Melen. A fishing city located three kilometers southwest of Orario. A city known as Orario's entrance to the city, it was connected to the Lolog Lake, which in turn was connected to the ocean itself. The one in charge was Njord, leading a fishing Familia in the treasurous waters filled with monsters, leftovers from the age where the dungeon entrance near Melen was not yet closed by the Leviathan's body, killed by the Zeus and Hera Familia. Despite the dangers, it was a popular vacation spot for those that can afford leaving Orario, if only for a short while. The beaches especially were an excellent tourist spot. After all, it was the perfect place for one of the many treasures of the gods to be shown off.
Swimsuits. Designs to allow people to swim in the depths of waters, but mainly to show off the body of mortals. Naturally it was a treasure Loki shared with every single one of her children. They all wore bikinis, runks, panties. Except Riveria, who was still frozen in place inside the dressing room. Anyway, the entire top class Familia enjoyed their time. May it be diving under the sea. Splashing water at each other. Racing each other, whether it be on land or in the water. Or may it be just relaxing under the sun, like two certain gentlemen. One a werewolf and the other a dwarf. The former seemed like he was sleeping while the latter, wearing sunglasses, was holding a weird mirror structure, reflecting sunlight at himself.
Both of them were incredibly built, even more than one would expect from level six adventurers. Suffice to say, they garnered quite the blushing faces as they stared at their gains, their abs that could break adamantite. It was then that the werewolf's ears twitched. He opened his eyes, deeply frowning before raising his upper body.
"...Oi, Gareth, you hearin' that?"
The dwarf looked up, raising his sunglasses before shaking his head and putting them back on.
"Bete, just enjoy the sun tan you're getting."
It was then that Aiz nearby looked up with a frown as well, stopping midway in building a small sand castle with Lefiya. Her body was still dripping with water, the failure of a swimming lesson still marking her.
"No, I'm hearing it too."
One by one, the people on the beach stopped what they were doing, with individuals like Riveria or Anakitty with their sharp ears perking up.
"It sounds like... screaming?" Lefiya muttered in confusion, raising an eyebrow as they all looked at each other. Shrugs were exchanged, narrowed eyes formed... and then it shot past them. The giant projectile that was filled with screams, causing a panic among the hardened veterans as they yelled and screamed in surprise as well. Some, like the Amazon twins, immediately jumped out of the way as the giant object bounced on the sand before moving on to the ocean, as if it was a pebble being thrown over a lake. Then slowly, with the friction of wind and water, the stone slab, for that was what it was, came to a stop and slowly began to sink. It was then that those with enhanced eyesight could see them.
The poor passengers bound to it with ropes, their heads hidden behind helmets. Yet the clothes were unmistakable for some. Aiz' eyes widened in utter shock.
"Bell... ?"
"Eh? Ehhhh?!" Lefiya screamed, pointing her finger at the rock in disbelief. Soon enough, it and its passengers were fully submerged, bubbles forming where they once were. Tiona rolled her shoulders with a frown before whistling.
"Rescue time! Someone help me out!"
Soon enough, the ropes were cut and the individuals were dragged to the beach. Gasping for air, their bodies shaking, it was surprising that the entire Hestia Familia plus Pallum survived whatever happened. Solaris pushed her wet hair away, laughing like a maniac as she rolled onto her back, clapping her hands like a drunk seal.
"Ahahahahahahaha! That was awesome!"
"So this is how it felt like." Kojiro spat out some water with an amused expression before patting Haruhime's head. "Haruhime?"
The Renard in response blinked, her blank look disappearing before she casually looked around. Shaking her head to get some water off, she smiled serenely.
"Hm? Ah, we arrived. How nice."
"Zen mode?!"
Of course that's when the Loki Familia turned to the other victims. Those whose reactions made a lot more sense. Bell was completely shell shocked, his body shivering as he hugged the nearest person. Which just happened to be Aiz. Wrapping his arms against her stomach, he whimpered. Aiz at first seemed to be at a loss at what she should be doing. Then she gently began to pat his head and gave him her signature pillow lap. It spoke of the pity others had that the jealous glares were kept to a minimum. Even Lefiya could only wince at the mess the runner up record holder was. Then there was the goddess who also latched onto the nearest person. Just way more vocal. I
"Loki! Loki, thank the heavens!"
Said trickster stammered when Hestia didn't show a hint of hostility, instead almost affectionately rubbing her face against Loki's cheek after Hestia wrestled her down.
"Itty-bitty?! Oi, l-let go!"
Yet Hestia wouldn't hear it. Pure gratitude sparkled in her eyes as she hugged Loki even harder. As if the flight cleared her of all impurities. As if the trickster was her last line of sanity.
"I take everything back I've ever said! You are the sanest person ever! I can deal with your flat chest and everything else, just let me stay with you forever!"
"What the hell're ya talkin' about?!" Loki screamed, her face turning red as the goddess of the hearth rubbed her face into said flat chest. Then it became even weirder when Hestia began to give Loki kisses all over her face.
"I love youuuuuu!"
"Get the fuck off me, you crazy brat!"
Loki tried her best to push the clingy Hestia away, to no avail as she was easily overpowered. At the bizarre sight, Riveria moved to separate them. Meanwhile the other two executives were busy helping the last victim up. Finn blinked, unable to process what just happened and raised an eyebrow.
"Lyra?"
"H-heeeey there, hot stuuuuff!" Lyra giggled as she tried to brush her hair back as a seduction strategy. "Y-You're f-favorite angel..has... " She trailed off, her expression turning green. Then her cheeks puffed up as she covered her mouth. "Oh damn... !"
Finn's and Gareth's eyes widened as they shared a look for a split second.
"Bucket."
"Bucket!"
Suffice to say, the chaos took a while to calm down. Once they got their senses back, the victims of Arash Airlines had their shoulders hunched up, looking down at the table they were seated at. The only exceptions were Haruhime and Kojiro, calmly sipping on some tea. Their clothes were dried up rather quickly thanks to Solaris' Inferno, having had enough fine control to create enough heat to dry them without burning them. At the moment they sat in front of Loki, tapping the table with a deep frown, as well as her executives sitting next to them. Hestia forced out a laugh, raising her hand.
"Uhm-"
"We all suffer from collective short term memory loss."
Loki's immediate and blunt response caused Hestia to flinch back. She nodded slowly before coughing into her fist.
"Oh, good. Ahem."
"So let me get this straight." Finn rubbed his temples before raising an eyebrow at them. Or rather at Lyra. "Starfall shot you."
"Yup," Lyra nodded stiffly, her face still red after the mess she made. Loki raised a skeptical eyebrow at that.
"Aaaand you're still alive?"
"Debatable," Hesta muttered, staring at her hands as she flexed her fingers a few times. In the end, the trickster nodded slowly before throwing her hands up in surrender.
"Y'know what, screw it, Imma roll with it. Guess we're chilling together today."
"Only today?" Bell asked, tilting his head in confusion. Gareth nodded in response, twirling his hand at the beach.
"Yeah, we basically did everything we planned to do. Today is the final day."
Bell laughed awkwardly as Lyra lowered her head with a sigh. They really did catch them in the last minute. Maybe using Arash Airlines was a good idea after all. As Loki began to stretch, causing Bell to blush due to the amount of skin she was revealing as well as all the other ladies except Riveria, the trickster crossed her arms as she stared at Hestia.
"Do ya even have swimsuits?"
The entire group of newcomers blinked. They looked at each other, checking if any of them remembered to do so. Yet they were so focused on Arash's travel method, they completely forgot to bring anything with them beyond their own weapons out of habit. Wincing at each other they all shrugged helplessly at Loki.
"Well-"
Hestia didn't get to finish her sentence. Time seemed to slow down for them. Gareth was smiling in amusement. That smile was distorted by a blunted arrow with a bag attached to it slowly deforming his face from the side. Time resumed its normal flow and the dwarf crashed down to the ground. Kojiro caught the bag and opened it before presenting it to Hestia. Hestia in turn opened it and blinked before looking up with wide eyes.
"...We do now?"
"Gareth, are you alright?" Riveria asked carefully. Gareth groaned, rubbing his jaw as he stood up, arrow in hand.
"I hate when he does that," he muttered quietly. The group laughed at his pain while Hestia frowned deeply before looking up.
"There's only a swimsuit for me, Lyra and Bell."
Bell opened his mouth, about to ask how she could be so sure... before closing it immediately, his face turning red. If one looked at the... sizes they all had, it must have been quite obvious. Add the lack of a hole for a tail in Haruhime'S case and it seemed to be cut and dry. Still, it was weird that Arash forgot half the group. But then Kojiro, Solaris and Haruhime let out an 'ah' sound before the former two smiled at each other wryly.
"I suppose we already have swimsuits."
"Geez, what a cheapskate."
As Kojiro chuckled while Solaris scratched the back of her head, Bell tilted his head in confusion.
"You do?"
"Yup, no worries. Go ahead and change!" Solaris shouted in excitement, raising her thumb as she threw her arm around Haruhime's neck, who blushed furiously and seemed like a cornered mouse. Bell was a bit concerned there but he decided to shrug it off. Taking the trunks into his hands, he shivered when he felt all the stared directed at him. Surprisingly enough, they were filled with... wonder, if Bell didn't misunderstand. But why?
"Oh, by the way." Bell turned towards Loki, who sent him a smirk. "Like ya book!"
His face turned red as the other three executives nodded with their own smiles. He immediately retreated. It took some time to recover, until he finally removed his hands from his face after silently screaming for a while.
Some time passed and Bell cleared his throat, feeling a bit self conscious as he tugged at his blue trunks. Normally he didn't mind this much showing his upper body, but now that he was surrounded by all those powerful looking adventurers... he really felt inadequate. The fact that beautiful women like Aiz were around did not help his complexion at all as he turned red. Weirdly enough, Solaris, Haruhime and Kojiro still didn't change clothes. Instead Haruhime covered her face, averting her eyes from him, while Solaris let out a whistle as Kojiro nodded in approval.
"Not bad, my lad! You've been hiding some stuff!" His captain said, flicking his abs causing him to flinch. Then she looked behind him, raising an eyebrow with even more whistling. Bell turned round and almost choked. It wasn't as if Hestia's swimsuit was tasteless. No, it was actually covering a lot of her skin, a one piece that protected her chastity quite nicely. However, it didn't change the fact that the blue swimsuit was nevertheless very... form fitting. She stretched the fabric near her bottom, pouting a bit.
"Moh, this covers a lot of skin! That's discrimination!"
"It sounds tasteful," Lyra commented before patting her chest. "You're sure I put this on right?"
"Yes. White suits you!"
Lyra laughed dryly, stretching her body as she wore the white bikini and panty combination, her bikini connected with a golden ring. She then shrugged nonchalantly as she adjusted her sunglasses, more pressed to her eyes as if they were goggles.
"Maybe. Not like I can see it."
Before the mood could be brought down, the others approached, meaning the amazon twins, Aiz and Lefiya. Tiona giggled as she raised her thumb at them.
"You guys look cute!"
You too, Bell almost said, but a glare from Hestia stopped him from making that mistake. So instead he meekly nodded, mentally complimenting them. Aiz, cute as ever, tilted her head at the three individuals still wearing their every day outfits.
"Where are your swimsuits?"
Kojiro and Solaris smirked at each other. Haruhime notably took a big step away, but was held by her collar before she could get anywhere. Letting out a yelp, Solaris frowned at the newbie of the Familia.
"Oi, Haruhime, you too!"
"Eehhh?!" With a defeated sigh, she reached down for some reason like Solaris while Kojiro grabbed the front of his shirt. "Fine... "
Hestia's eyes widened in realization as Bell blinked in confusion.
"Wait, what are you-"
With one smooth movement, their clothes fluttered in the air. The group stared at what just happened before their brains caught up. Some of them whistled. Hestia slammed her hands onto Bell's eyes before he could see anything. Lefiya screamed. But then it stopped. Slowly his goddess removed her hands, revealing his aching eyes. What he saw was... surprising to say the least. The three who just stripped down wore the same thing. Outfit was too much to call it. After all, they wore some sort of bandages to cover their chest area and a weird fluttering white cloth that was bound to some other cloth that hid their privates. Either way, while not naked, it was still quite embarrassing to look at. With their arms crossed, though Haruhime less confident than the others, they stood there like a legendary trio. Kojiro, the one who was in the middle, tilted his head innocently.
"What, have none of you ever seen a fundoshi before?"
"It looks so indecent!" Lefiya stammered out, trying to cover her face while pointing at them, without actually covering her eyes as they were glued on Kojiro's body. Meanwhile the other three individuals of the Loki Familia seemed rather calm. Solaris in response raised her eyebrow before sharing a look with the others.
"...you kiddin' me?"
"This is maximum stability," Kojiro explained, nodding wisely. Haruhime laughed awkwardly, playing with her tail as she played with it.
"No risk of a wardrobe malfunction too... "
"Someone wants to see my tiddies, they gotta earn them the hard way," Solaris announced proudly, ignoring the choking she caused with her words. With a laugh, she pulled at Haruhime's arm, dragging her forwards. "It's beach time!"
"Let's see if they have good harpoons or the like here," Kojiro announced, rubbing his hands together as the amazon twins followed Solaris and Haruhime. Then he went on to his way again, leaving the four behind. Immediately Hestia grabbed onto his arm, causing Bell to splutter as she pressed her assets against his arm.
"Soooo... ! You know how to swim, right?"
"Err, yes?" Bell cleared his throat, trying to look away from the judging looks he received from his crush and Lefiya. Then he blinked before tilting his head at her. "You don't?"
"Of course not! There isn't any water up there in Heaven!" She huffed before a goofy grin appeared on her face as she pointed at him. "You can teach me though!"
"We can learn together then."
Immediately both Hestia and Bell snapped their heads towards Aiz, who raised her hand. While she did fidget a bit, she seemed excited at the idea. Yet all she faced were wide eyed looks, causing her to awkwardly lower her hand.
"Wait, what?" Hestia asked in an incredulous tone. Lefiya forced a laugh as she stepped forward and pulled Aiz back a bit.
"A-Aiz can't swim either." She glared at Bell, pointing at her eyes before pointing at him with a flush in her face. "D-Don't get any weird ideas, got it?!"
"Of course!" Bell cleared his throat, purifying his mind from any indecent thoughts and silencing his grandfather's voice. Then he scratched the back of his head as he regarded the girl hugging Lefiya's arm nervously. "Uhm, any reason... ?"
"Riveria got really mad." She looked away as she let out a sigh, her eyes becoming empty. "I don't want to talk about it... "
That sentence was rather loaded so Hestia and Bell wisely nodded without showing a hint of emotion. Then the fun began. As Bell and Lefiya tried their best to teach Hestia and Aiz to swim, with the problem being that the former was very incompetent while the latter was just too frozen in fear, the White Fool glanced at the others of his Familia and what they were doing. It seemed Solaris and Haruhime were hitting it off with most people of the Loki Familia, as they raced with each other. The two girls were surprisingly good swimmers all things considered. A part of him was worried Haruhime would be put on the spot but her carefree smile calmed his heart. Though he was a bit confused when a certain black haired cat was chiding her fellow adventurer after he was caught staring at Haruhime for too long. Meanwhile Kojiro occasionally came back to the surface, throwing any fish he found back on the beach before diving back in, Tiona accompanying him with a giggle.
"Lady Hestia, you need to stay calm!"
Bell glanced to the side, seeing Hestia kick her legs helplessly as Lefiya held onto her hands with a panicked expression.
"I am calm!" The goddess stared down at her breast, forcing Bell to look away immediately. "Gah, these big babies float too much!"
"I-I don't think that's the issue."
Forcing out a laugh he looked down, trying to ignore how soft her hands were as he gently pulled her over the water.
"Are you alright, Aiz?"
"Hm. I think... I'm getting the hang of this... " Aiz looked up, her lips quivering. "Don't let go please."
Bell almost let go but forced his face into a smile, even if his heart burned and he internally screamed as his little mind selves were trying their best to keep the 'grandfather memories' door shut as it was at the verge of breaking from the repeated beatings it received from the other side. He looked away only to frown. Off in the distance he saw it. It was different from a fishing boat. It was too massive. Too strongly built. He remembered the Rakian warships immediately, but this one was a bit different, even if he couldn't make out the details. It didn't seem they were fishing anything, instead just... floating around.
"What's with the ship up there?" Bell asked quietly. The three girls stopped and looked towards where he was pointing. For some reason, Aiz and Lefiya frowned deeply.
"Telskyura." Lefiya grimaced before shaking her head. "Apparently they have a contract with Melen. They take care of the monsters in the waters and in return... " She trailed off, staring at Aiz before blushing furiously. "Err... "
Bell and Aiz tilted their heads in confusion.
"In return what?"
"...Stuff." Lefiya coughed, earning a sigh of relief from Hestia for some reason. "Aaanyway, they didn't approach us yet, so we should count our blessings!"
"Did they do something to Orario?" Hestia asked, tilting her head before spluttering and spitting out sea water from her head motion. Lefiya yelped trying to stabilize the goddess. Meanwhile Bell turned to Aiz who looked away with a frown.
"We don't like to talk about it."
"Alright, topic change then." He shared a look with Lefiya. While the elf frowned deeply, they nodded at each other. At once, they gently dragged their respective 'students' and pushed them towards each other. Aiz stiffened up but somehow managed to do one or two good swimming motions before latching onto Lefiya. Hestia on the other hand did far better this time, easily grasping Bell's hands with a victorious huff. With their partners changed, they continued with their lessons and Bell continued his words as he looked at the two Loki members. "What were you doing here anyway?"
The elf seemed uncertain whether or not she should share the details. Yet Aiz had no such doubts, instead immediately responding as her face was focused on swimming properly.
"Investigating the old entrance to the dungeon that is located here."
Bell reached quickly, holding his goddess at her collar as her eyes widened in shock and she moved frantically. Once she calmed down she stood up in the somewhat shallow water and wiped her face.
"There's an entrance to the dungeon?!"
"There was." Aiz stood up as well, raising her hands in a placating manner, a small smile on her face. "It has been sealed by the Zeus and Hera Familia with the corpse of the Leviathan. We confirmed it's still there." She shook her head before looking back at Melen. "Other than that, we investigated Njord and his involvement with the Violas."
"And?" Hestia asked, concern in her voice. Lefiya nodded slowly before shaking her head.
"They were smuggled to him and he made use of them. That's all."
"Who were the smugglers?"
The quartet turned towards the beach, blinking in surprise to see Lyra standing there, her arms crossed. Bell noted how she was completely dry. Didn't she go swimming? Looking around, he saw Tione near Finn, playfully dragging him around. As if reading his mind, Lyra shrugged when he turned to her, as if she didn't mind. Lefiya cleared her throat at the sudden newcomer before straightening up.
"Apparently it is Ishtar Familia."
Lyra licked her tongue in annoyance. Bell meanwhile frowned. What did the red light district have anything to do with monsters or smuggling? All he recalled was that Ishtar was the sole leader of the area, after her rivals were mysteriously 'taken out' by Evilus remnants. The few that were left were easily bullied out, with the overwhelming money advantage Ishtar had. Money nobody knew where she had that from. Either way, apparently there was more to it, as the Pallum had the same kind of glare she would reserve for the Eris Familia. Maybe they were also known to have less than savory connections?
"What a pain." She crossed her arms. "So you guys will look into it?"
"No." Aiz shook her head. "We are planning to search for the other entrance that is supposedly located in Orario. We won't have time to investigate her."
"Guess I got something for us when we get back... " The Pallum muttered, letting out a sigh as she scratched the back of her head. Lefiya and Aiz looked at each other before staring at Lyra with wide eyes.
"What do you... ?"
Tiresias in turn smirked, pointing her thumb at herself.
"It's our city. And stopping smugglers of deadly beasts sounds like a job for the keepers of justice." She laughed a bit before stretching her arms as she started to walk away. "Ah, no rest for the wicked!"
"Was the city always that dangerous?" Hestia asked dryly after she left, interrupting the small silence they had. In an instance, the two veteran adventurers turned to her with blank expressions.
"Yes."
Bell laughed awkwardly. It appeared every city had its... eventful sides. The group also left the waters, with Aiz jumping out and wrapping herself in her towel like a frightened animal. Looking away to hide his blush, they all sat down, with a comfortable distance to each other. Enjoying the sounds of waves and laughter in the distance, it was then that Aiz let out a soft noise. Turning towards her, she hugged her legs, resting her cheek on her knees as she smiled at Bell, causing his heart to beat faster than before.
"I forgot." She nodded slightly. "I read your book."
Geh!
"I-I did too!" Lefiya shouted, raising her hand while avoiding him.
Gaaaagh!
Bell clutched his chest, his face turning red. Even Hestia had to giggle at his reactions while the Loki children tilted their heads in confusion. He knew Hans' books were famous, but to reach even them?! That was so embarrassing! He still didn't read it himself but he hoped what he did during his journey wasn't too cringey! Forcing a smile, he turned to them, scratching the back of his head.
"T-That's good to hear... "
"Why are you acting so humble about it?" Lefiya huffed, crossing her arms. Then she looked away, her voice turning quieter. "It was... a good story... "
"Is everything true?" Aiz asked quietly.
"Err, I assume so?" Bell scratched the back of his head. "Kojiro was with me the entire time and he didn't note any big deviations."
The two girls looked at him, with varying levels of awe. Bell hid his face behind his arm, trying to hide his giddy grin. Ah, this was embarrassing after all!
"I have some questions." Aiz narrowed her eyes a bit. "I don't know much about other countries so I'm interested."
"M-Me too!" Lefiya cleared her throat before glaring at him. "Don't even think about exaggerating or lying!"
Apparently Hans didn't include too much information about the other countries. Maybe it made sense. The flow of the story would suffer if there was too much exposition, Bell assumed. Still, as the girls flanked him, he felt his face heat up. Ah, to have two cute girls be so close to him... he tried his best to recall the details.
Meanwhile unbeknownst to him, Hestia was fuming in the background, torn between her jealousy at the two girls getting so close to her Bell and her happiness that Bell looked so happy, his eyes sparkling with innocence once he really got into his memories.
In the end she decided to give him this moment, charging up her lecture for later.
/
Lyra felt the footsteps before she even heard them. The Pallum sighed, turning her head towards the individual approaching her. Once she tried to explain how her senses worked ever since she lost her vision. Naturally it was hard to understand for those that didn't need to pay attention to it. The shift in the wind. The subtle difference in foot steps. The many smells she had to differentiate, as if she was a werewolf like Bete. All sorts of things had to be taken into account, to create an accurate picture for herself. With all those things, she knew who was facing her, casting a shadow over her lying body.
"Jormungandr," she said with a cordial nod. She felt how the amazon crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby rock, letting out a huff as she did so.
"Hey, Tiresias."
Lyra frowned. She smelled... angry. Not berserk angry, but just generally displeased. And it was directed at her for some reason. The blind one sighed before putting on a smile.
"What's up? You holding up okay? After all, the ship-"
"They didn't approach us at all, so that's just perfect for me," Tione interrupted with a dry tone. A shift in the air and a finger was pointed at Lyra. "I'm here for you."
If she still had eyeballs, she'd roll them. Lyra sighed before raising her upper body, supporting herself with her palms pressed against the blanket on the sand.
"Oh c'mon, I know I interrupted you but-"
"Not much of an interruption." Genuine confusion entered Tione's voice. "Why aren't you swimming with the captain? I thought that's what you are here for?"
Lyra stiffened up. She knew exactly where he was. About a couple meters to her left, talking with Loki. Mostly about keeping her away from Hestia and preventing a fight since the latter couldn't swim. Tiresias forced out a laugh before pointing at herself.
"Would you believe I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart for a fellow ally in getting laid with the Braver?"
She wasn't even lying. Lyra had no idea how they got into this sort of relationship. Maybe it was Lyra's acceptance that Finn was the hottest piece of meat in existence and trying to hog him to herself was a fool's errand. Or maybe she just liked the straightforwardness of Tione. But in the end, even if they 'fought' with each other, they were essentially on the same side. Sure, Lyra wanted to be the top dog, but she could settle for second place as long as it meant that Finn would keep looking at her. Naturally, with being as close as they were, Tione let out a scoff and Lyra could feel the glare directed at her.
"Try again."
"Ahahaha…" Lowering her head in surrender, Lyra hugged her legs with a deep sigh. "I didn't think this through. I... kinda have issues with swimming."
"What issues?" Tione paused before a soft gasp escaped her as realization hit her. "Ah."
Lyra nodded slowly.
"Yup. Water messes with my senses. I mean, I can still swim but... y'know... "
It made her feel insecure. If she couldn't realize what was going on around her... it reminded her too much of... the screams. The tearing of flesh. The cries for help. The monstrous roar, its overwhelming po
"Captain's mine today."
Lyra didn't realize her breathing was growing heavier. She shook her head before looking up, realizing that Tione had her hands on her shoulders. A wry smile formed on her face, despite the cold sweat she had and she shook her head in resignation.
"Yeah, I figured-"
"You'll get him during the night. You can take a walk with him or something."
Tione rose to her feet, turning around as Lyra processed the words. The Pallum looked up, not needing to, but doing it anyway as it helped pretend that she was still normal.
"Eh?"
The sound of sand being gently kicked filled her ears. Tione coughed awkwardly and Lyra felt the subtle increase in heat from the wind that brushed against her.
"What? We're in this together, aren't we?" Tione mumbled. Lyra giggled, standing up and touching Tione's face. She stiffened up but allowed it. Times like these the Pallum was saddened she couldn't see the cute expression she must be facing right now.
"Heh. Here I thought you would've used the chance."
With a huff, the amazon brushed the hands away, puffing up her chest as she put her hands on her hips.
"Please, I don't need a handicap to win him over!" She jabbed her finger at Lyra's chest. "Besides, the earlier you get with him, the earlier he has no excuses left!"
The two girls stood there silently before breaking out into giggles. They both raised their fists and bumped them into each other.
"Go team Braver."
"Team Braver!" Tione began to walk away but then whipped around. "But don't blame me if he only thinks of me when you have your evening!"
"Good luck, amazon!" Lyra shouted. With a satisfied sigh, she rolled her shoulders. Well then. Seemed like this little vacation was going well after all.