Renn’s tail twitched wildly as she stared into the crate of stone.

“I lined them with leather from the same monarch our bags are made of,” I explained as she stared down at the collection of eggs and hearts.

Leaning against the crate, I smiled as I watched Renn’s eyes focus on the hearts and eggs. She looked adorable, somehow a mix of fascination and utter anger. As if she was having fun, yet also furious with me.

Why was that…?

“It keeps monarchs from sensing them,” she said, understanding. She had to stand on her toes to see fully into the large crate. This was one of the bigger ones.

I nodded. “Yes. As you noticed neither Tor nor Bray noticed your heart. Neither did Elaine, by the way,” I said.

She nodded slowly, her tail coiling a little… and then her lips quivered ever so gently before she looked over at me. “Why the eggs, Vim?” she asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. As far as I’m aware, none have ever hatched. I always expect to lift the lid, and either find a corpse or a very… angry monarch,” I said as I glanced down at the two dozen eggs. They were all different sizes and colors and shapes, with the hearts littered amongst them, making them glow a little thanks to their inner light.

“Do you want them to hatch?” Renn asked.

“Not really, to be honest. Most monarchs are not the kind we can be friends with. But… well…” I shrugged a little. “Today I keep them around; because of the contingency I might need a monarch some day. As weird as that sounds,” I explained.

“To eat other hearts, in case the ones you have now start failing you… like they possibly are,” Renn said, understanding further.

I nodded. “Yeah. I know. I’m a cruel bastard. I’m keeping the eggs to, if able; down the road use them for the very thing I hate them for. Hypocrite, thy name is Vim.”

Renn leaned back a little, away from the crate and lowering to her feet. “Is that also why you allow that egg at the Weaver’s?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She hummed a little, still looking half happy and half furious.

Really. Why was she being so odd? Was it just the situation? Or had our little bath not been to her liking? I had thought she’d have loved it. Not only had I invited her, and spent time in it with her… it was a hot spring. A pure spring, surrounded by crystals. It glimmered and glistened in ways no natural bath ever could.

She should have felt like a princess or something while in that bath, yet instead she seemed… offended, for some reason.

Renn didn’t actually seem furious with me. She was speaking calmly, and had a small smile, but… There was no denying she was not as happy as I had expected her to be. I had thought bringing her here, to this cavern of crystals and secrets, she’d have become… well…

I had thought we’d be able to have a lovely little atmosphere while here.

Wonder what I was doing wrong.

I mean, really! Here I was showing her all my secret little artifacts and stuff, and all I’ve gotten so far are cute little hums, or twists of the tail! Where was the blushing? The glossy eyes? The tears, or smirks?

“What’s in this one?” Renn asked, uncaring of my internal strife as she stepped over to the next crate.

Keeping a sigh from escaping, I shut the lid to the crate we’d just been examining and then went over to open the next one. Before I got a hold of it though, Renn grabbed it and tried to open it.

I stayed my hand for a moment, to see if she could do it or not. The thing budged, scraping a little as the stones bumped and shifted, but it didn’t open.

“Huh…!” Renn groaned and shifted, she spread her feet a little more for better anchoring and leverage, then she grabbed the lid with both hands and used her legs and back to open it.

It creaked open, barely, and I hurriedly shot a hand out to grab the lid right before she slipped. I held the lid open as she groaned and lowered her arms, shaking them as if they were burning in strain. Likely were.

“Careful Renn,” I said gently as I lifted the lid. Had I not grabbed it, the lid would have slammed shut on her hands.

And that would not have been pretty. At all. And any hope I would have had at turning this moment into a lovely one would have died instantly.

“How are they so heavy?” she complained to me.

I winced, and nodded. “It’s the stone. It’s… a mixture of special materials. Gods made them, originally, these are my attempt to mimic their creations,” I said as pushed the lid all the way up, until it latched into place.

Renn glared at me for a moment, and I tried to ignore the way it wasn’t one of her happy ones. She then sighed and stepped closer to the crate, and peered into it.

Unlike the last one, she didn’t need to stand on tip-toes to see within this one.

“Rugs?” Renn asked as she reached in for one.

“My vain attempt to once lure a monarch from its nest,” I said as I helped her pull out one of the more colorful ones.

“What do you mean?” Renn asked as she immediately went to unroll the tightly rolled rug. It, like all the ones I’d made, was elongated. Far longer than they were wide. This one was a colorful red and blue, adorned with countless fractals and similar geometric shapes.

“The monarch had been nested deep in a very tiny place. Think a burrow. It was too tiny for me to get to, since it had modified its nest into an impossibly hard material. One I was not able to easily get through. Yet it had a strange fascination for soft material, such as rugs. So I made these, hoping that it’d roll around and love the feel of it so much it’d leave its nest and come out into the open. To where I’d be able to grab it,” I said, explaining my method.

Renn was silent for a moment as she ran her hands along the rug, which was now half on the floor and the other half still rolled up against the crate. I knew without bending down to touch it that it was likely one of the softest rugs she’s ever felt.

“Did it work?” she asked.

“No. A young girl who had been with me at the time had been the solution. She sung as she bathed in a nearby lake, and it had been drawn out of its home to listen to her voice,” I said.

Renn stopped messing with the rug. She was leaned forward and down, since she was kneeling down on the rug, so I couldn’t see her face… but I saw the way her ears fluttered and twitched.

Uh-oh. I had just annoyed her again.

Jeez! How come I wasn’t doing well at all?

I was trying so hard to be open with her. To not withhold information, and to be as calm and gentle as possible…

What had annoyed her? The fact I had tricked a monarch in such a way, using its fascination with a girl’s singing to take its life, or something else…?

“The monarch had not been a good one, Renn. A whole village had been eaten by it before I had tracked it down,” I said carefully.

Renn sighed as she sat back up straight, though did so on the rug so couldn’t roll it back up yet. “And the girl?” she asked.

Hm? “She was fine? I grabbed it before it could hurt her. Though it might not have hurt her anyway. It had been fascinated by her singing,” I said.

“Who was she?”

Oh.

Wait… was that was she was upset with? Really?

“A young bunny. Jelti’s mother. The village in question had been theirs, or hers. Technically Jelti wasn’t born yet, though she had been in her mother’s belly at the time,” I said.

“Jelti’s mother? Really?” Renn perked up at that, and I felt a little relieved. She really did like to hear about her friends, didn’t she?

Sometimes she was far simpler than she seemed. Yet other times, like now, I had no idea what made her tick.

“Really,” I said with a nod.

Renn hummed for a moment, and then stood up. “Why’d you make so many?” she asked.

“I had only made one in my attempt. The others are just… ones I’ve made throughout the years, for one reason or another. I think one or two I had made for gifts, and maybe one or two for this house. Like for the hallway,” I said as I rolled the rug back up.

“Why not lay one out then?” she asked.

Hesitating a moment, I frowned and nodded. “Pick one?” I suggested.

Renn’s tail twitched wildly as she smiled and stepped over to the crate. She quickly went to touching and feeling the different rugs, pulling some of them at the edges as to try and see the patterns upon them.

She eventually picked a blue one, so I put the first one she had pulled out away and handed the blue one to her. She hurried out of the room, and rounded the corner to go to the main hallway.

I followed her out, leaving the crate open and behind. It didn’t take long for us to lay the blue carpet out, and Renn smirked and nodded at it once it was fully unrolled and in position.

It was a tad shorter than the whole hallway… but it fit rather well, all things considered. Plus the blue hues fit the gray stone well, somehow. “Very nice,” Renn said about it.

Instead of staring at the rug, I stared down the hall at the other end and at her. She had her hands on her hips, standing tall and proud as if she had just made the rug herself.

Such a smirk and stance suited her. She looked good wrapped in pride.

Especially thanks to the way her thin undershirt shifted and hung upon her. It was all she had on. We were both long dry from the bath, and this cavern was more than warm enough to not need much more than that, but somehow it made me a little conscious of her. Yet I knew the moment I asked her to get dressed, or at least put on pants, I’d be the one to ruin the moment and or make it awkward.

“What else was in there?” Renn asked happily as she ran down the hallway, her steps making soft sounds thanks to the rug as she did. She passed me and hurried back into the room with the crate, to go back to digging through it.

Smiling gently I followed her back in, and found her lifting a bundle of yarn.

“Yarn, Renn,” I told her what it was.

“I figured… but why’s it so…” she shifted it, glaring at the golden gleam as if doubting her eyes.

“Because it is what you think it is. That’s gold,” I told her.

She startled, almost dropping the thing. “Really…!?” she squeaked in surprise.

Smirking at her, I nodded. “Really. It’s light because it’s thinner than it looks. Gold can surprisingly be very thin,” I said.

The trick was making it in a way that kept it from flaying or separating. A typical thread of yarn would have torn and ripped from Renn’s rough handling. This one though was fine as she shifted it and studied it closer.

After she studied it for a bit she put it back into the crate and grabbed at another item. She seemed to ignore the fanciest and more priceless item, and opted instead to pick up a box of buttons and other crafting supplies.

“Buttons?” Renn asked as she tilted the see-through box, to look at the hundreds of different items within.

“That amongst other things. This is my craft box? I guess? At least that’s what most of the stuff seems to be,” I said as I glanced in at the couple dozen items. Everything was either material to make something, like a rug, or a completed object. There was even a stuffed animal in the corner, squished by a rug.

“Do you… not even know what you have, Vim?” Renn asked as she lowered the box of crafts back down, putting it down gently.

“Weird, I know. I remember the important things, but yes… for instance that box has a weapon, but I don’t remember what else is in it,” I said with a point to a smaller chest nearby. One that rested on top of another. I pointed to another chest, one similar in size to the one we were rummaging in now. “That one has books. And the one behind it has…” I hesitated as I remembered what was in that heavier box.

“Has what?” Renn asked, excitedly.

Great.

“I don’t remember,” I admitted.

Renn sighed at me as she stepped over to the box in question. I helped her open it, and we found more boxes. Though these were wooden ones, of varying sizes and colors.

She grabbed one of the larger boxes on the top of the bunch and grunted a little as she lifted it. It clanked loudly as she put it down onto the edge of the stone crate, and she fumbled with the little iron latch that held the box shut. Renn got it open, and frowned at the prize within.

“Hm. Money,” I said at the bundles of paper rolls and metal coins.

None were the currency of any of the nations around anymore. It was interesting that some of the paper currency was even unfamiliar to me. What nation had that been from, I wonder? I liked the designs on them.

“Hmph.” Renn was not amused. She shut the box and pushed it aside to grab another.

The next box was smaller, and only had a few books within it. She opened one of the books, but found them to be written in a language she couldn’t understand. “Those are old. That’s the old language, before the era of humans,” I said.

“Why the scraggly lines?” she asked.

“Just how they wrote their words. Each little symbol means a word, instead of many letters making one. It was annoying, honestly, because they eventually started modifying their little symbols to mean different things… so I, not paying attention, every so many centuries had to relearn the language almost entirely because of how vastly they had changed them,” I said.

Renn hummed as she put the book back, and shut he box. “How come they’re not all decrepit like usual?” Renn asked as she put the box down onto the other, the one with money in it, since it was smaller.

“The area, and how they’re sealed. This cavern system is very still, and these stones keep bugs and mold and stuff away. Plus these stone chests are airtight. This is the first time the elements have touched this stuff in… well… possibly hundreds of years,” I said as I thought about it.

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She hummed in thought as she grabbed another box. Another larger one, which had two locks on it. She opened it, and finally smiled for once.

I studied her smile for a few moments before looking into the box, to find what had given her such a lovely look. Renn lifted up a dress.

“Clothes?” I asked, a little surprised.

“They’re pretty,” Renn said softly as she pulled out the dress fully, unfurling it before her with outstretched arms. She studied it in a way that told me she was seeing if she could wear it or not.

Although a part of me hoped she would do so, since it’d look great on her and cover her up, I couldn’t help but be confused all the same.

She was happy… over clothes? Not the wealth or books of science? Not the monarch eggs or hearts? The rugs she had found interesting too… but she looked far happier now finding these than upon finding them.

Sighing quietly, I dug through the rest of the chest to see if it really was just full of clothes.

It was. The thing had probably twenty odd full sets of clothes. Most of them were high end stuff that a woman would wear, like to some kind of fancy dinner or event. Many of them were fashions and designs long lost to this era, to the point that even if Renn wore them to only special occasions she’d still be seen as odd.

I didn’t like such attention, but…

“Um… Vim. How do I get this, uh…” Renn mumbled worriedly, and I found her stuck half way dressed. She had tried to slip the dress on overhead, and was now stuck within it.

“Other way, Renn,” I said as I went to help her. I got it off her, undid the necessary zippers, and helped her get the thing properly situated.

“It’s… a little tight,” she mumbled as I zipped the back of it up for her.

Frowning at her, I glanced around her body, searching for the part she felt was too tight.

It wasn’t. At all. In fact it fit her quite well… “Tight where?” I asked. The thing looked almost as if it had been made for her, so what was she talking about?

Renn pointed at her waist.

“Oh. That’s how it’s supposed to be, Renn. It’s supposed to be tight there. You’re just not used to such a thing because the clothes you’re used to have a different idea of fashion,” I said.

“Really…?” Renn didn’t seem to believe me, but then she remembered something and hurried around me. She ran out of the room, and I knew she was likely going to the main living room where the mirror was.

Smiling at her, I went ahead and gathered up the chest of dresses and carried it with me to join her. Odds are she’d likely try each one on here shortly, so may as well.

Entering the room, I found her standing closely to the mirror and staring at her chest.

“So… people wore stuff like this? Before?” she asked, cupping her own breasts. The dress didn’t just accentuate the waist and fine curves of its wearer, but amplified certain parts too.

“In today’s era it’d seem… a little promiscuous, yes. But back then it was considered very fancy, and normal. Royals and commoners both wore such things,” I said as I put the chest of clothes down onto the table near her.

Renn continued studying herself in the dress, smiling gently as she did. I wasn’t sure if she simply found it pretty, or just plain interesting to see something not normal upon her, but I enjoyed the sight anyway.

“It actually looks very good on you,” I told her.

Her right ear fluttered, and she glanced at my reflection in the mirror. “So… why do you have these clothes?” she asked.

“I likely have lots of sets of clothes in those boxes Renn. For all types of situations. Over the years I’ve just… gathered stuff, when I can, I think. Some of it I may even have gathered because I had needed it, but forgot all about them, or had needed them at one time and hadn’t had any and these stores are my way of trying to avoid a similar predicament in the future. Other than certain things, like the monarch eggs and hearts, there isn’t much meaning to most of the stuff here. I use it as a vault, a storeroom, but honestly it’s not like I ever come here anymore,” I said.

“How many of these places are there, Vim?” Renn asked.

“There are two others that I remember. One’s on another continent, far to the southeast. And another is closer, but it’s currently deep underneath the inland sea. The one that Lumen rests upon. I can go to it myself, but I think if I open it the place will flood, thanks to how I built it,” I told her.

“That you remember,” She quoted me. “Do you mean you’ve lost or forgotten such places before, Vim?”

I nodded. “Obviously. Though not of hearts. I remember where all the hearts are,” I said, making sure she knew I wasn’t so unaware as to make such a mistake as that.

She studied me for a moment, and then gestured around us. “Then… why not make a home here? Or were you serious when you said you wanted multiple locations for us, for me?” she asked.

“I do. I am. But because of what’s here, I can’t just leave it open Renn. That large boulder not only keeps things out, it hides it. I don’t think you’re ready or able to move that thing just yet. I’ll eventually modify it for you, I’ll make a system that will let you come and go, but I’ll need to do it later. That will take me a few weeks to do properly, and I plan on us leaving in a couple days,” I said.

“Wait… days? Really?” Renn asked, focusing on that instead of the rest of what I’d said.

I nodded. “Unless you don’t want to, of course,” I said.

“I see…” she mumbled, a little sadly.

Suddenly very aware that I might be misreading her a little, I hurriedly began to really consider our last few hours here. She had seemed off a little, since arriving. Maybe she didn’t like this place? I had thought maybe I had simply said or did something to upset her, but she wasn’t actually acting as if she was angry with me. It was more like she was bothered, but by something else… something…

Wait…

Shifting a little, I hesitated a moment and then realized what might be the problem.

“Renn um…” I was about to bring it up, but Renn had stepped over to the chest. She was pulling out more clothes, looking for the next one to try on. She paused to look at me, holding a blue shirt close to her. “Are you uncomfortable…?” I asked.

Her tail danced a little under the tight dress she wore. I felt like looking down, to watch the way it slithered under the dress, but couldn’t take my eyes off hers. They had gone a little wide, shocked at what I’d said.

Renn coughed, lowered the blue shirt a little and then nodded. “Well… a little,” she admitted.

I nodded too. “I’m uh… assuming it’s because of where we are. Am I wrong?” I asked.

“No. You’re not. I’m sorry! It’s so stupid, I should be so happy and excited, but…” Renn began to speak quickly, and I calmed down a little as she did so.

So I was right. Something was bothering her, but it wasn’t me.

It was nothing I had done.

Thank goodness.

“Is it… because you don’t like cramped places?” I asked, referring to her fear of wells. I had thought this place would have been fine. It was a cave, yes, but it was bright and warm. Plus it wasn’t cramped; at least I didn’t feel like it was. The cavern we were in now was big enough that even Miss Beak could have stood up fully. In fact, she had at one point.

“No, it’s the smell,” she said as she shook her head.

Smell…?

Frowning at her, I spent a small moment to study what this place smelled like.

I smelled dirt. Water. The stones. Her. Especially her.

“Ah…” I felt an odd weight lay against my heart as I realized what it was.

“I’m so sorry, Vim. It just… smells like the pit they used to throw me in, so…” Renn sounded absolutely defeated as she explained, her ears drooping lowly as she hung her head. At least she wasn’t crying.

“No… I’m sorry Renn. I uh… hm…” I panicked a moment, since I had planned to spend a few days here with her. Since I knew our upcoming days, once we confronted Light and the rest, could be full of sadness and turmoil. I had wanted to give her a little semblance of normalcy and joy, if even for just a couple days.

Hard to do now, especially if this place smelled of her old prison. Of her old trauma.

“I think I can get used to it! It’s not as bad as it was when you first moved that boulder! I only notice it really every so often now, I think I can get over it… and…!” Renn, per her usual self, tried to adapt and be kind. But I wasn’t going to put up with it.

“I’d offer to burn some incense or something, since I think I have some around here somewhere… but you’re not a human. Your sense of smell would be strong enough that no matter how many candles and stuff I burn you’d still catch a hint of the scent that’s bothering you. So… let’s just leave.” I felt horrible as I quickly tried to re-assess my plans.

We’d have to leave… so what should I grab? What should I leave behind? The stuff I’d gathered, for one, like the molds from Kaley’s and the box from Lilly’s… Maybe I could get Renn to leave her stuff too, like that heart and the book she got from that saint.

“Vim…!”

I looked over at Renn, since I had been about to step away.

She looked distraught now. Which only made me even more upset with myself.

“Vim please… I want to see more. There are dozens of those crates and…!” she said as she stepped towards me. She still clung to the blue shirt in her arms.

“But you’re uncomfortable,” I said. I could see it even still. The way her ears were drooping, even during such a moment of sadness, she still had a bit of stiffness to them. They weren’t fluttering as much as they should be. The little hairs upon them sticking up, as if from static. Now that I understood what was wrong, it was obvious.

“So? I can put up with it! It’s really okay, I promise,” she said.

No it wasn’t.

Because I hadn’t brought her here just to show her the stuff I’d collected over the years. I hadn’t brought her here just to deposit the few unnatural items we’d gathered up.

What I had planned required her to be not bothered at all. On any level.

So this wouldn’t do. This wouldn’t work.

“What…?” Renn shifted a little, narrowing her eyes at me.

Woops. I probably had an odd look at the moment. I quickly calmed my mind a bit and gave her a gentle smile. “Nothing… go on then. Explore the rest to your heart’s content. Once you’re done we’ll leave,” I said gently, deciding to just let it be.

I’ll just need to figure something else out. Though if I could do so before we reached Telmik was unlikely.

Hopefully nothing too drastic happened during my confrontation with Light, then.

Renn sighed, drawing my attention back to her. She no longer held the blue shirt…? Where’d it go?

Glancing around, I found it on a nearby chair. When had she tossed it there?

“What is it Vim?” Renn asked as she stepped closer.

Shifting a little, I tried not to notice the way she had held her arms behind her back. Did she realize what such a posture did with that dress? If she did, was she doing it on purpose? Or was it just something instinctual? She was scary sometimes.

“I should be asking you that,” I said defensively. She had stepped closer, staring up at me with a weird smile.

Why was she suddenly trying to seduce me? I mean, that was what I had wanted this whole time, but…

Renn frowned at me, which made my eye twitch. I had been enjoying that smile. “I really am fine. It’s… annoying, Vim, and it makes me feel on edge. I can feel all the little hairs on my ears and tail are standing up, but it’s not like I’m going to have a panic attack or anything. I promise. I’ll be okay,” she said.

I believed her. But… “All the same Renn. I know what it’s like to despise certain smells. How they can remind you of something terrible, so…” I tried to speak calmly, even though I suddenly felt on guard. She hadn’t gotten any closer, but she was now close enough I could smell her rather strongly. How was she able to even notice the smell of this cavern? She smelled delicious.

“Hm… right. Your snails, huh?” she nodded, remembering.

My eye twitched again, being reminded of those damned things. For a tiny moment I could smell them, thanks to her mentioning of them. “Yeah…” I grumbled an admittance.

What a waste of a moment. To think of those things and smell them and not her.

Renn giggled for a moment, and I was glad to hear it. So she really was okay. Or at least, not doing as bad as I had thought.

Good.

“Is there a bed here, Vim?” Renn then asked.

“There is. Upstairs.”

“There’s another floor?” Renn paused a moment, and I knew why she had sounded surprised. From the outside it hadn’t looked like there was another floor. Plus she hadn’t seen the stairs yet.

I had built it that way on purpose. Same with the hidden basement too. “There is.”

Renn hummed as she crossed her arms, her tail squirming in thought beneath her dress as she looked away.

Although glad she had seemingly relaxed a little, I was now worried for a new reason. “Wondering if you can sleep even with the smell?” I dared to ask.

She nodded gently. “I don’t know, Vim. It’s… well…”

“It’s fine Renn. We can leave in a few hours, after you’ve had your fill of trying on outdated fashion,” I said.

“But…”

“I’ll even let you take one or two if you want. Though don’t blame me if you’re stared at or laughed at. You’d look good in anything Renn, but this world… especially the nation we’re in now would think otherwise,” I said, wondering what kind of reception she’d get walking into the Cathedral wearing such a thing.

Renn grumbled for a moment, glanced at the nearby mirror… and then sighed. “Fine… and here I thought you’d finally make a move,” she complained as she stepped away, grabbing the blue shirt off the chair and going back to the box of clothes.

Although stunned for a moment, I quickly collected myself. Smirking at her, I did my best to not sound too excited. “I’d hate for such a memory to be joined by a smell you don’t like,” I teased her.

“Or it might have overridden the meaning of the smell, too, Vim,” she said calmly as she went to undress, as to try on another. “We’ll never know now,” she added, glancing at me as she went to put on the blue shirt.

“Want to try?”

Renn dropped the blue shirt, startling in shock as she spun to look at me.

Holding her gaze, I clenched a fist and hoped I’d not just made a mistake.

What if she said yes? And ended up regretting it? What if the smell did ruin the moment? And all I’d done is force the matter and…

“No.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I nodded.

Renn made an odd noise, and then began to cry.

Stepping forward, I felt utterly useless as Renn sniffled as she bent down to pick up the blue shirt. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered as she messed with the shirt, as to get ready to put it on. I could tell by the way she was sluggishly moving that she was only getting dressed now as to distract herself. She didn’t even glance at the mirror to see her reflection once it was on.

Feeling rather foolish, I decided to give up before I felt even more of an ass. “Don’t cry Renn… let’s just… blame me, okay? It’s my fault. I’m a jerk,” I said carefully as she stepped over to the box.

She stared down at the mess of clothes within it, and sighed at herself. She didn’t seem to even bother wiping her face of tears as she nodded. “Mhm. Your fault,” she agreed.

“It is,” I said with a nod.

“Utterly,” she said.

“Entirely so.”

Renn pulled out a blue bundle, and as she messed with it I realized it was a skirt. It was obviously the other piece to the shirt she wore, but she didn’t seem to realize what it was or how to put it on. She kept shifting it around, looking for the place where one would either slip into or wrap around oneself. She couldn’t seem to find it.

Stepping forward, I smiled gently at the woman who glared at me as I took the skirt from her. “I had planned to seduce you here,” I admitted.

“Mhm…” she made an odd noise as she nodded.

“If not for the smell… would it have worked?” I asked as I went to wrap and tie the skirt around her. Although she had sniveled about how tight that last dress had been around her waist, this one was the opposite. I had to tie it rather tightly as to make sure it didn’t slip off her.

Who had this dress been for? Renn was thin, blessed with her thick blood she rarely gained unneeded weight, but this wasn’t just a size or two difference…

“Completely. Though what would you have done for food and drinks?” Renn asked as I studied the way the skirt clung to her. Even with my attempt at overly tying it, the thing still was slightly askew and off center. It wanted to slip off her.

“There’s good drinks stored underneath, but you’re right on the food…” I admitted as I looked away from her waist and up to her. I found her smiling warmly at me. The very smile I had wanted to see, and had planned to force onto her face for the next few days had everything gone well. “I’ll make sure my next attempt has good food and drink,” I added carefully.

“Good. Also make sure there’s a good bed. One that doesn’t stink. Preferably also one that doesn’t smell like birds either, for some reason those ones just makes me hungry,” Renn said as she nodded and turned, to study herself in the mirror finally.

As she did, I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Normal people plan their weddings, not their first night together,” I teased her.

“Kaley likes to plan every night, she even plans how many kisses and stuff,” Renn said as she turned a little, to study the way the blue skirt looked from behind.

“I bet…” I mumbled, not liking the fact that she had reminded me that Kaley had indeed given Renn some tips and pointers concerning such things.

The fact she had wasn’t the problem. Rather it was the fact Renn had been the one to ask for them.

“Hm… I don’t like this one,” she decided as she went to take it off.

“Why not?” I asked for future reference.

“It doesn’t fit. Plus, the blue although cute is really bright. I’d be noticed instantly in the forest, or a crowd,” Renn said as she deposited the blue clothes on top of the tight dress she had just tried.

“Right…” I nodded, agreeing with her… and was a little saddened to hear such a realistic perspective from her.

Such a thing was just another reminder that our world, the one we lived in, was still… not safe. For those like her. To the point even something as simple as clothing was a concern.

And she was someone who really shouldn’t bother or worry over such a thing, by all rights, being who she was. Being my wife.

“What’s this?” Renn then asked, lifting a fan.

“Open it. Slowly,” I said. Has she never seen a decorative fan before…? I tried to remember all the places we’d been, and people we met, and sure enough couldn’t remember her seeing any. Maybe they weren’t very common anymore, they used to be so common nearly every woman had them… even men used to have some too.

She did, and as the detailed fan emerged and displayed its fancy lacy artwork her happy smile grew larger and larger. “How neat!”

As Renn continued to fascinate herself with the clothes, and eventually the rest of the stuff scattered away in this long abandoned hideaway… I made sure to indulge her, and in her, as much as I safely could without crossing a line.

If the smell bothered her so much that even she had turned me down, having basically offered for the first time ever, then there was no denying how serious it was to her.

So I needed to respect that. Though it only meant my next attempt would have to be even better. Even more prepared, and suitable.

Which might not have been an issue before. But now…

It was a scary thing. Since I suddenly I found it far more difficult than ever before.

“Well?” Renn twirled a little, wearing a new dress. One made of silk, and so old fashioned and ugly that I was surprised it even had been stored away with the rest. She had that silly little fan still, and was using it to cover half her face. As if she had instinctively known how to use it perfectly, without being told at all of its purpose.

“You’re making this very hard for me,” I said, unable to deny she really did look good in anything.

Renn found that hilarious.

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