Chapter 7-B: A Little Renovation!

After moving the couch outside, they went back to the living room. Eryn grabbed a broom and dustpan to sweep the ashes and the little pieces of what was left of the couch.

"Could I help, Eryn?" Iris asked, tugging on the hem of his shirt.

"It's okay." He replied. She's still eager to help… "I'll be done in a moment."

After collecting all the remains in the dustpan, he disposed of them in the trash can. There, now the couch is no more! Without the couch here, the living room looked rather spacious. It feels kind of empty…

There were still ash stains on the carpet and the floor near it. I should clean that up first. He went to the kitchen sink and took a detergent. He poured roughly a tablespoon amount into a cup of water. This should be enough. With a scrub and cup of detergent mixture in his hands, he attempted to remove the ash stains.

"Can I help, Eryn?" Iris asked again, tugging on his sleeve.

"It's fine, Iris." He put the scrub into the cup and let it absorb the liquids. "I can do this on my own."

"O-Okay…" Iris nodded, her ears draping down. She simply sat down beside him and observed his actions.

Looking from the corner of his eyes, Iris seemed... restless, if he had to describe it. Like she wanted him to ask her to do something. I don't want her to feel obligated to help all the time… given the notes he read about her, he wondered what led her to be that way. Was she… taken advantage of?

"What flavor do you like, Lofie?"

"I like… chocolate."

Eryn shifted his gaze to the other two monstergirls. They were currently eating the last slices of the cake. Seeing those two, an idea immediately popped into his head. I could ask Iris…

"Hey, Iris?" he called her. "Could I ask for your help with something?"

"What can I help with, Eryn?" Her eyes lit up and her ears wiggled with delight.

"Could you help Lofie and Melty clean up?" He motioned to them. "I think they're done eating the cake."

"Oh!" Iris stood up and turned to them. "Yes, Eryn! Leave it to me!"

"Thank you, Iris." He smiled. I think that will keep her busy for a while. A happy expression suited Iris more.

He diverted his attention back to the carpet. These ash stains are tough. He scrubbed them away back and forth with intense efforts. Luckily, Melty didn't burn the carpet… that would have been another issue.

The ash stains were slowly fading away from the carpet. Nice, it's coming off. This little victory brought a smile to his face. These ash stains will soon be no more! He doubled his efforts in cleaning the carpet and floor. And… there! It's finished! He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Hold still, Melty!"

"You're so heavy, Iris!"

"I'm not heavy!"

Eryn raised his eyebrow. What are they talking about? He stood up and turned around. Huh? His eyes widened at what he was witnessing.

"Melty, a little closer…!"

"How close do you want me to get?"

Iris… was currently sitting on Melty's shoulders. She was trying to wash the plate used for the cake. Lofie stood next to them, trying to peek into the kitchen sink. What are they doing?

"Melty, she's going to fall."

"Iris, I can't hold you any longer!"

"Wait, don't drop me!"

Unable to bear the weight, Melty stumbled backward and had to let go of Iris's legs.

"Ah!" Iris fell off Melty's shoulders.

"Iris!" Reacting almost instantly, Eryn dashed towards them and caught Iris in his arms before she hit the ground. "Got you!"

"Ah, Eryn!" Iris drew her head back to look up at him.

"What were you two doing?" he asked, his tone laced with concern. "That was pretty dangerous!"

"I was trying to wash the plate."

"I see…?" He looked at the plate on the kitchen counter.

"I asked Melty to lift me up."

"You're heavy, Iris!" Melty huffed, pointing at her. "You should have carried me instead!"

"I'm not heavy!" Iris pouted at her.

"Take it easy, you two." Eryn let out a sigh as he slowly let Iris down to the floor. "Leave the dishes to me, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself over this."

"Eryn…" Iris bowed her head down, twiddling her fingers. "I just wanted to help…"

"You're plenty helpful, Iris. I mean that." He patted her head to reassure her. "But I don't want you to feel like you have to force yourself."

"Mhmm… okay." Iris nodded, staring at her feet. She took his words to heart.

"… Sorry, Iris." Melty walked up to her and gently held her hand. "I didn't mean to… let you go."

"It's okay, Melty." Iris shook her head and gave her a bright smile. "I shouldn't have asked you to do something dangerous."

Even they can have conflicts among themselves… Eryn thought as he observed them. It's nice to see them resolve things together. It's like… they're sisters.

PLOMP!

"Ah, Lofie?!"

"Chubby Iris."

Lofie stood behind Iris and wrapped her hands under her shirt to touch her waist, giving it a gentle pinch.

"I'm not chubby!" Iris swiped her hands away, annoyed at the Anubis.

I didn't realize Iris was worried about how her body looked… Eryn thought. As long as she's healthy…

"Eryn, Eryn!" she ran to him and tugged at the hem of the shirt, looking for reassurance. "I'm not chubby, am I?"

"H-Huh?" he took a step back, wondering how to answer the question. Is there a right answer to this?

"Look!" Iris lifted her shirt up to show her stomach. She grabbed his hand and pulled it, making him crouch down to her level. "It's not that chubby!"

"A-Ahh…" he touched it and gave it a gentle squeeze. Well, it's fine, honestly… Eryn wasn't one to care about these kinds of things. Then again, I suppose girls… and monstergirls would.

"Don't worry about it, Iris." He smiled warmly as he patted her head. "As you are now, I think this is perfectly fine."

"Okay, Eryn!" Iris leaned into his touch, enjoying his head pats.

"Mhmm…" Eryn stood up and covered his mouth, letting out a yawn. He glanced at the clock, noticing it was an hour before noon. A little nap doesn't sound so bad… though he quickly realized the couch wasn't an option unless he wanted to nap on the floor.

Well, there is my bedroom. He stroked his chin in deep thought. But I want it to be for the monstergirls. The next best option was his sister's old room. Yeah, I shall rest there, then.

"I think I'm going to take a little nap." He told the monstergirls. "I'm feeling a little tired."

"Oh, naps!" Lofie's eyes sparkled with excitement. She seemed to love sleeping the most.

"Where will you sleep, Eryn?" Iris asked, putting a finger on her chin.

"Probably in my other room." He folded his arms. "I have another bed there which I could use."

"No!" Lofie pouted and softly headbutted his leg, wrapping his arms around it. "Eryn is not allowed to sleep there."

"Lofie?" he scratched the back of his head. Not allowed to sleep there? Then where…?

"I want to nap with Eryn." She nuzzled her head onto his waist.

"Yeah!" Melty got behind him and started pushing him towards his room. "Eryn shouldn't be sleeping alone!"

"Let's head to our bedroom!" Iris latched on to his hand and pulled him along.

"H-Hey, hold on!" Eryn cried out. They're rebelling against me?!

With their combined efforts, the monstergirls dragged him to his bedroom and pushed him onto the bed.

"Yay, we did it!" Iris exclaimed with glee, pumping her fists up.

"High-five!" Melty raised her palms towards Iris and Lofie, to which they returned with their own.

CLAP!

They all shared a moment of giggles and laughs.

"A high-five for dragging me to the bedroom…" Eryn muttered under his breath. Well, they're already putting high-fives to practice. They learn so fast. It's just, that he didn't expect to take a similar role as his couch so soon.

Lofie climbed onto the bed and tugged his sleeve, pulling him to the center of the bed.

"Fine, fine…" he smiled and let out a defeated sigh as he let her drag him.

"Nap here." Lofie gently pushed him, making him lie down on the bed. She then laid beside him and snuggled her head into the crook of his neck, cuddling with him.

She's assertive… Eryn thought as he caressed her brown hair.

The other two monstergirls climbed onto the bed. Melty wrapped her arms around his free arm, snuggling against it. Iris crawled on top of him and tucked her head under his chin, desiring his warmth.

"I think this is a little cramped, don't you think?" he chuckled.

"No." Lofie pouted. "Eryn will nap here from now on."

"This is perfect!" Melty grinned.

"I feel safe when Eryn is with us…" Iris took a sniff of his scent. To the monstergirls, his scent was reassuring, made them feel safe and secure.

"Haha, I see…" Eryn smiled softly. Maybe I need to re-evaluate my decisions… he thought he was being considerate by giving them a bed they could sleep in. They may be adult monstergirls, but they're still children at heart… of course, they would want his attention. It must have been scary when they woke up and found out I wasn't there. That incident from this morning played back in his mind. The terrified face of Melty was ingrained into his eyes. I don't want them to go through such things again.

"In that case…" Eryn raised himself. "Let's make some changes to this bed so we can all sleep together."

"Changes?" Iris asked.

"What kind of changes, Eryn?" Melty continued.

"Here, let's get off the bed first." He said. The monstergirls obliged, getting down from the bed.

"Okay, let me just remove these pillows…" Eryn grabbed all the three pillows which were meant for each monstergirl. He walked to his wardrobe and opened it. He then took out a longer pillow, just the length of his bed, and tossed the smaller pillows in.

"That's a big pillow!" Melty exclaimed.

"Fluffy!" Lofie whispered, her tail wagging around with excitement, contrasting with the calm expression on her face.

"Haha, sure is!" Eryn put the pillow on the bed, adjusting it against the headboard. Now, they could all lay their heads on it. He did the same for the blanket, replacing it with a much wider one that could accommodate all of them.

"All right!" Eryn crawled onto the bed. Adjustments complete! "Come here." He patted the bed.

The monstergirls eagerly crawled onto the bed, returning to their original positions. This time, Melty and Lofie could comfortably rest their head on the pillows. Iris preferred to sleep on top of him, so she could smell his scent and hear his soothing heartbeat.

Eryn whipped out his phone and quickly set up an alarm a few hours from now then placed it on top of the headboard.

"Eryn will sleep with us from now, right?" Lofie asked, looking at him with upturned eyes. "Not just naps?"

"... If that is what you want, Lofie." He gently rubbed her head.

"I want it." She quickly replied, snuggling his head onto his shoulder.

"Me too!" Melty giggled sweetly. "I want all of our bedtimes with Eryn!"

"Eryn is so warm…" Iris purred, cuddling her head under his chin as drowsiness settled into her eyes. "It helps me to sleep."

Seeing all their faces of joy, Eryn couldn't help but smile at them. Never thought I'd stop sleeping alone… it was oddly nice to have them at his side. His heart felt… calm and blissful. Deep down inside, maybe he, too, didn't want to wake up alone anymore.

I won't leave them alone again.