A/N: Here we go, time for another pure crack ship. This started life as a total PWP concept, so the relationship building is definitely going to be... accelerated. Story will update probably once a week at least for the early goings; I have up through three chapters and a brief interlude rough drafted. There is no true endpoint planned right now; I will just simply be writing this for as long as I have ideas.

It should be noted that this is all set before Fraux's uncap story and skill fates, though it does take backstory from there into account.

As it seems I cannot actually rate this story MA for the planned lemon scenes, the lemons will be omitted on this site. If you want the sex scenes, find the story over on AO3 instead.

Finally: I apologize to everyone who followed my BlazBlue stories. All inspiration for further BlazBlue writing has long dried up due to various reasons, and as such all former ongoing fics are effectively dead.

"Argh, Bea, where are you?"

Zeta scowled up at the near-noon sun, a hefty wooden training spear over her shoulder. It was supposed to have been a simple morning sparring session: a quick exercise to get the blood pumping early in the day. But after a good hour of waiting, Beatrix had yet to arrive. She looked across the grassy training field again, just to confirm that no, her blue-clad counterpart was nowhere to be seen. With a groan, she flopped back onto the grass. "Seriously…"

Five more minutes. If that idiot didn't show up by then, Zeta would go storming back to the Grandcypher, moored by the cliff at the near end of the island, to find her. This was ridiculous. She sat back up, arms crossed, muttering all manner of curses under her breath. And this time as she looked across the field, she spotted a figure making her way across it—though not the one she was waiting on. She could tell the approaching girl was a crew member at least; one of those crazy Evokers, judging by the cloak. Possibly dangerous, despite being a part of the crew. But at the moment, Zeta didn't really care. She could handle a fight if it came to it, anyways. Grabbing her practice spear, she raced the girl's way, hand raised to hail her. "Hey! You there!"

"Hm?" Fraux braced herself at the sudden shout, accompanied by a woman racing at her with a spear. Even upon recognizing Zeta from her stints on the ship, she remained on guard, fiery light sparking at her heel. What in the skies did someone from Society want with her? Still, she forced a sunny smile. "Hey there. Need something?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was just wondering…" Zeta skidded to a stop in front of Fraux, hefting her spear over her shoulder. "Have you seen Beatrix this morning? Brown hair in a ponytail, same kind of armor as me except blue? We were supposed to meet for a sparring session, but the idiot never showed up."

"Beatrix, huh? Sorry, haven't seen her." Now certain the blonde meant no harm, Fraux beamed at her and quelled her flame. A spearwoman from Society looking for a spar? Oh, this could be fun… "And you two were going to spar, huh? If she's not showing up, maybe we could go at it instead?"

"Oh? You wanna take Bea's place?" Zeta's eyes lit up, and she looked up and down Fraux to size her up, taking in the slight floral scent coming from her skin. For as casual as she looked, Zeta could see no openings in her stance. The radiant luster of her pale skin belied well-toned muscles just below the surface. And Zeta wasn't even going to pretend she hadn't seen the spark at her foot just a moment ago. She grinned wide and toothy, lowering herself as she readied her spear. "Fine by me! You think you can keep up without a weapon, though?"

"Heh. Worry about yourself; I don't even need the Devil for this." Fraux matched her fiery smirk as she circled to the side, almost skipping in her gait. "Ready whenever you are~"

"The Devil, huh? That your primal beast?" Zeta planted her feet, just keeping an eye on her cheerfully circling opponent. She wasn't about to make the first move against someone this confident. "Guess that's fair; I'm not using Arvess for this. Name's Zeta, by the way."

"I'm Fraux. Nice to meet you. I've seen you on the ship, but I guess we never had the chance to chat." With a wink, Fraux stopped her pacing, sidelong with Zeta, tensed and ready to lunge. "So why don't we get to know each other some after this?"

"Sure! Maybe if we're not too banged up after we can do some shopping." Zeta watched Fraux for a few more moments… and then her limited patience snapped. She sprang forward with a jab of her spear, pushing Fraux to leap back out of range. "You're quick. Good."

"Hmhm. Sounds good to me!" Fraux tapped her smiling lips with a finger, taking another step outside of the range of Zeta's spear. As she figured, the blonde was an aggressive hothead. Flames churned from her feet up to her knee, making Zeta take a step back herself. "I've got some handmade balms back in my cabin as well; maybe you'd like some afterwards? Might help with burns."

"Heh. Think you're gonna sear me, huh? We'll see about that!" Zeta burst into two quick steps closer to Fraux and halted, expecting the Evoker to unleash her building flame. Instead, Fraux took a lazy step further back, and Zeta grunted in frustration. Of course Fraux's game was going to be to keep out of reach. Well then. Time to up the ante. Zeta spun the spear once and jabbed it in Fraux's direction, unleashing a bolt of light her way. Without Arvess, the blast came out far weaker than normal. "Take this!"

"Ooh, not bad!" Fraux leapt to the side, dodging the beam while keeping the conflagration about her leg burning. She licked her lips as she launched Zeta's way, landing feet away at her side before she even had her spear readied again. With a yell, Fraux spun a powerful kick straight at Zeta, who blocked with the spear. The impact drove her back several inches, and Fraux grinned. She darted forth with a lunging kick to unleash her coalesced heat. "Gotcha! Crimson Nightmare!"

"Gah!" Zeta jumped as far back as she could as a flare of scarlet and magenta exploded from Fraux's strike. The blast still singed her raised arm, and she took a deep breath as she tried to figure out what just happened. "…Damn. Okay. You're a lot stronger than you look. Quicker, too. Guess I really can't hold back at all."

"Hehe. Of course you can't." Citrine eyes aglow with delight, Fraux darted forward and leapt toward Zeta to attack with a falling axe kick. "Better start giving me everything you've got, Zeta."

"You got it!" In a bolt of speed, Zeta lanced upwards to meet Fraux with her spear and knock her out of the air. In midair, she whipped around and chased Fraux to the ground with another lancing strike. "That good enough for you?"

"Oog…" Suddenly finding herself struck to the ground, Fraux rolled away from Zeta and hopped back to her feet. Wincing, she sidled further back, trying to stay out of range of Zeta's speedy charges. "Yeah, yeah… not bad. Damn, you're fast…"

"Heads up!" Trying to take full advantage of her opening, Zeta darted forward again to stab straight at Fraux's midsection. As expected, the Evoker sidestepped the strike, and Zeta spun around to try and catch her with the butt of the spear. Instead, Fraux caught the end of the weapon with her bare hand and gave Zeta a wicked smirk. "Eh—?"

"You're mine~" Fraux delivered a flaming roundhouse to Zeta's gut, sending her skidding along the ground and leaving a scorch mark across the grass. She held her grin for a moment before worry set in. "Ah… are you all right? I didn't overdo it, did I?"

"Nah… all good… ow…" Zeta pulled herself back up to her feet, a large hole burnt into her top by the kick. Damn, that one hurt; where did Fraux's strength even come from? Despite her wince, she smirked at her opponent. "You know… I'm gonna get you back for that one…"

"Good, good. I'd love to see it." Fraux took a deep breath to cleanse the last traces of guilt, and settled back into position. She should have pressed the advantage there. With a lick of her lips, she beckoned Zeta to come for her. "Your move~"

"Oh, you cheeky…" Ignoring the flush of red tinging her cheeks at Fraux's teasing, Zeta charged forward to close the distance, fire dancing at the end of her spear. Her… wooden spear, clearly getting burnt and clearly not Arvess. Right. This wouldn't work. "Thousand Flames!"

Zeta swung her weapon in Fraux's direction, unleashing its flames her way. Fraux scowled as she hopped to the side, disappointed with Zeta's offering. A moment later, a heat wave rolled over her, and her eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen. Just as she leapt further to the side, the smaller ball of light erupted into a mighty, if brief, inferno, searing her side and charring what clothing it touched. As soon as her feet touched ground, she whipped around and kicked to meet a blazing charge from Zeta and her spear. A loud crack sounded from the wooden weapon on the contact, but Zeta pressed on, spinning to the side to strike again, only for Fraux to dance away from her.

Growling, pain throbbing through her leg from the impact, Fraux patted away some flame eating away at the front of her shirt and, rather than try to escape Zeta's range, lunged in with a knee to the gut. Zeta caught the strike with the shaft of her spear, and flung herself skyward. As soon as Zeta took to the air, Fraux knew what was coming. She jumped off at the side as Zeta came back down, spear first in a column of flame. Even with her dodge, Fraux felt tongues of fire lick at her, and she grimaced. "Whew! Really going all out now, aren't you? Guess I'd better try to match you here."

"Damn right, you'd better. Bring it on, Fraux!" Zeta stepped in with a full swing of her spear, hoping to catch Fraux hopping to the side as usual; instead, the Evoker hopped back, embers ablaze around her feet once more. With a devilish grin, Fraux whipped her leg around and unleashed another burst of fire right where Zeta was standing, its butterfly-shaped corona engulfing her for a moment. Zeta reeled back in pain, even more of her armor being swallowed up by the flare, and she lashed out with her now-burning spear. "Gah, crud…"

"You're mine!" Taking advantage of the blinding blast of fire, Fraux came down from above with another blazing kick; Zeta just managed to pull her spear back and block in time, another crack creaking from the weapon on impact. Fraux recoiled away, off balance for a moment, giving Zeta enough time to lunge back in with stab. The wooden point hit home against Fraux's chest, its fiery point singing Fraux's clothes even further, and Fraux doubled over and backed away panting. No way either could actually go on much longer. "…You're good. But I'm not losing this."

"Same to you." Both charged at the same time, Zeta coming in with an overhead swing of her spear, Fraux with a skyward crescent kick toward her head. Foot met wood at the midpoint, and with one last all-mighty crack, the head of the spear went flying off into the field. Kicking foot still held high right at Zeta's chin, Fraux breathed a sigh of relief… and yelped as Zeta spun around and swept her other leg out from under her with the shaft of her broken weapon. As Fraux hit the ground on her back, Zeta straightened up and pointed the broken stick at her. "Ha! Gotch… bleh, never mind. If this was a real fight, you'd have no problem handling me with only half a spear. Sorry, that was a cheap shot."

"What are you talking about? I'm the one who let my guard down." Fraux closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath where she lay. "And if you were actually using your spear, I wouldn't have been able to kick the head off it anyways. It's your win here."

"The hell it was. I can tell you were still holding back, even without the Devil." Zeta tossed her spear shaft away and extended her hand to Fraux with a friendly smile. "So let's just call it a draw, yeah?"

"…Heh. If you insist, I can live with that." Fraux accepted Zeta's hand and allowed her to pull her aching body back to her feet. But despite all the pains in her side, her legs, and every part of her touched by Zeta's flames, she smiled wide at Zeta. "But wow, that was so fun! I haven't had anyone push me this hard in a fight in a long time!"

"Ha, yeah, same to you! We gotta do this again sometime!" Zeta grabbed Fraux by the hand as she beamed back. "But for now, why don't we go get patched up so we can—"

"What the hell are you two doing? Are you trying to kill each other?" The sudden roar of a new voice made both girls jump, and they turned to see a black-haired erune woman in a white military outfit approaching, a scowl of pure fury on her face. "Pupper, you'd better have a damn good explanation why you're setting the training field on fire."

"…Ah shit we're dead." Zeta turned slowly to give Ilsa a forced grin, rubbing the back of her head. Despite the oncoming fury of her commanding officer, she dared look out the corner of her eye at the field about her. Ashen scorch marks and dying flames pockmarked the entire area she and Fraux had just sparred in. Oops. "Oh, uh, Sergeant Ilsa! We're just doing some, uh… light sparring. Nothing to worry about here!"

"…Light sparring. Uh huh." Ilsa scowled as she looked the two girls over. "We're here for missions. Your braindead spar's scorched the training field—which, may I remind you, does not belong to us, but rather to the local inn. They are definitely going to take it out of our mission salary. But moreover, what were you two going to do if you were hurt during this crap? Soldiers that dumbass themselves out of field duty are worth less than dirt!"

Ilsa's glare pierced both girls, darting between them as they each looked away sheepishly. "And finally. That Society armor isn't cheap, and here the two of you are blasting holes in it. But that's nothing compared to you. Evoker. Devil girl. No, I don't care about your name right now, maggot. Maybe you shouldn't dress so lightly, because now your chest is hanging out. Get your ass back on the ship and cover up."

"W-what? That's…" Fraux looked down and blanched. Sure enough, much of the left side of her chest had been revealed from clothing burning away. She yelped and covered her bosom the best she could with an arm. "Gah… th-thanks for letting me know…"

"Hmph." Ilsa contemplated another pointed remark about Fraux's sense of dress in general, but decided against it. That was hardly important right now. "Anyways. I didn't see the whole thing, but you sure caused a lot of damage. You didn't use your Arcarum at all for this, right?"

Fraux shook her head, one ear twitching. "No, I didn't. The Devil's still back in my cabin. It wouldn't make any sense to call him for a spar like this, especially since it was just for fun."

Beside her, Zeta nodded as Ilsa turned to her for confirmation. "Yeah, that was all Fraux. Still made me have to go all out to match her, and…"

"And you dumbasses went too far. Geez, what a pain. But at least you have some sense about you." Ilsa shook her head before fixing the two with a glare. "Pupper! Devil girl! Spar all you want, but keep it within reason. And I don't just mean here; if this was on the Grandcypher, you'd have the entire ship burning. Do I make myself clear?"

Both girls straightened up with a salute in unison; a moment later, Fraux remembered her wardrobe malfunction and lowered her arm to cover up once more. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good. Pupper, you're not currently on duty with Society, so there won't be any punishment. And of course, Devil girl here isn't under my jurisdiction, so she's off scot-free as well. " Ilsa sighed and shook her head. "That's all. Go get patched up at Dr. Tikoh's office, and don't do anything stupid anymore. Or I'm dragging you both to basic. Dismissed."

Ilsa turned on her heel to leave, but Zeta interrupted. "Wait! Uh, have you seen Bea today? I was supposed to spar with her today, and she never showed…"

"Hellcat decided she would make a cake for later this evening." Ilsa closed her eyes, grimacing at the stupidity she was about to speak of. "However, being Hellcat, she decided to try the cake. By which I mean she ate the entire damn thing before breakfast. She's now cooped up in her room, trying not to throw up."

"…Oh. Dammit, Bea…" Zeta sighed and shook her head. So she'd waited an hour for nothing… No, that wasn't quite right. "Well, guess things worked out anyways. Thanks, Ilsa."

"Yeah, yeah." Ilsa gave a wave and strode back off. "See you two later. Again, nothing stupid, got it?"

"We'll try!" Zeta waved back with a grin as Ilsa made her way back towards the nearby town. Once she was out of earshot, Zeta turned to Fraux with a wincing smile. "So, uh, that was my commanding officer, Ilsa. Sorry that had to be your first meeting with her."

"Nah, it's fine. It's not like she was wrong. We… definitely took things way too far." Fraux gave Zeta a wink and hooked her by the arm. "Alright! Let's go get patched up, and see about some girl time, eh? Not sure if I'm up for shopping after that, but…"

"Hot springs it is then!"

In the medical cabin of the Grandcypher, both girls lay on the ground next to each other with arms at their sides, Fraux's face bright red at how much of her body was showing from her clothing damage. Above them, a blue-haired woman with tall, rabbit-like ears held a staff overhead. Light radiated down from the head of the rod, painlessly piercing through the women's bodies. After a few seconds, Tikoh lowered her staff and smiled. "Okay. You two can get up now."

Both rose, and left behind where they had just lay were outlines of their entire skeletons, etched by the light of Tikoh's staff. In silence, they stepped aside and let Tikoh kneel down to observe the x-ray diagrams. She glanced over Fraux's first, taking in all details in short order before nodding in satisfaction and moving over to Zeta's. After another half minute, she turned to both of them with a smile. "Well, good news. No breaks or fractures anywhere. So, just sit still a moment, and I'll heal your bruising. The burns are a bit trickier; I'll patch them up the best I can, but they'll probably still itch for a couple days."

"Huh? You can't take care of that?" Zeta tilted her head and glanced down at her reddened stomach. "What a pain…"

"Don't worry about it! I've got some stuff to help with that for after our trip to the springs." Fraux closed her eyes with a soft smile as Tikoh waved her rod around her body. Soothing light fell upon her skin, and the red and blue-black of burn and bruise ebbed away back to radiant peach. She rubbed just above her chest, where Zeta had landed a fiery hit earlier; sure enough, a light itch lingered where the burn had been. Still, she gave a peaceful sigh. "Mm, yeah, much better. Thanks, Doctor."

"Of course. Your turn, Zeta." Tikoh turned to the blonde and repeated the process. In short order, she was patched up as well, and Tikoh beamed at the both of them. "Alright, all done. Just be more careful with your sparring next time. But you said you're visiting the sauna, right?"

"Yeah. Gotta get to know each other better, right?" Zeta smirked and tossed an arm over Fraux's shoulder. "We were going to do some shopping, but probably not the best idea right now. Maybe after our missions tomorrow."

"Hold on a second; I'll get something for you both." Tikoh vanished into a backroom, and moments later came back with a pair of white bathrobes. She handed one to each girl with a soft smile. "Here you go. Enjoy yourselves."

"Ah, thanks!" Without the slightest hesitation, Fraux slipped hers on over her clothes, grateful to have some coverage over her chest again. She stood up, extended a hand toward Zeta, and bowed her head to Tikoh. "Thank you very much, Doctor. I'll return it in the morning."

Tikoh shook her head. "No need; I have plenty in the back there for this trip. I… I heard there was a sauna here, so I figured I may as well bring these. For other crew members and whatever other patients I get, of course."

"You sure? Cool." Zeta accepted both the robe and Fraux's hand, and rose with a grin. "Thanks again for everything. See you around!"

"Mmhm. Don't cause too much trouble now." Tikoh waved the girls off as they scampered out her office door.

Clad in nothing but the bathrobe gifted by Tikoh, Fraux stepped out of the bathhouse and closed her eyes, letting the steam from the onsen wash over her. Her silvery-white hair, usually in twintails, hung straight past her waist. She glanced about and spotted Zeta, also clad in a robe with her blonde hair up in a bun, seated at the edge of the spring. After a quick exchange of waves, Fraux all but skipped over to Zeta, who greeted her with a grin. "Hey! Beat you here~"

"Oh? It's a competition now? Should've told me." Chuckling, Fraux slipped down to take a seat beside her new friend, kicking her feet in the heated water. She glanced sidelong at Zeta and gave her a smirk. "But sorry to keep you waiting. If I actually did, of course."

"Heh. Nah, just teasing you a little." With that, Zeta shucked her bathrobe and tossed it behind her, leaving her stark naked in the rays of afternoon sun flitting through the slotted ceiling of the sauna. She slipped down into the water, gasping as the heat enveloped her body even as she turned to encourage Fraux with a wink. "W-well, come on in! Water's great!"

"Taking it a bit fast, eh? Well, if you can take it, I'm sure I can too." Fraux tossed aside her robe as well; for a moment, gazing upon her nude figure, Zeta's breath caught. But it only lasted a moment as Fraux dropped into the water as well with a small splash, her body hidden under watery froth. She shook her head, flicking her ears at the sensation of water splashing onto them, and beamed back at the blonde. "Yep, you're right. Absolutely perfect. Unless you want it a bit hotter, of course."

"Yeah… definitely perfect. And no, it's hot enough in here already." Zeta blinked and shook her head, clearing her brief stun, and sidled up next to Fraux. "How on earth do you keep that body, though? You're just so gorgeous and strong; you gotta tell me!"

"Teehee; aren't you eager?" Fraux leaned in and tapped a finger against Zeta's cheek, the heat flush from the springs concealing her blush at the praise. "Really, the strength isn't much effort. I was born like this; it's as simple as that."

"That so, huh? Interesting." Zeta tilted her head, examining what she could of Fraux's shoulder and upper arm. With an impish smirk, she reached out to squeeze on the erune's biceps; as expected, the firmness of toned muscle greeted her. "You say that, but you definitely got some nice guns going. And that's just natural, eh? Damn."

"H-hey!" Fraux broke into giggles as Zeta's fingers squeezed up and down her arm. "Y-yeah, pretty much. I never really cared much for being strong, so like, why would I put time into it?"

"Really? You sure seemed to enjoy our spar this morning. Wouldn't you want to be strong for that?"

"Can't blame you if you think this sounds weird, but the way I see it, I'm already strong enough as is. So I'd just rather spend my time doing stuff I like. Like working on beauty products." Shaking off thoughts of bad memories, Fraux purred a bit as Zeta continued feeling her arms, now coming up to her shoulders. "So! I love hearing you call me gorgeous, with that in mind. Means I'm doing things right."

"Ah ha. So that means you got tips for me there, right~?" Zeta leaned in closer with an ever-wider grin. "Lay it on me! How do you do it?"

"Can't imagine we do things too differently there. But…" The bubbling water, the light massage on her arms and shoulders, the feeling of being appreciated… Fraux breathed a sigh of elation. "I mentioned I make my own balms, right? Have some for medicinal use, but some for just beauty and skin care as well. But that's hardly all. I actually mostly make scented oils for the skin and hair. I could give you some later if you want. Or maybe even show you how it's done sometime; figuring out your own combinations of scents is where the real fun is, after all."

"Ooh, that'd be great! Wish I could return the favor somehow…" Zeta's hands dropped down to Fraux's stomach, fingers pressing against her abs. The older girl yelped into laughter, squirming against Zeta's hands, and Zeta joined in the giggling as she pulled her closer. "Ahaha. Ticklish there?"

"Y-yeah, who wouldn't be? Oh, I'm gonna get you back for this one…" Despite her words and squirming, Fraux made no attempt to escape Zeta's grasp. "Well… if we did some shopping together tomorrow…"

"Yeah, but that just seems like an excuse to get me more stuff. We're still doing that, though."

"Hehe… sounds good." As Zeta's tickling fingers slowed their assault on her lower body, Fraux closed her eyes in comfort. How long had it been since she'd been able to enjoy spending time with anyone like this? But her reverie was all too brief; Zeta's hands shifted up, stopping just shy of cupping her chest. Breath catching in mild panic, ears standing on end, Fraux cracked an eye open to meet Zeta's smirk: impish, yet also cautious, waiting for her reaction. Fraux breathed out her worries and looked Zeta dead in the eye, a mirthless, deadly smirk playing on her lips. "Don't even think about it."

"Hmm… yeah. Bad idea.. Buuut…" With a cackle, Zeta reached reached down and grabbed at Fraux's upper legs, feeling for the powerful muscle that had snapped her practice weapon so cleanly earlier. Her hands started to move down toward the knees before Fraux grabbed her by the wrist. A yelp escaped her, and she turned a nervous smile up to Fraux. "Eh heh… just admiring your muscles is all…"

"Hmhm. That's all, huh? You're sure feeling as much as you can here, though." A false mask of a smile on her lips, Fraux turned to face Zeta head on, taking hold of her other wrist as well. "What to do with you…?"

"…Let me go and pretend like that never happened?" Zeta squirmed against Fraux's grip to no avail; she doubted an Erste golem could have matched the force of the Evoker's hold. "Y-yeah, that seems like the best idea to me."

"Mmm, I don't think so. How about…" Licking her lips, Fraux stared into Zeta's eyes a moment longer, letting her tension build. She grinned, released Zeta's wrists, and unleashed a tickling assault on her sides. "Take this, Zeta!"

"H-hey! S-stop!" Squealing with laughter, Zeta squirmed and fought to escape, but another grab of a wrist kept her in place. "Okay, okay, you win, I'm sorry—!"

"That's better." Giggling to herself, Fraux stopped tickling at Zeta's side. Still, she wasn't quite done; she pulled Zeta in once more, all but forcing the younger girl to sit beside her. She gave Zeta a wink. "Told you I'd pay you back for that~"

"Yeah, sheesh, you don't mess around." Though trying to catch her breath, Zeta managed to return Fraux's light laugh. "…Sorry, sorry, couldn't help myself. Hope that wasn't too much."

"Hmmm… I think I can find it in me to forgive you." Fraux's expression softened, and she placed her hand on Zeta's shoulder. "But seriously, it's fine. No worries."

"Yeah, nah, I saw you weren't comfortable there." Zeta sidled right up beside Fraux and leaned on her with a soft smile. "But uh… thanks for indulging me, I guess?"

Fraux brought a finger up and tapped Zeta square in the forehead. "Sure. Just be careful about pressing it further, okay?"

Both girls fell silent, simply enjoying each other's company in the heat of the water. Minutes past without a word, before Zeta turned a soft look on her new friend. "Hey, uh, Fraux?"

"Mmm?"

"I was just wondering, you doing anything for dinner tonight? If not, wanna join me and some of my Society friends?"

"Ah…" Such a tempting invitation; Fraux wanted nothing more to accept it. However… A sigh escaped her as she looked down. "…Sorry, already have plans tonight. Agreed to meet the other Evoker girls for dinner tonight, and I can't just leave them hanging here."

"Oh, no worries, I getcha." Still, Zeta's heart sank a bit at the response. "Maybe another time then, eh?"

"Of course! I'd love to spend more time with you." An idea came to Fraux, and she perked up. "Hey. If you're free after dinner, maybe we can meet up? Just on the deck of the ship around seven, maybe."

"Sure! I've got nothing else planned for tonight."

"Alright, it's a date then~" Fraux leaned back in a stretch, rejuvenated from the bubbling waters of the hot spring. The aches and pains from the sparring session had long vanished—though, exactly as Tikoh warned, she could still feel a burning itch where Zeta's flames had caught her. She rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile. "Heh… sorry if I'm taking up too much of your time today. I just don't get a lot of chances like this."

"Hey now, if I had a problem with any of this, I would've let you know a while ago. Don't worry about it, I'm enjoying this." A playful look on her face, Zeta reached up and gave a light scratch behind one of Fraux's fluffy ears, as one would a cat. She burst into giggles as Fraux jerked and squawked at the touch. "Sorry, didn't think it was so sensitive there!"

"Oh, no, it's fine! Just didn't expect it. Feels real nice though." Rubbing where Zeta's fingers had just been, Fraux joined her laughing. "But my, you're really quite handsy, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess. Mostly just wanted to try that with an erune finally; Eustace and Ilsa would kill me if I tried." Zeta lifted her other hand out of the spring to look at it, wrinkled from the water. "…Yeah, I'm thinking we've been in here long enough though. What do you say we towel off and head back?"

"Mmm… yeah, we probably should." Despite how much the warmth of the water beckoned her to stay, Fraux nodded and rose to her feet. "Well, thanks for joining me, Zeta."

"Yeah, of course! Would love to do this again." Stretching, Zeta stood as well and turned to clamber back to dry land, where her bathrobe waited. "And, of course, spar again."

"Hee hee, definitely. But for now, I've got some balms and oils to get you." Slipping her own robe back on, Fraux extended a hand to Zeta. "Let's get going."