Chapter 137 Chapter 137
“What do you mean?”
“Um… nothing,” she said softly and raised her head to glance at him.
“You look like a panda,” he smiled, referring to her smeared eye makeup.
“Great.”
“A very cute panda,” he added, wiping the skin under her eyes with a tissue. “Now it’s fine. As if nothing ever happened.”
“I’m probably very ugly right now,” she said pessimistically.
“No, you’re not. You’re pretty,” he said with a hint of stubbornness and proceeded to kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her lips. “And now I want you to smile.”
“Okay,” she said, and the corners of her lips quivered. “Can I get another kiss?”
“Of course, sugar. As you wish,” he whispered and breathed a soft kiss on her lips. It conveyed a soothing warmth that chased away the negative feelings. Colorful joy bloomed within her, and she soon understood that it was mixed with his. Maxwell’s emotions were a bit different from hers, so she could tell which belonged to him and which to her. When they mixed, they were amplified, colorful, and bright like a rainbow.
Leaving her sadness behind for good, she focused on the blend of positive emotions within her, and suddenly, smiling wasn’t so hard anymore. When they ended the kiss, and he saw her smile, he mirrored her expression.
“See, that’s better,” he grinned and took her hand to lead her out of the alley. “And now we should resume our date. What do you want to do?”
They returned to the busy streets winding through the amusement park, loud laughter and music reaching her ears. The atmosphere was cheerful and bright, and she found herself enjoying it. Letting her eyes move over the area, she was unsure where she wanted to go now.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you decide?” she asked.
“Fine, then come with me.” He remembered something he had seen earlier that he wanted to try. They walked hand in hand over a square, and he brought her to an area with many souvenir shops, but those weren’t what he was interested in.
He walked on to where the game stalls were. They were decorated with prizes that the players could win, and Valerie assumed that he wanted to try his luck in one of them. He picked the game with balloons and darts, and she smiled amusedly at his poorly hidden interest in playing. Valerie herself didn’t want to try since she was rather bad at these kinds of games, so she watched him play instead.
His eyes narrowed as he concentrated on hitting one of the balloons, raising his arm, and throwing the dart. It got stuck in the wall without hitting anything. He clicked his tongue and took the next dart, this time aiming a little higher before he let it fly.
Again, he missed. “Fuck this,” he growled, particles of red appearing in his iris. Valerie watched with wide eyes as he threw the next dart with inhuman force. It hit a balloon, but since he’d used so much of his supernatural strength, the dart snapped, its tip looking crooked.
Her smile froze on her face when she noticed the horrified expression of the man running the stall. Maxwell, however, didn’t see anything but his targets and took the next dart, aggressively hurling it towards the wall with the balloons. He didn’t hit any of them, but he managed to break this dart as well.
His competitive side had awakened. He gritted his teeth and took the last remaining dart, glaring at the balloons as if he wanted to destroy them with his glower alone. Unsurprisingly, this dart was also broken, snapping when it hit the wall.
“I want another round,” Maxwell grumbled and glared daggers at the man running the stall. He was sweating nervously, his gaze flitting from the demon to Valerie and back.
“Well,” he stuttered, “If you continue to destroy my darts, I soon won’t have any left.”
“I said I want another round.” Maxwell persisted, lowering his voice.
“How about this: You get to choose any prize you want if you leave afterward?”
Maxwell was about to open his mouth and throw a fit, but Valerie was faster than him. “That’s great, thank you so much.” she said politely and nudged Maxwell with her elbow. “Come on, pick your prize.”
He pulled a face, unhappy that he didn’t get his chance to win, but he didn’t complain anymore and picked one of the prizes. The man was more than happy to hand it over to get rid of Maxwell. Valerie heard him heave a sigh when they walked away.
The demon looked at her from the corner of his eye before he held out the prize to her. “It’s yours,” he said.
“Really?” she sputtered and took the cute little plushie. It was a round kitty with small protruding ears and big eyes. Its soft fur was yellow and reminded her of Mochi. “Thank you. It’s cute,” she beamed and hugged the cat to her chest. “I’ll treasure it.”
“I figured you’d like it,” he mumbled as they walked on. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, grinning when he saw her happy expression. It was fascinating to him that she was able to find joy in the smallest things.
—
Half an hour later, they had finally reunited with Esther and Vaughn, who had been busy riding all the rollercoasters that the park had to offer. Their hair was windswept, and their cheeks flushed. It was obvious they’d had a lot of fun. Nonetheless, Esther looked envious when she saw Valerie’s kitty.
“Vaughn, look. Why haven’t you gotten a prize for me, too?” she huffed and put her hands on her hips.
“Because we didn’t have an opportunity for that, remember? We stood in line most of the time,” he explained nervously.
“Next time I want a prize too,” she grumbled, but let him off the hook.
Maxwell, on the other hand, didn’t plan on letting it slide. He smirked cockily. “You suck at dating, Vaughn,” he drawled, his voice oozing arrogance. “I’m better than you in every aspect.”
“Can you shut up for a second, you arrogant ass?” Vaughn growled, being riled up easily.