Arius was going to try and sneak Val away from Tavras without a fight.

At Val’s side, she had Foofy curled up flush with her back. The dog would pose the biggest threat in his stealth operation, as a divine beast would react by instinct and alert Tavras with a bark if anyone tried to touch his master in her sleep. Arius lamented the fact that he had not brought a carrot or hot dog to bribe the good boy.

Dropping from the disk that he had created in the sky, Arius made sure to land silently. He crept towards Val and tugged at her carefully as to not alert Foofy.

Though he slept near her, he stayed wrapped in his own doggy donut not dependent on Val for support.

Perfect.

Now, he employed his aura in the form of binds for Val. In case he awoke her and scared her, he did not want her to inadvertently struggle or scream and wake up Tavras. At least, that is what Arius would do if someone awoke him from his coveted moments of sleep.

With Val gagged and tied up in his aura just enough to restrain her, he lifted her up and drifted to the sky. His mission was accomplished.

Draped over his arms, Arius flew leisurely with Val. The moonlight of the clear night set her skin aglow. Up close like this, Arius could see every feature of her sleeping face. Lean as she was, he marveled at how light she felt in his arms. Val’s youth very much showed in her body—developed enough to mark her maturity, yet she would still fill out in the chest and hips in her twenties.

Arius would stay alongside her throughout that time. More so than her body, he looked forward to the full maturity of her mind. Maybe that would keep them from having a horribly toxic dynamic in their relationship. Arius had quite a bit that he needed to work on to that end as well.

A tight frown crossed his countenance, though gazing down upon Val naturally brought a smile back to his lips.

He flew with her to some craggy cliffs where the serpent snapping turtle had brought them relatively close to land. The entire time throughout their journey, she remained asleep. Arius ducked into the cave and carried Val towards the back where she could continue to rest.

Part of him wanted to sit down with her right here and not let her go. She was his soulmate, and he wanted to do cute things that only soulmates could do together. Arius could cradle her in his arms until she stirred awake. He really did feel happy just knowing that he could have a loving relationship with anyone, deep and true.

At this point in their relationship, Val would probably not find the clinginess attractive, so he set her on the ground gently.

It was not like she had a way to know that she was safe now, yet it would kill Arius to wake her.

Instead, he crouched in front of her with his own brow pinched up in consternation. One finger dared to reach out towards her face. The pad of his fingertip touched between her eyebrows, brushing against the soft, little hairs there. Gently, he rubbed her brow to make the tension melt away.

Under his touch, her face relaxed. Val emitted a soft purring sort of sound and tried to lean her face into his hand.

Arius could feel his eyes widen in his head. Her unconscious reaction at his touch had been the single most precious thing that he had ever witnessed. Why did that make him feel so warm and fuzzy inside?

His pulse quickened as an uncontainable smile drew to his lips.

Before he had thought to remove her binds, her bleary eyes blinked open part way.

Oh no. This is weird. Not much could unsettle Arius, but the idea of having his soulmate wake up while he had her tied up was awkward on so many levels. Though they could probably make some good jokes about bondage, the contention in their relationship did not seem like a particularly good time for lewd humor.

As hastily as he could, Arius made his aura evaporate.

“Mm,” she moaned, head tipped back with her lips pursed on display. Val looked like she wanted a kiss or something more. Maybe her brow had been pinched up in her sleep because she had been dreaming about something else entirely.

“Go back to sleep,” he whispered to her. “You’re safe now.”

Relaxation returned to her eyelids, and Val sunk back against the wall.

Again, that was adorable. At least his voice had the power to soothe her despite the way that he had treated her. It seemed like their relationship really would be salvageable.

With one hand covering the lower part of his face, Arius got up and spun on his heel to retreat. If he were completely honest, he had never felt like this in all his life, not even as a young demigod himself.

That was not to say that he had been unduly cruel in his various flings and short-term affairs. It was just that constantly feeling the nonexistent connection between other women who were not his soulmate had a way to put a damper on things. Arius knew when his relationships would amount to nothing more than sexual gratification, so he had never let them become anything more than that.

In doing so, he had always treated them with the appropriate amount of respect inclusive of the time that he had several sects of gorgeous women worshipping him. Historically, those women had definitely worshipped him for a reason.

Thinking back to those days sent a steep frown to his face. Arius could not recall why he had agreed to give up that lifestyle when Evalaite had demanded an exclusive relationship. Her nails had definitely raked deep into his brain.

Only relief washed through him now that he was rid of Evalaite for good.

Pondering it for a moment, his thoughts leaped to another thing: the atrocious timing that Val had in coming into his life.

If not for the awful impression that it would leave on his soulmate, Arius would gladly return to his original lifestyle. As things stood now, he intended to remain single for the sake of Val, but that was okay. In her, he had just discovered something more special, fresh, and exciting.

The hope of actually experiencing love made him giddy in a way. Despite being one-hundred and twenty-two years old, he had never done the whole falling in love thing. He just wanted to set things right with Val, and rescuing her from Tavras’s kidnapping attempt would be a good step in that direction.

Fleetingly, the worry crossed his mind that Val really might have been the one to overreact and tried to run away without telling him. Arius thought too much of her and too little of Tavras to seriously entertain the idea.

Whatever had transpired leading up to this moment, Val was destined to love him as his soulmate.

Glad for this, Arius left the cave smiling as he went to retrieve Foofy.