/Author's Note: The following fanfic was brought to you by a prompt from Singkatsu, as well as my never-ending desire to write about Gwen punching things. And by the eternal draught of HoLV fics! I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Leave a review! Do it! Enjoy. End Author's Note/

* Seeing Stars *

Sticking a perfectly manicured finger between perfectly glossed lips, I probed around for a tooth; I felt it wiggle.

It was definitely loose, which meant a visit to the dentist as soon as I got the chance to leave this ramshackle village. It also meant staying away from hard foods: no more of Renton's buttered corn, which he insisted on making on a regular basis, with no regard for my tastes. (We can't all have buck teeth and the evolutionary advantage of corn-eating that comes with them). No, I'll have to ask Charles to pick some things up. It'll be nothing but ice cream, pudding, and cheesecake from now on. This town did have ice cream, right? Ugh, but then my calory count is going to skyrocket…

My life isn't easy. Sure, I might make it look easy – but that only means I'm doing a good job.

And I am. Being the Funland CEO at my age – and with my looks – is no walk in the park. Father always said that those little things I couldn't control – my gender, my stature, my impeccable fashion sense – meant people would never take me seriously, that they would always underestimate me. He was right; always, forever.

Except she didn't.

I expected some resistance, of course, the day I made my way down to the village ranch to deliver the news: The approval had finally come down the bureaucratic pipes and into my hands - the approval to begin prospecting the land for the construction of the Funland Amusement Park. The ranch would be the first to go – and thank the Goddess for that, because the sooner we purge the land of that awful animal stench, the better. I had to do everything to stop myself from walking around with a clothespin on my noise.

Greeting me and my entourage were two of the villagers. One was a bulky block of a man, more cube than person, and the other was that sorry excuse for a girl, her eyes fox-like, her arms brawny, and her hair erupting in a golden fountain from the top of her head. They smelled almost as bad as the animals.

"You said we had time!" the words exploded from her mouth before I had even finished speaking. "You told us that if we got the 50,000G together, you'd leave us alone!"

I tittered, holding my cheek in my hand. "Right, that. I mean… let's be honest. I don't think this entire village put together would be worth 50,000G." Hell, some of my outfits were worth that much, but I didn't dare voice that – who knows what these savages might do. "I think we all know that was just a courtesy offer."

The blonde was sputtering with anger, while her companion (- boyfriend? Do these things breed? -) made some noises that sounded like they could have been words had they come from someone whose face wasn't 80% jaw. Beastly quadrupeds galloped across the field, blissfully unaware. The whole scene was a stark reminder that the sorry state of this village was much worse than I had even imagined. The opening of an amusement park was practically a charity.

"You're a monster." She spat each word venomously.

"I'm a businesswoman." I replied coolly.

Her eyes narrowed into a glare that attempted to bore into my unflinching gaze.

"This will go smoothly for all of us if you just cooperate. I'll have landscapers coming to assess the land tomorrow morning. Try not to be seen, if you can, and the same goes for those ugly things," I nodded in the direction of the horses, "After all, we don't want to scare away any contractors with that unearthly stench."

Like I said: I had expected resistance. I had expected a slap, one that I could sidestep for Charles to intercept, as he had done on numerous occasions before - but I had not expected a right-hook angled straight at my jaw.

It left me seeing stars, and in those stars, I saw her face.

…

For some Goddess-only-knows reason, I felt my mouth twist into a wobbly smile at the memory. (She must have given me a mild concussion, too.)

I felt the loose tooth wiggle again against the pressure of my tongue.

… Maybe I'll force her to take me out for some ice cream. Her treat.

Yes. That'll show her.