The Metronian Prince looked over his battalion. His original number of soldiers had been diverted so that a minority had gone with the other squad leaders of Joshua’s unit. Reya and Lucina had taken twenty five each, with the remaining fifty having just finished today’s instructions.
Raiden continued to watch his unit practice team exercises. From a glance, it was obvious who the 50 new recruits to round out his regiment were, although they were making steady progress.
Raiden felt good with his number of soldiers back up to full capacity, although the rate of progression was still something that stressed him out, even with the good trend that they had found themselves on.
“Good work everyone! We’ll continue this regimen until the new recruits have built up enough stamina. In a week, we’ll begin the next set of drills. Enjoy your evenings, eat well, and get a good rest!”
The soldiers saluted and let out a resounding, “Yes, Prince Raiden!” They all set off on their own, and Raiden was no exception. He began walking towards the familiar bar. Getting on to the automatic sidewalk, he let his thoughts wander to Leray.
The Felis woman was the apple of his eye, and every moment spent without her was one he regretted. However, this was the night before the weekend arrived, and he was determined to show her his love.
All night long. Raiden grinned at the thought, and between his fantasizing and memories, it took him a moment to notice that his overlay was telling him to get off of the human highway.
Stepping onto the familiar street of the bar, Raiden’s smile couldn’t help but widen as he saw a familiar fox-like tail duck into the bar he frequented.
He basically ran up to the door, while in full combat armor, and kicked it open. “Leray, I’ve…” Raiden’s thought process stopped as he saw a Felis girl present. One who, very obviously, was not Leray.
Immediately, Raiden’s combat training kicked in and he pulled out his Executioner on the unknown being. Her small ears went flat against her skull, her two tails stuck straight up in the air, and she let out a loud growl.
“Stop, you idiot! And you too, Miana! Knock it off.”
Idiot and Miana… well, I’m not Miana, so… Realizing that he was being called an idiot, Raiden holstered his gun and turned to see Leray, who was standing in the doorway of the bar, with a bag of fresh produce in hand.
“Leray… who is this?” Raiden’s voice was soft and cautious as he walked up to the Felis woman, and put a hand on one shoulder.
“Don’t touch!” Raiden cocked his head at the broken use of language, and easily dodged a swipe from the young Felis’ clawed hands.
Miana’s hand went straight through the glass door of the shop, and she watched in abject horror as Leray began to growl. It was a low sound, one that resonated in Raiden’s chest and made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
“What did I tell you!? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!” What followed the brief use of Metronian language was an exchange that Raiden could neither understand, nor keep track of. If there was one thing that came through in that short native tongue of Leray’s, it was that she was pissed.
This time, Miana’s ears were flat out of fear, and she instantly knelt on the ground, presenting her back to Leray in an act of submission.
“Gah, damn it!” Leray spat out, and huffed as she returned her gaze to Raiden. “How have you been, Rai? I haven’t seen you in quite a bit.” Her sweet voice was a polar opposite to the angry expression she wore.
Raiden was nonplussed by her about-face, and asked, pointing to the cowering woman in the room, “Leray, are you going to tell me what that’s about?”
The Felis sighed and sat down at her own barstool, her eyes never once leaving the prone Miana. “Truthfully, I’m getting used to it as well. She is another Fallen.”
Leray let that sit for a moment, before continuing, “She was found nearly dead on the side of a highway, with injuries that resembled those made by a beast from my home world.”
At this point, Raiden had sat down next to Leray, and wrapped a hand around her waist. “What were her powers?”
She shook her head and watched as Miana crawled into the back room of the establishment. “She seemingly has none, which puts the Kingdom in a bind. They can’t just throw her out on the street since that would be a gross neglect of a Fallen in need, but she also couldn’t be reasoned with after she woke up.”
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“Oh, I see.” Raiden said, turning around to face the bar. “So you got voluntold to be her caretaker.”
Leray rolled her eyes and stood up, moving to walk behind the bar and get both herself and Raiden a drink. “Did I ever tell you how much I hate your habit of mashing words together?”
The prince smiled. This smile always melts her heart… sure enough- Raiden’s thoughts were cut short as a now blushing Leray reached over the counter and flicked him in the forehead.
“Cut it out. You can make bedroom eyes at me all you’d like, but I have a little more on my plate to deal with than sating my own sex drive.”
In one smooth motion, Raiden grabbed the hand that flicked him, pulled her in close, and kissed the back of the offending appendage.
Leray’s face became flushed with a new shade of crimson, and she tried to pull back her hand weakly. Raiden held on, and kissed it once more. “How many times have I told you, my love, that it doesn’t matter for me whether or not we have sex whenever I come here? It’s just about me being able to bask in the glory that is your very existence.”
Leray’s usually very perky ears dropped down to cover her eyes as she avoided line of sight with Raiden’s face. This is why I love her. He kissed her hand again, eliciting a squeak from the Felis woman.
He released her hand, and she very quickly set to mixing them both drinks. Raiden sighed, and rested his head in one hand. She’s so perfect. That’s why I need to win this war game, so father will allow me the freedom to do as I please.
Raiden’s eyes moved down her silhouette, from her tall ears to her slender torso, deadly mechanical arm, wide hips, and a pair of high heels that could stomp the life out of anyone and anything. Of course, having extra motivation on top of that doesn’t hurt any.
Raiden would have continued to mentally ravish the Felis’ body, had it not been for a slight movement he caught out of the corner of his eye.
Turning his gaze, he laid eyes upon the other Felis in the building, Miana, as she started to approach. She was very likely a child from Leray’s home planet, as, even at her full height, she wouldn’t have even reached Raiden’s hip.
Her hair and fur was black in contrast to Leray’s brown, and piercing red eyes peeked out from her long bangs. She was wearing a light dress, one that was probably prepared by the palace in the case of a Fallen being a child.
“What do you want?” Raiden spoke smoothly, softly, and slowly for the child. It should have only been her second or third day with the device, and her child-like brain probably couldn’t handle the influx of information yet.
“Mama.” She said, and pointed to Leray. The owner of the bar sighed, and turned around to face the two of them.
“How many times have I told you, I’m not your damn mother! She just probably looks similar.” Leray grumbled, but that didn’t dissuade the younger Felis, who ran up to Raiden and put her head on his lap.
“Papa.” Leray, Raiden, and Miana all waited in silence for a near moment, before Raiden gingerly lifted his hand and placed it on the Felis’ head.
She let out a relaxed grunt and closed her eyes as her tails swished from side to side. As the prince continued to pet her, her tails swished faster and faster.
Fuck, what is this cuteness!? Raiden threw his head back to avoid his goofy smile being seen by Miana.
“Really?” Leray said in disgust, but the prince merely shrugged his shoulders.
“What can I say. I guess Felis women find me irresistible.” He got up, and took Miana’s hand in his own. “Come on, Leray. Let’s go get some dinner, just the three of us.”
---
Later that night, the three had returned to the bar, and subsequently put Miana to bed. Having a full stomach and two parental figures had apparently appeased the girl’s sense of danger, as she fell asleep mid-walk back from the Asahian restaurant.
It was a good thing that Raiden and Leray were each holding one hand, as the girl would have hit the concrete hard, otherwise.
“Are you sure-”, Raiden’s protest was cut off as Leray stuck her long tongue in his mouth, and began exploring his gums and teeth with it.
The prince wanted to sigh as a cold, metallic hand fiddled with his pants. Meanwhile, the living one began to glide over his toned chest and chiseled abs.
Leray took a deep breath after releasing him from the kiss and said, “Don’t worry, this is the soundproof room, impervious even to my Felis ears. Plus, I locked the door.”
Ten minutes of ecstasy later, and both were satisfied. Raiden knew that Leray wanted to be greedy and keep going, but she also had things to discuss with him.
She stopped straddling him, and cuddled with the prince, who returned the favor. “Are you really not bothered by what I told you earlier? About what the Paladin did to get you under contract?”
Well… I could lie and tell her not to worry… but that wouldn’t make for a healthy relationship, now would it?
Raiden sat up and put his arm around Leray’s shoulders. “Honestly, I am bothered. It was a shitty way to go about gaining my loyalty, when he could have achieved a similar result just by asking a few, very simple questions.”
“You don’t sound mad.” Leray pointed out, and Raiden shook his head.
“I said I was bothered, not mad. Honestly, Joshua Cole’s trust may be harder to earn than any other being's on the planet. It’s like he intrinsically doesn’t trust any of us.”
Leray opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and stopped. “However,” Raiden continued, “I did get an awesome bonus by gaining his trust this way.” Leray tilted her head, clearly confused, and Raiden playfully bit her ear.
Leray yipped and, in complete and utter embarrassment, shoved her face in the pillow as far down as it could go. Raiden grinned, even though she wasn’t watching, and said, “I gained a guardian angel for my dearly beloved. What better payoff is there than knowing that you’ll be safe at all times?”