Airi peered around Jeile from behind him, fingers unconsciously gripping the back of his coat. He grinned, glad for once that she couldn't see his face. "Jeile," she whined, "make her change me back." Airi wasn't sure why she felt so clingy and desperate, unable to stop herself from winding her arms around his waist from behind.
"I will, dear," Jeile placated, patting her hands where they rested on his midriff, "I will. Well? You heard her, Maruru."
The tiny girl pouted, attempting to change his mind by saying, "But don't you like her better this way?"
"Of course not! This is not the Airi I fell in love with, now change her back!" he countered.
"Just untie the stupid ribbons!" Maruru yelled before flying away.
Jeile gently unwound Airi's arms from his waist and turned to face her, now faced with yet another problem: which ribbons? The dress had ribbons on each of the two straps holding it onto Airi, as well as ribbons wound through her hair. There was no doubt in his mind that Maruru had managed to hide ribbons somewhere else as well. "Airi, dear, why don't we go find you something...warmer...to wear?"
"B-but you said you liked this dress!" she protested, gazing up at him hopefully.
"I do, darling, but I don't want you to catch cold," he managed.
"Aww! That is soo sweet!" she squealed, launching herself at him. Jeile, not expecting this, barely managed to catch her as they tumbled backwards onto the floor. Unfortunately for the slightly pervy Jeile, Airi landed on top of him and, thanks to her skirt, soon found her living cushion scrambling away from her with blood trickling from his nose. Her skirt had flown up and covered his face, revealing the ribbons on her undergarments to Jeile. "Aww, hell," he muttered, whipping out his hankie to clean his face.
"Are you all right?" Airi asked quietly, kneeling on the floor with her hands in her lap. Her voice conveyed the worry filling her heart at the thought that she had done something to upset him.
"Yes, sweeting, I'm perfectly fine. Just a little...stunned, really." He offered her his hand, smiling when she timidly accepeted his help in getting to her feet. "Now, what do you say we figure out which ribbons to untie in your room, maybe find you something to eat? Can't have my mountain lily maiden wasting away on me, now can we?" He tired valiantly to distract her, as well as himself, from the fact that Maruru had been very, very thorough in her ribbon-planting.