Free and Unfettered 116 Single Dogs Fed Dog Food

However, sleep still clung to his eyelids, so it could be forgiven when Nocturne leaned forward and nuzzled his husband. After all, people did things when they were delirious, right? Anyway, Nocturne had wife rights, so there.

Nine stirred slightly, tugging Nocturne more securely to her. She cracked open an eye, yawning.

"Mm."

Nocturne closed his eyes as he prepared to go back to sleep.

"Nox, there's a messenger from Ashtria Empire here asking for us to help them. Do you want to?"

Almost immediately, the last vestiges of sleep fled from him. Surprised, he looked at Nine, before calming down. "Frankly, I never really had much of an attachment to my country in the first place, so now that everyone's already gone, there's even less of an attachment. However, when I did return there, I planted a few spies, so there's that."

Nine studied Nocturne's face and felt reassured when there were no signs of distress from him. She hummed, weighing her options. "Then, let's just report it to my father and let him decide. I have enough to take care of with the situation like this, let alone expend any extra effort for the Empire that let you be spirited away by a spoilt Vampire Princess."

Nocturne nodded.

"Are your spies still alive?"

"Yes," Nocturne said. "I receive reports from them every week or so. They're all in pretty high positions, so their strength is decent enough."

"Fine, then. Jasper's dropping by later. Do you want to meet him as well?"

Nocturne scowled at the mention of Jasper, whom he was pretty sure was completely smitten with Nine. No matter how Nine tried to placate him, he knew the signs when he saw it! He couldn't even get rid of him, too.

"I'll be there," he said, huffing.

Nine smiled, getting up from the couch. She pulled Nocturne to his feet, heading out from the workshop.

"So, tell me about the things you were working on."

Nocturne brightened up, his previous jealousy all but forgotten in the face of his tinkering. "I was thinking of working on something that would convert the darkness elements in the air to something more neutral. Not exactly light elements, but rather, healing? Something like what you used back in the Hopcaper tribe, using ward stones."

Nine thought about it, playing it out in her head. Slowly, she nodded. "That seems plausible. Are you going to link the ward stones so they work together?"

Nocturne shook his head, becoming more animated at the idea. He loved being able to bounce ideas off Nine, just like she did with him. It made what he did seem so much more fun and the ideas they exchanged were always beneficial. Truly, he was lucky that his significant other was someone who worked the same way he did.

"Rather thank linking them all together and causing it to possibly fail because one goes faulty or removed, I would rather work it in such a way that allows it to function independently, but if there are similar ward stones within a certain radius, it will be amplified and spread out. Does that make sense?"

Nine's eyes brightened. In this world, such a concept didn't yet exist, but that didn't mean she wasn't thinking about it. Because the situation back at the Hopcaper tribe was just too urgent, she had to default and go with the tried and tested method, but that didn't mean she felt satisfied even though the situation was temporarily prevented.

"How would you go about doing that?" Nine asked, beyond curious about what he had come up with already.

Nocturne whipped out a set of notes from his interspatial bracelet, showing them to Nine. "Here, see. If we change this rune here that makes the ward stones work together and instead change it to a spatial rune, it would possibly allow the effects to work in a certain radius around the stone instead…"

…

X

When Jasper arrived at the meeting spot, he couldn't even get a word in edgewise. Nocturne and Nine were discussing something that felt way out of his knowledge circle in hushed but animated and excited tones, causing him to feel slightly left out.

They hadn't even noticed that he was already here!

Next to him, Seyton patted his brother on the shoulder, silently sympathising with him. If he thought he was the only one to suffer this treatment, then he was dead wrong. Sometimes, it almost felt like Master and Nocturne were in their own world, with how they gravitated towards each other.

When they talked, even outsiders could feel the closeness between the two. Every action one made was subtly reflected by the other, and they didn't even realize it. Watching the two of them together made Seyton ache slightly, remembering earlier times with Helena.

He liked to think that they were like this once upon a time as well. Even if their love wasn't there any longer, he wouldn't deny the memories they once shared.

Doing so would be denying that they were in love in the first place. Even though Helena already moved on from him, sometimes, he still felt like he was trapped in the past. He wouldn't deny the ache that sometimes sat in his chest at the memories, but slowly, he was letting go.

Jasper pulled his slightly shorter brother into a hug, ruffling his hair. "Don't worry about it," he said gruffly, almost as if to hide his embarrassment. "One day, you'll find someone like that too."

Startled, Seyton returned the brotherly hug, stepping back. "Thank you. But, you're one to talk?" Seyton said, raising an eyebrow.

"As far as I know, you have absolutely zero experience at all?"

Jasper snorted. "Oh, that's rich, coming from you. That woman assured me several times that the two of you never went past holding hands numerous times as though I cared about it! Seriously, holding hands was all you did? You dated for ten years! Ten. Years."

Seyton growled, hitting his brother with a Tier Three Spell, causing the older Vampire to let out a squawk as he was bowled over. "Hey! Don't take your anger out on me just because it's true!"

Seyton crossed his arms and scoffed, eyeing his brother doubtfully. "Really. You haven't even held a girl's hand! You have no right to talk about me."

Jasper whipped out his leg, kicking Seyton's front leg, causing him to fall forward. "Pshaw. If I just wave my hand, dozens of ladies will come flocking over, unlike you!" he said, waving his hand around.

"So, if you wave your hand right now, where's the dozens of ladies that I'm supposed to be seeing right now?"

"Obviously, you have to wait. They'll be here sooner or later."

"And when until are we going to be waiting? I'll die even as a Vampire if I have to wait that long."

Jasper opened his mouth to argue again but was interrupted with a snort.

"What's this?" Nine teased. "Both brothers are just as inexperienced as one another?"

Seyton looked away from his Master and Nocturne's teasing smirks, already having a faint inkling about what was about to come their way. He inwardly slapped his brother's little image in his mind for putting them in this situation.

"No, no," Jasper hastily denied. "Seyton's the one who never got past holding hands after being in a relationship for ten whole years."

"Then, Seyton's big brother has no experience even holding hands?" Nocturne said, smirking. "How about it?" Nocturne said, holding his hand out to Jasper arrogantly. "I'll allow you to experience someone holding your hand since you might never get to do it?"

Seyton stifled the laugh that wanted to come out.

Nine growled, grabbing Nocturne's hand and lacing their fingers together. Nocturne stared at his husband, baffled.

"Not. Allowed," she grit out.

The realization dawned on Nocturne, causing him to flush and become flustered. "Ah, husband, that's not what I meant!"

"Not allowed," Nine repeated.

Nocturne covered his face with his remaining hand. Nine was. SO. CUTE.

As one, Seyton and Jasper exchanged a look, feeling sympathy for one another. They came here innocently, but were fed with dog food by the loving couple…

Chapter end