“EEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!”


    “Hahahaha. You’re a mean sister, you know that, Enyo?” Ares was cackling at Enyo’s prank with tears in his eyes.


    “It’s not my fault Allie assumed we’d be wearing clothes like last time. What was it Aejaz taught her again? ‘To assume is to make an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’, was it? I mean, we are mostly covered by the sheets, it’s not that big a deal.” Enyo smiled innocently and shrugged with her bare shoulders.


    “Man, she really took off running immediately though… Hahahaha, can you imagine if she did that with Aejaz the first time he takes off his clothes?”


    Ares and Enyo snickered as they got up and got dressed. “You wanna bet we’ll have sex before they do?”


    Ares snorted. “Hell no. They’re still hugging and hand-holding, they’re gonna take forever to go that far. That’s a losing bet if I’ve ever heard one. The international is only about a month and a half away, there’s no chance of them doing anything before then.”


    “Speaking of bets, are you gonna tell me what your reward for the Baja Forest bet is?”


    “Patience is a virtue.” Ares booped Enyo’s nose.


    “Oh really?” Enyo curled her fingers and made air quotes. “‘I said more you slut.’”


    “Rules for thee but not for me.” Ares stuck his tongue.


    “Hmph, you keep sticking that tongue out. One day I’ll make it lick my anus.”


    “You make that sound like a bad thing.”


    “Kinky perv.” Enyo lightly slapped Ares’ cheek.


    “Kinky nympho.” Ares spanked Enyo’s ‘cheek’.


    “Mm, I think we were made for each other.”


    “I’m sure you’ll be a perfect fit.”


    Knock Knock


    Ares opened the door to Zhang who promptly questioned Ares as to why his daughter was acting like a timid mouse. Everyone went downstairs and reaffirmed their route before setting off on their three-day journey, during which nothing of note happened. With Zhang around, no monsters ever messed with their travelling group as they knew better than to throw their lives away so haphazardly. The nights were peaceful with Ares and Enyo sneaking off into the woods and coming back some time later, all-smiles, pretending nothing had happened. Ares would make feather hammocks for everyone and he and Enyo slept comfortably together. Aejaz and Allie were far too shy to do that in front of their older brother and sister, let alone Zhang, so they slept separately. Ares had stocked up enough food for the three-day journey so everyone ate well during the trip. Zhang inwardly lamented the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to eat Ares’ food for much longer.


    On the third day, they arrived back at Red Sun in the afternoon. Zhang left the group to go to the alchemy store and buy Allie a storage container for her brand new regeneroot. He bid everyone goodbye and went on his merry way.


    Everyone had made gains cultivation-wise during their trip. Ares was now at the 7th stage of 4th realm skeletal structuring, which was a pretty staggering increase, and Aejaz was at the 5th stage of mental accumulation. Aejaz had spent a lot of his time in the Venti City stealing from people, so his cultivation had risen rapidly toward the end of their journey, plus his newfound use for Memory Muddle did him favours in that department too. Enyo was currently sitting at 6th stage mental accumulation and Allie had recently broken into 4th realm cultivation, 5th stage. She had swapped to dedication cultivation just before the alchemy tournament and her gains, in particular, were monumental.


    Ares’ cultivation having raised to this point was particularly good news as it meant he would be that much more problematic during the tournament. The cultivation limit for the tournament was 8th stage, mental accumulation. Some people would have slightly higher cultivations by the time the competition started as they only needed to be at or under that limit when registering. It wasn’t exactly their fault if they went over it after. Enyo was quite likely going to be one of those people by the time the international rolled around, but that was fine as the registering would be done soon, aka tomorrow, after the five people were chosen.


    They made their way back to the sect and entered through the checkpoint. Ares made it about two feet before he felt someone looking at him. He could tell it was Slick, but it was still rather strange for him to be this observant. Maybe someone had snuck in recently? Maybe he was keeping an eye out for Ares specifically? Either way, Slick stopped staring him down from wherever he was and left Ares alone when he realised who it was.


    They made it outside the mission hall, and were about to enter, when Ares was glomped and barrelled over by a white missile. “Hahahahaha, Appa that tickles!”


    “DADDY!” Appa was heartily smothering Ares and nuzzling him all over while eagerly wagging its rope.


    Ares wrapped his arms around Appa and gave it a big hug. “I missed you, Appa.”


    Appa brought its rope around Ares for a pseudo hug. “I missed you too! I wasn’t cultivating but then I was but then you died but it was your clone that died and then I wanted Slick to tell Zhang to tell you that I love you and that I miss you and now you''re back and I’M HAPPY!”


    “Haha, who’s my favourite shade?”


    “ME! ME ME ME!”


    Enyo was heart warmed. Ares was right about Appa, it was a soul soothing, pure existence. Enyo had already made up her mind, but there was no way that, after seeing this, she would’ve been able to bring herself to break its heart anyway. It was just impossible to be that cruel to something so sweet. Seeing Ares hug Appa and treat it like a beloved daughter made her heart beat faster and she fell in love all over again. Their passion filled romps in the bedroom were great, really great, but this was just as good, and it brought a tear to her eye under her helmet. She was going to go around to Ares’ house later and she was already more than prepared to give Appa the good news. She wanted to do it now, but she also wanted to let Ares have this moment with his daughter as she knew how much he was looking forward to it.


    “Mental accumulation, 9th stage!?” Ares was stunned with Appa’s progress.


    “Mhm. Did I do good?” Appa happily waved its head side to side expecting praise.


    “You’ve done great! How did you make so much progress? That speed is seriously impressive for a shade in mental accumulation. I was honestly only expecting one or two stages, but you went up by four! I only went up five myself, and that’s including the day before we left! If we’re talking human equivalent, you went up about 12 stages!”


    “I wanted to make you proud, dad, so I spent all my time in the cultivation room after your clone died!”


    “Aww, Appa, I’m always proud to be your dad. Even if you weren’t a cultivator, you know I’d be proud of you, right?”


    Sniffle


    “I love you, dad.” Appa was crying a bit.


    “I love you too, Appa.” Ares stood up with Appa still in his arms and patted it on the head


    Sniffle


    It took Ares a moment to notice, but that last sniffle wasn’t Appa. Aejaz and Allie were tearing up too, but it wasn’t them that had made the noise either. It was Enyo. He looked over and gave her a gentle smile and winked. They all cleaned their eyes and went into the mission hall with Appa still clinging onto Ares, perched and slightly draping over his shoulder. They went to the front and found a Rud clone. “Hey buddy Ruddy.”


    “Ugh. I was this close to forgetting you even existed.”


    “Aww, come on. I missed ya!”


    “Missed messing with me no doubt. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that stunt you pulled before.”


    “Tsk, they’ve been dead for a month already, get over it you senile coot.”


    “First of all, fuck you. Second, I meant the fireworks you brat.”


    “What!? You like stardust, don’t you? Was I wrong?”


    “How about I take yours and see how funny you think it is then?”


    “Hmph, and here I was going to give you a little souvenir from the trip.”


    “If it’s from you, I don’t want it.”


    “Are you sureeeee? I think you’d really like it.”


    “Why’s that?”


    “It’s worth a lot of stardust…”


    “You must think I’m obsessed!”


    “... It also tried to kill me.”


    “Now I’m listening.” Zhang sat up in his seat. “Honestly, I feel sorry for you Enyo, having to put up with this prat for a full month. I don’t envy you.”


    Enyo shrugged. “It honestly didn’t go how I thought it would.”


    “Nothing ever does when he’s involv… WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?”


    Ares had brought out his ‘little’ ‘souvenir’, which also doubled down as his proof of mission completion. The Mecha-dryad’s corpse came crashing down into the middle of the room as he summoned it out of the Primordial Blade. Everyone in the mission hall had a dumb look on their face as the deceased monstrosity just lay there, minding its own business. Ares leant on the table. “Sooooo, how much cool stuff do I get for that big boy?”


    “T… That… What… Where… How… Why… When…. Who…” Rud was in disbelief but, then again, so was literally everyone else. Allie, Aejaz, Enyo and all the other disciples had never even seen a Mecha-dryad before, so naturally this was quite a shock. The thing was seriously ginormous and the metal casing looked impenetrable. Rud had a million questions. “That is what I think it is, right? What was its cultivation!? Who killed it? Why do you have it? Where the hell were you even keeping that thing? What the fuck do you want me to do with it?”


    Ares sighed as if the answers to Rud’s question were blatantly obvious. “It is what you think it is - a Mecha-dryad. Its cultivation was at mental accumulation, 7th, maybe 8th stage. I killed it. I have it because I killed it, and I was storing it in the same place I keep my kitchen.”


    “Huh? Kitchen? Where the fuck…”


    “... And the reason I’m giving it to you is as proof of mission completion. This thing was terrorising Baja Forest and, now, it’s here, terrorising your sanity. I’m sure the sect will get a lot of stardust if they sell this corpse to a collector. You weren’t expecting me to bring it back alive were you!? I know it would’ve been worth more, but give me a break you damn greedy bastard. That thing put up one hell of a fight!”


    “... You know what? Fuck it. I don’t care. Leave it here and get out of my sight, you insufferable bastard. I’ll give you your damn contribution points the second you leave my sight.”


    “Nuh-uh, cough up the foreign aid status you fogey. I would much rather have that than the brownie points ‘cos god knows you only stock up the treasury with worthless garbage, you damn cheapskate.”


    Enyo was flabbergasted that Ares talked to the Elders like this. No wonder Rud despises him.


    “You may just be the most annoying person I’ve ever met. FINE.” Rud fumbled around for a while then chucked a badge of identification, shaped like a ‘X’ and white in colour, at Ares that signified he was a foreign aid disciple. “Now get out.”


    Ares raised his eyebrow at Rud. “And Aejaz?”


    “...” Rud battled with his inner demons and deflated back into his seat when he finally gave up. “Whatever.” He chucked another badge at Aejaz. “But please, if nothing else, make sure he doesn’t steal from Elders abroad, we value our reputation... Now leave, and let me figure out where the hell I’m going to put this stupid thing.”


    On the way out, Appa smacked the Mecha-dryad’s corpse with its rope. “That’s for trying to kill dad! Meanie!”


    Allie turned to Ares, “I thought you blew it up and nothing was left? We found bits of metal at the blast site.”


    Ares stroked Appa as he replied, “Knocking a few bits off it was all the explosion did to its outer hull, the rest of it was intact. Well not the inside of it anyway, that''s long gone. Luckily the dryad was inside the cockpit so, although it died, it’s main body is still whole and thus sellable. By the way, are you two coming over for dinner later?”


    Allie turned to Enyo. “I wanna go!”


    Enyo laughed heartily. “I don’t know about you, Allie, but I’m going to his house every day.”


    “Me too! Is that ok Ares? You don’t mind cooking, do you?”


    Ares shook his head. “Not at all. The door’s always open for you two.”


    “There are a few things I need to take care of first, like handing over the Steadfast Aegis to the runemancy department, so I’ll be there in a bit,” said Enyo.


    “Alright. I actually need to head over to the runemancy department at some point too now that I have the Celestial Prisms. Julio is going to lose his mind. Actually, I wonder if I’ll be able to do the runes for your shield.”


    “I’d like that if possible.”


    “See you in a bit.” Ares, Appa, and Aejaz waved goodbye to Enyo and then Allie as she had to go take care of the regeneroot.


    As they were walking back, Ares started talking to Appa, “Hey, what do you think of Enyo?”


    Appa tilted its head. “Um, she seems nicer than last time. Do you like her, dad?”


    “Haha, I guess you could say that, yes. She wants to talk to you about something later, so could you be a good shade and listen to what she has to say?”


    “Okey doke! Do you know what she wants to talk about?”


    “Yep, but it’s a surprise.”


    “I like surprises!”


    “I know, and I think there’s a good chance you’ll really like this one.” They arrived back at the house and Ares was surprised to find so few clones. He asked Appa about it and she explained what happened with Chen Lo and that she started to spend more time cultivating after that event. Ares was furious and had to stop himself from marching out of the sect and picking a fight. He would make Lo pay eventually; the entire Chen clan would be wiped off the map when Ares had his way with them. He had no choice but to put it to the back of his mind for now though.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Appa removed all the Ares clones as it had the real deal now and the others just felt hollow in comparison. Ares went into the kitchen and started cooking. Today was a rare chance for him to cook in person and not just in the Primordial Blade. There was also a unique art he wanted to try as he’d spent the entirety of the last month thinking about it in his downtime. It would still be a work in progress, but it would be a good chance to try it and see if he could feasibly make it work. He was determined to get results on this one as this art was pretty important to him.


    As he was working, now that he was back home, he took a special something out of the Primordial Blade.


    Aejaz was left completely speechless, and Appa was very curious about the thing Ares had pulled out of seemingly nowhere.


    It appeared as though there was going to be a new resident in casa del Ares.


    Meanwhile, Enyo had just finished taking care of her business. She’d taken the shield to the runemancy department, went home to have a shower, and paid her respects to the weapons department Elder who was leaving the sect today to go into retirement. The Elder had welcomed her with open arms and helped her practice with her shield. The Elder wasn’t as talented as the Legion clan instructor, obviously, but she was a kind old lady who taught anyone who came her way. Apparently her replacement would be arriving tomorrow and spectating the tournament participant selection process to get a feel for the disciples’ prowess.


    Enyo arrived at Ares'' house and felt giddy. It was just standard sect accommodation, sure, but it was still technically ‘Ares’ house’. She knocked on the door and, while she was waiting, could smell something exquisite coming from an open window.


    The door opened partially and Enyo was confused.


    There was no one in the doorway.


    “...” Enyo had looked down and, like Aejaz before, was left completely speechless by what she saw. “Uh… It’s good to see you again.”


    Meow


    Enyo stared blankly down at Ares’ fluffy friend, Leo. “... You and Ares agreed that you were going to come back with him and live here?”


    Purrrr


    “... You’re saying he kept you in the Primordial Blade, floating around in space and eating his cooking every day since we left Baja Forest?”


    Mew


    “... Oh… Uh… Well, I look forward to seeing you around too… Wait a minute… Why the hell can I understand you!?”


    Mew


    Meow Purr


    Purrrrrr


    “... I guess that does make sense.”


    Cultivators could ‘inherit’ certain bloodline talents from their partners and acquire adaptations or mutations in their existing aspects if there was a strong enough connection. It usually only happened after intercourse, so this was a little surprising, but it wasn’t completely unheard of. There were even stories about an ancient cultivator who had an uncountable number of wives. He had a brief stint as the strongest man in the world thanks to the amalgamation of powers he received from his lovers, however, his last addition to his long list of partners was the straw that broke the camel''s back and, supposedly, he literally exploded. Too much of anything is bad for you after all.


    “I wonder if Ares has gotten anything from me? Anyway, could I come in? Also, since when did revenants have the bloodline ability to talk to animals?”


    Mew


    Leo used his paw to open the door and let Enyo in. He used his wings to fly up to the lock and close the door behind her. Leo had primarily come back with Ares because he liked the scritches the human gave him, he didn’t care much for the forest life, and the food the human made was very tasty. What other reasons did he need? He was just a simple kitty with simple dreams of fish and lemongrass. He was also looking forward to playing with Allie again, she was fun to be around.


    Enyo went into the living room and found Aejaz reading a novel. She went through the room and into the kitchen where she found Ares washing up as he was waiting around for the food to finish cooking. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned on his shoulder. “Honey, I’m home.”


    Ares rolled his eyes. “How was work?”


    “Fine, but I missed you.” Enyo’s hands started to roam around Ares'' chest.


    Ares was about to respond when Appa floated in. “Watcha’ doin?”


    “Enyo was just giving dad a hug.”


    “Oh, ok! I don’t like hugs from robots, they’re cold.”


    “Robots? Robots…” Ares burst out laughing while Enyo and Appa looked a little lost. “Appa, honey, Enyo isn’t a robot. She’s just wearing a suit of armour. There’s a human under there, believe it or not.”


    “Really!? That’s cool! You’re like a human-robot!”


    Enyo chuckled. “Hey Appa, let’s go have a talk about something.”


    “Ok!”


    “Where’s your bedroom?”


    “Dad calls it the bathroom!”


    “... Ares?”


    Ares'' eyes twitched. “Don’t look at me, Appa really likes it in there.” He whispered to Enyo, “I think the white shower curtain makes it think of the family it never had.” Ares went back to washing. “You can use my room, it’s where Appa sleeps all the time anyway.”


    “I can go into your room?”


    “You’re not a schoolgirl venturing into a boy’s room for the first time, Enyo. There’s nothing special in there when I’m not there, it’s a pretty plain room otherwise.”


    Enyo and Appa went into the hallway and then to Ares’ room. They entered and Enyo shut the door behind her. “Appa, come sit on the bed with me and let''s talk.” Enyo sat on the bed and Appa floated over. Enyo almost instinctively let out an ‘Aww’ when she saw Appa’s smooshed version of a ‘sit’.


    Appa beat Enyo to the punch and actually asked her a question first, “Um, do you like dad?”


    “Mhm, I really like your dad. Why?”


    Appa had little triangle indents on the bottom of its sockets as it was pleased. “Because dad likes you. If you like dad, then he’ll be happy.”


    “Awww, that’s really nice of you to be supportive of Ares.”


    “Dad is the best!”


    “I agree, and that’s why I’m going to be spending a lot of time with your dad from now on. Do you know what it means when a man and a woman really like each other?”


    “They become a couple? They get married and live happily ever after, right!?”


    “Haha, yes, that too.” Enyo started taking her armour off, starting with her hands so she could pet Appa.”


    “Mmmm, warm.” Appa rubbed its head against Enyo’s hand as it really liked the soft touch.


    Enyo now completely understood why Ares had wanted her to meet Appa.


    She was adorable.


    Ares was really lucky to have such an amazing daughter. Enyo was just as lucky that she would get to call this endearing shade her child and she was really starting to get excited for her future.


    Enyo removed the rest of her armour minus the helmet. As she went to remove it, she realised she felt absolutely no hesitation whatsoever. She wasn’t anxious at all about showing her daughter her face. She understood that was probably because Appa was a completely non-judgemental existence, too pure to even care about a person’s looks. Seeing Appa as her daughter also completely removed any uncertainties and it actually started to feel strange having the helmet on. This was the first time she’d ever felt that way. It was almost like being in the presence of her daughter was healing her mind. Appa was truly precious. Enyo removed her helmet and Appa was just staring at her without saying a word. “So, about what I was saying before. It’s not just that Ares and I are going to be spending a lot of time together, but so will we.” Despite Appa’s lack of facial features, Enyo could tell it was distracted by something. “Appa? Are you ok?”


    Appa picked itself up and floated closer to Enyo. It looked up at Enyo and mental essence started leaking out of its sockets. It used its rope to touch Enyo’s smooth, white hair. “Mummy?”


    Enyo couldn’t stop the floodgates and hugged Appa. “Yes, sweetie.”


    “Mummy?” Appa was balling into Enyo’s chest.


    “Mhm, Ares is your dad, and I’m going to be your mum. Ok, sweetie?” Enyo was finding it hard to speak while shedding tears.


    “MUM!” Appa let out one final shout of joy and couldn’t speak anymore as it was shaking from all the crying. Enyo rubbed her daughter’s back to reassure it that she was never going to leave it and that they would be a proper family from now on. Appa didn’t have to dream about having a loving mother and a caring father anymore, it had everything it ever wanted out of life.


    They stayed together for a few minutes and, eventually, Ares came to check up on them. He found them still hugging and could tell they’d been blubbering like babies. Not that he could fault them, even just seeing the woman he loved holding the daughter he loved was enough for him to start crying too. He sat down on the bed next to them and they had one big family hug. Appa was in the middle, surrounded by two loving parents that couldn’t stop themselves from sharing their first kiss.


    Ares had his plans, but there would never be a moment like this ever again. They were too caught up in their crying to really enjoy the sensation of the moment, but they were captivated by each other’s lips and never wanted to stop. Ares brought both of his hands up to Enyo’s face and held her delicately, stopped the kiss, and looked deep into her eyes. “Enyo, I love you. ” His tears fell and his eyes were too watery to see clearly. “I loved you from the moment we met.”


    Enyo held back her tears for as long as she could. She just wanted to say one thing before she allowed herself to cry her heart out, “I love you Ares. I love our daughter; I love you and I will always love you both.” Another round of waterworks broke out and everyone happily embraced each other. This was going to be a fond memory for the three of them they would never forget.


    After a while, Ares gulped and was able to control himself. He looked over at Enyo and she was also in a better state. They looked at one another and knew exactly what they wanted. “Appa, sweetie?”


    Appa sniffled and looked up at Ares. “Yes dad?”


    “Your mother and I have a very important matter we need to discuss. Could you give us thirty minutes alone and go play with Aejaz, Allie, and Leo?”


    “Mmmm. Ok, but I want hugs after.”


    Enyo patted Appa. “I promise I’ll give you all the hugs you could ever want.”


    “Yay! Ok!” Appa bounded out of the room like a kid on Christmas that had just gotten every present on its list, and even a few extra.


    Enyo didn’t even turn around to close the door, she just used her magic to summon a barrier and do it while jumping on top of Ares and straddling him. “I love you.”


    “I love you too. You’re the perfect woman, Enyo, and I’m deeply in love with you.” Ares'' breaths were getting quicker.


    “I’m head over heels in love with you. I’m hopelessly obsessed with you.” Enyo moved her face closer to his.


    “You and Appa are two of the most important things in this world to me and I love you both unconditionally.”


    Their mouths met and their hearts were beating madly in their chests. They could feel each other’s heart beat as she lay on top of him, basking in the sweetness of each other’s lips. They were engrossed in the soft, electrifying touch and wanted nothing more than to keep feeling each other’s tender affection. They both brought a hand around the back of one another’s head and pulled closer to make sure there was no room for even air to escape unless it was directly into the other’s mouth. Ares made a small gap to poke his tongue through and used it to tickle her lips. She responded in kind and, as their tongues intertwined, they became intoxicated on each other’s saliva and drunk with ecstasy. They were both addicted to tonguing the person they loved and wrestling with each other to determine who would have the dominant tongue. It wasn’t a fight for supremacy, but for subservience. They were both trying to let each other have their way with them because all they wanted was to dedicate every part of their tongue to servicing the person they loved. They wanted to be submissive, for each other to take control and satisfy themselves. They were both utterly selfless in their devotion.


    Enyo’s self-restraint broke and she fervently devoured Ares’ tongue, hunting it down so she could drown it in her saliva and make it submit to her. As she coiled her tongue around Ares’, she moved off him so she could thank him for letting her have her way by reaching down into his pants and pleasuring him.


    What started as a kiss became another fun masturbation session that they made full use of the time they had for. In the end, they finished five minutes early so they could rest and talk before going back into the company of others. Ares was utterly spent as Enyo had really put the works on him. She had thoroughly put him through the ringer, pulled him back, and put him through it again. Ares wasn’t fussed as he enjoyed it either way and didn’t care about who was dominant as all he wanted to do today was kiss her. Speaking of, he still hadn’t gotten enough of her luscious, pink lips. They were a bit smaller than average and goddamn they were pretty. He also couldn’t help but think shoving his dick into a smaller mouth, past her soft lips, would be euphoric, so he was doubly pleased. Right now, though, he wanted to kiss her again, so he did.


    Enyo basically urged him on by biting her lip as she wanted more too. When they were both finally sated, Enyo asked the question that was on her mind, “When do we have sex?”


    “NO. I’m not fully giving up on my original plan. Things have changed, but that’s fine. We’ll save sex for our special night. I promise it’ll be worth the wait. This, plus oral down the line, is enough for now. It’s because I love you that I want to make it an unforgettable night.”


    “Ha, where have I heard that before?”


    “It’s different this time. Besides, we only had half an hour anyway. If you think you’re getting any sleep that night, you’re going to be sorely mistaken.”


    “Mm, don’t make promises you can’t keep.”


    “I promise I’ll leave you aching and exhausted.”


    “Not if I don’t exhaust you first.” Enyo winked.


    Ares held Enyo’s hand. “Enyo, I mean it this time. No sex until the day.”


    “Fine. You better sleep with one eye open then or I might just jump you in the middle of the night.”


    “That might be difficult with Appa in the way.”


    Enyo smacked her forehead. “Fuck, I forgot about that. How are we gonna work that out?”


    “It’ll be ok. I’m sure Appa won’t mind sleeping in a different room whenever we want some alone time.”


    “That’s all well and good and all, but what if I want it every day?”


    Ares raised an eyebrow. “Lucky me! I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Let’s not sweat the details for now though and just enjoy life. Food should be ready, Appa’s expecting hugs, and Aejaz and Allie are getting along. What more could I possibly ask for right now?”


    “Sex?”


    “I’m amazed you’re somehow hornier than I am. I’m actually genuinely impressed.”


    “What can I say? I’m living my life and loving my life. I can’t thank you enough for pestering me until I realised that was worth doing.”


    “Enyo, if you’re enjoying life, I’m enjoying life. There’s really nothing else to it.”


    “That’s why I love you.” With one final kiss, they got up and went back into the living room.


    “Aressssss, we’re hungryyyyyyy,” Aejaz complained.


    Ares flicked Aejaz on the head as he walked past on the way to the kitchen. “I’m not cooking in the Primordial Blade, so of course it’s going to take longer, you muppet.”


    Allie’s ears perked up. “Primordial Blade? What’s that? Sounds fancy.”


    Ares felt like hitting himself. He didn’t even realise what he’d done until it was too late. “Allie, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. If you really must know, it’s where I store things, but don’t tell anyone else that, ok?”


    “Um, if it’s a secret, that’s fine. I won’t say a word.” Allie pretended to zip her lips.


    “By the way, where’s Appa and Leo?”


    “We were all playing outside. I came in but they should still be running around.”


    “Ah, ok. Enyo, could you go call them in for dinner?”


    “Alright, but one more thing.” Enyo walked up to Ares and kissed him right in front of Aejaz and Allie. “I love you.” Her face was a little flushed, but she pulled it off confidently.


    Ares smiled affectionately. “I love you too.”


    Enyo exited the room and Ares laughed his way into the kitchen as Allie and Aejaz were left gawking at their brazen display. They looked at one another and got embarrassed as they hadn’t gotten around to kissing yet. They were still holding hands, hugging, and cuddling but, now, their older siblings had essentially just asked them a loaded question, ‘When are you going to take the next step?’ This would inevitably be one of the two hardest steps to take and they weren’t even sure which one of them was going to be the one to take it first.


    Aejaz shuffled next to Allie and held her hand. They were both panicking inside. Aejaz decided to man up and be the one to initiate as Allie was shy and he didn’t want to put that pressure on her. He moved his lips closer…


    “Hey uncle ‘Jaz!” Appa floated through the window behind them as it was faster for it than going the long way through the door. “I’ve decided to call you uncle ‘Jaz. Of course that means Allie will be aunt Allie! Um, why is aunt Allie hiding in her knees like that?”


    Aejaz was boggled and devastated, “Y… You…” Aejaz physically couldn’t be upset with Appa, but he was still wrought with indignation. He picked up Appa and took it into the kitchen to complain to Ares instead, “Ares! Your daughter just interrupted a special moment!” Aejaz plopped Appa down on the tiles.


    Appa tilted its head and looked at Ares. “Um, I don’t think I did anything wrong.”


    Ares patted his daughter. “Don’t worry sweetie, you didn’t. Aejaz is just feeling like an incompetent man because he isn’t able to go as far with women as your dad is. That’s not your fault. If anything, you should feel sorry for your uncle and aunt, they’re really quite pitiful sometimes.”


    Aejaz couldn’t believe his ears. “You bastard! So? What if we haven’t kissed yet!? We’re only one step behind, and that’s because Allie and I are different from you and Enyo!”


    Ares cackled evilly at his silly brother. “One step behind? Aejaz, you have no clue where Enyo and I are at. We’re doing a lot more than just kissing.”


    “S… Seriously?”


    “Mhm, we aren’t quite doing that yet, but we aren’t exactly playing nice with each other.”


    Appa interjected, “Dad! Don’t be mean to mum! Play nice with her!”


    “Hahaha, ok Appa. We’ll play nice.”


    “Good! If mummy tells me you’ve been bad, I’ll freeze you!”


    “And if mummy’s been bad?”


    “Then it’s probably still your fault and I’ll freeze you anyway!”


    “Huh!? Where did this blatant favouritism come from!? Aren’t I your bestest friend?”


    “Mummy’s prettier.”


    Ares felt the proverbial knife pierce into his heart. “You cheeky little rascal!” Ares tickled Appa and chased it out of the kitchen as it ran into Enyo’s arms.


    “Mum! Dad’s tickling me!”


    Enyo rubbed Appa’s head. “Ares! Don’t bully our child!”


    Ares was visibly shocked and devastated. “Unbelievable! It’s not even been a day and I’m not the favourite parent anymore!”


    Enyo stuck her tongue out. “You were temporarily its only parent; poor Appa didn’t really have much choice!” Enyo’s remark made Appa giggle and it nuzzled Enyo. “Who’s the cutest shade? Who’s my wonderful daughter?”


    Appa swayed joyfully. “ME!”


    Ares chuckled and shook his head while going back into the kitchen to start bringing the food out. He nudged Aejaz on the shoulder. “You know I’m just messing with you, right? As cultivators, we live long lives. Take your time. God knows Allie’s gonna be slow to accustom herself to the whole relationship thing.”


    Aejaz sighed. “I know. It’s just… Our progress isn’t slow, it’s glacial. I can hold back my urges, but that doesn’t make them disappear.”


    “Allie’s the slow and steady type. There’s really no way around it. That being said, have you two talked about this? About anything relationship related at all?”


    “Not really, no.”


    “That you should do. It’s important to be vocal and communicate your wants and needs with each other. Obviously don’t argue about it, but make sure you two understand each other. I know you two are shy, but it’ll only get easier when you actually start doing it. I know it isn’t preferable for you, but I’m afraid the onus lies on you to kickstart these things because Allie is living in Lala land. If you don’t talk to her, I guarantee you two won’t be having any sex for at least a year. Of course, it’s still going to be a while regardless, that’s just a truth you''re going to have to accept if you want to be with her.”


    “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just hard to find a time to talk about that without ruining the time we’re spending together. Like, if we’re going to sleep next to each other, I don’t want it to be awkward, you know?”


    “No, not really. Enyo and I haven’t ever really been awkward in that way, so I can’t pretend to understand. Honestly, my advice is just to do it. Rip the band-aid off. When you two are lying in bed, look her in the eye and tell her you want to talk about the future of your relationship. Specify you aren’t talking about right now, but that you want to discuss sexual relations. If you two can have a talk about that, then kissing won’t seem so daunting in comparison. That’s about the only way I can think to speed things up a bit. Anyway, that’s for you to sort out. Come, help me take the food in ‘cos there’s a lot today.”


    “What even is all this stuff anyway? It looks like you’ve made a feast.”


    “I’ll explain at the table. Chop Chop, move your ass.”


    “What about these crystal ball things? Are they desserts?”


    “Touch even a single one of those and I’ll kick you out of the house.”


    Aejaz retracted his hand. “Yeesh, alright, alright.”


    Aejaz and Ares took the food into the living room bit by bit and set up the table while Leo, Appa, Enyo, and Allie took their seats and stared hungrily at all the delicious food. Ares brought out the crystals last and set them in front of Appa. “Today’s a special day so I’ve made a special dish. Apparently, people overseas celebrate Christmas with roasted food and a very specific meal so, although it’s not Christmas, that’s what I’ve made today. A celebratory feast. There’s roast chicken wrapped with bacon, stuffed with stuffing, and served with gravy. There’s roast beef with red wine. There’s also some roast lamb and mint sauce. Your last option is sage crusted roast pork with cranberry sauce. As for the side stuff, or the trimmings as people call it, there’s roast potatoes, honeyed parsnips, carrots, Brussel sprouts, Yorkshire puddings, and pigs in blankets. Desserts are your favourites. Leo, your dessert is milk pudding with caramel…”


    Purrrr


    “... And Appa, these crystals are yours.” Ares held up a crystal and brought it near to Appa.


    “What are they?” Appa asked.


    “They’re just a prototype for now, but they’re a unique art. Each crystal ball is a ‘Snappa’. They’re flavour pellets for shades. You put them next to you and snap them. When they pop, you should be able to taste whatever the flavour inside them is. They work for humans, but I made it for you because I want you to be able to enjoy the pleasures of food too. I made you an assortment so you could try everything everyone else is having, but I also made you a special one for dessert. I remember you wanting to eat the apple you won at the bobbing game back during Cultural Appreciation Day, so I made your dessert toffee apple flavoured.”


    “You named them after me?”


    “Mhm. I don’t plan on keeping this unique art a secret. There are other shades that will benefit from something like this, but I want everyone to know who the best shade of them all is.”


    Sniffle


    “Dad!” Appa floated over to Ares and gave him a big hug.


    “I love you Appa, enjoy.”


    Appa merrily wriggled back into its seat and picked up a beef flavoured crystal with its rope.


    Snap


    A brownish, reddish mist seeped into Appa and a meaty fragrance filled the air. Appa was momentarily confused by this new ‘taste’ sensation, but slowly started to fall in love with it. “Mmmmmmmmm!” Appa had a habit of making gleeful noises when it didn’t know how to express itself with words, so it was clearly overjoyed with the result of the Snappa. Appa greedily started to consume the crystal balls one by one, revelling in delight at every new type of food, except the carrots.


    Appa didn’t like carrots.


    Ares and Enyo were leaning on each other and cheerfully watching their daughter relish this new experience. Appa had rinsed through the mains and moved onto the desserts. It tried one and squealed in jubilation.


    Appa liked sugar.


    It began vacuuming the desserts and eventually landed on Ares’ toffee apple Snappa. Appa had left it for last because it wanted to savour it. Appa snapped the Snappa and it was flooded with a sweetness overdose that it absolutely adored. It was reminded of when it caught the apple at the fair and gave it to its dad, leaving Appa feeling warm and fuzzy. The toffee apple was its favourite and it was rocking its head happily while its rope was wagging energetically. The Snappas still had a long way to go as they weren’t perfect yet, but Appa was very satisfied regardless. “You get to eat dad’s food twice a day! No fair! I want dad’s food twice a day too!” Appa pouted to Enyo.


    Enyo chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure dad will be more than ok with making you Snappas whenever you like, right Ares?”


    Ares couldn’t say no.


    He wouldn’t have anyway, but Enyo was currently stroking him through his pants under the table and men were simple creatures. “Of course!” Enyo patted his penis as if to say ‘good boy!’ What a frighteningly persuasive woman.


    Everyone dug into the food, which was simply delectable, and chatted with each other while in good spirits. This marked the first day they’d eaten together as a family and it was a marvellous dinner. Enyo and Allie chose to stay over for the night, or rather basically forever from now on, and everyone went to their respective bedrooms with Ares making a mini hammock in the living room for Leo to sleep in. Ares, Appa, and Enyo all slept peacefully in one bed. Appa was in the middle and cuddled from both sides by two loving parents who, when Appa fell asleep, snuck in a few kisses before also falling asleep.