CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER : 36 : I AM NOT CLINGING!

Aiden tried to set her down.

He really did.

But Fluffnugget had other plans.

The second her feet touched the ground—

"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~!!!"

Another beam surged straight toward them like a pink meteor of sparkles and death.

Aiden cursed under his breath, grabbed Lysandra by the waist, and yanked her back into his arms like a sack of potatoes.

"Put me down!" she shrieked, arms flailing as her legs kicked wildly. "I can walk!"

"Then walk faster than light, because that thing isn’t waiting!"

He bolted.

Lysandra’s voice cracked. "I hate this—!"

Another boom shook the ground beneath them. Pebbles rained down from above. Glitter stuck to her hair like some sick joke from the gods.

Aiden leapt over a collapsed archway, boots crunching over crushed stone and rainbow-shimmering confetti, still holding the wildly flailing goblin princess bridal-style.

"I hate you, too!" she snapped, clutching at his collar with trembling hands.

"You keep saying that, but your arms say otherwise!"

"They’re preserving what’s left of my noble spine!! Don’t confuse clinging for affection!"

A high-pitched "Miiiii~!" screeched from behind them.

Aiden didn’t have time to look.

He felt it coming—like a heatwave made of sparkles and war crimes.

He ducked, spun, and slid behind a crumbled pillar just as another beam of rainbow magic blasted past, searing the air where they’d just been.

The shockwave sent them tumbling. He fell backwards, landing hard—Lysandra still in his arms—both of them skidding in a heap of dust, heat, and sparkles.

"Ugh—" Lysandra groaned, blinking up from where she now lay draped across him like a toppled cake topper. "Your face hit my boob again!"

"Not on purpose!"

"It’s like they’re magnetized to you!"

"Maybe they are! I don’t know how your armor works!"

She slapped his chest lightly. "Pervert!"

"I’m saving your life, Your Grace!"

"Oh, so now you remember I’m royalty!"

"You shouted it thirty seconds ago!"

She shoved herself upright just as another explosion went off nearby. Reflexively, Aiden yanked her back into his arms, rolling them both away as a burning chunk of marble smashed down where her head had been.

"Okay—maybe save me a little more," she squeaked, clutching his shirt again.

"You’re welcome."

"Don’t read into it!"

BOOOOOOM!

The glitter beam annihilated the cobblestone behind them. Debris flew. A shimmering rainbow shockwave sent stone chunks clattering around them like hail.

Lysandra flinched hard and instantly buried her face in Aiden’s neck, her arms squeezing tight around his shoulders.

"—this doesn’t mean anything," she mumbled, cheeks blazing against his skin. "I still hate this."

"You’re making it very hard to stay focused," Aiden hissed, trying not to drop her as another blast hit too close behind.

"Then stop breathing all hot on my neck!"

"I’m literally running for our lives, Lysandra!"

"Doesn’t mean you get to pant like that! It’s weirdly intimate!"

"You want me to stop breathing?!"

She didn’t answer. Mostly because she was making a muffled whimpering noise into his collarbone.

Aiden jumped over a half-shattered bench and nearly lost his footing. The impact jostled her—and she slipped lower in his arms, her thigh catching on his hip, her chest bouncing squarely into his jaw.

"Hup—sorry!" Aiden winced.

"Eeeek!!" Lysandra squeaked. "My everything just hit your everything!"

"It wasn’t my fault! You shifted!"

"I did not shift! Gravity betrayed me!!"

"You sound like Luna."

"Don’t compare me to her!"

"Can we not have this argument while I’m dodging death-bunnies!?"

"You shouldn’t be this good at bridal-carrying a woman, by the way!"

"What does that mean!?"

"Nothing! Shut up and run!"

Another beam exploded to their right, and Aiden twisted mid-leap, narrowly avoiding it. The wind caught her skirt—again—and flung it nearly over her head.

"EEEEK! Stop looking!!" she shrieked, trying to cover herself and cling to him at the same time.

"I’M NOT! I’M FOCUSING ON SURVIVAL!"

"You’re too good at not looking and that’s suspicious!"

"OH MY GOD—"

Suddenly, her arms tightened again. She’d fully locked onto him now, head tucked under his chin, her legs wrapping around his waist out of sheer panic. It was like carrying an embarrassed, flustered octopus made of soft goblin princess.

She whispered, breath tickling his ear, "I still hate this..."

"You’re clinging like a plush toy."

"I’m saving my own life. And maybe a tiny bit yours."

"You’re blushing so hard your ears are glowing."

"SHUT UP!!"

Another blast scorched the air so close it made her ears ring.

The wind shrieked past like a banshee, hot and full of glittering destruction. A wave of pink and gold light passed right over her shoulder—and the heat from it curled the tips of her golden hair.

Lysandra jolted.

"Don’t let go!" she squeaked.

"I wasn’t planning to!"

"I will actually die! Right here! On a glitter battlefield!"

"I’m literally holding you, Ly."

"Don’t drop me!"

"I won’t drop you—!"

"YOU’RE SWEATY!"

"I’M RUNNING!"

"I CAN FEEL YOUR HEARTBEAT!"

"That’s because you’re pressing your whole everything on me!"

She let out a soft, squeaky growl and shoved her forehead against his neck to hide her face, even as her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.

Her heart was racing.

Okay. Yes. Fine. She liked being carried. It was warm. It was kind of thrilling. His arms were... nice.

But he didn’t need to know that!

Aiden made the mistake of tilting his head down slightly—and caught a glimpse of her blushing face, her ears trembling like nervous antennae.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No!" she hissed. "I’m mad! I’m humiliated! I’m vibrating with rage!"

"You’re literally snuggling me while vibrating."

"IT’S A SURVIVAL SNUGGLE!! SHUT UP!"

He grinned.

She smacked his chest lightly, still hiding in his neck. "Don’t make that face. You’re enjoying this."

"I’m enjoying not dying," he replied. "Which is currently tied to me running like hell while you cling like a royal scarf."

"I’m not clinging—!" she tried to pull away slightly, but then another rainbow-glitter beam detonated behind them with a sharp BOOOOOM!!

The shockwave lifted her skirt again.

"EEEK!!" she shrieked and buried her face back into Aiden’s shoulder with twice the strength. "Okay—I’m clinging! I am the queen of clinging! Long live Clingdom!"

Her fingers locked behind his neck.

Aiden didn’t argue.

He just ran.

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END OF Chapter : 36 : I AM NOT CLINGING!

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