"The paper? Oh that's just to help me collect valuable notes and data," Marianne said with a smirk. "And I have to say Miss Hazel, the information you've been giving out so far has proven to be very [b]I.N.T.E.R.E.S.T.I.N.G.[/b]"

Well that was new. That was the first time the dark mage had referred to the other girl using her name. It made her actions right now all the more stranger and suspicious.

"Is there a problem Miss Hazel? I thought you wanted to become closer to me," the girl said, almost taunting. "Well I'm right here. Would you like me to get even closer?"

Hazel eyed the dark mage suspiciously. This was [i]certainly[/i] some sort of trap. Mari's sudden change in attitude coupled with the fact that she was now referring to Hazel by her name made her very suspicious to Hazel.

But Hazel was still, as always, a nervous wreck. "W-w-w-w-well, uhhhhh, I... Uhhhhhh... Okay?" Hazel stuttered her way through the sentence, but her embarrassment was visible.

"Oh come now Miss Hazel, surely you're a little happy to see me? Aren't you just a little giddy over the fact that I'm even spending my time with you? That seemed to be the case a month ago," Marianne put in. "Don't tell me I've already gone and lost your interest now."

As she said this, the dark mage's hands began to glow a deep purple. She didn't move to cast a hex, instead merely sitting in place. And then it was gone, the aura around her hands extinguished as she stood up and backed away. Her smirk did not dissappear but she had done something, that much was for sure.

That something would arise in the form of something impossibly cold gripping onto Hazel's hands. A pair of pale white hands manifested from what appeared to be the shadows themselves, gripping on and not letting go. Actually, the whole interior of the tent seemed to have darkened even more as more and more of the ghostly appendages slithered from seemingly nowhere.

Marianne only stood with her calm grin, the hands doing no more than snaking their way across the other girl.

"I don't mean any malice," the dark mage said calmly. "I just want to [b]T.A.L.K.[/b]"

Mari may have been calm, but Hazel certainly wasn't. She [i]almost[/i] let out an involuntary scream, but quickly cut it off, coming out as only a squeak. To say Hazel was now uncomfortable was an understatement. Her last bout of fire may have been involuntary, but this was anything but. This time it was a more constrained blaze, a sheath of fire seeming to encircle Hazel but avoiding the flammable bits of the tents, which she hoped would discourage the groping hands as she wildly batted them away.

"Stop this right now!" Hazel cried out, now to panicked to let her embarrassment get to her. 

It didn't seem like Marianne was listening to her. Or if she was, she chose to ignore the other girl's demands. Instead she took the paper and pencil and began jotting down notes with little care to her subject at hand. However, she did look up from her writing to stare at Hazel uncannily. Had she not done so, the pale hands would have continued their path towards the fire mage, regardless of the flames. With their path halted, the dark mage frowned and she took one step closer to Hazel.

"Miss Hazel, apologies, but I think you're receiving the wrong message. After all, isn't this what you wanted? I've noticed your glances at me you know," she said, smirk returning. "I know how you look at me. And I think it would be quite fun to [b]E.X.P.E.R.I.M.E.N.T.[/b] In other words, I like you too!"

The dark mage was finally returning the other girl's affections, although probably not in the way she had been expecting. Of course there was more to add in but Marianne waited for Hazel to calm down. She had backup in case her tent was burned down but she had the feeling Hazel wouldn't like sleeping in the human sized holes she had dug behind her makeshift home.

Hazel's fire quietly diminished. In fact, it seemed that Hazel herself diminished. She blinked wordlessly. [i]Oh Atros what do I say? I never though I'd get this far.[/i] She kept blinking, her mouth hanging stupidly agape. 

"Uhhhhh..." Was all Hazel mustered at first.

[i]That's no good! You idiot! Say something![/i] The voice inside her head yelled at her. Hazel paused for a moment to collect herself, preparing to speak.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Was, once again, all she could say.

[i]Please, say something smart! Why won't my mouth work?![/i] It seemed her body and her brain were not on the same page. She tried so muster up a sentence again.

"I... I... Uhhhhhh..."

In the end Hazel was unable to speak, instead only furthering the appearance that she was a bumbling idiot, her face now burning a bright red.

"There's no need to say anything Miss Hazel," Marianne finished for her, unfazed by the sudden intimacy they had just entered. "After all, you're my friend and friends always know what's best for each other right?"

She giggled then before closing the distance between them. Again, the idea of personal space was lost on Marianne as she smiled happily right at the other girl, her one red eye meeting with the other's directly.

"Actually, it's easier for me this way. You see, Mister Amadeus has grown...trite in terms of my art. But you on the other hand...well, you'll live a bit longer for the research I have planned," Marianne said before her smile dissolved into a jeering smirk. "There's also one other thing."

The dark mage reached over, gently placing her hand across Hazel's throat. Her fingers did nothing more than curl softly along the flesh, a look of questionable sanity burning in her gaze. She leaned in closer to Hazel's ear, wanting her words to be whispered and kept secret just between them.

"Don't get me wrong, you're not half bad yourself. But don't get the wrong idea Miss Hazel. This is the easiest way for me to kill you if you ever put yourself between me and big sister. And I assure you, I will [b]K.I.L.L.[/b] you. But seeing as you're also my [b]F.R.I.E.N.D[/b] I'll have to do so in a manner most befitting of you. Or I could wait until you die in battle before doing so many wonderful things with your body...that's all I wanted to say."

She said this indifferently, the idea of murdering Hazel little more than a past time for her to conjure up. But the threatening tone she used was now gone as Marianne moved back and flashed a polite smile.

"We're officially a [b]C.O.U.P.L.E.[/b] now!"

Hazel blinked. She was absolutely sure now she was dreaming. Mari was certainly insane and erratic, but Hazel didn't expect this at all. 

"We... We are?" Hazel briefly thought of Harley. She was sure that he wouldn't like this new development. Hazel was unsure whether to be excited or terrified. She had never been in any sort of relationship before, or, for that matter, had friends up until a month ago, and being a [i]couple[/i] with Mari was diving into the deep end.

But Hazel still returned Mari's smile, albeit slightly nervously. She had no idea what to think of [i]this[/i]

"Of course we are," Marianne reinforced brightly. "Oh and by the way, if Mister Try Hard gets in the way, I'll force feed him his eyes while hanging him with his own tail. Just so you know."

The tent seemed to have returned to its natural coloring and lighting, whatever that was. Gone too were the otherworldly appendages, no trace of their existence lingering behind.

Hazel wasn't surprised that she threatened Harley's life. Hazel sighed. Regardless he was probably in the same amount of danger from Mari either way, since Mari didn't exactly need an excuse to 'force feed him his eyes while hanging him with his own tail'. Hazel wasn't sure how to proceed forward, since she was entirely inexperienced in the field of relationships.

Hazel brushed a strand of her own hair with her hand nervously. "So... uhhhh... what now?" Hazel asked cautiously. She was sure that Mari had some perverse 'research' that she wanted to pursue.

"I'm sure you've been waiting for this moment for quite some time," Marianne said in an amused manner. "I'll let you figure that one out~"