EUNONIA ʸᵃⁿᵈᵉʳᵉ ʳᵉᵛᵉʳˢᵉ ʰᵃʳᵉᵐ

11. The Jungle.

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"Guys? I think I'm just gonna hang with Aren. I'm really craving some of his food right now."

Kato and Chirin turned to look at you, both wide eyed.

"Alright you feral bunch, you heard her. She said my name. So, we're gonna go. Later, you fucken losers." he smirked, grabbing your wrist and pulling you with him to the exit.

"So. The jungle. Fun, I guess?" you stretched your arms.

You and Aren were shoving items down your bag.

"Yep. Better than the boring mountains or the little towns with nothing inside. Wouldn't you rather taste my spectacular cooking instead of those bland towns folks' food?" he smirked.

"Hm, I guess so." you smiled back.

The jungle... wasn't too bad. It could be worse. Plus, Aren's cooking really was the best.

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"Hah.. finally here." Aren huffed.

"Right. That was extremely tiring." you and Aren were both exhausted from the long walk. Unlike Chirin, who had carriages and horses, and Kato, who had his dragons, you and Aren had nothing.

You tried riding on your magic broomstick, but you eventually got tired and the broom came crashing down.

"Alrighty then, let's set up camp!" Aren grinned, unloading everything from your backpack.

As Aren started pinning the tent down, you admired the landscape around you.

Settling in a clearing, giant trees towered above you. The leaves were spread wide, creating a huge canopy shade so you wouldn't be sunburned. There were bushes of lush green leaves, and vibrant, colourful flowers scattered around. Vines hung from each tree as thin rays of sun shone through the leaves.

Butterflies flew around near the flowers as small animals scurried around on the floor. A river cut through the clearing, one filled with crystal clear water and beautiful little fish.

"Y/N! I've finished setting up our makeshift home! Are you proud?" Aren called out to you.

"Oh wow, already?" you gasped. The tent was already up and ready, as well as a small table and a campfire. Other miscellaneous objects we brought along were unpacked and placed perfectly. How was Aren so good at this?

"You did so well! Damn, I could never." you smiled, petting his head.

"Aha, thanks. Are you hungry? Do you want some fish?" he asked.

Aren always cared about you a lot. Well, so did the other two, but this felt unique. The other two would do things for you too, but the things Aren did for you were different. He would always cook you delicious food, tidy and clean the house, do your chores for you and would literally do everything for you.

You thought that maybe, just maybe, Aren liked being praised. It was a dumb thought, you didn't want to think like a creep. Well, he did do that thing that one time. You huffed, trying to forget the topic.

Sitting down at the campfire beside Aren, your turned to him and smiled. "You're so nice and caring to me now. How could I do anything to repay you? I'll feel bad if you're the only one doing things here."

"Oh! Uhm, well you really don't have to do anything! I'm doing this out of my free will." he blushed, fiddling with his fingers.

Despite how tough he acted to everyone else, he was surprisingly shy when it came to you.

"Nonsense! I'll do something for you today. Even if it's a little thing." you chuckled.

Aren hummed, shuffling closer to you. He leaned up against you, resting his head on your shoulder.

'Oh. He's doing that. How cute.' you thought. You pat his ears as he blushed furiously.

The two of you stayed there for a while, until you decided to go out and do what you came here for. That is, look for the magician guy. The magician guy whose existence you couldn't even confirm. You were all just doing this because of a hunch.

You and Aren trudged through the foliage. There were creeks, small caves, cliffs and hills and a lot of wildlife. It was all so beautiful.

"I feel like we've gotten like, super far away from camp. Should we go back?" you asked, fearful of getting lost during sunset.

"Yeah, maybe. Let's go. Seems like Mr. Magician ain't here." Aren sighed, turning back to the direction of camp.

"Aren. Do you think if we do end up finding this dude, we'll actually be able to go home?" you said as you flew back to camp on your broomstick. You had gotten slightly better at controlling it with two people on, but it was still pretty shaky and tiring.

"Possibly. Well, to be honest, I don't really wanna go back. I prefer it here. Back then... let's just say I hated it." he laughed.

That's right. You completely forgot! Aren used to bully you. He was such a jerk, how come he made a total 360? He's just suddenly an angel now. You didn't really understand, but it was probably one of those things where you wouldn't get an answer any time soon.

Maybe you could just enjoy life now, with the sweet and caring Aren you had grown accustomed to. Hopefully he would stay that way, just how you liked it.

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this took so long omg i'm so sorry for the slow updates LMAO
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