Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

"Is Isabella the person that I remind you of?" Kiera asked, narrowing her question.

Kaze closed his eyes and took a deep breath, snapping back to the topic he tried suppressing. "No, Isabella is someone you are [similar to] from long ago.

I loved her for the same reasons I love you. I don't love you because you [remind me] of her. So please don't let your anxiety insult my feelings."

Kiera puffed out her cheeks when he brazenly declared she'd ask if he loved her because of Isabelle. However, she smiled wryly because she would have and was grateful he had addressed it, so she didn't have to.

Kaze pulled the covers out as she stood awkwardly, brazenly asserting that she was anxious about lying down—she was grateful about that, too.

After she reached the bed, her partner watched her get into bed with excruciating timidity, exasperating him. So, without warning, he picked her up by her waist, dropping her beside him and tickling her.

"KHAYAhAZehHhahhhHahahahhhHhhahah!" Kiera cried, rolling back and forth, smacking him in the face, "SHahahhahahahHhaAhHhahH-TOP! I'm a GROWN ASS woman! Hahaha!"

Tears streamed down her eyes for a few seconds until he stopped, laying back on the bed, leaving her giggling like a madness-stricken hyena.

"You look comfy now; how excellent." Kaze smiled amusedly, "I was worried you had nerve damage in your limbs, so I was checking thoroughly… for your health, of course."

The slang riddler turned to him with a full pout but burst into laughter again. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so much.

Kaze put his arm down on the pillow, and she crawled to it, laughing at her laughing until she was lying on his shoulder.

Kiera had never crawled into his arms. However, she had woken up like that plenty of times, so being there felt strangely comfortable—and hilarious.

"I… hahaha... always thought… that... hahahaha!" She laughed, "I ended up like… this… because you… haha… latched onto me… hahaha… like a… body pillow… haha… in your… sleep hahahahaha!"

The slang riddler wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him closely. Laughing too hard to care about her actions and too comfortable to feel anxiety about them.

"Kaze, I… hahaha…YOU KNOW! YOU fucking… hahahaha… know…." Kiera cried, moving her right arm around his neck, "You know… haha…."

"I know what?" Kaze asked, smiling gently, brushing pink and black hair out of her eyes.

"What do you mean, [I know what]?" She asked in a burly meathead voice before laughing again, "I… hahaha I… haha… I…."

Her laughing abruptly stopped, feeling her anxiety returning while trying to answer the question. However, her eyes widened when a short yet subtle burst of Forced Tranquility washed over her, lancing her anxiety instantly.

It was so clean, precise, and meticulously pinpointed that it was absurd! Devastatingly absurd!

"THAT was some SKILL, bro… haha…." Kiera laughed, "I'm over here trying to have a panic attack… haha… and you were like, [NO PANIC FOR YOU! Begone, anxiety!], cue explosive punch gif! Haha hahahahaha!"

Kaze searched his memory, looking for [begone] gifs, and found a great variety that made him frown… but then smile because his slang riddler was dying over them. He thought about how much he used to love memes and realized that her reaction made sense.

So he just smiled and ran his fingers through her hair as she laughed to tears, clutching his neck.

"I was going… haha… to say… hahahaha…." Kiera giggled, "That… hah… that… haha… that… fuck me, I FUCKING LOVE YOU!"

Her eyes widened in horror when she said it, and she looked up to see if she should run. However, when she saw Kaze's gentle gaze that said, [yeah, literally everyone knows], she burst into laughter again.

"I love you too, Kiera." Kaze chuckled in amusement, "So just keep that mindset for the next hundred thousand years by my side and this moment will be perfect."

Kiera's eyes trembled at his obscene timeline. However, when she realized it'd take a hundred thousand years to make the current moment perfect, she burst into laughter again.

She reveled in the moment, getting hugged by the person she loved to a fault. It always made her day to wake up in Kaze's arms; now, she was living it while she was awake. "Kazey?"

"Hmmm?" He hummed, addressing her.

"You said that… haha… you loved me… for the same reasons you loved Bell…." Kiera prefaced, "Why did you love her?"

Kaze's heart pulsed when he heard her say the name [Bell]. However, he knew she was just one to chop, screw, and smash words together by default, so he smiled. "Must you ask? If you just ask [why do you love me], I will answer you without reservation."

"I'm glad that you would answer me so easily…." She smiled strangely, "It's just that I've only just met you, but it sounds like you knew her for a long time. So, I'd like to hear about her."

He took a deep breath and reflected on his past partner, trying to find the words to say.

"Bell's love for me was… intense." Kaze chuckled in amusement, "She would do just about anything for me… whether I wanted her to do it or not. Frequently when I didn't want her to do anything."

"Frequently?" Kiera giggled in amusement.

"Fre-quent-ly." He scoffed breathlessly in bitter yet reminiscent amazement, "I remember a man named Marquise Bloom became enraged when he learned that I had slept with his new partner years prior, and he couldn't please her after."

The fiery teen smiled wryly, hearing him talk about another woman. However, she giggled lightly, thinking back on that morning. "Well~yeah. It's hard to imagine anyone can top Bach, hitting eight octaves of orgasms in one sesh.

Unless they're pre~ty talented and willing to go the extra mile—down butch lane. Grenade jumpers have a better chance at scoring in general."

Kaze smiled at her savage statement, which still managed to compliment him.

There are ten octaves in the human range of hearing, and she said that he made Kylie sing eight, which would make her compete with the female with the highest vocal range in history.

However, she insinuated that Kaze could have hit all ten but would've needed to sleep with a woman who had a deeper voice than a chain-smoking coal miner. So anyone with talent had the chance if they went the extra mile into big bertha territory.

"So what did he do?" She asked, seeing him at a loss for words.

"He went to the city, slandered my reputation, and decried my sexual services as foul play, preaching the cruelty of my inhumane techniques and saying that I was leading women into pleasure ruin." Kaze chuckled.

He wasn't chuckling at what had happened. Instead, it was because—

"What!?" Kiera snapped in outrage, "Douchenozzle couldn't get his woman off, and that's [your] fault!? And he tried to ruin your reputation for the whole city!?

Please tell me you ripped that man's limbs off! Because if you haven't, I'll kill all the survivors in that city just to ensure he doesn't make it!"

"And so…." He grinned, "Bell, like you, declared that Marquise Bloom needed to be relieved of certain appendages."

The pink-haired teen's eyes widened when she heard where the story was going and grinned. "Go~on. You had my curiosity; now, you have my attention."

"While I do not tolerate people raking my reputation through the muck with falsehoods, such a common perspective was great for advertising." Kaze frowned, seeing her excitement, clearly missing the point, "So I asked Bell not to start trouble.

It took a while to get her to agree not to pursue it, but she eventually dropped it."

"But she loved Kazey, so she didn't let beta simp limper lie, did she?" Kiera giggled in amusement, nuzzling her head in his arm.

"If you dare to put it so eloquently, yes." He scoffed in exasperation, rolling his eyes that she chained a slang pejorative, an insult, and an innuendo—all lexically false—into a single statement.

She grinned and wrapped tighter around him, feeling good that he accepted her "abhorrent" language, a sign of true love.

"I found twenty people waiting for me at my home that night." Kaze smiled in remembrance, "From their testimony, she dropped it but went to let Marquise know that I was magnanimous for dropping the issue.

Naturally, that sparked a conflict, so it didn't get dropped."

Kiera grinned and giggled in amusement. "What a bad bitch."

He tried to frown, but couldn't, so he continued smiling.

"The men showed up to make an example out of me for revenge, so they attacked me simultaneously." Kaze chuckled, watching her murderous grin turn to horror, hatred, and disbelief.

"You can't be serious!" Kiera snapped, gritting her teeth, "I can't believe those noob-launching virgins would try to gang up on you! Were you strong enough to end them like you are now!?"

"I was not." He shook his head with a reminiscent smile, making her quiver, "However, I was stronger than each, individually.

So while I got seriously wounded, I stayed alive long enough for Bell to arrive."

"Wait…." Kiera shivered, "Are you implying that Bell was stronger than [you]?"

"Back then, yes." Kaze smiled in amusement, "I've spent most my life surrounded by people stronger than myself.

After all, there can only be one [strongest] person, so it's not that surprising, yes?"

"Logically, yes…." She whispered, "But it's still hard to imagine now. Still… someone like me really saved someone like you?"

"Cor~rect." Kaze smiled mysteriously, "She destroyed my home and created 20 identical problems in five minutes, but, as you can see, I'm quite alive."

"While I think it's cute…." Kiera prefaced, her face scrunching up in conflict and confusion, "She caused you so much trouble, and you lost your home because she didn't listen.

It was her fault you almost died, so why do you make it sound so positive?"

The slang riddler thought back to fighting Cher, Mark, and Mitch to protect Kaze's honor with a wry smile. She caused him trouble and impacted his reputation, but he didn't stop caring about her.

"Why?" Kaze scoffed in disbelief, "That woman made a dark example of twenty-one people for speaking ill of me in public.

If people cannot see the intrinsic value in such pure and unreserved love and loyalty, I lack the time and patience to change their mind."

Kiera's eyes widened in bewilderment, hearing his exasperated declaration that the fiery teen's psychotic love was pure and valuable. "Does that mean… that you're okay with my… love, too…?"

"Nothing pleases me more." He nodded, making her eyes well with powerful emotions.

"Kaze…." She said shyly, "Can…."

Kaze rolled to his side, facing her on the bed with a magnetic expression. "You can do whatever you like or ask me to do what you wish."

"Kiss me…." Kiera whispered, "Only that… nothing—"

Before she finished her statement, she felt his lips connect with hers smoothly.

Her body melted, sharing her first kiss with the person she loved most in the world. It made her body well with elation beyond anything she imagined possible.

Before she could wrap her mind around it, their kiss was over, leaving her wanting to continue indefinitely.

Kiera looked at Kaze's dreamy gaze after their lips disconnected with trembling eyes. "Kaze… kiss me again. No, I'm kissing you!"