“Alright, we experienced a small setback back there, but since we’re in Vallis now, things should be a bit better.”

“You think?” Cecily sounded worried, “What if the people that were chasing Nelly are still on our tail?”

“There’s no helping it then.” I replied without thinking about it too much, “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I just want us to have as much fun on this trip as possible. But if it turns out that we get caught, then that’s that I guess.”

“What do you mean That’s that?!” She jumped from her seat, “How can you be so indifferent about the situation?! We just barely found Nelly, and even then she was scared out of her life!”

“I don’t know what you want me to do.” I answered back with an understanding tone, “Believe me, I’m doing my best to keep you guys safe. But even I’m not omnipotent. You’ve seen it happen during the Mobius Awards as well, but if someone gets the jump on me, then I won’t be able to protect you guys.”

“I…!” She raised her voice before sitting back down, hugging her knees and quietly sobbing, “I don’t know what I want you to do…”

Sitting in the tranquil wagon, we continued riding through the night before slowly drifting off to sleep. I should probably note this so as not to worry the reader, but Nelly didn’t hear any part of this conversation, because she was peacefully sleeping through it all on my lap.

Finally, it was the next day, and we had made it to the capital of Vallis, which was… a pasture? Hold on, I know Vallis is known for its valleys, but isn’t this kind of taking the pun too far? Hey, driver, what’s the big idea?

“Sorry folks,” The driver apologized, “This one’s actually on me. We’re out of gas, so you’ll have to stay here for a couple hours until I come back with a canister from a nearby city.”

“So what, you’re just leaving us here then?” I sounded ticked off, “Listen, I’ll just use Materialize to…”

“Shh!” Cecily grabbed my hand, thus forbidding me from Materializing a canister, “It can’t be helped then. Let’s just stay here while you get the gas, sir. And please, don’t take too long.”

“I’m not that evil, lady!” He chuckled, “Alright, I’m sorry again folks. But don’t worry, I didn’t just leave you out in the middle of nowhere. See that barn over there? It’s actually a popular tourist spot, because the farmers that hold this place actually turned it into a petting zoo. Take your kid there, I’m sure she’ll like the friendly animals!”

“Awe thewe teddies?” Nelly piped up, “Siw Teddington wants to see his family!”

“Heh, not sure about that, squirt!” The driver patted her on the head before heading out, “But by all means, do ask around. You never know what you’ll find in there.”

And so, the lousy driver began his trek to the neighboring city, and we went in the opposite direction to get to the barn. That being said, this all could’ve been avoided if Cecily didn’t stop me from casting Materialize, so what’s the deal?

“Cecily, what you did just now…”

“Be a bit more alert!” She hissed, “What if that guy was a believer in Selzion?! What if he attacked us like that priest did?!”

Whoa, what’s got her so paranoid? Hold on, is this all just because she saw Nelly like that last night? No, it couldn’t be, Cecily’s not that type of person. Or is she?

“And besides,” She cautioned, “Please stop being so at-ease as if you’re okay with either outcome! You’re really not helping with my anxiety that way!”

“But why though?” I asked, “Either we make it or we don’t. It’s really not that big of an issue, so just sit back and enjoy the moment.”

“Mom, look, bunnies!” Nelly ran in front of us, “Bunnies, meet Sir Teddington! Sir Teddington, meet bunnies!”

“See? Nelly’s got the right idea. Cecily, you’re worrying too much.”

“Mnn…”

“Oh, I spy a little visitor coming to our playpen!” A local farmer who worked here waved to Nelly, “At ease, girlie. They’re not gonna bite, so feel free to pet them all you like.”

It was just as the lousy driver said, the farmers here are quite kind and allow for people to pet the animals here as much as they want. Actually, I’m surprised he’s not asking us to pay before letting Nelly pet them. He’d probably make a killing that way.

“Sorry to bother you sir, we’ll be staying here for a couple hours with the animals while our driver gets gas.” I explained the situation truthfully, “That being said, how much?”

“How much?” The farmer tilted his head without letting go of his smile.

“Y’know, how much money?” I chuckled nervously, “I mean, surely we can’t just stay here and pet the animals for free, can we?”

“Why not?” He still seemed confused at the prospect, “I believe all animals are safe. But some people might not think that way, so I made it my job to help as many kids not fear our little farm animals that we have here as possible.”

“I like animals so much…” Nelly piped up, “That I don’t evew eat meat!”

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“Phahaha!” The farmer burst out laughing, “That much, you say? I’ve met adults like that, but to think there’s such a kind little girl in the world. Eh, what’s the name again, vegetarian?”

“Never mind her, she just got a bit grossed out from her father’s stories.” Cecily shut Nelly up, “Don’t take her too seriously, I’m sure she’ll forget all about that fear and revert to eating whatever’s on the plate soon enough.”

“I won’t!” Nelly refuted, “I like all animals, but I’m not gonna eat them until I cwoak!”

“Don’t say such morbid things!”

Aw geez, and just when I thought she was calming down. Looks like Cecily’s still pretty on edge due to all the recent happenings. She’s especially scared for Nelly’s wellbeing, but from our earlier conversation I could even sense a bit of fear of losing even me. I doubt it means anything though, since Cecily practically needs me to serve as their bodyguard until we get back home. I don’t want to seem selfish too, so I’ll be just that for now.

“Ah, looks like the rabbits liked your resolute answer, Princess!” The farmer chuckled as the bunnies hopped around Nelly, “Why don’t you two folks check out the stables while I keep watch on your little girl here? I’m sure you need some alone time as well.”

“Hm? Sure…?”

What’s this, does the farmer sense something’s amiss between us as well? Are we really that obvious? And if so, how many people could see it too? Were we just the dysfunctional couple in the eyes of the public? Actually, that explains a lot of things up until now, such as how people always talked like they were walking on eggshells around us…

***

Heading inside the stables, it was exactly as you’d expect it to be like. There weren’t any horses inside though, which kind of disappointed me. The image of a knight riding his loyal steed popped into my head, but I guess I won’t be experiencing that dream just yet.

That being said, it did allow me to talk to Cecily one-on-one, which I can at least appreciate for what it is. Turning to her, her face was a lot more flush than it was outside. Now I’m kind of worried, did she get a fever from all that needless worrying? Hah, as if.

Then again, it wouldn’t be all that surprising. She’s been pushing herself to her limits a lot lately, what with having to simultaneously take care of both Nelly and me. I can’t remember if I even ever thanked her for nursing me while I was sick. Then again, I don’t even remember that week in my life when I was sick, so who knows? I wonder though, what’s occupying her mind so much?

“Those rabbits…” She stood in front of me, all the while looking down in embarrassment, “The farmer stood in between them and Nelly so that she wouldn’t see, but did you see what they were doing?”

“Eh?” I didn’t quite understand.

Before I could even answer though, she had put all her weight on my chest, making us fall inside one of the empty horse stalls. Thankfully though, it looks like there was some hay down here, so it didn’t hurt all that much when I fell on my back.

“Heh, what was that for?” I chuckled, before asking again, this time seriously, “Cecily?”

“Just shut up…” She blushed as she undid my pant buckles.

Whoa whoa! What the hell is going on here all of a sudden!? She was talking about bunnies just a minute ago, so what’s she doing now?! A-And in any case, didn’t she say she hated me?!

“Hey, stop that!” I grabbed her hands, “What’s gotten into you? Did you forget, or should I remind you that we're not a couple?”

“Just…” She yanked her hands out of my grip before continuing, “Just this once, give me this much…”

A-Ah. She’s actually doing it. Even though we’re in a dusty old barn, even though Nelly and the farmer are just outside…! She’s actually putting it in her mouth! Where the hell did she learn that?! Thank God I showered last night before leaving Occidence!

“H-Hey, what if Nelly comes in?” I bit my knuckes, trying desperately to hold it in.

“She’s nof gunna.” She then stopped for a brief period, “Ow, my jaw hurts.”

“Then don’t go putting it in your mouth all of a sudden!” I shouted at her, “Come on, we’ll pretend like this never happened so just get up and…”

“No!” She pushed me back down, “We’ll pretend like it never happened after I’m done. Think of this as nothing more than stress relief.”

Damn, there’s that phrase again. Is it really that popular of a justification for doing this sort of thing? Marina said the same thing, now that I think about it… So wait, do I accept her conditions and just go with the flow? I really want to, but then I’d just be selfish again. Oi-!

“I said stop it, ya’ numbskull!” I tried prying her face away from my nether regions, “If you don’t stop, I’ll-!”

Blow, is what I wanted to say, but it seems the additional swaying and jerking about as I was pulling her off of me only made it feel better. In the end, I ended up “arriving” all over her face. Now listen, keep this between me and you, but goddamn was this hot as hell.

“Ugh, you could’ve warned me…” She wiped a small bit off with her finger before putting it in her mouth, “Hm, tastes like batter, oddly enough…”

“Dammit, didn’t I tell you to stop!?” I finally shook her off, “Just what the hell’s gotten into you all of a sudden?!”

“…” She looked at me with a bashful expression before turning away in shame, “I-It’s just, looking at those rabbits kind of got me…”

“Haah?” I looked down at her, “You got horny after looking at the rabbits mating? That’s the dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard of! Come clean and confess why you really did this!”

“Why do I have to?!” She yelled, scaring me, “I told you not to stop me and just accept it, but here you are being polite the one time I don’t want you to!”

“That’s!” I stuttered in my reply, “That’s because you said so yourself! I don’t know what’s gotten into you to suddenly wanna do this with me, but there’s one thing I’m sure of and that’s that you’re seriously gonna regret it later.”

“And why would I?”

“Cecily, I did something terrible to you.” I explained, “I did something terrible, and the worst part is that it took me years before I could even register what I did in my brain as an asshole move.”

“And I said that I forgi-!”

“You waited for me all this time, and yet there I was, just betraying your expectations, as well as the promise I made to you! I’m not someone who deserves you, so don’t make me have to repeat this anymore!”

“…Then don’t.” She said, pushing me to the ground, “Don’t repeat it. If it’ll make you feel better, call it rape. But I’ve waited for you for so long, so the least you could do for me is be a man and give me closure.”

Without giving me time to react, she went in for a kiss. It was our first kiss since the boat ride from Sulfury. Oddly enough though, it tasted a bit differently than lemons. It tasted more like batter… I see now, I don’t quite understand, but I’ll fulfill her desires for now. I’m sorry for making you wait, and I’m not sure what this means. Heck, I’m not even sure if we’ll ever do this again, but to me that just means I should make the most of this short moment we have right now.

This isn’t my first time, just hers. She was all over the place after the adrenaline left her system. In the end, she was quite a bit scared after insertion. Fumbling about until I took the lead, I couldn’t help but crack a smile after seeing such a cute display. We were at it for a while, too. We forgot all about Silvia, the ITA, the people who were waiting for us back home, everyone. The only thing we were thinking of in this current moment was ourselves, and our bodies. Nothing else.