Finding Vim and Merit alone in my bedroom was… kind of weird, but at the same time I was really happy that I had done so.

The two seemed to be getting along again. Even if Vim was… being weird.

"So… if it's not filled with divine power, is it still a heart at all?" I asked as I rolled the green orb in my hand. It felt warm, but only because I'd been holding it for a few minutes now. And supposedly Vim and Merit had been messing with it for some time before I'd joined them. Its heat wasn't the normal kind that hearts gave off.

"No. But it's still a conduit. It can connect to the source of divine power. I don't want to break this one, even though I feel as if I can and should, because I want to see if it reactivates eventually," Vim said with a weird smile.

I studied that smile, and dedicated it deep to memory.

I'd never seen that smile before. It was a new one. Very similar to the one he wore when he was working on something with his hands, but also similar to the one he had when he was staring at my naked body. It made me feel kind of… angry, to think he was as happy about this little heart being weird as he would be to see me naked.

Well… I mean, I got it. A heart being weird is important. Maybe more than my own naked body. But still!

"You don't feel anything at all, Renn?" Merit asked.

I shook my head. "I felt tingly when I held a heart last time. But now? Now it just feels like a real smooth rock or something," I said. While I studied the green heart Vim went to rummaging into one of his little pouches. I glanced at him, before he even pulled out the other heart, and noticed a slight… shift in the air. As if it had suddenly gotten a tad colder. "I felt that. Or well, feel it?" I said as I nodded to the heart he held out to me.

Taking what I assumed was Tor's ancestor's heart, I shivered a little as my fingers tingled and felt warmer all of a sudden upon touching it.

"You feel it," Vim noted.

"Yep. It uh… feels weird. It's warm like usual, but it also makes my hand feel all tingly," I said, describing how it felt to hold.

"Tingly…?" Merit asked.

"She likely feels a slight tingle like you would when you shock someone," Vim explained.

Merit nodded knowingly. So she felt like this when she shocked someone…? Interesting.

"Here, before you hurt yourself," Vim then said as he reached out to take Tor's Ancestor's heart from me.

I frowned at him as he took it, and wondered what he meant. Yet before I could ask, he then grinned at me as he put the heart back into his little monarch pouch at his waist.

"Want to take a small trip outside, Renn?" Vim then asked, still wearing that smile.

"Huh? Where to?" I asked. I didn't mind, in fact I was going to ask him if he'd take me to that restaurant we'd eaten at last time we'd been here. That blue one near the piers and docks. I knew that any day now he'd say he wanted to leave, so had been planning to ask him just now thus my original search for him… at least, before I found him and Merit in my room scheming and whispering amongst themselves over this little heart.

"There are other saints here right? A Glass or something?" Vim asked.

The corner of my mouth twitched a little. "You… want to go see a saint," I said, almost not able to believe it.

He nodded happily. "I'd be very interested in knowing if they can sense it or not. Light didn't mention its lack of presence, but that might just be because I had been there. She might have assumed I had taken it from Merit or something," he said, explaining with arms crossed.

Smiling gently at him, I wondered if he even realized how… odd he was being. Though maybe he wasn't being odd at all. Maybe this was what he normally got like when he encountered something beyond his own knowledge? Now that I think about it, this might be one of the first times that I'd ever seen him encounter something like this. Something he genuinely didn't understand at all. I wonder if he had acted like this with Narli, during her episode. Though he might not have, since that had concerned her life.

His mother had raised him to be a thinker. A teacher. Maybe this was… well… Vim. The real one.

"Sure… I'd like to see Mono again anyway," I said as I nodded gently.

Vim's smile then disappeared. "What?" he asked quickly, with a strange tone.

Merit glanced up at him. "Wrong Mono. It's her daughter."

Vim visibly relaxed a little. "What…? She actually had children? That crazy woman?" he asked.

Once again I felt left out as I watched Merit nod knowingly and sigh. "Right? She's just like her too, by the way. She actually hugged me knowing I'd shock her, and then got all happy once I did."

My husband sighed and shook his head. "Great. Now maybe I don't want to go," he said.

I smirked at that. "Who was she to be so bad? What'd she do? Her mother?" I asked.

"Mono hadn't been… bad. She had just been weird. She was someone who enjoyed pain. Really enjoyed it," Vim told me.

Oh… "Wait… is that why Mono had found your shock so fun?" I asked, suddenly feeling a tad weird about it.

Merit just nodded.

Not really liking that, I wondered what to think about it. So… she liked pain…? A part of me felt weirded out by it, but at the same time did that actually make her someone I should be disgusted by? After all… "So… does she like inflicting pain… or just…" I asked.

"Experiencing it. As I said, Mono herself had not been a bad person. I actually found her to be kind-hearted when it counted, if you could see past her… oddness," Vim said.

Huh… I nodded at that, and decided to not judge the girl then. I'll just need to be… aware of her odd trait, I guess.

"Glasses is there too, by the way. Though I've yet to meet her," I told him.

Vim frowned and shook his head. "Don't know her."

"Me either. She's supposedly older though, not a child like Mono," Merit said.

Oh…? I wonder if that meant she wasn't childish, or if that meant she was old enough to have known Vim and the others back in the day and simply hadn't ever met them or something.

"Well… that all being said, I'd like to test it. If you're up for it, Renn, since I need you to do it," he said with a nod to me.

"Me? I don't mind helping, but why do you need me?" I asked.

"So he can push all the talking and stuff onto you, obviously. He wants to test it, but not actually have to deal with them. He's being selfish," Merit said.

Vim smiled and nodded, as if proud.

I sighed at him, but smiled back. "Then sure. Let me get dressed. You can take me out to eat after," I said, deciding this was a perfect excuse. After all it was only fair he did something for me in return!

"What…?" Merit was the one who whispered in shock as I stepped away, handing Vim the heart back as I went to get dressed to leave.

"Hm?" I turned to look at her, and was a little stunned to see her shocked face. What had I said that was so shocking, I wonder?

"You can come, Merit. It's not like she actually wants a dinner date," Vim said simply.

Oh! I blinked and looked away, to face my bag on my bed as I went to get my outerwear ready. I made sure not to speak, or turn around, since I knew I had a slight blush on my face and a small frown.

I had in fact meant it as a date, actually. I had been hoping to spend time alone with him. To flirt and stuff… but now I couldn't say it aloud. Especially since I'd not be bothered at all by Merit joining us, and in fact… "We can get Lilly too then, as well!" I said, deciding to just make it a nice big family dinner date instead.

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"She won't eat at human places," Merit said.

"She doesn't have to. She can just… sit and talk with us as we eat," I said happily as I dug out my hat and stuff.

Vim sighed. "I'll go get money…" he said as he left.

Hesitating at that, I glanced at him as I watched him leave the room. He didn't shut the door behind him, which made me wonder if he had been annoyed over my inclusion of Lilly or something else.

"Sorry Renn," Merit then said.

"Hm? For what?"

"Interrupting your date," she said simply.

I blinked, and then gently smiled at her. Before she could do or say anything else I quickly stepped over to her and wrapped her in a hug. She groaned at me, but didn't shock or push me off her as I gave her a very gentle squeeze. Now that I knew I was stronger than I used to be, I was being careful. Or rather, even more careful. Even if Merit was strong, like me, I didn't want to hurt her.

"I'd never trade a moment with you for a moment with him, Merit," I said happily.

Merit groaned. "Yes you should! Geez, Renn, you're supposed to be husband and wife!" Merit complained.

"Oh we'll get our moments! Especially since you like your alone time! Don't think I didn't notice you sneak away earlier this morning!" I said happily as I put her back down.

Merit sighed at me as she went to fixing her clothes, in a drastic way, as if I'd really ruffled her with my hug. I hadn't, she was just trying to hide her smile with her movements. "No one else tended the garden while we were gone… so…" she mumbled.

Ah… I nodded at that. Odds are Merit had just used that as an excuse, but I knew a part of it had been true. Merit actually did really love gardening, and it wasn't too farfetched to think the gardens up on the roof had been slightly neglected in her absence.

Giggling happily at her, and myself, I returned to getting ready to leave. It wasn't storming outside, but it was raining a bit so I made sure to ready the cloak I typically wore while traveling.

"Also, you really should be more… pushy with him, Renn. I would, if I was in your shoes," Merit mumbled as she watched me get ready.

Pausing a moment, I glanced at her and found her looking at me with a slight flush. She had been honest, but it had still embarrassed her. "Do you think I really should?" I asked.

She nodded. "He's… well… you know how he is, Renn. He's ancient. To him, going months if not years between moments of affection is probably not even a weird idea to him. Don't let him do that to you, you deserve better," she said with a nod.

Although I now had on extra layers, I knew better than to blame my sudden hotness over them. I felt like hugging her again as I nodded at her. "I'll take that to heart, Merit. I promise," I vowed.

"Please do. And then tell me how it goes, okay?" Merit said.

Gosh she was still on that! I mean, I got it… people usually did talk about such things with their close friends, but it felt so weird for me to do so or even think about doing so. Especially when the one who wanted to talk about that stuff was someone who genuinely felt desire for the one in question!

"Um… Merit," I glanced at the door, and fluttered my ears to make sure I didn't hear anyone.

"Hm?"

Stepping over to her, I bent down a bit so I could whisper on her level. "Did he say anything…? About me not sleeping with him last night?" I asked.

"Yes. He thinks I'm trying to steal you. Or at least punish him, since he knows I'm upset with him," Merit said with a whisper back.

I grinned at that. "Good."

She nodded. "Good."

Honestly that had not been at all the reason I had spent the night with Merit. It instead had been because when I had gone to find him, to lure him into bed, I'd been unable to do so. He had snuck off somewhere. And I had gotten fed up looking for him, and so had chosen the next best thing. And I now was happy it had gone that way, since I knew we'd soon be leaving. I wanted to spend as much time with Merit and the rest as I could. Even if it meant kind of ignoring Vim, who I desperately wanted to talk to and spend time with as well.

Although a hard choice, I was utterly blessed to have so many of them. Most didn't even get one choice, let alone multiple! It almost made me want to cry in joy, at the mere thought of it. My world, my life, today was so very blessed compared to the life I'd lived before joining the Society…

"Come on. Let me go get a coat too, I just got my hair dry," Merit said as she then decided to leave the room.

"Mhm," I agreed and followed her. We made a quick stop at her room, and then headed for the exit of the building. Thanks to it already being later in the day, we didn't have to fight the crowds as we left. The bank had already shut down, and the depot was in the process of doing so. Vim was waiting for us, and then led us out of the building and out into the drizzling rain of Lumen.

He walked a bit ahead of us, like always giving me a chance to walk side-by-side with my friend and have a moment to talk alone. While we walked, I wondered what his plan was concerning the heart. Was he going to just hand it to one of the saints and see what they said about it? Or did he plan to just leave it in a random pocket, not his monarch pouches, and see if they noticed it without being told of it?

We left the area of the Animalia Guild building and headed for the noble's district. Like usual the rain kept the streets quieter, but not empty. Plus a lot of people carried umbrellas or wore thick and heavy coats and cloaks, as we did, so it gave the world an odd feeling. As if the world wanted to be quiet, and for no one to really interact with one another.

I defied that and turned to gently reach over and nudge Merit's arm. "What'd you do with the broken heart?" I asked with a small whisper.

"In my room. I gathered up as much of it as I could and put it in one of my jewelry boxes," she said.

Huh? "Jewelry box?" I asked.

She gave me an odd look. "What? Are you going to say I look way too young to wear jewelry?" she asked.

I smirked at her, since I could hear in her tone that she wasn't actually insulted. She was teasing me. "Rather I'm upset you've not shown me any of them!"

Her odd look turned into a wry smile. "Figured. Speaking of jewelry, why don't you wear any, Renn? Particularly the kind on the neck or finger," she asked.

"Hm…? You say that as I it's really weird that I don't," I said, noting her tone.

"Because it is…? You're married aren't you?" she asked.

Oh. She meant that kind of jewelry. "Ring I've seen and heard, but necklace?" I asked.

She nodded as we came to a stop behind Vim. We had to wait a moment to cross the street since there were several wagons in the way. I didn't recognize the color of their banners and emblems, but honestly I wasn't very interested in them. I focused on Merit instead. "Most cultures back in the day used necklaces, or earrings, instead of rings. Honestly I'm not sure which I'd prefer… necklaces get in the way, and earrings would be annoying cause they'd get stuck in my hair, but I think a ring would be annoying too. I think I'd get it stuck on stuff all the time," Merit said as she thought about it.

It hurt my heart a little to hear that she's obviously thought long and hard about this. "Vim would just lose his, I think."

She smirked at that. "Right? He comes back naked more often than not. Makes you wonder if it's some weird fetish of his."

My tail squirmed a bit. "Fetish?" I asked.

She flinched and glanced at me, and then glanced ahead at Vim… who stepped forward as it was now safe for us to cross the street. The wagons had finally passed.

Merit and I crossed the street alongside Vim. Before I could ask again what she meant, Vim turned to glance at us. "Backed yourself in an odd corner there, didn't you?" Vim asked with a smirk.

"Says you? If anything it just proves how useless you are!" Merit shouted at him.

Although I could tell that I was the one being teased here, I still smiled happily as I watched the two glare at one another as we rounded a corner.

Vim sighed as he turned back around. "The word means; something that someone gets gratification from. The way Merit just used it was in a sexual way, but it can be used in a normal way too. Basically she just claimed I find it pleasing to be naked or at least to let my clothes get all destroyed," Vim explained for me.

"Ah… Vim doesn't even notice when he's naked, let alone enough so to enjoy it. I think he enjoys it when I'm naked though," I told Merit.

Merit flinched again. "Gah! Who wouldn't!" she said with a stiff shake of her head.

Giggling at her I reached over to grab her hand. Before I could though she stepped forward and away from me.

Frowning at her, I wondered why she'd not let me take her hand, but before I could ask why she turned to point at me. "If we hold hands I'll look like your guys' daughter!" she said.

"Who cares what people think!?" I said, doing my best to not smirk like mad over what she'd just said. She was small enough to look like a kid. The idea of us looking like a happy little family made me almost want to squirm and giggle, but I knew better than to do so in front of Merit. Let alone here and now.

"I do! Vim, hold your wife's hand so she'll stop trying to grab mine!" Merit said as she pointed at me and glared up at him.

"Stop teasing Merit, Renn," Vim said lightly.

"I wasn't teasing her!" I said as I picked up my speed for a moment, so I could go to walking beside Vim since Merit was now walking on his right.

"It's the fact you weren't that makes it so upsetting! Stop being so adorable!" Merit said from behind Vim.

Laughing at her, I went ahead and slid my hand into Vim's. He didn't even glance at me as I did, but he did return the hold without hesitation at least.

His hand was a little wet, thanks to the rain. He wore a jacket, but not one so big it covered him completely unlike what I and Merit wore. Yet I didn't mind, and in fact…

Studying the side of his face as I walked beside him, I wondered why I didn't feel any… tingling from him, as I had the heart or monarch.

Was it because of where I was touching him…? Maybe while he slept I should touch him all over, to see if any singular spot made me feel that same tingling sensation I felt when that monarch had showed up.

It would prove if Vim had a heart, at least. Maybe.

"What's she doing…?" Merit then whispered.

I blinked and realized they were staring at me. I felt my face go hot as I looked at Vim's smirk, and then had to look away. I tried to unhand him, but he held my hand and kept me from doing so. He didn't squeeze my hand so strongly I couldn't pry it free if I wanted to, but I pretended not to notice that as I groaned and looked away from the two of them in shame.

"Think she was seeing if touching me would let her feel divine power. As she had with the heart," Vim told Merit.

"Oh…? Well? You said it made you tingle right? As if you had gone numb or something? Well?" Merit asked.

"No… I don't feel anything but shame right now," I admitted.

Merit giggled at that. "Shame she says."

"Wonder what people think when they hear you two talk about tingling while touching me," Vim wondered.

My face got hotter as I squeezed his hand, as to let him know what I thought about such a thing.

"Oh shut it! Gross!" Merit shouted and stepped ahead of us, as if to distance herself from us so she'd not be included in such talk.

"Even without holding hands you'd still look like our daughter, Merit, especially if you're going to shout and run around like a kid," Vim then said.

"Gah!"

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