Author's notes: Hopefully this breaks my stupid synchronized schedule with Gone2GroundEX's Asleep.

Shanz breaks rule number one and feels shitty for it. Other stuff happens, too.

Anyways, THIRTY FOLLOWERS OH MY GODS YOU GUYS STOP FOLLOWING SO FAST I CAN'T GIVE BONUSES THIS QUICKLY. I'm going to wait until a ridiculously high number of follows happens– a hundred, to be exact– before I give you your bonus, because it's REALLY REALLY SWEET but I need more characters to be introduced. As for what it is, I'll leave that to be a surprise.

Keep theorizing on what happens next, please! I love it when you guys do that, I get to snicker at how wrong (or right!) you are.

Ninny glances at me from her spinny chair. "You do know finals are next week, right?"

"Oh, shit."

That's really the only way to describe my reaction. Finals really crept up on us fast... Well, what with all the crap going on in my dreams, I suppose it's natural that I'd forget how time's been going. I still wish I could get normal sleep, though; I haven't slept properly since I got KO'd while rescuing Shio. I mean, I wake up in each world feeling refreshed and energized, but I just wish I had hours upon hours of dead time. Oh well.

We JUST arrived in the city where the Khans' tournament is going to happen. Turns out it has a name other than "Arena Ferox". Seriously, it'd be kind of sad if their country's founders named everything after the country itself. Anyways, yeah we arrived in... Oh, gods. Oh my fucking gods. I forgot the name of the city. WELL DONE, SHANZ. I'll have to ask later. Haven't found Welsh yet. I'll find him soon, or I'll be pissed at myself for years.

Oh, right. Finals. That means it's mid-May, since finals happen in May's penultimate week. I sit up, look at Nin, and mumble, "I'll just, um, go iron my dog." Epic fail, what the fuck was that?

And then Nin reminded me she's an animal lover by screaming at me. "WHAT?!"

I try not to panic. I grab my lanyard with my keys, stuff my pockets with my phone, iPod, and all those things, and shout, "I got shit to do!" And then I dash out the door, swinging it so hard the hinges can hardly handle it (haha, I wish). Car, car, car THERE IT IS UNLOCK IN I GO! "Fuck fuck fuck fuck," and this is aloud as I scramble to start it, "if finals are coming up, then Fanime's almost here and I gotta finish my cosplay!" And with that, I make a beeline for the fabric store. I need to make the cape! I did all the hard stuff (boots, gloves, etc) already, I just need the cape now. Shouldn't be too hard, I have a sewing machine, or rather, I borrow Mom's sewing machine and it's presently in my dorm.

Okay. Look at all those fabrics... Need blue, and I think red satin ought to work for the inside– ooh, that's good satin. Mine. And blue cotton, I think, that should do. Royal blue cotton and blood red satin. And four yards of each ought to be good. Whew, good thing I have a job... Time to rush this crap back to the dorm and bust out the sewing machine. Unlock car, drive, wow why is "Umbral Ultimatum" playing? (I always plug in my iPod to the car when I drive.) Well, a rush like this deserves a fast-paced tune to do it justice. Park, open trunk, grab fabric, close trunk, run into dorm.

Ninny stares at me while I throw my purchase onto my bed, pull the sewing machine out of its corner, and set it up at my desk. I ignore her "um" while I get to work with this. Screw patterns, I know what a cape looks like. Where's my sharpie THERE IT IS and let's go to work.

And it only takes about an hour to finish. Hoo hoo! Nice work, Shanz! I think that's the last detail! Now to assemble it. Boots, wait no, pants, boots, shirt, gloves, armor, cape, wig! I turn around to face Nineeyena and happily blurt in my excitement, "Ninny! How do I look?!"

She stares, having already turned in her chair, puzzled and amazed. "I thought you weren't done?"

Happy chuckle, fling arms upward. "It's amazing, what I can do under pressure. See?" I grasp my mantle and fling it into the air, watching florescent light glint off the red satin. "Look at this glorious cape."

Nin smiles wide. "Well, have fun wearing it at Fanime."

"I will! Oh, gods, I can't wait." I can't contain my unbridled excitement. Fanime is like... like... A four-day long Christmas. I know Nin can't go this year– lack of money– but I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures for her and look out for cosplayers from her favorites. But let's face it; I'm going to be looking for other Fire Emblem cosplayers. They can't exactly ignore Lucina! She's pretty much the fan favorite.

And then I notice I'm about to fall asleep. Aw, shi–

I sit up, still elated from my usual shenanigans. "GOOD MORNING, ICHIGO!" I shout.

Robin cringes (We still room together, for some reason), then slowly lowers her hands from her ears. "... 'Ichigo?' And could you be a little more quiet?"

I chuckle ashamedly. "Oh, sorry, Robin. Just an old in-joke from a story I once read." Reference to Bleach. Use to love that show, back when I was a high school freshman. I still love the jokes in it, though. Isshin had the best wake-up calls: KICK TO THE FACE!

"You know, the problem with those," she seems irritated– then again, I did just shout at her at seven AM– "is that nobody gets them."

I shrug, still smiling, and get off of my bed. "Yeah, and? That's what I like about them. Selective amusement." Eheheheh. My gods, I can be such a sadistic bitch sometimes. But that's what makes me such a good writer, I don't shy away from torturing my characters... or my fans, for that matter. I bet I'm loved and hated on . Yet where are all the haters? I've been on the internet for seven years, and not once has a hater come up to me. What the hell? Well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"But making one when no one else who understands them is nearby is like talking to yourself," Robin points out. Is she trying to teach me to be socially graceful? I already know that, unlike most people I know. I just never bother for that, I prefer to be physically graceful. I have a lot to show off. Then again, every time someone catches me in a nice outfit... You know what, I'll go down that road some other time. Not now. Gotta turn the tables on Robin.

"You don't do that?" Everyone talks to themselves." It's a given. Both my parents do. I do. Everyone does it, like I said.

Thus, Robin reluctantly concedes that argument. "... Good point." I smirk, then pick up my coat and put it on. Oh, I found out why my coat would always be missing whenever I woke up: Frederick would always haul me back to my room or tent or whatever, and since he seems to think it's improper to sleep fully clothed, he'd take the coat off, but not the rest of my clothes since that's indecent as all hell. Well, this time, I was already in bed, so I was the one who put it up. I roll my neck around after fastening the rope on, and bend over to stretch my arms. I'm not sore at all, I think I'm finally getting used to this bullshit.

"Whew," I sigh happily. "I feel great. Collarbone's not aching."

My back is to Robin, so I don't see what she's doing. From the sounds, I think she's rummaging in her pockets, though. "I remember Lissa saying that it's fully healed now."

I look in her direction, head raised excitedly. Oh, she's messing around in the drawers of that WAIT A MINUTE THERE WAS A DESK IN HERE? Damn. "It is? Sweet!" Robin turns around to look at me while I curl my fingers into a fist and slug myself in the chest. It only hurts as much as one of my punches normally would (which is to say, it barely hurts at all). "Whoo!"

"Um," she hesitates, clearly not knowing how to word her caution against my apparent insanity, "that still doesn't strike me as being smart."

I slap my hands against my sides, where I know my pockets are; iPhone, iPod, chapstick, ID, and 3DS all present. "Sorry, gonna go have fun!" I swing open the door and rush out. BOOYEAH!

I'm warm enough from friction that the snow outside doesn't bother me too much, and it's actually thicker up here. As in, there's a good couple of inches on the ground. Excellent for snowball fights. We had one yesterday, with all the girls– Sully, hilariously, sucked at it. We all kept shouting that it was her fiery aura, melting the snowballs! I wasn't too bad– I used wind magic to make mine stay on target, yeah, I'm a cheater. Robin proved herself a badass; I swear, the only reason she didn't win is because it was her first fight. Nah, the overwhelming winner in that frost-fest was Lissa. She's just really, really good with this kind of mischievous, have-fun-at-your-friends'-expense thing.

Who else was in it...? Miriel crapped out early, because the cold was interfering with her reflexes and she wanted to go study. Sumia did okay, she just couldn't run from fort to fort without tripping and being the biggest target we ever did see. Shio wasn't that good, but she had me backing her up (we ALWAYS team up in these games), so she didn't die, at least. We made pathetic attempts at strategy; I had her build the fort while I threw the snowballs. I am not a tactician, I'm so glad that job is Robin's. If only Emmeryn could have joined us! That would have been cool (PUN ENTIRELY UNINTENDED, IGNORE IT). But no, she's in Ylisstol. Sigh.

Well, I'm starting to shiver, need something to fire me up OOH JEWELRY! I just found a market street, and there's this stall selling fantastic jewelry, mainly crystals and wires, not unlike a certain quartz bracelet I wear. Hm, those earrings look niiice. Sweet, they're not that expensive! Yeah, I'll take a pair. I immediately swap my old steel studs out for the awesome dangly crystals. Studs, meet pockets; pockets, studs. Ooooh, there's a little silver tiara I could get, what's the pric– um, no, that's really expensive, do I look like a noblewoman to you? Don't answer that. Robin would kill me if I blew through my paycheck that quickly. But... I may not get another chance... Lemme look at my wallet again. Okay, I think I'd still have enough for lunch after this. I'LL TAKE IT! And save it for special occasions.

But seriously, I gotta get into money-saving mode. Okay, no problem. So, how do I get lunch without wasting mon– hello, opportunity!

I know this face, he's one of the children characters, what was his name, he's the philanderer, and he has dark hair, so I guess his father's not Libra or anyone blonde. I dance up to him, swaying my hips as though I were on heels. I stop right behind him, throw out my hips and chest, rest my left hand on my hip and tap his shoulder delicately with my right. "Well, hello, handsome!" He spins around, almost dumbfounded, then brightens up when he sees me, grinning like a dumbass. "What say you and I–" I point at him and myself with respect to the words, then rest my hand right about my chest area– "have a little bit of fun together?" I finish this with a wink.

He's still smiling, but obviously unaccustomed to this treatment. "Wh-what? Well, um... Ahem!" He clears his throat and pulls himself together. Composed, he finally answers me: "By all means, madam, I would love to. My treat!"

YES! FREE FOOD!

I rest my pointer finger on my chin, pretending to think. "... Why don't we have lunch, and then a little–" Another wink– "mouth-to-mouth?"

He's so redfaced, I mark it an achievement that he keeps his eyes on me. "That sounds delightful!" The man offers a hand to me. "Shall we, then?" I take it, and he kisses mine gently. Well, at least he knows how to be polite.

Oh my gods, I'm on a date. My first date. With... INIGO! THAT'S HIS NAME! I'm on a date with a walking Princess Bride reference! Ahh, he's so cute, even if he is a bit shallow. As for how I chatted him up so well when I've never done this before, that is one of the many perks of role-playing; you learn how to improvise. Besides, the guy is amazingly easy to ask out, he's so happy to get approval of any kind. I trot along him, giggling the whole way, as he leads me to a restaurant that looks not unlike a steakhouse. "By the way, handsome," I ask him as we reach the front door, "what's your name?"

"Inigo, fair lady. And yours?" Oh gods, that smile, it's so cute. I shouldn't tell him my real name. Hm, let's go with... Yes, this one.

"Call me Lamby, dearie." I stick close to him, going for a romantic sort of cling, like "you're so hot I don't want to part from you". Well, he is attractive, and he is buying me lunch. If only I could get pasta... Alas. We both enter, now that we know what to call the other.

The place is surprisingly empty. Well, it's not crowded, at least, so getting a table is no problem. Then again, who eats out in winter? Well– wait a minute, what the fuck, it's MAY! AND IT'S SNOWING?! What is with the weather in this region?! I guess we're pretty far up north! What is this, Soviet Russia? Then again, I did just ask a guy out, instead of being asked out myself. In Soviet Russia, girls ask men out! Ha. So Regna Ferox equals Soviet Russia? I'm going to have so much fun with this.

Oh, hello, looks like they do have pasta here. My life is complete. They call it a Valmese delicacy, and Inigo goes a little pale when he sees me ordering it. It's kind of expensive. Good thing I'm not paying, I'm damn near broke! Well, I suppose, to make up for my expense, I should at least give him a good time. Gods pray I know how, I have no clue how dates are supposed to go.

So, we fill an hour or so with conversation.

And more conversation.

Our plates are almost sparkling by the time we ask for the bill. Inigo's almost cracked the table; he's been slamming his hand on it from laughing so hard. I have a sense of humor, what can I say? And I bet my diaphragm's going to hurt tomorrow; I've not been unamused, either. I've been telling jokes from home, and he seems to understand a lot of them. Good thing he doesn't realize I'm a geek, though. Heh. Well, a few of my jokes have been related to Dungeons and Dragons, and I swear, Owain would play it in a heartbeat if only he knew. (Ask Shio about the "fishy fishy" thing, the DM gave her extra experience because it was so funny.)

"So," I say once the waiter leaves to get the check. "We've done one of two things on the list. I hope you didn't forget the second while you were stuffing your face." Inigo smiles at this; by now he knows my rudeness is in jest only. "You know, the mouth-to-mouth."

He leans back comfortably, eyes closed from such a wide grin. "How could I forget, my dear Lamby? I daresay that is sweeter even than the food itself. And these–" he taps the table with notable gentleness compared to how hard he slapped it earlier– "are fine chefs." He belches, but covers it and adds "I beg your pardon" after doing so. He had a steak, and it looked pretty good. Sadly, I'm not too fond of steak. (Shio eats that stuff like mad, though.)

The waiter returns with the bill, and Inigo pays him. We exit the restaurant, hand in hand, and decide to make out in the snow.

This spells out just how much of a weakness I have for men: I can't keep my fucking hands off of him. It's like... Blissful heaven. Yes, this is my first kiss, shut up, it's so much fun. I do believe he's turning me on, but I know better than to fall for that kind of charm. But damn, this is just... Mmph. No words. Fuck words, just throw them in the trash bin. Screw words, keep your hands wrapped around his back, and keep kissing. How many calories does each minute of kissing burn? A lot? Heh. I'm just such a hopeless romantic.

"Oy, woman! Why don'tcha come over here and I can show ya a fun time?"

And then my wonderful funland was destroyed. Inigo and I break apart– but we're still holding each other– and stare at this big, shaggy-haired guy who I assume is Feroxi. And if I'm not wrong, there's a bottle of ale in his hand. Ew. "I don't think so," I respond, trying to smile as I do so. It's hard, though; I'm genuinely disgusted.

He frowns, showing a few missing teeth, and turns his head, looking frustrated. "Why not? Ya went and made out with that guy!" He points at Inigo.

I look back at Inigo, whose face is still in mine. I turn my head back and scoff at the drunkard. "He's handsome. You're not. Now scram." Looking back to Inigo, I make a dainty shooing motion, careful to take only one hand away from Inigo.

My date blushes even more than he already was (I think he was redfaced the entire time we made out. Speaking of, I have no idea how long we did so. Two hours? It makes you lose your sense of time). "Th... Thank you," he stammers.

"Well," shouts the jerkass, "I'll just take you by force then!" Out of the corner of my eye, I see him via peripheral vision rush at me and Inigo with a sword. I let go and take a step away.

I raise up a hand, plunging the other into my coat to grab my wind tome. "Wrong move, fuckass!" I flip the book open and flick my wrist but SHIT SHANZ DEFLECT IT THERE'S A GUY IN THE WAY okay nobody got hurt except the asshole. "Eh?!"

His blood tints the snow beneath him red, and he groans as he collapses to let frostbite settle in. "Aw... come on... Fucking..." And he lies still.

His killer wipes blood off his sword, and I recognize that long, greasy black hair (think Severus Snape as a kid), even if the clothes are totally different. WELSH! I smile brightly, I finally found him! Although, this is a pretty awkward time... He turns round to face me and comments with raised eyebrows, "wow, I finally find you and you're on a date with another guy," he points at Inigo, "and then there's yet another guy–" he lightly kicks the freshly made corpse– "trying to steal you."

I shrug and lower my smile to merely being sly, not elated. "Not a typical day, love."

Inigo stutters like I just broke his heart OH SHIT I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID LOVE. "W-wait, Lamby... You two are..." Well, Welsh does look good. But not that good.

I turn my head back to Inigo quickly, touching two fingers to his face and caressing it. "He and I are just friends, sweetie. But I'm sad to say," and here I arch my eyebrows, "I have to go now." Step back; hands clasp behind my back timidly. "My friends are waiting for me."

Inigo reaches a hand out to me slowly, and I take another step back to avoid it. I... Oh, gods, I feel so shitty. I've never seen such heartbreak before. Before I know it, I've got tears slipping out of my eyes. I'm so sorry, Inigo...

And then Welsh reminds me that he's there, damn it, I hate crying in front of him. For some reason, I feel as though he won't take it seriously. Then again, I've never cried before him. "Wait, what about me?"

I let out a sigh to calm myself, and I grasp his hand firmly. "You're coming with," I growl, and then I finally begin my sojourn back to the inn. I twist my spine around one last time to see Inigo, and my wince is plain on my face as I behold his expression again. "Bye-ya, Inigo..."

His voice is almost a squeak, which is why I hear it above the hubbub of passersby: "That... She... How cruel..." Oh, wow, I just... That was so fucking cruel, Shanz. Don't do it again. Ever.

Stomp, stomp, stomp. My feet sink into the snow, and I'm so glad I'm wearing boots. Yes, focus on the boots. Focus on the road back to the inn. Focus on Welsh. "Lucky, I guess," I mumble to him. "I didn't expect to find you so quickly."

"Well, apparently," he shrugs at me while being dragged, "you're just a really lucky person."

Light burp. Ooh, there's that spaghetti I ate when I was– FOCUS, SHANZ. "Myeah. But I didn't need your help back there, I had it."

Welsh gives a light "hmph." "You don't even have a weapon on you." There's a weird thing about the way he speaks; his pitch goes up when he emphasizes a word, almost like he's screaming like a girl. (He does an excellent Nappa imitation, though; we should totally do a fandub of DBZ abridged.)

Defiantly, I reach into my pocket. Was the guy paying no attention at all? "What's this, then, a sketchbook?" I pull the wind tome out and flash it in his face. "Yeah, I'm armed!"

He raises an eyebrow and brings up the opposite end of his mouth. "Well, it didn't look like you had a weapon!" That's the whole POINT, dumbass! There's that jewelry shop I blew my paycheck on, passing it by.

Scoff. "And you decided I was a defenseless little girl and pulled a sword out to save your damsel in distress." Turn the corner.

"You are not my damsel in distress! You're more like that annoying little sister who always gets into trouble."

The inn's finally in sight! Almost there! "Annoying is one of the words I list under compliments. Anyways, I gotta show you to Chrom. From what I saw, you can fight pretty well!" I swing open the door and yank Welsh inside.

"Augh, why?" He whines while I glance about the foyer.

"Bo~oss," I sing. I walk forward and THERE HE IS, exiting the hallway! "Hey, Boss!" I trot up to him, and Welsh bobs along behind me.

Chrom pauses in his way to regard me, his eyebrows raising a little when he sees Welsh. "Oh, Shanz, hello. Who is this?"

I hear Welsh murmur behind me, "so you're Shanz over here." Hopefully Chrom didn't hear that.

I pull him up to my side and point at him. "This is Welsh!" I hold up a hand and tick off fingers, counting his good points. "He's a good friend of mine and he just saved my ass, even though I didn't need it." I drop my voice for the latter part of that sentence. "Point is, he can fight, we should totally haul him along!" Back to my cheerful facade, do not think about Inigo do not think about GODS DAMN IT. KEEP. SMILING.

Welsh turns to face me and whispers audibly, "this is the most awkward job interview ever." And he's right, it's weird, but it works pretty damn well; Chrom doesn't seem averse to the idea.

"Well," he shrugs, "if Shanz is vouching for you, I'll let you join the Shepherds." Oh, wow, that hopeful smile is kind of cute WHY CAN'T I STOP THINKING ABOUT GUYS, OH MY GODS.

"Cool!" Welsh fistpumps with his one free hand. "Now if only she would stop dragging me around like this!" Wow, that's a pretty pointed glare he just gave me.

Chuckle. I let go at last, whew my hand's sweaty. "Okay, sure. Just remember to be here before sundown. You're free of that sleazy inn you were complaining about!"

"Finally!" Yet another over-exaggerated fistpump; this one involved bending the knees. He quiets down and asks, "now where's my room?

Chrom went and left while I was giving Welsh the good news about his rooming situation, so I get to tell him. "Where you bunk is Robin's decision. 'Scuse me!" I slip past him, enter my room, grab my sketchbook, sit down in the foyer (Welsh has left by the point), and draw. While I'm at it, I hum. Let's go with the Fire Emblem theme, yeah, that'll be funny. Heh.

"Excuse me, milady," I jump up in the air upon hearing this voice, "but I have a request."

"AUGH!" GODS DAMN IT, FREDERICK! "STOP DOING THAT!" I think I might have another anxiety attack. Please, no. Phew.

Frederick's clearly confuzzled. "Doing..." He quirks an eyebrow and tilts his head sideways. "What, may I ask?"

Exasperated sigh. "Coming up behind me and scaring the tar out of me!" Pant, pant. "I think I might just piss myself if you do that again." Wipe forehead. Yep, that's sweat. Crap. Why do the guys always do this?

He bows politely. Unnnghghh. Stop doing that, this is the worst time for me to be thinking about all the attractive men here. "My apologies." He rises back up. "To frighten you was not my intent."

"Then how are you so good at it? Ugh," I sigh. "Don't answer that, it was rhetorical."

He closes his mouth, because yes, I really did have to tell him not to. After that comes a small pause; I've got a particularly strange font of humor, methinks that's what threw him off. "If you say so." He nods. "Not to repeat myself, but there is a service I would have you render me. You are an artisan, are you not?"

I narrow my eyes; this rings a bell. There was only one instance in which Frederick used the word "artisan," and something tells me there were consequences. "Yes. Why?"

He inhales air, oh boy, this is going to be a long one. "I would like to commission a poster, for the purpose of raising morale." Hang on, wait a min– "I would ask that this poster depict our lord Chrom, naked, with–"

"Not," I interrupt immediately, "on your life. Shirtless, no problem; nude, no drawing." Hell no, I am NOT being responsible for that. I should warn Chrom about this. Besides, I have, um, problems drawing the male genitalia. By problems, I mean I don't– I haven't– I've never drawn 'em before. I mean, I don't draw porn or anything, just... fanservice. Abs, pecs, that stuff. And sometimes I might draw nude women, because I know what we look like. Male parts? Please, no.

Frederick seems discouraged, and if he's only discouraged, I'd better try hard to dissuade him. "Ngh... I will simply have to find another artisan, then." Uh-oh.

"Or you could abandon the idea altogether," I point out. "Chrom's not going to be happy when he finds out." Oh, boy, he won't. I remember how that support conversation goes now, Chrom freaks out and tears down every poster he can find, and he's red in the face for the rest of the week. I might have exaggerated just now. I should go read those ones again, they were hilarious. But I have no desire to have anything to do with them.

From his tone of voice, he's still not dissuaded. "We shall see, then." Okay. Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. I close my sketchbook and get up to leave, but he stops me. "If I may, that tune you hummed earlier, are you aware that it is the Ylissean national anthem?"

What? The Fire Emblem theme is the Ylissean national anthem? Wow, didn't know that. Cool, I guess. I turn to face him. "Mm-hmm." That hum wasn't too convincing. Shit. "Catchy tune."

He seems to buy it. That, or he's a damn good actor. (UNF.) "It brings me joy to see such a hearty patriot amongst the Shepherds." Oh, wow, that's a low bow. "Very well, if decline is still your answer, please excuse me..."

I avert my eyes to distract myself, ten gold says I'm blushing. No bet? "You're excused. Please don't ask me to draw people naked again." Hastily, I tread a path back to my room. I can hear him talking to himself as I leave, though, and my hearing is surprisingly sharp when I don't want it to be.

"Farewell, milady. Hm," he hums. "Her behavior is odd, quite suspicious..." Aw, crap. Yep, I bet he didn't buy it. "Methinks she merits investigation. But how..." He muses for a bit, and right as I turn to enter my room, I hear his eureka: "Ah! I have it!"

This is a bad herald.

I sigh and flop onto the bed. Robin, sitting at the desk which I didn't even know was there until this morning, turns her chair around (with a terrible scraping noise, this is why I like spinny chairs). "Hey, Robin." This comes out as a yawn.

"Yes?" She's already turned to regard me, so she didn't move much there. This is starting to remind me of my dorm setting, with Nineeyena and I.

Sit up, Shanz. Whew. "Who are we hauling along for the tournament?"

She pins her eyes to the wall, trying to remember her strategy. "We're bringing Chrom, plus our five best. Frederick, me, Sully, Lissa, and you."

What?

I lean forward, not daring to believe this. "Wait, I'm one of the best?" Moreover, I'm fighting in the tournament? SHIT!

Robin nods at me, trying to boost my confidence, from what it looks like. "Not to preen your feathers, but your growth is astounding. I've heard Frederick call you a paragon among us." Not that pun again. I hate that pun. And it came from Frederick, the guy who SOMEHOW resembles my dad (who is the king of puns) AND is attractive at the same time.

Welp, if I have Paragon, then I guess I ought to be as good, if not better than Robin by now, gameplay-wise. "That makes sense, then. Can't wait. I'll put in no less effort than a hundred percent."

She smiles, stands, approaches me, and pats my head. HEY, MY HAIR IS MINE TO MESS WITH, AND MINE ALONE. HANDS OFF. "I've never known you to slack on the battlefield, despite your habits off of it." Aww...

Well, "thanks, Robin." I pull her hand away from my hair quite forcibly, then hop off the bed. (Goosefeathers are surprisingly bouncy.) "Well," I grunt, "I gotta get ready, then!"

And I went and burned all my personal funds on baubles. WELP. I tell Robin to add a thunder tome to the shopping list, and then I leave to go find Sully. Yes, that's right, Sully. I'm going to have her train the everliving shit out of me. Then, I'll get Miriel and Robin to help me master the finer points of magic. Besides, I'll need to know how to use thunder magic if I want to know what happens ahead. And perhaps a Hammerne wouldn't go astray, either.

AND THAT IS HOW SHANZIRA/INIGO WOULD GO DOWN. IT WOULD GO DOWN IN FLAMES. But the reason Inigo managed to get a date with her is because she prefers his looks well over Virion's. Also, yes, that was a support conversation between Shanz and Frederick; I'll put it in the support log now.
Match my update pace now, Gone2GroundEX. Heh. (Yes, this is a challenge.)

Yes, Shanz has a problem with people playing with her hair. So did you all enjoy the seriousness in the middle there? Leave a review and tell me what you think, please!