Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Chapter 77

"Perhaps there is no need to fly anymore," Dulce tried to wrap up the conversation even though he had been the one to start it.

The table had been cleared up by then, a number of people going below deck to retire to their rooms. The music got quieter, the tables empty as most of the passengers remaining on deck favored standing by the edge of the boat.

"There is." Kath’tan blatantly disagreed. "I need to see the shameless Incubus sinking to the sea floor."

Ruoxi still wore a cheerful expression despite the Fiend’s words, "And I need to see Asael fly."

He did a flawless job of riling them up, aggravating two for the price of one.

"You don’t have to fly if you don’t want to," Dulce hastily said, guilty that he had been the one to include the Demon in the conversation.

"Of course, he doesn’t." Ruoxi agreed easily, "Unless he doesn’t know how to fly."

There was no longer any food on the table to distract Asael, his jaw hard as the Incubus kept doubling down.

Demons didn’t need to fly, not being able to fly had never limited a Demon’s capability. Thinking about it made black bleed into the gray of his eyes, but it also gave him clarity.

The deck continued to empty out until only a few passengers still lingered on the boat. They were left well alone by the shiphands who were getting a chance to wind down for the first time all day.

Ruoxi rose to his feet, the Incubus wore a waistcoat over his dress shirt, going without an overcoat. He left his hair down, only remembering to tie it up occasionally.

The torches brightening up the ship dimmed as the deck emptied out, so their table was already in dim lighting. Ruoxi blew out the nearest torch with a simple wave of his hand, they could all see fairly well in the dark and the cover of night did a great job of obscuring them.

He jumped lightly on the guardrails with perfect balance, diving into the dark. The Incubus made an appearance shortly after, jumping back on the guardrail but this time from the opposite side.

Ruoxi’s black hair floated in the wind, his powerful black wings stretched out to show their impressive wingspan. "I truly missed flying." He said, more to himself.

After that, he swooped down to take Dulce with him on his next dive into the sky. He picked the Vampire up by his waist, pulling him close as he jumped off the ship again.

For a moment, neither of them could be seen, making Asael’s brows lower on his forehead.

Ruoxi soon shot into the sky, a startling sound preceding him - Dulce was laughing.

The Vampire was so passive and soft spoken that despite being filled with optimism, they had never heard him laugh before.

Ruoxi forgot how to fly for a moment, looking down at Dulce. This meant that they both dipped out of the sky without warning, essentially falling.

This only made Dulce laugh harder, it was complete unabashed happiness, laughing hard enough to make his eyes water.

He caught his breath when Ruoxi found his balance, floating a short distance from the ship. "I apologize for that," He said in a small voice, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I didn’t think I would enjoy flying this much."

Ruoxi studied the Vampire whose chest was still heaving from his earlier bouts of laughter, the barest hint of red on the tip of his nose. He dropped out of the sky again, this time on purpose.

Dulce’s happy laughter came again, which was the entire point of it. The Vampire didn’t even cling to him or tighten his hold, he wasn’t at all scared of falling.

Asael looked at the sky at Ruoxi spinning and diving constantly, taunted by the faint peals of laughter filling the sky. He looked away, making no attempt to go flying.

Kath’tan was already halfway to his feet, scowling at the display in the sky, when he realized that Asael had no inclination to use his wings. "Can you really not fly?" He blurted out, more astounded that something like that could happen.

"I’m cutting the tongue off the next person who asks me that." Asael said without inflection.

Kath’tan walked over to the guardrails with his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "But you should know," He risked saying despite the threat hanging over his head. "It’s easier to learn than you would think." He said cryptically, leaping into the sky.

Ruoxi slowed to a stop after putting on a show, surprised when Dulce slumped over him. The Vampire was out of breath and drained after laughing so much, his hair a mess.

He didn’t fly anymore, floating over to the deck to put him on solid ground - as solid as the deck of a ship could be.

Dulce wobbled on his feet a bit, wearing a bright smile. "Thank you for..."

The rest of his words were cut off by a red blur stealing him away. Kath’tan would certainly be much better than an Incubus kept in a cage for several centuries. He flew fast enough to take the air out of Dulce’s lungs, spiraling out of the sky only to fly straight up at a moment’s notice.

Even for a Vampire, the speed was too overwhelming to give space for laughter. It was fortunately over in a short time, Kath’tan proudly returning Dulce to the deck.

The Vampire was visibly disoriented, barely taking a step forward before toppling off his feet.

Ruoxi caught him in time, "You spun him too hard." He scolded, looking down at the rattled Vampire.

"I’m fine," Dulce tried to insist right away, attempting to stand by himself. "Thank you for taking me flying," He managed to get all his words out before veering off his feet again.

Kath’tan crossed his arms, too self-conscious to be angry. Despite the Vampire’s nice words, he could tell that he had been terrible. Dulce didn’t even laugh a single time.