Moonlight traveled through the night with graceful ease, lightening the rising path.
Alex leads Maria to the restaurant area of the cruise ship. It was neatly divided into dozens of tables and chairs for families and couples, never blending groups unless both sides willed it. They'd been one of the later arrivals. It was to be expected, as they were busy getting connected after their declaration of love, they'd seen the time passing.
Glancing around the warm atmosphere of light browns and off-shaded ivories, Alex couldn't help but marvel at the sight. The room was like a five-star restaurant, just from the looks of the polished wood flooring, real wood, and the soft red table cloths coloring all the tables. Atop them, cutlery and plates set up professionally, knives to the right, forks to the left, and dessert cutlery horizontal above the plate alongside two glasses just a bit above the forks: red wine glass and a water glass. There was even a jug of water covered in condensation, telling him it was cold water for them to enjoy. Coupled with the sight of the starry night, it was a sight to behold.
Alex settled Maria into a chair before kissing her forehead; Maria smiled at this gesture, her eyes filled with love. Alex took his seat just across from her.
It didn't take long for their waiter to come up to them again. There was a smile on his face, and he fiddled with his vest, gaze inclining to Maria for a moment before finding Alex where his eyes dilated almost desiringly. A sight that caused Alex to cringe away slightly. He might not have anything against men liking men, but it was not something he was going to even consider himself.
"Good evening and welcome to Bels, I am Joakim, and I will be your waiter for this evening," The waiter spoke calmly and clearly. From under his arm, he set pulled two menus, black-rimmed ones with a plastic film to keep the paper withing clean, and set them down silently before the couple.
"Can I get you anything to drink for the moment?"
Joakim questioned, hands crossing for a moment before finding their way to his shirt pocket to pick out his notepad and a pen. Indeed a professional, the service here reminds him of Earth.
Quickly shaking his head, Alex hummed, then glanced to Maria then picked up the menu before looking up the brown-headed boy,
"A wine will do,'' Alex ordered a wine.
"Do you have a preference?" The waiter, Joakim, asked, but Alex shook his head.
"House is perfectly fine. Oh, and bring the bottle. That'll be perfect."
''Okay, I'll be right back,'' Joakim said before disappearing. In his absence, a silence promulgated between the two, filled only with the low chatters of their neighboring tables and the soft orchestral music in the background to give some reprieve from the dull chatterings of unknown individuals.
"How are you feeling," Alex flipped closed the menu, having already made his choice of starter, main, and dessert.
''Tired but happy,'' Maria said while sighing.
''You didn't listen to me.'' She added with a pout.
Alex chuckled, saying nothing; silence reigned in for a minute or two before Alex asked.
''Are you feeling? I'm talking about the side effect. Did you feel any change?"
Upon hearing Alex's words, she couldn't help but feel a little amused as the corners of her mouth perked up. His words were too funny, and she wasn't going to let it slide without teasing him.
''No, I feel no change. Sorry, your seed is not all almighty as you thought.''
''Cough! Cough!'' Alex coughed, embarrassed.
〖Why not open a cosmetic shop while you are at it. SP*** Man.〗
Naturally, as someone who would never miss out on any opportunity to tease him, Silveria butted in. Alex could swear that he heard someone chuckling, the voice resembled Nyx's, but Alex was unsure.
''Well, I was joking anyway. But is there anything you can do to accelerate your recovery because at this rate, a week would pass without you being able to recover. But you know we must ascend fast, gain strength, who knows what is happening back home.'' Alex said.
As said, he had taken Mysthia as his home, and he would do anything to save it; after all, it was in the world where his memories of love bloomed. In that world, he learned to love; on Earth, he only played never loved the girls with whom he shared a physical relationship with, but in Mysthia, he found love, loved several women at the same time, something he never thought it was possible, so naturally, he wanted to preserve this love nest if possible.
''To tell the truth, I don't know. Maybe this time, the side effect will be two or three weeks, even worse. As for a method to help me alleviate this side effect, it doesn't exist. We searched everywhere but found nothing. Master said that the only thing we can do is to wait for me to recuperate; naturally, no medicine, no healing spells would work on me. Although this side effect looks like a curse at the same time, it is not a curse.'' Maria explained her situation to Alex, who nodded with a pondering expression.
''I see. It's hard if there's nothing that can be done. You don't know how to activate it, or you don't remember. Either way, we must find a solution.''
Looking at Alex with such a serious made Maria happy, despite her saying there was no solution, not even her master, Freya was able to find a solution, Alex still believes that he could find one, all of this because he was concerned about her, seeing her in such weakened state pained him.
''Don't worry, it will be fine. I'm used to this. Soon I'll be back to normal again. So-"
''Stop saying those words. You have to believe in your man.'' Alex declared, sure that he would find a solution for her problem; in fact, he had an idea after hearing her say that it was like a curse but at the same time not.
Just as Alex wanted to share his idea, he sensed Joakim, their waiter approaching.