Secret of the Mines of Oor (Mollisol and Zaxs)

[Quincunx]

"Don't dream i-- HEY!" As Shihanna took off, Noli realized she'd taken cover in an area with buildings. She couldn't risk her laser or her bullets penetrating them, so she ran as fast as she could, trying to use her knowledge of the area to steer her into a corner.


She didn't have to - before she got too far, Marick Tendai, armed with his inefficient-as-hell longbow, knocked into her. What was he even doing out here? Had he intended to shoot the sniper down himself? It didn't matter now, as he was glancing over her, noticing the weapon and her lack of familiarity, and nocking an arrow.

The collision gave Noli just enough time to catch up. "Watch it, Marick," she said, not expecting this enemy of the Xings to have actually helped her. "She's a dangerous prisoner, and she's mine." She raised her gun again. "And I was just taking her to the Sheriff's."




"Clearly," Marick said, not sounding impressed. "I'm going with you. This is no task for children."




It would be a waste of breath to remind him she was twenty-six.
​

 

[Zaxs]

Shihanna was already in a sprint as she ran ahead with her immense speed. But before she could get to where she was going, she ran and feel backwards after running into a man. Before even looking at the man, Shihanna noticed the bow. She made an ugly face and gagged a bit, "What kind of weapon is that...a long bow...wow?"




As Noli arrived Shihanna stood up and her eyes went back and forth between their conversation. "What about you sir? You think you can handle me? Well I am sorry to break it to you but the lovely miss hard ass here had me first. wait Noli, that was your name right?" Shihanna walked over to Noli and stood there beside her. "Plus she was just going to race me, and maybe try out my aim on some bottles."
​

 

[Quincunx]

Noli almost laughed when she heard Shihanna gagging through her mask. Almost. So this kid was a brat, but at least she was a funny brat. She cringed as she heard her speech. "Yeah. Bottles." She wrapped her gun arm around Shihanna, so that she was staring into the muzzle if she looked the wrong way. "Come on, you."




Marick didn't lower his bow. "Is this the sniper you were talking about? Why didn't you shoot her on sight?"




"Because she... well... surrendered." And she had nice arms that made her wonder. Wow, that sounded dirty. "Tell you what, Marick, if you'd lower yourself to being a Xing's escort, you can come with and make sure she doesn't get into any funny business."




Marick's eye roll was so salient it was almost audible. "Fine. But you would know that the Sheriff is that way if you weren't busy playing tag with snipers. He's handling a couple that... you know what? You should just see him yourself."




"I'd love to know what they're up to," Noli said half-jokingly. "Bring me to him."




Marick grudgingly led them in the direction of a house near the shoulder. "Is this enough for you, Xing?"
​

 

[Zaxs]

She went closer to Noli's ear again and began to whisper, "Is this guy some kind of apprentice or an intern? Can he get us some drinks, because our little fight back there got me thirsty." She pulled away giggling into her palm before looking at Maverick.

Shihanna was a bit lost in thought at the twos conversations and just nodded, Shihanna liked that she was this close to Noli and jsut went along with it for the time being. "Hey Long bow dunce? Why do you carry that around, it's not like you can kill much with that nor can you snipe well?" She couldn't keep her eyes off such primitive technology. It made her gag again.




She pulled out her gun from her holster and twirled it along her finger a few times. "This is a real gun..not anything like that..bow." She began to laugh at the fact that Maverick used a bow or had one at least.
​

 

[Quincunx]

It would've been easy for Marick to say, "Watch me try." He didn't even speak. As soon as Shihanna took the gun from her holster and gave it a twirl, Marick pulled back his bow and gave her a shot in the hand, knocking the gun out and piercing through her hand web. Then he picked up the gun, and put it in with the arrows in the quiver on his back.

Noli was relieved she hadn't had to shoot someone in the head - least of all someone she was curious about - and get blood all over her face. Unfortunately, Shihanna wasn't looking too good. And Noli wasn't sure she wanted to see her reaction to her rifle touching pretech weaponry, so she simply said, "Remember what's on the side of your head. Just throw up and get it over with."
​

 

[Zaxs]

She grabbed her hand and held it for a second, as the deep wound hurt, but it didn't hurt much as long as she didn't try to notice it. She watched as her weapon was touched and put inside the pocket of the mans arrows. She turned to the side and kept making gagging sounds, before going back to walking. She growled in a lone tone at the fact that her gun was getting carried around by some lucky shot fellow.

"Gimme it." She walked closer and reached inside the quiver to try and get her gun, she wasn't to worried about personal space and just wanted her gun back. She was a bit shorten then him, though the pocket was a bit taller and she could hardly reach her hand inside it as they walked.
​

 

[Quincunx]

Noli, having never done physical combat besides her recent grapple, had no idea how to react from someone running out of her weak headlock. Marick gave her a whack in the head with his bow, not caring what kind of damage he caused. "I'm very disappointed in you, Noli." He used the moment of distraction to nock another arrow, and aim it at Shihanna.




"Hey! What the fuck? No!" Noli aimed her gun at him, knowing her firepower was superior to this annoying traditionalist's. "She's our fucking prisoner, Marick!"




"Who's your prisoner?"

A man dressed in a trenchcoat, accompanied by a woman with a cross symbol on her lapel, entered the fray, drawing a gun that crackled green with energy and pointing it at Marick. "Stand down, both of you. Especially you, Tendai. I'm only warning you once."




Noli lowered her pistol. Sheriff Heinu had helped her out of a jam more than a few times before, and those jams usually involved angry townsfolk associated with Marick's faction, The Ground. Marick sighed grudgingly as he slowly lowered his bow and removed his arrow, Sheriff Heinu took the gun out of Marick's quiver and put it in his trenchcoat, and Doctor Anri got out a compact of tissue replacement culture and prepared to remove the arrow from Shihanna's hand web. "Stay still," she instructed, her voice devoid of emotion.


Marick shook his head as he placed his arrow back in his quiver. "Better keep that gun out, Sheriff. She's a runner."




The black clouds soon rolled over the sun, and Noli could feel the first sprinkles of rain on her face.
​

 

[Zaxs]

Shihanna rubbed her head from the tap on the head she received it didn't hurt to much, just maybe a bruise. She had her fist ready to give the guy a good punch in the face, before hearing the voice of a man with a gun aimed at herself. She lowered her fist and sat down on the path rubbing her head.

Shihanna let out her hand to the strange woman to, did as she said trying to hold it as still as possible. "Hello nurse.~" She giggled a little bit but then turned her head to the man to listen to what he said, before glaring at Marick. "I might even be able to out run your arrows. But this guy in the coat doesn't sound sad that he couldn't catch a girl that Noli caught pretty easily." She turned her head and gave a small wink at Noli, and then turned back to look at her wound the woman was repairing.
​

 

[Quincunx]

"This will hurt a little." Doctor Anri broke the arrow so she could slide it out easily and removed the shaft. "This will hurt a lot, and you'll have minor blood loss." She opened the compact, full of something dull brown, and used a rounded brush to rub it all the way through the hole. Most patients had described the feeling to her as "a lot of bee stings" or "spider bites" or "stabbing needles". But this was an odd girl, Anri could tell, so this prisoner probably wouldn't need anything for pain relief. Rain fell on the gathering of people.


After a few minutes of work, and having an energy gun trained on her, Dr. Anri stood up and walked away, and Sheriff Heinu moved in with two pairs of cuffs, one wider than the other. "One for your hands, and one for your feet." He was skilled enough to have the gun in one hand and work the self-locking cuffs with the other. "Now, on your feet. All of you are witnesses, so you're coming with me."




Noli holstered her pistol, and Marick strapped his bow onto his back. The walk to the police station wasn't long; it just felt that way in the rain.


In the squat, heavily-plated, black building lay two stark rooms. One included a desk, some chairs, and a few locked cabinets, and the other contained empty cells and a single, nondescript guard with an energy rifle. Everyone had a chair to sit in but Shihanna, who was positioned in the middle of the floor with the chairs lining up in a row to face her.




"Tell me what you know about her," instructed Sheriff Heinu.




"She came to our peaks with a gun, and drew it when she met me," said Marick.




"The only one who's seen what happened in the peaks is Noli," said Doctor Anri.


Noli considered her words carefully. On the one hand, she'd tried to shoot Shihanna on sight too. On the other, it'd make Noli wilt a bit to see the subject of her curiosity stuck in a jail cell instead of her natural environment. On the first, a jail cell would make a great observation environment. She decided to go with the truth. "I saw her scope above the peak, but I can't speak to whether she was planning on shooting it or not. She told me she was... pretending. And on the run from robots? I still don't know what her actual business is here, or how much of what she said is the truth, unfortnately, but I didn't see her actually shooting until she shot at me."




There was a long pause. Everyone's eyes were either boring into Noli or Shihanna. Finally, Sheriff Heinu broke the silence. "You." He pointed at the cuffed girl, who had regained half of her hand web already, although she was looking a little pale (probably from the blood loss). "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
​

 

[Zaxs]

Her hand was webbing began to tingle and she could feel a pretty sharp pain, but not for long and only stated that, "It feels like my hand is asleep now and that there are light punches at it every so often." Shihanna stood up and looked to the sky as the rain fell on top her face, she sighed of relief and looked to the man in the coat. She happily let out her arms and legs for him to cuff her correctly and said, "That's a nice coat, though I am more interested in your guns...I mean that gun you have there." She giggled a bit and followed everyone to the police station.


She stood there, but eventually felt her legs begin to get tired and sat down on the floor as Noli described her battle. She laughed at the fact that everyone was so shocked that she was pretending, and then ran away. But before long she asked her side of the story.


Shihanna took a deep breath, "Look I am feeling really exhausted right now. But I can tell you this much, I was pretending to shoot at your townspeople and scouting out the area. The this lovely lady." She pointed at Noli for a brief second. "saw waht I was doing was worried and chased after me, after I called her one eye." She laughed a little then continued, "We had a brief shoot out and a bit of wrestling and then I happily surrendered because it seems like I already got past her defenses. As for the robots part, I killed a few...but that's because my island to the west of here. Is currently swarming with them and all of the humans that used to live there, have either died or are part of a rebellion against those machines. Including me. Now I need some rest." She yawned and laid down on the floor closing her eyes and soon began to snore softly.
​

 

[Quincunx]

Marick, Anri, and Heinu looked down at the sleeping woman. Noli didn't feel content watching someone sleep. "I need water," she said, and stepped out into the rain.


Many minutes passed before Heinu opened the door and asked if she wanted to be around to hear what happened to the person she'd witnessed. Noli nodded and stepped back inside, taking her place in the row of chairs. Anri wasn't expressing any emotion, Heinu looked exhausted, and Marick's face held a barely-contained snarl of contempt towards the other two. At Heinu's direction, Noli knelt down shook Shihanna's shoulders a bit to wake her up. Her shirt was dirty, but soft. Well, it did make some sense - Shihanna had never needed to get close enough to her foe to wear armor, considering the way she sniped.


When Shihanna's eyes were open, Noli sat on the floor next to her, and Heinu said, "Ms. Emil, we've made ourselves a decision. It's not ideal, but it's the best we've got.


"We've contracted with Midoli and Kou Xing for your safety, and Rin Xing for your quarters. You're going to be in a work-life binding with them until you can prove that you're more... stable. This means you're going to work in the mines, under the watchful eyes of the Xings and the supervisors they appointed. You'll be compensated a protected room and board, as well as limited income. I... Miss Emil, please understand that our psychiatric services will be offered to you as soon as possible. And that if you don't comply, we will be forced to punish you under the full extent of the law. It's not the ideal. But it's all we have.


Now... you may state where your personal belongings are, and Doctor Anri will take you to the restroom for your search."




Anri led the younger, cuffed, bleeding woman to the bathroom and shut the door. "I don't need to see all of your body at once. Just, in order..." When they were finished, Anri emerged with Shihanna, who was uncuffed and dressed in the mute-colored, baggily-fitting spare clothes that Heinu kept in the station for situations like this (they were outgrown by his daughter Liani). She was missing her gun, her phone, and any other electronics. The only personal belonging that remained was her gas mask - nothing outside, and nothing beneath it but her face.


Before Heinu put his rough hand on Shihanna's shoulder and led her to the Xings' with Anri in tow, Marick leaned in close. "It's unconscionable," he whispered. "But I swear I will help you. Every evening--"




"That's enough," snapped Heinu and pushed him away.


Noli blinked, trying to process what had just happened. "Shihanna. I... I'm sorry."




The three left in the rain, heading towards the shoulders of the Xing household.
​

 

[Zaxs]

She finally woke up and sat up straight looking a bit better, but was still kind of pale from the blood loss. She looked over at the person talking as he read out this long paragraph of the treatment, housing, supervision, and punishment. She laughed at the punishment part, and kept a smile as she stood up to clean her self off again and stretch. "I understand, it's better then me sleeping out in the rain which I planned for originally. Plus I will be getting paid for working in this mine right? Though being stable....is that forced? Because I don't want to act to girly and have to sit up straight, walk like I have books on my head, practice etiquette, and talk like I am some lady of the house?"




She walked off with the doctor to the restroom and can be heard from it, "You can frisk me for my belongs Doc." She laughed loudly, "I am joking I will tell you where they are." She came out with her new clothes and tucked them in so they won't hang and get caught on corners or something. "Glad you didn't take my mask, what if I caught a cold?"




Shihanna was led to the Xings' household, and as Marick talked to her, she only stuck his tongue out at him. "Now you want to help after hurting my hand..pft." She looked at Noli, "Why are you sorry? Well if you are really that sorry, you could take me out on a date tomorrow." She laughed and happily followed along until they reached the Xing house.




​

 

[Quincunx]

The sheriff led her in silence to the magnificently-protected Xing house, where they were greeted by two semi-formally dressed men standing on the porch. One had a hard face, while the other wore a smile.

"Hello, Shihanna. My name is Kou Xing, and I'd like to offer you a sincere welcome to our... our..."


"Care," finished the unsmiling man, who must've be Midoli. "I'll show you around this place."


"Think of it as your new home," Kou added. He led the two down the shoulder to the mines. There was a small dormer near the ladder down to the mines, the same one Noli had first seen Shihanna from. Kou opened the door. "After you."


"Both of you. We understand that you may feel like the Sheriff is the only one on your side right now," said Midoli.


Inside was a room made of concrete, with a mirror and counter, a few shelves, a sleeping bag on a mattress on the floor, and a door that presumably had a bathroom on the other side. Midoli placed a battery-powered lantern on the ground, illuminating the stark space, and opened the door to confirm that. There was no bath tub, just a shower, toilet, and sink, plus a shelf stocked with toiletries. He was hoping to the Technodeities that if Shihanna was a fall risk, she had something inside her mitigating it.


Kou directed them back to the room, towards the shelves. They had a few scraps on them, but the batteries were heavily sealed and the actual junk and metal had their corners sanded down so she couldn't possibly use anything to harm herself. "Sheriff Anri has informed us that you take an interest in... technology. So we hope that amuses you."


"So, what do you think of your room?"




Meanwhile, Noli was in her spacious room, looking down at the shoulder from her window. She couldn't believe Shihanna had taken her ready room - but she also couldn't believe that Shihanna would be stuck there. It wasn't a dorm. It was more like a cell.


She was beginning to see why Marick called this unconscionable.


She hadn't been in the mines for a while. Maybe there was still hope. She decided to head down and take a tour by herself, and meet them outside.


Why did she want the simple object of her curiosity to be safe so badly?
​

 

[Zaxs]

Shihanna followed along with the two well dressed men, looking at them to see if there was anything suspicious they might try to do if she ran or something. She didn't want to try and just whistled a light tune as they walked to her new home or whatever it was going to be.

She entered her...cell? I guess that was more of what it was then a home, "Well sir. My home is usually where my gun is at, so if it's not here, then this is a prison. But I am sure you know that already." She laughed lightly and sat on top her mattress after being given a tour of her prison. The mattress was lumpy as expected and the springs kind of dug into her as she sat down on it.


She looked at the shelf and saw the junk on it. "Well with these batteries here. I probably have to find a way to break them out so they can actually give a charge, and the metal?" She runs her fingers along the edges, smooth as can be. "Nice job sanding it, can't say it will be useful though."


"I think you should stay a while. I am joking, but I feel like I need more blue everywhere or something to keep it from being dull." She laughed a little as she knew that probably wasn't going to happen. "But my real question is, can I have some nice clothes? I was said to go on a date with the Lovely miss Noli." She smiled widely and looked at the man with pleading eyes.



​

 

[Quincunx]

"The clothes... can be arranged," Kou said as they left the dormer. Maybe he could use some of the clothing his daughter never wore? It wasn't like she would miss it. But Midoli seemed to almost hear what his husband was thinking, and shook his head curtly.


It was still raining outside, so they made their way down to the mines quickly. There were lanterns everywhere, and hunched-over people picking away at the walls. It seemed that the extensive mining machines didn't get to come inside the cave. What were they mining for? "These," Midoli said, "are what you're looking for." He pulled an immaculate red crystal about the size of a revolver from his coat, and the immediate area was lit a warm, almost baleful scarlet. Every miner turned around for a second.




"Why are you fixated on a sample?" barked a hulking, mohawked man in the corner, and all of the miners got back to work. "Your search will take more effort than that." He approached them, and his bulk and sheer size came more clearly into view as he got closer. It was hard to distinguish his pupils from his irises. "They told me about you. Shihanna Emil. My name is Kores, and my word is law here. You'll be protected from yourself and others as long as you follow it."




He stared her down, spending extra time on the gas mask. Kou didn't stop him. Midoli simply said, "It stays on."




Kores cracked his knuckles, and gestured for Kou and Midoli to walk away. Kou waved, and Midoli led him by the arm back into the rain. "It's time for me to show you the caves, Emil. I'll give you equipment, but any violent acts - I'm sorry, pretend violent acts - will be considered a breach of compliance, and I won't be able to protect you from anything that happens as a result." He handed Shihanna one of the pickaxes he'd strapped to his massive back. "Follow me."




He led her into the depths of the mines, where she was alone with him and a skinny fortysomething woman. There were two tunnels further through the cave. Kores chose the one that had the barest scraping of rutilant glow. They walked until they could see no light, other than that from Kores's lantern. "Work," he said simply.


Noli didn't reach the mines. She was too busy being hugged, peppered with questions, and fussed over by her very worried dads. The thing that brought her back to the woman was the mention of giving some of her clothes away. "Maybe? I mean, yes. I mean... sorry, Dad. Sorry, Papa. I've got to go."




She stepped into the mines for the first time in ten years. The darkness was overwhelming, as were the two people that approached her for the sole purpose of either heckling her for her absence or spitting in her face.


She turned on her alternate sight, grateful that she hadn't suited down yet. This would be a long trip.
​

 

[Zaxs]

"They told you about me? I hope it was flattering, because I don't get much of that thanks to this mask." He stared back at the man, though it was hard for him to tell, because her lens began to fog up a bit from the warmth that was in this cave, it felt like a sauna and sShihanna thought it was probably because those crystal things gave off light and a weird warmth.


Shihanna saw the man crack his knuckles and did the same, but she giggled because she never exactly done that before. She thought it made her look cool or tough at least. "Anything that happens? Does that mean I can get beat up by someone like you, or another guard?" Shihanna held the massive pickax in her right hand as if it were nothing and followed behind the hulking figure.


She walked beside the woman and whispered quietly enough for the man couldn't hear her. "Hey lady. Come here often?" Shihanna giggled. But then looked at the wall once the man, what was his Name? Core or something? Once the man told her to work. "So just like...pick at the wall till I see those crystal things?" She didn't hesitate and began to hammer here pick deep into the wall, already breaking through it easily and making a small hole just from a few swings. Her stamina was something else and not to mention her speed with that pickax, she began digging fast at the wall laid before her.
​

 

[Quincunx]

"Don't talk to her," snapped Kores, putting his pickax between the two of them. "You're here so everyone is safe from you, not so you can talk."




He then slammed his pickax into the wall, causing a salient crack to form in the wall, larger than Shihanna's hole. His eyes opened just a bit, and the other woman jumped at the noise. He directed her to stay there, and led Shihanna deeper into the mines, tailing her there the same way Noli had "led" her down the mountains. When they reached their destination, Kores grabbed her shoulders as she was walking, and pointed her towards the wall. The light in the lantern was flickering. "Guess you'd better dig up some light, Emil. You have to live on this for six more hours. Hurry up."




(OOC: this would be a good time to use the Create an Advantage option, though it's more like creating a necessity here. The opposition will be 5, the skill should probably be Stamina, and a success will be finding enough red crystals to light the way. A tie will be finding a single crystal. It's supposed to be very difficult. And, Shihanna should be exhausted afterwards, because that's what digging for six hours will do to you.)
​

 

[Zaxs]

"Aw fine I won't talk to her. But everyone was safe before, except Noli which I shot at, but that's because she chased...not proving my point here." Shihanna looked at crack then back at the man. It didn't really scare her, just more impressed her that he could create such a crack, she wondered if she could do that with enough training and mining.




"I can try? But the dark doesn't scare me, I just hope we don't have sloppy looking holes all over the place." She began to dig for her light resource.


Create Advantage. (Stamina +2)


Opposition: 5


[dice]23958[/dice]


Dice roll: 0


Total: +2

Failure!



She failed to find anything this deep down into the mines, what was she expecting. This is almost like all odds are stacked against her, and she couldn't see for that matter. So these holes were going to turn out rough, who knows if they would collapse on her? She sighed and continued her grueling work for six more hours, her arms felt sore, which wasn't something she was used to, but her legs felt okay just tired. She could barely swing the pick let alone pick anything else up.
​

 

[Quincunx]

"That's enough, Emil," snapped Kores, confiscating her pickax. "Time to head back to your dorm, now that you've done a predictably lazy job in the mines. Get a good night's sleep, because work starts at 4:30 tomorrow." He led her out of the mines and back to her cell - how he found his way back, there was no telling. The cloudy night was brighter than the cavern's depths.


He locked her into the cell, using the modified lock that Rin Xing had fashioned that day, and sauntered off to get some rest for himself.


It would be several hours alone in her room before she'd hear a soft knock at the door.
​

 

[Zaxs]

Shihanna was exhausted and she felt no relief from this pain in her arms and the mental exhaustion of being in the dark for six hours and with no food either. She thought she might have to do the same work tomorrow even earlier. She laid on top her bed, which dug into her back, and stared up at the ceiling until she fell asleep.

But it was interrupted by a soft knock on her door, to which she replied loudly. "Go away!" She grabbed her sleeping bag and covered her head with it.
​

 

[Quincunx]

A soft, scratchy voice breezed into the room. "It's not... that asshole. It's me. Noli."




The woman outside the door stared down at her crossed arms. The skin was bare, not covered in black armor, or anything except for the gauzy blue dress draped over them. Noli herself was wearing a simple black sheath dress, plus a spring-green shawl in case she got cold. She was more than prepared to lend it out, though. "I know you're tired. But I thought you wanted a date with me. Well, there's five hours until they get you up again. This is the only time."
​

 

[Zaxs]

Shihanna heard the voice and didn't move at all, just a pretty long pause. "Doors locked! Come in if you can, I can barely stand!" She shouted so Noli could hear, but she kept still and kept her face covered. She wasn't in any mood to date or even a pretend one like she thought this was, she new she looked bad and had no way to get herself dolled up or to even get dressed in something better then the rags she had on.








​

 

[Quincunx]

Oh, right, the lock had been moved to the outside. Noli clicked it open and looked around for Shihanna. She assumed the sleeping-bag covered blob on the floor must be her. It did occur to her that Shihanna was probably pissed off that she was being woken up in the middle of the night. Well, that made them even.

"Bad timing, huh?" she said, kneeling down to Shihanna's level and showing her the dress, and holding it out so she could feel or take it. "Yeah. I'm not here to... clear my conscience or anything. Well, maybe a little. But I wanted to give this to you. It's a dress, and some prepackaged sweets. My parents aren't gonna search the room because they're too arrogant, and Kores's jurisdiction ends outside the mines, so it'll work to just hide it in the bathroom or something."




She sighed. "I'm sorry I woke you up. I'm sorry all this... happened. And that I wasn't even there to protest it. But I came by to give you this. And to say... I bet you'll look beautiful in it at some point." She smiled gently in the dark. Shihanna's white hair was everywhere, and her gas mask was still on. She was still wearing the Sheriff's daughter's castoffs, which were sweaty to boot. But there was something beautiful about her. Maybe it was the way she fought to stay her mischievous self in a place like this. Maybe it was the rebellious way she acted around everyone, like a pretty face like Noli's was her birthright.


Maybe it was the gas mask, but that didn't stop Noli from wishing she were close enough to this woman to kiss her on the forehead without fear of violating boundaries. So she just stared down at the dress to see what Shihanna would do with it.
​

 

[Zaxs]

Shihanna didn't come out from under the sleeping bag, she was just tired and wanted to try to sleep. She didn't know what time it was down there, but she wanted to rest in her uncomfortable bed and toss and turn until she actually fell asleep for the night.

She didn't peer out from her blob to see the dress and just simply set it down besides her, the sweets she took and hid them under the sleeping bag along with her. "I think I will hide them in my stomach, because I haven't eaten at all today." She said muffled under the sleeping bag and her mask, making it actually really hard to understand her.




"Thanks for the compliment I guess. But prince it's pass your bed time you should probably get some sleep at home with your parents." You could hear her a bit more clearly, but her voice was raspy. Probably because she was eating the sweets and had to lift her mask every now and then. She left the empty bag of sweets besides her and her hand felt around for Noli's she found it and lightly patted it. "It's okay, no need to feel sorry for me, just go and do your work or whatever you need to do. Instead of staying here and trying to clear your conscience by apologizing."
​

 

[Quincunx]

Noli picked up the empty bag and was wondering where to put it, surprised Shihanna had eaten the little cakes that fast. She recognized the raspy clarity of the other woman's voice as her taking her mask off. She blushed when Shihanna lightly patted her hand. Had it been hard to find? Noli was wearing her glass eye, not her enhancement, so she wouldn't know.

Shihanna wasn't really seeming to hear what she was saying. Well, shame on Noli for picking such a bad time, or putting her in such a situation where a bad time was the only time. "Shihanna, I understand, but what I'm trying to say is... this is totally selfish, but I really like you. And I'm going to get you out of here somehow, so maybe we can go on a real date in these dresses." She sniffed. She hadn't exactly been expecting reciprocation, but this was harder than she thought it'd be. "So, if I can find a better time to see you, do you... want to see me again?"
​