The Fallen Vampire

"Alright, that\'s enough."

"Mmph!?"

Taira suddenly placed a hand over his wife\'s mouth as he absolutely couldn\'t stand to hear any more.

Currently, Aveena was bound to their bed with her legs and arms tied to the wooden posts.

Normally, there was a strong concern that she might break through, but she was entangled with chains made from his own black blood.

It would have been a slightly erotic scene if Taira were in the presence of mind to enjoy it.

But how could he after hearing everything that his wife had just expressed to him?

"Aveena… after all of the time we have spent together, why would you ever let yourself fall into believing in such silly fantasies?"

"B-Because they don\'t feel like fantasies, they feel like inevitabilities!"

"But they aren\'t!"

Aveena flinched and looked away, unable to bear the weight of her husband\'s outburst.

In fifty years of marriage, Taira could count the number of times he\'d argued with his wives on one hand.

And even then, they weren\'t really what you would call \'fights\' to begin with.

Through those instances of disagreement, Taira had never once raised his voice a single barometer at any of them.

Until today.

He immediately felt guilty, and Aveena had no idea how to take it.

As gently as he could, Taira caressed her cheek and snaked his hand from her face to the black tattoo at the top of her spine.

A warmth spread quickly throughout Aveena, along with a feeling of reassurance that she was previously unaware of just how desperately she needed.

"There isn\'t.. and there never will be.. a reason for you to compare yourself to me or anyone else in this tent. We are not your competition, we are your family.

And even if we weren\'t, you are no less talented than the rest of us. How many times did you watch me struggle for months on end when I was able to progress my own cultivation?

Who supported me then so that I could break through?"

At this, Vermeil stood up and also came over to the bed.

"Yea, and you also helped me when I hit a wall in pill formation."

"You kept me motivated for fifty years, even before I was a dragon! And I still consider you to be my closest rival even now!" Lucia added.

"I would also like to say that being a princess is overrated!" Vermeil yelled with zeal.

"Very much so." Enyo replied with a nod. "Do you know that our husband didn\'t know how to wash his own clothes until he was 174?"

"Must you make her feel better by stepping on my pride?" Taira asked exhaustedly.

"I don\'t know. Is it helping, sister?"

"A-A little..." Aveena replied.

"There you have it, darling. Sorry!"

Taira looked down at the oni who was still pinned underneath him.

There was a small red blush on her tan cheeks, and her eyes were unusually doe-like and gentle.

It really was working.

\'Ah... it is worth it I guess.\' he realized.

Lowering his head, he gently pressed his forehead against Aveena\'s.

He didn\'t know why he had used this gesture, but Lucia had started doing it recently, perhaps out of instinct or maybe some greater factor.

While he couldn\'t say that he fully understood it, he knew it was meaningful.

"No more unnecessary thoughts, alright? Everything that we are building here... you don\'t need to let any outside voices ruin it. The strength of one of us is the strength of all of us."

Aveena showed a wry smile as she looked away from Taira like some kind of shy maiden.

She wasn\'t good with all of this extra emotional stuff, at least not when it was focused on her.

She needed some kind of way to throw the focus off of her and on to something else.

"H-Hey, why am I the only one naked here.. I\'m starting to feel somewhat self conscious."

Everyone looked at each other before shrugging and peeling off their clothes one by one.

Enyo: "We know what you\'re trying to do."

Lucia: "We\'re still going to keep the focus on you until you say you\'re all better."

Keran: "Now what will you use as a distraction?"

Aveena bit her lip uncomfortably and nearly broke her neck to bury her face in a pillow.

"I get it.. I\'m sorry for being silly."

All: "We can\'t hear you!"

"I said I\'m sorry!!" Aveena yelled with a red face.

Smiling in satisfaction Taira descended back onto the bed while hovering over Aveena with an unusually large smile on his face.

"Wonderful. Now, lets make sure that no more silly thoughts end up forming in that head of yours for the foreseeable future."

"O-Okay.. but can you unbind me first?"

"Nope."

"T-Taira!"

Since it seemed like it was going to be a long night, Vermeil took the liberty of spreading her qi over the entire tent to prevent any noise from leaking outside.

How unfortunate that there would be many more \'leaks\' that night that Vermeil\'s qi would not account for.

-

Outside of the tent, Aja, Ayame, and Ja\'Zaki were staring at the large structure with a vague idea of what was transpiring inside.

"…How long do you think they are going to wait before they start having sex?" Ayame asked.

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The two rulers shrugged and fumbled for an answer when suddenly they realized that they could no longer hear anything from outside.

""Now.""

"Son of a bitch." The werewolf threw up her hands in defeat before walking away.

If she couldn\'t hear anything, she didn\'t care!

Aja and Ja\'Zaki however watched the tent for a couple of moments longer and it was unclear if they were actually thinking about the dirty things going on inside.

"Tell me… what do you think tomorrow is going to be like?" Aja asked quietly.

Ja\'Zaki looked over his shoulder at a certain section of the camp. "… Are you asking because of that?"

"Mhm."

"Well… he\'ll probably be pissed."

"That\'s what I was thinking too."