Chapter 17

She dusted off her hands and walked back inside, still smiling. "What he MEANT to say. Was that he found a beautiful, delicate maiden who had been wronged and falsely imprisoned! He fought hard for her sake and finally freed her from the clutches of evil like a valiant knight."

Jax rubbed his back as he groaned in pain. "Delicate? Delicate my ass."

Filo ran over and jumped up and down. "Me next! Me next!"

Jax smiled wryly. "Maybe next time kiddo." He said before walking back into the tent and sitting down.

Naofumi and Raphtalia thought for a moment before Naofumi pointed something out. "So does that mean that you're the escaped convict 'terrorizing' the people?"

Liv and Jax laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." Liv said.

Naofumi sighed. "This shitty country. Why do we even defend them?"

Raphtalia finally said something. "But I thought the person they were looking for was a devil with horns."

The room fell into silence as time passed, eventually, Liv seemed to come to a decision and took off her cloak. Revealing her horns.

Naofumi and Raphtalia stared in shock. "Are you a DITF character?" Naofumi asked.

Jax chuckled. "That's what I said."

Liv glared at Naofumi angrily. "Did you just call me a DILF???"

Jax burst out laughing and Naofumi started panicking and waving his arms. "Nonononono! That's not what I meant!"

Liv's glare never ceased.

Naofumi continued panicking. "It's something different! It's called Darling in the Franxx! Jax knows what I'm talking about! Right? C'mon! Help me out here! Tell her that's not what I meant!"

Jax bit his lip to hold back the giggles. "I have no idea what you mean." He barely managed to say before bursting into laughter again.

Naofumi looked at Liv fearfully. "H-he's lying! I swear! I just thought you looked like this other girl!"

Liv rolled her eyes and sighed.

Jax's laughter subsided and he caught his breath. He let out a deep breath. "But, seriously. She really does have the same horns as Zerotwo, right?"

Naofumi nodded his head and pointed at Jax. "See! It was something else! I wasn't calling you a DILF!"

Liv giggled and leaned towards Jax before whispering in his ear. "I think he's just projecting."

Jax laughed. "Right? I was thinking the same thing."

"What?" Naofumi asked.

Liv and Jax looked at each other before looking back at Naofumi.

"You're the real DILF." They said in sync while pointing at his 'harem' of kids.

Naofumi took a second to process the information before understanding the implication. He threw his arms in the air. "I don't have a harem!!!"

Liv and Jax both lost it and began laughing together.

Just like that, the afternoon went on. It was a joyous day filled with laughs and smiles. And, for both Jax and Naofumi, it was the first time in a while they had been able to forget about the burdens of being a hero. It felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

During the evening, everyone gathered around for a campfire. Apparently, Naofumi had found some marshmallows at some point along his journey. Jax and Naofumi taught the three kids how to roast their own. At one point Jax stole Raphtalia's and told her that sharing with Naofumi would help them get closer.

Naofumi got mad and started chasing Jax around the firepit while everyone else laughed at the two. Eventually Naofumi ran out of breath and gave up on his hunt.

Once Jax noticed he walked over to Liv and sat next to her on the same log they used yesterday.

He let out a breath of relief. "It's nice to finally have a day off."

Liv nodded along, however her attention was elsewhere. She was focused on roasting her own marshmallow.

Jax looked over at her progress and was able to see it go up in flames. Liv quickly pulled it out before a large ball of water appeared in the sky and put out the fire on the marshmallow, also soaking both Jax and Liv in the process.

Liv looked down at the wet marshmallow with a pout. Jax wrapped one arm around her and pulled her in towards him. "I'll show you how to do it. We can share one too."

Liv smiled and nodded, resting her head on Jax's shoulder.

Jax smiled and picked her up before setting her down on his lap. He handed her a new stick and grabbed another marshmallow.

Jax reached around and put his hands over hers and guided the stick in the right direction. "The trick is to be patient. Let it roast slowly from a little further back."

Liv nodded as she attentively followed along. "Mhmmm."

Jax lifted his chin and rested it on top of her shoulder while watching the fire. The two cuddled as they watched their marshmallow slowly heat up.

They looked around at the scene before them. Raphtalia was currently shoving a half eaten marshmallow at Naofumi's face, trying to get him to eat the other half. Melty was holding a long stick over the fire with at least 20 marshmallows on it. Filo was sitting next to her and eating marshmallows of another stick that had just as many already roasted.

Naofumi kept pointing towards Filo and Melty and saying that he could just eat one of those marshmallows, causing Raphtalia to frown. When Naofumi saw this he started to panic before eventually agreeing to share his marshmallow with Raphtalia. He leaned in and ate it with a small blush on his face.

Jax and Liv smiled warmly while silently observing. Their marshmallow had turned a perfect golden colour before Jax lightly tugged on Liv's hands to pull it away.

Liv smiled proudly at her work as she took it off of the stick.

Jax smiled and lightly stroked her hair. "It looks perfect. Good job."

Liv giggled. "I know, I'm pretty awesome."

Jax nodded while staring into her eyes. "Yeah, you are."

Liv's beautiful smile lit up her face and she gave Jax a peck on the nose.

She pulled back and scrunched her nose cutely with a little smile.

Jax smiled and pointed at the marshmallow. "Are you ever going to eat that? Or just stare at it?"

Liv stuck out her tongue, mockingly. "I was actually just about too."

She put the marshmallow to her lips and Jax gasped at the betrayal. "What about my half?!"

Liv winked at him before leaning towards his mouth and pressing the other end of the marshmallow to his lips.

Jax chuckled and took a bite before meeting Liv's lips as they shared a brief kiss. When the two pulled back their gazes lingered on one another as they both chewed on melted marshmallows.

After a few bites each they both started giggling at each other and the ridiculous look they had with puffy cheeks.

Jax finished his half of the marshmallow first. "Why are you so cute?" He asked with a smile.

Liv started chewing faster in order to answer but that only made Jax laugh. "You're so adorable!" He said as he hugged her.

Liv finally finished and pouted while crossing her arms. "Stop making fun of me."

Jax looked betrayed. "I'm not!"

Liv turned her head to the side and huffed.

"I'm really not! I'm being honest!" Jax said.

Liv smiled and jumped on Jax while hugging him. The two toppled over to the ground together.

Liv looked down from on top of Jax. "You better not be lying."

"Never." Jax replied.

Liv lay down on his chest and clung to him. "Good." She said with a satisfied smile on her face.

Jax chuckled and started patting her head while looking up at the night sky.

"Cute." He smiled and muttered too quietly for Liv to hear.