Chapter 647: Maybe I Do

Elowen stared at Grey with a growing smile until she finally understood exactly why the mention of Amunet had left him looking like someone had just announced his execution. A soft laugh slipped out of her, then another, and before long she was giggling into his chest while Grey looked down at her with increasing irritation.

"I’m glad you’re having fun at my expense."

"I am," Elowen admitted without even pretending otherwise, wrapping both arms tighter around him and pressing herself closer. "And I’m not letting you go no matter what, so you’ll have to figure the rest out yourself."

Grey felt entirely too much softness press against him, making it hard to focus on anything clearly. Elowen seemed perfectly comfortable despite being naked beneath the covers, and considering the last twenty-four hours of Grey’s life, he was starting to wonder if the universe had some personal issue with his ability to think clearly.

"Women aren’t that complicated," Elowen said, resting her chin against his chest as she looked up at him. "You just have to make them feel wanted."

’Easy for you to say.’

Elowen apparently didn’t care what Grey did anyway. He had literally killed her mother and here she was wrapped around him like a koala bear, although Grey supposed that wasn’t the greatest example considering Elowen probably hated the Goddess Empress even more than he did by the end.

There was also the small problem that different women seemed to have very different definitions of what "wanted" was supposed to mean. Amunet apparently wanted exclusivity, Sabrina had once wanted practically the same thing, while Elowen looked like she’d be satisfied as long as Grey didn’t forget she existed for nine months at a time.

Mauve cleared her throat again, rescuing Grey from a thought process that probably wasn’t going anywhere useful. "If the two of you are awake, there are some problems we need you for."

Grey’s expression immediately sobered and he pushed himself upright, causing the covers to slide down from Elowen’s shoulders and pool around her waist. Mauve turned her head almost immediately, which made Grey frown before he looked down at himself in confusion.

His lower half was still covered, and while Elowen had been exposed by the movement, Mauve clearly wasn’t particularly bothered by that. Her eyes kept flickering back toward Grey before shooting away again, though he didn’t have nearly enough mental bandwidth right now to figure out why she had suddenly developed a shy streak after apparently helping wash his unconscious naked body.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing yet," Mauve said, seemingly grateful for the subject change. "But we’ve received a large number of contract offers over the last several days, more than I can properly keep track of at this point. Some are sponsorships, some are requests for appearances, and others want access to Melix or one of us specifically." ℴ

Grey frowned. That part wasn’t necessarily surprising after their performance at the end of the First Arc, especially with several Candidates now gathered in one place, but the way Mauve phrased it made it obvious that wasn’t the actual problem.

"Amunet accepted one of the television appearances," Mauve continued. "The reward was useful enough that we agreed it was worth the time, but the interviewer apparently had a very different plan once she arrived. She was blindsided by questions that weren’t included beforehand, and some of them were... unrelated."

Grey slowly closed his eyes.

There was absolutely no chance those unrelated questions weren’t about him.

’I’m so fucked.’

He could already imagine Amunet sitting under some ridiculous studio lighting while an alien talk-show host asked exactly why her stream had disappeared in Grey’s room for so long. Worse, Amunet was angry enough with him right now that Grey genuinely had no idea what she might have answered.

Mauve either didn’t notice his suffering or decided it wasn’t important enough to acknowledge. "Near the end, though, the interviewer asked several questions about the army gathering against us, and that was the first confirmation we had that the rumors were more than speculation."

Grey opened his eyes again.

Apparently Muse had been busy.

A large alliance was forming from Candidates who had accepted contracts tied directly or indirectly to the company, and they were gathering with the specific intention of coming to Melix. Mauve didn’t know exactly how many there were yet, but enough separate groups had begun moving in the same direction that there was no longer much room for doubt about what was happening.

"We’re running out of time," Mauve said. "Only you understand the teleportation platforms well enough to build more of them, so while you were unconscious we couldn’t continue expanding the network or gathering people efficiently. Based on what we’ve heard, we probably have a day or two before the first large groups arrive."

Grey exhaled and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Alright, give me a sec."

He threw the covers aside and climbed out of bed, only for Mauve to perform such an immediate about-face that Grey paused halfway to standing. He looked at her back, then down at himself, finally beginning to understand what had been making her eyes dart around earlier, but before he could decide whether commenting on it would be funny enough to justify the consequences, Elowen spoke from behind him.

"You should go speak with Amunet."

Grey froze.

"Uh... there’s—"

He had several extremely viable excuses ready, starting with the army currently marching toward them and ending somewhere around the fact that Amunet might stab him.

Elowen smiled before he could use any of them. "Are those people even really threats to you? This is more important."

Grey blinked.

Something embarrassingly immature inside him lit up.

His ego was already enormous, and Grey had never exactly needed help maintaining it, but he suddenly realized that very few people had ever actually stroked it for him. Having a pretty girl look completely serious while implying an entire approaching army wasn’t important enough to distract him from his relationship problems felt way better than it had any right to.

’Shit, maybe I do need a girlfriend.’

Grey cleared his throat, and for once there was enough genuine embarrassment on his face that Mauve probably would have enjoyed seeing it if she wasn’t still facing the wall. He quickly disappeared into the bathroom before either woman could comment on it.

"I’ll talk to her." he called out.