-No, I'd be happy to answer your questions, but could you let me put on some clothes first? - Ringo sighed and pointed to the bathtub.
Lena and Eva finally realized the situation, the pair were so excited about Ringo's return that they'd forgotten about it.
Lena blushed and quickly left. Eva gave him a long look before waving and leaving, wiggling her butt and winking at him.
Ringo rolled his eyes and glared at the canine duo still there. Ringo noticed they'd gotten taller, but he quickly ignored it and became furious, remembering Will waking him up with a lick. - What are you two still doing here?! Get out!
Jack and Will quickly ran outside.
Ringo didn't care, the sounds and smells of Eva, Lena, Will and Jack were already registered as reliable, so he didn't wake up. As he left, he remembered he still didn't know how much time had passed.
Coming out of the bathroom in a towel, he grabbed his charged phone and checked the date. His lips trembled. Well, it's been a month, actually, almost two months.
Sighing, he looked at his inbox and the flood of phone calls, most from Eva and Lena, a few from his mother and even one from Han Xiao.
He read through some of the women. Lena seemed worried and anxious. Eva started calmly, but then promised a lot of pain. Melissa sent a {Where are you?} every day. In the end, it was all about finding him. He felt a little warm inside and smiled. Finally, he looked at Han Xiao's message.
{Hey, are you dead?}
Ringo paused for a moment, wanting to smack the bastard in the head.
{Only after you, dumbass!}
A few seconds later, the reply came: an emoticon with a middle finger.
Ringo clutched his phone, restraining himself from throwing it against the wall. He knew if he responded, it would turn into an emoticon war and he knew Han Xiao was too petty to lose. He might even put this aside for a few days before sending it again when he got bored, using it as a "leisure activity."
In short, you'd be mad while he'd be happy.
Ringo wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
Putting his phone away, he left the room. Lena was already preparing dinner, Eva was playing with a pocketknife, watching him with narrowed eyes.
He rolled his eyes, went to the kitchen cabinet, opened a drawer, and took out a box of cigars. He grabbed a cigar cutter and an ashtray from the side as he prepared it.
-Seriously? Without explaining anything? - Eva asked irritably, standing up and walking over to him.
-Well, I was going to light my cigar first. - Ringo sighed, looking at the woman, putting the cigar aside.
-You made us look for you for over a month! We thought something might have happened to you! We thought the Germinal had gotten you! - Eva pointed her finger at his chest as she yelled at him.
Ringo paused for a moment, looked at her furious face, then at Lena's lowered head and sighed. He hugged Eva's small frame. Well, she wasn't short, but she was half a head shorter than him.
She shivered slightly as he stroked her hair.
-I'm sorry. - he said softly.
Eva looked angry, but in the next moment her eyes turned red as she clung to him. His shirt soon began to get wet as he sighed and stroked her hair. Lena's eyes were also watery. Ringo waved his hand and she came too. He hugged them both, one on each side as they cried.
-I thought I lost you again. - Lena said, her voice cracking between sobs. - This is the second time, I hope there won't be a third.
Eva didn't speak, but it weighed even more heavily on him.
He felt bad, like, it wasn't his intention, but starting "training" without saying anything was clearly not a good idea. It hurt them. He hadn't expected any of this. He felt bad about it, and apparently, he was okay with feeling bad about it, because his evolution hadn't acted to adjust his feelings.
-So even my subconscious thinks I'm to blame. - He groaned in frustration, but managed to accept it.
In the end, Ringo took the pair to his own room, not to do anything but sleep. He simply let Lena and Eva cuddle him until they fell asleep, he let them use his arms as pillows and he stroked their hair until they fell asleep.
He didn't leave after that, but stared at the ceiling for a while, the bad feeling didn't seem to go away.
It felt... too real.
He didn't feel ready for this, and yet, here he was.
Part of him wanted to run away from this. He already had to look for Emma, he already had to settle matters with Hila, but looking at the pair in his arms, their bodies pressed against his as if afraid he'd slip away in the night, he laughed softly, an exasperated and amused laugh.
In fact, when they both said they wanted to share him, he hadn't taken it too seriously. He'd hoped the romance would fade with time, that one day they'd wake up and be done with it, but it never seemed as serious as it was now.
The first time was heavy, the conversation was also heavier, but the feelings carried this time were much stronger, perhaps because he had become a higher-level nightmare being, like a Rank B and a semi-spiritual creature. He could now eat without entering his target's consciousness. The mere external feelings could feed a Hidden Shadow of the nightmare. The feelings had flavor, and he could taste their emotions. Extreme fear, like a nightmare, he wasn't unfamiliar with this. In fact, fear tasted delicious, much better than positive emotions. But fear stemming from love, love for him, tasted bitter.
It was so bitter that it clung to his taste buds, making him nasty and sick. He continued to swallow it passively, not because he couldn't stop, but because only then did he feel he could truly feel it, their pain.
Love mixed with that fear...
It wasn't a game.
It wasn't a joke.
It wasn't a prank.
It wasn't just any novel.
They were alive.
They were real.
They loved him.
Fuck! He was fucked!
Ringo wanted to moan out loud, but he could only stay still, being used as a pillow.
He felt something, looked at Lena, and saw her looking at him. She was awake, her eyes still puffy and red.
She pulled his shirt tighter, holding it as if if she let go, he would run away.
She looked at him, and he looked at her.
-You really love me, don't you?- It was the first thing that came to mind, but he didn't regret asking, even though he knew it was obvious, he wanted to hear it from their lips.
Lena rolled her eyes. Instead of answering, she brought her head closer and kissed his lips softly, chastely, gently.
Ringo watched her approach and closed his eyes when her lips touched his. They stayed like that for a moment before she pulled away. She smiled at him before saying. - Yes, you idiot, I love you.
Ringo looked into her bright blue eyes. It was only then that he realized it. He grabbed the back of her neck and brought her mouth to him again.
Even though she was embarrassed, she didn't stop him, but quickly moved closer. They soon resumed kissing, but Ringo wasn't going for something chaste. He invaded her mouth with his tongue, she looked slightly surprised before clumsily following him. The pair continued to wrestle while Ringo felt himself getting hard.
It was at this point that an arm pushed Lena away, causing her to protest. - Hey!
Eva huffed in irritation. - It's not fair!
With that, she climbed onto his lap, directly above him with an excited look on her face. She lowered her lips and captured his.
She went straight for a French kiss, but she didn't know what she was doing, so it was funny to see her try to reach his throat with her tongue. He laughed lightly before pushing her away, rolling his eyes and pulling her back again, helping her get the rhythm going.
Eva seemed embarrassed at first, but soon forgot about it as their tongues intertwined. Ringo's hands lowered as they slipped into her pants, cupping her ass and squeezing it, making her moan into his mouth, getting even more excited, but Lena pulled her away. -My turn!
-Hey! I'm not done! - Eva shouted, unwilling to leave.
-You've stayed long enough! - Lena, who usually seemed calm and shy, began to argue directly.
Ringo rolled his eyes as he tossed them both aside and got out of bed. Sighing, he went to get a drink of water.
-Women. - He rolled his eyes as the pair glared at him, then at each other.
Ringo didn't want them to fight, so he ended the fight, can't you guys share? Well, then nobody wins!
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--x--
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