Chapter 42 – A Conversation Between Friends
The sun filtered through the gaps in the treehouse walls, casting golden beams across the wooden floor. Early the next morning, Razan woke up with Loona sprawled comfortably on top of his chest and Charlie clinging to his arm, drooling all over him without a care in the world. Razan glanced down at her peaceful, messy face and thought:
She really has no princess vibe at all. Good thing I already knew, otherwise it'd be a huge disappointment to see a supposed princess snoring like a truck driver.
Razan carefully extricated himself and stretched his body, muscles popping from the awkward sleeping position while Charlie and Loona stirred awake from the movement.
Charlie rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep, and mumbled:
— Is it morning already?
Razan nodded.
— Yes. Now let's change clothes for breakfast.
Loona's eyes snapped open fully. She punched Razan in the shoulder and yelled:
— Then wait outside so we can change, you pervert!
Sean, who happened to be passing by the open door, heard the shout just in time to see Razan launched out of the room like a cannonball, crashing into a wooden wall with a loud thud.
Razan groaned, got up rubbing his back, and shouted back at Loona:
— You could've just asked me to leave and I would've left the room! Probably… well, I'd try to resist the temptation not to look.
Sean approached Razan cautiously.
— Dude, are you okay?
Razan waved it off.
— It's fine. This happens a lot. I'm used to it.
Sean stared at him and thought:
How are you still alive?
Razan dusted himself off.
— Well, let's go eat something. They'll take a while to get ready.
Razan headed off with Sean for breakfast. When they arrived at the main area, Gabato and Kailani were already at the table enjoying their meal. Razan sat down with them and asked casually:
— So, how did you sleep last night? Did you sleep well?
Gabato nodded enthusiastically.
— Yes, I finally managed to rest without being afraid of some beast showing up to devour me.
Razan looked at him, smiled jokingly, and said:
— Well, you know that with the size of the monsters we saw, staying in this treehouse isn't 100% safe, right? So yesterday, if you'd had bad luck, it could've been your last day.
Gabato's eyes widened in fear.
— You're joking, right?
At that moment Hank sat down and said:
— Razan, stop scaring Gabato. He's not very brave and you're still trying to take away what little he has left.
Kailani said, smiling:
— Dad, they're joking with you. You should be braver.
At that moment Loona and Charlie finally came out. Charlie went straight to Razan, snatched food from his plate, and started eating happily.
Razan looked at Charlie and said:
— You know I used that spoon and put it in my mouth, right?
Charlie kept eating, looked at Razan, and said:
— So what's the problem?
Razan just gave up, rested his chin on her head, and looked at Loona tiredly.
— I give up. She won this one.
Loona looked at him and smiled.
— Well, looks like you can't win them all.
They then started chatting casually while having breakfast.
At that moment Alexander arrived and said:
— All right, everyone, let's go. Our adventure starts now. Follow me to our destination.
They packed their bags quickly and started walking behind Alexander through the dense jungle paths.
At that moment Sean approached Kailani and said:
— How are you doing?
Razan, seeing this from afar:
— Round two has begun.
Kailani looked at Sean and said:
— Aside from being stuck on this ridiculous island, I'm fine.
Sean said:
— Good.
Razan, seeing this from afar:
— He's taking hits. Will he manage to fight back?
Sean kept going:
— I've been thinking… about us going out to have fun, if you want, sometime.
Kailani looked at him and said:
— I think your idea of fun is very different from my idea of fun.
Razan behind, hearing this:
— My boy just took a right hook. Will he recover?
Sean, still trying:
— What do you do on weekends?
Kailani said:
— I collect mollusks.
Sean said:
— No way! I'm a huge mollusk fan too.
Kailani said:
— Really? What's your favorite? Mine is the fiery flame slug.
Sean said:
— That's my favorite too!
Kailani, smiling:
— I made that up.
She then walked ahead.
Razan, seeing this:
— Fight's over. Our boy tried to hold on, but he got knocked out with a gut punch.
Loona looked at Razan and said:
— Go help the kid.
Razan looked at her.
— Me?
Loona said:
— Yes. Or do you want me to tell the adapted version of the story about how a certain nerdy boy tried to kidnap a defenseless little wolf girl?
Razan said:
— You wouldn't do that… would you?
Loona smiled.
— Who knows?
Razan sighed.
— Fine, I'll try to help him, but I don't think my advice will be very useful.
He then went to talk to Sean.
Razan got close to Sean and said:
— Man, you got destroyed.
Hank appeared on the other side and said:
— No, I think he did pretty well compared to last night's disaster.
Razan said:
— Yeah, thinking about it that way: yesterday he got knocked out in one hit and today it took three. It's really an improvement.
Sean said:
— Shut up, you two.
Hank said:
— Getting a woman's attention is one of the hardest things in the world.
Razan looked at them.
— You guys think so? I always thought it was super easy.
Hank and Sean looked at Razan, who looked like the protagonist straight out of a teen drama, and felt how unfair life is.
Razan looked at Sean and asked:
— Are you really interested in her?
Sean looked at Razan, who had stopped joking.
Sean looked at him and said:
— Well, I don't know. I think she's cool, pretty, and I want to ask her out.
Hank said, smiling:
— That's the first step, kid.
Razan looked at him and said:
— Loona asked me to come give you relationship advice, but hearing your answer makes it clear it's impossible for you to learn from my way of doing things.
Sean asked curiously:
— Why?
Razan looked at him and said:
— Look, when I met Loona she wasn't willing to open her heart to me for some reasons. So do you think I kept insisting, sent flowers, asked her out?
Sean said:
— You did that?
Razan took off his shirt and showed a small straight scar on his chest and said:
— Well, this is the flower I gave her. I put my life on the line with a fatal attack to prove to her she could open her heart to me. I like her to the point where I don't mind having a hole in my chest to take an attack for her.
He then put his shirt back on while thinking:
That day the Acnologia model wasn't very high and celestial iron—even the wound caused by it being regenerated by my power still left this small scar mark because of my low integration level with the model.
Razan then looked at Sean and Hank in shock from what they heard and said:
— I can't teach you because the way I know is simply risking your life because you love someone. And you don't have a feeling that strong for Kailani to use this method.
Sean stayed silent hearing this. But it's true: even though he thinks she's pretty and cool, he's far from feeling that for her to the point of doing what Razan did.
Razan said:
— My advice in your case is simple: make her laugh, try to find topics she likes and be nice to her. Simple as that.
Hank, listening:
— It's true. Simple as that.
Then they finally stopped and looked at Alexander, who had stopped and looked at them, who were amazed by the view.
— Welcome to the lost city, everyone.