Biram and the other shamans gave her a wide berth when she entered, and an even wider one when they thought she was ticked off at them. Oh, she was mad alright, but it had nothing to do with them. Behind her, Aether gave one of his smiles.

"She beat them in a duel. So what? There's no reason to be this terrified. Citlali is someone worthy of love and respect."

Citlali whirled around and got all up in his face. Jabbing a finger, she pouted.

"Hey! You can't just…say whatever you want just because it's in your head!" She about-faced, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm Granny Itzli—a mere mention of my name and the kids burst into tears. Love and respect? Heh, no one has the guts for that."

"I do."

"Wh—You know what, forget about your duty. We really need to fix this mind-reading situation!"

Aether smirked. "Why? I like being honest about how amazing I think you are."

Citlali's cheeks were positively crimson. Paimon glanced between the two of them, feeling like an outsider to a rather one-sided conversation. Everyone else kept their distance, fearful of the great Citlali.

Once they'd gotten what they needed from the tribe, Citlali, Aether, and Paimon went to the house the shamans mentioned. On the way, though, Aether broadcasted a stream of thoughts directly into her head.

"Citlali is such an amazing person. She's smart, powerful, compassionate, and kind, and I wish everyone else could see it too. She's such a wonderful grandma to Ororon, and she really helped me out saving Natlan. I appreciate everything she's done."

Citlali clenched a fist. "You…!"

"Well, it's true. You're pretty and witty—oh hey, that rhymes. Anyway, I think you're actually really cute."

Her eyebrows twitched in consternation. Gods damn it, this wasn't fair.

"Why are you so tense?"

"Why?!" she snapped. "Do you have to ask?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not a mind reader anymore."

"I can't believe you. Are you really this dense or are you just pulling my leg?!"

"I genuinely don't know what you're talking about. I'm just saying that I have a lot of respect for you. Why is that bothering you?"

She looked close to short-circuiting. "Is this all you have to say about me—compliments?! Y-you should fear me."

"Hard to do that when I know what you're like when you drink…"

"Ahem!" said a sharp voice. "Paimon is tired of being left out of your private conversation!"

Aether rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, apologizing to Paimon for leaving her out of the loop. He explained his conversation with Citlali, phrasing it like she was the one being difficult. Citlali pretended not to care. Those two could gossip all they liked since they were such great friends.

Paimon got a little smirk. She leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"Remember when we heard her thoughts back when we first did the mind share thing?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, she checked out my butt."

Citlali sputtered indignantly, on the cusp of denying his statement. Oh, but what was the use? He'd heard every word of her thoughts. Not much she could deny.

"Paimon thinks she's salty because you're just giving out compliments when all she did was check you out. Now, she feels like a super pervert. She'd feel better if you were checking her out, too."

Bullseye. Citlali clenched her teeth angrily, using every bit of her self-control to keep herself from bopping that stupid fairy on the snout.

"Oh, is that true, Citlali?"

"Enough, we're wasting time here," she said, picking up their pace.

Wretched man. How could he be so overly-familiar with her? And why the hell was his mind so damn wholesome? He should've been checking out her thighs and chest, getting all hormonal and junk. Instead, he had the gall to shower her with compliments based on her personality. What cheek.

"I'm sorry, Citlali. I didn't know."

She went even faster to ignore him.

"I do think you're beautiful. I checked you out a lot when we first met. I fell for you physically back then. Now, I'm falling for you emotionally—if that makes sense. That's why I'm so interested in your personality rather than your body."

She snorted. Yeah, right. His thoughts probably weren't lewd like hers because he wasn't attracted to her. Whatever. It wasn't like she cared about that anyway.

"If it helps, I can tell you what I thought back then. Ahem… 'Wow, that girl is so freaking cute!' 'I like her face/eyes/hips/boobs/voice/thighs/lips' 'She's really pretty'…"

He went on and on for minutes, an endless never-flowing stream of compliments.

Citlali forced a calm expression on her face. The last thing she wanted now was to give him an excuse to tease her or act all superior. Seriously, where did he get off on saying all this junk?

"Citlali? Are you ignoring me? Citlali?"

She kept walking along.

"Well, you don't have to answer. I'll keep saying everything I like about you."

So, Aether spent the rest of the day showering her with compliments. She kept quiet, betraying no signs that she heard a word he said. At least, nothing save the little skip in her step.