Nikolai closed his eyes while breathing the cold morning air. This country didn’t suit him when in the city. However, he didn’t mind these cool, foggy mornings where the servants and other werewolves went out and began their daily lives.
"It feels like a forgotten age..."
"At first I found it strange too." A raspy, seductive voice ca from the balcony beside him.
"Hm? Oh... It’s you."
"Hah? What’s that attitude, don’t you think you should thank ?" The lower body of the woman slamd into the stone balcony, stabbing towards him with the sharp tip.
"Tsk... violent snake woman."
"I have a na, you damned horny dog!"
He closed his fists. This woman rubbed him the wrong way from the mont he t her, and now that she was Ryan’s lover, he couldn’t mistreat her. "Shut up, what’s your na anyway, I don’t know if you told or it was a damn pseudonym!"
"Why does his best friend have to be so annoying? Veronica. That’s my na."
"Tsk, Nikolai."
"As if I didn’t know that!" She huffed, taking out a long black pipe that carried a sweet, dicinal scent. He didn’t sll any tobacco or drugs. Nikolai watched her snap the lighter, and the leaves puffed with fruity smoke. "What’s that?"
"Ah? You’ve probably not t many Lamia, but when we’re carrying fertilised eggs, or skin becos sore and dry. This is a dicinal herb that helps restore moisture and numb the soreness a little."
"Fertilised!?"
Nikolai almost dropped his mug of coffee, shocked and curious if they were all Ryan’s, he turned to look at the lamia.
She looked back with a victorious expression and a smug grin. "They’re all his, so wipe that dumb expression off your face. I’ll get my revenge and make you babysit our kids!"
"Evil woman!"
However, the thought of it didn’t make him angry or annoyed. His anger rapidly cooled, and he loosened his grip on the railing. "That sounds good." Ever since he awakened as a hybrid, his life was fight, kill, sex, murder... but raising his future children and having fun as a husband in the future.
"Maybe I’ll also start a business like Sarah..."
But this ti he would build it himself, with the help of his wives working for him... Maybe it would be smart not to aim for a front-facing company and work with one of the grey companies of the Fenrir clan.
"What are you muttering about?" Veronica huffed smoke as she watched Nikolai. Her eyes looked at him with a tinge of fear, which he enjoyed. There wasn’t an attraction or worship, and so she spoke honestly to him.
"Nothing, just the future. If you two stick together I’ll be happy for you."
"Hmph, well it’s rare for a mangy dog to be nice."
"Do you two have plans when you fly to S-City?"
Nikolai didn’t want Ryan to suffer.
He would take Clara with him, but Ryan could enjoy freedom. He wondered what his friend might choose, as everything here was over.
Veronica puffed a long stream of smoke, her forked tongue flicking in thought. "Happy, huh? You sound like an old uncle blessing the newlyweds."
Nikolai smirked into his cup. "Better than calling you a ho wrecker. Honestly... I didn’t expect Ryan to fall for a non human. But..." his eyes slid her way, sharp but not unkind, "I’m glad it was soone like you."
The Lamia froze. Her tail, usually coiled tight and tense, slackened against the stone floor. "Tch..." She turned her face away, but the pink spreading across her cheeks was impossible to hide. "You! Don’t say stuff like that out of nowhere!"
Nikolai chuckled. He knew she wasn’t the harsh woman he thought, but seeing her so flustered made him even happier. "What? Snake woman can dish it out, but can’t handle a little complint?"
"I can handle plenty, dog," she hissed, but the smoke from her pipe trembled as she exhaled. For the first ti since Nikolai t her, her voice lacked venom. "It’s just... I thought you’d be against us being together."
Nikolai tilted his head before leaning back and closing his eyes. "Well, at first, I might have been against it. But, I’ve never seen Ryan so serious before." He then turned to the beautiful woman with a smile. "But when everything went to shit, you protected Ryan and his sister before thinking about your own safety. That was enough for to accept you."
Her yellow eyes shuddered as she watched him. "Strange... I think I can see why Ryan says the things he does."
"I hope it’s not all bad." Nikolai laughed, thinking back to his complaining friend.
The Lamia just shook her head and sucked on her pipe.
For a mont, neither spoke.
The morning fog thickened around them, and beneath the teasing words lingered a truth that left Veronica’s cheeks warm and Nikolai strangely thoughtful.
Not only about himself, and what he wanted. But Nikolai rarely gave thought to the future, both what he wanted and where he might see himself. ’Dad, you wanted to learn these things while I’m here, right?’
The balcony door creaked open.
"Mmhh... Vee...?" Ryan’s groggy voice echoed in the morning air as he stumbled out, hair sticking in every direction. His shirt hung half-open, exposing the bandages wrapped across his chest. He rubbed his eyes, blinking blearily at Nikolai and the Lamia sharing the balcony.
Veronica’s cheeks twitched. "Honestly, you look like a half-dead puppy. Do you humans always wake up this ugly?" Her tongue flicked out with a click, though her tail coiled protectively around his ankle the instant he stepped close.
Ryan only grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Guess I’m lucky you like stray dogs."
Nikolai smirked into his coffee.
The way Veronica tried to hide her softened gaze only made her embarrassnt more obvious.
"Tch." She snapped her pipe shut and jabbed Ryan lightly in the ribs with her tail-tip. "Don’t say things like that in front of other people."
That’s when Ryan noticed Nikolai, and his cheeks blushed slightly, then awkwardly stroked the tip of her tail while greeting him. "Y-Yo... brother, nice weather?"
Her golden eyes widened a fraction, heat rushing to her scaled cheeks as she averted her face. Then muttered sothing along with a hiss, but didn’t pull her tail away.
Nikolai leaned back with a grin, watching the two of them. "Hah. Looks like my friend finally found a woman who will put up with his nonsense."
For once, Ryan didn’t argue. He just tightened his grip on her tail, smiling like an idiot.
Ryan leaned against the railing, the fog curling around his shoulders. He didn’t look at Nikolai at first, just stared into the mist with a crooked smile. "You know... it’s kinda weird, seeing you like this."
"Like what?" Nikolai raised a brow.
Veronica shifted behind Ryan, using her body to keep him warm, while taking out a mint and sucking on it. She watched Ryan intently while he gazed at Nikolai.
"Relaxed, no that’s not quite right." Ryan said after a pause. "Since we’ve t you’ve always been rushing or trying to rush ahead, but seeing you take a breather, enjoying your ti with your beloved wives." His hand absently stroked along Veronica’s tail as if grounding himself. Then his smile faded, and his eyes beca sharper with a rare seriousness. "So tell brother. What do you plan from now on?"
Nikolai’s grip tightened around the grip, sensing the serious atmosphere.
Veronica glanced between them but also stayed quiet, just remaining at Ryan’s side.
Ryan didn’t stop. "I have forgiven you for sleeping with my sister, for making her crazy about you. But the SSS won’t stop seeking her out. Now that you’ve t Madoka, if she returns, the ENTIRE SSS will hunt you and your clan down, peace pact or not. They will side with the Nosferatu." He took a breath, his eyes and face red, but Nikolai could feel his worry and affection towards both him and Clara.
"I know you’ve change, hell I’VE changed just watching you. But what’s next for you, Nikolai? When you walk back into S-City, you only walk back into a battlefield filled with those who want you and your clan dead!"
The morning air stilled, heavy with expectation.
Ryan wasn’t just asking like a follower or a friend. He was demanding an answer as an equal.
Nikolai’s eyes changed several tis, widening, shrinking and becoming sharp, but his lips remained in a smile. "Brother."
"Eh?"
Ryan looked a little confused, then embarrassed.
"Well... you and Clara will get married right?"
"I will protect her with my life." Nikolai’s harsh tone and fierce aura caused the air to shake, small vibrations creating tiny blade-like gusts of wind that cut into Ryan’s skin. "I will protect all my wives, even if I must beco the devil itself."
"You..."
"As for plans, Brother, I do not have any. Madoka? The SSS? I haven’t given them any thought, because right now my mind is on you, Clara and Sulley." Nikolai swilled the last of his cold coffee before tossing it into the air.
"But..."
"But?"
A low, guttural growl slipped from his throat.
"But... if those filthy insects dare to put their hands out to anything I care about, be it you, your future wife, children or anyone dear to , then I will decimate them all." Nikolai’s aura grew with each word, the wind becoming a squall as the mist started to clear unnaturally.
"And if I lack the strength as a Great Elder... Then I will beco an Ancestor... and if that’s not enough? I will surpass Ancestor! and beco a god!"
"Ryan, my strength can grow without limits. The only thing that stops is my human conscious, should I devour as much as I want, there is nothing in this world, this universe that could stop ."
"Brother...!?"
Ryan’s spine trembled, his body covered in goosebumps like prey stepping into the eyes of a predator. His instinct scread to run, run faster than light and escape! The being he called his brother was beyond his imagination.
Even Veronica’s body shuddered, her face pale the mont Nikolai’s excess aura exploded. It wasn’t even his full power—but the leaking excess aura.
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