There were multiple things to be thankful for, Shay reflected as he sat on the floor, rubbing his jaw and the now-sore spot he had as the girl kept staring at him, open-mouthed.

Firstly, that there was no noticeably large chunks of debris or wreckage of the castle on the floor where he'd fallen backwards after about a millisecond of frantically pinwheeling his arms to avoid falling, which had failed miserably and dumped him right onto his back on the floor.

He would very much like to not have a concussion or a big gash in his head today, thank-you-very-much.

Secondly, that the girl seemed to be shocked enough by everything (or seeing him) that she hadn't really picked up any speed with the punch.

Sure, it still hurt like the dickens and Shay was positive his jaw was going to bruise, but any harder and it probably would've broken or dislocated his jaw somehow, and that was always nice to avoid.

Shay would've probably been able to come up with more, but a second later, he found a knife being pointed at him.

It was a very pretty knife, at the very least, from what he could see that wasn't out of focus.

A real knife? Was he was being held at actual knifepoint?

"I- you- what-" the girl stammered, still staring, before she blinked a couple of times and her wide eyes narrowed instead, steeling over. Her voice did too, becoming sharp. "Who are you?"

This was so cool!

"Are you holding me at knifepoint right now?" Shay asked, eyes still wide.

She looked at the knife in her hand. "Yes?"

She didn't sound all that certain.

A moment later, she shook herself and pushed it closer. He could feel the sharpness from where it was barely grazing his skin now. "I mean- yes. I am. Tell me your name now."

It was! It was a real knife! Oh, this was so exciting.

(No offense to the knife that came with the spoon and the fork.)

"Wow! This is so- exciting! Thrilling!"

The girl looked a little taken aback by that.

He scrambled to clarify, still going cross-eyed at the glimmering tip pointed between his eyes. "I've never been held at knifepoint before- well, I have, I had a Yarnpal scenario like that about six years ago when I got really bored- but not with a real knife! Oh, wow!"

The girl stared at him for a moment longer, her expression hard to read. Confusion? Annoyance that her scheme to scare him wasn't working?

(He probably should be scared, huh?)

Astonishment? Maybe admiration for his boldness? Or something like that?

"Are you some kind of masochist or something?" she asked at length, lowering the knife.

"No! Well, I don't... know, actually," he said, pausing. "I've never been in any situations where I was actually- in danger. Like this."

"Huh." The girl offered her hand after an awkward moment, lowering the knife. "Well, you're weird, but you don't seem to be out to hurt anyone."

Shay took her hand. It was warm, and there was a callus on the side of one of her fingers where she probably rested a mixing spoon or a knife or... whatever other thing you used to bake, and he realized absentmindedly that she smelled like sugar and frosting and buttercream.

"Are you... Shay? The sun and moon down the hall said to come find you."

Shay blinked. The sun and...

"Oh, the computer?"

She blinked back. He probably could've said something like "the dancing wolf in a pink tutu and a tiara with magical rainbow shoes," judging by that reaction.

(Well, now he was imagining Marek with that particular outfit combo, and that was a thought he could've done without.)

"Uh... I... guess? If this 'com-pewter' thing looks like the sun and moon."

"Yeah. Why'd they direct you to me?"

She resheathed her knife after a long pause, evidently deciding he wasn't dangerous enough to warrant it anymore.

Shay didn't know if he should be relieved or insulted at that.

"Um, I-"

She seemed to make eye contact with something down the hall and paused, mouth half-open in mid-word.

"... ummm, I, uh, seem to have gotten lost in the forest by accident. Can I stay here under your protection instead?" These words felt a little stilted, in comparison to the fierce girl who just held a knife up to his face, but Shay didn't really put it past her.

Maybe she was... embarrassed, or something. To be fair, all the maidens he'd read about (or, more accurately, the computer had read about) seemed to be dainty and kind of boring- always batting their eyelashes and hoping for someone to come rescue them, so maybe this kind of behavior was extremely out of the ordinary.

"Oh." Shay rubbed his head. On one hand, he'd never had a guest before- he'd love to learn more about the outside world.

On the other... Marek might not like it...

He looked at her again. She wasn't much shorter than him- in fact, if she wore any kind of shoes and wasn't barefoot, she'd probably be a bit taller than him. She wasn't really shying away from eye contact either.

Well, he was the prince of this castle. He was the boss, not Marek.

You sure are, buddy, said a tiny voice that sounded faintly like Marek at the back of his head.

He wished it didn't sound so condescending.

So...

"Yeah, sure. Uh... what's your name?"

The girl started. "Oh- I'm Vella."

Shay nodded. "Vella..." he mused, rolling the name on his tongue and finding it nice.

"It's short for Velouria. My dad used to like making hats, back before he married my mom, and velour is a kind of material you use to make hats, it's kind of like, uh, velvet or something, but my mom didn't like naming me just that, and since her name is Morelia, they tacked an -ia on the end of my name, but I'm not great with long names, so-"

Vella flushed, tinting slightly red in her cheeks, and cut herself off. "Yeah. I'm Vella."

"I'm Shay. Which... you knew already. The computer told you. Right."

Well, this is awkward, brain-Marek said snidely at the back of his head.

Say something nice about her name, said another voice which sounded more like the computer and a hell of a lot warmer than brain-Marek.

"You have a pretty name," Shay blurted.

Vella's face flushed more. "Oh. Uh. Thanks."

Kill me now, brain-Marek complained.

Shush, brain-computer snipped back.

This awkwardness would probably have kept going if Marek hadn't rounded the corner right then. "Shay, the wolf-"

He froze.

Vella seemed most unfazed by the six-foot-tall wolf now standing at the end of the hallway, his eyes darting between Shay and Vella.

Shay drew himself up to his full five-foot-seven height (he wished he'd be taller; he'd drank all that 'milk' (it was some kind of nutrition liquid that was supposed to taste like milk; supposedly it was vegan-friendly) and cleared his throat. "Marek, uh, this is Vella. She's seeking asylum here."

Marek's eyes darted between them again.

"I, ah... Shay..."

"We have the spare room next to mine," Shay said, trying not to let his voice falter. "So it's not a matter of space or anything. Besides, if the wolf is still running active outside, it would be more dangerous to let Vella wander around."

Marek was quiet for a moment, as if debating something.

Finally, the older wolf let out an explosive sigh. "Fine."

"Fine?" Shay repeated, trying not to let his hopes rise.

"Yes. If that's your decision, young cub. But I will not be responsible for feeding her or sheltering her, do you understand?"

Shay raised his eyebrow. "She's not a stray pet, Marek..."

Marek waved him off, already turning to leave. "I'll go monitor the security cameras. The wolf got loose, but I'll keep an eye out for it."

"Thank you, Marek," Shay said to Marek. Well, he tried, but Marek had already disappeared by the time the 'you' had left his mouth, so he supposed he'd really just directed it to an empty hallway entrance.

Shay turned to Vella, only to see her brow furrowed and her lips pressed together.

A moment later, she looked at him. She was rather tall, now that Shay thought about it- either his height or just the tiniest bit taller. Her hair was so fluffy, like spun sugar, it was hard to judge her height.

"Was I hallucinating, or was that a talking wolf?"

Shay laughed at that.

Maybe relief that Marek hadn't argued with Shay over the whole matter, maybe amusement at Vella's delayed reaction to the whole thing, or maybe an odd mix of the two.

"That's Marek. He helps keep the castle safe."

Vella's brow creased again, but Shay shrugged it off. Talking wolves weren't a commonplace thing, so he couldn't really blame Vella for still being confused.

He offered his hand, hoping she didn't find it sweaty from nerves.

"Come on, let me give you the grand tour of the place. If you're gonna be here for a while, you should know your way around."

After a hesitation, her hand with the callus on her ring finger found her way into his.

"Sure. Let's go."

Oh my god oh my god oh my god she's holding your hand oh my god, brain-computer squealed.

Your hands are probably sweaty, brain-Marek responded.

Shay wished he had a way to tell both parts of his brain to shut up right now as he started to lead Vella down the hall.