*THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!*

That was the sound of Rose hitting me and knocking me down to the floor of the sparring ring we were in. I rubbed my head a bit before Rose loomed over me.

"You're getting better! That's one more hit than before!" Rose said proudly. I rolled my eyes at this before Rose offered a hand to pull me up, something I was happy to take. It's been a few days since I kinda sorta changed history and met Lana, Cammy and Nova. Rose at this time has been pulling me to the gym since then, I thought it was more her flirting with Lana but she has been giving me lessons in some hand to hand combat, which kinda hurts.

"Alright, once again this time keep your eyes here." She explained, gesturing her face. "Most inexperienced fighters will look where they want to hit, giving their opponent a big tell were to defend."

"Do I do that?" I asked Rose as I went into my stance, which was similar to Yang's boxer stance.

"Oh absolutely." Rose answered bluntly which didn't help my self-confidence. The two of us continued our sparring, much slower than before as Rose did take time to show me a few things before swatting my strikes away. At least she isn't throwing me onto the ground like before.

The tournament was still going on and was coming to the end of it with the last two teams, one was Indigo's team. Though I was happy his team was doing great, it was due to this that none of his videos were coming out which was upsetting for me. The other group would be Lana's team, it made me wonder who would win in a one on one match?

I sighed as I got back up to my feet, ready for yet another round of training but soon saw Rose keeping an eye out, no doubt for Lana. Now that I think about it, every time we train she seems to be trying to impress, some of her moves were flashy and eye-catching. At first, I never took Rose being someone to do flashy stuff, always doing it simply and not going to lie when she did this with Lana nearby it was somewhat annoying, mostly I would be flipped around is a spectacular fashion and drew in a crowd, which wasn't fun but after doing this a few times I've gotten used to it… mostly.

"Hey, do you always have to be so… flashy?" I asked her which made Rose arched a brow.

"I mean, I don't have to. I just want to." Rose answered me which I frowned at.

"You don't have to do that to get Lana's attention, you could just go talk to her again." I pointed out to Rose.

"And not show how awesome I am? Now that's just crazy." Rose said with a grin which made me roll my eyes.

"Where did you even learn this?" I asked Rose.

"Online, why?" Rose asked as I gave her a flat stare before sighing.

"I don't think that'll work." I said to Rose which she frowned at.

"How would you know, haven't seen you wooing anyone." Rose pointed out which made me blush.

"That's-" I was soon cut off when I saw Rose lunge at me, making me panic and pull back, falling back down onto the ground. "That's cheap!" I yelled.

"When you're fighting, nothing is cheap." Rose said as she walked over to grab a water bottle. I grumbled as I went to get my own. When I did, I looked over at Rose again and saw her looking out once again. I was about to say something but Lana soon came into view with her gym bag, walking by us.

"H-hey there." Rose called out to Lana with a smile on her face only for Lana to ignore her and continue walking. "Huh? Hey, wait!" Rose yelled out before hopping out of the ring and chasing after Lana. I watched her go before seeing a few other students waiting to use the sparring ring.

"Oh, sorry." I said before getting out of it. As I did this I looked around to see if Rose and Lana were still around, which they were as they were at the entrance of the gym.

"What do you want?" Lana asked Rose, finally turning to look at her with an annoyed frown and her arms crossed. I grimaced at this as this was not looking in Rose's favour.

"I said hi to you, isn't saying hi back something one does?" Rose asked with a frown, either not noticing Lana's annoyance or simply ignoring it. Lana arched a brow at this while keeping her annoyed frown. This time Rose seen this. "What? Why do you look annoyed?" Rose asked Lana confused. She shook her head at this before saying.

"I don't have time for this." Lana finally said before turning and heading out, leaving Rose hurt and confused. Man… that's got to hurt. Rose stood there like that a few moments before I went over to her.

"Hey… are you-" I started to say before Rose cut me off.

"Just leave me alone." Rose said before she headed off back into the Gym, towards the changing rooms. I stood there sadly as I looked over where Lana was going and saw her turning the corner.

"Hello!!!" The voice Nova greeted me which me scream out in fright. I turned around and saw Nova there with a big smile on his face.

"Why do you always do that!!" I asked, trying to slow my heart down before it comes out of my chest.

"Because it's funny and super easy to do, duh." Nova said as he stepped back a bit, showing that he was still in his training attire of rather short shorts and a sleeveless tank top.

"Okay, but can you please knock it off? You're bound to scare one of my tails off." I said to him, hugging said furry appendages while Nova hummed and answered back.

"Nope." He said to me with a playful smirk. I frowned at him before sighing before looking back at where Lana went.

"Hey… was your older sister mad at something?" I asked Nova, wondering if Lana had a bad day or something before Rose tried to talk to her.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Nova asked me, clueless about this as I. I then explain to him what happened beforehand, Rose showing off a bit, Lana walking past us and the two of them talking.

"I should've told her that that online dating advice were a bunch of junk." I said as I crossed my arms. Nova took in this information and hummed a bit before he spoke up.

"Well, that's because she's trying it the wrong way." Nova said to me, cocking a hip and putting his hands on them. "Lana hates it when someone's trying to be super flashy and smug. Like Rose's recent spars with you." He said to me, bringing up the way too showy moves.

“She has been trying to be more flashy with our sparing.” I said with a groan as I rolled my shoulders. “Why is it always me?”

"Yeah which hasn't been going well for Rose if she's been trying to get my sister's attention." Nova said as other students headed out or back in for more training.

“Yeah… do you think Rose still has a shot?” I asked Nova, trying to find a positive in all this. Nova blinked at me before thinking about it.

"Not if she just gives up. She has to actually get to know Lana to actually make a good impression on her." Nova said to me honestly. So there is hope for Rose! Nova soon gave a better explanation as to why Lana doesn't care much for showiness or flashiness of anything, how she prefers the people who actually walk up to talk and not boast. "There was this one guy who did manage to get Lana to like him but he thought he was hot shit because of it, as he would put it, taming Atlas' Beast." Nova said to me, making me blink before he added. "Safe to say neither of us would be seeing any of him any time soon." Nova said to which I looked at him pale-faced before he quickly corrected. "She didn't kill the guy! She just humiliated him in one of their spars." Nova corrected.

“Right… is Lana really known as that?” I asked Nova before adding. “Atlas’ Beast I mean or was that something that didn’t stick?”

"Sadly, she's sort of known for that nickname and I totally understand why she has it but… I don't know, calling her a beast is just wrong." Nova told me sorrowfully, showing sadness for his sister. I frowned at this, seeing as it’s wrong to be calling someone a mean nickname for something they did. "So… where is Rose anyway?" He asked me.

“She went into the changing rooms, she hasn’t come out yet… odd.” I said as I looked towards the changing rooms, normally it doesn’t take Rose long to get changed. “What’s taking her so long?”

Before either of us could say anything I felt someone grab both of my tails and made me yelled in fear before looking back to see Nova’s sister hugging both of my tails with a big smile on her face.

“C-Cammy! Why!?!” I yelled at her as my face grew red at her actions.

"Shhh… fluffy." Cammy said to me simply as Nova giggled a bit at this before looking off someplace else. I tried to move away but Cammy held on to my tails, giggling as my face grew redder. Why me… This continued up until I noticed Rose was there, staring at the two of us with an arched brow.

“Something I should be informed about?” Rose asked me which made my face go scarlet.

“N-N-No, there’s n-n-nothing going on!” I answered Rose which made Cammy pout a bit.

"Oh come on, nothing? Like nothing at all?" Cammy asked as if wanting another answer and if it was by luck, Nova wasn't paying attention to this whatsoever, something else caught his full attention.

Trying to ignore Cammy’s actions, I followed Nova’s gaze and saw Edward working out. Cammy and Rose took note of this and looked over where I was looking.

“Uhh, who’s that?” Rose whispered to me and Cammy, who was still holding my tails! Again I tried to pull away but she has some grip!

"That's Edward Bonze, Nova's biggest crush~," Cammy said in a sing-song tone which made Nova blush as his attention was pulled back to us.

"U-Ummm…" Nova couldn't utter a word to rebuke Cammy's words. With Cammy distracted a bit and feeling her grip loosened I manage to pull my tails away from her, causing Cammy to look at me with a pout. I didn’t say anything to her before looking at Nova with a smile.

“Go talk to him.” I said to Nova which made him redder.

"S-should I? I don't… I don't think that's a good idea." He said to me, nervous about the chance to go up and talk to Edward. "What if he… What if he isn't into... well, you know." Nova said to me, blushing madly at this. I didn’t say anything at this, seeing that I didn’t know either. I looked at the other two which caused Rose to blink in surprise.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know how to do relationship.” Rose said before pointed at the gym door. “You saw what happened when I tried.”

“That’s… you just got bad info.” I said to Rose before looking at Nova. “And you don’t know if you don’t try.” I said to him. Nova took a deep breath while Cammy gave him two thumbs up and we watched as headed towards Edward, leaving me with Cammy and Rose… and Cammy grabbed my tails again, fuck. “Why!?” I asked Cammy, earning me a giggle as she hugged both of my tails. Rose stood by watching all of this before looking back at Nova. Why didn’t she help me?!?!

"Because they're soft and cuddly and so huggable!" Cammy said while Rose looked to be in deep thought, getting a little more nervous as time went on. Was she worried about how she handled things with Lana, or something else? I couldn’t think much about that as Cammy was still hugging my tails!

“Can you please stop! I can feel you hugging them!” I said to her with a mad blush. Before Cammy could say anything Rose spoke to her.

“Hey, you know where Lana would be right now?” Rose asked Cammy. Cammy and I stared at Rose for a bit, making her feel a bit uncomfortable before Cammy thought about it.

"Well… she likes to hang around the lounge area, usually by herself." Cammy said, letting my tails go as she added. "Going to try your luck?" She asked Rose.

“Yeah, it's better than doing nothing.” Rose said before asking. “You think she’s going to hit me for trying?”

"I don't know… maybe?" Cammy said which didn't work in Rose's favour but she ultimately took a deep breath and gave herself a look of determination.

“Alright, off I go.” Rose said before she headed out of the gym, leaving me with Cammy. The two of us watched her go before she turned around the corner so I could talk.

“Think she has a chance?” I asked Cammy. The latter shrugged simply at this before saying.

"I don't know. My sis hasn't really been keen on looking for a special someone yet but no reason to doubt." She said before giggling and adding. "Anyway I'll catch ya later, I've got some errands to run." She said to me before looking back and saying. "Call me if you want to have some fun~," She said with a shake of her hips before leaving me a blushing mess. Why does she make me feel like this?!

Shaking my head I looked back at Nova who was talking to his crush. He was blushing like crazy while managing to speak to the still working out Edward but he must've said something to make him stop, which in turn made Nova freak out a bit before Edward himself smiled and chuckled at something before pulling out his scroll. Before long Nova came back, clutching his scroll close to his chest with the reddest blush I've ever seen.

“So… what happened?” I asked Nova as he held his scroll as if he would let it go it would disappear.

"He… he gave me is scroll number…" Nova said just above a whisper, I could barely catch that if it weren't for my better hearing. "He…" Nova started but didn't finish as his eyes rolled up to the back of his head and he soon fainted. I was quick to catch him before seeing that Nova had a happy look on his face, holding his scroll in his hands.

“Oh dear…” I said to myself before looking around, kinda wishing Cammy was here to help. I didn't know what to do and I was honestly beginning to panic if someone thought the wrong thing.

"Hey Viri." Mavis's voice surprised me as she spoke over my shoulder. I jumped a bit at this before looking over to see Mavis smiling at me.

“Oh… hi umm…” I looked back down at Nova then back. “Mind helping me with him?” This caused Mavis to giggle a little as she saw Nova’s expression.

"Alright." She said to me before snapping her fingers and taking us to our room, Nova was put onto my bed while Mavis herself was greeted by a happy Sylph. "Momma misses you too." Mavis said, kissing Sylph as the latter licked her face. I smiled at this before moving over to my dresser, noticing that the other two weren’t here. Guess they were out on a date or something.

“Thanks for the help Mavis.” I said to her as I was looking through for some clothes to wear other than my workout clothes.

"So what's got him so giddy?" Mavis asked me as she held Sylph closely with a smile.

“Oh because he had gotten his crush number on his scroll.” I said before going on explaining that Nova has a big crush on a Faunus man named Edward and while I was doing this I was changing into some comfy clothes.

"That's so cute~," Mavis said regarding Nova's crush before snapping her fingers and summoning an image of Edward and she soon purred. "Now that's a hot piece if I do say so myself." Mavis said with a sultry purr.

“Hey now, what would Yang think?” I asked as I put on a nice shirt before picking up some pants. Mavis looked at me with a smirk and arched a brow.

"She'd think the same." Mavis said to me which did make me blink in surprise at her answer.

“Huh? I thought… you know what, I’m not going to ask.” I said as I finished putting my pants on. I looked over at Nova before asking. “So, we’re going to leave him here for now?” I asked Mavis.

"Hmm…" I heard Nova hum as he stirred a bit. Mavis looked at me with an arched brow as Nova so opened his eyes. "Am I dreaming?" Nova soon asked before looking down at his scroll before squealing happily as he hopped out of the bed and bounced about in glee.

“No… no, you aren’t dreaming Nova.” I said sharing a chuckle with Mavis as the two of us watched Nova hugged his scroll happily. Sylph made a happy sound as she now laid on top of Mavis’ head as she watched Nova bounce around a bit happily.

"Woohoo!" Nova cheered as he finally flopped down onto the bed with a happy sigh while Mavis spoke.

"Excited, aren't we." She said to him with a smirk. Nova himself blushed at this but his smile still remained.

“I don’t blame you…” I said with a smile before I went over and gave Nova a hug. “So, going to ask this because I believe Cammy is going to ask you, when are you going to ask him out?” I asked Nova.

"Um…" Nova said before looking down at his scroll and saying. "I don't know really…" He finally answered me. Mavis giggled before she floated over and hugged him before finally saying.

"Well if you ever need any tips just give me a call." Mavis said to him with a smile. Nova giggled at this as he blushed at Mavis which simply smiled at him. I smiled at him before I sat on my bed.

“I feel like you two are going to be hanging out with each other a lot.” I said to the two of them. Mavis chuckled before my thoughts went back to Rose and Mavis soon spoke.

"Curious of Rose?" Mavis asked me and honestly, I couldn't help but be curious at this. "You go and look for her, I'll be here giving Nova some top tips." Mavis said to me before ushering me out the door in a hurry before slamming the door behind me. I blinked at this before I soon saw Amber and the pups were playing in the hall. I stared at them and saw the pups either playing with each other or with Amber and simply looking very very adorable, I shook my head and remembered that I wanted to go see how Rose and Lana were doing.

So with that in mind, I made my way towards them… right after I give Amber a pet and each pup some loving. After that, I made my way towards where I believe the two were after remembering what Cammy said. On the way towards the lounge, my scroll buzzed and I pulled it out to see it was a notification… oh, Indigo uploaded a video!

“Sweet!” I said happily before checking the video out. It was several minutes long and if I watch it I’ll be halfway done before I get there. Well, better than just walking in silence, I pulled out some headphones and put them on before playing the video. It started off normally like any other, normal intro, animations, music until it gets to the end and… someone else comes in? What?

I continue walking down the hallway, watching the video which showed some random guy tear into some other game that wasn’t the one the video said it was. I never heard of the game before but the guy has a lot of say on this game. It was really confusing before Indigo’s voice was heard. Next scene Indigo was back and the other guy was gone… though I did his feet in the corner. Was this supposed to be two reviews in one video?

Whatever the case it was over… or so I thought as the black little figures Indigo uses during his videos walked up to the now-empty review desk and began rambling about in gibberish about dog food before it cut to black with a loud bang. I blinked at this as I looked up and saw the lounge doors and soon put away my scroll as I walked up to the doors.

I opened the doors and step inside to look around if Rose and Lana, or anyone, was here. It was kinda hard to see that since the Lounge area was a large room filled with different things to do. There were times I come here to relax for a bit and I just pick a spot somewhere to chill. There were times I’ve seen other students taking a nap here. I didn’t see Rose and Lana from where I stood, which meant I had to go look for them in here. Sighing a little I began looking around for the two.

After about five or so minutes of looking around the room, I soon found the two sitting on a large couch in front of a screen that was dark and showed nothing. No one was around them at the moment and they didn’t seem to be talking at the moment, either they were in the middle of their talk or they haven’t even started. Keeping myself hidden I tried to listen in to what they're talking about. Sure it’s rude to eavesdrop on other people but blame my curiosity.

“So…” Rose started to say to Lana. “Umm… well…” Rose was stumbling over her words as she tried to find the right words to say. “... I fucked up, didn’t I?”

"Really? What gave you that impression?" Lana said back, looking at her with a frown and an arched brow.

“Hey, I was trying… badly.” Rose said to Lana before hanging her head. “I looked it up, I thought it was good and…” Rose didn’t finish as she was frowning as well, possibly to herself before looking back. “I’m not good at dating or asking someone out.” This got Lana to arch another brow.

"Dating and asking someone out?" Lana said in pure confusion while Rose nodded and began to admit.

“Well yeah. I had a crush on you when I first saw you and was quite vocal about it.” Rose admit to Lana. The latter blinked and blushed a bit before she rubbed the back of her head as she soon spoke.

"Well… I thought you were just trying to show off to incite some unneeded competition or some shit." Lana admitted to Rose, which made me wonder why Nova gave me that whole story with Lana and some other guy.

“What? No.” Rose said, sounding surprised at this. “Again I did all of that to try to get your attention, it for all the wrong reasons,” Rose muttered the last bit. Lana simply stared at Rose with wide eyes as Rose continues. “If it wasn’t for that page said about dating I wouldn’t really start showing off. But now to get to the point.” Rose looked over at Lana and took a deep breath before saying. “Lana… you want to… go out sometime?” Rose asked. This caught the bull faunus herself by surprise and soon blushed before thinking it over, which in turn made Rose all the more nervous as the seconds went by.

"Sure… I'm free later today. Maybe we can catch a movie or something." Lana said to Rose, holding back the awkwardness she felt… wait… how did I know that?

“Oh… great!” Rose said happily at Lana. “It’ll be great!” Rose added with some glee in her voice. I smiled at all of this, seeing that two were becoming a couple. With that being said, I slowly pulled away from where I was, heading off out of the lounge room.

When I left the room and down the hallway for a bit, humming to myself before I passed a room and saw both Tak and Weiss there. Deciding to go say hi, I walk into the room which as I did I saw the two of them in what looks to be training. I say training, but it kinda looks like they were somewhat dancing.

Weiss was like a ballet dancer as she zips around the room with her glyphs and caused some of the bots to explode or get shredded by her attacks which were very impressive. Tak was doing some of the same but it was more like he was figure skating with a wavy ribbon, that also slicing through the bots with such elegance which was also deadly. Honestly from the sight of this was like a deadly dance from the two of them. It was amazing and scary.

I moved over to the stands to watch the two before they were finishing up the remaining bots by joining dances. When all was said and done, the training bots were laid scattered and in heaps as Tak and Weiss worked up a good sweat.

"Did we do it?" Tak asked Weiss to which the latter smiled.

“Yes, you did amazing Tak.” Weiss said happily as she smiled proudly. “If I had you as a partner in the festival, we would’ve won greatly and easily!” Tak blushed cutely as he looked down.

"You're just saying that…" He said with a blush as I noted his attire. It was some skin-tight clothing, a regular shirt and some shorts all of which looked really tight in him.

“I'm dead serious, Tak. We're amazing alongside each other, there's no way we could've been beaten in the tournament.” Weiss said happily. Tak smiled at her with a bit of a blush on his face before the two of them looked over at me. “Oh, hey Viri.” Weiss greeted me with a smile and wave.

"H-huh?" Tak said in surprise before looking around only for Weiss to help him face me. "Um… hi." He greeted me.

“Hey Tak, Weiss.” I greeted the two of them with a smile before looking at Tak. “Tak I didn’t know you were skilled with a weapon,” I added as I looked at his ribbon-like weapon.

"Um… well, Mom taught me." Tak said to me with a little blush which made me imagine Auntie ribbing dancing. Hehe… funny.

“Yeah, and you’re really good at it. If I didn’t know better you would’ve been a great huntsman.” Weiss said happily. I nodded at this.

“Yeah, that’s amazing Tak.” I said to him which made Tak smile more with a redder blush.

"T-thanks." Tak said with the big blush as Weiss gave him a calming kiss on the cheek. I smiled at this as Weiss hugged Tak as well which Tak smiled even more.

“Anyway, sorry if I’m interrupting your training or something?” I asked both of them which Weiss shook her head.

“No, we just finished up… unless you want to go for a little longer.” Weiss asked Tak with a questioning look at him as Tak gave it some thought.

"I was hoping we could have lunch." Tak said shyly as Weiss chuckled and kissed him again lovingly while my own stomach grumbled as well.

“Care for another joining you? I feel a little hungry myself.” I asked both of them, giving them a sheepish smile. Weiss thought about it before looking at Tak to see what his answers.

"Sure." Tak answered with a happy smile before he and Weiss went into the showers and came out minutes later looking refreshed and in new clothing. We looked over and saw Tak walk over to us wearing a stylish dress shirt that was blue with white snowflakes on it as well as a black skirt with blue highlights on it and some black stockings and shoes. Weiss smiled at Tak before giving Tak a kiss on the cheek.

“Wow Tak, you look… wow.” I said in awe and soon made him blush again before he said.

"Weiss got these for me." He said to me, shifting his skirt a bit.

“And they look amazing on you sweetie.” Weiss said happily before looking at him with a smile. “Which reminds me, we should go shopping at that store we went to for those, I heard they’re going to have a sale.” Weiss said with a smile. Tak got excited at this while I let the two be as they discussed what they should buy and whatnot while we headed to the cafeteria. As we looked for a table, I saw Yang was sitting alone at the table. I frowned at this as mostly everyone still believe that Yang was a cheater in the tournament. I nudge the other two and nod towards her table.

“There’s Yang, let's eat with her.” I said to the other two. Tak looked at Weiss as Weiss herself didn't seem to want to… oh.

"I say we should… she's our friend." Tak said to us, well mostly Weiss but still. Weiss stared at Tak for a few moments before her expression softens at Tak.

“Alright.” Weiss said to Tak and look at me and simply nodded at me. Soon the three of us went over to the table and Yang looked up at us.

“Oh, uhh… hey guys.” Yang greeted us in surprise.

“Hey.” I greeted her as I sat down along with Tak and Weiss. Weiss simply gave Yang a friendly wave at her which Yang waved back. “How have you been?” I asked Yang.

“Me?” Yang asked in surprise before glancing around a bit, seeing the others keeping their space away from her, and in a sense, the rest of us. “I’m doing alright.” Yang answered before taking a bite out of her food.

"Are you sure?" Tak asked, showing Yang that he cared deeply about how she felt. I smiled at him, seeing his compassion for others.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine, really." Yang confirmed as she glanced at the other tables where the other students are sitting. "I mean, being labelled as a cheater and getting the whole team kicked disqualified from the tournament sucks but… there's always next year." Yang said, putting up a smile that was really forced.

"Yang…" Tak said, even he knew she was forcing a smile. During all of this, Weiss was quiet as she listened to Tak trying to help Yang.

"Really guys, I'm fine…" Yang said with a chuckle before we all stared at her for a few moments as that smile soon crumbled to a sad frown. "Okay okay, I'm not fine. This all sucks. I can't do anything without everyone walking away or calling me a cheater!" She then looked at Weiss with a pleading look. "I did not cheat, honest!"

Weiss stared at Yang in silence for a few moments before she slowly moved her hand over Yang's hand. "I… I believe you, Yang, really." Weiss said with a smile on her face. Yang's smile grew at this before the two pulled their hands away.

"Thanks…" Yang said to Weiss to which she simply nodded. Tak smiled at this before Yang was soon surprised at two arms wrapping around her neck.

"Hey~" Greeted Mavis as she floated behind Yang. Another smile adorned on Yang's face though this time it wasn't forced and more genuine than the last one as she turned her head a bit.

"Hey back." Yang greeted happily. I smiled at this as it's nice to see Yang happier than before and with Mavis that was a given. Though… speaking of Mavis, I have a feeling that… I don't know, there's something different about her. I had these odd thoughts ever since she started coming back to the dorm room later at night. At first, I thought she was going out to see Yang but… I can't help but think otherwise. When I asked Yang about this, she only furthered my suspicion as Mavis only visited her half as many times as she snuck out.

"Hope you weren't so gloomy, you know how I get when you're gloomy." Mavis said before latching onto Yang, wrapping her arms and legs around Yang and saying. "Hugs forever!" Mavis exclaimed.

"Thanks babe." Yang said happily. I again smiled at the two as Mavis so moved over and sat beside Yang, still giving her a big hug as the rest of us chatted and ate. As we ate I occasionally glanced at Mavis as she laughed and chatted with the others, getting the sense that she's hiding something big.

Author's Note

Fighting in a city of nightmarish creatures doesn’t help in the dating department.