Chapter 135

Chapter 135: Chapter 135

"You got drunk," Kath’tan repeated, completely stuck on it.

Dulce frowned, it was odd, being drunk wasn’t a novelty but he couldn’t remember ever getting drunk, his tolerance overpowering. "Yes so perhaps you should drink sparingly."

Kath’tan said nothing more but he didn’t drink anymore, he remained seated, his eyes glazed over.

Ruoxi only lightly sipped from his jar of wine, getting up from Dulce’s bed to hand the Vampire the rest of his flower wine. "I should also drink sparingly." He chimed in, laughter in his eyes as he walked back to get comfortable, his gait steady.

This left Dulce and Asael the only ones still drinking, Dulce holding two jars in his hands now.

"Perhaps I should also put a stop to..."

"Don’t." Kath’tan cut him off, with more intensity than the situation warranted.

Asael just quietly got up to take another jar of wine, catching Dulce’s attention. "I’ll keep drinking with you."

Dulce forgot about the threat of getting drunk at the generous offer, beaming. "Do you like the wine?"

Asael tipped his head back and drank down half the second jar of wine in a go, tendrils of his white hair framing his hard, handsome face. "It’s pleasant."

Dulce right away got up and gravitated closer to him, sitting next to him on the sofa with two half-empty jars of wine in each hand. "Indeed, it’s sweet but light," He chimed in, joining him in drinking.

"Fresh and satisfying," Asael added on, indulging the Vampire.

Dulce’s eyes were so bright they were practically glowing, his face beaming in satisfaction. "These are all lotus flower wines. In spring I’ll have a variety of flower wines brought from Ensbury. Each flower truly does have its own distinctive taste..."

Kath’tan watched Dulce rambled endlessly to Asael while they drank in tandem, effectively shunning them out of the conversation. He was too distracted by Dulce continuing to drink to be upset about it, yet.

Ruoxi on the other hand was more focused on Asael. This was the first time he was seeing him drink and from what he knew of the frigid Demon, it was likely this was the first time he had tasted wine.

Yet he was completely unbothered even when they were on their fifth jars, Dulce needing to use both hands to hold up his jar. Asael’s piercing gray gaze remained clear and focused on Dulce while the Vampire went through all the flavors of flower wine he remembered trying.

"Do you have a favorite?" Asael asked quietly.

"I really like the lotus wine from Huayuan," Dulce started after deeply thinking about it, his words slightly slurred.

Ruoxi had brought well over twenty jars of wine, there was an endless amount of them on Lotus Garden and he knew Dulce’s tolerance.

"...but it would be unfair to compare it to the flower wines on Earth." He said seriously, treating the matter gravely.

"Then what is your favorite flower wine on Earth?" Asael asked again, taking his seventh jar.

Dulce had gotten a headstart so he was on his ninth jar, the jars on the table rapidly dwindling, there was only about four left of the large haul Ruoxi had brought.

"Orange blossom wine is delightful, but elderflower is soothing..." He trailed off, thinking so deeply about it that his brows furrowed. "I was opportuned to try dandelion flower wine once and it was superb..."

Asael said nothing about how his question had devolved into Dulce talking about the various types of flower wines he had tried again, slowing down his drinking pace.

It wasn’t because he was beginning to feel the effects of getting drunk, the jars of wine might have as well been no different from flower tea to him but because Dulce nearly lost his balance as he reached out to get his tenth jar of wine, curling up on the sofa with the jar in his arms.

"I’m afraid I can’t choose," The Vampire finally blurted out after several minutes of rambling and mumbling, the jar in his arms long empty. "Do I have to pick one?" He asked, distraught.

They were speaking about flower wines but Asael found he couldn’t bring himself to give an answer.

Dulce suddenly straightened up but it wasn’t to take more wine. "We haven’t had dinner," He said with a sudden realization, although his slowed responses barely relayed the agitation.

Kath’tan stepped in the path, "Don’t go outside. I’ll do it."

Dulce glanced down at his feet which seemed to only be able to carry him towards furniture, his vision swimming. "Right. Perhaps I shouldn’t drink anymore."

"Not even to keep Asael company?" Kath’tan instigated, his purple eyes so dark they nearly matched his pupils.

Dulce slowly turned to Asael who still held his seventh jar of wine, his thought processes playing out on his face. He certainly couldn’t leave Asael to drink alone.

Ruoxi watched this quietly from his reclining position, making no attempts to stop the Fiend’s underhanded tactics. He watched Dulce look up at Kath’tan, blinking slowly.

"Make sure to eat something," He mumbled then turned to the Incubus watching him intently on the bed. "Ruoxi too..." He gingerly walled over to Asael, taking his time so that he didn’t bump into more furniture. "Will you also eat?"

Asael wrenched his gaze away from Dulce’s silver blue eyes tainted red, glancing down at his half-drunk jar. "I’m satisfied with drinking."

Dulce resumed his seat with another jar of wine, nodding seriously. "As am I."

Although, Kath’tan offered to make dinner arrangements, the Fiend didn’t leave, his dangerous gaze never leaving Dulce.

"I’m hungry, Kath’tan," Ruoxi broke the tense undercurrent filling the room. "Go make good your word."

The Demon shot him a dark glare, reluctantly starting for the door. Food couldn’t fill the hunger he felt but Dulce would be worried if they didn’t eat.

Dulce didn’t even glance at the door when it opened and closed, turning to Asael with intent in his pink-hued red eyes. "Do you think you could lend me your shadow ball for a moment?" He asked hesitantly.

Asael had stopped his pretenses of drinking, and placed the jar on the low table in front of them. He could see in Dulce’s eyes that the Vampire had been plagued by the thought of his shadows for a while.

Dulce hastily emptied his umpteenth jar to make his hands free, watching with focus in his wide eyes which were gradually getting more saturated, dilated pupils taking up most of the space in his red eyes.

Asael saw the Vampire’s eagerness, distracted by his red gaze. He didn’t forget that Dulce was a Vampire but it was difficult to ignore now. He lifted his hand after a short pause, the shadows rising up from the center of his palm and condensing until they formed the ball that was requested.

Dulce watched and waited patiently all this while, staring at it with the same anticipation of a cat waiting to pounce on prey. Even when the ball was formed, he didn’t take it, waiting for it to be offered to him.

He took it with barely banked excitement, watching the dense ball of roiling shadows float lightly above his palm.

Asael expected to see the process of how the Vampire ended up clinging to his shadows and floating above the ground the last time but Dulce did nothing with it, content to just hold it.

Instead, he reached out for another jar of wine. "Not drinking anymore?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head, his eyelids partially lowered.

Asael shouldn’t drink anymore and encourage the Vampire but he took his half-drunk jar of wine. The Vampire’s demeanor seemed to have changed, his expression conveyed haughtiness but his words and actions remained the same.

Even his smile when he Asael chose to continue drinking was less as gentle and open, his lips tilting slightly. The strange change was only for a short moment until he emptied the jar he held and focused on the ball in his hand.

He gently pushed it and let it float back to him, content to do this endlessly, his eyes drooping. He then caught the ball in both hands without warning, trying to squish the ball in his small hands.

The ball was malleable, but only so much. Even when Dulce moved to alternating between squishing and stretching it, it didn’t deform too much.

Asael watched this in mild disbelief, he expected it but it had still caught him off guard when it happened. Especially when the Vampire brought it to his lips and chopped down, his fangs peeking out.

It didn’t help that Dulce tried a few more times to eat the ball of shadows when his first attempt was unsuccessful, soon going back to stretching the ball, bored with failure.

This time, the ball stretched as far out as he could pull his hands, it gave Dulce a new directive.

The Vampire was completely focused, his pale face serious as he tried to stretch out the ball until it hit its limit, but his hands were too short.

Asael watched his shadows get stretched into an almost rope, static seeming to buzz in his eyes for a moment, black speckling his gray eyes.