Ryker just sighed.

"Don't worry about it." he said.

"He needs this right now." he told her.

"And... soon it'll be over." he went on.

"Soon enough, this can all be put behind us." he continued.

"I'll do what I can to make SURE of it."

Ryker just sighed.

"Pretty sure he does." he replied.

"....." he was then silent, before looking at her.

"Careful?" he asked.

"...I cannot promise I won't be reckless." he told her bluntly.

"That being said, I have no intention of dying anytime soon." he continued, before the demon came to the forefront.

"I refuse to let him die! He's my vessel, and path back to the throne!" he declared.

Ryker was silent again, his face turning slightly red, before shaking his head.

"Heh." he chuckled.

"Yeah." he said.

"I... don't wanna lose the life I have, either." he told her.

"...you, in specific." he went on.

"I mean, it's everything, but... I mean, you... oh, you know what I mean." he then muttered.

Ryker almost melted when she ran her fingers through his hair.

"...mmmmmrgle..." he murmured dreamily.

"...heh." he then chuckled.

"Yeah, that... that feels good." he admitted.

"Always liked it when someone stroked my hair." he told her.

"I'll tell ya, you're already doing a hell of a job in the happiness department."

Ryker snapped back to reality, before sighing.

"Right." he said.

"Yeah, I should." he agreed.

"What about you?" he asked her.

"Do you want to come in and join us?"

Ryker just sighed quietly, and smiled.

"All right." he said.

"That's... that's fair enough." he admitted.

The two of them then parted ways, and he made his way back inside.

".....mmm." he mumbled to himself.

"Heh. Yeh, I AM lucky."

Ryker raised an eyebrow as he saw Eke running around.

"Uh, hey..." he said.

"Eke?" he asked.

"Want a hand with anything?" he asked him.

"Anything I can do to help lighten the load a bit, or streamline things?" he asked further.

"........" Ryker was silent for a moment, before shaking his head slightly.

"Got it." he replied.

"Rice. And then the other things you mentioned." he said, repeating all that Eke had mentioned.

"I'll... yeah, rice first." he went on.

"I must say, you're quite energetic." he commented.

"Careful you don't burn out." he chuckled.

Ryker bit his lip a bit when Eke stumbled over his words and memories, and sighed.

"Yes." he said.

"She has." he agreed.

"And I'm happy for that." he told him.

"By the way, what's the estimated time on when we eat?" he asked, getting a start on the rice, as Eke had asked of him.

Ryker nodded before giving Eke what he asked for.

"Here." he said.

"And that all sounds amazing." he told him.

"We'll eat like the high class tonight." he said with a small chuckle.

"...and the more I think about it, the more I'm... only half-joking." he realised.

"This is gonna be some gooooooood stuff."