Rose is movement. She is so spread out amongst herself, inhabiting each long-practiced step, each careful curl of her fingers, each alluring sway of her hips, that there is no center, no queen sitting on her throne giving orders in the chambers of the heart. The nameless thing slumbers peacefully and does not dream; or, if there is a dream, it is only a dream of unconscious motion. Step, step, shimmy. Step, step, sway. Step, step, knock. Swish, swish, open. Step, step, check the door closed with one useful hip. Spin, spin, and— EEEEP!!!

The breakfast trays balanced perfectly on her head come tumbling down. Before she can even finish jolting awake— she catches them. She doesn’t even know how she catches them. The teapot is balanced on its spout on top of a spoon. She balances, wobbling and instinctively correcting for the wobble, on one sparkling high heel, the other stretched out behind her as far as her hobbling chains will let her. Then she wakes up and comes tumbling down anyway— but Cyanis the Fox has whisked away the trays, and Rose has what smart engineer people call “built-in airbags” when they’re teasing her. She rolls over, takes a moment to cringe— [i]ow[/i]— and then wiggles her way back upright. Cyanis already has her arm around her by the time she’s halfway up, stopping her from giving an apologetic groveling bow.

And Cyanis— [i]a pure fox, an innocent vixen, someone you trust with your life[/i]— asks her for help, and Rose’s brow furrows for a moment with the strain of thinking. She’s obviously not supposed to help people escape. If they’re put places, that’s where they’re supposed to be. But she hasn’t been [i]told[/i] not to help Cyanis out, and she [i]has[/i] been told that a good girl is Agreeable and Loves to Serve, and she [i]isn’t[/i] supposed to worry her Silly Useless Head with thinking for herself, because she’ll just get confused. Which adds up to mean...

“Mmmhmmm! Ff’s duuu’t!!” Rose nods with a bobbing of braids and earrings, clasping her hands demurely in front of her. Yes! Yes!! This is right!! Even [i]if[/i] she and Cyanis would look wonderful as harem sisters, dancing for the Countess and nuzzling noses under their veils, a Good Girl is Agreeable, and Rose loves being a Good Girl, and so she agrees! Wow!! It’s so, so simple! Whatever Cyanis needs, as long as she can explain it to Rose’s Silly Useless Head, Rose will do her best to please!!

Oh, can’t you feel it, Cyanis? The joy radiating from her maiden’s heart? The bliss of not being important, of being a treasure rather than... than something else? Of being given headpats and possessive squeezes when you’re a Good Girl? Of being desirable and desired, not feared, not looked up to and given responsibility? Oh, oh, isn’t it the most wonderful thing? The most wonderful feeling in all the skies? When she gets to share the joy of submission with her Chen, oh!! Then her heart will just burst with joy!!

And in the meantime, maybe she’ll get a kiss from a pretty, daring, innocent fox? A kiss between girls? Oh!! That would be wonderful too!! Rose is [i]very[/i] kissable. She’s kissable and touchable and very good at obeying, Miss Cyanis!!! Please, Rose will do her best and be as kissable as possible!!