-83-

Emu looks up from his handheld gaming console, his eyes locking with mine, and his lips curve upwards into a smile.

"What are you looking at, Elk?" he asks me, chuckling a little bit.

"You already know what I'm looking at." I smile. "You look so good to me right now."

Bzz!

I look down, my eyes going to my pocket. "My phone..." Who is texting me at this moment? 

"You should check that," Emu suggests. 

I nod my head, my eyes still on my phone as I read the screen.

Nico: Your dress is ready for you at any moment. Bring that Bugster with you to pick it up. I have a few things I want to say to him.

"It's Nico. She needs me to do her a favor. Do you mind if I go and see her?" I ask Emu, lifting up my head to look at him. 

He shakes his head. "No, go ahead." 

"Are you sure?" I reach out with one of my hands and touch his softly. "I do not want you thinking I'm getting cold feet. You know I'm not getting cold feet don't you?" 

He laughs. "You wouldn't bail on me when you love me so much. You will marry me and have my children." 

I remove my hand and look away, smiling hard. "Hey, how do you know that?"

"I know you. You want my babies." 

"That I do." I look back at him. "Gosh, I love you!"

It isn't that I don't want to tell him about the dress being all good to go and all. The fact is that I don't wanna upset him or make him upset with his Bugster half. Parad and him need to stay on good terms. Not that a dress can run their brotherhood at all. 

"I love you too." He grabs my hands, gaming console on his lap. "I really do." 

"Aw." He's so precious. "I'll be sure to come back and see you as soon as I can. Nico really needs me right now." And I'll be sure to keep Parad away from the dress moving forward. I do not want him near it until after I get married.

"Give Nico my regards. I am glad she's back here and coming to our wedding," Emu tells me, releasing my hands. "You are free to go." 

"You forgot my goodbye kiss." He needs to give me those sweet lips of his. 

"Oh, did I?" Emu laughs. "Sorry, I almost forgot because you're just so beautiful. My mind couldn't compute anything due to it." 

"That's just so cheesy!" I laugh hard, shaking my head. "Okay, Mr. Perfect, let's have a little kiss and I'll get going." 

"Alright." 

He moves closer to me and places his lips against, kissing me despite our positions. It isn't the most comfortable way to kiss, but it is a way to kiss. It is worth it to get a taste of his sweet lips. 

I'll kiss him for a bit longer and then visit Nico.

~.~

I stare at Nico as she holds up my dress, which is back to the way it was before. I knew she could do it! Honestly, I never once doubted her.

"Well?" Nico asks me.

"It looks good as new!" Even better than before. "You did a great job! No one is going to notice what that Bugster boy did now." 

"As they should. Honestly, never let him near it again. After the wedding, you can do whatever you want with your dress. I just won't patch it up." Nico is the best!

"I didn't know he would ruin it. That Bugster is always up to no good and I can't tell what kind of thing he is up to sometimes." Unless he's with Emu. Then they're gaming. 

"I hope he has a hobby by now."

I laugh. "Oh, he definitely does." 

Parad is always doing something with his lady now. When he's not with her, he's with me or Emu playing some video games. We also vent about our frustrations together about our lives and how difficult it can be.

"How are things going with you all? I'm sure it isn't awkward now that Parad has moved onto someone else," Nico asks, changing the subject.

"I kind of miss his attention on me, but at the same time I don't. I guess I just miss our close bond sometimes. Parad isn't around like he used to be." And that is the only thing that I'm having trouble coping with at the moment. "He's a good friend, but a lousy lover."

Nico laughs, nearly snorting. "He is lousy. Who ruins a kid's hopes and dreams over a video game like he did? He's trash." 

"He takes gaming way too seriously, but he is a Bugster. Bugsters love games." They always take them seriously. "Anyways, again, thanks for fixing this beautiful dress. Emu is going to love it on me."

"No, he's going to love taking it off of you," she says, reminding me that our honeymoon night is right afterwards. "I know you've done the deed with him already, but that doesn't matter. It'll be like it never happened before after you get married. You two are going to be two giant noobs in the bedroom."

I look her in the eyes and laugh. "You're so right on that. Sometimes we just...we can be very awkward about things."

It isn't like it is awkward because we don't know what to do, but because we are just awkward in general. We've gotten better with each other, but we're naturally just awkward. Can't fix what we were born with.

"Elkie, be sure to dominate him for me. I need my revenge on him and his Bugster at some point. I'm just going to have you get it for me. It's easier that way."

"Nico, you scare me sometimes," I state with a little laugh.

She laughs softly as she nods in agreement. "Hey, that's what I'm here for."

"You've gotten so mellow these days. Got something you're not sharing with me and the others?" I raise an eyebrow.

"No, just having guys chase after me these days. Who knew I would become someone's object of affection?" She shrugs her shoulders, not seeing how she could be chased after.

"You're smart and pretty. Nico, that's why guys are noticing you know. That and they want free sex." I am just spitting out truth now. "Some guys will take anyone and anything just to get a few moments of pleasure. Trust me."

"Oh, I bet." Nico rolls her eyes. "It's annoying."

"It is. I just hope no one chases after me once I'm married. I'm already off the market, but I want to make it even more noticeable that I am. I'm going to put pictures of me and Emu all over the CR and Emu's office." 

Nico nods, looking impressed. "You're breaking the hearts of all the nurses there who look up to him."

"Not my fault he's attractive." 

"Who is so attractive?" 

I look over as jump up as Parad stands in the room with us, wearing his usual stupid grin.

"Who invited you in here?" Nico asks, obviously not pleased with him showing up here. "If you ruin that dress, I'm going to kill you. You won't be able to come back this time around, Bugster Boy."

Parad chuckles, clearly amused. "Hey, I just wanted to see what was up! Besides, Nico, Emu told me she would be here. I was missing her and I could feel that she was missing me as well. She's my platonic soulmate." I'm glad he's moved on and is okay with us only being friends. 

"Someone has to be," I comment. "Now, you stay over there. I am not about to allow you to ruin the dress again."

Parad takes a step towards me, keeping his stupid little grin on his face. "Shall I ruin it?" he asks, pretending to make a move towards my dress. "Should I ruin your dress on purpose this time just to upset you?" 

"Don't you dare!" Nico exclaims, turning away with the dress. "I will be holding onto it for safe keeping. If you get near it Bugster boy, I'll end you." She looks over her shoulder at him, sending him the meanest look she can possibly summon. 

"She scares me sometimes," I mutter out, shaking my head. "Anyways, Bugster Boy, let's get going. Emu needs us to enjoy life better." Crap excuse, but it is the best I can do on short notice.

"You made up better stories than that. Come on, give me something with some spice to it." Parad looks me over like I can't be serious.

"Emu needs us to save him from the monster that is under his bed. It only comes out when he's bored. I've seen it and can't handle that thing all on my own." He's literally making me do my best to find a reason to drag him away isn't he?

"What kind of stupid excuse is that?" Nico asks, snorting.

"A good excuse to get me out of here. Now, that's some good story telling!" Parad exclaims. "Or was that just poking fun at me?"

"Does it matter why I said what I did?" I sigh. "Nico, we're going now."

"Take care. Don't let him come back." Nico really doesn't want to see him ever again it seems. 

I move over to Parad and grab his hand. "We're going."

"Lead the way," he responds, smiling widely. "I can't wait to be reunited with my host soon." 

I hate that he is so amused by almost everything and anything that isn't a job. One day, he might get some entertainment from a job. Heck, I'll even take a hobby for him that isn't gaming at this point. He just needs something to stimulate his mind.

"You act like you've been away from him for a really long time." I roll my eyes as I lead him to the exit. 

"Well, it has been quite a bit of time." He isn't wrong.

Okay, I'm done worrying about that and better get him to where he needs to be at right now.

A/n: Hello everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out to you all. My hiatus was quite long and I've been struggling with the workload still at work due to a co-worker being on vacation. I kept up with all her work on top of mine, which is a miracle. 

Anyways, please look forward to the wedding chapter. :D I am going to make sure it is worth reading despite not being the best at writing weddings. Thank you for waiting so long for this and taking the time out of your day to read this. Also, if anyone has watched Kamen Rider Geats, let me know how it was.