The warm spring air carried a fresh scent of flowering plants and fresh streams. The alluring aroma, the crisp taste, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. It was a sweet experience that roused Arylos from his sleep; feeling the warmth of the spring that had finally come. The Titan experienced a sweet serenity as he could hear birds chirping outside with the wind blowing. He enjoyed the sensation of being wrapped up in his blanket, feeling the warmth with a touch of sweat on the back of his neck.

The ancient Titan took a sharp inhale as he slowly opened his eyes, seeing the spring sunlight fill his room. He slowly rose out of his bed as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. He felt like he had a dream, but it was beyond his reach now; like words he couldn’t remember and the more he tried, the more he had begun to forget. He began to wonder if he really did dream anything at all; his first deep slumber as a man, not a monster.

He began to question if he really was a human or not.

He closed his eyes and within the darkness of his vision, he could still sense his surroundings clearly, including a presence in the kitchen downstairs followed by a sweet smell on the air; faint yet persistent and smelt bittersweet, like chocolate. While reaching out with his senses, he clenched his wrist in his hand, finding that his body still bore no pulse in his veins.

He shook his head and rose out of bed, feeling the sunlight warm his exposed torso. The air was just too warm and so he resolved to leave himself shirtless but put on a loose set of black trousers. He rubbed his eyes clear as he opened his door and went into the hallway, the bittersweet smell stronger now. He took stock of himself and slowly his internal clock started to catch up; desperately trying to make up for his stint of unconsciousness.

After a while, he felt the seconds begin ticking again at a regular rate and his count had finally started to catch up and the maths began to run through his head. He had been asleep for eleven hours and he lost track of time around midnight.

Which meant he just slept until noon.

Arylos slapped his cheek as he quickened his pace down the stairs, realising that he was behind in his duties. He had to prepare food, meet with Garris regarding a supply chain negotiation, care for the bushes in the garden, at some point he would have to tackle the laundry soon. He began sliding things around in his head, reprioritising as much as he could in order to make up for the lost hours that he slept away.

As he stopped at the last step, he laughed under his breath. Iris was right; he really did turn himself into a househusband. Whether on purpose or on accident, he didn’t know. This was just a way for him to enjoy not fighting to stay alive for once; a touch of peace that he could never have.

He rounded the corner into the kitchen and saw Iris with her hair tied up as she took a pan out of the stone oven. She looked over and saw the Titan still trying to wake up and laughed.

“Well good morning, sleepy head,” she teased with a smile.

Arylos shook his head, trying to get words to come to him again. “Good morning for one, secondly why do I smell chocolate? You know I can only import so much.”

“I wanted to try something new,” she shrugged and took out a knife and started cutting something in the pan. “My mom taught me a recipe for a kind of cake when I was younger and I wanted to see if I could get it to work with chocolate.”

“A cake you say?” Arylos asked while coming up next to her. He looked inside the pan and saw a layer of dark brown dense yet spongy cake with a glossy layer formed on the top and carried the aroma of chocolate. He knew this treat from another world; a cake he had not seen in nearly an aeon. A part of him longed for it, knowing he missed it.

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“How the hell did your people know about brownies without having chocolate?” Arylos wondered aloud, not believing what he was seeing.

“Buraunii?” Iris asked, unfamiliar with the word.

Arylos laughed under his breath, forever forgetting that Iris is only from Kaiyumi. “Brownie,” he repeated slowly hoping that she could hear the syllables clearly through his Titanic language. “It’s a sort of sponge cake that I’ve seen before but it usually is only made with chocolate. I didn’t think your people knew how to make it, or figured it out.”

“My mom made it with fruits when I was younger,” Iris replied while she finished cutting and put the knife down and picked the pan back up, pulling it away from the Titan. “It’s still hot so it should rest a few minutes to cool down.”

Arylos growled and his eyes shone red as the air hummed. He felt the layers of reality separate as he reached out his strength and grabbed onto Iris’s hair, pulling her back and holding her in place when all she could see was an invisible force pulling on her.

“Why must you do that?” Iris growled herself, gritting her teeth.

Arylos kept his invisible Titanic hand in place as he reached around and took the hot pan from Iris, the heat of the pan doing little to scald him. “Because they’re best when they’re hot and fresh,” he growled hungrily, fishing out a couple of pieces of the chocolatey cake.

“I mean why must you pull on my hair like that,” Iris complained, trying to pull her hair loose from the Titan’s invisible grip.

“Because the rise I get out of you is entertaining,” Arylos returned, releasing his grip on her and taking a bite of the cake. He took in the sweet bitterness and the soft consistency in his mouth; a treat that practically melted in his mouth joined with the crunchy edges and top contrasted perfectly. He felt himself warm up to this treat Iris made and he had to resist turning around and eating the whole pan.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed this,” Arylos voiced while biting into the second piece he took, enjoying the sensation all over again.

“You like it that much?” Iris laughed.

“The last world that made this died out a long time ago and I’ve missed it ever since,” Arylos cheered as he took the last bite, wishing he saved some for later.

“I guess that’s one of those many curses of an eternal life,” Iris spoke softly while rubbing her sore scalp. “At some point, all good things come to an end, don’t they?”

“Inevitably,” Arylos responded, keeping his happy tone. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy those fleeting moments as they pass before they’re gone forever.”

“Careful there boy,” Iris teased while taking out a warm piece of the cake from the pan. “That’s a pretty human belief for a Titan to have.”

“What can I say? You’ve been rubbing off on me for the past year,” Arylos returned with his tongue out as he went into the dining room.

“So you know what today is then?” Iris asked while taking a bite of the cake, falling in love with how delicious it came out to be.

“Of course. It’s been a year since we met; I figured that’s why you made the cake,” Arylos laughed with a big smile before it was slowly lost in a frown. “That means it’s been a year since Nageki was–”

“It’s been a year since we met,” Iris corrected in a stern voice while crossing her arms.

“You can’t forget about your home,” Arylos responded with concern, voicing his own feelings about Mortehksun.

“It’s not that I’ve forgotten, it’s that I’ve mourned and moved on,” Iris returned. “Sure, it still hurts, but if I can’t move on, then can I really continue to live? I have a second chance here so I don’t want to squander it.”

Arylos thought for a moment before cracking a smile. “Careful there, girl. You’re starting to sound a lot like me.”

Iris remained silent for a moment before snickering. “What can I say? You’ve been rubbing off on me for the past year,” she returned his initial joke.

The two laughed, excited for the coming season of new horizons to march towards.

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