The bathroom was filled with soft mist and amber light. The tub they were in was more like a wide basin made of smooth black stone and imported through some ridiculous means Narisva had zero interest in asking about. She just knew it felt divine, both literally and metaphorically.
The warm water sloshed gently around their bodies, infused with some mineral salts that glimmered like crushed stars, together with the scent of something earthy and faintly sweet.
Narisva sat with her back against his chest. Vastarael was silent. One of his hands gently took her wrist, lifting her arm up just slightly. He used a cloth to clean her, slow circles running across her hand, then gliding along her forearm. His other hand steadied her thigh, making sure she didn't slip. The contrast of his touch sent another wave of goosebumps on her body, making her exhale.
She tilted her head a little, resting it against his collarbone, letting her voice break the haze.
"Darling, why did you fall for someone like me? I'm cold, emotionless and not like the others."
He paused for a second before he gave a genuine, unfiltered laugh that made his chest rumble beneath her. She felt it first before she heard it and it made the corners of her lips twitch upward.
"That's rich coming from you. You say that like you were the cold one between us."
His fingers traced slow patterns along her palm now, lathering it with warm soapy water.
"Adelasta... now she was the glacier. You? No. You were never emotionless to me. Just cocky. Think of it as the kind of cocky that makes everyone want to slap you but can't because you're right."
Narisva snorted. He went on as he moved to clean her thighs next.
"And yeah, maybe the feelings didn't announce themselves. I don't even know the moment it happened. Maybe it was during those short talks we kept getting thrown into together. Like when you'd complain about us being obligated to save the world or whatever, or the casualness you had with me. I think it just happened."
His fingers stilled on her thigh. She could feel his breath on her ear as he spoke more serious now.
"But I know one thing. When you jumped in front of the Frozen God to protect me, I realized something I didn't want to admit. If I lost you, I'd lose something I never even got to understand yet. So yeah, I sacrificed my life for you. And I would do it again."
The words struck her deeper than she thought they would. She swallowed hard, trying to speak, but nothing came out. So instead, she leaned back harder against him, her hand reaching up to gently run along his jawline, her nails lightly grazing the edge of his cheekbone.
His tone shifted from warm to flat.
"You do know you're stuck with me now, right? You're trapped forever, Narisva Starisnova. No breaking up. No take-backs. That's it."
Her eyes shifted.
The star-speckled silver that normally lit them up like constellations turned into a thick black void. Her head tilted as she turned in the tub, straddling him before he could stop her. The water shifted dramatically, a little splashing over the edges and running in shimmering trails down the tiles. Her smile was something no Divine had the right to wear.
"Oh? That's my line, Darling."
His hands instinctively moved to her waist, catching her as she pretended to push him back but the moment he made contact, Narisva's entire body tensed. She gasped, her lips parting as she momentarily slumped forward onto his chest, her head tucked under his collarbone.
"Don't do that. I'm still sensitive, damn it."
Vastarael just laughed.
"Then don't provoke me. Because when you're like this, you're completely at my mercy."
She stiffened and then smiled.
--------
The sapphire coating around the mansion faded. The crystalline sheen over walls and windows dissolved like mist as Vastarael snapped his fingers lazily. The privacy he had wrapped the entire house in last night after things got… messy, unraveled. Steam still clung to the bedroom but they stepped out naked, damp, and entirely unbothered.
Narisva was toweling her star-dotted hair as Vastarael side-eyed her from the corner of his eye. Then he asked, his tone weirdly neutral:
"You got any spare clothes in your inventory?"
"Always do." Narisva yawned. "Why?"
Vastarael cracked his neck, then exhaled like he was about to wrestle a dragon.
"Because I'm about to do something... potentially disturbing."
"You want to touch me, did you?"
"Not the point. Anyway. I might have gone a little overboard on my Love Divinity last night. You're a lot to handle. I had to max it out just to make sure you didn't get... too aggressive."
"That was you going all out?"
"Exactly. Thars how powerful you are."
She tilted her head. "So, what does that have to do with spare clothes?"
"I need to recalibrate the output. And, to do that, I'm going to shift my Divine Form into something that matches the overabundance of the Love Divinity swirling in my soul right now."
"In normal words?"
"I'm about to become a woman."
Narisva's towel dropped. She stared.
"You're what?"
Vastarael's body shimmered with sapphire fractals as light tore through his form. His frame narrowed slightly. His bones adjusted and hips bloomed with soft curves. His chest rose too, pushing outward with feminine fullness. His hair grew longer, silkier and curlier. His jaw softened as his long lashes fluttered. When the morphing was done, Narisva just stood there.
Vastarael was now a she. And she was stunning. It was a goddess-tier beauty. It was the kind of divine femininity that felt illegal. His bronze skin, long curly white hair and now golden eyes instead of a mix sapphire and golden...
He... she was incredibly beautiful.
Narisva's gaze drifted downward before she could stop herself. She gasped and spun around with a tiny squeak.
"You're… even down there?"
Vastarael, in her newly-minted and very curvy body, blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Narisva shoved a T-shirt and shorts from her inventory into her hands without turning back around.
"Here. Wear these. Now."
"Thanks," Vastarael said sweetly. Her voice now had this velvet lilt that made Narisva's ears tingle. She sounded like a lullaby that had taken human form. Vastarael tugged on the shirt and shorts but paused, frowning.
"Wait. This isn't working."
Narisva turned back slowly. "What do you mean?"
Vastarael poked at her chest. "These are visible through the shirt. Shouldn't I be wearing a bra or something?"
Narisva visibly malfunctioned. "I uh... yes? Probably?"
"Do you have one?"
"Why would I have one that fits you?!"
Vastarael tilted her head down, cupped her own breasts casually, and said in a tone too matter-of-fact for Narisva's sanity.
"Yeah, these are definitely bigger than yours. Yours are slightly smaller but huge. Mine are too bouncy."
Narisva stared into the existential void.
"Stop touching yourself!"
Vastarael looked up innocently.
"Why? I was just checking. You women do it all the time."
"NOT IN FRONT OF ME!"
"But you're my girlfriend," Vastarael said with an overly sweet tone, walking over with a little exaggerated sway in her hips. "Isn't this what couples do?"
Narisva backed up like a frightened cat.
"Wh—You're not... you're not allowed to be this hot! Pick a lane!"
"You're the one who keeps calling me Darling no matter what body I'm in."
"No! I didn't know that you're androgynous?! This is cheating!"
Vastarael flicked her white hair over one shoulder and leaned in with a smile.
"Are you having a crisis, Nari?"
"Is this the universe punishing me for being into emotionally available people?"
"You said you liked cold people."
"I meant emotionally cold. Not physically, gender-fluid divine shapeshifter with breasts bigger than mine type of cold!"
"Should I make them smaller?" Vastarael offered. He was genuinely thoughtful. "I could make them smaller. I wonder if I could do cube boobs."
Narisva groaned and sat on the bed, burying her face in her hands.
"Just… put on anything. And stop talking in that sexy voice!"
"I can't help it. It's still me, Nari. Just... with boobs now. And a really cute butt."
Narisva peeked between her fingers and sighed.
"You do have a cute butt."
"Thank you."
She shoved a pillow over her own face and yelled.
"I'm not okay!!"