“Uwu…” Gnome let out the tiniest sound while nibbling on the waffle John had given her. Sitting next to her on the bench, he just looked at her face with a content smile. She was a prettier view than the Hudson.

It was another day, another birthday. Well, contract day would have been more accurate, perhaps. On the first of August, exactly one year ago, he had first summoned Gnome. Now he was having a date with her to celebrate the fact. Something that she had requested after he made the same offer to her as he had given Aclysia yesterday.

Although a date, in this case, was really just an hour of the two of them alone. Afterwards she wanted to go back and do much the same as Aclysia had wanted. Which was for everyone to be together and just enjoy a free day.

Gnome’s profile contrasted with the background of verdant green trees nicely. The white skin, somewhere between pale and tan, the curve of her nose, her brown eyes focused on the chocolate covered waffle, her pink lips as she munched on it very slowly. Eventually, she noticed his staring, glanced at him, then stared at the waffle again, slowly turning red.

Silently, John put an arm around her shoulder and the other one on her thigh, in a relatively decent place. It was the usual way he took hold of one of his girls when sitting next to them. It was equally to signal that he wanted to protect them and his sexual interest. The Gamer was not interested in pretending that he wasn’t in love with their looks. Not as much as he was in love with who they were, but the former definitely helped with the latter, and he wasn’t sure how he would react if one of them ever became hideous, as unlikely as that was.

He knew that made him a bit shallow, but at least he was honest.

Gnome didn’t mind either way. Although John could never shake off the impression that she was cute as a button, she was also an attractive thing. A bit plain, being brunette with brown eyes, average height and average curves (as far as the members of his harem went, anyway), but attractive in the balance of all of those features.

“…Uwuwuwu…” she continued to make the embarrassed sounds, as she nestled against his chest. Even her own, willing actions made her turn red. As John didn’t push her, simply letting her lean onto him and eat her sugary treat, she calmed down again though.

He smelled her hair. It had the aromatic smell of a meadow in autumn, minutes after it had rained. A very earthy and naturalistic scent, difficult to find in the urban settings John normally moved in. It made him quite happy and, even though they continued to be silent, he could see that she enjoyed his attention.

The dead giveaway was that she stayed where she was. Their mutual feelings for each other were beyond question, so it was of little surprise that she did. The way her bare legs waved, shifting the skirt of her yellow summer dress, betrayed her good mood. John even caught her humming a little melody and swaying her head to it while she ate, although that quickly ceased once she realized what she was doing.

The waffle grew smaller and a ship drifted by on the river. John recognized it as one of the people he paid to inspect the waters. Since the magical oysters he had settled had cleared the once murky water to a staggering degree, he was looking into settling some wildlife in the Hudson Barrier. It would have to be a very delicate process; he had to make sure the entire thing was self-sufficient and self-balancing. Multiple contractors were currently busy designing an ecosystem. Right now, people were scratching their heads as to how the Guild Hall would influence those things, especially the Fishery.

Although the swarms created by that Building couldn’t leave the confines of the Guild Hall and scatter into the wider Hudson Barrier, the same wasn’t true for any predators settled in the lake. Since the fish had to be caught with the Building provided rods to become ‘real’ in the edible sense, the question was whether those same predators could eat them. If yes, then predatory fish could rely on a basically infinite amount of food and that would topple the balance of the entire ecosystem. If not, then they could settle some smarter predators that could learn that they just didn’t get sated when hunting in those areas and therefore stayed away from them.

John shoved the purpose of the ship aside and instead took the view as a whole. It was difficult; his mind liked to pluck bits and pieces of what he saw and analyse them quickly to the deepest available level. It was an incredibly useful skill to have for the combat strategies he often had to develop rapidly. When it came to enjoying a romantic setting, it could be quite bothersome.

A movement in the corner of his eye caused him to look down to Gnome again. The adorable soil elemental was offering the rest of the waffle to him. Through tactical eating, the remains of the chocolate covered treat had taken the shape of a heart. Feeling the strings tug at his own, John bowed down and took a bite. It tasted just as sweet as it looked. Every new bite confirmed this.

When he was done, the only bit of chocolate remaining was on her lips. She tasted even sweeter than the waffle. Not factually, there was just a hint of chocolate and sugar on her tongue, but in ways more true than reality. Her blush was of a healthy light red tone this time, more excitement than shame. Grabbing his shirt with both hands, she kept him in a kiss that he had no intention of pulling out of anyway.

Her pink lips were so soft. John remembered times when she had less control over her density. At the same time, she had also been a manifestation of stone then; now she was soil, and soil was a bit more malleable. Tiny wet sounds echoed whenever their lips parted for moments at a time. Moments that were filled with little gasped “Uwu”s and chuckles.

John wasn’t really sure how long they kept kissing, just that it was like time halted for them while their lips touched. The summer warmth lent itself to hazy moments of passion. That he barely had opportunities to breathe properly while they made out didn’t help. The world was quiet, safe for the soft whisper of the waves against the nearby shore.

Their tongues and minds were intertwined. The separation between their thoughts was thin, barely existent. He felt her embarrassment and the love that trumped it. She felt his lust and the love that trumped it. Basic reactions their lesser minds wanted to act out, but they didn’t because of who they were with.

A sudden honk ended their wonderful unity and caused John to angrily glare at the water. Barely audible, John heard the metallically adjusted laughter of Magoi Magus as he drifted by on his boat. Mabirl, standing next to him, gently hit him on the head with her cane. Whatever talk they had, it happened while waving at the interrupted couple.

John bent over forwards, grabbed a rock from the floor and chucked it at the water. If he had stood up for it and gave it all, he might have been able to actually hit the boat. As it was, the stone barely hit the water.

“Meddlesome plague doctor,” John grumbled, the wonderful silence interrupted.

“Uwuwuwuwuwu…” Gnome was now properly red again, a combination of the rebound from the past however-many minutes and the fact that they had been so crudely noticed. “So embarrassing…” she mumbled, while John patted her head. He would have preferred to brush through her thick brown hair, but the ever-present twin tails at the sides made that a bit difficult.

“I would tell you to just ignore it, but knowing you, that’s not an option,” he joked and placed a quick kiss on her scalp. “Just concentrate on me, Gnome, right now it’s just us.” The truth of that was easier to sell thanks to Magoi sailing off at full speed. At least the High Fateweaver had the tact to just be a joking interruption, not a date killer.

“Okay…” The soil elemental embraced him and basked in his scent. Presumably, that was calming to her. “I love you,” she whispered out of nowhere.

“I love you too,” he responded just as quietly, and the silence settled in again. For a while, they just existed there that way. Two lovers, unbothered by the passage of time, like two rocks in shallow water.

“Do you like my hair?” Gnome suddenly asked.

“Hmmm, in what way?” John had to ask back. “It’s surprisingly soft, so that’s nice. It’s also very thick, so there is just so much to hold onto…” He let out a pained chuckle when Gnome lightly punched him in the ribs. “...Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he apologized, not completely serious.

“I know you can’t,” she pouted, which only made her more adorable. John squeezed her in a sudden, two-armed embrace. In response, she made a sound between a rubber duck and a surprised puppy. “H-hey… w-w-why?”

“You know exactly why, you sweet cuddle rock,” John declared and pulled her over into his lap so smelling her hair and cuddling her was easier. “Now, go on with that question, I honestly don’t know in what way you want to know I like it.”

“Like… the style…” Gnome explained hesitantly. “It’s not like I chose the twin tails. I was just sort of made with them and I never bothered to change them…”

“That is a hard question,” John hummed. “I’m honestly not that big into twin tails,” he said straightforwardly. Gnome didn’t take that as an insult or in any other negative way. She had asked a question and was prepared for almost all answers. “Your current hairstyle I find… alright. I think you would look good with basically anything, what you currently got going is cute, but a bit too involved for me. Simple open hair or the old, simple twin tails would be more to my liking.” He shrugged. “I think I’m just a typical guy in this regard, I like things easy.”

“Okay,” Gnome nodded to herself. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“For what?” John asked.

“For when I next evolve.” Her legs were waving again. “Two more times, right? I can still change in little and big ways… maybe I’ll manage to fix my stutter sometime…”

“What stutter?” John asked. “All I hear is adorable booting up complications. The shy way that you start your sentences with just adds to my wish to protect you, you absolutely wonderful thing.”

“N-no! St-stop that!” she demanded, immediately flustered.

“But you don’t have any problems speaking once you actually get going.” John innocently pretended like he had said nothing flattering. “Just a little cute stutter at the start. Not worth mentioning.”

“Well, I am self-conscious of it!” Gnome declared and lowered her head. “I’m the leader of your elementals, right? I have to be a role model!”

“No, you don’t,” responded her summoner immediately, causing her to glance at him in a confused fashion. “What you have to be is someone all of them respect. That’s what a leader is, someone everyone listens to. And, when it comes to it, all of them do.” He took a little pause to let that sink in, then finished up with, “Because, when it comes to it, you are confident in what you do.”

“Uwu… you can’t just… uwuwuwu…” Gnome got stuck for a little while unsure what to say. “You can’t just make me feel this flattered! I don’t know how to handle that!”

“Good, makes it all the more satisfying to tease you,” John grinned, and then had to wrestle with Gnome for a little bit as she freed herself of his embrace. It was a fight he couldn’t have possibly won, not while sitting. Gnome wasn’t just a little bit stronger than him, so the earth spirit had soon managed to get out of his loving arms. She still sat in his lap, however, just facing towards him now.

Out of pure habit, he put his hands on her hips. “You’re an evil man,” Gnome accused him, her hazel eyes reflecting her conflicting feelings.

“But you love me,” he stated.

“…but I love you… b-but you’re still evil!”

“As long as I want that love to stay with me, I think I can’t ever be truly evil,” he theorized and leaned forwards to kiss her. Something that he was denied. “Now that,” he grumbled, “that is an evil thing to do. You can’t just deny a man a kiss.”

“Why not?” Gnome wanted to genuinely know. “Do you think you’re entitled to me, to any of us?”

“Of course not,” John was almost offended that she even asked that, “I’m just not sure if I can survive without your lips on mine. I have this terrible disease… it’s called being me…”

“That is a… ah, I just can’t…” Gnome leaned forwards and gave him that kiss he sought. “Bantering with you just isn’t my strong suit,” she mumbled, while taking him into her arms. Compared to hers, his hugs must have felt crude. John didn’t know how she did it, but between her slender arms he felt safer than anywhere else. It was just the right level of tight and genuine.

“That’s alright,” he whispered, and they continued to sit there.