Chen claps with pleasure at the story! Or, she would, but she's still got her wrists bound. It's just, there's a moment while she's learning all about local Buddha adoption customs and the gods who live in them where she kind of forgets all that and her eyes are sparkling and her arms flex and pull at the bonds and she realizes she can't move and twists her whole body instead and finally settles for a very very faint sound from tapping the edges of her fingers against each other that's sort of like clapping.

Chen's voice pitches up a little as she's talking through the story for herself. "Oh, that's so sweet! I really like how people get to choose what's best for them each year! I hope that most people are realistic about it, oh do you get any training for how to pick your Buddha so you don't get stuck in over your head? Oh gosh, maybe I could visit for New Years sometime, oh I'd love to make a painting of everyone combing through the beach picking out their Buddhas for the year!"

Chen lets silence settle into the car for a few heartbeats, her eyes looking upwards at the velvet ceiling of the fancy car, or at nothing at all while the scene plays out in her head. Elkibrant and Vogodoris are too polite to interrupt a Princess engaged in that sort of fantasy. It's how you can tell that they're gentleman thieves and not rude interrupting thieves with no respect for anyone else's heart. Which is a lucky thing for them because rude thieves wouldn't get any business from Princesses, whereas they're making a great sales pitch right now.

Presently, Chen focuses her eyes back on them, looking first at Vogodoris, then at Elkibrant, who seems to be the more talkative by quite a bit. "Well, fair's fair," she says, her face still turned up in a slight smile. "Truth be told, your kidnapping was a blessing because I was [i]terrified[/i] of being picked up by Princess Kikil, and the technomancer said that she had called her." Chen's whole body does a little shudder when she said terrified and she looks pointedly at both of the thieves. "Kikil's really scary, she has all that old-world knowledge and the big mask with the spike designs at the bottom, and I was worried that she'd make a whole thing out of it and I don't know what to expect from her, which is kind of the scariest thing of all! Compared to that, I'm really not that worried about Yin. She's really loud and has her whole shiny knights and monsters thing, but if she picked me up she'd listen to what I had to say after she'd had her fun and I wouldn't really mind owing her a favor. I mean, she'd ask for a lot, but she's all about showy shining knights and I could do her thing no problem, I'm actually one of the best swordswomen in all the nine kingdoms." There's a little swelling with pride when Chen says that, her scarf even stretches a bit, but she says it in tone that's calm and measured, the confidence of someone who worked really hard and feels proud of that work, not the bravado of someone trying to show off. 

"As for who I'd like to be kidnapped by. Qiu, maybe, but we have a prior arrangement, so you probably shouldn't try to negotiate that one with the foxes. Also she's [i]supposed[/i] to be my arch-nemesis." Chen sticks out her tongue briefly, again looking at both of them to get across what she think of [i]that[/i]. "Maybe Jezara. I've hung out with her a little, but she's never kidnapped me and I'd really like to pet her and have her nuzzle me, which maybe could happen in the right kidnapping, you know?" Chen blushes, but a deal's a deal. Also, this part is way easier than the part she's been putting off and it's much more fun to think about Jezara in fluffy kitty form rubbing up against her than anything else here.

Eventually, she gives a little sigh and settles into her seat, now talking without looking directly at either of her two kidnappers. "Also, you probably know already that Hestia and Ysel are my Moms. So, you can ransom me to them and get a good deal to avoid giving any of the other kingdoms a leg up on us. I'm sure the fox you're taking me to will already know that, and I'd [i]really[/i] rather you didn't, but we made a deal and you told a great story, so it wouldn't be fair if I set you up to undersell me. I'm worth a lot if you start playing off the kingdoms against each other." Chen lets out a deep breath that turns into a long sigh and if she were looking at the two thieves, they might see her roll her eyes at the thought of it all. 

Another few beats of silence hang over them for a minute, much less joyous than the first before Chen gathers herself and breaks it. "So, who's the fox around here anyway? I didn't know there was one."