It's so hard to be a good knight right this second, and not just 'cause Yue's never done it before! Y'know? She managed, for a minute or two, to pull off "wandering swordswoman" as she left that shrine. All silks and sandals and promises of adventure and freedom. Then she opened her mouth and, well, yeah. B-but that part won't be an issue this time! See this lovely bit of silk tied over her lips? This is a strict no-talky zone, yup yup!

But, y'know, the point's more that being a K N I G H T, that ancient marvel of stories and fighter of dragons (meep!) felt a lot different than walking the walk of an adventurer more her sort after being shown the basic steps of how. This was going off of half-remembered snippets of movies and chirped instructions from Cyanis, which made it hard to tell if she was doing it right. And even then, the one bit she's sure she's doing wrong she couldn't help if she tried. 

She's pretty sure, at least, that a proper brave, injured knight being offered as a sacrifice to a passing dragon shouldn't be blushing and smiling so much. But what's she supposed to do, eh? What's she supposed to do when her friends are so darned [i]cute?[/i]

Just look at Rose! Just look at... mmmph, gosh ok, yeah, let's look at Rose some more. A-a-and not just the way that outfit hangs so tantalizingly off of her body, all perfectly fitted and somehow still one tiny flick of a clasp away from coming completely undone. Not just that! Not just that, ok? It's the bliss inside her eyes, it's the muscles on her body going from constant threat and coiled tension to a calm serenity sorta thing. It's like... seeing a tiger when she's napping, and realizing how soft she is when she's not out hunting large animals. There's so much beauty in her body that Yue never noticed before. She can't stop staring. She can't stop blushing. And she can't stop smiling under her gag at the silly smile Rose kept flashing at her. Is that what her face looks like when she's truly happy? It must be. Yue'd already made her mind up a while ago about trusting Rose, even being her friend (though she didn't really know what that meant with somebody so ancient and... whatever). But seeing this smile was the first time Yue really felt the spark of affection for the other woman. Whoever could make her look like that all the time would be the luckiest person in the world, just about. How sweet is she? How pretty? 

And look at Chen! Look at the way she keeps squirming and wiggling till she looks ready to topple over! Look at the color on her adorable cheeks! Do you hear the noises she's ma-- er, well, trying to make while those ropes dig into her petite little body? What a cutie! How could she be a Princess like Qiu or Yin? D-do... do [i]they[/i] look this cute when they're tied up? Gosh. Goshies. Wow. There's no way, right? But maybe! Maybe Yue'd wanna pick them up and hug them tight, like she does right now looking at Chen. If they 'mmphed' like that and wiggled like that and wore gorgeous frilly dresses like that, then maybe. And if... if they looked at somebody else with a face so obviously in love as Chen looking at Rose, well then double goshies. She'd really have no choice but to hold them tight and feel her heart just burst with joy. 

And also... here's a funny thing, y'know? Look at Chen and the kinds've sounds she's making. All the silly muffled squeaking and whatnot. Yue always heard that's what gags did to a body, but now that she's got one of her own she can't really figure as to how they manage it. Sure, her lips are all covered up and, well, [i]gosh[/i] it feels really nice, right? She feels just stunningly pretty right this second. But it's not, y'know, exactly doing a lot to keep her quiet. Right? If she wiggled her jaw for a few seconds she could spit the whole thing right down around her neck and then whatever muffling it was doing to begin with would be well and over with, now wouldn't it? But looking at Chen... she thinks she gets it. It's not the power of the gag to [i]make[/i] you be silent. It's the power of the gag to make you [i]want[/i] to be silent. Princesses must do this all the time 'cause they love it so much! She's learning so much right now!

Probably the most magical thing of all, though, of all these new treasures for her to keep inside her brain, is how... nice it is to feel beautiful and powerful. Yue is a small bundle of twigs tied to other smaller twigs. She's the kind of girl where her height's the only thing she's got going for her, specimenwise. Twig and flab that nobody notices because it's super skinny flab, and a pair of boobs so small they couldn't hold up Rose's dress if her life depended on them. Which, thank goodness, it doesn't. 

But this, like... this pain of hers was no real pain, but more like a, uh, like exercising a whole bunch at once and then collapsing into a chair at the end of the day and realizing you're not getting up again 'cause you're just donezo. And it turns out that's a nice kind of pain to be in. She can't move hardly at all, but it makes her feel proud and accomplished to be in that position even though she's done nothing to earn it. Maybe it's the armor? Maybe it's the shining plate that hugs her frail body and makes her look like a thing of motion and power, or, y'know, whatever? Maybe that's what it is. But it's just... it makes her feel pretty. Desirable. A treasure worth snatching, even. 

She glances around looking for Hyra again. If she could just catch a glimpse of those eyes, she knows she'd melt on the spot. There's just no way they wouldn't be filled with [i]want[/i], and even imagining that glimpse is enough to make Yue feel hot and flustered. She squeaks her own squeaks, forgetting she's supposed to be the knight and not the damsel. The heat rises to her cheeks again, and she makes the bravest attempt at standing she can think of how to do so that she can drop to one knee all dramatic-like and save it. You tell me if she managed it at all, I'm no judge of these things. 

But she makes a note inside her heart. To hug Cyanis as tight as she knows how just as soon as she's got arms enough for hugging. And whisper 'thank you' in those adorable fluffy ears of hers for teaching her the shape of a new wish, and for breathing the fire of adventure into her so strongly she didn't see as it could go out again. Wandering swordswoman probably fit her better than Knight, when you got right down to it. But if her silly little trips could make her feel like this? Then that'd be all right with her. Her fingers itch to practice her spell again. Her arms ache to pick up her sword and practice her forms. Oh, if she could just... ah! Ah!!