Book 4: Chapter 9: Patch 2.0: Prime Real Estate

Fenrir may have lost his pure, innocent Rock to Shogun, but at least Shogun isn’t too bad.

Shogun lifts his head and gives Fenrir a little nod when he sees him.

Fenrir nods right back at the fox before heading to the ship’s stern to see who’s on duty. Of course, as soon as he gets back there, he sees Oleander and Corwin in the middle of a steamy session where the clothes are already coming off.

“You guys know you’re out in the open, right?” Fenrir asks them.

Oleander, not even bothered by the sudden intrusion, replies with, “You can join us!”

Corwin blushes at Oleander’s offer but doesn’t say that Fenrir can’t join, and he doesn’t seem all that bothered by Fenrir’s appearance, either.

“Put your clothes back on. Let’s figure out where we are, and then you can go back to doing your thing,” Fenrir says.

“So boring,” Oleander teases. “Why don’t you show us that bestial lust of yours that Nell Nell likes to fantasize about so much?”

“Because that’s for them, not you two.”

“I bet you they’d all totally be into watching us do it.”

“Honestly, I don’t doubt that, but I’ll still have to pass.”

“You just can’t handle the boy pussy.”

Fenrir shakes his head and laughs. “You’re right. The boy pussy is too strong for me.”

“Can I at least do something quick with my Cor first?”

“Alright. Just… try to keep it down.”

Oleander smiles and gets to work on Corwin while Fenrir turns around to leave the stern.

“How’ve you been?” Fenrir asks Shogun. “Enjoying being out on the sea?”

Shogun tilts his head and yawns.

Rock walks up to Shogun, lies down, and starts whimpering.

Shogun stands up, shakes, and takes off into the air to fly over to land.

“Alright then,” Fenrir says. He’s unsure of what Shogun is doing, but Rock seems excited about it.

Just a few minutes later, Shogun comes landing onto The Shoebill’s deck, opens his mouth, and drops a bunch of rocks from it onto the deck.

Rock barks, licks his face, and starts devouring the rocks like they’re delicious food. Well, to her, rocks are delicious food.

“Shogun, you really make it hard not to like you,” Fenrir tells him.

Shogun does the fox equivalent of shrugging before lying back down and curling into a ball, cuddling his fluffy, feathery tail against his body.

“Done!” Oleander announces.

Fenrir turns around and immediately sighs. “You missed some,” he says, pointing up at a spot on his cheek.

Oleander touches his own cheek, figures out what Fenrir is talking about, and licks his finger. “Did I get it all?”

“Yep, you’re good.”

Corwin comes stumbling into view, looking like he can barely walk with a face still showing signs of embarrassment and pleasure. “I – I hope that you have been well, Fenrir,” he says.

“Not as well as you, apparently. Hopefully later tonight since they owe me now.”

Oleander grins and gives Fenrir a thumbs-up. “Anyways! Oh, wait, how’d moving go? You all done?”

“Yep. Just got a few more boxes to unpack, or not. I probably could have just tossed the things in them out,” Fenrir explains. “Moving went well, though. There weren’t any problems – well, there is one problem. Some weird old lady across the street stares at us whenever we’re outside.”

“Sounds like a weird old lady alright!”

“Definitely. So, when you coming over to visit?”

“How’s next weekend sound?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Sweet! I’ll see you all then, then! Then then. That sounds cute.”

“You’re a dork.”

“A cute dork! Isn’t that right?” Oleander asks, clinging to Corwin’s side.

“A – a very cute dork,’” Corwin answers.

Fenrir may not be into men himself, but when he sees Oleander and Corwin, he can’t help but think of just how cute a couple they make. They’re just perfect for one another.

“So, make the turn north yet?” Fenrir asks.

“That was like, two days ago. We’re already in the place you wanted. I think,” Oleander answers.

“Seriously? We’re here?” Fenrir looks around to try and confirm it for himself. The land is still left of The Shoebill’s port side, and the sun is hanging high in the sky, so he can’t tell which direction is which.

“Yup! I guess now we’ve just got to find a place you think would work best. Well, Rao would probably be useful for this part. He’s the builder guy.”

“Yeah, we should wait for him before deciding anything. This place does look pretty nice, though. Mountains, it looks like we’ve got a river, some flatland, a forest – want to go and explore a bit?”

“I thought you were playing this game for fishing?”

“Listen. I’ll fish. Eventually.”

“If you say so! Hey, Sho Sho, can you give us a ride over?” Oleander asks.

Shogun looks up at Oleander, uncurls himself, and walks over to the two lovers while yawning.

Oleander makes Corwin get onto Shogun’s back first so that he can sit behind him, wrapping his arms around Corwin and rubbing his front up against the other’s back. “See you over there!” Oleander says.

Who needs rowboats when there are flying foxes?

Fenrir looks down into the water and cracks his knuckles after Shogun takes off with the others.

“I could go for a wake-up swim. You gonna come with us, girl?” Fenrir asks Rock. Actually, when he thinks about it, she is definitely going to be coming with them because he doesn’t want her to be alone with Shogun while nobody else is online and nearby. But, when he remembers what Cassiel got on his case for before about being overprotective and knowing that Shogun really isn’t that bad, and that they’ve likely already done more than he fears, Fenrir gives up and shrugs.

Rock barks to indicate that she’s coming despite Fenrir’s inner turmoil over it.

“Alright. Just wait for Shogun then,” Fenrir says. “See you on the beach!” With that, he dives into the water and only realizes after entering the water that he’s forgotten his sword and Rod.

Oh well. Things should be fine, and it’s not like he uses anything but his hands when he gets into fights in the first place now.

Underwater, Fenrir looks around to confirm one thing first before heading toward the beach.

Yep. Their favorite serpent – real serpent, not humanized serpent which would be Nell, is swimming around in the distance looking for mimics, rowboats, and anything else that might look like a tasty snack.

“I hope she doesn’t go through a rebellious phase,” Fenrir thinks to himself.

“I hope she does. It’d be funny,” Saya replies.

Fenrir “jumps” under the water when he suddenly hears her voice inside of his head.

“What, did you already forget about me? Hmph! I see how it is, baka Onii-chan,” Saya teases him.

“I just wasn’t expecting it. Anyways, hey, Saya. How’ve you been?” Fenrir asks her.

“You’re so boring! Can’t you say something less generic than that? At least use like, a funny accent or something.”

“I’m just thinking. How can I have an accent in my thoughts?”

“Like this!” Saya says with a heavy, British accent.

“That’s even stronger than Nell’s. I’m impressed.”

“Too bad you’re impressed instead of not-boring!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m the worst. I’m the most boring person in all of existence.”

“Considering that you basically are my entire existence, that’s both figuratively and technically true.”

“You know, that actually hurts a tiny bit. I can’t even argue with your logic. I really am the most boring person in all of existence to you.”

“Yep! That’s why you should totally be less boring.”

“Fine, I’ll try just to liven things up for you.”

“At least have more sex or something so that I can have fun with those memories.”

“You’re turning into a pervert instead of being a tsundere.”

“It’s – it’s not like I want to see those things, you perverted Onii-chan.”

“Close enough. Anyways, I’ll talk to you later. Gotta explore a bit with the others.”

“Have fun! Don’t die and don’t be boring! Or do die. I wouldn’t care or anything. Hmph!”

Fortunately, thanks to the blessing given to him by Nell, he can sigh at how silly Saya is while underwater without choking on water. Being able to breathe underwater without gills is convenient.

Fenrir finally makes it onto the beach and everybody else is already there. Even Rock has been brought over by Shogun already, and she looks like she’s interested in trying out some of the shells on the beach as food. To his surprise, she actually seems to enjoy the taste and crunchiness of them as she goes from shell to shell eating every single one she can find.

“Fenny, your pupper has weird tastes,” Oleander says. “I guess it makes sense since she’s yours.”

“Between you and my assistant, I’m really starting to feel bullied here,” Fenrir says, flicking Oleander on his forehead. “You see that, Saya? You’re lucky I can’t flick your forehead.”

“Hmph!” Saya hmphs.

Fenrir flicks Oleander’s forehead again.

“H-hey! What was that second one for?” Oleander asks.

“That one was for my assistant. I can’t flick her, so I’ll just have to flick your forehead instead and pretend that you’re her.”

“Hmph!” Oleander hmphs.

“See? You’re similar.”

“You make your assistant hmph at you?”

“She’s a tsundere.”

“You’re the worst, Fenny.”

“I know.”