CHAPTER 824: NOT THAT BAD

Her hands turned into tentacles reaching for Iris, but she was faster, jumping forward towards Ryuk and wrapping around with a giggling scream.

He slapped off the approaching tentacles, much to her irritation, turning her hateful eyes to him.

"At least accept your defeat with grace, you amateur." He said, mockingly as she scoffed.

"Tsk, I’ll definitely be chewing her out next time," She muttered beneath her breath, standing to go pick up the controller, and playing a solo game by herself.

He turned to look at Iris, finding her yawning tiredly.

It was clear she was a bit exhausted from all the gaming, and she turned her head upwards to look at him, smiling coquettishly once more.

He rubbed her hair, his hands snaking to her mouth and prying her lips up.

She wasn’t surprised at all, and a brush-like object appeared in Ryuk’s hands, sucking away the chocolate that covered her teeth with every wipe.

Soon enough, Ryuk could see those white teeth, and only after did he properly lay her on the bed, tucking her in gently.

He lowered the bright lights coming from the ceiling and walls, letting them release a soft multi-coloured glow that he knew made Iris sleep better.

He then brought out her sleeping googles to protect her from the bright illumination from Zaffre’s game.

She didn’t refuse the googles, but once it was won, she leaned forward, kissing Ryuk on the cheek, while telepathically sending an exhausted,

"Goodnight,"

"Stop sneaking in kisses, you twerp!" He said, watching her smile in satisfaction, before her breaths evened out, a sign of her having fallen asleep, even though she kept her smile.

’And goodnight,’ He replied, turning himself under the sheets.

With one of his goals of coming to this bunker having been almost completed, he felt his body craving for a bit of genuine rest from all the computer work.

He decided to oblige this time, but he had not yet closed his eyes when he noticed the light in the room suddenly dimming a lot.

Turning to look forward, he witnessed Zaffre switching off the TV.

Once she did, she crawled over to the bed, by his side, whispering,

"How was it?"

"It’s being worked on. But it will take about a week before it’s all done," He responded, watching her brows crease from obvious impatience, but it eventually settled.

"It better be worth it," She threatened before diving beneath the sheets and turning to the other side.

It left Ryuk alone in the middle, and for a moment, he moved up to his wrist to check the time.

"It’s 4:57 PM." He whispered, feeling a head turn to him.

It was Zaffre who noticed Ryuk looking at the watch, a rare occurrence.

These past few days, he never did that, except when he needed to take Iris out to eat, but Iris had already done so for today, and was even currently snoring loudly.

"Planning something?" She asked him, and he nodded.

"Yes, I need to go see someone. I’ll leave at 8:00, and will be back before sunrise," He said.

Zaffre paused from his words before asking,

"Can I come with you?"

At her request, he turned and gently said,

"I’ll need you to stay and watch over Iris while I’m gone..."

"But, that will be you doing me an important favor, so I’ll be owing you one ’not tooo wild request’ of yours," He said with emphasis on the last part of his words.

"Fine. Better get back before sunrise like you said, though," She said, and Ryuk didn’t forget to grab a chance to tease.

"Awwwn, is someone already missing my absence?"

SCOFF!

’You wish," She said, turning away from him and going silent.

Ryuk grinned, satisfied before his gaze drifted up the ceiling of the room.

The starlight danced across, and even though it wasn’t the real thing, it did wonders in slowing down his heartbeat.

’A week from now, and all of the Nexus Legion will have been upgraded.’

’I only have two things left to do. Contract the other beasts and fulfill Mrs.Lynia’s requests."

’I’ve been trying to save away the former, because I lost a lot of blood essence the last time, just trying to contract Zaffre.’

’But it’s been four days now since then, and I’m feeling a lot better. I should be able to handle contracting one more.’

’And then, there is Mrs. Lynia’s request, which I’ll be fulfilling tonight,’ He thought silently.

For a second, an image flashed in her eyes.

The image of a golden-haired Fallen Angel, followed by a flicker which could barely be registered as Ryuk closed his eyes, both arms placed on his chest.

It was quiet, and soon enough, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

Half an hour later, Zaffre stirred from her sleep, turning her sides to face him.

Her eyes fluttered open to look at him, and she maintained her gaze, noticing that he didn’t stir at all.

It was clear he was already fast asleep.

A strand of white hair had fallen over his nose, and silently, her hand reached out, taking away the strand from the tip of his nose.

Turning back to look at him now, as much as she wished to deny,

’He is even more handsome while sleeping...’ She thought silently to herself.

Those thoughts made her drift down memory lane to the time when he had first met him.

Her immediate response had been to crush him with her soul domain, but in the end, he had won, even managing to blind all three of her soul eyes.

He was stronger than her when they had first met; there was no doubt about that, and she had thought only a life of hell awaited her from being contracted to him.

But for the past few days, things were much better than she had ever imagined.

There was nothing that had happened at all to remind her that she was only here due to having been forcibly contracted.

And even her annoyance at not having a choice in the process had faded away.

If not for him, she would either be dead or in slumber anyway.

And all these days, they had both been onto something important, with not a single request having been forced on her.

If anything, it was him being forced to react to her constant and endless headaches, with most having been done to specifically annoy the hell out of him and make him snap.

However, until now, it seemed nothing she did could really push him to that level.

In the end,

’I don’t think things are that bad at all, by his side,’

’They might even be great instead,’ She said with a small smile on her lips.

She snuggled closer to him, feeling his warmth and scent and it did magic in heloing her feel safe.

Soon enough, her breath also evened out and she fell asleep too.