Opening Notes: So last chapter our boy had quite the workout, but it ended with him being able to finally get past Sumire's understandable disdain for his mere presence thanks in part to a little trickery on Eidolon's part. Now he's gonna get some much needed time to heal and relax for the most part. Of course this is Worm, so feel free to start taking bets on how long it'll be before the shit hits the fan. Also…with the new Castlevania Nocturne trailer that dropped, which was FUCKING AWESOME I might add, don't be surprised if there's some references made lol. (That and the next training exercise will likely involve one of the big, iconic bosses of the games or the anime, haven't decided which yet.) Anyway, enjoy the show folks!

Chapter 10

Bonding Time

Greta Bailey's apartment building, the Townsend apartment

September 7th, 2007, 7:07 PM…

Rebecca Townsend POV…

Climbing the stairs after an early evening jog, Rebecca rolled her head about her shoulders until something pleasantly popped in her neck. She really needed a shower after working up a sweat as she had, the lightly cool evening be damned. Still, the day had been good for the most part, her homework was done, her mom was doing better than ever, and the new neighbor was making the entire neighborhood feel safer in and out of costume. She stopped and turned her head when she heard footsteps coming down the hall, from the elevator, only to feel her eyes go wide as saucers when she saw Dion clutching at the side of his chest, his face pulled into a pained grimace that grew slightly worse with every step.

"Dion! What the Hell happened?!" She didn't give him time to answer before all but running to his side and throwing an arm over her shoulders despite a half hearted protest she could just make out on the tip of his tongue. A sharp glare from her stopped him cold from giving it a voice though. "Don't even think about it."

"...As my lady commands." He wisely said instead. "As for what happened, it was merely a training exercise that went a bit harder than I was expecting."

"A training exercise?!" She exclaimed, eyes wider than ever as she helped walk him to her apartment before he could think to protest.

"Considering the things we have to contend with," he began as she let him go just long enough to get her door unlocked, "it makes sense our training efforts would be tougher than most people would expect."

"That doesn't mean you should be coming home like this, you-" Rebecca only just remembered her mom was likely still asleep as she helped Dion to the couch before helping him lift up his shirt. She grimaced this time upon seeing the heavy bandage wrapped around his chest. "Jesus fuck, Dion, what kinda training are you doing up in that place?!"

"It's actually much better than it looks." He tried to assure her, but the flat look she gave him said she wasn't buying it. Yet he persisted, adding, "Trust me, I might agree that it was a little extreme what they had us doing, but the villains and true monsters of this world won't hold back. They will kill us heroes if given the chance, so ensuring we're all working together as we should, that we're strong enough to take on anything people like Jack Slash might throw our way, is the only way we might get to come home in one piece. This relatively minor injury will heal."

"Relative?" She echoed with disbelief at his nonchalance, her fingers trailing along the edges of the bruise that spread out across what parts of his chest weren't covered, and across his abs. She blushed when she realized just what she was doing, but pulling her hands away would only call more attention to it, so she just kept doing it instead so he wouldn't notice. Yes.

"I've been hurt more than this." He said, shrugging every so slightly before she noticed his eyes flick down to where her hands were.

She immediately jerked them away, blushing crimson upon having been caught, but before she could try and stammer out some kinda excuse, a 'cough' from the nearby hallway had her whirling around only to see her mother's amused smile. "Am I interrupting something?"

"M-mom! What?! No! I mean Dion's hurt, I was just-"

"Getting 'hands on?'" Her mom quipped, making Rebecca groan in abject embarrassment.

"Just kill me now…" She groaned, more loudly this time as she hoped the ground would just swallow her up.

"Nah, this is way more fun." Her mother shot back mercilessly, making Becca sigh out. She really should've known better than to expect mercy from her mother. Even so, it was a testament to how much her mother was already trusting Dion by her not freaking out right now.

"Oh don't make me laugh, my chest is barely holding together as it is." Dion chuckled despite the pain it clearly caused him as he gingerly pulled his shirt down. "As I just got done telling Rebecca though, it was only a training exercise."

"I heard, but still, you're not leaving that couch." Maria stated, making it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Becca dear, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?"

"I'd already planned on it." Becca assured her while giving Dion a look that discouraged him from trying to argue against the two of them.

"Good." Her mother said as she turned around and took a single step before she paused to look over her shoulder with a sly smile on her face. "Make sure he doesn't get up either in that state, sit on him if you have to."

"Mom!" Becca whined, utterly mortified, no not mortified, this was so much worse! There wasn't a word for how embarrassed she felt! It didn't help her mom left the living room with a light, warm laugh following after her, leaving her and a quietly amused Dion alone once more. "Don't you fucking say a word." She growled towards the idiot knight on her couch.

"I wouldn't dream of it, m'lady." He promised, holding his hands up in a placating gesture which was ruined somewhat by the amused tilt to his lips. If anything he snuggled deeper into the couch cushions, apparently all too ready to get pampered.

"You're enjoying this." She accused him with a huff.

"I mean I have two beautiful women taking care of me, it's hard not to enjoy that." He returned without even the slightest hint of shame or hesitation.

She snickered despite her lingering embarrassment, unable to argue with the logic he'd presented. "Typical guy you are. I thought you were supposed to be a valiant knight?" She dryly stated, trying hard not to give away her own enjoyment of returning the teasing.

To her surprise though, he smiled solemnly and said, "I'm still a miserable pile of secrets like any man, but even though my knightly persona is just that, a mask I wear while in costume, my heart remains ever in the right place. With that said, I still have my own desires that aren't always motivated by selflessness. To want is to be human though." He finished with a nod of his head before he slowly forced himself up into a proper sitting position. "Still, I promised your mother I would be a proper gentleman, and I'd rather not find myself on the wrong end of her paternal wrath."

"Smart man!" Her mother called out from the bedroom.

"Quit eavesdropping already!" Becca retorted, earning another warm laugh from her mother for her trouble.

There was a small pause before her mother replied at the same time she stuck her head out of her doorway. "No."

"Ugh." Becca grumbled, but as much as she wanted to be annoyed, she couldn't keep the smile from her face as she flopped onto the couch next to Dion. "Are you sure you're alright, Dion?" She asked, to which he firmly nodded.

"I'm alright, I promise. I'd still be in the infirmary otherwise. The Protectorate's medical care is top notch between all their bio-Tinkers, Thinkers, and all the advances they've made since Capes first started appearing. The only downside is that most of what the Tinkers have ever made can't be replicated by modern science since they skip several steps in the process of their inventing."

"Tell me something I don't know." She grumbled, far less amused from the reminder that their world was shit.

"You have gorgeous eyes."

"What?!" She exclaimed, whipping her head towards him in the same instant.

"You told me to tell you something you don't know?" He defended himself weakly.

"Th-that's not what I meant, you dolt!" She stammered, blushing for an entirely new reason this time.

"Well then tell me something I don't know about you." He said next, leaving Rebecca momentarily stunned into silence until his gently coaxing smile registered through the fog in her head.

"...Is this turning into a date?" She asked instead of what had first come to her mind.

"If this were a date, it'd be a pretty bad one." He argued with a slight shake of his head. "For one I wouldn't be lying injured on your couch, and for another, I'd have put in a reservation to a nice restaurant or something before escorting you as you deserve."

"Damn it Dion, why couldn't you be more of a stereotypical asshole? You're making it hard for me to stay pissed at you." Not that she was actually complaining and they both knew it.

"Kind of the point, really." He said with an annoyingly charming smile. "As cute as you are when you're angry, I think you're even more beautiful when you smile."

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we?" Maria called out from the other room.

"Is it laying on thick if I'm telling the truth?" He calls back, annoyingly not a blush in sight, as though he truly believed what he was saying. Okay… he might, Becca knew she was beautiful even when she kept most of herself covered up, but still. Him just saying that, it made her heart race… and made her really wish her mom wouldn't listen in on all of this!

"No." Maria said as she stepped out in a black, body hugging dress that made her look drop dead gorgeous. "You two behave yourselves though. I have some errands to run before I go to work for the night." Becca didn't get to say anything else before Maria leaned down to give her a hug she happily returned. "Love you, dear."

"Love you too, mom." Whatever her annoyance with her mom, that she was letting Dion stay on their couch, alone with her, said a lot. So the smile she gave the older woman was nearly ear to ear when they pulled apart. "You be careful too, mom."

"I have my stun gun just in case, but I'll be alright. It's the shy one again, so I'm not expecting any trouble." She assured Becca before giving them a playful wink on her way out. "There better not be any stains on the couch when I come back!

"Mom!" Rebecca cried out while Dion just laughed as the door shut behind Maria, the sound of her own laughter the last thing they heard of the older woman. "Ugh…why do I put up with her?"

"Because you love her dearly?" Dion softly replied, as if afraid to draw Rebecca's wrath by standing up for her mother, but he needn't have worried as she sighed but smiled since he was right.

"Fine…but don't tell her I said that." She teased, earning a light laugh from Dion this time that wasn't at her expense.

"Alright, alright, I won't." He assured her, his smile fading somewhat as his hand brushes across the bruise on his still exposed chest as if in remembrance. "Maybe you should though… sometimes we'll never know the value of the time we've been given until it is too late." She blinked at the sudden change in mood.

"Dion… are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, just… thinking, remembering a couple things, that's all." He was quick to assure her. "Anyway, I believe I was trying to sweep you off your feet with a nice date?" He asked, smiling again, but this time she can see it's at least partially forced.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked after a moment to truly look at him, to register the sorrow in his eyes.

Seeing he wasn't able to fool her anymore, Dion sighed, but didn't try to play off her concerns anymore, for which Rebecca was grateful for. "...I miss my parents. I was…reminded today that while I might've lost my family to gang violence, others have had it worse in some regards. Let's just say at least them dying offers me closure in a sense since I don't have to wonder what's happened to them. Others though…they haven't been so fortunate. I met someone today that knows where their mother went, but she doesn't dare go to her because Heartbreaker has them."

"Jesus fuck." Rebecca cursed, eyes widening as that bit of information hits her like a ton of bricks. Every woman that knew about the son of a bitch was absolutely terrified of being taken by him, of being forced to kill their loved ones with a demented smile on their face. It was one of the things that never failed to keep Rebecca up at night whenever a new report came in over the news of a Heartbreaker styled kidnapping and murder.

"Yeah…" He agreed quietly even as he shook his head. "Sorry for dragging down the mood."

"Hey, none of that." Becca told him, playfully bumping her fist into his shoulder, god it felt like bumping a statue with those hard muscles of his. "I asked, didn't I? Besides, I'd rather have you tell me stuff like that then keep it all bottled up."

He smiled sadly in response before solemnly nodding his head. "Thank you, truly, and you're right. And yes, you indeed asked. I'd be hesitant to lie to you even if I wasn't injured."

"Good." She stated, quite satisfied by his answer before Becca added, "Damn though Dion, you're ripped! Is everything about you this hard?... wait no I didn't mean it like that!" Dion's laughter, despite being at her expense again, still drew forth a relieved smile from Rebecca. At least the rest of the evening was far more enjoyable until he ended up dozing off near the end of an action movie she'd popped into the DVD player, but Rebecca was happy to let him sleep after getting his shoes off and throwing a blanket over him. Going to bed soon after, Rebecca's sleep came deep and easy, despite Heartbreaker's presence looming over her thoughts.

And it all because Dion was on her couch.

The Townsends' couch

September 8th, 2007, 7:21 AM…

Dion Lesage POV…

Waking up in an unfamiliar place, Dion sits up with a quiet shout of alarm before remembering where was. With a sigh, he leans back, closes his eyes, and allows a small smile to spread across his lips. Rebecca had apparently tucked him in after taking his shoes off. Despite having just woken up, the shot of adrenaline helps to get his mind in order much more quickly as he gingerly sits up, his chest still achy, but not half as bad as it'd been yesterday. Whatever Tinker-tech drugs they'd pumped him full of yesterday, it seems to have agreed with him since he felt much better than he probably had a right to given what'd happened.

So he quietly got up, neatly folded the blanket and put it over the back of the couch, and moved to the kitchen just as the door opened, allowing Maria to enter, looking tired but happy. "Oh, good morning, Dion."

"Ms. Town-" He stopped himself, and smiled in the face of her wry smirk, "Maria. I was just going to get some coffee together for you and Rebecca before I head out for school this morning."

"You're too kind, seriously, didn't you get beat up yesterday? You should worry about yourself more." She told him, but the smile on her face said that it was appreciated nonetheless. "How about this then, you wait here, and I'll make the two of you a coffee before I take a nap? I know better than to expect you'd accept more than that."

"Are you sure? You just came home from work and-"

"Sit." She interrupted him as though she was talking to a particularly disobedient dog. "In one ear, out of the other I see… at least in that you're like the stereotypical teenager." She moved to the kitchen and Dion tried, and failed, not to notice how much her dress highlighted her curves. "So, do you take your coffee black or with milk?"

"Black as my soul." He deadpanned back, not missing a beat.

"With milk it is." He rolled his eyes in good natured humor at her ignoring his request, knowing already it was pointless to argue with her, and he wasn't about to look a gift in the mouth in any event as Maria quickly got the coffee kettle filled up. "I trust I won't have to look for any stains."

"No, we behaved ourselves." He assured her, her casual tone not fooling Dion in the slightest.

"I see." She replies softly before falling silent.

He licked his lips hesitantly. "Don't get me wrong, I like Becca, but… I don't know her too well yet… and I'd rather get to know her a bit more before I even think of trying to get into bed with her… I'd like to think it should be more special than that." He coughs softly. "Don't get me wrong, I said I don't mind your profession and I meant it, but it's just that, a job… and when it's a relationship it should be… more." He tried to explain, awkwardly.

She huffs softly at that. "Sounds like you're bit of a romantic, Dion."

"I'm man enough to say that I love some romances in movies." Dion returns with a wry grin. "Sure, I'm not one for chick flicks with all those complications and drama all too often involved, but wholesome love stories? They can make you feel all warm and cuddly inside."

Maria laughed in response, which did interesting things to her cleavage, as she handed him his coffee. "Don't think I've ever heard anyone say something like that before. You're a strange one, Dion."

"So I've been told before, but I am simply who I am." He replies with a soft smile in response before taking a sip of the offered coffee. He found, much to his surprise, that Maria had somehow managed to add the exact amount of milk to it he usually went with, making it not too mild, but also taking care of the harsh bitterness. Something the older woman picked right up on going by her smug smirk that soon appeared. "I'll admit, you were right to ignore me since you brewed this perfectly where most people fail miserably I've found."

"I got some experience making coffee thanks to my own work hours and the fact that Rebecca is an absolute zombie in the morning." Maria responded, a pleased smile pulling at her lips. "Glad to hear that you like it."

"Well it's truly appreciated." He states, taking a much deeper sip of his cup's contents before moving to use the bathroom. "Do you mind if I-"

"No go ahead. It'll be here when you get back." She assured him, taking his cup before Dion took off to get himself put together for the day though he hoped he'd have enough time to get a change of clothes from his place, but right then he really needed to pee.

Staking out some apartment from a nearby rooftop.

Dorothy Baker POV…

Bahamut, or Dion as the freaky fedora lady had called him, was annoyingly pretty. While she'd made it abundantly clear that revealing his identity would result in her killing all of them in rather inventive ways, Dorothy was honestly tempted to tie his ass down before riding him until there he had nothing left to give. Sure, she'd kill him after, having fun was all well and good, but she wasn't about to just risk him getting free. He'd exploded the wannabe Terminator of their little gang, she didn't like the idea of the same happening to her thanks. Still, she was with Emma in wanting his head on a plate, even if Dorothy also wanted to fuck him stupid first since she hadn't seen such a handsome guy like him in a long time. With all of that said, staking out some random woman's place with her camera was pure torture since Dorothy hated sitting still.

And the young man was apparently all too willing to just chat with the older woman about unimportant garbage. Who cared how he liked his coffee for fuck's sake? He should just get up and leave already since he clearly didn't have the balls to fuck the milf and her daughter, both of which were drop dead gorgeous in the speedster's opinion. Weirdo. With the powers he had, he could easily take them, instead he was playing nice and wasting everyone's time, Dorothy's included. "Fucking white knight." She grumbled, before zipping away when pretty boy glanced out the window right in her direction. "Damn it…how does he always do that?!" She muttered in no small amount of aggravation, his situational awareness out of this world since she hadn't met anyone half as alert as he was, clearly.

Yet when she glanced out of her hiding space, he was still chatting with the hot piece of meat, just as the woman's equally hot daughter meandered her way out of her bedroom a few moments later. "Fuck… is he gay? Is that why he's not bending them over?" She wondered, because she knew Max would've already been all over both of them before they could blink which was why she wouldn't tell him about those two total babes.

Because fuck Max. The brute thought that pumping your dick twice in a pussy before cumming counted as sex. The jackass didn't have the first clue though, and she doubted he would ever get the hint in any event. On that note, she was glad she hadn't hit record on her camera so she wouldn't have to lie and say she hadn't bothered, seeing as nothing interesting had happened, because it hadn't, thus she wouldn't have to do anything fancy to the tape she had prepared in the hopes of gathering more info. Realizing it was gonna be a lost cause in any event, Dorothy took off, muttering a string of curses all the way back to the gang's hideout.

There'd always be a next time though.

"Did he hole up in the PRT building again?" Emma asked bored from her position on an old and derelict couch, not even bothering to open her eyes as she lazed about. "Or still busy doing some other good samaritan shit?"

"He's doing fuck all at his neighbor's apartment." Dorothy grunted as she flopped onto the couch, ignoring the dirty look Emma shot her as she invaded her space without a care in the world. "He's probably gonna be heading out to the local high school soon, so this morning was a complete bust."

"Aren't his neighbors some hot chicks or something?" Emma asked, glancing to the stack of papers the bitch had delivered that day. "Is he gay?"

"That's what I said!" Dorothy exclaimed, before lowering her voice when a soft grunt from Max's room reached their ears, the bastard still out cold. "But yeah they are, but don't say a word to the asshole, you know how he'd get."

"Don't tell me you care about those two?"

"Fuck no, I just don't want him to get some pussy and brag about if for weeks afterwards." Dorothy scoffed with an eyeroll. "You weren't here the last time he managed to get his hands on a hot chick. He kept bragging for weeks, weeks! And for what? Thirty seconds before he blew his load?"

"That bad huh?" Emma said with a disgusted scoff quick to follow. "But alright, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Thanks. It'll save us all a fucking headache, trust me."

"So, you saw any chance to gank him yet?"

"Well, I mean we could just try to get him at school." Dorothy shrugged carelessly. "On the way I could try to get him, but there are few spots where the lot of us could act together."

"Not a fan of the school idea, the heroes and their little friends always get especially annoying when kids get involved in this mess." Emma shot the idea down, not that Dorothy was surprised. It may be their best chance thus far, but revenge or not she didn't wanna get dogpiled by a bunch of self righteous Capes for not thinking about the poor kids or whatever they tended to spout about these days.

"Alright, then I'll need a bit more time." She shrugged with a sigh, not a fan of… ugh… waiting even longer. "Push comes to shove we can always try to kidnap one of his neighbors. Sure Max will be fucking annoying, but I'd rather get him where we want him than just jump onto his spear because we didn't think things through."

"Huh, and here I thought you were all about running headfirst into trouble?"

"Screw you." Dorothy grunted, pulling her feet up with an annoyed eye roll towards Emma. They didn't have to like each other to work together, but sometimes she found it really difficult not to stab Emma in the face. Still, she pushed it aside in favor of raiding the fridge. Running all over the city really took its toll on her metabolism, but that's what ice cream was for!

Mmmm…wonderful, wonderful ice cream…

Cauldron living quarters, Contessa's room

8:26 AM…

Fortuna Bianchi/Contessa's POV…

Wake up, begin morning routine.

Just once, she wished her Shard would let her sleep like a normal person, yet the Path was all she really had to go by. So Fortuna sighed, got up, and went about putting herself together for the day. There was a great deal that yet needed to be done, the third rate criminals she had talked to still hadn't acted despite all the information she had provided them with.

Maybe that was for the best.

The uncertainty of this particular case gnawed at her. Uncertainty had been removed from her life a long time ago, to have it suddenly reintroduced was… unsettling. Not at all helped by the fact that the outcome could vastly influence things in ways she had no way of predicting.

Bahamut interfered with her Path like nothing else ever had. He was a danger to be sure, but also an opportunity, a chance she had never dared to dream of before, having long since confirmed that every precog, postcog, and everything in between she had access too were having the same problems she was, meaning chances were good even the Simurgh wasn't able to get a read on him. He just wasn't ready yet, so she had to get him there. Still, she wondered if perhaps she should exercise more restraint. It was highly likely that he would triumph over the cannon fodder she had guided his way, but unlike her usual, there was no certainty here.

It very well might be that she would kill the young man by trying to help him. Contessa didn't know how to feel about that if she were being honest. On the one hand if he died to adversaries such as this, he most likely wouldn't have been the ace in the hole she had hoped him to be. On the other it may be that her own impatience had robbed him of time needed to grow to that point.

She looked at her phone. It would be so easy to just call Eidolon, or really a lot of people, who could take care of those pitiable fools easily enough, and remove them from the board to give Bahamut more time. But maybe he did need the push…

How… irritating.

She'd forgotten how annoying indecision really was, having not had to deal with it since she was a scared little girl, only just beginning to understand the sheer scope of her newly awakened powers. Doctor Mother might've been the only one among them with no powers at all, but even though Fortuna had never grown to like the older woman, she was able to admit the doctor had helped her a great deal during those early years. Didn't mean she would ever grow to like her of course, but the enemy of my enemy was my friend was a popular saying for a reason.

Especially with enemies like the Endbringers, and Scion.

Even so, it didn't change what her mission entailed. The Path was all that mattered since it was the only sure thing Fortuna could rely on that would see all of humanity safe. Bahamut might be able to interfere with them, but even his resistance wasn't without its loopholes. Still, she had to be very careful since the last time she'd tried to Path him just yesterday, the draconic entity attached to Dion hadn't just eaten the future she'd tried to gleam. It'd left its teeth marks in her left shoulder blade, much to her abject surprise at the time. It'd only been a very gentle nip, but that'd been enough to deter Fortuna from angering Bahamut's dragon any further. That it'd been able to physically hurt her at all without being anywhere near her would've surprised anyone though. It only made him all the more exciting, if infuriating, but she wasn't about to push her luck either by trying to Path him directly anymore.

It was far better to let this particular sleeping dragon lie.

New York City, New York

Hell's Kitchen patrol

September 11th, 6:21 PM…

Dion Lesage/Bahamut POV…

It was rather awkward to, what basically amounted to, parade around in his new hero uniform. Walk through the streets, look pretty, smile and wave for the camera, be kind to folks, just… be there for people to see and believe in… and all of this along a route that the Protectorate's Thinkers and PR people had made sure was safe, or well as safe as could be. They weren't meant to fight crimes or be heroes, not then, they were there as symbols. It was one of the few things that grated on Dion's nerves, even if he understood the necessity for such appearances given the state of the world. Every little bit of hope they could muster would ensure society at large didn't implode upon itself another day. But it wasn't enough in his opinion, even if he also understood that almost everyone in this world didn't have nearly enough power to actually challenge Scion or the Endbringers on their own. The game was rigged given how Scion basically controlled the Network, ensuring no Shard would ever give a power that could truly challenge him, although the game would've been over already if not for the fact Eden, the Thinker to his Warrior, was dead thanks to how it'd crash landed when it had before it'd been killed though he couldn't remember how or who'd done it.

Not that any of that changed his opinion much since he wasn't a Shard bearer. His power wasn't limited in its scope by an alien overlord that cared nothing for the subjects of its grand experiment outside of the results it got from said experiments. But for now, he walked the streets, occasionally making a jump to a nearby rooftop wherever people with cameras happened to be, ready to snap his picture or to take a video of his passing. All the while Dion was almost hoping someone would do something stupid enough to require him to respond accordingly since these safe patrols he was sure were going to be the bane of his existence. Just as quickly though he mentally kicked himself for wishing someone to come to any kind of harm just so he'd be able to break up the monotony these safe patrols were turning out to be.

Still, he took a few minutes between his almost mandatory public appearances to see about making a reservation over his cellphone to a nearby Italian restaurant he'd heard Rebecca mention in passing to her mom just yesterday. It'd be a nice surprise after all the trouble he'd caused them after the training exercise from Hell he and Sumire had survived together. That and he'd meant what he told Maria, he really did want to do right with Rebecca and his efforts to show her the respect she deserved rather than simply trying to get his dick wet. Just because his knightly persona was just that, didn't mean he wanted to be an asshole about this whole thing. Now he just had to hope nothing decided to ruin his date night, assuming Rebecca even agreed of course, and her mother approved, though he wasn't too concerned about the latter.

But for now he contented himself with the fact he had something to look forward to.

End Notes: Bahamut's retaliations against Contessa have gone from simply devouring her attempts to Path him, to outright attacking her in warning, of which she'll likely only get the one. Also Dorothy is still trying to stalk him for her buddies, and our boy had quite the heart to heart with Rebecca despite having previously teased her something fierce alongside her dear old mom. Don't worry though, the shit's about to hit the fan in a big way next chapter.