When Ares returned with the pillow, Lu Xiao had already dried her hair and was waiting for him.
Seeing him enter, the young female sitting on the edge of the bed patted it gently, gesturing for Ares to place the pillow there.
Her movements were natural, and her expression held none of the arrogance of someone high and mighty, only a reassuring quality.
As Ares carefully set the pillow down, Lu Xiao asked, "Did you sleep well after the Spiritual Soothing yesterday?"
Ares was about to say he had slept very well, but Lu Xiao cut him off, anticipating his answer. "Answer truthfully now."
Ares froze. He swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and said instead, "It was a little better than before."
"What do you mean by 'a little better'?"
"I can sleep for a while, but once I wake up, I can't fall back asleep."
Lu Xiao nodded, carefully logging Ares's condition in her notes. She wanted something to use for comparison.
Ares watched in surprise as she recorded his condition. "You don't have to do that. You can just ask me."
"This treatment process is going to be long-term. Do you think you'll be able to remember all the details over time? It's no trouble for me, and this way, whenever I want to check, I can just pull out my notes. Now, lie down." Lu Xiao didn't elaborate further, simply patting the pillow and urging Ares to hurry.
Ares lay back on the pillow, his heart filled with a mixture of shock and a joy he was unwilling to admit. The next second, the young female's warm, smooth palm rested on his forehead.
The state of Ares's Spirit Sea was no different than before. Having done this once, Lu Xiao found the cleansing process went much more smoothly this time.
About an hour later, Lu Xiao withdrew from Ares's Spirit Sea. Unsurprisingly, Ares had fallen asleep again.
This treatment was clearly a rare chance for Ares to rest, so Lu Xiao decided not to wake him.
But then it belatedly dawned on Lu Xiao that if she didn't wake Ares, the two of them would be sleeping in the same bed tonight.
'This is something I didn't think of. I should have done the Spiritual Soothing in Ares's room. That way, I could have just left when I was done and he could have kept sleeping. Now this is a bit awkward.'
'But there's no way I'm sleeping on the floor over this. Why should I have to make sacrifices after I just helped him?'
'It's just one bed. Back in the apocalypse, I slept next to corpses under much worse conditions.'
Deciding not to dwell on it, she covered Ares with a nearby blanket, rolled herself up in the comforter, turned off the light, and went to sleep.
She had done so much today and was already exhausted. It wasn't long before she fell fast asleep.
Ares woke in the middle of the night. The moment he opened his eyes, he heard the sound of steady breathing beside him. The presence of another person in the room was a deeply unfamiliar sensation.
But he couldn't mistake the room. He knew perfectly well he was still in Lu Xiao's room, sleeping in the same bed as the young female... and right now, she was sleeping right beside him.
Close enough to reach out and touch.
Upon realizing this, Ares grew both excited and nervous.
As a male of his species, his five senses were incredibly sharp. Even in the pitch-black night, he could see with perfect clarity.
And so, he could clearly see Lu Xiao's sleeping face, etching the image into his memory.
'So the beautiful, gentle female is just as peaceful in her sleep.'
It was only in the dead of night like this that he dared to secretly gaze at her.
'She was a female who made him feel so conflicted... one he longed to be close to but dared not approach. She just made him feel...'
Just as Ares's imagination was running wild, Lu Xiao suddenly stretched out her arms and legs, wrapping them around him as if he were a plush doll. She even seemed annoyed that he was too big, and after struggling to get a good hold, she gave an irritated tug.
Ares let her pull him closer, and she promptly wrapped her limbs around him.
Lu Xiao nuzzled into the crook of his neck, and after finding a comfortable spot, she fell still.
As for Ares, now held in her embrace, his mind went completely blank and his face grew scalding hot.
His hands under the comforter unconsciously clenched into fists.
'Where am I? Who am I? What am I supposed to do now?'
...
In the morning, when Lu Xiao woke up, Ares was no longer in the room. The blanket he had been covered with was neatly folded to one side.
She reached out and touched the spot next to her; she could no longer feel any warmth. Apparently, Ares had been up for a while.
She hadn't woken up, which meant Ares must have been incredibly careful when he left.
After lingering in bed for a bit, Lu Xiao went to the bathroom to wash up. When she went downstairs, she found Ares had already made breakfast.
It was the pan-fried dumplings she had mentioned offhandedly last night.
'It was a nice feeling, having someone not only remember something you said in passing but also act on it.'
"When did you wake up?" Lu Xiao walked over and casually pulled out a chair to sit. "Did you sleep okay last night?"
"A little better than the night before," Ares replied, feigning nonchalance. "I got up at dawn. I'm an early riser. I didn't wake you, did I?" In reality, the image of Lu Xiao holding him while she slept still swirled in his mind. He had spent nearly the entire second half of the night wide awake.
He hadn't dared to move until Lu Xiao finally let go and rolled over. Only then did he slip away, though his heart ached with reluctance. If he didn't get up then, he wouldn't have been able to prepare the pan-fried dumplings for her before she woke.
"From now on, let's do the Spiritual Soothing in your room. That way, after you fall asleep, I can go back to my own room."
At her words, Ares's hand, hanging by his side, clenched unconsciously. "Did I disturb you?"
"You didn't. I'm just worried you won't be able to rest properly." Lu Xiao felt a pang of guilt. The truth was, she wasn't comfortable sharing a bed with Ares. It felt far too intimate for a relationship that was nowhere near that level.
Ares noticed her evasive gaze, and a faint bitterness soured his heart. "Okay. Would you like some juice? I made orange juice."
Seeing Lu Xiao's avoidance, Ares, though unhappy, decided to change the subject.
'I can tell she probably doesn't like me all that much,' he thought. 'But even so, she hasn't driven me away. She's even willing to perform Spiritual Soothing for me. That's already more than I could ask for.'
He tried to console himself. 'My little female is already wonderful. She just doesn't like me, and there's nothing wrong with that.'
'Many females seek out males not for love, but to satisfy their own selfish desires. The way Lu Xiao is... it's truly a blessing.'
Lu Xiao silently breathed a sigh of relief when Ares didn't press the issue.
It made her realize she would have to seriously confront the nature of her relationship with Ares.
'Later, I'll need to look up the marriage laws here. Can a relationship like ours be dissolved? And what would happen if it was?'
'And what kind of impact would it have on Ares?'