Chapter 403: Shift back
"Don’t reject me."
Lian’s heavy breath brushed against Rory’s face, every gasp sounding like a suppressed groan.
"Accept me, okay?"
As he spoke, the pad of his thumb gently stroked Rory’s lips, which were flushed and slightly swollen from the kiss. His touch was tender, but his eyes flared with possessiveness.
Without waiting for Rory to answer, his lips captured hers again.
His sexy Adam’s apple bobbed violently against his throat with every urgent swallow.
...
Half an hour later.
Rory sat on the bed in her room, staring at the box in her hands, and silently buried her face in her palms.
What a total fox.
She couldn’t resist him—not even a little bit.
[Ding-dong!]
The Fox: [Wait for me to come back.]
The message was from Lian, who had just left the star rail.
As for that contact name? He had edited it himself just moments ago in his room, snatching Rory’s optical computer to do so.
The guy clearly had a very accurate grasp of his own identity.
Rory took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, then typed out a reply.
Rory: [Stay safe, and come back soon.]
She had accepted the gift.
She had kissed the guy.
There was no point in agonizing over it anymore. Rory decided to stop overthinking and just frankly own up to it.
Vincent walked in carrying a plate of sliced fruit.
Seeing Rory happily tapping away on her optical computer, he smiled, picked up a slice, and brought it to her lips.
"What are you playing with that’s making you so happy? Eat something first."
His warm, gentle voice was laced with undisguised indulgence.
Rory instinctively opened her mouth, biting into the fruit Vincent fed her as the sweet, refreshing juice burst across her tongue.
Setting her light-brain aside, she picked up another slice and held it up to Vincent’s mouth, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
"Let’s eat together."
Vincent chuckled and bit into the fruit Rory offered.
Once they finished, Rory naturally leaned back into his embrace.
"We’ll reach the Central District tomorrow," she asked. "Once we’re back, are you going to be super busy again?"
"The Zerg have been pretty quiet lately, so it won’t be too bad."
Vincent wrapped his arms around her, his broad palm gently resting against her flat stomach. The look in his eyes was tender enough to melt water.
"I’ve already spoken with Vangar. I won’t be heading back to the battlefield until our little cub hatches. Unless... the war escalates to an uncontrollable point where they absolutely need me."
He paused, then added reassuringly, "But don’t worry, with Vangar and the others there, that’s highly unlikely to happen."
Hearing the word hatches, Rory suddenly looked up at him.
"I heard that bird beastmen hatch their own eggs. When our cub is born, does that mean you’ll be the one sitting on it?"
Vincent nodded without a second thought, a hint of natural pride in his voice. "Yes."
Rory had never actually seen a male beastman hatch an egg in person; she had only seen educational videos about it on her optical computer.
According to those videos, when a bird beastman hatches an egg, they shift back into their beast form. They use their softest belly feathers to line a warm little nest, carefully place the egg inside, and then crouch over it, guarding it day and night.
She looked up at Vincent’s breathtakingly handsome face, but her mind uncontrollably conjured up an image of his original beast form—that round, fluffy, pitch-black little dumpling.
She pictured that tiny, round ball sitting with absolute seriousness in a nest, using its stubby little wings to shelter an egg...
"Pfft!"
Rory couldn’t hold it in. She burst out laughing, her shoulders shaking so hard she couldn’t stop.
"Rory, is there something on my face?"
Seeing her staring at him while laughing her head off, Vincent was utterly bewildered, a metaphorical question mark popping up over his head.
Was he... dressed funny today?
What was she laughing at?
"Nothing!"
Rory shook her head while laughing, physiological tears even welling up in the corners of her eyes as she desperately tried to suppress her giggles to explain.
"I just... suddenly pictured you turning into a little firebird, crouching in a nest to hatch an egg... and it... it just seemed kind of hilarious."
Vincent: "..."
A subtle stiffness flashed across his handsome face, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. The look he gave Rory was a perfect mix of being amused and exasperated.
"Who told you that I have to turn into a little firebird and crouch in a nest to hatch our cub?" He felt a bit helpless. "Where did you hear these rumors?"
"Is that not how it works?"
Rory quickly pulled up her optical computer and showed him the search results for "Egg Hatching Common Sense."
"That’s exactly what it says on the net."
Vincent looked at the accompanying illustration of a cartoon bird sitting on a nest, and his mouth twitched once again.
He then reached out to cup Rory’s face, his thumb gently caressing her cheek as he explained patiently.
"That is a method only lower-tier beastmen need to use. I don’t need to do that; I just have to carry it around with me every day."
His ability was fire-based, allowing him to control the temperature completely at will to provide the most stable and comfortable incubation environment for the cub—which was far more efficient than shifting back into his beast form to sit on a nest.
Having said that, Vincent’s long fingers suddenly gave the soft flesh at Rory’s waist a playful, firm squeeze.
"Ah... that tickles...!"
Rory was incredibly ticklish. Her body instantly went soft, and she laughed as she tried to squirm away.
But Vincent took the opportunity to pin her down against the soft sofa. Bracing his arms on either side of her, he locked her within his space.
Squinting down at her from above, he demanded, "Tell me the truth, what were you really thinking about just now? It definitely wasn’t me in my firebird form."
After his Nirvana, he had seen his own beast form—magnificent, commanding, and radiant. No matter how one looked at it, it had absolutely nothing to do with being "hilarious."
For her to laugh like this, there was definitely a hidden truth.
Vincent kept his hands on her waist. "If you don’t tell me, I’ll keep tickling you."
Rory was terrified of being tickled.
"I’ll talk...!"
She quickly surrendered. "I just suddenly remembered what you looked like back when you were a little Burnt Dumpling."
Vincent: "..."
The moment he heard the words Burnt Dumpling, a look of sheer embarrassment and vexation instantly washed over his handsome face.
"Rory~"
Looking at her, he feigned anger and said, "Can we please never bring that up again?"
It was honestly too embarrassing.
"Why can’t we bring it up?"
Knowing he wasn’t actually mad, Rory looked at him with a smile. "I thought you were pretty cute back then."
She meant it. Rory truly thought Vincent had been quite amusing back then. Although... well... he had been a bit pitiful...
Vincent sighed helplessly.
"I was incredibly ugly back then—so much so that I didn’t even dare let you know my real identity. And yet, you actually think it was cute?"
Did his Rory have some kind of unique preference when it came to aesthetics?
"I just think it was cute."
Rory reached up with both arms, proactively wrapping them around his neck. She planted a loud kiss on his cheek, then leaned in close to his ear, whispering in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear.
"Can you... still turn into that Burnt Dumpling form now?"
"What are you trying to do?"
Vincent’s gaze instantly turned wary.
Rory blinked, looking completely pure and innocent.
"What could I possibly do? I just... simply want to see it, that’s all."
"No." Vincent rejected her flatly without a second thought. "I can’t shift back into that anymore."
"I don’t believe you."
Seeing his reaction, Rory knew he was lying.
Clinging to Vincent, she brought out her ultimate weapon, turning her voice soft and sweet as she began to act coquettishly.
"Vincent, just shift back and let me see, just for one second. I really, really want to see it."
"Vincent~"