I do not own Sword Art Online or any of the characters.

Privacy

Michael stepped out onto the back porch and sighed.

"Trouble?" Sinon asked.

"Not a lot of it," Michael sighed. "At least, not at the moment. We have two days to rest. Then we fight what will probably be the single most impossible battle we've ever faced. I think fighting that Gleam Eyes was probably easier."

"Maybe," Sinon sighed. "Where are the others?"

"Well, since we're using today to rest and tomorrow to gather supplies, they took the liberty of going on a date night," Michael sighed. "Honestly, that doesn't sound too bad. How long has it been since you and me spent time alone together doing normal things?"

"A while," Sinon admitted. "Maybe the others had the right idea."

Michael smiled and held his hand out. Sinon took it without a word and the two flew into the air. As they flew, Michael noticed, for the first time, a small black sphere following them. It was a camera, so that the outside world could watch. So then it was true. They were being watched by the entire world.

Michael and Sinon flew to the town nearby and landed outside a restaurant that was popular for couples, at least, since floor forty seven remained unreachable at the moment. Michael pushed the door open and looked around. The restaurant was deserted, except for the NPCs who worked there. Apparently people had had the good sense to retreat to higher levels. Michael payed for a table and they sat in the corner. After a few minutes, they had plates of food in front of them. Michael had gone for a simple plate of the closest thing ALfheim had to spaghetti. Sinon went for sushi. Michael couldn't help but grin.

"What?" Sinon asked.

"Just couldn't get enough of destroying fish huh?" He grinned.

She looked down at her plate in confusion before beginning to laugh. He joined in, both having trouble stopping, not that the NPCs cared. After a few minutes, they managed to stop and continued to eat. They remained silent for a time before Michael began to speak.

"You remember when I first got to Gun Gale?" Michael asked.

Sinon nodded, smirking, and leaned back, finished.

"Yeah," Sinon laughed. "You walked into a bar planning to fight without even having a gun. Luckily I was there to save you."

"And then take me shopping, sell my items without my consent, and criticize how I spend my money," Michael grinned, Sinon also grinning and shrugging.

"I'd say it worked out alright," Sinon smirked. "You got armor, weapons, that toothpick you're so fond of."

"And then I tried to go fight other players and only killed one before I got massacred," Michael snorted.

"True," Sinon smirked. "Hey, did I ever tell you about the gang that got wiped out about that time?"

"No," Michael said shaking his head. "What happened?

"Well, they weren't wiped out permanently or anything, obviously," Sinon said. "They had posted up on a gate and were forcing a tax on anyone trying to pass them. They had a sniper, several riflemen, a heavy or two, but then one day, a player is seen heading toward the gate alone. A little while later, apparently, a group of monster hunters passes through the gate and it's completely deserted. They just find a bunch of knives lying around everywhere. Anything I should know?"

"Oh, that was probably that group I took down when I was practicing fighting as a stealth player rather than a brute force fighter," Michael stated.

"You took out the whole gang alone!?" Sinon gaped. "Why did you never say?"

"It never came up," Michael shrugged. "Besides. I didn't know they were anyone important."

"They took out that team I was with," Sinon stated. "Before I was there, of course, but still."

"Wow," Michael mused. "I'm so strong it's scary."

Sinon laughed and slapped him playfully and he grinned.

"So, now that we're done eating, what do you wanna do?" Michael asked.

"Let's go kill a boss," Sinon suggested. "Just the two of us."

"Really?" Michael gaped. "We're supposed to be resting."

"Yes," Sinon nodded. "But just think how much stronger we'll be."

Michael considered it for a moment before nodding and grinning.

"Alright," Michael grinned. "Let's do it."

Sinon beamed and the two of them left the restaurant, heading for the highest level and then the dungeon. They fought through the dungeon in record time and entered the boss room without stopping to rest. Inside, they found a pair of massive skeletons and a werewolf. Sinon began to fight the skeletons while Michael fought the wolf. Michael was actually pleasantly surprised for once. After the tidal wave of relatively high level monsters they had fought on the beach, and after getting credit for beating Kraken, they were more than strong enough to fight the boss, and all three were dead in roughly a half hour. Once they had opened the door to the next floor, they left the floor, flying back to Kirito's house. They landed on the back porch and Michael leaned on the railing, sighing. Sinon stepped up beside him, leaning on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her waist. He smiled down at her and she reached up and kissed him. After a moment, he pulled away and sighed.

"Tell me we're going to be okay," Sinon said, sounding calm, though Michael could feel her trembling.

"We're going to be okay," he promised, pulling her inside and to the bedroom.

He lay down, holding her against himself and gently running his hand over the back of her head, careful to keep away from her ears and the top of her head so that she didn't start purring.

"We're going to be okay," Michael whispered, as much to himself as her, before looking down at her. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

"I know," Sinon said opening her inventory. "I know you won't. You killed Archon to protect me. You risked getting injected with a lethal toxin by Shinkawa to protect me. There's no one I trust more than you."

In a flash of light, Sinon swapped her armor out for pajamas. The same sniper-print ones she had worn after the Death Gun incident.

"Don't laugh," Sinon said, smiling.

"Why would I laugh?" Michael grinned. "I love those."

He kissed her and she kissed him back. After a few minutes, she pulled away, resting her head on his chest as he gently stroked her head.

"Michael," she finally spoke up after a bit. "Will you do that thing? Please?"

"You sure?" Michael asked, glancing at the camera.

"Yeah," Sinon nodded. "I don't want to think about what's coming. And that always feels so good that I can't think about anything."

Michael smirked but reached up, scratching her ears and the top of her head lightly. After a moment, Sinon began to purr, nuzzling her face into his chest but not trying to hide the noise. After a few minutes, Sinon looked up at Michael, her gaze making his hand stop. She slowly reached up and kissed him again, pulling back for a moment before her hands reached up to tangle in his hair and pull him into a more heated kiss. He returned the kiss, hands on the small of her back, holding her to him. After a moment, he glanced up at the camera as the glowing red light at the center turned off and the camera disappeared. He smiled into the kiss, feeling her do the same. Then, he felt her tongue run along his bottom lip. He pulled back, looking at her, meaning to speak, to say something. But the look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. He nodded and kissed her again. For a moment, it was chaste and slow, but it gained passion quickly.

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