[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dsIa72w.png?1[/img][h2][color=9e0b0f]Lavinia[/color][/h2][/center]
[color=9e0b0f]”Of… of course I can walk! Don’t think that going off-road will save you from [i]me![/i]”[/color] She laughed, as she so often did, but for some reason both her voice and her cackling sounded anxious and shaky. Part of it was her disappointment at having her sugary temptations so thoroughly refused, and part of it was how Asher had spoken of her ‘generosity’ and the mortifying implications of that word. [color=9e0b0f][i]Did I offer him too much? What if he thinks I was being nice? What if he ends up falling in love with me?![/i][/color] 

Most of it, though, was just the fact that—[color=9e0b0f][i]oh no, oh dear, oh shit[/i][/color]—she was going to have to travel a sizeable distance on foot.

Her breathing sped up, a single drop of sweat rolling down her forehead. [color=9e0b0f][i]I didn’t sign up for this! This was supposed to be the easy mission![/i][/color] To turn back now, however would be as good as admitting defeat. She could picture it already: Asher and Kaden finishing the job on their own, and then strolling back into the guild with devastating information. [i]”Hey guys, did you know… Lavinia doesn’t like walking!”[/i] News of her weakness would spread throughout the land like wildfire. Within days, the Magic Council would have protected their headquarters with a massive set of stairs in front of the entrance, rendering it virtually impenetrable to her. Nobody would take her seriously as a threat ever again!

So she had to follow them, no question about that. Her credibility demanded it! Maybe it wasn’t actually as far as it sounded, and it’d end up just being a jolly forest stroll. She could do this.

It was just… [color=9e0b0f][i]Exercise. Uuuuugh.[/i][/color] The word alone made her want to retch. Why couldn’t missions involve sitting around and cuddling? Why couldn’t all the people after this robot just line up outside the guild and wait to be defeated? That would make like a lot easier for everyone involved. Or at least for Lavinia. Who was the only one who really mattered anyway.

[color=9e0b0f]”Y-you can carry it, right?”[/color] She turned to Asher, her eyes pleading. [color=9e0b0f]”Aha. Ahahaha. You’re strong and stuff, right? You can handle all that.”[/color] She rapidly shuffled as far away from the ANP as she could get. [color=9e0b0f]”Sorry, no thank you, no meals for me today! You… you just stay away and let the muscle man take good care of you!”[/color] She averted her gaze from the machine before the mental image of lugging its weighty bulk around could trigger a nervous breakdown.