Never entirely be respected

Princess Ariunbayar had a feast fit for at least ten people. She stuffed her face, unminding of table manners or acting ladylike. Zhang Wang could hardly stop the deep sigh that rolled out of his lips when he caught a glimpse of her from the stairs. There were not many others around in the little dining hall, but the girl's presence filled up the entire space.

Yu Yanlin was close behind him, chuckling at his demeanor and brushed a breath across the shell of Zhang Wang's ear. "You wanted to get it over with, didn't you?"

Zhang Wang scrunched up his face, feeling like this tiger of his was becoming more cub-like as the time went on. Who would have thought? He still couldn't quite tell if it was a good or bad thing but decided it was best not to dwell on it. He drew in a breath and resigned himself to his fate.

"Hello--" He began, forcing a smile for the girl he became acquainted with, ducking down in greeting.

Ariunbayar shouted at him, her hands slamming down on the table, causing bits of food to fly about. "You! It took you forever! All the food is already gone…"

"Uh…" Zhang Wang looked down at the array of leftovers still splayed out on the table. He wouldn't necessarily call it gone, but he was also too tired to argue with her. "So you're here because… don't tell me you want to set out NOW for the debugger?"

She rolled her eyes as though he was an idiot. "Of course! Did you think I'd wait? I don't have time to waste!" A small hand came down and smacked the crowded table, encouraging the two to take a seat. Curiously, her wide eyes inspected Yu Yanlin as the tiger demon quietly took a seat by Zhang Wang's side.

Zhang Wang flopped down with a deep groan. He wasn't in the mood for travel or epic battles. All he wanted were his lazy morning back. Maybe some cuddling could do as well. Yu Xinen was never too big on that, but it seemed that her older brother was a lot more different than he expected. "I don't understand why you're in such a rush," Zhang Wang pointed out, scowling a little when the Princess of the Steppes was beckoning the waiter over and ordering even more food. "Don't tell me there's some sort of time limit or something."

"Time limit quests happen," Ariunbayar nodded but then frowned, "but that's not the point! If I just leave my debugger out there, who knows what could happen."

"What could even happen? It's just in the pit of some Man-Eating Worm's stomach. I doubt that worm would be leaving its territory anytime soon."

"You never know!" Ariunbayar huffed impatiently, her nose turned up. "Just because you're intent on wasting your life away I'm not about to do the same."

"Pardon me," Yu Yanlin cut into the conversation for the first time. His voice was both melodic and harsh, "On what basis do you recon Zhang Wang is wasting his life away?"

"..." An awkward silence swept through.

"Well," Ariunbayar coughed, "he's not even interested in his Main Quest."

But why was she talking like nothing outside the Main Quest mattered? It rubbed Zhang Wang the wrong way. "Just because I'm not obsessed with the Main Quest, doesn't mean that my accomplishments are worth nothing, you know?" He tried to keep his tone casual with an easy shrug.

"What's the Main Quest?" Yu Yanlin asked.

As always, Ariunbayar responded without a single care, "It's to return home."

Zhang Wang sat stiffly.

Yu Yanlin tilted his head in confusion, "Are you not home?" He asked Zhang Wang.

Zhang Wang nodded, "Yeah, this is home to me."

He began to truly wonder about the worth of the Main Quest. What did he even have to return to in his previous world? Everything that mattered to him was in this current world, as despairing and cruel as it was.

But when he thought about it, wasn't it strange that the Main Quest even revolved around returning to their original world? Shouldn't it have been something closer to defeating the big bad and writing century-old wrongs?

Zhang Wang might not have been interested in the Main Quest much anymore, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested in dissecting the rest of the gibberish clouding his system. And those side quests. Ariunbayar did mention something about rewards for side quests.

But Ariunbayar was too busy scrunching her nose in distaste, "Well, you have fun, I suppose. But I hate this world and would very much like to return home. You two are going to help me do just that."

"Yeah, yeah," Zhang Wang rolled his eyes, picking at the new set of food in front of him that Ariunbayar ordered. "So where's the rest of the gang?"

The girl blinked, "What gang?"

"You know, the gang." Zhang Wang said as though he was being obvious.

Someone, Yu Yanlin was able to decode the meaning behind his words, "Sect Leader Sikong allowed you six people to take with you to accomplish the task. We are two. Where are the others?"

The Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms nodded, "That's right. Where's the gang?"

She rolled her eyes at them, "There's just the four of us!"

"..."

"..."

Not only did it make no sense that she hadn't enlisted the help of others, but why was her ability to count off as well? Ariunbayar let out a long exasperated sigh, sensing the confusion that clouded the expression of her new companions. "There's going to be me, you, this weird Bai Hu guy--"

"--hey, he's not weird…" Zhang Wang realized belatedly that was a lie but just continued, "he's cute."

Yu Yanling coughed awkwardly.

And Ariunbayar ignored them and continued, "And Sansan."

"Who the heck is Sansan?" Zhang Wang felt like the name was familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Luckily, the demon king had a more detailed memory, "Sansan is the chicken. The flying chicken."

Oh, that's right, Ariunbayar had a pet chicken, didn't she? "I remember now."

"Sansan isn't a chicken!" The poor girl exclaimed.

Unfortunately, Sansan's pride as a glorious and majestic eagle would never entirely be respected.

When they had their fill, the three of them finally set out, with Ariunbayar's pet eagle flying overhead. Ariunbayar walked with a bounce in her step, humming as she skipped. Zhang Wang wished to have even an ounce of her enthusiasm and excitement, but the truth was, he was still tired. A yawn possessed him, eyes tearing from the wide stretch in his face.

"Tired?" Yu Yanlin asked, his hand coming up rest on the small of Zhang Wang's back both comforting and supportive.

He almost instinctively leaned into the taller, more stalwart figure but Zhang Wang didn't want to reduce himself to some weird needy girlfriend. They were just friends with benefits or something. There was no need to make it weird or blur the lines. "Wished we could have stayed in bed for a bit longer."

But in the end, Yu Yanlin's arm pulled him closer until his body was completely leaning against the demon king's figure for support. A part of him reminded him to complain, but Zhang Wang was too enamoured by the comfort he felt. He sighed and rested his head on Yu Yanlin's shoulder, lashes fluttering as fatigue threatened to tickle every inch of his body.

The debugger sounded good but staying in bed and cuddling with Yu Yanlin seemed even better.

It was a pity that his moment of peace was soon interrupted. Ariunbayar's steps halted abruptly, causing Yu Yanlin to stop as well, snapping Zhang Wang out of his relaxed state. He hissed, "What? What's going on?" But looking ahead of the little Princess, it was easy to see what had her startled and seething with annoyance.

Chu Changying stood before them, a large bamboo hat with a silken veil falling down its rim. She had her usual haughty appearance about her, chin tilted slightly upward.

"What do you want? You're not welcome to come with us!" Ariunbayar stomped her foot.