[b]Rose! From the River!![/b] Oh. Um. Well. Um! Hmmm. Um? D-did she mention well? Oh. Goshies. This isn't fair! How're you gonna just... decide to be all big and hot again without even warning a gal, and then go ahead and dress so, so, so... cute!! Is that even legal? It's not, right? It's not! Right!! Cutie crimes! Oh, wily monk, y-your days are numbered! She's gonna tell! Chen's gonna find out she's dating a criminal and then, oooooh, and then! And then, uh? The plan goes out the window with the curtsey. Goodness [i]goshies[/i] geez! With muscles like that, you could really -- sheez that outfit really doesn't give a girl anywhere safe to -- how the heck do you get to be so firm and flexible at the same -- no, wait! No! You're taken! A-and so is she! A-a-a-a-and it's rude to look! ...Isn't it? Maybe, since she's a maid and all it's rude [i]not[/i] to look? Oh eep heck no shoot she's blushing, she's blushing too much, abort abort abort! See, Rose? This is why we can't have nice things. Poor Yue. Poor, pure-hearted maiden she. Yeah, that's right! Maiden! When d'you think she's ever had time to practice or get used to this kinda stuff? Were you just, like, not paying attention to the way she melted through the floor that time when Hyra lifted her shirt a little to mop sweat off her forehead and you could see her, her, her t-t-t-tummy?! Yeah, that's right! You [i]didn't![/i] Cause you weren't in the same room when it happened! So, uh, so, look. The point is, we had a perfectly sweet little heroine in training/jail here. And now look at her! She's got anxiety! Yue's only hope to fight against the assault on her senses is to look at the nice, safe floor (plus, those adorable Mary Janes!) and look for an in with the conversation. Which, like, she should be up to this, shouldn't she? Any good heroine or princess would be. She should, ahhhhh. Clever, Rose from the River! A very cunning test indeed! "...Food." she murmbles. That's a new technique, isn't it? See, she's been studying! Consider, if you would: a headpat for the poor girl. "I'm uh, like, y'know? Yeah. I, I get s'for my health'n'all but, yeah, no, yeah, I'm workin' hard here in jail, see if I'm not. I can cook my own stuff if it's a problem but would it kill 'em to send a little variety up this way? Maybe a little red meat? For some reason I've really been... Oh, and that's another thing! Stop sending kibble when I'm a wolf! Don't like it! Don't need it! Sure as heck don't want it! I'm perfectly fine with people food the whole time, cause I'm a people, got it! Even when I'm not! It's a magical curse, ok? You don't gotta rub it in, y'know? And, and I need a new Go board. And a nicer pillow. And honey in my tea. Some music'd be nice. The kinda stuff you wouldn't mind doing push ups and leg lifts and junk to all day. And more changes of clothes, 'cause mine keep, uh, wolfin'? I guess? And, and, and another nother thing!" Yue looks up and finds your face, Rose. And here's the really special bit, see? She smiles, just as bright and happy as you've ever known her. If in all your long years and travels you've ever had room to wonder what love looks like when there's no romance to go with it? Well girl, here you are. "I want... to get to hang out more. The Countess says I'm stuck here until I make use've my 'potential' or whatever, right? And I'm, uh, dunno if you know this, kind've a slow learner, ok? And it's just, s'been a while since I've seen you, y'know? You look good, Rose. Real, real good. How's it feel?" *** [b]Chen! Of the Twin, Um, Y'know What? Just Chen! Er, n-no! Princess Chen! Princess!![/b] She's looking straight at you, Chen. Upside down, mind you, but still. And she's... actually, hold that thought. How're you managing this, exactly? Even floatin' around in the air, you're a lil' shortie. Don't even try and deny it, everyone knows it's true. And Yue's a, I mean y'know, she's not exactly [i]Rose[/i] r'anythin' but c'mon. C'mooooonnnnn. How the heck? You really expect me to believe you can - oh wow, goshies, well ok then! Carry on! Anyway. That's not the important bit, not by halfsies. The real thing to focus on is the look in her eyes. As they tilt up, and up, and up. And up. To find your face, see. To-- sorry, sorry! The look! The look, ok! Her eyes are wide with wonder, which is normal Yue stuff whenever somebody does anythin' storybook worthy. But no no no, deeper than that. Yeah, you see it, right? The sparkle there. The razor-sharp glint of a girl who's just learned something you didn't mean to teach her just yet 'cause she saw the shape of where she went wrong, and now? And now she thinks she can [i]beat[/i] you, Chen. Maybe only in training, or maybe at, like, 20% of your true power or something. And definitely not right away. Like, seriously, you're one of the top 3 bestest best swordspeople persons in the world, and people say that about you even when you're not the topic of conversation. She's not stupid, ok? But even if it takes her another hundred hundred tries to get it once, she's got your number. The shape of the counter is unfolding like a puzzle box inside her brain, and if you're watching her as intensely as she's watching you, you can see it happening in real time. You've been here before yourself, right? The rush, the adrenawhatsit, the sheer impossible relief of it all when an impossible thing becomes inevitable. Which, credit where it's due, she's been getting a lot lately. Another week and you're gonna need to try a little bit. Fold in some new surprises, move a little faster every so often, maybe delay an attack after the windup a little so she parries at the wrong, oh who'm I kidding? You know what you need to do. Don't listen to me, a little dummy. The point is, you know what's about to happen next. You know she's about to be rarin' to go again right again and throw another twenty attempts on the pile to get gooder while the gooding's get...ed? And that's the source of her big smile right now. That's the one. The one you caused. You're the advanced training course that's done more for her than a thousand duels in the arena could've because you're impossibly harder than they could hope to be but magically funnerer, too. That's a pretty special feeling, right? Go on, it's ok! You can say it! Look, here she goes! She's shaking free! She's about to, um. "Ppppffffff..." ...Yue? "fffffpppfffffFFFFFTTSNNRRRRK!" Ah. Dear. "Ahahahahahahaha! Eheheheeeeeeeee~! Your, your rear! Your REAR, ahahaha! Oh my, g-goshieeeeheeeeeee! Your... pffffffffsnrrrgrk!" You've lost her to a giggle fit, Chen. It's all gone now, I hope you're happy. She flops to the ground whether you release her or no, rolling about like she's on fire, laughing uncontrollably until she's actually factually run herself out of breath. And even then each fresh wheeze keeps bringing new tiny giggles instead of air. "Oh man. Oh wow. Oh, heeee! No one ever told me you were so [i]funny[/i], Chen! You should do shows! Your rear! Hahahahee! See, it's funny, 'cause that's another word for butt, n'that's where you hit me! Oh gosh. Gosh gosh [i]gosh[/i], I haven't been this tickled since, since.... pfffffffftttt!!!" Y'know what? Nuts to this. Go get a drink, Princess Chen. Water, tea, heck go grab a beer I don't even care anymore. Yue needs a minute. Or thirty. What a dork. *** [b]Hyraaaaa~[/b] Hey cutie! Knew you wouldn't let a good girl down! So. There's a couple of things you should probably be aware of. Number one, your girlfriend's a wolf again. I mean, you probably knew that one already. 'Cause you're not, so she's... actually I don't know that we've ever established this, is that your doing? Feels very you to be tradin' off the curse back and forth when you can get away with it or need your fingers for somethin' important like now, but maybe not. Maybe it's all hers and she's just got a bad case of the woof-woofs. By which I mean hiccups. But, like, in curse form. Don't look at me, I don't even pretend to be an expert on this kinda stuff. But it [i]seems[/i] like the incredibly brave and kinda sexy heroism you're all about so, like... A-anyway. Your girlfriend's a flooferdoodle. And that means she's, like, stupid easy to read right now. 'Cause her ears perked up the second she caught a whiff of your scent, and now she sees you her tail's thumpin' up a storm back there behind her like some kinda sillyhead. What you see is faith. What you see is love. What you see is a girl who's going to [i]drown[/i] you in kisses the exact instant she figures out how. Every spare space in her heart is marked with little etchings speaking that desire to the universe. And you and she both believe that the universe is a place that listens to heart etchings. Pining is for losers. The second thing you'll notice is that Yue's chained up behind the Countess' Throne in that way every impressive, exotic animal always seems to wind up around an evil empress or what have you in every movie and double definitely in every piece of fanfic ever written by anyone with more sappy dreams in 'em than sense. There's a big, evil looking chain leash connecting round the back of the throne that keeps her pinned in a very short area by the Countess' feet and it's all she can really do with her lanky wolf body to lie there curled up and showing off what a good girl she is (or else. but that part's implied. for flavor, probably. this whole 'dom' thing's super weird, ain't it?). And then third, obviously she's a wolf so she's not wearing any special sexy harem girl outfit to greet you. Sorry if you dreamed about it, truly. That's gonna have to be an awkward makeout-- make [i]up![/i]-- session someday if you wanna catch her like that anyway. Downside of dating a little sweetie like her, she's just not going to think of this stuff on her own. But hey, consolation prize? That collar she's got on is just [i]precious[/i], isn't it? Like, way out of keeping with Keron's whole murder-spike, step-on-me-mommy aesthetic. It's a darling little blue number studded with diamonds and other precious jewels that gives her the aura of an extremely beloved and pampered pet, and, mmmf, it'd be kinda nice to see her keep wearing that when she turns human again, wouldn't it? You could take her on walkies, and carry her to the bed and brush her hair behind her ear with a touch so soft it's illegal and she'd kiss you and... Oh, shoot! No, no, no, you didn't notice that! You didn't notice that at all, ok? You're not thinking about it! Unless that motivation's good for you and then I guess think about it lots, but you need focus, so, so, s-s-so no! Unsee that right this instant. Way more important thing is that she's back there, and there's no good way to snatch and grab without having some kind of clever, daring, roguish plan to separate the Countess from her seat of power. Nobody's managed that yet by strength of arm or speed or blade, least not that I've seen. And that's worth at least a penny, 'cause I've seen some've the very best give it a go by now. But you're Hyra of the Wolves, for goshies' sake. You're here 'cause you've got a [i]plan[/i]. And maybe that means everything's ready. And Yue doesn't have to be here anymore. Y'think she's grown enough by now? Is she ready to be your princess and bathe the world in the light of her little sunbeads? Next time you see her pick up a sword, is she going to set your heart on extra secret double fire? I sure hope so. But right now, the important thing's your here. You came, just like she dreamed you would. Her pretty blue eyes have never looked more in love. You've got this, right? You've gotta got this. She believes in you.