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Castorice sat in her room, surrounded by the golden sunlight spilling in from the terrace and the window she sat besides. Thimble on her finger, she sewed quietly, listening to the occasional birdsong or the loud buzzing of a beetle flying by. Her curse had been lifted, but she still had the habit of isolating herself in her chambers. Years had been spent doing this, after all. But it wasn't bad— she enjoyed what she did. Whether it be visiting graves, reading, or the ornament she was making right now.
On her way back from the market with a new book in hand, Castorice had walked by a broken off butterfly wing on the cobblestone. Her heart had ached at the thought of how much that poor little thing must've hurt. But even after looking around bushes and grass, she found no small creature that could be rescued. With a heavy sigh, she took it with her... The colors were stunning. Vibrant, crystal blue that bled into purple near the edges, which were black. The wing was torn, though. Castorice had the idea embroidering the missing part, but was unsure of her skill— she hadn't practiced much. However, the fascination with the idea gave her courage, opting in to do it. She just wished she didn't desecrate the beauty that was already present. She mulled over what to turn this butterfly into. She settled for a hairclip. How should she have approached it then? Should the other side be another restored wing, or should she make another wing. If it was another broken off one, the colors would very likely be different, and that idea stirred her. Different patterns of wings flashed through her head, making her gasp excitedly at what opportunity fate could throw at her. Suddenly, a pang of guilt hit her. It felt a little grim to be excited about finding the remnants of a wound soul. She shook her head. No, she was thrilled about immortalizing their grace, but not about their pain.
Searching for her most vibrant of threads within her little box, Castorice had found a close copy for the blue and purple.
Now, she was here. Stabbing through shiny silk, highly concentrated on her task, observing the original closely as she copied diligently. Time flowed wildly unobserved. Castorice was lost in her own world. She was about to start threading in the purple. She angled her needle from underneath when— CLASH! And stabbed herself in the thumb. Wait, this doesn't matter!
A blur had flurried down from the sky in front of her terrace, smashing onto the ground. Castorice flung her work to the side and ran over to the dissipating cloud of dust, teleslate in hand, ready to ring— Wait. Lord Mydei?
"Gah! Do you really think this is over, little prince?!"
"Give it up, thief, you've lost!"
"I never lose!"
A sleek cat struggled under the grip of a ferocious lion.
"Just give me back what's mine!"
"Wrestle it out of my hands, hss!!!"
Astonishment struck Castorice. What type of situation was this? Her body moved to call out, to beg for Lord Mydei to not hurt Miss Cipher, no matter what prank she had pulled. But Mydei was faster. That is to say, faster to prove had no harm in mind. He just held down Cipher and prevented her from escaping while at the same time attempting to wring out sparkling gold from her grip. Wait, did Lord Mydei look different?
Fine particles rose in the air once again in the struggle. The thrashing, the kicking of feet in the air, the slinging of arms. Mydei pressed a knee down on Cipher's chest, moving his arms to restrain Cipher's. She wiggled out his weight to the side, attempting to roll out of the battle, but got pressed down by the nape instead. She was curled over the pavement, clutching her loot to her stomach. Mydei heaved above for a few moments.
"It's over."
He reached underneath Cipher to uncurl her paws, but the moment he blinked there was no one before him.
Mydei snapped his head skywards. Castorice let out a chuckle. She leaned on the railing, shoulders next to her ears. On the spine of a rooftop, a mischievous thief was cartwheeling tauntingly, laughing madly yohoho! with a shining coin in between her fingers. Mydei pounced from the ground, jumping several stories into the sky, lunging himself towards the escapee. The naughty cat barely grabbed onto her tail as golden claws ripped through the air itself.
Castorice watched a new chase sequence commence with a smile dancing on her lips. Miss Cipher was so full of vigor. She ran so hot. She was life itself. And Castorice found herself endlessly drawn to this nectar. She wanted to feel this heat next to her, to let some of it run through herself, and hopefully make her blossom just as brightly. But it was hard. Miss Cipher was too different.
Castorice sighed to herself. She lowered her eyes to the tree leaves fluttering in the wind— those two were already out of her field of vision, although their scuffle could very much be heard. Her thoughts wandered aimlessly, and she walked wherever they took her. Alas, they kept circling back to pointy fluffy ears and a sharp fang in a grinning mouth.
Her front door slammed behind her.
Before Castorice could even yelp in surprise, long, crafty fingers were pressed against her mouth.
"Hey, Princess Homebody~ Hide me!!!"
"Miss—!" But before she could even finish, those metal boots ran behind her immense pile of plushies on the floor.
In the next second, a towering figure was standing at her doorframe.
"L-Lord Mydei!"
"Miss Castorice," Mydei's eyes flew through the room, "Do you keep stowaways?"
"I-I don't understand..." Castorice replied meekly.
"I have a feeling you do," Mydei scoffed, "What are you doing standing stiff in the middle of your chambers?"
"Uhm."
"..."
"Alright, I will tell you."
A smirk perked up on Mydei's lips.
"Um, um..."
Castorice kept stumbling over her words. Miss Cipher had stolen Lord Mydei's jewerly, but... she felt bad for her, and also... she felt a little devilish. She wanted to lie, to stir this pot further.
"The truth is that Miss Cipher indeed entered my room... But she jumped off my terrace. She was so fast, I got startled. My apologies."
Mydei's expression dropped before he dashed without delay. Must've thought that he had a lot of catching-up to do.
A tail peeked out of felt animals and Dollo eggs, blue eyes entrenched themselves on the place of the little prince's exit. Ten seconds passed… Cipher finally jumped out of her hiding spot, landing right next to Castorice.
"W-O-W!!! I didn't know you had it in ya! Don't take offence, but you look like a bad liar, Princess Homebody. I'm VERY impressed..." Cipher's face closed in on Castorice's, gaze flicking around. "Although... I don't understand your motive. You aren't going to extort me are you?! Or do you want a share of my treasure? I'm sorry to disappoint, but I don't actually mean to sell this," Cipher rambled as she swung the row of gold plates and blue stones around her wrist, "I don't plan on making enemies with the Kremnoan boy at all! I like being with the living. I'm just playing a little prank to spice things up, that's all."
Castorice chuckled, "Miss, I'm playing a prank too. I thought it would be funny to send Lord Mydei on a wild goose chase and help your graceful person."
Cipher froze and gaped. She stared at the girl before her for a minute before a smile burst forth on her face
"Rrrrrrreallllyyyy? Graceful? Me? What did you eat today? Did it have mold on it?"
Castorice's laugh chimed sweetly, "Miss, I really do look up to your athleticism and skill."
"Ugh," Cipher grimaced, "you've definitely got food poisoning. What's up with these overly sugary words?"
Tense silence filled the room.
"I-I do mean it," Castorice began mumbling as she stepped forward to catch Cipher's hand, "Miss—"
"Pluh-ease drop the formalities, they make my skin crawl."
"C-Cipher... I know that... people still view you negatively even if you are a hero to us all. I see that doubting compliments comes to you as second nature, but... But I mean my words, M—, Cipher. You're f-fascinating. You're s-so f-fast, and c-cool, and everything that I-I'm not..."
Blown out eyes stared at Castorice. Cipher was completely unmoving, it was startling. Did she need to be turned off and on?
Just as Castorice was about to open her mouth again, Cipher's whole body slacked and her tongue stuck out of her mouth.
"UGH! This is so soapy it's making my mouth fill with bubbles. Hey, I'm gonna lounge around your place for the rest of the day. I'm BEAT. Fighting off that little prince tore me up and I need a nap! Thieves like me play while everyone else slumbers and slumber while everyone else plays. I'll be taking one of your dromas pillows and knocking myself out. Good night!"
"O-Oh, don't you want something to eat?"
Cipher waved her hand while laying down on the floor, "After this, after this!"
Castorice watched as her friend curled up and fell asleep, just like that. She sighed and covered her with a blanket.
What did she do wrong? Castorice knew she wasn't a gifted communicator, she knew she struggled. She was still fleshing out her skills with her new life here. But she couldn't comprehend what she had done to make Cipher this upset. She fidgeted with the ends of her dress before whimpering to herself. Whatever, she could ask directly after the nap. She needed to spend her time more productively.
With that thought, the image of her project that she threw to the side flashed through her head. Ah, oh no! She scanned the tiles around the place she sat and found her embroidery hoop. Nothing looked damaged, thankfully. Oh, if she didn't count the needle, she supposed. Its tip had bended with the impact. Sigh, she needed to buy a new one.
Cipher awakened in a quiet room. Had Princess Homebody left her here? Good. She could just sneak away and—
"Oh, did you sleep well? Miss, I wouldn't have minded at all if you used my bed. Laying on the floor like this..." Castorice trailed off as she raised herself from her work to approach. "You might catch a cold..."
Curses! What had gotten into this woman?? She used to be terrified of touching people, but now was closing the distance between them like a hungry animal.
Pools of fragrant lavender stared at Cipher at eye-level. Frightening.
"So, you've got nothing to eat or what—"
"I do! There is something on the table besides you."
Darn! At least take a trip to the kitchen!!!
Wordlessness dripped heavy in the room as Cipher ate. Grilled fish. Huh.
"Miss—"
"Cipher."
"Cipher... I must apologize for my brazenness."
"What?"
"I must've done something to insult you. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sorry."
"You are saying weird stuff again..."
"Again?"
"Yeah, like how you started blabbering about how 'fascinating' I was. Hah! I know I'm swell, but I also know no one else thinks like this of me," Cipher stared into the ashy ends of the grilling stick in her hands, mouth pressed into a flat line. "Look—"
Cipher barely managed to get the word out before she was toppled over.
"MISS, I MEANT EVERY WORD THAT I SAID!!!"
The head trauma victim gawked.
"Please, I can't stand hearing you talk about yourself like this. You're a hero, too! You are a part of the Chrysos Heirs which saved Amphoreus!!! You are a good person!!!" Castorice cried out.
Gosh! What is really up with this Princess??? Throwing her onto the floor, trapping her head between her hands, and hanging over her like some sort of divinity, bathed like this in the sunlight. Cipher was ready to open her mouth and say some excuse to get the hell out of here before a hand cradling her cheek robbed her of her breath.
"You're beautiful, too. So beautiful. Your hair is fluffy and soft like a cloud. Your eyes shine like jewels. The ears on the top of your head make my heart itch with every twitch they do. And your tail. When you wrap it around furniture, I can't help but think of its fuzziness tickling me instead. I—"
As Castorice's confession got more and more detailed, Cipher's expression became more and more bewildered. A moment of clarity and that face before her made her swallow the rest of her words. Polyxia, what was she doing?!
Just about Castorice was about to dart off, Cipher grabbed her by the shoulder.
"You reallyyy mean that?" She asked seriously. "You really do? I don't like when people play with me."
Castorice's soul was being shot through that pair of eyes. Gods, she was so terrifying when she wasn't joking around.
"I-I did. I'm s-sorry. Please pretend I never said that—"
But instead of letting go, Cipher only pulled her closer to her face, both almost being chest-to-chest.
"Tell me more about myself."
"I— Your hands are so nice. I really like your nails. They look honed and dangerous. I wish I could look sharp like that. Um— Your black suit hugs your figure tightly. N-NOT IN A PERVERTED WAY!!! I-I think it emphasizes your fit figure quite nicely. You look like you have abs. Ah, the bow on your leg is super adorable and the little bell? Hehe, it's so silly. Your b—"
"Enough," Cipher cut her off.
Silence fell once more. They stared into each other's eyes again. Both couldn't tell what the other really was thinking. The heat of the room rose as their breaths mingled. Were they always this close? It didn't matter. Castorice leaned forward and joined their parted lips together either way.
There was no jolting, no surprised moans. They kissed as silently as they had looked at each other. How long was it before they parted? A minute?
Visible anxiety started brewing within Princess Homebody once more after she raised herself. So Cipher pulled her back by her nape. She closed her eyes, reveling in the way purple bangs brushed gently against her cheeks while listening to the air puffing out of Castorice's nose. Only when those noises softened down, did she let go.
Castorice sat on Cipher's hips. Her face was stuck in a funny position between bafflement and excitement. It made Cipher laugh loudly.
"Life doesn't stop getting better here, does it? Besides food, clothes, and a bed, now I even got myself a girlfriend."
"Girlfriend... AH! M-MISS!"
"ENOUGH! Stop calling me 'miss' for Kephale's sake! Right now you are mine, and I am yours, the formalities are REALLY excessive."
"I'm sorry, Cipher."
"Good. So, be a good wife and bring me a glass of water."
"W-WIFE?! Please, s-slow down, I'm climbing the ranks too fast!!!"