It was an entire week until Scorpia returned.

Perfuma walked into her grove, reading some idly reading some parchment, when Scorpia spoke, "Welcome back!"

Instinctively, Perfuma shot a series of vines towards Scorpia's voice. A quick glance showed Scorpia had been sitting next to a tree, hunched over a neighboring garden. She was quickly wrapped up.

Scorpia laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Are we doing this again?"

Perfuma took a breath. Scorpia could have hurt her several times in their past visits, but had not attempted to. Scorpia had given her no reason to distrust her… aside from the time she stabbed her. But even then, Scorpia left without further injuring Perfuma or seeming to do anything else. As crazy as it was, Scorpia seemed more interested in pure conversation over any sort of fighting.

Since thinking this over took some time, Scorpia continued, "Is this like, a kink of yours or something? Restraining people?"

"No," Perfuma lied, simultaneously releasing the vines.

Scorpia strolled over to Pefuma, no hesitation.

Perfuma took a step back, raising the vines again, though not touching Scorpia. "If you try anything-"

Scorpia stopped and held her claws up. "No funny business, I swear. It's just a bit hard to talk to you from all the way over there."

"I'll come to you," Perfuma told her, taking some tentative steps forward.

Scorpia shrugged and sat down on a large root. Perfuma slowly came closer, eventually taking a seat beside her. She kept a close eye on the tail, but it did not move in preparation to strike. Perfuma thought about tying Scorpia up again. She could just keep her here, maybe bring her to the other Princesses. Then they could use her as a hostage to negotiate with the Horde…

She saw Scorpia smile at her. Blindly trusting. What business did a Horde soldier have, trusting a Princess like that? Perfuma wanted to strike her, to remind her what their places were. Where did Scorpia get the confidence to come back? Or more accurately, the foolishness? But here Perfuma sat, dumbly trusting Scorpia as well. Perfuma couldn't bring herself to make the move to break the trust. So long as neither of them struck, they could stay in this strange impasse.

Of course it would be totally different if Scorpia seemed ready to attack or betray her, Perfuma comforted herself. She would not be an idiot. But so long as Scorpia didn't break this delicate balancing act, Perfuma would not break it either. And maybe, if they stayed this way long enough, and Perfuma could show Scorpia another way to live outside the Horde…

"How are you?" Scorpia asked.

Perfuma raised an eyebrow. "You came all the way out here to ask that?"

"It's not that far," Scorpia assured her, "And it's my day off, can't I check in on my friend?"

Perfuma paused her breath. A friend? Is that how Scorpia saw them? Or worse, is that what they really were? "I'm… good. I was expecting you sooner, to be honest."

"Did you think I lied about seeing you later?" Scorpia asked with a laugh.

"...You haven't technically lied, yet."

Scorpia grinned.

"And how have you been?" Perfuma asked.

"Alright. Better now that I'm here."

Perfuma could work with that. "What? You like it here better than in the Horde?"

"It's… prettier," Scorpia looked around, eventually gesturing to the garden she had been looking at when Perfuma entered, "What kinds of flowers are those?"

Scorpia was a curious woman, it turned out. She wanted to learn all of the flowers in the grove. Perfuma happily described every flower, and Scorpia was delighted to hear every detail about them.

HORIZONTAL LINE BREAK HERE

Scorpia could listen to Perfuma all day.

She had a gentle voice. Energetic, for sure, but undeniably gentle. And her occasional, "Is this too much detail? I'm not boring you, am I?" Made Scorpia feel cared for. Of course Scorpia could listen to someone rant for hours, she had proven that well enough by being friends with Entrapta. But someone who asked, who checked in on her, and made sure she was okay, made her feel like Perfuma was really paying attention to her. Scorpia always assured her that it was okay, and she was still interested, but it felt good to have someone making sure she was still happy.

It was terribly considerate.

After flowers, the conversation veered to places Scorpia didn't want it to.

"So why were you hanging around Plumeria in the first place, anyway?" Perfuma asked her.

Scorpia drew a sharp breath. "As I've said before, I don't intend to lie to you. And because of that, I'm going to truthfully tell you that I don't think I should tell you."

Perfuma huffed. "What, so I should just let you creep around my territory? Doing Horde business?"

"It is, technically, Horde business I guess."

"What?" Perfuma's voice was getting less gentle, "Like poisoning plants again?"

"No!" Scorpia exclaimed, "Nothing that poses an immediate danger to you or your citizens. More like..." Scorpia struggled to articulate it without giving too much information away. So far, aside from She-ra, the Rebellion did not seem clued in to the fact that Old One's tech could be utilized for war. Scorpia could bond with anyone, but she couldn't betray her faction over a friendship. She had friends in the Horde as well, who she needed to protect.

"Like what?" Perfuma asked, voice going cold as she stood.

Scorpia tilted her face away from Perfuma. "Not much, really! It's stuff you probably wouldn't care about. It's not super important or anything-"

A single vine pressed against Scorpia's cheek, pushing her to look Perfuma in the eye. "Scorpia."

"Yes?" Scorpia's voice was quieter than she intended. Her face might have been redder than intended as well.

Perfuma stared, and neither of them broke eye contact. Scorpia knew Perfuma could crush her in an instant, but she had to rely on her trust and friendship to keep her safe. Perfuma did not say anything; it seemed as though she had lost her train of thought, and could not get back to the station.

Scorpia decided to try and reason with her. "You wouldn't tell me if the Princesses were planning to attack the Horde, would you?"

A strange dance of emotions crossed Perfuma's face. Eventually, she sighed. "You swear it's not endangering me or Plumeria?"

"Yes!" Scorpia exclaimed, relieved to see Perfuma starting to soften again.

Perfuma took a seat again. "Sorry to ask about the Horde like that. I think maybe… maybe we should not talk about our factions."

"Or at least the strategic plans of our factions."

"Yes," Perfuma agreed.

"That sounds good."

They simmered on that point for a moment. Scorpia would be careful not to pry into Princess plans.

Perfuma kindly changed the subject. "You don't have to tell me Horde plans, but what is like, growing up there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like… Bow told me you guys don't have birthdays?"

Scorpia laughed, "No, they're wasteful. Too much focus on the individual and all that."

"What else is different?"

"Different from you, you mean?"

"Yes." Perfuma gave a weak smile, "Sorry I phrased it like that."

"I don't know, exactly… I don't know much about your childhood." Scorpia leaned in, and noted that Perfuma did not move away. "What was it like growing up in Plumeria? Then we can compare notes."

Perfuma smiled, a pretty sight. "Well, alright."


Darkness fell. And under the darkness, their histories and feelings spilled. Sleepiness crept up on them, but shared emotions kept each other awake. They spoke and listened like they rarely had with anyone before. And when Perfuma said she was tired enough to lie down, Scorpia asked to join her. They laid themselves down a mere foot away from each other, in a bed of moss. And although they kept speaking, their words and thoughts began to slow. And eventually, both began to think a nap would be nice. They would just rest their eyes, and then they could separate. Just a quick little nap…


"Perfuma? Are you awake?"

Bow's distant voice caused Perfuma to stir in her bed. She realized there was warmth in front of her. She was buried in something, that had shielded the suns rays from her eyes. She groggily pulled back, met with the resistance of something large keeping her close. However, she was able to pull back enough to see Scorpia's sleeping face.

Bow's voice rang out again, "I'm coming into your grove!"

Perfuma squeaked and pushed Scorpia away. When had they started cuddling? Why was Scorpia still here in the morning? Perfuma shook her head, she didn't have time to think about this, Bow couldn't see Scorpia.

Scorpia's eyes started to open, and when she saw Perfuma a smile broke out on her face. Perfuma wanted to shout at her, but with no time she used her magic to pull a bed of moss over Scorpia, and then pulled her away from the grove, to hide behind a tree.

Scorpia's voice still carried, though, "Perfuma? What are you-"

Bow entered the grove. Perfuma slapped some vines over Scorpia's mouth, being careful not to cover the nose so she could still breath. "Hi Bow!" Perfuma exclaimed loudly to overlap with the vines movement.

"Hey Perfuma, where have you been? Aren't you usually out and about by now? Your aides say you haven't been seen all morning."

"Oh I just had an, uh," Perfuma yawned, not acting at all, "I ended up having a late night."

"You and me both, girl," Bow took a seat. He wasn't going to stay long, was he? Perfuma had to let Scorpia go at some point.

Actually, what if the Horde thought Scorpia had been kidnapped? Scorpia said she had the day off yesterday, but she also described the Horde as work-heavy. There's no way they would give Scorpia two days off in a row without good reason. What would they do if Scorpia didn't report for duty in time?

"Glimmer and I have been a planning a party, and I wanted to personally invite you!"

"Personally?" Perfuma laughed, only slightly nervous, "Oh Bow, you could have just sent me a letter!"
Bow shook his head, "No can do. Because while Glimmer and I were talking, we realized we haven't heard from you in a while! How have you been doing?"

"I've been great, but very busy! Very, very busy! So busy."

"Really?" Bow frowned, "Anything we could help you with?"

Perfuma shook her head, "No, some stuff only I can do. So maybe we can catch up later?"

Bow sighed. "But Glimmer, Adora and I are planning to investigate some strange things down South tomorrow. We'll be traveling for awhile, then as soon as we get back we'll be preparing for the party, so that means we won't be able to see you for ages. Are you sure you can't make a little time?"

Perfuma grimaced, "Er, um..."

"I just wanna know how things are going, you can't spare a moment?"

Perfuma thought fast, "You guys are leaving tomorrow? How about I join you then?"

"Really?" Bow jumped up, "Are you sure? Considering how busy you are?"

Perfuma forced a smile. "Nothing I can't fix up with a days worth hard work. But I'll have to get started now! How about you head on back to Bright Moon, I'll meet you guys there bright and early tomorrow, and then we can chat the whole mission?"

Bow squeezed her with a hug. "I. Love. This. Plan!" He hopped back and gave her finger guns. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"
She returned his finger guns, "Yeah, just go on, I gotta get started on all this… work."

"Alright, bye!" Bow exited, practically skipping.

"Bye," Perfuma returned, waving.

She waited a minute, making sure he wouldn't return with some last minute note. When it seemed he was far away enough, she walked around the tree Scorpia was hidden behind, and removed the vines over her mouth.

Scorpia spoke immediately, "Sorry I lost track of time, and thought I would just rest for a moment..."

Perfuma lifted the moss off of her, freeing Scorpia's limbs, and Scorpia stood up, "I also fell asleep, don't worry about it. You just focus on getting back to the Horde before they freak out about your absence."

Scorpia smiled. She pulled Perfuma into a hug. Perfuma silently gasped, her heart racing at the contact. If she did not count the nocturnal cuddling, this was the first time she had directly touched Scorpia. This hug felt very different from her hug with Bow. She had hugged Bow dozens of times, and never felt quite as… nervous? Excited? Before pulling back, Scorpia gave Perfuma a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for letting me stay, I'll see you later."

Scorpia ran out of the grove, hurrying back to the Horde.

Perfuma shook her head. That kiss on the cheek had maybe caused some traitorous thoughts. It was good Scorpia seemed to like Perfuma. Exactly how she liked her, Perfuma wasn't sure. And Perfuma did not dare to muse on whether she would prefer platonic or romantic. Either way, this could be a way to pull her to the Rebellion's side. Perfuma just had to control her rapidly beating heart.