Draconia Offline vol. 1

49.1. Preparations - Part 1

I wake up being carried in Erik's strong arms. I blink a few times, confused what's happening. The last thing I remember is connecting to Liana.

"You fell asleep in her apartment," he tells me, a sad expression on his face. "She said you didn't feel well after meeting my friends. Oh, Ryuu, why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to spoil your fun," I murmur. "You were so relaxed around them."

"Sorry, I know that Tom can be a jerk sometimes and Mary pries too much," he apologises for their behaviour with a deep sigh. "But those are the only friends I have left. Were they really that horrible? Please, tell me. I'm not interested in keeping them if they're fake."

"That girl with ginger hair and the tall guy were okay," I say cautiously, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "They're genuinely caring for you."

"Only two, huh?" he's disappointed. "But... I kind of guessed."

I'm heart-broken. I don't want him to feel this way. He deserves to be happy for everything he's doing. He's so amazing. Why can't his human friends see that?

"Ehm... I can walk just fine, Erik," I remind him.

"I'm well aware," he smirks and doesn't release me.

"My wings are wiping the floor," I whine.

The guards open the door for us and we enter our apartment. I eye the clock and it's 20:30 already. Damn, why didn't Liana wake me up?

"You were exhausted," Erik answers my unvoiced question because I'm sending him my thoughts again. It seems my mental blocks reset when I fall asleep. "Were five humans at once too much? You don't have a problem with politicians so I thought you'd be okay."

"I don't touch our political guests," I remark. "It was those handshakes that made me nauseous. Their thoughts weren't nice."

"Liana scolded me about that already. Sorry, I didn't realise it's against the protocol. And that it can hurt you so much."

"That's actually the only formal thing I like about being the Emperor," I manage a smile. "Politicians can't touch me so it's not weird that I'm avoiding physical contact. Let's go straight to bed. Please?"

"Nope," he refuses and puts me on the sofa. "You have to eat your dinner first."

"How do you keep track of these things?" I frown but I'm moved by his doting.

"How can you not keep track of whether you've eaten or not?" he rolls his eyes in response. "Don't you feel hungry?"

"I do," I shrug. "But I'm used to ignoring it if I don't feel like eating."

"Don't feel like eating even when hungry," Erik does a facepalm. "Hon, you're just impossible sometimes."

"Maybe," I pull him down next to me.

I hope to cuddle with him for a few minutes but our dinner is brought almost immediately.

"Let's have it like the old days," he suggests and grabs the screen's remote controller. "Cien, can you make us some popcorn? Every calorie is good for our Emperor."

"Of course, Royal Consort," she bows and runs off to fulfil his request.

"A movie night?" I make myself comfortable.

"Yep," he nods with a smile. "Eat as much as you can and don't be afraid to fall asleep on my shoulder any time. I suspect you're not in the mood for anything else anyway."

I never stop to be amazed by how thoughtful Erik is and how well he knows me. And I have to widen my smile when he chooses an animated comedy with cute animals to lift my spirits. I obediently eat my dinner and snuggle to him. We eat the popcorn and even though I wanted to stay awake till the end of the film, I do fall asleep on his shoulder as he predicted.