Later that day, Mace dropped by with Minion. After her checkup, Roxanne was allowed to go home, and take Gilda with her.

This time, Mace decided to use the conventional method of entering one's home, and came knocking on Roxanne's door with a hopeful smile on his face and a hand held behind his back. Roxanne held a finger to her lips to indicate quiet, and after nodding his agreement, Mace was allowed to enter with Minion behind them.

It took Roxanne a minute to figure out why Minion looked different. It hit her with only the slightest inkling of surprise. He was wearing Gilda's body—but it was different. There was a new dome on top, and in the middle of the visible section of the dome was strung something that looked sort of like a hammock, only softer and without striation. She looked to Mace for an explanation, and he was quick to give it.

"I made some quick changes," he supplied. "Now she won't have to stay in her sphere. She'll be able to stay in her regular body without hurting herself." Roxanne smiled warmly at the gesture. That was quite possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever done for Gilda and her.

"Thank you," she said softly. "That means a lot. I'm sure Gilda will be thrilled—she hates having to be inactive."

"By the way," Mace said, looking around. "Where is she?" Roxanne gestured to her bed.

"She's sleeping." Mace nodded and turned to Minion.

"Minion? Do you think you could leave for a moment? I'd like to speak with Roxanne alone."

"Of course, Sir," Minion agreed, and backed out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Roxanne's heart rate quickened, and she wondered why he would possibly need to talk to her alone—what could be so important that he'd ask his own minion to leave?

"A-Aida," Roxanne corrected after Minion had gone. "My name is Aida."

"No," Mace answered with a playful smile and a shake of his head. "I got the full story out of your parents after they locked me out of your doctor's office. Your full name is Roxanne Aida Cerebellum." Roxanne blushed, and tried to look angry.

"Don't call me that," she insisted. "Just call me Aida, it—it's normal."

"I shan't do any such thing!" Mace proclaimed, careful to keep his voice down. "I like your first name better. It's a nice name. Rolls off the tongue. And…it suits you."

"Because my name and I are both alien?" she challenged.

"No," Mace said with another shake of his head. "Because you're both beautiful." Roxanne turned a shade darker in embarrassment, and looked down.

"Th-thank you, but—but I'm not. At all. Beautiful, I mean. I'm not beautiful. I'm ugly."

"Yes, I've heard of this before," Mace said with mock seriousness. "It's a chronic disorder called 'Sty-Eyed Beholder.'" Roxanne pursed her lips and gave Mace the best glare she could manage with her face so red.

"Sty-Eyed Beholder," she scoffed. "I'll show you a Sty-Eyed Beholder—look at any of the girls in school. But don't look at me. I'm not a Sty-Eyed Beholder. I'm just a Realistic Beholder."

"Then you're a liar," Mace teased. Roxanne didn't have anything to say, and Mace looked away for a moment before taking a deep breath and steeling himself for what came next.

"Aid—Roxanne," he corrected himself. "I—I had something I wanted to give you at school today, but…I wasn't able to." Mace pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a beautiful bouquet of black, blue, and red rosaceous, a purple-and-gold lilaceous, and several pink lilium. They looked a little battered, and a few of the petals were damaged, but it was a beautiful thing nonetheless, and Roxanne's mouth parted in surprise as her blue eyes darted shyly from Mace to the flowers and back again. He smiled at her.

"These are for you," he said, offering them to the girl, who took them slowly and apprehensively. She could immediately tell that they were not only fresh but wild, as the smell was strong and sweeter than the genetically-modified or specifically-bred flowers sold in shops.

"Th-thank you," she stuttered, this time tripping over her words for shock and not embarrassment. "They're lovely."

"I'm sorry; they're not in the best shape, but they were when I picked them, I assure you! They sort of got…trampled." Roxanne shook her head, seating herself near Gilda's sleeping form.

"They're wonderful," she breathed, and Mace seated himself beside her while she admired the delicate things—well, the rosaceous couldn't exactly be called delicate, what with their thick stems and sharp thorns, but the petals certainly weren't any tougher than those of the other flowers. "You're just…giving them to me?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course I am," Mace answered. Roxanne looked up and suddenly became terribly aware of how close he was. No one (outside of her family, of course) had ever gotten as close to her as Mace got on a now-consistent basis without hurting her. Her heart was beating far too quickly, and her hands were shaking a little. He made her so damn nervous…

"I'll…I'll have to put these in water," Roxanne decided, getting up to get to it, but Mace was quick to stand and grab her hand. She stilled almost immediately.

"Um…Roxanne? I have something that...I wanted to ask you," he started out a little haltingly, and Roxanne turned to look at him in surprise. A violet blush was making its way across his cheeks. "Well, er…Earlier…When you said that you thought Gilda had a crush on Minion? Does that mean that you…?" He didn't know how to finish that sentence without looking like an arrogant jerk, but he didn't need to finish the thought for Roxanne to understand what he was asking. She flushed and looked down in reply, her eyes avoiding his at all costs.

It's a trap, her mind kept telling her. It's a trap, and you know it, and you need to get out of here now. But her heart—well, her metaphorical heart—was telling her mind to shut up and let her ears do their job.

Mace was left hanging without a solid answer, but he took the initiative and took a deep breath, his face turning a slightly darker shade of violet.

"Roxanne, I'm no gu-good with words," Mace admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I don't really always know what to say, and I very rarely know how to say it, and I've got this speech impediment that disallows me from saying some of the most sam—simple of words—" (Roxanne blinked at this—she had realized he mispronounced words sometimes, but she never would have thought that he would have a speech impediment!) "—But…I, um…Was wondering…Well, I'm sure you've heard that the, um, Lunar Eclipse Dance is coming up? This Aldaday?" Roxanne nodded. Her heart leaped into her throat. She didn't think she could speak if her life depended on it. "Well…I was wondering…If you and Gilda would—would like to go with Minion and me? No, wait, that wasn't a correctly phrased sentence," Mace said quickly, becoming flustered. "That wasn't meant to be seen as something with a parallel structure about it; the correct way to have said that was to ask you if you and Gilda would like to go—"

"You mean as—as friends?" Roxanne asked, forcing her heart back into her chest. Calm down, girl. Keep an eye on the window and calm down… Mace faltered for a moment, but managed to recover himself, setting a look of determination on his face.

"No," he said firmly, though to his ears his voice wavered. "I meant—as, um…" he swallowed nervously. Confident, extroverted Mace scared stiff by a girl, he scoffed at himself mentally. "As…dates?"

Roxanne froze altogether. She had thought briefly, maybe, but…

Fight or Flight kicked in, and Roxanne dashed under one of Mace's arm, forgetting that that hand was attached to him, and making a mad dash for the window. It was only two stories; it couldn't hurt that much, could it?

Mace yelped as he was pulled around, and dug his heels into the floor, causing Roxanne to meet resistance and fall backwards, toppling onto Mace and sending them both into a heap on the floor.

"What was that about?" Mace asked, breathless as he sat up on his elbow and looked down at Roxanne. "Are you alright?"

"I—I'm fine," Roxanne answered, looking around for a means of escape.

"Are you sure?" Mace asked, then realized something and set on of his hands on Roxanne's stomach. "I just realized—I saw Deldja kick you in the stomach. You told the doctor about that, right? And Law Enforcement? They know, right?" Roxanne flushed and shook her head.

"No," she mumbled, still on her back and making no move to sit up. She was, quite honestly, terrified. She'd read Catarche, that book where the girl has a freak of a mother and ends up paying the price by having blood dumped over her at a dance after someone pretends to be kind to her. Too late for everyone else it was realized that that girl had been half Cryptonian, but Roxanne was no such thing, and would, therefore, have no defenses if he was planning something.

But then, she'd fallen for Mace (hard) quite a while back...And staring up into his face, she did feel like she had the best view in the world…And…Life was supposed to be about taking chances, right?

"Why not?" Mace demanded, looking worried. "You can't let her get away with that! You can't go around hitting women in the stomach—there are three entire months before a women begins to show that she's pregnant, and just because you can't see it doesn't mean there couldn't still be a miscarriage!" Roxanne looked away in embarrassment.

"Well…I'm not pregnant," she pointed out, then added, "and I probably never will be." Mace darkened as he realized what Roxanne thought he was insinuating.

"I wasn't saying you were," he said quickly. "I was just saying that that's the kind of behavior that could become a habit or an instinct or something, and Deldja can't be doing that, and you need to tell someone at some point so that she gets what she deserves, and you never did answer my original question," he realized, his eyes looking hopeful. Roxanne stared up at him for another minute. She felt drunk. Her heart was pounding and her head was light, and his hand was on her stomach, and he was staring at her with those amazing green eyes that were so very unusual and amazing and bright, and she terrified and excited at the same time, and her throat was suddenly dry, and…

Roxanne suddenly realized that Mace was dressed up. It was the same thing he'd been wearing all day, but he looked sharp, with his long black cape and the makeup smeared beneath his eyes…

"Su—sure," Roxanne croaked at last. "We—we'd love to."

"Huzzah!" Mace exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pulling Roxanne with him, twirling her around as he hopped and leaped spastically around the room, laughing all the while. Roxanne wanted to laugh, too, but then she thought of something, and the moment he put her down she shoved him away, much to his confusion.

"Just to make this clear," Roxanne said, "I am not your charity case!" Mace blinked at her before laughing and shaking his head.

"Never," he agreed.

"And I'm—I'm not an animal," she added, remembering what Deldja had said earlier.

"Well, that's not true," Mace said pointedly. "We're all animals. Every single one of us is part of the Kingdom Animalia. You, Gilda, Myself, Minion, your parents, Deldja, Reptung, my parents. To be Cerulean is to be an animal. It's a fact of life."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better or worse?" Roxanne asked cautiously. Mace just smiled and opened his mouth as if to speak, but the beeping of his watch made him pause. Looking down at it, he saw that it was the timer he'd set to alert him to when he needed to be home.

"Better," he answered quickly. "I have to go," he admitted. "I'll—I'll see you in school tomorrow," he promised, and came forward to touch heads with Roxanne. The contact lingered just like it had the last few times he'd done it, and this time Roxanne let her eyes close. She was still scared, but she felt…better. Safer, even. Was that normal? Or was it a human thing? Or maybe it was just something that only adhered specifically to her? What was she even questioning herself about anyway? Where in the world had her mind gone? It had been there just a few seconds ago…

Mace opened his eyes to remove himself, but reconsidered doing so when he looked into her face. Maybe it wasn't traditional beauty, but really…She was breathtaking. And she was so close right now—he could feel her breath against his cheek, and he felt the sudden urge to kiss her.

So he did.

The sudden feeling of his lips pressed against hers made Roxanne's eyes shoot open and her face turned red all over again. She found herself instinctively returning the gentle pressure he applied, and her eyes slipped shut again after a few seconds, her mind turned to mush and his brain in about the same state as he put his arms around her and pulled her to him.

Mace might have completely ignored the fact that he was expected to be home by six-thirty (he was still suffering from the lingering consequences of sneaking into Roxanne's room the week before), if it weren't for Minion opening the door with his own alarm sounding, a worried tone in his voice.

"Sir, if we aren't home soon, your parents were—oh!" the fish exclaimed, slapping a hand over his bowl as if to cover his eyes. Mace and Roxanne's eyes snapped open as he entered, and they quickly separated, their vasodilators immediately becoming stimulated all over again, which caused their peripheral capillaries to expand.

"Um, yes, Minion," Mace said, clearing his throat. "I, um, was just…Showing Roxanne how, um—Goodnight Roxanne!" Mace said quickly, turning and pushing Minion out the door and shutting it behind him.

Roxanne covered her face with her hands to try and cool it before she went to her bed and sat down beside Gilda's sphere, her heart pounding and her legs all aquiver.

"Mistress?" Gilda asked, looking up and blinking her eyes to clear them of sleep.

"Gilda!" Roxanne exclaimed, picking up the globe and hugging the fish to her. "You're awake."

"I'm broken," Gilda lectured, "not in a coma." Roxanne couldn't help but laugh. Gilda always knew just what to say.

"Did you sleep well?" Roxanne questioned, but before Gilda could answer, Mace and Minion came dashing back in.

"Sorry," Mace was shouting, "Sorry, sorry, sorry! But we forgot to leave this here—Minion, get in your sphere already," Mace hissed.

"It takes a few minutes for the mechanism to warm up, Sir," Minion said quietly.

"It's warming up?" Mace asked. "Again? How many times have I told you to be sure that everything is set up ahead of time?"

"Why do you always blame me, Sir?" Minion whispered back.

"Because you're the one controlling this robotic body," Mace growled. "Now get in the sphere and let's—"

Rrrrrring!

"All right, Sir, all right; I'm coming, it's done." Minion made his way over to a small hole in the hammock and went through it, then floated out of sight for a brief moment before the center of the suit opened up and he came rolling out in his sphere. Mace grabbed him up, holding him close and drumming his fingers nervously against the glass as he smiled at Gilda and Roxanne.

"We will be seeing you," Mace stated. "Both of you. Gud—Goodnight, Roxanne, and Gilda, be well. We must be going now. Farewell!" he shouted before dashing out of the room, leaving Gilda's suit where it was. After a moment, Gilda looked back up at Roxanne.

"I slept well," she assured her Mistress. Roxanne gave the sphere a squeeze.

"I'm glad. Did you dream any?"

"I did dream some, yes."

"Were they pleasant?"

"Most of them, yes," the minion agreed. "They were, for the most part, very nice. But usually I have a hard time picking a favorite among my dreams, and this time one of them really stood out."

"What was it about?" Roxanne asked curiously, pulling her legs up onto the bed with her.

"It was the cutest thing," Gilda said with a knowing look in her eyes. "You were there, and Mace was there, and I was lying on this same bed in my sphere, and you two were dancing around the room…" Roxanne fell backwards and pulled her pillow over her head. It was safe to say that she'd never be mistaken for a Cryptonian again—after tonight, she was almost certain her face would never go back to normal.

Author Comments:

"Sty-Eyed Beholder" is a common phrase on Cerul, referring to someone who can't see anything beautiful about themselves even when they look their very best. It can also be used as an insult to call someone out on fishing for compliments by downplaying their positive attributes.

XDXD, oh, poor Mace. You're so flustered about your grammar!

Aww, laying on the floor like that...I ALMOST had them kiss right then and there. It certainly would have made for an awkward position for anyone to walk in on (even more of a Minion scramble!)! But then it just seemed more natural for Mace to get all excited and start dancing...And I really wanted Roxanne to be able to do the "I am NOT your charity project!" thing. :F

And then kisses! For all of you lovely fans of the tale who have been itching for one! ;)

And more Roxanne embarrassment. XDXD, poor Roxanne; even her minion loves to torture her!