Xavier barely felt the vibration at first.

Angel lay sprawled across his chest, naked and warm, her hair falling over his shoulder, her breath slow against his skin. The suite was still dim with the last of the night, curtains drawn, sheets half kicked to the floor.

The temporary phone Angel had given him buzzed again.

Xavier groaned, reached out blindly, grabbed it off the nightstand, and answered without opening his eyes.

"...yeah?"

A familiar voice came through the speaker.,

"Nova."

Xavier forced one eye open. "Ryn…? What time is it…? Actually, forget it. What's going on?"

"The ship is secured," Ryn said. "Recovered without damage and transferred to the outer station. Couldn't bring it into Night City—spacecraft clearance is restricted. You'll find it docked and locked under your ID seal."

Xavier rubbed his face and tried not to wake Angel as she shifted on him with a sleepy murmur.

"Good," Xavier muttered. "It took longer than I expected. Did you run into some trouble?"

"There were some pests I had to take care of, but everything ended smoothly."

"Hmm. I will pay you generously when you return."

"Do you require anything else?" Ryn asked. "Any further instructions?"

Xavier leaned back, staring at the ceiling while he thought. "Yeah. I'm sending you a contact. Someone who knows ships inside-out. Engines, drives, flight cores, maintenance cycles, all of it. You'll work with him from now on."

Ryn was silent for a second. "Is he aware of the situation?"

"I already talked to him," Xavier said. "He knows what to do. You just follow what he tells you."

"Understood. I await the next order."

Xavier hung up, thumbed through the temporary phone's barebones contact list, and selected the one name that mattered for this part of the plan.

Requiem.

He forwarded the contact to Ryn with a short note:

"He'll guide you. Don't improvise."

Seconds later, he sent Requiem a message:

"Ship secured. Ryn will meet you. Handle everything."

The reply came almost instantly—short, direct, as always:

"Already en route to the coordinates. I'll update you as soon as I make contact."

Xavier exhaled, dropped the phone on the pillow beside him, and let his hand rest on Angel's back.

The world outside kept moving—ships being recovered, plans being laid, enemies and allies shifting across the board.

But in that moment, Xavier let his eyes close again, Angel's warmth anchoring him as the night faded into dawn.

Later, Xavier woke to feeling warm and wet around his cock. A slow, steady movement. Soft breath on his skin. He didn't even open his eyes — he already knew Angel's little morning habits weren't exactly innocent.

"Angel," he muttered, voice still half-asleep, "what are you doing?"

Angel didn't stop. She shifted just a little, her hair brushing his thighs, her tone lazy and smug.

"I was hungry," she said. "And you were sleeping so well… I didn't want to wake you. So I figured I'd just help myself to something fresh. Something hot."

She nudged him with a teasing hum. "Something thick enough to count as breakfast."

Xavier sighed, one hand sliding into her hair without thinking. He cracked his eyes open just enough to look down at her. She glanced up—her expression wicked, playful, already expecting him to break before she did.

"You want a reward?" Xavier asked, brushing his thumb across her cheek. "You're gonna have to work for it."

Angel smirked, settling between his legs like a woman who had every intention of earning whatever he planned to give her.

She didn't say anything in response, but her pace told him everything.

Xavier let his head fall back into the pillow, his grip tightening in her hair as the room grew warm again. Angel never rushed—it wasn't her style. She took her time, coaxing him awake in the most distracting way possible, pulling quiet groans out of him until his breathing turned uneven.

He warned her once—

"Angel… don't push your luck…"

But she only hummed in response, her fingers curling around his thighs as she kept going, stubborn and hungry in a way that made it impossible to hold back.

Xavier's breath hitched. His grip tightened.

Angel felt it as his cock vibrated, and only then did she glance up, eyes half-lidded, satisfied she'd pulled exactly what she wanted from him.

He unloaded his dose inside her mouth, and Angel stayed right where she was, accepting every bit of his shuddering release with a pleased sound in her throat.

When she was finally done, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and crawled up to lie on top of him, pride written all over her face.

"Morning," she whispered, settling on his chest.

Xavier ran a hand through her hair and kissed her forehead.

Angel stretched over him like a satisfied cat, hair spilling across his stomach, her breathing steady but mischievous.

"Since you already had your breakfast," he muttered, "order something for me. I'm starving."

Angel slid up his body, stopping just short of his lips. "I haven't had enough yet," she murmured. "I'm still hungry for some real meat."

Xavier gave her a slow, tired smirk. "You're not hungry. You're horny."

Angel kissed his jaw. "Same thing in the morning."

Eventually she rolled off him—slowly, way too slowly—and grabbed the hotel tablet. They ordered breakfast: heavy stuff for him, sweet things for her, and enough side dishes to feed a small squad.

But before room service could arrive, Angel tugged his hand and the two of them ended up in the bathroom instead.

The shower started running—water hitting marble, steam rising—and not even the thick bathroom door could hide the sounds coming from inside. The water wasn't the only thing echoing in the suite.

The hotel staff definitely heard something when they dropped the food off… but no one dared comment.

After having breakfast, they got dressed—barely on time—and Xavier walked Angel back to the Midnight Club. She kissed him once at the door, a quick bite to his lower lip before pulling away with that smug smile she always wore when she knew she'd drained him twice before noon.

"You better not die before I join you in space," she said.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied, giving her one last look before heading off.

After arriving at the Nexus Tower, he went straight to Viola's apartment.

Viola was waiting the moment he walked through the door, arms crossed, eyes narrowed like she'd been timing him.

"You're late," she said.

"Didn't ask for your schedule," he replied, tossing his jacket aside.

She didn't waste time. They sparred right there in the training room. Viola was fast and precise as always, Xavier pushing his body harder than usual to adjust to the new strength he'd woken up with after everything in the castle. She blocked, kicked, twisted, flipped him once, then twice, then he got serious.

It went on for almost an hour until both of them dropped to the floor, sweating and breathless. Xavier found it weird how he was getting tired, unlike before, when he barely felt anything.

'Is it because I am still not fully healed? Or because I messed up my body using the essence system?'

Xavier got up and grabbed his jacket.

"Done already?"

"Yeah," Xavier nodded. "I need to get ready to leave for the academy."

[Xavier, come here. I want to tell you something.]

Xavier heard the goddess' voice calling him from his apartment next door.