"Hey."

  Nier pulled the door just wide enough for his head to appear, his maroon hair tousled, one blood-red eye squinting against the hallway light.

  A zy half-smile tugged at his lips when he saw her.

  Bel's mismatched eyes lit up at the sight of his handsome face this te in the morning. She rocked onto the balls of her feet, hands csped behind her back like a kid hiding a gift.

  "Hey, big guy, sorry for waking you up early, I just came to say hi!"

  Her voice was bright, but the smile trembled at the edges; she had rehearsed this moment in the mirror for an hour st night, after she has been here for three days now, but not once has she greeted him, it was always the other way around.

  But she build up the courage to do this now.

  These whores have a lot more time with Nier than her, and even at an intimate level as well, she need to change that, and she need for that change to be soon, if she wants to catch up.

  So this would be the first of many steps of winning Nier's heart.

  Nier on the other hand scratched the back of his neck, the motion flexing the lean cords of muscle along his bare torso.

  "Quarter to nine is early for you?"

  He yawned mid-sentence, then froze as Bel's gaze slipped past him, as he open the door some more.

  The room behind him was dim, curtains half-drawn. A tangle of white hair spilled across his pillow; a girl nineteen, maybe twenty y on her stomach, sheet kicked to her waist, faint bruises blooming along her hips like violet fingerprints.

  The air carried the unmistakable musk of sex and sweat. Bel's smile calcified the moment when she saw her through the door, when Nier came out to greet her.

  Her fingers curled into fists behind her back, nails biting into her palms.

  She took slow and patient breaths, as she was trying to keep her cute, nonchant demeanor up, and not let her true feelings of anger show.

  For that reason she forced a giggle that came out too sharp, and a little weird as she said.

  "Looks like I am interrupting your fun."

  Nier followed her line of sight, shrugged, and stepped aside so the door swung wider.

  "Yeah Alle crashed twenty minutes ago. To make a long story short I fucked her to the point of exhaustion."

  He said it the way someone might mention the weather to another in a casual, and unbothered, but honest way.

  "Ah, I-I see, so Alle her name!?"

  "That's right, Alle is my precious little Minx now."

  The nickname hit Bel like a sp.

  "Your little M-Minx?....

  Her voice cracked on the st sylble; as heat flooded her cheeks. She swallowed hard, eyes flicking to the sleeping girl, then back to Nier.

  "How...when... how did you meet her?"

  Bel asked, her composure starting to slip. As Nier folded his hand, and answered honestly.

  "Last night at a club downtown. She asked if I wanted company. I said yes. Shit happen, and she moved in this morning."

  A complete lie, but Bel was not fully on their side yet, but with this, if she sees Alle, she wouldn't question her presence now.

  He answered as he scratched his jaw, sheepish but unapologetic.

  "Wait so you just brought and started a random retionship with some random girl you met at the club?"

  'Why didn't he invited me, I mean come the fuck on dude, sigh he is so daddy material but despite looking twenty I forget he’s nearing thirty seven. But still, it hurts my pride a bit, I am literally popur among the young teens and adults of the world today. I am Bel Zane for crying out loud.'

  She said to herself, but Nier's reply caught her off guard.

  "Well, yeah, maybe this might sound cringe to you, but I am rich as fuck, it would be dumb not to use the money I have for my pleasure, I could literally get any woman I want, I am a selfish asshole like that, but to be honest with you, I am kind of a serial Anti-monogamist… with a rotating cast. Call it what you want, man-whore, harem junkie, whatever. But I think Imani and Tanya being here, should have clued you in, no?"

  Nier said, and Bel's pulse hammered in her ears.

  'Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GODDD!! He is saying it like it is normal thing. This is so unacceptable, yet why do I find this so hot, no Bel, he is your man, the man you want to marry, and have ten kids with, I...mmmhh... Sigh, to think, I would actually ponder if I can... if I can really fix him, his whoredom is kind of intimidating... I don't want say this, but I think my love may be vastly more worse than even my Elder Sister, ohh god, that is kind of disgusting and terrifying at the same time. My Sister does have Five husband's, who all have multiple wives, and the only reason she can do that is because of her... No, ahhh, this might be a problem.'

  She continued, as she opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again. This time just to not make the mood weird, however she think she finally understand why Nier put her so far away from him. As such, using this, she said.

  "Wow, so I guess you gave me the room at the end of the hall because…”

  "Because when I am with any of my girls, it gets loud as hell."

  He finished, rubbing the back of his neck.

  "I didn't want you waking up to… that. Respect, y'know?"

  The word respect twisted in her gut like a knife. She pictured the girl's bruises, the sheets, the scent.

  'I am so fucking jealous right now.'

  Her smile wobbled, as her mind started to flood with various thoughts.

  'He thinks he is being polite. He thinks this is considerate... Ahhh this torture, why do these whore's get this kind of attention!?'

  But just then, Nier's hand settled on her shoulder, as he spoke, saying.

  "But hey! Enough about my poor life choices, Are you hungry?"

  The sudden pivot threw her.

  "Y-yeah... I was gonna order some breakfast from Gill and Riats via drone delivery."

  "Order?"

  He snorted.

  "I can cook come on, let me make you something."

  He stepped into the hall, pulling the door until it clicked shut behind him.

  "Let's just leave Little Minx there to rest, tell me how do pancakes sound?"

  Bel blinked, her brain scrambling to catch up.

  "…Sure?"

  "Coffee or tea?"

  "Tea."

  "Ohh so your tea fan like my dad."

  He said with a grin, while padding barefoot toward the kitchen, he continued.

  "I am more of a coffee heathen like my Mom, but I keep a full herbal stash for guests. Grow it myself in the greenhouse."

  "Wait...you grow your own herb for tea!?"

  Bel asked a little surprised. And Nier responded with.

  "It was a hobby of my old man... However Lisa keeps the greenhouse in perfect order these days on her own, I am not much garden dude."

  "L-LISA!?"

  Bel's voice pitched.

  'Really, another one.'

  She questioned, as started to worry that the competition for Nier's heart might be vastly deeper than she originally may have thought.

  But thankfully that was not the case, as Nier began to expin.

  "Yes that is the name of the Vil AI."

  He crified, amused. Bel exhaled through her nose, tension bleeding out.

  'Thank the gods.'

  She followed him down the hall, stealing gnces at the flex of his back, the way his shorts rode low on his hips.

  'Ahh, this is so aggravating, I can't accept this, he is mine, I can't let these whores out do me like this.'

  She repeated the words like a prayer, letting them steady her pulse as they descended the wide staircase.

  Then a delicious scent hit them halfway down, crisp bacon, buttery eggs, and strong coffee, and tea, Nier's stomach growled audibly; Bel's jaw clenched.

  They stepped into the sunlit kitchen. And there she was, Tanya stood at the stove in a sleek charcoal bzer and pencil skirt, hair twisted into a fwless chignon. One pte on the table was scraped clean, lipstick smudge on the rim. Imani's, no doubt.

  Nier slid behind Tanya without a word, hands settling on her hips, lips brushing the curve of her neck.

  "My, my. What’s the occasion?"

  "Morning, papi."

  She purred, tilting her head to give him better access.

  "Nothing special. Imani had to bolt before her husband got home, and she was hungry, so I decided to make her something while I was at it, and decided to make something for the whole house since I am already here, nothing fancy of course."

  Hearing this Nier chuckled, as he said.

  "The cuck's on the move again?"

  "Fufufu. Military rotation is the reason, so Marcus usually leave at odd or random hours. Yesterday he was gone all morning, back by evening, gone again by night. Same pattern today. Gave Imani a window to crash here, but she slipped out at dawn to keep the timeline clean."

  Nier hummed, fingers tracing the waistband of her skirt.

  "And you? Doesn't your husband notice the empty bed?"

  Tanya flipped an egg with a flick of her wrist.

  "That loser can kiss my ass. I filed for a divorce at the Courts yesterday. The papers are already in my purse. I am pnning on serving it to him tonight."

  "WHATTTT!?!?"

  The shriek ricocheted off the marble counters.

  Bel flinched at the sudden shout, and Nier's head snapped toward the doorway.

  A familiar young woman leaned there, her eyes wide with genuine shock.

  It was Marcy.

  "Oh your daughter here too?"

  Nier muttered under his breath.

  Tanya gnced over, spatu mid-air.

  "Marcy. You’re an hour early."