Perfuma balked. "What do you mean you're transforming back? You should have hours left!"
"I don't know! But I can feel it happening!" Scorpia responded in an urgent whisper.
"Is it some sort of venom side effect? Does it make you resistant to potions?"
Scorpia shrugged. "I've never heard of anything like that."
Perfuma groaned. Of course she couldn't have just one good night, something had to go wrong. How were people going to react to seeing Scorpia? Would a battle break out between her allies and her lover? She had to find a way out of this. "Whatever. Maybe if we hurry out before it entirely transforms-"
A shift in Scorpia's weight, and Perfuma grabbed her arms in case the transformation made her dizzy enough to fall. Her distinctly crustacean arms. Perfuma's mind continued imagining the worst. Would Perfuma be able to explain to her friends quick enough to stop their instinctual attack? Would Perfuma have to fight She-ra to protect Scorpia? Would it be better to pretend Scorpia disguised and came on her own, deceiving Perfuma? But then Perfuma would have to fight her, and with everyone else against her as well, there's no way Scorpia could escape…
Perfuma had to stop thinking like this. There had to be a way to prevent any of that from happening. "Okay- New plan needed."
"While we're on the topic of new plans, this dress is much too small for me in this form."
"How small-" Perfuma groped along the fabric until she discovered much of it was very ripped in some very scandalous locations. She pulled her hand back suddenly, trying not to let certain thoughts distract her from getting Scorpia out of here. "Okay, so new plan needs clothing."
"We're in a closet," Scorpia pointed out helpfully, "Important first step!"
Perfuma laughed, desperate for any sort of tension relief. "You're the cutest. Help me find something-"
Glimmer's voice came from outside, "Are you guys decent? 30 seconds left!"
"I am not decent at all!" Scorpia declared truthfully.
Perfuma groaned, but did not stop digging through the closet. The lack of light made finding something difficult, she had to rely on feel alone. Behind her, Perfuma could hear Scorpia pushing hangers aside as well for something large enough to cover her.
A soft sensation on Perfuma's hands gave her pause. She tugged the garment, and as it fell off the coat hanger she found it pleasingly heavy. She shoved the fluffy coat towards Scorpia. "Put this on!"
"10!… 9!… 8!…"
A countdown started outside. "Ooh this feels nice!" Scorpia commented, "And there's a hood!"
"7!… 6!… 5!…"
"I have a plan, follow my lead when we leave… anything we forgot?"
"4!… 3!… 2!…"
"Just one thing." Scorpia grabbed Perfuma and planted a final kiss on her lips.
"1!… We're opening the door!"
They parted just before the door flew open; Perfuma blinked at the sudden influx of light. She did not have time to let her eyes adjust for long, though. "Super sorry, but Rose caught a cold, we're going to head out now!"
Perfuma turned back and was relieved to see Scorpia had pulled the hood of the coat over her face. It was a huge and fluffy, hopefully enough so that 'Rose's broadening would be less noticeable. Perfuma grabbed Scorpia's coat sleeve, which barely covered her claws, and pulled her out of the closet. They barreled past Glimmer, not giving anyone a chance to protest.
Once outside the room, they did not slow down. Perfuma did not dare to stop, in case anyone tried to talk to them and the ruse was revealed. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, going a mile a minute. They passed by the dance floor, which was still as loud as before, pushing through throngs of dancers to get to the exit. All her manners screamed at her to thank the guards on the way out, but she was too afraid of letting them catch a glimpse of Scorpia to stop. Perfuma was both glad she hadn't had the joyberry juice, and wished she could down several glasses of it right at that moment to calm her nerves.
They did not stop until they were in the Whispering Woods. Perfuma let go of the coat sleeve, finally turning to face Scorpia. Scorpia did not stop, and instead continued running into Perfuma's arms.
"Thank you," She mumbled into Perfuma's shoulder, "But I don't think I'll be going to any more parties anytime soon."
Perfuma wrapped her arm around Scorpia, and pulled her down so the two of them could sit and catch their breath. Scorpia easily followed the movement, settling on the grass. Perfuma's heart was still pumping, full of adrenaline. Despite being safe, her mind ran through all the things that could have happened if the coat had not been in that closet. If Scorpia had to fight her allies there… who would Perfuma have fought with?
Perfuma was against everything the Horde stood for, of course. It should have been easy to say she would fight against Scorpia. Scorpia had not stopped being a part of the Horde just because they were making out every now and again. But Scorpia wasn't the Horde itself, she was just a woman. A soft, caring, affectionate woman. Perfuma clung tighter to Scorpia, thinking how dear she was. How could someone so kind, so considerate, so inherently good, spend her days attacking innocent towns and bringing about the destruction of the world? How long could Perfuma keep the truth of Scorpia's alliance away from their relationship?
"Are- are you crying?"
Scorpia's voice brought Perfuma back to the present moment. Perfuma realized that, yes, she was definitely tearing up at the conflicting thoughts running through her head. Scorpia rubbed a gentle claw along Perfuma's back.
Perfuma took the excuse to bury herself in Scorpia's shoulder, letting out a sob. Scorpia pulled her closer, wrapping her up in a sweet embrace. "It was very stressful, you thought fast though," Scorpia assured her.
Perfuma knew some snot was dripping onto Scorpia, and so pulled back to try and wipe at least some on her own clothes. When she wiped her eyes, she stood up. "We should probably get back to my grove."
Scorpia smiled. "Yeah, I can't exactly bring this coat back to the Horde, and this dress… sorry it's a bit ruined now, by the way."
Perfuma began walking. "Don't even worry about it."
As they made their way, they did not speak. Perfuma glanced sideways at Scorpia. Although she had smiled and tried to comfort Perfuma, she was also biting her lip. Perfuma might have been stressed, but Scorpia was in far more danger than Perfuma back there. Perfuma reached out a hand to hold one of Scorpia's claws. Scorpia jumped a moment at the contact, but then gave Perfuma a warm smile.
As they walked, linked together, Scorpia broke the silence, "Do you think… it was True Love's Kiss?"
"What?"
"That caused the transformation to wear off."
Perfuma's eyes widened.
Scorpia stuttered, "Like in those old fairytales, where sometimes it cures people's curses. Just saying, it happened right after we-"
"How do you even know what True Love's Kiss is? Do they allow fairytales in the Horde?" Perfuma shifted the subject slightly.
"I spent time with other princesses as a child, they talk."
"I wish I had gotten to spend time with you back then." Perfuma sighed, further moving the conversation.
"I'm glad we didn't, I might not like you otherwise."
That caused Perfuma's thought process to stall. "What?"
"Most princesses weren't very fond of me. You'd probably follow their lead."
Perfuma tightened her grip. "You can't decide that."
"…Okay." Scorpia did not sound convinced.
Perfuma decided to let the subject drop. Scorpia's time before isolating herself from her princesshood entirely was not a time she spoke of often. It seemed to be a complicated situation.
They did not speak the rest of the way to the grove. It gave Perfuma time to stew on her thoughts further. Part of their truce ignored their respective alliances, but Perfuma realized as of tonight that no matter what, they could not ignore that forever.
It was time to issue an ultimatum to Scorpia:
Perfuma or the Horde.
