As promised, Glimmer and Bow led Entrapta through Bright Moon Castle's halls, while Glimmer pointed to multiple doors on each side.
"So, over here's the deluxe rooms, including ones for guests—you're totally welcome to one if you want," Glimmer said, pointing several doors on the left side. "Over here's the game room—Bow and I are total rivals when it comes to target practice. He's getting better, though."
"You wish. Oooh, ooh, and over here's the war room!" Bow added, pointing to a doorway on the right. "We haven't really gotten a whole lot of war done yet, but I'm hoping the Alliance can change that. With, uh, as little war as possible, of course."
"Of course," Entrapta said, half-listening, but still taking in every sight she could. She wondered how many of these hallways were in her castle. She was sure she used to know. At one point. Maybe.
For some reason, it... hurt to try and remember. Her mind always went into a throbbing haze whenever she thought too hard about it. Always better to think about other things instead. Like the next scientific breakthrough.
Always the next scientific breakthrough...
"But the point is, we are, like, so glad you're here!" Glimmer rushed back in front of Entrapta, cutting into the latter's trance.
"Huh?" Entrapta said, doing her best to recover the moment. "R-right! Right, yeah, glaaaaad to be here," she said, with an embarrassed laugh. "So I, uh, noticed you just passed the big war meeting room thingy? That's cool," she said, with a hasty bow. "I mean, I would be honored to discuss matters mutually beneficial to our countries."
Glimmer and Bow met her with blank stares.
Uh oh.
"Entrapta?" Bow asked.
"Yeeesss?" Entrapta gulped, doing her best to not visibly sweat.
Glimmer's blank stare gave way to a warm smile, and a hand on Entrapta's shoulder. "It's okay. This is my first time doing this—I'm nervous too." She thumbed towards Bow. "And you should have seen this guy when I told him you were coming! So much running around. So much frantic prep! So much blushing," she said, elbowing him in his midriff.
Bow gasped. "So much lying!" he said, before his face tinted beet red. "I can't believe it. I really can't talk to you about anything!"
"Sure you can! But your face is telling me way more than your words ever did!" Laughing, Glimmer hiked up her gown and took off running down the hall.
"Traitor!" Bow exclaimed, giving chase as his and Glimmer's laughter echoed down the hall. "You're dead to me, now and forever!"
Entrapta watched the two chase each other through Bright Moon Castle's halls for almost a minute—a very tension-breaking minute that she was glad to have, as she felt her muscles relaxing, and her heart slowing to something approaching a normal rhythm, just before Glimmer came back, catching her breath.
Bow followed behind, launching into a gentle noogie-ing. "Apologize for betraying my trust!" he demanded.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Glimmer said, straightening herself and her hair when Bow let go. "Sheesh, mental note, teasing is bad tactics when wearing a royal dress. I can barely move in this getup." She looked back up at Entrapta, her smile returned. "But yeah—as you can see, there's no reason to stand on ceremony. Neither of us are, and my mom isn't even here. She's doing her own diplomatic stuff. Adora's with her, too."
Adora? Wait, that was another name Entrapta knew! "The sword-girl, right?" she asked, snapping her fingers. "Instant butt-kicking warrior, just add water?"
"Yep!" Glimmer crowed, hands on hips. "She's my mom's escort muscle! Point is, I'm in charge for the next few days, and we did not call you here with my parents gone to do boring political discussion."
"We called you here to enjoy yourself!" Bow said.
"Huh?" It took everything Entrapta had for her eyes not to go swirled again in confusion. "But you said you wanted to see what my kindgom had to offer yours."
"We technically do, but we've sort of seen that," Glimmer replied with a wry grin. "Killer as it may have been when we visited your castle, your tech provided a pretty good resume. But we didn't get to know you very well."
"So we're here now, because getting to know people is what we do." Bow's grin was less wry, and far more giddy. "Okay, I can't hold it in anymore! I can't believe I finally get to spend time with the gadget legend herself!" Bow darted forward, clasping his hands in front of him with an entranced expression on his face. "What new theories have you devised? What new things have you invented?" He pointed in the direction of the castle entrance. "What's that totally sweet ride you came in?"
"Easy there, fanboy," Glimmer said, tugging Bow back.
Bow's face went red again. "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry!"
Entrapta shook her head, and it took a while to notice her cheek muscles stretching, or how she was flushing with flattery. Clearly the giddiness was contagious. Then again, no one had really called her a legend before. Or much of anything else, really.
Of course, not being around people very often might have something to do with that.
"No, no, it's seriously okay," she said, flashing Bow an earnest, appreciative smile. "I get to hear so little feedback due to my lifestyle, so it's nice to have some. Especially when it's so... enthusiastic." She put her fingers to her chin, her eyes glinting. "Hmmmm. You said you were a fan of my work when we first met, too. I've been wondering what that was about ever since."
"Yeah, I'm a bit of a tinkerer," Bow said. "Got a bit of a lab going, myself—"
The next thing Entrapta knew, her ponytails were wrapped around Bow again, and her fists were clutching his shoulders, for all they were worth.
"Did you say lab?" she breathed, her voice laced with mania.
Bow's response to this new embrace was similar to the one he had towards Entrapta's previous attempt. "I, uh, well, it's not much, but..."
Entrapta's eyes and mouth went wide as she stared at Bow, still clutching. A new laboratory? One she didn't already know every inch of? One undoubtedly infused with the personality and skill of a fellow scientist, and a fan, besides? This was worth at least three social experiments, and that was before they got down to any actual science!
What was with this boy? Sure, good-looking, sure, great adventurer... but this too?
"Uh... gonna need my shirt," Bow said, his eyes darting back and forth. "Also, my spleen."
"Right, right, sorry," Entrapta said, letting go and settling back down. At this point, 'no sudden movements' was clearly a lost cause. "I, um, would see this lab of yours! If we have time on the tour, of course."
"Oh, we can do it right now!" Glimmer grinned. "Dinner's not for a few hours yet—you've got tons of time to watch Bow be a big nerd."
"Dead to me," Bow said.
"And haunting you from the grave," Glimmer shot back.
With a dramatic sigh, Bow beckoned. "Guess we're heading to the basement. This way, please."