Listless Reset [GI]

Chapter 8

"So this is where you were!" Paimon rushed over and found Aether. When she woke up, she noticed that Aether was gone and panicked in the process. She rushed out to see if Aether was awake already but found him laying on the grass as he slept. "AETHER!" She yelled to wake him up.

"W-Wha? Wha?" Aether quickly opened his eyes and sat up. It was a mistake on his part as he fell back down causing him to groan. "Ow..."

"What are you doing out here buddy?!" Paimon asked. "Also what's with the plushie?"

"Plushie?" Aether blinked as he was still adjusting to his surroundings. Slowly, he sat up while rubbing his eyes tiredly. He felt something on his lap and looked down. "?" It was a plushie like Paimon said.

The plushie was but of... The Unknown God?

"Who is that?" Paimon looked at the plushie and she felt quite jealous of the stuffed toy. She looks at it with anger.

"So it wasn't a dream..." Aether mumbled as he recalled what happened in the middle of the night. He remembered falling asleep while the Unknown God held him and cuddled him. He thought it was a dream at first. But now... Raising the plushie in front of him and looking at it. He has second thoughts.

Huh? Did the plush just smile?

He blinked repeatedly as he looked at the plushie's face. But saw a simple stern gaze.

"Maybe a few more minutes of napping will do—"

"No!" Paimon quickly got in front of Aether and looked at him with disapproval. "We have to go to the next set of people we're saying goodbye to remember?"

"Oh right..." Aether mumbled as he brought the plush close to him.

Huh? Does this plush have a built-in cooling system or something? Why'd it suddenly get so warm?

"Also let that thing go!" Paimon snatched the plushie from Aether's hands with a growl.

"H-Hey. What's the matter with you?" Aether blinked with surprise at Paimon's reaction.

"Paimon refuses to get replaced by this thing! HYA!" Paimon threw the plush— "H-Huh?"

"?" Aether blinked in confusion. "What's the matter? I thought you were gonna throw it out of here."

"I-I am!" Paimon growled and threw the plush— "I-It's not coming off!" She tried throwing the plush out of the mountain but it didn't release from when she tried throwing it.

"Look Paimon... I'll never replace you." Aether grabbed the plush from her and held it in his grasp. "It's just a plushie. I don't know how it got here. But you're my number one. I won't replace my number one." He smiled as he closed his eyes.

"... Wu... W-Wu... WUAH AETHER!"

"Y-you're getting more babyish..." Aether smiled as Paimon latched onto him again.

"What's with all the ruckus this morning?" Miko asked with a giggle as she saw the scene in front of her. "It seems like the two of you finally woke up."

"And are already causing noise." Ei said as she looked on at the two. She then noticed the plush. "What's that?"

"It was with me when I woke up apparently." Aether said. Despite this being a chibi plushie of the god that defeated him and Lumine... He will admit... it is rather cute. He placed it on his shoulder and it didn't fall off at all. "Huh. It's a weird plush if I've ever seen one. It doesn't fall off with balance. Paimon tried throwing it away because she got jealous, but she couldn't throw it."

"P-Paimon was not jealous." Paimon sniffed as she wiped some tears from her eyes.

"There, there." Aether rubbed Paimon on the head as he comforted her.