New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

***The next morning, in David’s hidden location***

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David woke up from another night of nightmares. It had been months since his rebirth, and he had yet to get rid of those horrible images in his head.

Even if this body hadn’t lived through these events, his soul refused to let go of it. He got up from his bed, sweating all over and panting.

He walked to a sink and drew himself a glass of water. After dunking the thing down his throat, he was finally able to steady his breathing.

He took his phone from the nearby table and looked at the date.

‘Already almost time. It’s time to go have my little chat with the little butterfly.’

David elected to go see Alexander directly, instead of texting him like he had said last time. This way, he could also talk to him about his little stunt on the level leaderboards.

‘I’ll go tomorrow. Today I have to check in on the shelter’s construction.’

***Back in Alexander’s penthouse***

Alexander woke up with a shiver running down his spine. Like his body was warning him that something bad would happen soon.

He brushed it aside when he noticed Kary’s naked form next to him. A smile crept his way on his lips as he cuddled up to her again, kissing her neck and shoulder.

Kary moaned in pleasure, waking up with a wide smile.

“Good morning, my red-haired goddess.”

“Oh, stop it. Flattery will lead everywhere, and we don’t have time for another session.”

Alex smiled at her words, knowing full well what she meant. Unfortunately, they indeed didn’t have time to enjoy each other another time.

Violette would probably be up soon, and they didn’t want her to hear them, or worse, catch them in the act. This wasn’t the kind of thing a nine-year-old should ever see.

Kary smuggled herself out of his room, heading into her own, to get dressed, while Alex did so in his. Just as he exited his room, Violette opened her door, still in her pyjamas, rubbing her eyes.

“G’mornin,” she muttered, still half-asleep.

“Good morning to you too, Violette. I’m going down to make breakfast. Do you want some?”

“Mm.”

She nodded her head, eyes not even fully open, until she realized she was still in her jammies. Her eyes went wide as she looked at Alexander, her mouth dropping open.

“Before you ask, no. It wasn’t me who changed you. I asked Kary to do it. I only brought you to your room.”

Violette sighed in relief. She still headed into her room again, slamming the door behind her.

She hurriedly changed before heading back out to go have breakfast. Kary had already dressed up and was downstairs too, watching Alex cook from the kitchen island with a smile.

Violette noticed the smile and felt something was different from yesterday. She eyed the woman as she sat next to her, her brows knitting over her eyes.

Kary noticed the stare and looked at her with a questioning gaze.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“Your smile. It’s different. Did something happen while I was asleep?”

Alexander, who was taking a sip of coffee, almost choked and started coughing violently.

Violette looked at him suspiciously too, and then back to Kary, who was smiling even wider.

“Nothing *cough* Nothing happened!”

Violette doubted his answer, but since neither talked, she opted to think about something else.

“What’s for breakfast?” she asked, going back to her normal nature.

“Bacon and eggs, with some hash brown,” Alex responded, finally managing to stop choking.

“Yummy!” Violette exclaimed.

After breakfast, Kary already had to leave, so she went to pack her bag upstairs. When she brought it down, Alex took her to the elevator doors.

“Before you leave, there is one last thing you need to do.”

“And what is that?”

“I said the door was always unlocked for you, and I want to honour that.”

The elevator doors opened as he finished saying that. Alex brought her inside, pressing the button to keep the doors open.

Then he entered a code inside the security system, and an interface appeared. He tapped a few different icons until he was on a menu titled ‘New User Biometrics’.

Kary looked at him with surprise.

“I didn’t think you meant literally…” she said in joyous surprise.

“Yes, well, I didn’t, originally. But things being what they are now, I think you should have your own key, metaphorically speaking.”

She kissed and hugged him, happy that he was willing to go to such lengths for her. He had yet to say the magic words to her, but this was still as good as it got.

Alexander helped her through the process, as they logged her handprint, retina, and voice into the system.

“I’ll have a keycard made for you, too, the next time you are here. This way you can come and go as you wish.”

“Thank you for doing this. I know how much this means to you. I’m very pleased you trust me enough for this.”

Alexander scratched the back of his head wryly. How could he not trust her?

They had been so intimate together, and they were a couple. Many people would think that wasn’t enough, but he thought differently.

After doing this, he bade her a last farewell, as did Violette, and they let her leave. Kary still had a few hours of driving to do to get back home.

The pair stared at the elevator doors for a while after they closed, feeling like a small part of the house had become empty. Violette already missed her new friend, and Alex, his new girlfriend.

*Clap*

“Alright! Enough moping. What do you want to do today?” Alexander asked as he turned to Violette.

“What is there to do?”

“So many things! Do you want to go to the park to take a relaxing walk? Or maybe we can go to an amusement park and have a blast. Or we could go to the arcades and have some fun, like normal kids.”

“Do arcades still exist?” Violette asked, confused.

She had never visited one, but she saw them in the movies. It was almost a foreign concept to her.

“Of course, they still exist, silly. Man, your parents should have let you out more often. It’s like you’re from space.”

Violette gave him an angry stare.

“Go get dressed. I know the perfect place to go.”

He didn’t need to ask her twice.