—"

"Shut up and let me finish!" He roared, cowing Connor into silence.

"...Good," He took a calming breath before continuing, "And you know what? If you aren't gonna act sensibly, I'll do it for you— with or without you,"

"..."

"So if you wanna keep going, I need a guarantee: a guarantee you won't kill yourselves like idiots just because things didn't go your way!"

"I guarant—"

"No! I want it written in that book of yours. Put it there, that if you or Mariya commit suicide, I'll die with you,"

"What?! T-That's impossible! I can't do that to you!" Connor thrashed against Sima in an attempt to escape, but a strike to his side almost knocked him out cold.

"Sorry man, but you kinda brought this on yourself," His cold, monotone voice rang in Connor's ears as he weakly shook in protest.

"Do it, or we're not going anywhere," Came Malkov's ultimatum, and similar to Sima, his voice was terrifyingly even, though Connor could still spot a tinge of sadness in his friend's tone...

"..." Connor stilled, having fallen into deep thought.

One minute...

Two minutes...

Three minutes...

Four-minute—

"Fine!" He opened his eyes again, "I'll do it..."

Sima locked eyes with Malkov, and after seeing a nod of approval, cautiously let him free.

"Thanks..." He muttered and took out the Book of Fate. Opening it, he took out some ink and a quill before beginning to write under close supervision...

With a soft thud, he closed the book, "There. I'm done,"

Malkov lowered his sword before walking towards his camel, "Let's go, we're following Connor's plan, and we're not going to fail,"

----------------------------------------