A sigh of relief escaped Mia's lips as she dropped her body onto the soft bed their hosts had graciously offered them. It was covered in silk sheets and feather pillows that promised optimal comfort. The night was not yet very advanced, but she could already have fallen asleep in a few seconds if she had wanted to. However, she had other plans in her mind.

She got to her feet, bounding at Ethan who had just closed the door behind them after Adam and Irina had bid them goodnight. The couple suspected that they wanted to have their privacy tonight and that spending time with family would wait after their first night together here. Luckily for them, they had been offered a spare room quite far from those of Liam and his parents. This meant that while they couldn't scream, they could at least talk quietly without being listened to.

Discuss eh... That's not really what I have in mind, she giggled inwardly, her gaze riveted on her soul mate.

Ethan caught her smiling as the blonde threw her lips to the Vila's, encircling her neck with her arms. She deposited a few wise kisses to which he replied by trying with his tongue to cross the barrier of her lips, eager for contact. Mia pulled back, giggling mischievously, and pulled the Vila's hands away from her waist.

"We have to wash up first, don't you think? Better be clean to do dirty things..."

She giggled as he raised his eyebrows, obviously unbothered by their dirtiness. Unfortunately for him, Mia was determined to play with him a little bit. He had kept her waiting too with this biting story, so she wanted to take her time now. After all these weeks of frustration, they could take it slow now. Besides, with all the events of the day, she really needed a shower, and so did Ethan.

Adam and Irina seemed to have planned everything since a door led to a small bathroom with a walk-in shower, sink, and toilet. Everything in the room, including this small one, looked like a normal house on Earth. Sure, most of the items were ceramic or wooden, and there were no digital screens, but the furniture wasn't as basic as at the Arena. Here, she found useless gadgets and small decorative objects as she was used to in her consumerist world. The room was also more luxurious than the one she'd stayed in in the infirmary, although it was closer to what the Vilas quarter looked like, designed to be the most modern and posh part of the castle. In short, the decor and layout of the room gave her an air of familiarity that she greatly appreciated.

Mia began to slide her dress down her body without entering the bathroom. She was still wearing the one from the day before, which had some dirt stains on it and was crumpled in places. It was time for her to change and find fresh clothes. Ethan watched her carefully, letting her do it without touching her. He understood very well that she was in a playful mood and that there was no point in trying to change her plans.

"I'll let you go first, I guess," he said with a sigh.

"Have you seen the size of the shower? We can easily fit in it together," proposed Mia smiling and approaching the Vila.

Like her, he was still wearing his canvas pants from the day before, but he had been dressed in a new shirt since the previous one had been destroyed by his transformation during the tournament. Outwardly, he looked cleaner than his soul mate, but the smell of his skin didn't lie. It reeked of blood and sand. A shower clearly wouldn't hurt.

Mia stopped a few inches from his body and placed her fingers on the buttons of his shirt to unbutton it. Her hands slid over his shoulders, under the fabric, and she took advantage of the gesture to carefully touch his skin as she slowly removed the garment. The shivers on Ethan's forearms betrayed his growing excitement at the touch of the young woman, which made her smile, satisfied to have this effect on him just by brushing against him.

He might have expected her to take off his pants afterward, but she didn't. Instead, she unhooked her bra as she headed for the entrance to the shower and squeezed the handle that activated the water supply, used to have to let it run so that it was finally warm. It wasn't necessary in a world where it was magically heated and therefore immediately at the right temperature, but habits died hard.

It also allowed her to wait for Ethan to join her in the small bathroom. He took off the rest of his clothes following the example of the blonde who got rid of her panties to let them hang on the floor and followed her into the shower without touching her, obviously refraining from initiating the contact.

"You stink of blood," she exclaimed, grabbing the soap and rubbing it in her hands, then placing them on his chest. "I smell it so strongly with my new over-developed sense of smell. It's because of the bond, isn't it?"

"Sorry," he apologized, uneasy that she saw him behaving like a bloodthirsty monster during the tournament. "Yeah. Humans do not become Vilas, but their abilities and senses are enhanced. You will get used to it, especially since there is a chance that it will still evolve."

"It already seems natural to me, honestly. I was too foggy to notice when we woke up, but after spending the day with such heightened senses, there's nothing in the world I want to go back to how it was. Well, maybe except for the sound... It's a bit of a constant hubbub to hear all these noises."

Mia's hands slid over his chest cleaning it, her fingers brushing over his tired muscles and the outline of his nipples teasingly. She moved her palms up to his neck, then his collarbones, and finally stroked the outside of his arms to his hands, working up from the inside to rest her palms on his shoulders again. Ethan's gaze was half stormy half annoyed, but he let it go without protest.

"It's a matter of habit, after a while, your brain will sort out on its own what you want to hear and what you don't want to hear."

"I suppose, yes."