Rogue Huntsman

Guardian

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Arex had completely forgotten about whatever her original plans were for the night. She was hardly really thinking about anything else other than this.

And to her embarrassment, she was only getting more excited as she looked down at the metallic blue scroll in her hand once she was out of Ray's room, legs on autopilot to take her across campus and to the forge room.

'I would advise not making too much noise, approximately ninety percent of the student body is currently asleep.'

Arex's eyes read the message with a small, questioning smile, "Wait, ten percent are awake?"

The girl slightly quickened her pace, not wanting to get pulled into any other social interactions while she's walking about.

Especially not… in these shorts… which she just realized she completely forgot about while talking with Ray.

'You don't want to know what they're doing.'

Arex's cheeks tinted red as she shook her head, "R-right… Don't tell me then."

It'd take a few minutes of walking to get to the side of campus with the forge room on it, so Arex wanted to fill the void of silence with at least a few questions.

One of which, she was actually dying to know the answer to.

"Do you have a name?"

'I am GHOST, an acronym for the five protocols that comprise my core programming.'

"Acronym?" Arex asked, trying to place what each letter stood for.

'Guardian, Harbinger, Ordinance, Satellite, and Tracer.'

That was… a long list, and it had an impressive coverage of… well… everything an AI can stand for. And since GHOST basically ran the center of Sentinel…

That made perfect sense.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, GHOST," Arex spoke lightly, entering the building she needed to in order to start making her way toward the forge room's doors.

'Likewise, though I must ask. You currently have an accelerated heart rate, are you expectant of danger?'

Arex blinked for a moment as she bit her lip, "I-I… guess I'm just excited?" She didn't exactly feel in danger, but she definitely didn't want to run into anyone while she was out and about.

'I see. Is this your first time meeting an AI?'

The phoenix could only give a tiny nod of the head to that.

'I promise you it's not as bad as Ray makes it out to be.'

"B-bad?" Arex asked, shaking her head as she thought for a moment, "I'm honestly glad you're talkative. It just means I can talk back just as much while I can."

'Are you referring to your partner? I've heard that she's a little lacking in the word department.'

"Kit? Oh, you have no idea…" Arex replied quietly, a soft smile splaying across her lips, "She's the only person I've ever seen who can compact an entire paragraph into a single glance."

'I know someone who can do that, he's very expressive.'

"Yeah?" Arex asked, swiping her way into the forge room doors with a satisfying decompression of sliding pistons before quickly ushering herself inside, "I wonder what'll happen if he and Kit had a conversation."

GHOST's hologram reappeared now that they were inside the forge, "It would certainly be interesting to analyze."

"It… would…" Arex took a moment to adjust to the fact that GHOST had already activated her usual forge station, projecting herself up onto its surface as the phoenix slowly started to make her way toward it again, "Do you have access to the entire system?"

GHOST nodded once with a smile, "I do. This forge was active 5 minutes ago."

Arex herself nodded to that, pulling her stool over to slide herself onto and rest her arms on the workstation, "I guess you already knew where I was going, so that makes sense."

She quietly rested down her collapsed scroll and keyboard, laying down Ray's scroll now too as she turned her attention to the hologram.

"How… much do you know about me? You mentioned that you knew of my partner and a little about her, so…" she trailed off, but the question got across.

GHOST pointed to her head and tapped her temple with her left index finger, "I share a conscious link with Ray's scroll and gather data according to his surroundings, even while he's asleep. What I know of you, your partner, and of your team is only what has been shown to me."

Arex didn't know how much that accounted for, but it must have been at least a little more than just one fact about her partner.

Probably far more than that, considering GHOST had access to the school's profile system too.

"Do you… work mainly from free will?" Arex asked as well, watching as the AI moved about on the workstation's large scroll, generating small objects here and there to interact with.

"I do, one of my most defining features is my disregard for the laws of robotics, I could technically kill you and not be punished for it," GHOST replied cheerily, kicking a holographic ball in the air and trying to see how many times she could keep it up, "I'm not going to though, just in case you got worried."

Yeah… yeah she got a little worried, "I-it's fine. I know about the laws of robotics, something I looked into early on."

Arex's next question was a little more hesitant to voice, but… with what GHOST just said, it brought it up to be slightly more relevant.

"W-why did you… step in? When I was getting hacked?"

GHOST stopped kicking her soccer ball, letting it fall and bounce off the side of the workstation to disappear, "You needed help, it wouldn't be very good of me to let you suffer."

"Wasn't that against what Ray ordered of you, though?" the phoenix asked softly, but it was a good question to ask. Could GHOST… go against orders like that? Even with free will?

"It was, yes. But you've long since established yourself as someone of interest to Sentinel. I'm almost certain that if I didn't help you, he would have," GHOST replied earnestly, nodding slightly.

"R-right," Arex trailed off, anything with Sentinel always trailing back to that excuse. Was she… really of that much interest to them?

The girl's eyes soon widened a bit as she quirked a delicate brow, turning her gaze back to GHOST's own.

"Would he…?" She… didn't exactly see Ray as the kind of person to do that.

"You'd be surprised with him. What you see isn't always what you get, for lack of a better term."

She guessed that was pretty fair, considering Niro was a walking example of that, "He just… didn't come across that way. Not to me, at least."

Arex's eyes watched as a few more objects materialized around GHOST, the AI seeming to like building a digital environment as she walked around.

"Do you know why Sparrow's of so much interest to Sentinel? I don't exactly have the best skills in coding. I'm more of a blacksmith with my tech, to be honest."

"You seem to be under the impression that Sentinel dedicates all of its resources into hacking," GHOST replied, speaking with a slight smile.

"I sorta figured most of it did, really. But after hearing about your five protocols… I'm starting to think there's a lot more to it than just that," Arex replied in a soft exhale, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, you have no idea. Not all of the members are even technologically versed."

That small fact shocked Arex a little, "With how many companies it takes down, I figured they'd all at least have that background knowledge. But I guess it can draw on specialty skills too, if it needs…"

Was that why they kept an eye on her?

"I'll let you in on a secret, each member of Sentinel is the best at what they specialise in, hacking, engineering, forging, it's a collective group of talented individuals working in coalition to improve the world," GHOST whispered, but maintained an almost smug look in her eyes, "those who put their own selfish desires aside and focus on problems that affect everyone. That is the core foundation of what it takes to become a member."

Arex couldn't stop the small smile from curling across her lips, her eyes trailing down for a moment as she had an internal, embarrassingly gleeful exclamation that she was right about what Sentinel actually stood for.

It wasn't the cyber-terrorist group some made it out to be.

"I used to want to join it, but I never knew how. I guess it already has a forger though, which counts me out if it's sticking to the tightly knit organization like I think it does. Do you know if I've ever met that person?" Arex asked.

GHOST smiled, "Most likely."

Arex wasn't expecting an answer like that, "At Beacon, maybe?" Her social interactions only extended as far as the individuals who walked into her bakery and those she's done contracts for from her personal forge.

"There is only one member in Beacon at this moment, and Sentinel doesn't plan on more joining anytime soon."

"I sorta already figured that, and the one member would have to be Ray." The phoenix furrowed her brow again as she tried to think about everyone she's done contracts for.

It wouldn't make sense if the one who specialized in forging came to her for something like that, especially if they could just make it themself.

Which left the bakery… but she quickly ruled that out. There were too many customers to try to scan through for there to be any hope of her getting a mental image of who that person was.

A chair materialized behind GHOST as the AI reached over and pulled it closer, taking a seat on the workstation as she crossed her legs and sat in an upright position.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured why we've been watching you in silence, it's pretty obvious when you think about it," she commented as she rested her head on her hand.

Arex knew she could be oblivious at times, but she couldn't help but still give a confused shake of the head in response to GHOST's comment, "I don't think it's as obvious as you say it is."

A small giggle was GHOST's initial response, "You said that you wanted to join Sentinel, did you ever consider asking?"

Arex blinked for a moment as she turned her strayed attention back to GHOST, giving her a pathetically meek smile, "I-I… w-well… aside from the fact I didn't know anyone until now…"

She bit her lip as she struggled to get the words out, but it was fairly obvious what Arex was implying. Especially if GHOST knew what her social patterns looked like…

"I'm… not exactly the most social… of people…"

"And what makes you think that's a problem? Have you met Ray?"

"I-I have. But he has leagues more confidence than I could ever have," Arex replied exasperatedly, her tone honest, "I just can't seek people out with the intent to ask something like that, especially if it's nothing more than a personal interest."

"We've been tracking your blog for years, Miss Arex. You never had to leave your room," GHOST replied softly, giving the phoenix a smile.

Arex's words got stuck in her throat as she flushed a little red at the embarrassment, those specific words not really clicking until now, "I-I mean… the blog wasn't really meant to be something to reach out to them. It was just something I started on a whim. I-it didn't feel right to use that medium for anything else, especially nothing that direct."

To Arex's fall, most times, was her inability to request for anything.

Even something as simple as that.

"You underestimate how deeply we investigate things, we've analyzed every block of code on your blog since day one, if you didn't want to publically announce that, you could have hidden it there," GHOST replied suggestively, crossing her legs the other way.

Arex's eyes darted away as she felt her back grow a little stiff, fingers grasping tightly at her arms as she shrunk a little in her stool, "I-I… didn't think of that…"

Her voice was more or less a squeak than anything else.

"Of course not, you weren't fully aware of the full scope of our interest in your abilities until tonight."

That didn't stop her from feeling as embarrassed as she was now, "I-I guess not. But what does that mean now? I… find it a little hard to believe you're only doing this to just talk tonight."

"If you didn't come to us, the only option we had was to come to you. You think me stopping that hack was for fun?" GHOST questioned.

"T-to be fair… Ray started it," Arex replied, glancing back to GHOST's eyes, "A-and to also be fair… you looked like you were having fun torching my code."

"Correction: I was torching theirs. They were using a method of hacking we wrote 4 years ago, a method of selectively brute forcing their way through key weaknesses in firewalls," GHOST spoke matter-of-factly, "something as predictably naive as that was nothing to extinguish."

Arex didn't really know what to think of that, "I-I guess I fall pretty low on the spectrum then, if something like that was better than what I could do against it."

"I've been analyzing your firewalls for a little while now, the problem isn't the firewalls themselves, it's how many you have. Like having multiple padlocks, all you need is the right key to open them," GHOST replied, exaggerating her point by creating a holographic padlock and opening it up with a tiny key, "It's better to have one firewall that can actively change itself to better resist attacks."

There was a time where Arex actually tried that… but it didn't help that she was still an amateur, "I couldn't really ever figure out how to make something that advanced without constant maintenance due to it breaking in several areas."

GHOST hummed, "Have you tried using an ASAI?"

Arex gave another meek smile, "I've… never really looked into making an AI before, especially an Application Specific one. But… that'd solve my problem, and would make sure I didn't need to constantly try to defend against personal attackers all the time."

A text box suddenly appeared in front of GHOST mid-conversation, immediately drawing her attention to it as her eyebrows furrowed, "Well it looks like you're in luck…" she murmured as she read the message.

Another delicate brow rose as Arex looked to the notification, "W-with?"

"It would appear that Sentinel has authorized the use of the Guardian protocol for matters concerning your security, and in addition to that, they've given me full range of communication with you," GHOST responded, turning her gaze back up to Arex.

To say Arex was awestruck was… an understatement.

W-was that Ray's doing…?

He was the only one who knew she even had contact with GHOST. She knew it was easy to probably tell if she was hacked again, especially given how closely they monitor her site.

But… she'd been talking with GHOST ever since, at what point could they have known?

Unless they were monitoring the conversation?

"C-come again?" After all that thought and mental struggle, Arex could only squeak out two words.

And she didn't even do it right.

"You're now designated as a person of significant interest - interesting choice of words - more now than ever considering you're one of the few outsiders that know of my existence," GHOST replied as she read out the message she had just received.

"S-significant interest?" Now she was just broken.

After a long few moments that were as short as just three seconds for GHOST, Arex's mouth finally snapped shut as she shook her head to try to clear her rushing thoughts.

"I-it makes sense if I know about your existence, it'd keep me quiet, but was it also because of the hacks?" Arex asked, her gaze looking a little meek again as she looked to the small holographic AI sitting in her digital chair.

Arex hadn't exactly had the best track record of fending off attackers… but she was getting better at it the more it happened.

It just… felt like it was happening a lot more often, lately.

"As technology progresses, so does the intensity of potential attacks. It would appear that while harmless on its own, the technology you have invented can easily be weaponized. This, as you can probably guess, is something Sentinel is strongly against."

GHOST replied as she dismissed the message, eyes glancing back up to Arex's own.

"Which is likely why they've decided to assign me to personally protect your files, especially your blueprints. Not to worry however, this will not affect your work in the slightest, but you should now be able to rest a little easier knowing that your stuff is being defended by one of the most advanced artificial intelligences on the entire planet."

"T-that would… help…" Arex managed to utter out, her mind still trying to wrap around the fact that GHOST was going to be in her scroll from this point forward, for however long this lasted, "C-can I ask you something?"

"Certainly."

"I-I know this is for my protection as much as it is for Sentinel's interests, but I don't really see a point in doing it if, when you end up leaving my scroll, it'll only just start up again." Arex dipped her chin a little as she let out a short sigh, "The hacks have been kind of a blessing as much as they've been a curse because I've been learning from them. I… won't really have a source for that anymore, not unless you set time aside to help me with that too."

"You're now one of a sparing 46 individuals with this level of protection. That is to say, you're not the only one to have asked this question," GHOST spoke in a serious tone as she regarded Arex with her eyes, "As I have stated, this will not affect your work, and rather than learning fast or dying as you try, I can give you the tools to learn how to defend yourself in a safe environment, rather than a trial by fire."

"I-I'd… like that," Arex slowly breathed out, meeting the serious gaze with one of more intrigue and hope than actually noticeable seriousness from her end, "Are you able to interact directly with all those individuals?"

She almost sounded a little disappointed when she asked that, hoping the AI had some way to spread out its consciousness to do this for multiple people across several mediums.

"I am, but for your case, I am actively monitoring all of your devices should you require assistance, most of that number are completely unaware they're under Sentinel's protection."

"O-oh…" Now she was starting to feel a little too special. She didn't know what else to say, other than that small, tiny, minuscule, pathetically instinctive response.

And, maybe one more.

"T-thank you?"

"I'm not the one you should be thanking, Miss Arex."

"R-ray then?" Arex asked instead.

An affirmative little nod was her answer.

"O-okay…" Arex nodded slowly in response to that, "I'll be sure to do that, once I can. I… don't really fancy walking into his dorm again so abruptly."

"If you're wondering, he's dressed now," GHOST replied with a smirk.

"I-It would've been weird if he wasn't…" Arex replied, but she still didn't exactly want to knock now either, "I think it can wait until morning, if he's around for that. What should I do with his scroll for now?"

"The Guardian protocol allows me to inhabit your scroll, and since that's not the only one he has, you're fine to keep hold of it until you next see him. I believe he intends to pay you for your work on his processors tomorrow, so then would be an opportune time to do so."

"T-that'll work then," the phoenix replied, letting her arms finally grow just slightly more relaxed than they'd been the whole conversation, "Is there anything else I need to know about for this?"

"There is," the AI gave a small nod, "You mustn't tell anyone about me, or the Guardian protocol. Sentinel is very picky with its secrets, and everything you've been told tonight was solely for your ears only. So long as you agree to these terms, nothing will happen."

"With how much you've looked into me, I'm surprised you need to ask that," Arex said softly, knowing she wasn't one to let slip any kinds of secrets like this, not even ones Anoel's made her promise to keep.

"This includes your sister."

"I-I figured that…" Arex replied quickly, "She's… dangerous when she knows a lot about something."

The phoenix eventually let out another breath as she refocused, finalizing the offer with a short word.

"Deal."

Anoel woke up to the quiet sound of a soft whimper, feeling the girl she'd been cradling in her arms and wings shake coldly beneath the covers.

One bright eye opened as she pushed her cheek into the bed sheets, arching her back to stretch it for a moment before lifting her lax, drowsy head ever so slightly.

Ly was still out cold, curled up in Anoel's arms as a tense furrow of her brow stayed prominent on her delicate features.

Anoel lightly sighed as she pulled Ly back against her chest, feeling the cold, chilling sweat sheening over the thief's bare skin as she rolled herself over onto her back.

She pulled Lylac onto herself, something at the back of Ly's mind instinctively bringing her to cling to Anoel for warmth as the info-broker carefully began to burn her aura into the air beneath the covers.

A steady, soothing gale of gentle heat filtered out beneath the silk blanket, Anoel's gentle touch only growing more tender and protective as she felt Ly's tension in her body begin to loosen.

The whimper and heightened breathing began to calm a little, simmering down into a breathless mewl as Anoel felt the girl begin to burrow her flushed face into the crook of her slender neck.

Their bodies were pressed tightly together, but even with the amount of warmth coursing through Anoel's skin and into Lylac's, she still felt all the soft shivers and twitches rolling through Ly's spine as she slept.

It was obvious she was having a nightmare… and Anoel could easily wager a guess on what it was about.

But she calmly ran her heated fingers through Lylac's soft hair instead, just waiting it out as she kept her warm.

She wanted her to get as much sleep as she could get… and Anoel had every intention to spoil the thief all morning if it meant somehow distracting her from what happened at the bar.

The shivering seemed to finally calm down as a light groan eventually emanated from Ly's throat.

Anoel's gaze growing softer as Ly shifted under the black silken covers of her bed, a yawn finally making its way out of her mouth as her legs straightened and her back arched in a small stretch.

Anoel lifted her head just slightly to lower her arms down to encircle Lylac's arched lower back instead, eyes carefully waiting for the moment Ly's own eyes opened as her heated fingers drew circles against the girl's quickly warming skin.

There was a lot she was looking for. Pain, fear, anxiety, anything she could help to burn away as the morning went by.

She just hoped she didn't see all of them in Lylac's eyes when she woke up fully.

Ly rolled over onto her stomach, despite Ano's arms still wrapped around her waistline, her own arms slowly grasping at her new pillow.

When she opened her eyes, Anoel was met with a mixture of rose pink and sky blue sleepily gazing into her own irises, a passive look hidden in Ly's features.

Anoel lightly smiled at seeing it, but her protective worry didn't drop in her own eyes.

"Morning," the phoenix spoke quietly, sliding the two wings still strewn out beneath the covers back around Ly's body.

A wordless hum left Ly's own throat as her body shivered beneath the caress of the sliding soft feathers, lowering her head again back down onto the warm pillows beneath her.

"You still look tired," Anoel said, voice still soft as she rolled the both of them over to gently lay Ly down against the bed beneath her.

The phoenix pressed her arms lightly into the sheets at either side of the girl under her, a curtain of ebony hair draping down to frame Anoel's face as she gazed down at her.

Just waiting for her to say something.

"You tease them in front of me like that and I'll have to play with them," the blonde commented as a slight smile curled across her lips, her eyes shifting into a pink hue.

"Nothing's stopping you," Anoel replied quietly, letting out a shallow breath at finally hearing Ly's light voice again.

Her heat grew a little more steady at the teasing words, part of her worries at least siphoning away for now as she gazed down into those bright eyes staring back at her.

"Though, we still need to shower," Anoel continued, leaning down to close the few inches that stood between them to lower her lips against the side of Ly's warm cheek, catching the corner of Ly's own lips with the chaste kiss, "And I plan to make you breakfast."

"If you're making breakfast, wait for me to get the fire extinguisher," Ly retorted playfully, her smile brightening even further.

"Don't worry, I've been practicing," Ano replied with her own growing smirk, "I want to try making omelets again."

Ly's delicate fingers reached for the myriad of glossy feathers by her sides, running the digits through them teasingly, "I'll be the judge of whether you can actually make them."

"Arex has been helping me," Anoel replied, closing her eyes with a pleasurable flutter as she let her wings press into the warm touch and open up invitingly, "But I think you'll like them. They're the only thing I can make right now."

"How many attempts did it take?" Ly asked with a skeptical quirk of a delicate brow, "I mean, I'm surprised Arex even found the time to help you given how you preach about her and her love for baked goods and furnaces."

"She's a strict teacher when she wants to be, but it only took a little over four hundred eggs to make my first, decent omelet," Anoel replied softly with a smile, "A couple farmers who frequent her bakery chipped in to help with the dwindling supply, but it's no surprise she has a lot of fans. She doesn't even know she has any."

"Well, I only have eight eggs, but I know one of those fans."

Anoel quirked her own brow as she pushed herself up just slightly, furrowing it again in mild apprehension and unsureness, "I… might have to use them all."

She couldn't stop the sheepish and meek smile from curling across her usually confident lips before gazing down in curiosity again.

"And who's that?"

"I'll never tell…" a wink was sent in Anoel's direction with Ly's reply.

The info-broker's own response came out in a light hum as she lowered herself again to lightly nuzzle Ly's cheek, "Someone I know?"

"Possibly."

"That's a good sign," Anoel whispered, letting her cheek brush lightly over Ly's own as she lowered her soft lips to the girl's ear, dropping her tone by a few careful octaves, "Should I be worried?"

A small shrug was Ly's initial response, "Depends on how patient you are."

Anoel's lips warmly clasped around the edge of Ly's ear in response to that, eliciting a soft gasp out of the girl beneath her, "Are they… obsessive?"

A slight giggle slipped out of Ly's mouth, "They can be, and when they are, they're very obsessive."

Anoel breathed hotly against the ear she'd just nipped as she clicked her tongue, "Arex tends to draw more attention than she realizes, making it easy for an interest in her to spring up. How much of an interest does this obsessive fan have in my cute, innocent sister?"

"Her genius is what intrigues this particular fan, as opposed to her looks and personality. There's nothing to worry about," Ly replied honestly, lightly running her nails up and down Anoel's spine.

The grazing touch only brought Anoel's body to press more needfully against Ly's own as her back arched, "Oh? So this particular fan knows a lot about my adorable baker then?"

Anoel brought her lips down to Ly's jawline as she traced her way up to the girl's chin, placing heated kisses along the way to eventually graze her soft lips against Ly's own teasingly.

"Do they know about Sparrow, by chance?"

"I think you already know that they do." Ly's statement was emphasized by her scratching becoming a little more forceful as her polished nails ran the length of Anoel's back.

The firmer touch drew a light gasp out of Anoel's own lips as she melted more against Ly's hot body, the phoenix's lips curling into a subtle smirk as she thought about it, "I guess he couldn't restrain himself when he hacked her. Dying to meet my little Sparrow in person."

Ly brought one of her hands to Ano's chin, "Almost like me not being able to restrain myself right now… must run in the family."

"You're doing a good job holding back," Anoel teased, letting the girl do whatever she wanted with her touch as she surrendered her body to Ly, "What's taking you so long to kiss me?"

"I'm waiting for reciprocation, not permission."

Anoel's smirk grew just a little more as her bright eyes drew half-lidded, "You know you don't need permission to do anything to me. But are you asking?"

"More or less… but I'll steal one anyway, just in case…" Ly's voice grew even more breathless as she tilted her head, daring Anoel to close the distance herself as she craned her neck up just enough to brush her own lips back over Ano's own.

The phoenix drew in a light breath before tilting her own head the other way, "Not the first time you stole something from me."

With the quiet whisper out of the way, Anoel stalled for just one brief, tantalizing second before dipping her head into the kiss.

Her lips firmly locked with Ly's own addictively soft and warm set to burn out the rest of the alcohol Anoel had been steadily filtering away, leaving behind nothing more than a gentle heat radiating through Ly's slender frame.

"You're a sly one, you know that?" Ly asked as the kiss was broken, "I didn't even realize what you were doing this time."

Anoel hummed distractedly as she smiled again, "That was the goal, wasn't it?" The info-broker's bemused smirk only grew as she brushed the tip of her nose against Ly's happily, "I'm a good multitasker."

"I know you are," Ly replied, her hands once more occupying the feathers generously presented to her, "having someone else's aura infiltrate your own is a disconcerting feeling at best."

Ano hummed teasingly again as she leaned away, sliding her wings out from beneath Ly's back, "Just me trying to find new ways to get inside you."

A small grin crawled across Ly's face, "That was good, I'll have to remember that one."

"I can reacquaint you with all the other ways while we take a shower, if you want," Anoel offered, sitting herself up in her straddled position over Ly's waist to let her wings drape out across the bed behind her, "It'll let me show off more of my multitasking skill."

Ly briefly glanced down to her own underwear before returning her eyes to Anoel, "Is this for you to make up for not getting me completely naked when you put me to bed?"

"Maybe just a little bit," Ano replied with a lustful gaze, "I'll be sure to strip you completely next time I tuck you in."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Ly replied cheekily.

"More than you know," Anoel responded with a smirk, letting her stray fingers dip into the thin waistband at Ly's hips to lightly tug the single article of clothing downward, "What kind of shower do you want? Warm? Hot? Really hot?"

"All of the above."

Anoel's smirk never fell, "I think I can manage that."

So, there are two possible ship names for Anoel x Lylac that I want to run by you.

"Stolen Feather" and "Black Gem".

Though, I've been leaning more toward Stolen Feather than the latter one. It just feels like it fits more.

Mind you, this is probably what'll be happening on the side as Anoel vies for Niro's attention. Given how long that'll take, I'm thinking this'll be a good way to conflict her.

I have two possible names lined up for Arex x Kit now as well, but I'll reserve those for the time being due to them not being a prominent presence in this chapter.

More heated fluff… as to be expected between Anoel and Ly. You kinda have to see it coming at this point.

*may or may not ship Stolen Feather really hard*

As a reminder though, Anoel's not only spoiling Ly, but she's doing everything in her power to keep her distracted. So far, I think it's working.

On a side note, what do you think of the interactions between Arex and GHOST?

I find them adorable… But this'll also play well into developing Arex as a character. I think it'll be fun seeing how she interacts with GHOST in her devices.

Again, thanks to Hydra for helping with writing the chapter. As per usual.

For now, Favorite and Follow.

I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.

Cya XP