When I woke up, Llewellyn's face was in the crook of my neck, his breath even.
…Looked like he was still asleep.
I shouldn't have, but… My hand reached up and my fingers carded through his hair.
"…"
I felt a bit embarrassed liking him this much, but… he seemed okay with it.
Llewellyn stretched, then hummed when he realized the position we were in.
"Morning," he said sleepily. "That feels nice."
…Huh. Well then.
I kept running my fingers through his hair.
Llewellyn pressed a kiss on my throat then mouthed his way up until he reached my jaw, pressing a kiss there.
"Breakfast?" Llewellyn said.
My heart had gone a bit weird.
"Yeah," I said. "Breakfast's good."
***
In the kitchen, Penguin and Lumos surrounded us, waddling and tail-wagging. I picked Penguin up, while scratching behind Lumos' ears.
"Did you both sleep well?" I asked them.
Penguin chirped enthusiastically, then his gaze sharpened when he saw Llewellyn taking out a frying pan.
"What is it? You want to help as well?"
Penguin chirped. I let him jump out of my arms and watched him waddle toward Llewellyn, stop at his feet, and look up at him.
Llewellyn snorted and picked him up, settling him on the counter.
"You want to help with the cooking?" he asked.
Penguin chirped happily, running in a circle.
"Alright," Llewellyn said. "Let me grab the eggs."
I grinned and watched them make breakfast while Lumos circled around, hopeful.
I wanted to check what was happening online but my phone battery was dead, which probably meant that... my team was likely going insane right now trying to contact me and ask about the Iceland Distorted Realm. Especially if those clips had been posted.
Now that I thought about it...
"System," I said. "Do you remember that as part of my contract I asked for the same tool and setup I have at work?"
[System Notification: Affirmative.]
It's been a long time but I hadn't really had a chance to check it yet—or any reason, really, since I normally just logged into my work account.
"Could you give me access now?"
The window expanded in front of me. A moment later, there it was, same tool we used at work, same setup, everything—just not connected to the work accounts.
Damn, amazing.
I started looking around.
I guess the only downside was that it didn't include my colleagues' notes and flags, which meant I couldn't see things at a glance here, but even like this it was pretty useful.
I clicked on the actual feed and started scrolling.
Shit.
What was this?!
–
[wyrmwatcher]: OHMYGOOOOOD
[glowthread]: ARE WE ALL SEEING THE SAME CLIPS????
[biscuitlord] the LAKE one?? where they're just walking on water????
[lightspeedo]: that's ice
[cinderarchive]: @lightspeedo NO IT'S NOT, ZOOM IN
[mangolover]: who cares about the elements!!!!! DRAGON!!!!!! LITERAL TINY DRAGON IN RYO'S ARMS!!!!
[abysslog]: FIRST CONFIRMED DRAGON SIGHTING
[inkspell]: EXACTLY!!!
[deepcurrent]: DID YOU SEE HOW IT WENT SMALL. THERE MIGHT BE HUNDREDS AROUND AND WE DON'T EVEN KNOW
[riverbend]: I screamed
[sunblob]: they were both so calm as if this was normal!!!!
[mangolover]: LISTEN. LISTEN TO ME. THAT'S THEIR CHILD
[cloudjumper]: WHAT????
[mangolover]: don't you all remember that rumor about Llewellyn being a dragon???? and now a baby dragon shows up IN RYO'S ARMS???? and we know they are definitely together because of that making out video!!!
–
What!!!
What kind of logic was that!!!
What if they had seen Penguin?! Would they have thought I was actually a giant penguin myself or something?!!!
Actually, I wouldn't have minded being a penguin.
But still!!!
–
[orbitly]: WAIT YOU'RE RIGHT
[knotmilk]: OMG SCREAMING
[moonsplice]: THEY'RE MARRIED THAT'S MY THESIS YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE
[hotgod]: r u all serious right now
[purplepom]: y'all, do you remember AI exists, right???
[mangolover]: none of the tools says that's AI!!! I checked!!!! I'm telling you that's their child!!!
[dogsarethebest]: INTERSPECIES FANTASY FAMILY
[hotwater]: I need to sit down
[comictook]: okay but why does the baby dragon look so comfortable with Ryo though
[lamewave]: PARENTAL BOND
[comictook]: the trust!!!
[amattressofprinciple]: Ryo's holding it like he's done it a thousand times
[keyblade]: BECAUSE HE HAS. IT'S HIS BABY.
–
I was going to have a stroke.
–
[glasswing]: I'm going to cry this is so wholesome
[archivistmode]: dragon dads dragon dads dragon dads
[softlock]: they're a little dragon family oh my god
[perfecthit]: the family we didn't know we needed
–
"..."
I was speechless.
I scrolled down more.
"What's with that face?" Llewellyn asked, placing a plate in front of me.
"You don't want to know."
"I beg to differ."
Damn, this was embarrassing.
"Fine," I said. "But remember you asked for it. Do you remember that theory about you being some sort of dragon prince?"
"Unfortunately," Llewellyn said. "So?"
"Because I was holding Gléonwon and he was small, there's this new theory going around that we're… uh… married and… you know. Have a dragon kid."
Llewellyn stared at me. Then his ears went red.
"It just never ends," he said, rubbing his forehead.
Precisely.
Now that I thought about it… They might not have seen Penguin in his penguin form in that video, but they might have spotted him in his fish form.
Did that mean that there were now going to be theories about me being a merman or something?!
When I said that aloud, Llewellyn snorted.
I scrolled down quickly but at a glance it looked like nobody noticed a fish. Should I set up an alert for it?
Maybe I was overthinking this.
"I'm going to close this now," I said, waving the System window away. "And try to forget I ever saw it."
Llewellyn was clearly trying to suppress a snort.
Ah, really. What was my life these days?
"I haven't had the chance to speak with Tiernan yet," Llewellyn said once we were all seated properly and ready to eat. "But we should try and set up a meeting with Gilded soon."
He was right. He'd saved my life after all.
Though... judging from how he reacted to us every time he saw us, he might actually be happier if he never saw us again. Well, tough luck.
"Fine by me," I said. "Is there anything in particular you want to ask?"
Llewellyn seemed to ponder this.
"I just think we should thank him properly," he said with a sigh. "What he did wasn't something small that's easily brushed off. He could have died himself, but did it anyway."
"I've been thinking of that too," I said. "But how can we thank him? The only thing he seems to want is…"
Oh.
"Crystals," Llewellyn said.
We looked at each other.
Well.
"We have two briefcases worth of those," I said. "They might not be as high quality as the ones he got at the auction, but they shouldn't be worse than any he got in a random Haneve shop, right?"
I mean, the System had found this cave itself, if nothing else.
Llewellyn pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Why do I feel like the System is scheming something?"
Uh?
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. The System has apparently tried to recruit this guy for a long time, and he's always given it the slip. Suddenly three major things happen: One, we stumble into him. Not any other person, Gilded specifically—who, I'm starting to suspect, might have been lured by the System there on purpose. Two, a dragon appears who can easily dig hundreds of crystals from a mountain cave when the main thing this guy cares about seems to be crystals. Three, we end up at the same auction, fight together, and he saves your life—so now we feel like we have to thank him. And we conveniently have two briefcases full of crystals we have no use for. Doesn't that look suspicious to you?"
When he put it like that…
"You think the System is planning to use that cave to convince him to sign a contract?" I asked, frowning. "And using us as an intermediary to sweeten the deal or make it less obvious?"
"It's a possibility," Llewellyn said. "The question is why. System?" Llewellyn asked.
There was a pause.
[System Notification: The System is not authorized to disclose that information.]
Damn it.
Also wait a moment. Were we really going to walk into a meeting with two briefcases full of crystals just like that? Had my Mafia AU ravings actually been on point?!!
"Can we actually trust the System?" I asked. "If it's scheming this much?"
I mean, it felt benign enough, but.
Llewellyn took a sip of coffee.
"I'm pretty sure the System's main function is to solve the Knots," he said. "And I don't think it lies. I've been working with it for seven years. I just think it really needs Gilded for some reason, and because it doesn't do coercion or threats, it can only try to entice him. Remember what it said about User Happiness? I don't think it can ignore that. I think it's just trying to recruit him by giving him what he wants."
Mmh.
"System?" I asked.
[System Notification: The System is not authorized to disclose that information.]
I sighed.
"Tell me this at least. Should we be worried about Gilded's Dungeon modding hobby? Or is it fine to give him more crystals even if that's what he ends up doing with those?"
[System Notification: User Gilded is skilled in Dungeon modification. His Dungeon Modding activities are not likely to pose a threat.]
Well, damn.
Llewellyn frowned. "Couldn't you have said that before?" he said, just as I asked: "Does that mean you want him to keep modding Dungeons?"
[System Notification: The System is not concerned with User Gilded's Dungeon Modding activity.]
With these last replies we'd received, I'd just realized something else.
"You keep calling him 'User' Gilded," I said. "So… does he have System access or not? I thought he didn't."
The System pinged.
[System Notification: User Gilded has basic System access. This is limited to interface visualization, limited Inventory space, and teleportation. He has not signed a System contract.]
Uh. So he did have access to System teleportation. I thought he might have been using one of those devices the Alliance had but apparently not.
I rubbed my temples.
"Really, what are we doing?" I asked with a sigh. This was actually something I'd been thinking about a lot. I looked at Llewellyn. "Why are you still fighting after all these years?"
Llewellyn's mug stopped in mid-air. He seemed to consider this and lowered it slowly.
"When my family died," he said, "after the second-ever recorded Knot opened, nobody could have saved them. Even if they wanted to, nobody even knew how to fight a Distorted Realm back then. Technically, that's still the case. The System can turn easier Knots into Dungeons and send other awakened people to solve those, but there still isn't anyone else who can deal with Distorted Realms safely. It's not just a matter of fighting the raw Elements—destroying the Knot contained in a Distorted Realm requires a lot of power and often there isn't enough time before the Realm collapses, so it needs to be done quickly."
…That was true.
"If I don't evacuate everyone there and destroy the Knot on time," Llewellyn went on, "those people will die. And if the Distorted Realm collapses, anyone present in the areas surrounding the Distorted Realm might die too. The System seems to have become better at exercising some influence so Knots don't often materialize in densely populated areas anymore, but that's not entirely sorted yet. And the risk of destruction is still high."
He was right on all counts.
Basically, he was doing what he'd hoped someone could have done for him when the tragedy had struck his family, go in and help.
"I get it," I said. "I'm sorry."
He really was too good a person. What was he doing letting me tag along?
"Why are you fighting?" Llewellyn asked suddenly.
Huh?
"The System said you needed help or you were going to die. I tried to convince it to find someone more helpful but it said it had to be me. So… it's me, I guess." I scratched my head.
"But why did it matter to you that I was going to die?" Llewellyn said. "You'd be safe. Statistically it would have been relatively unlikely for you to be pulled into a Distorted Realm and be in danger, why not tell the System to leave you alone?"
…I closed my mouth.
I mean. I didn't want him to die. Wasn't that enough?
But I didn't want to say that.
"The System is paying me a lot of money?" I said.
Llewellyn looked amused. "Money you haven't touched if not for your Gran. Am I wrong? You haven't even quit your job."
Well, I did ask for Elemental Café reimbursement at least once.
"Look," I said. "You were doing all that by yourself, were you not? And I didn't really have anything going except for Gran, and I couldn't even cover her expenses in full at the time. So a System contract was very tempting, not to mention that the System threatened to summon me anyway, even without a contract. And obviously, if anyone comes for Penguin or Gléonwon now, or this whole Knot situation gets worse… If I'm unable to fight, who's going to keep them safe? So it just makes sense. Besides, flagging the Threads makes Distorted Realms more manageable for you, so of course I'm doing it."
Llewellyn's lips quirked up.
"And you say you're not a good person."
What did that even have anything to do with… Did he listen to anything I'd just said?!
Llewellyn bumped his leg against mine under the table, eyes warm.
Damn it.
"Just finish your breakfast," I grumbled. "Then let's go and meet Gilded."