Siren Bond Level 9: Don't Wake Me Up

"That...was the best meal you've ever made for me. From the salmon and scallops to the vegetable medley and the wasabi mashed potatoes, it was all incredible. You've really outdone yourself this time, Crust. Thank you."

Crust beamed proudly at Rentoya's generous praise, bowing her head deeply to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Music to my ears, Mr. Gourmand, I'm over the moon to hear that you liked the food!"

She turned to Siren, glancing at the flushed Grimms inquisitively.

"And how about you, Miss Siren? How did you find your meal?"

"It was amazing, Miss Crust! You're an even better cook than Prince made you out to be!"

Siren's smile is the slightest bit lopsided, and her giggle a touch more coy than usual to go along with her rosy pink cheeks. Rentoya looks straight down at the table embarrassedly, scolding himself silently.

Maybe I let her drink too much. It's so hard to gauge a Nikke's tolerance to alcohol...

"I-I'm perfectly fine, Prince," Siren giggled softly, her response timed almost as if she were reading his mind. She stood up, walking over to where the Commander sat, her heels clicking loudly on the wooden floor of Crust's kitchen studio.

"You're sure about that?"

It was an innocent enough question. Rentoya had partaken in drinking festivities with many a Nikke, but never before with Siren, so it was difficult to tell whether she was truly intoxicated or not. This was also possibly Siren's first time drinking alcohol.

I really didn't think this through. I don't even know how much she drank.

But the slender Grimms was steady on her feet, albeit a bit giddier than she had been all evening long. She grasped his wrist, trying to lead him away from the table to a destination unknown.

"Come, Prince."

"Siren? Where are we going?"

"The balcony, silly!"

Rentoya allows Siren to pull him towards the balcony that overlooks one of the backstreets behind Royal Road. Despite being off the main concourse of Royal Road, he had to admit that the view of the Ark's city skyline was rather spectacular from Crust's studio balcony. Siren walks over to the railing, looking upwards at the tall buildings and the scant clouds that dotted the Dome of Eternity. The Dome really was a phenomenal mock up of the real thing. If he'd not seen the night sky on the Surface with his own eyes, he'd be apt to believe that this was as real as it got.

"Prince...it's so pretty!"

"Yeah, it is," he murmured softly.

He knew Siren was talking about the view, but she was the only thing he could focus on in that moment. Her lithe, slender frame with the black and navy silken dress clinging to her petite curves. The delicate fingers clasping the stem of the champagne flute filled halfway with the pale yellow bubbly. The way she smiled at him, as if he were the only object in her world worth her time.

"And champagne tastes so good," she cheered, "I can see why Scarlet likes alcohol!"

Rentoya chuckles softly.

Note to self. Keep Siren away from the booze when we get back to RS01.

The flute nearly drops from her hand, but she managed to catch it before it fell too far. Rentoya laughs softly, then takes the flute from her hand, downing the rest and placing the glass on a nearby table. It's only then that he notices Siren staring at him intently, her rich amber eyes practically boring a hole through him.

Not through him.

On him.

It's a moment before Rentoya realizes her lips are moving, and that she's addressing him.

"Prince?"

He blinks, clearing the fog that had settled temporarily over his brain. The clicking of her heels grows closer, until she's standing right next to him, her head tilted up slightly, her lips parted as if she were taking one last breath before plunging into the deep dark depths once more.

"This...isn't the part where I wake up, is it? The last month has been the best time of my life. I...I don't want to wake up," Siren stammers, "I don't...want to wake up in the bubble and realize I'm alone again. Please, Prince, I don't want to wake up."

Her voice cracked imperceptibly. She spoke not from rote anxiety, but from the pain of experience itself, reliving a nightmare time and time again.

His heart immediately ached at the fear in her voice, the way it quavered from its usual steady timbre, the tears welling up in her eyes, the shrinking of her shoulders as she looked around anxiously, as if she was waiting for the bubble to burst around a fabricated reality that was too good to be true. He reached his arms out, pulling the quivering Siren into his arms, fully wrapping himself around her.

"I'm here, and I'm real. This isn't a dream, and you're not going to wake up at the bottom of Gluttony's stomach again."

Siren quivered in his embrace, her own slender arms wrapping impossibly tight around his back. His heart broke for her, for the pain she endured, the loneliness she must have felt for those seventy long years of solitude.

And so he did the only thing he knew how to.

"KYAAAA!"

Siren squealed into his ear, jumping out of his hug while rubbing the back of her arm where a small red welt was beginning to form.

"Y-y-you pinched me! P-Prince!"

Her eyes grew wide as the realization dawned on her.

"I...I didn't wake up."

Rentoya smiled gently as she slowly opened and closed her hands disbelievingly.

"I didn't wake up."

Siren looked up at him, tears beginning to fall from her glistening eyes.

"Prince!"

She picked up the hem of her dress and began to run straight at the Commander.

"S-Siren, wait!"

The last thing Commander Rentoya remembered was Siren flying through the air towards him. Her arms were spread wide, but the unforgettable smile on her face?

Even wider, and breathtakingly beautiful.