Five days passed. So far nothing out of the ordinary happened apart from a few of the village children asking me for an autograph or two whenever I chose to stroll around town by myself. It brought a smile to my face, not the sudden popularity streak that had come by but the fact that even through everything that Fennu had thrown at this peaceful town, it still wasn't enough to dampen their young and innocent spirits.

That brought up a different issue. Every hour that passed I grew more and more anxious about when the next wave would attack. Sometimes I would just sit and look out to the town, trying to spot any signs of danger. There was none that could be seen, but I knew that it was out there bidding its time.

This time, I sat inside of my own room and relaxed on the bed for once seeing how Yinshen wasn't using it. I had only been in after training, after showering of course, for a few minutes until Viper had come to see me. She had really been training me hard, teaching me everything that she knew. Granted that I still had a very long way to go but hey, at least I was learning something new. Every new skill gained gave me hope, gave me a stronger chance of fighting and surviving and eventually, it would mean taking the fight to Fennu and winning.

"Hello Vipes. Is everything well"? I asked as I jumped off the bed and next to the snake as she entered the room.

"I'm well thank you. I just wanted to ask you something".

"Sure, I'm all ears. If I had any". I grumbled as I reminded myself that snakes didn't have ears (So how they hear in general, who knows). But I pushed past the thought as Viper closed the door behind her.

"It's a delicate situation".

My smile vanished and I became serious.

"What's on your mind"?

"I've been thinking about what you said about when the village is attacked again".

"By Fennu"?

"Yes. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how you were right. How we may all"-

I cut her off.

"Vipes, please don't talk like that". I slithered closer to her. "You're always the cheery spirit of the group and it hurts me to see you act so depressed".

"I know you don't like it, but I figured that I might not have had the chance to say that I'm sorry about having to talk you out of sneaking away with Yinshen, just in case you're still upset about it".

Before I could tell her that she was talking crazy, she had already given me a small peck on the lips, followed by a hug.

"I see you've got you're own room back". Viper noticed, quickly changing the subject.

"Only for the next hour, then I'm heading back to the training hall to sleep".

Viper broke the hug and smiled as an idea popped into her head

"If you want, you can spend the night with me"? She said, back to her cheerful self.

Honestly it didn't bother me that she said that. We've spent so many nights together that it no longer fazed me. I just smiled back and gave a small nod as my reply, accepting her offer.

Before long, she was already showing off her room. Not too much different to mine, apart from the large box of chocolates at the side of the room, I'm surprised she still has those here. Only maybe two or three left out of the massive box.

As we were discussing the sleeping arrangements, I argued that I would take the floor and she would have the bed. I found it a little amusing the way she kept fussing and saying how I was acting like a big baby. Eventually, it seemed that I had lost as it was either take the floor with Viper or the bed with Viper. If I'm going to be stuck with her I might as well be comfortable right?

To my surprise, the bed was a little bigger than my own by both length and width, but as Viper explained it, she had saved enough money to buy a larger one some time ago before she had even met me. I put the thought aside and slithered onto the red leather that held the bed together and faced the edge. A small giggle made me blush as the female snake climbed onto the other side.

"Are you always going to act this way whenever we're in the same bed"? She asked looking at the back of my head.

"I'll get used to it in time I'm sure".

Seemed a bit silly, I will admit. A warrior being nervous about sharing a bed with their teammate/ girlfriend. But I still had a bit of a way to go before I was proper warrior material, master or not.

I felt a small chill ride up my spine as viper slithered onto my neck and turned so that she was now face to face with me.

"To tell you the truth, I wanted to bring you in here for another reason".

I raised an eyebrow at her words.

"I trust it doesn't relate with the last time we slept together"? I asked remembering what had almost gone down that night.

"Don't be silly, of course not. You know I respect your own choice as you would mine".

I relaxed and smiled. At least she's respectful as well as loyal.

"So what is this other reason"?

"Just to talk about us and our relationship is all".

I just gave a small chuckle and looked back into her eyes.

"Very well, what's on your mind"?

"Well, just about bonding mostly. How two snakes show how strong their bond is to each other".

"How do they do that"?

"Many different ways, some males court the female, others dance, some males fight each other to prove themselves worthy".

"Unless you have another boyfriend I don't know about, I think we can skip that last one". I joked getting a laugh from Viper.

"Of course not. You know I'd never do that".

Thank goodness for that.

"But it is why I tried to... well"...

"Put the moves on me"? I asked flatly earning a small blush from the snake.

"I suppose so when you put it that way. But after you refused, I wasn't sure of any other way to gain your full trust".

"Viper, what are you talking about? Of course I trust you".

"But to show how much you care for me, to take another step in the relationship shows the trust and care you have for me".

I gave a small frown. Viper continued.

"I just thought that you might not have known it was all".

An idea quickly popped into my head.

"You know Viper, everything you've told me is understandable, so I think I know one way to help show that trust. For you".

"You do"?

"Yes. But the only thing is that while it is a human trait (sort of), it may also hurt a bit".

Viper did not seem to mind as she leaned forwards and kissed me once more just out of happiness, parting my lips to make way for her tongue. I pushed back, fighting for control until one of us decided to break it off.

"It's fine Mike. It doesn't matter". She smiled and waited for me to do what I was about to do.

I raised my head and showed my fangs. I slipped out from underneath her and raised myself up so that my head was positioned over her neck.

"You still have a chance to say no if you wish Vipes". I gave a final warning.

"Do it". She spoke, making it sound like a command.

I shrugged and leaned only slightly down to her neck while she rested on the bed. She was nervous, that much I could tell. Her eyes were closed and was probably hoping that whatever I planned to do would be fast. I opened my mouth a little to show my fangs off and slowly moved down through whatever distance remained between me and her.

A small gasp came from Viper as I gripped her neck with my fangs. I applied a bit of pressure onto the grip as I felt Vipers tail wrapped around mine and squeezed it tightly. I just kept up the bite until I broke the skin and my fangs sunk a little into her flesh like a vampire. A small whimper could be heard escaping from Viper and I sunk my fangs in a little deeper until I decided enough was enough and pulled the blood tipped fangs out and just looked back at the damage.

Two small holes could be easily found on the right side of her neck just below her head. I wiped the blood off with a nearby tissue and nudged Viper.

"Are you okay"? I asked gently.

My response, Viper opened her eyes and smiled. She seemed in good enough spirits to kiss me again. What I hadn't expected was for her to return the favor. The second the kiss broke, she slithered round and clamped onto my neck, biting down hard with her razor sharp fangs. I flinched out of surprise and tried not to hiss or growl in pain as they sunk past the skin. In only a few seconds, she let go and I wiped whatever drop of blood trickling down my neck with another tissue before cleaning the blood off of Vipers fangs.

"I love you". Was all she said before kissing me passionately.

"I love you too". I repeated.

I laid down on my back and just sat there looking up at the ceiling as Viper slithered on top of me and snuggled under my chin. She went and kissed my neck a few times although I think she was just a little too giddy over the bite. I just let her do her thing. After all, this was a big step in her life for her species to find what she calls a mate. At least that's as far as I understood the situation. After a minute I decided to close my eyes and get some sleep while I could. The only problem was that Viper slithered a little more along my stomach almost at once making me open my eyes to see what she was doing.

She seemed to have fallen asleep herself quite quickly. Her own body zigzagged on and off of mine. Her head still snuggled under my neck, seeing how I couldn't see but feel it. It was cute, I'll give it that. Thank goodness it was back to Sunday tomorrow.

...

A couple of people have been asking me if Mike and Viper will get any closer in their relationship. This chapter should help answer that question, but like I also said some time ago, there won't be any sex scenes. This is probably as far as it is going to get in the relationship, Probably, depending on what other comments and messages I get. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading today's chapter. Cheerio!