Slowly closing the door to Merit’s room, I had to bite the inside of my cheek since I wanted to giggle at her. She was still asleep, and was snoring rather loudly. I think it was the first time I’d ever heard her snore at all, let alone to such a degree.

The door shut easily, and quietly, thanks to how well it was made. I turned and glanced around, to make sure no one was nearby… and headed for my room.

I couldn’t smell Vim around anywhere, and I doubted he was in my room or anything, but because I didn’t smell him at all I was assuming he was somewhere else. Outside on the roof or out in the public spaces of the guild building, possibly. So I wanted to grab better clothes, and my hat, just in case I had to leave the housing area as to find him.

The air in the hallway was a tad chilly, and I knew it was because of the storm outside. I couldn’t hear the howl of the wind but I heard the downpour of rain beyond the well built walls and building, though I hadn’t heard any thunder so far.

Rounding a corner, I paused upon hearing a voice down the hall. I focused on it for a moment, noting it was Wynn and Jasna speaking. Although I wouldn’t have minded talking to them, I had a slight purpose in mind right now so I simply hurried to my room instead.

Putting on clothes and a jacket in case I needed to go outside into the storm, I glanced around my room and noted the lack of Vim’s smell. It was here, but not strongly. He’d not been in here since yesterday, likely, by the lack of his scent.

Which meant he was once again going days without sleep. Maybe even far more, since I had no idea if he’d rested at all during his trip to Narli’s home. Knowing Vim he hadn’t at all, which meant he’s gone weeks without sleep.

Securing my hat as I left my room, I smiled happily at the thought that he was just waiting for the opportunity to sleep with me. It was a silly thought, but the fact there was indeed a chance that was the reason made me happy.

Walking through the hallway, I listened close to the world around me and paid attention to the smells as I searched for Vim. I went downstairs, checking the kitchens and mingling areas, and then had to go back upstairs to the roof after confirming he wasn’t downstairs.

I opened the door to the roof, but only a little bit since it was raining so hard. I frowned as I stared out at the rooftop that was being drenched by the storm. It was raining hard enough that, after not seeing Vim or smelling him, I decided he wasn’t out there.

Shutting the door, and locking it back up, I headed back down to the floor my room was on and headed for the doors that led beyond the housing area. My tail squirmed a bit beneath my clothes as I left the housing area, and I wondered if Vim had already gone to the cathedral. He had promised Glasses he’d help make her something to make it easier for her to walk, amongst other promises with some of those there, so it’d not be too surprising… But would he have gone without me? He not only liked it when I did stuff with him, he also liked me being there with him when dealing with saints and other such people. Vim liked to use me as a buffer, a shield, in a way.

It should be not long after sunrise, and I don’t think even Vim would rush that much. Odds are those at the cathedral were still asleep, or just waking.

“Yet not here…” I mumbled as I turned down the hallway that led to Gerald’s office. As I approached the door, finding it closed, I didn’t knock or even attempt to stop and listen in. I could hear Gerald’s soft writing, the scratching of pen on paper, but I couldn’t smell or hear Vim. So I kept walking and headed for the entrance to the guild proper nearby.

Ending up overlooking the main entrance, the one where Reatti usually sat and worked at all day, I stepped up to the railing on the balcony and spent a few moments just… looking around. It was darker than usual, since even though the sun was rising the storm outside kept its brightness at bay. And although occasionally I heard voices or footsteps echo, I didn’t see anyone.

Lifting my nose, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Yes. I could smell Vim. Like usual his scent wasn’t strong, but…

Tapping the handrail as I pondered where he could be, I decided he was likely near the bank. I went down the spiral stairwell and headed for the hallway that led to the banking area, and as I entered the hall I picked up my pace.

His smell was getting stronger.

“Today will be slow.”

“Thank goodness, my wrist still hurts from counting all those receipts yesterday…”

I passed a small break room, which had a couple humans in it. I recognized both of them, they both worked as tellers at the bank, but I didn’t linger. I kept walking in search for the man who really by now should know I was looking for him.

Why hadn’t he shown up yet? Can’t he sense me now? Like he did monarchs and saints…? Shouldn’t he be able to sense that I was walking around looking for him?

The thought made me frown as I rounded a corner, and then entered the main banking area. The hallway led me to behind the counters, but not to the actual vault area. I didn’t head there but instead went down another hallway, one that would eventually lead me to Brandy’s office.

A part of me had expected that I was going to have to go all the way to Brandy’s office, but instead Vim found me. I rounded a corner, and while glancing down both directions of the new hallway I found him waving at me. Not in the direction of Brandy’s office, but instead…

Hurrying over to him, I smirked as I glanced down the stairwell he’d likely just walked up from. “Are you going down into the sewers again?” I asked. That was the stairwell that led to that one hallway, the one with that weird room with that hole. The one that led to the room that had no air, or toxic air, that had made him cough a lot.

“Already did. Why are you up already? You just fell asleep a few hours ago,” he asked with a small smile.

My smirk grew a bit, warming as I once again confirmed how much attention he gave me. After our dinner with Merit and Lilly we had returned here, and I had spent most of the rest of the night with Merit and Lamp. Vim had gone off to talk to with Brandy and deal with some other things, so I’d not gotten to even say goodnight to him before Merit and I had laid down to sleep.

Yet he had known. It made me feel rather… special to know he was always so aware of what I was doing, and where I was. “What were you checking?” I asked.

He shifted a bit and gestured to the stairs. “I wanted to see if I sensed or smelled anything odd. I didn’t. The sub layer is definitely… different. A part of the underground section looked collapsed, but not so badly that I think we need to worry much,” he said.

Collapsed… “What of the cathedral they’re building? Will that be okay?”

“Regrettably,” he said with a small nod.

“Sheesh, Vim…” I said with a smile.

He shrugged. “So? Why are you up already? Did Merit kick you in the face or something? She moves a lot when sleeping,” he said.

I laughed at that. “She does huh! But no. I was hoping to talk to you actually,” I said.

“Hm… alone, you mean,” he noted.

I nodded.

Vim nodded back and turned to look down the hall we were standing in. I followed his gaze, but didn’t see or smell anyone.

“Do you have a moment?” I asked, after spending a few moments staring down the hall… expecting someone to show up. No one did though.

“I do. Even if I hadn’t, I would always make at least a moment for you Renn,” Vim then said.

I turned to look back at him, and found myself grinning at him. “Funny, since I always put aside moments with you for everyone else,” I said.

He shrugged again. “A man’s life, I suppose.”

Was it…? Something told me that a man would usually get upset over such a thing. Vim didn’t seem to mind though. “You plan to go back to the cathedral today right? To help Glasses and the rest?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’ve already spoken with Brandy and Gerald about Tundra. And I’ve told Lawrence about her too. I… fear they’ll not let her come stay here. Thanks to her personality, but that’s their decision. They said they’d let her, and us, know once they all got a chance to meet her. I have a few other things I need to handle too, that Blasco requested a few hours with me to ask some questions about this city, and its people. So I’ll probably handle that after I deal with Glasses,” he said.

“Busy,” I said.

“Right? Considering I felt like I had nothing to do before going over there, I don’t know if I should be happy or annoyed,” he said.

“And Mono’s request?” I asked.

Vim’s soft smile that he’d been wearing during our conversation died and turned into a sad frown. He sighed and nodded, and then glanced around again. “It’s storming bad?” he asked.

“Don’t change subjects like that, she’s important,” I said, upset with him.

“Hm… why not go get your heavier cloak? And grab mine too. We’ll go sit up on the roof and talk, if you’d like,” he offered.

Oh…? Oh. He wanted to not say anything here, where we could be overheard. Right. “Okay! I’ll be right back!” I said as I turned to go.

“I’ll meet you at the door to the gardens exit. The one outside the houses,” he said as I stepped away.

Nodding happily I waved goodbye to him as I hurried away. I wasted no time, I went back to the housing area… to my bedroom, put on my heavier traveling cloak, and then grabbed his as well. Luckily no one sidetracked me as I hurried back, and found Vim waiting for me at the stairwell that led to the roof… and he had a small basket.

“What’s that?” I asked as I hurried up next to him, noticing the smell of something tasty.

“A morning snack,” he said.

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I took the basket from him as I handed him his cloak, so he could put it on. I grinned happily as I peeked into its contents and saw a bunch of bread. The gleaming kind that told me they were soaked in honey.

“You know the gazebo behind the door? Near the section of trees? We’ll go sit there,” he said as he finished putting his cloak on.

I nodded and slipped the basket beneath my own cloak. The rain was falling downward rather heavily, but it wasn’t very windy. As long as I kept the basket under my cloak it and its contents would be fine.

We stepped out onto the roof, and I felt as if I was now wearing an extra layer of clothes as the heavy rain fell upon me. He shut the door behind us, and I followed him to the larger sitting area that was covered behind the door and stairwell.

A quick glance around as I stepped out of the puddles and into the covered area told me we were not only alone, but would be able to hold our private conversation safely. The rain was loud enough to drown out our voices, even if one of our own people were listening in.

In fact… “Good thing it’s not windy, huh?” I said to Vim as I went to put the basket of goodies onto one of the two tables under the canopy.

“It likely will eventually get so,” Vim responded. I smiled a bit at his voice.

I didn’t need to take my hat off to hear him, but it was still slightly muffled to my ears thanks to how loud the rain was.

Which meant there was little chance anyone, even Lilly, could hear us talking right now.

Reaching up to take my hat off, I went ahead and placed it near the basket as I went to dig out one of the treats. Vim sat down at the table as I counted almost a dozen little muffin looking things, each glazed and honeyed.

“Who’d you steal these from?” I asked excitedly.

“Steal…? I’ll have you know I made those myself.”

My hand paused, as did my open mouth… I’d been about to take a bite. I lowered the muffin that had a heartbeat ago looked utterly delectable… now it looked like it could bite me back. “You made these…?” I asked worriedly.

He chuckled at me. “I made them normally, Renn. I promise.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and giggled back at him, and then took a bite.

The thing was so tasty I barely gave myself time to enjoy it as I scarfed the rest down. “You should have made more!” I said with a mouthful as I went to grab another.

“Can later. There’s a wine-skin in there for when you start to cough,” he said gently.

“I won’t do that,” I mumbled as I took a bite of the second one and grabbed one of the chairs. I dragged it over to Vim’s side of the table, putting it next to him. After moving the basket, to put it where I’d be able to access it, I sat down next to him.

Taking a few more bites, I nodded happily as I enjoyed the lovely things. “These are great,” I said happily.

“Hm. I was bored. I got stuff to do for Light’s people, but nothing to do here… oddly enough. And the one who normally occupies my time to keep me not bored has been ignoring me. I hear that you’ve done some things though, while I was gone,” he said as he watched me eat. Like always Vim didn’t indulge in snacks, not even ones of his own making. And I knew better than to think that was because he had eaten his fill already while he cooked them. Vim did not like to eat. But he did like to watch me do so. Part of his love language, as Kaley would call it.

“You mean Reatti’s spears?” I asked as I swallowed a mouthful, and ignored his little comment about me ignoring him. Or at least, I did so for now. I’d get back to that later.

He nodded. “I don’t fault you, Renn… but I wish you would have waited till I got back to do that. That could have gone… awry,” he said gently.

I nodded. “I know. But she was so serious about it… and we really did spend the time to make sure it went well! We scouted the place, and made sure to not do it until a heavy storm like this one and when no one was around!” I said as I grabbed another muffin.

“I’ve no doubt you did it well and properly, Renn. Reatti’s one of the best thieves in the Society, so I have no doubt. I just… worry, is all,” he said.

“Reatti’s a thief…?” I asked, pausing before I took another bite.

Vim smirked at me. “Never told you their story, did I? I found them half dead and starved. She had been stealing to keep her and her brother fed, and they got beaten and broken for it. They had resorted to such a thing to survive after Reatti killed the rest of her family,” he said.

Oh… “Again, another sad past,” I said softly.

Vim shrugged. “Still… as I said, I don’t fault you. I’d have helped her without hesitation too. Even if they hadn’t been special, those spears had been special to her. That’s all that matters,” he said.

I nodded. “Right? She offered me one, but…” I shrugged as I thought of his spear in my room, resting against the bed.

“Let her keep them. Though she said we’ll be burying one of them?” he asked.

“With her brother, I guess. She asked if I’d do it with her,” I said with a nod.

“Hm…”

Vim didn’t seem to mind such a thing, but it was obvious he found it unpleasant.

“Do you not like funerals, Vim?” I asked gently.

“Do you?”

“Of course not. I’ve only… well… Witch had a few when I was with her. And then of course Ginny, and Nory… but no, I hate them. I weep like crazy,” I said.

He nodded with a small smirk, as if to say he had already known my answer. Probably had.

“Back to your earlier question, about that young saint… I plan to deal with it as soon as I can, within reason,” he said.

“How so?” I asked. I wasn’t too happy he had changed topics, but I knew he had done it on purpose. He was either worried we’d soon be unable to talk in private, since the wind could pick up and the storm could worsen, or he just didn’t want to talk about death and funerals anymore. Vim was a gentle soul, deep down, so I knew he too likely didn’t like funerals either. Hard not to be, I’d think. No matter how many thousands he’s likely had to partake in, that was a pain no one could become used to.

“I know where he is. But what I don’t know yet, is if Mono’s rage is justified or not.”

“So… how will you figure that out? He tormented her mother, Vim… I’d be angry too,” I said. Mono had told me the story, and the prophecies concerning the man. The mere thought of them made my blood boil, so I didn’t think of them.

“Would you have?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

“Well… no. Not in my case. But… what if it was your mother? I’d be upset then,” I said with a point at him with a muffin.

He smirked at that. “Nothing on this planet could have harmed my mother like that, so I don’t need to worry about such a thing. But I hear what you’re saying Renn… and I’m not saying I won’t do something about it. I just need to confirm it first. I’d like to talk to Light about it before I actually go and grab this snake and drag him back here to his death,” he said.

“You think she’d actually kill him?” I asked. She wanted to be the one to do it, if possible. She wanted to meet out justice, and not anyone else.

“Of course she can, and would.”

“Seems like such a sweet girl though,” I said as I took a bite.

“That thing…?” he asked with a look of disgust.

“Be nice, Vim. She’s a little odd… but we all are, in our own way,” I said between bites.

“I am nice. Especially because I know her oddness is because of her corruption. I don’t fault them for such a thing, Renn, but it does irk me. It’s a reminder, is all,” he said as he watched me eat the last bit of another muffin.

I swallowed before saying my thoughts. “Corruption… You speak of divinity, don’t you? I’ve been wanting to ask, you’ve said many times that taking in heart causes problems. Have I had any yet? Am I being changed too? Like Landi?” I asked.

“Not that I can tell. And it’s an inevitability, but we’ll deal with it later. In your case though, the corruption might be a good thing,” he said with a smile.

“Good thing…?” I asked. What’d he mean by that?

“You not being so gentle would be a boon, in my eyes,” he said.

Oh. He was teasing me. “Rude,” I said with a sigh as I reached in to the basket and grab another muffin.

Vim leaned back a bit in his chair, making it creak. Which meant it had likely almost broken, since the rain was loud enough to drown out such typical noises. It had likely been loud, under normal conditions. It almost breaking told me that Vim was not as calm as he appeared. But it was not surprising to know so, considering the topic of our conversation. “As far as I can tell, Renn, you’re doing fine. You’ve not absorbed the little heart yet, but I didn’t expect you to do so. It takes even a full-blooded monarch months if not years to absorb a heart, no matter how small,” he said.

“Really…?” I asked as I cupped the muffin, holding it instead of eating it.

He nodded. “Miss Beak would have taken months for even that one… though she would have been able to absorb another already. She was able to eat several at once without any concern,” he said.

Wow. “What would happen if I did try?” I asked.

“You’d blow up.”

I squished the muffin as I leaned back in shock. “Really!?”

Vim laughed at me and shook his head. “No. But you would die, or go through terrible pain like you wouldn’t believe. See what happens is when two hearts are taken in, the stronger one eats the other. An imbalance, but one that is only one way and doesn’t cause conflict within one’s body. But if you add too many at once, the conduits start feeding off each other. If you ate another too quickly you’d get sick, and even hurt, as the divine energy within you goes wild. By the way your heart is forming near your tail, in case you didn’t know,” he said with a point to my muffin.

I glanced down, and realized the muffin in my hands which hovered over my lap was at just the right angle to be in-between his finger pointing at me and my butt. “My tail…? Really?” I asked as I reached around to touch it.

I had to dig my fingers under my clothes and pants, and I frowned as I tried to feel for anything weird. I just felt my skin, the base of my tail…

“Really. Next time you’re kind enough to show me your naked body I’ll go ahead and show you exactly where,” he said.

Glancing at him, I huffed at him as I stopped feeling around my tail. I couldn’t feel anything, not even a slight bump or tingle. If it really was there I couldn’t tell. “Why would holding another heart make me tingle, but not my own?” I asked. If it was already forming in me, why didn’t I feel it? Shouldn’t the spot be tingling all the time?

“Because the tingling sensation you feel is your own divinity interact with another source. If you ever happened upon the same conduit, another source that is yours, you won’t tingle at all because it won’t affect you,” he said.

“So… why don’t I tingle when I touch a saint?” I asked. I felt as if I could somewhat sense them, such as when I was near Light, but I didn’t actually feel that tingly sensation as I had when touching that heart.

“You should, when they use their powers. When they’re not using them though, you probably either won’t be able to sense them or will only be able to do so to a certain point,” he said.

I nodded gently, since that made sense. I had been tingling a bit when Light had healed Lilly.

Huh…? “Wait… explain that thing about a different source better,” I said.

“How so?”

“All of it! Are you saying if I met another monarch related to me, like… as if I met my uncle again, I’d not be able to sense him?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes. That’s basically what I’m saying.”

“That… is that good or bad…?” I asked worriedly.

“Honestly both. It’s bad because you won’t be able to sense them, and thus could accidentally walk right into them… but the same can be said for them. It means that your lineage, and the god who made you, won’t be able to sense you,” he said.

God who made me… “Is that why no one can sense you, Vim?” I asked.

Vim’s eyes narrowed a bit, and for the first time in a very long time… I realized I’d asked something I shouldn’t have.

Yet, before I could correct that mistake and change topics… Vim leaned forward a bit. Towards me, and not the table. I went still, my ears becoming itchy since they wanted to twitch but I didn’t let them, as he leaned close enough that if I leaned forward too, we’d be able to kiss.

“Is that something you came up with yourself or did someone else say that?” he then asked me.

I slowly shook my head. “No one’s talked to me about this stuff, Vim… Lilly and Merit know, but we’ve only talked about my own self. They worry I’m not sleeping enough, because of it. We’ve not talked about you in this way, at all,” I said, doing my best to not just… lean forward and peck him. Did he even realize how easily I could just kiss him right now? I’d almost think he was doing it on purpose, if not for that serious smirk on his face. He was trying to whisper as he tried to force himself to answer my question.

“Hm… well, stop being so smart.”

I couldn’t help it; I leaned forward and gave him a kiss. It was his fault. That stupid smirk on his face. The treats. The snide little compliments that made my heart flutter, what did he think was going to happen?

He accepted it, and was kind enough to not lean away from me after a few moments. After longer than I probably even realized, I finally leaned back and sat up while licking my lips. It seemed during the kiss I had squished the muffin in my hand a bit; there were now crumbs all over my lap.

Vim nodded with a sigh as he too sat back. “I did do well on those muffins, didn’t I?” he said.

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