Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 22: Sweet Home

Arthur and his father's return home is nowhere near what should be a victory, but rather a dark walk where neither of them utters a single word.

Draven doesn't run; in fact, he walks very slowly because part of him doesn't want to return home, not without knowing how to deal with that dark part of his son.

Arthur, on the other hand, really wants to return home, see his beloved mother and cute little sisters, take a bath, and relax in his bed with Nyx.

However, he can't help but fear what his life will be like now that his father has started to see the shadows that reside in the deepest part of his soul.

Arthur fears having ruined his second chance, but at the same time, he doesn't regret giving those thugs what they deserved.

Either way, both father and son walk slowly down the road to the village, using the rest of the night to reflect on everything that happened.

And even fearing what will happen when they get home, they finally arrive several hours later when the sun is already shining beautifully in the sky.

Aria comes out the front door with little Eve following her when they notice the father and son duo arrive.

"Oh my, you've taken so long!" Aria tries to scold the two, but her tone is just as loving and gentle when she talks to Arthur.

She quickly notices the blood stains all over Arthur's clothes, but she isn't concerned because she knows that the blood isn't his.

Yet, she can see that something is wrong because there is a black cloud over both father and son.

"Brother!!!" Eve runs out from behind Aria and tries to hug Arthur.

"Hey!" But Aria quickly holds the little girl. "Your brother just got home; he needs a bath and a rest before he can play with you."

Arthur really doesn't want to hug his sweet sister with his whole body dirty and smelling of death, so he is grateful to his mother.

But Eve doesn't care about that; she just wants to make sure her big brother is okay.

"Did you get hurt?" She asks, concerned.

"No, little bug," he smiles lovingly at her. "I'm fine... much better now that I'm home."

Eve smiles at him, and so does Aria. "Take it easy, mommy will make a good breakfast for you, dear."

"Thanks, Mom," Arthur says in an emotional tone as he enters his house and goes straight to the bathroom.

He tries to remain calm, but it's much easier to do it when he's killing bad people than when he doesn't know if his perfect life is going to end at any moment.

He can't stop thinking about the loving way Aria always looked at him and that he could lose it when Draven tells her what kind of person he really is.

Although he is not saying anything mentally to Nyx, she can feel how he feels through their bond.

"Don't worry, your mother is not like your father," she says to him.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

And she quickly explains. "I have lived with them for fourteen years inside you; I know them well, and I can say that Aria does not share the same stupid heroic ideas and morals as Draven."

Arthur had never thought about it; his parents really don't look like each other, and they don't seem very close most of the time, either.

He spent most of his life so far with Aria, studying with her and receiving all her love and affection.

Of course, he always had contact with Draven as well, but their relationship only began to improve after they started training together.

And now it seems to be falling apart so quickly...

But some things remain a mystery to Arthur, such as his parents' past and what brought them together.

And even though they don't share the same ideas and not even the same bed, Arthur always saw his parents as a very united couple. At least they never fought in front of him or anything like that.

"Ahh..." Arthur lets out a long sigh as he takes off his clothes in the bathroom. "I don't know what's going to happen, but my relationship with my father will never be the same again."

"That doesn't have to be a bad thing," Nyx comments. "I also feared how our relationship would be before you... you know... started to be more..."

Arthur can't help but smile when he sees Nyx becoming shy again.

While they were facing the bandits, she was helping him in every possible way with the determination of a devoted wife.

But now that they are out of danger, she loses that courage and becomes shy again just by talking about their relationship, which has only involved kissing so far.

"Are you doing this to cheer me up?" He asks.

"D-do w-what?" Nyx knows he's not talking about her family advice.

"Being so cute!" He responds, making her even more shy.

Nyx knows that Arthur loves her shy side, but she hates it since it prevents her from doing things that she actually really wants to do.

But it can't be helped; she just can't control her emotions when she's interacting with Arthur, especially using her physical body.

As she remains silent, he finishes undressing, remaining only in his underwear.

But before removing it, he wonders about something he hasn't thought about since he met Nyx three years ago.

"Nyx..." He looks at his underwear. "Do you peek at me every time I'm naked?"

"WHAT?!?!" She exclaims in his mind.

"You do, don't you?" Arthur is sure of that.

"I have no choice!" She quickly exclaims, even more timidly. "I see everything around you, that's how our bond works!"

Arthur becomes more curious about that. "Can't you even close your eyes or something?"

Nyx also doesn't know much about how their bond works yet; all she knows is what she sees and feels, besides the experiences she discovers along with him.

"When I'm inside your Nexus, I'm just energy... I don't have a body here, so no, I can't close my eyes." She explains.

"Oh... so you can't even sleep?" He asks.

"No..." She starts talking in a shy tone, but then it becomes impossible to hide the affection she has for him. "That's why I materialize my body to sleep with you every night..."

Arthur loves sleeping with Nyx ever since he met her, and he's happy that it's something enjoyable for her too.

He wants to make her even happier, so he thinks of something and speaks in a fake disappointed tone. "Yet, it's not fair that you see me naked every day..."

"What do you want me to do? Materialize my body outside the bathroom to give you privacy?" She asks.

"No, but how about letting me take a look at your body too?" He casually asks.

"W-WHAT!?!?" She exclaims again, even more timidly.

"Joking, just joking!" Arthur laughs in Nyx's mind. "You don't need to do it; after all, I like seeing you in a bikini... imagining what's underneath is very exciting."

"YOU..." Nyx becomes even more timid and upset; she wants to call Arthur degenerate or something like that.

But at the same time, she feels proud and happy, leaving her heart in a mess of conflicting feelings.

"Hahaha..." He laughs due to her shyness and lack of response.

Arthur can hardly believe that all the shit and troubles he faced out there can't bother him when he's interacting with the cute Nyx.

She really seems to complete him in every way perfectly, which only makes him like her even more.

Now in a much better mood, he takes off his underwear, shakes his hips and big tool, making Nyx even more shy inside his Nexus, and then gets into the bathtub.

"Ahh..." He lets out another sigh, but now of pleasure as the hot bath water makes his tired body feel very good.

"That was a shitty day..." He thinks out loud.

"But now you're home again," Nyx comments in a loving tone.

"Yeah..." Arthur relaxes in that hot water with his back against the bathtub wall.

He closes his eyes and remains motionless for a minute before speaking again with Nyx. "Do you wanna know what I would love most to have right now?"

"Huh?" She asks, curious.

"A loving wife to clean my body..." He says casually.

"..."

Silence, of course; Nyx becomes shy just imagining that and can't even talk.

But after another minute of silence, she manages to speak again. "Can't you do that by yourself???"

"Oh?" Arthur pretends not to know what she's talking about but quickly continues. "It's just that fighting those bandits left me very tired... I didn't even sleep last night, you know..."

Nyx is not stupid; she can see that Arthur is playing some of his acts again.

But instead of wanting to expose him, she wonders if it's okay to play along with him; maybe that can engage her shy side, allowing her to do more things with him.

Gathering all the courage she has, Nyx materializes her body next to the bathtub.

She has already learned to use the Nexus energy to create any clothes she can imagine, but she appears in her classic black bikini instinctively.

"Nyx?" Arthur again pretends to be surprised by her appearance and tries to use that moment to look at her beautiful body.

But she foresees his action and quickly forces him to turn his face to the other side with her delicate and fragrant hand.

"Don't look at me!" She exclaims in his mind.

"Come on!" He tries to look again. "We've already passed this part, right? You sleep kissing me; how can you be so shy??"

"I... I..." Nyx can't explain herself well. "I'm going to do that for you... help you with the bath... but you can't look at me now, or I won't be able to do it!"

"Damn!!!" Arthur can't believe that he's really going to be able to fulfill such a dream much faster than he expected.

"Okay, okay, I won't peek!" He quickly promises and closes his eyes.

Nyx continues to be very shy, but since Arthur can't cast his fatal loving gaze at her with his eyes closed, she starts to calm down.

"You better behave..." She asks as she picks up the soapy sponge.

But before she starts washing Arthur's body, she takes a good look at it, starting with his chest.

"How can you be so hot?" She wonders as she admires Arthur's attractive six-pack, his muscular arms, the lines of his collarbone and everything else...

She can really see every part of his body from his Nexus, but that's different from watching with her eyes while having her body materialized next to him.

In that way, she can really enjoy how beautiful his body is and feel her own heart beat faster due to how much she likes him.

"Nyx? Any problem?" Arthur asks, curious.

"Nothing at all!!" She quickly responds, unable to hide her shyness and eagerness.

Then, with an extremely blushed face and eyes shining with excitement, she squeezes the sponge and takes it towards Arthur's chest.

Nyx has been sleeping cuddled with him for more than three years, and they've kissed a lot in recent days, but this is quite different from what she's about to do.

She's really going to wash his naked body like a loving wife...