In fact, their new friends did not care to participate in helping them eat the meat from the dual-wolves. Of course, Leo couldn’t exactly blame them.

  Even covered in enough pepper flakes to kill a small child, the cooked meat still tasted unbelievably foul.

  Once he’d finished suffering through that meal, and received a verdict of ‘meh’ from Taylor as she snacked on her meat without issue, the five of them carried on. The dual-wolves were a low enough Grade that bothering to cultivate their power wasn’t really worth it for any of them, although they did have one close call where Leo barely managed to stop Taylor from reflexively tossing one of the small gems into her mouth to snack on as they walked. Seeing her eat magical beast gems had become such a normal occurrence for him, he’d nearly forgotten how utterly wild it was that she did something like that on the regular.

  If she did that in front of the others, they would have a lot of explaining to do.

  The attack from the dual-wolves ended up being the most exciting portion of their evening, and the group didn’t run into any more surprises before night fell. They did dispatch two more camouflage spiders that tried to get the literal drop on them, as well as another handful of burrowing beetles. But with both instances, Ember managed to pick out the beasts as they got nearer with his heat vision, turning any sort of surprise, threatening fight into little more than going through the motions and taking down the magical beasts as they got near. Though his fireballs did also end up ruining most of the delicious spider meat, which was not exactly a point in his favor.

  Of course, that didn’t stop Leo and Taylor from stealthily munching on the burnt legs as they walked along, ignoring the confused looks from their temporary teammates.

  Leo had already managed to hit a soul rank of 17 prior to joining up with the trio, but he was more than happy to begin seriously working on the 18th layer of his soul. Taylor, on the other hand, was in a bind. She couldn’t consume beast gems to convert into power and strengthen her soul while traveling with the others, and she couldn’t cultivate the raw power given off by the spiders without giving herself another soulache, which would be pretty much impossible to explain to the others without revealing everything about her strange body. Leo could tell that having to give up on opportunities to grow her soul and become stronger was grating on her, and he had to reassure her that it was just a temporary measure.

  He hadn’t even considered the problems she’d have cultivating around other people before agreeing to join up with the trio, and he mentally promised himself he’d make it up to her somehow.

  The group managed to cover another few miles before deciding it was time to find somewhere to bunker down for the rapidly approaching night. Turning their focus to finding someplace to make camp, they quickly stumbled upon another large clearing where they’d be able to see any approaching threats without issue.

  In theory.

  “This is as good as we’re going to get,” Steel said, frowning as he judged the current level of daylight. They couldn’t really see the position of the sun, what with the massive trees blocking their view of the sky itself, but the light level was definitely growing dim. “If we waste time trying to find anywhere safer, we might not end up having any camp at all.”

  Steel didn’t receive any arguments, and everyone got to work getting camp set up. By now, Leo could pitch the small tent they’d picked up within minutes, and he got to work prepping actual dinner for everyone immediately after. Taylor ran off to find some fresh meat, and came back with a few small, pudgy animals Leo didn’t recognize that looked like fat foxes with thick noses. And if that wasn’t enough, she even managed to find a decent number of berries as well, which practically made him cry upon reveal.

  With actual ingredients to work with, Leo got to work, quickly whipping up a respectable meal of seared meat with a berry glaze. He was beginning to run a little low on both sugar and lemon juice, what with how frequently he fruitlessly tried to find new ways to make magical beast meat taste somewhat edible, but he still had a bit left for now.

  As everyone dug into their meals, Leo could only smile in pride at the faces of shock and excitement as everyone took one bite of dinner and immediately scarfed down the rest.

  “Leo…” Ember said, pausing to lick the bottom of his plate and moan as he finished off the final few specks of his meal. “If you’re ever looking for a team to join for real, we’d happily give Steel up for you.”

  “Forget that, after this meal, I was going to beg him to let me join him and Taylor!” Steel laughed, putting his plate down as he sighed and rubbed his stomach. “That was amazing! I had no idea you actually knew how to cook.”

  “Leo makes the best food,” Taylor nodded with a grin. As per usual, the feral woman had wolfed her food down faster than anyone, and had been given the spoon to lick that he’d used to make the glaze. They’d fallen into the habit of allowing Taylor to lick clean most of his cooking equipment, seeing as he had to wash them afterwards anyway.

  “How did you get so good at cooking?” Willow asked, looking down at her own empty plate in longing. “Each of us can do basic stuff like roast meat over a fire. But beyond sprinkling some salt on top, that’s about all we know to do.”

  “My parents were often busy, so I took it upon myself to make sure whenever they came home, they’d have the best meal of their lives waiting for them,” Leo said, his smiling turning just a touch bittersweet as he took another bite of his own meal. He’d finally gotten to the point where he could talk about his parents and the house he’d grown up in without feeling anything more than a slight tightness in his chest, but it was still hard at times.

  “Well, they’re quite the lucky couple,” Ember said, shooting a sly grin toward Willow. “Sounds like we need to make sure our first child knows how to cook. I sort of like the set-up Leo’s parents had.”

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  “And who’s going to teach them? You?” Willow snorted, quickly getting into a small, teasing argument with Ember over who would be responsible for teaching their future offspring the art of cooking. Steel merely shook his head as the couple went back and forth, handing Leo his plate back and nodding his thanks one last time.

  “Right… Darkness is nearly upon us, so I’d say it’s about time to turn in,” Steel said, getting to his feet and somehow slipping right back into leader-mode with seemingly no effort. “Ember, you take first watch. You see so much as a single speck of heat approaching our camp, you’re to let us know, no exceptions. I’ll take second watch, and Willow can take third. That should cover the long night of this plane.”

  “Uh. What about us?” Leo asked, giving Steel a confused look. “We’re more than happy to help with the watch.”

  “Are you kidding? You already spent all that effort putting that meal together for us, not to mention using your own valuable ingredients,” Steel said, shaking his head. “The least we can do is handle guarding the camp.”

  “I’m with Steel, I’d gladly trade a few hours of sleep for another meal like that tomorrow,” Ember grinned, his eyes twinkling as he looked between Leo and Taylor. “You two turn in for the night and get settled. We’ll take care of things out here, so don’t you worry about a thing.”

  Leo tried to protest a bit more, but the trio weren’t having any of it. For her part, Taylor seemed more than happy to let them handle standing guard. Eventually, Leo was forced to give into their demands when the last of the sunlight started to fade and he realized his insistence to help was just causing more trouble than it was worth. Cleaning up his cooking supplies once Taylor had finished with them, he slipped into their tent, blinking as he found Taylor sitting cross-legged on her bedroll. She had a strange smile on her face, and just the slightest tilt to her head, indicating she was curiously thinking about something.

  “What’s on your mind?” Leo asked as he tossed his pack to the side and flopped down on his own bedroll beside her. As uncomfortable as it was, he’d long since gotten into the habit of sleeping in his clothes. The life of a wandering Cartographer meant their camp could be attacked by magical beasts at any moment, and he wasn’t exactly a fan of the thought of having to fight for his life in the nude.

  “First time we’re both going to sleep at the same time,” Taylor pointed out, her smile widening just a hair as she stared at him. “We normally alternate watch duty.”

  “Yeah, it is a bit strange,” he agreed. The two of them had spent plenty of time in the small tent with one another in the past, but they’d always been actively cultivating their souls or focused on one thing or another. Actually sleeping side-by-side was definitely not something they’d really done much of before. Clearing his throat, he offered her his best gentlemanly smile. “I guess just let me know if I do anything that keeps you up. I don’t think I’m much of a snorer, but my dad certainly was, so that might very well change one of these days.”

  “You don’t snore,” Taylor said, shaking her head. “I watched you sleep plenty when I first brought you back to my cave and nursed you back to health. You do mumble in your sleep, though. It’s funny.”

  “Man, that feels like forever ago… Hard to believe it hasn’t even been two months. A lot’s definitely happened.”

  “Yeah,” Taylor said, some strange, unreadable expression flickering across her face for a moment as she looked at him. “…I’m glad I found you.”

  “Seeing as I would have died painfully in the dirt if you hadn’t, I’m also glad you found me,” Leo chuckled, fluffing his pillow and blinking as Taylor frowned and shook her head.

  “No… I’m glad I found you. Not someone else lying there, but you, Leo.”

  Leo could only stare at his partner, his heart beginning to race as she returned his stare right back, as if waiting for something. Suddenly finding his mouth quite dry for some reason, Leo licked his lips and nodded.

  “I’m glad it was you that found me as well. You… I’ve really enjoyed having you as a partner. Exploring the planarverse together, and all that.” The moment the words left his mouth, Leo winced, feeling as though he’d said something wrong. How was he supposed to convey just how much Taylor meant to him after everything they’d been through? They’d fought life-and-death battles side-by-side more times than he could count. Ventured from one plane of existence to another time and time again. Took care of the other and helped them recover from so many different injuries. He really could only think of one word that fit the sheer depth of feelings he’d finally realized he had for Taylor, and he was beyond terrified to actually utter it out loud.

  Thankfully, Taylor seemed more than pleased with his words, as her smile returned in full force. Scooting over to him, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a warm hug.

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Leo muttered, returning the hug as he let out a weary sigh. After a few moments, he realized Taylor didn’t seem to have any plans on letting him go, and he tapped her back. “Uh… Taylor? You okay?”

  “Comforting,” she said, squeezing him as if that explained everything.

  “I appreciate that, but I don’t need comforting. No tears or anything, see?”

  “Comforting for me,” she argued, nestling her face into his shoulder.

  Leo blinked, more than a little surprised by this turn of events. It was true that Taylor had gotten a lot more touchy-feely recently than she had been in the past, but to hug him like this for no real reason in particular…

  “I guess that’s fine,” he said slowly, gently rubbing her back like he usually did when she had a soulache and was groaning on the ground in pain. “Though we should really get some sleep at some-”

  Leo yelped as Taylor threw them both sideways, catching him completely off guard as they crashed gently onto their twin bedrolls. Letting out a content sigh, Taylor actually snuggled closer to him, all but wrapping her legs around him and seeming completely unfazed by the fact they were now effectively lying tangled in bed together.

  “Taylor?” he gulped, the word coming out far higher pitched than he would have liked.

  “Comforting,” Taylor repeated one last time, yawning as she nestled against his chest, finding a comfortable position before falling asleep almost instantly. In seconds, Leo found himself staring up at the top of their tent, his heart racing a mile a minute as Taylor slept pressed up against him, blissfully unaware of how panicked he currently was. He’d never experienced anything like this before, and he really hadn’t expected such a thing from the feral woman.

  Leo didn’t think there was even the slimmest of chances that he’d manage to get any sleep like this, but he didn’t dare make any sort of move to shift Taylor off of him, either. Not only did she look like she was sleeping quite peacefully, the sounds of her steady breathing and the sensation of her chest rising and falling against his side were oddly soothing in a way. The warmth radiating off her body was far more comforting than any blanket he’d ever experienced, and Leo was surprised to find his own eyelids drooping before long.

  Trusting in their new acquaintances to wake them should anything go wrong, Leo finally gave himself up to sleep, chasing after Taylor into the land of dreams with a small smile on his face as he protectively pulled her just a little closer.

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