Coye 6.21

I might sneak in a chapter of Witches Going Live soon. Chapters 21 and 22 of vol 6 are really heavy and I could use a pallet cleanse, and my friend is done with more outlines.

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Chapter 21 - At Long Last

Dorothy wasn't surprised- not at all. They'd been dancing around it for almost a week, and there were always signs even before then. Deep down, she probably knew all along and felt the same way but never had the time to explore her feelings in a healthy, productive manner.

When those budding feelings were exacerbated by Coye's sudden development and the rough week leading to her breakdown, ignoring what had been brewing between them for so long became impossible.

Even if she was unsurprised, Dorothy was overwhelmed. She experienced almost every emotion possible in the aftermath of Coye's confession. She was nervous but enthusiastic. Afraid, yet optimistic. Tears flooded her eyes, and her lip quivered as she made the strangest expression halfway between a frown and a smile.

Neither Shayla nor Coye knew what to think, her emotions reading as far too unstable to make heads or tails of, but Coye was having trouble staying quiet. His initial impulse was to say something, get closer, and try to comfort her if she needed it, but he fought back that compulsion. Despite himself, Coye understood it was best to let Dorothy sort things out with as little interference from him as possible.

As the moment stretched on, however, his willpower was tested until; finally, it broke.

"Dorothy?" Coye raised a hand, intending to reach out and place it on her knee, only for her to interrupt him by dismissing him with a wave.

"I'm fine. Sorry. I'm... I'm fine, I promise. I just... I..." Dorothy was a total mess. She slurred her words, barely managing to simper them out between protracted sobs. "Oh, please don't take this the wrong way... I... you don't understand, I've never been so happy in all my life, b-but for whatever reason, I... I can't seem to process it in any other way besides crying...!!"

Her sudden emotional outburst hit Coye with immense force, landing a fatal blow on his excitable heart that now raced out of control. Despite how hard he steeled himself for this moment, nothing could have prepared him for how he felt upon Dorothy's positive reception to his confession. He couldn't stop smiling, even as Dorothy's tears proved contagious and he started shedding some of his own.

As for Shayla, she was glad it was finally happening. The sheer amount of love in the room was suffocating, affecting her deeply and intimately. Her heart beat with Coye's, her smile matched his, and so did her tears. The level to which they were in sync tonight was impressive, and Shayla chalked it up to the high emotions.

No longer in a rush to comfort Dorothy, Coye relaxed considerably and smiled as he said, "Take as long as you need. I understand."

"I'm okay. I... I think I'm good now..." Dorothy sobbed unconvincingly. She removed her glasses and wiped them clean, fighting back the urge to cry even harder while putting them back on so she could look into Coye's eyes and show him she was trying her best. "Or, ah... at least I'm doing as good as I could be, given the current situation..."

"True. You could be doing a lot worse."

"Somehow, it sure doesn't feel like it..." she giggled, already needing to wipe more tears. Then, she realized what had to happen next, and her anxiety spiked. "Next up is, um, the part where I have to say how I feel about you... r-right?"

"Typically, yeah?" Coye laughed and scratched the back of his head. "That's usually how this goes, in my experience..."

That earned him another smile from Dorothy. He didn't mean it to be taken in such a way, but the fact that Coye was experienced with the whole confession thing comforted her. It reassured her to know that she was in good hands.

Coye was halfway to joking about how they could skip Dorothy's response, given how the happy crying seemed to spell it out for her, but she cut him off before he could tease.

"Alright. I... I can do this. Just... give me a moment to prepare myself?"

"Take all the time you need."

Dorothy nodded and then took a deep breath, which did nothing for her nerves. She didn't know how anyone could confess their feelings as casually as Coye did, but his words had so much conviction. Dorothy would've felt she was disrespecting his feelings if she didn't return the same courtesy. She had to remind herself that even if it looked easy for Coye to say, it wasn't, meaning there was no excuse for her.

Her first attempt made her stumble and fall harder than a pair of sleepy legs ever could.

"I... I l-l-lo... lo..." a sentence tried escaping Dorothy's throat, but something caught it on the way out. She couldn't pass the first two words without trembling and momentarily losing to her anxiety.

Despite how bleak things looked, Dorothy refused to give in. Nerves be damned, Coye deserved an answer. She looked to him for strength, only finding his bright, sparkling blue eyes and a reassuring smile. In the dim candlelight, those eyes of his seemed to shimmer with shifting magic. They were so beautiful, and to think they were focused solely on her of all people, watching... waiting for her response with nothing short of the utmost patience.

It was time for her second attempt. Dorothy expected it to flop, but that was okay. Coye wasn't going anywhere, and neither was she.

"I love you too, Coye. I-"

Dorothy paused. Coye did as well. Shayla smirked.

For a moment, the poor woman blinked rapidly. Did... did she... actually say it? Without flopping, stumbling, or stuttering? That wasn't supposed to happen! Okay, it was, but she didn't think it would happen then. Now she totally ruined the moment by freezing up and dying of shame.

"Shit-" she cursed, then felt even worse for having done so. Panic overtook her. "I didn't mean it like that- I- no, that's not right either!! I did mean it like that, but I wasn't supposed to stop in the middle of the sentence! I had more to say. I- oh, gods... please, Coye, let me try again?" She pleaded. "I wasn't done!"

Coye wasn't upset that she messed up her delivery. He didn't think the moment was ruined in the slightest, either. If anything, he recognized exactly what she was going through. He already lived through it, once with Suzette and once with Byng.

Smiling gently, Coye took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. As far as he cared, Dorothy already gave him the perfect response, but he knew this was important for her. "You can try as many times as you like. I'm not in a hurry, and you shouldn't be, either."

When he said that, Dorothy found even more courage and squeezed his hand back for emotional support. His understanding meant the world to her. For a moment, she thought about closing her eyes and pretending she was somewhere else so she could say what needed to be said to an empty void. Maybe that would've made it easier, but it wouldn't have been right. Dorothy knew she had to do this the right way or not at all.

It went easier than expected when she finally resolved to get on with it.

"Okay... third time's the charm..." Dorothy muttered, took a deep breath, and wiped further tears from her eyes to look at him as resolutely as possible. "I meant what I said, Coye. I-I love you, too. Really. Probably not for as long as you've loved me, but... certainly for a lot longer than I ever realized. I don't have any excuses for not understanding my feelings... all this time, you were the one I relied on the most, yet I was oblivious to any intentions you might've had towards me. All those times you hung out with me and listened to my ranting, I... I was too dense to notice how you looked at me was... more than friendly. I wish I had noticed sooner, and I'm so sorry it took me this long to figure everything out. I'm not proud that it took a complete mental breakdown to slow me down enough to reassess my life and feelings, but... it is what it is. I can only hope you'll forgive me for being so stupid..."

In the wake of such a dramatic confession, it was Coye's turn to not know what to say. His immediate reaction was to reciprocate, or maybe tease her a little, perhaps even go in for a hug? Coye didn't know- none of these sounded right. He'd been waiting to hear Dorothy say those words to him for so long, and now that she had, he didn't know what to do with himself.

That's when he recalled Shayla's advice to keep things simple and go with the flow.

"There's nothing to forgive you for. Whatever it took to get us here doesn't matter. I couldn't be happier than I am right now, Dorothy."

Shayla smiled approvingly, and Dorothy dared to look up at him again as she twiddled her thumbs. "...Really? You truly mean that?"

"Of course I do," he laughed. "I'd come over there and give you a big hug right about now, but I'm getting the feeling we still have more to talk about before we can jump into things like that."

Dorothy blushed at his suggestion yet appreciated the patience. She wouldn't have minded if he wanted to hug her, but he was right. They still had a ways to go until things were formally figured out. "Yes, there are, um... some topics that must be broached before that happens."

Those words scared Coye. He would've preferred to throw caution to the wind like he'd done previously when entering new relationships, but it wasn't like Coye didn't understand that the circumstances were drastically different.

"Are you worried about the workplace dynamic?"

"No," Dorothy laughed. "At the moment, I couldn't care less about the code of conduct and what is or isn't proper. We'll make that work one way or another, even if we have to keep it a secret."

"So much for not having any secrets between us," Coye teased.

"Secrets we're both sharing don't count, silly..." Dorothy giggled softly.

'Good to know,' the biggest secret in Coye's life said with relief.

"Alright. Before we get started, I want to establish something. It's really important." Coye glanced over at his secret but covered it well enough that Dorothy thought he was just looking off to the side.

"Is, um... is this about your harem?" Dorothy stuttered.

As soon as she said the word, the gravity of it sank in. Her excitement almost made her forget that Coye had two other lovers and that Dorothy would join their ranks if she entered the picture. Never in a million years did the humble little farm girl ever think she'd get a chance to be a part of such a hedonistic lifestyle, yet there she was, one conversation away from making it happen...

"If it is, then you don't need to be concerned. I don't have any problems with, ah, j-joining your current, um... dynamic. Suzette is amazing in just about every way, and honestly? After her support the other day, I feel bad about not attempting to get closer to Byng sooner."

"I wish I didn't relate to that as much as I do..." Coye blushed and looked off to his side again, this time with a guilty grin. "Byng's a totally different person once you get to know her."

"Yeah? Well, I'm looking forward to finding that out for myself... ah, what I'm trying to say is that I would love an excuse to spend more time with both of them."

"Guess that makes me a nice little bonus on top of everything else, huh?" He smirked.

"N-No, you know that's not what I-" Dorothy steadied herself after realizing he was only teasing. She sighed and made a pouty expression with her lips. "You're not making this any easier, you know."

"Sorry, sorry. I can't help myself. Anyway, I'm glad we got that out of the way, but it wasn't what I planned to bring up. The topic is tied to my harem, but not in the way you think. It's... complicated."

Dorothy gulped but forced herself to idly nod. "I can deal with complicated. I want to make this work, so... ah... well, wait a moment. How complicated are we talking?"

"Reasonably," Coye shrugged. "It'd be best if we saved it for last, but I wanted to give you a heads up that I had something important I wanted to talk about on top of whatever else you had to say, too."

Shayla was relieved over the way Coye was treating the subject. This was the first time she'd be revealing herself voluntarily, and as such, it was a tremendous deal for her. The longer she had to prepare for the big moment, the better. More so, Shayla was grateful that even during his intimate confession and heart-to-heart with Dorothy, Coye was still considerate of her feelings.

Dorothy wished he hadn't just said that. Now the mysterious topic would be in the back of her mind during their entire conversation, and she was already craving the truth. "Okay, noted," she forced herself to move along. "Then I suppose I'll start?"

"Please."

"Well... I know I just said I'm okay with the idea of being in a harem, but it's still a little nerve-racking. I'm mostly worried about how I'll adjust. It'll be hard not to compare myself to the others, but I'm hopeful I can improve in time."

Coye surprised her by interjecting with a childish and pouty insistence. "You shouldn't be worried about anything like that. There's no reason to compare yourself to Byng or Suzette. I can't say how it is for others with harems, but I'm not constantly judging or picking favorites. I love everyone I choose to be with equally, and on that note, I love Byng and Suzette for different reasons than I love you."

"Oh. Um. I... I see... ahaha..." hearing Coye so casually throw around that most heinous of words would take some getting used to, but it felt nice to hear him say he loved her again. It reinforced that the first time actually happened and wasn't a fever dream brought about by her loneliness. "I appreciate you saying so, even if it's not something I can internalize overnight. Self-esteem issues are tricky like that, you know?"

"I know a thing or two about that, yeah," he gave her a soft laugh. "And that's totally fine. I'll just make sure to correct you if I see you doing it again until you really get the picture. Hell, this is another thing I love about you. You're one of the nicest, sweetest, most attractive women I've ever known, and yet you're still so humble that you can't see yourself the way I see you."

Nicest, sweetest, and most attractive? Dorothy's self-esteem had a lot to say on that, but she knew better than to let the full extent of those thoughts out to pasture. Her glasses fogged up, and she cursed herself over how much she was sweating and shifting around in her seat.

"Maybe if you swapped humble for neurotic, I suppose..."

"Same difference," Coye shrugged.

"While we're on the topic, would you mind if I got the most neurotic thought out of my head so that it stops eating away at me? I, um... I promise I won't be overly negative past this one question, but it's something I have to ask."

"By all means. That's what we're doing here, isn't it?"

"Right, yes..." Dorothy nodded, steadying herself once again. "Forgive me if you saw this coming, but... why? Why me, I mean? When you say that you like me-"

"Love. Not like."

"Love, yes, that's... that's right..." she laughed awkwardly, her stress making her appear as if she were vibrating. "I know it's silly of me, but I feel as if I won't be able to really, truly process your feelings until I hear more of your reasoning."

"Love isn't as simple as that, you know. It's not always defined by reasoning and doesn't always make sense."

"Yes, that's true... but..."

"Are you sure you don't just want attention?" Coye adopted a teasing grin and inched a little closer. "Because if you want me to go on and on about why I love you, you don't have to-"

"Coye..." Dorothy frowned. "I'm being serious."

'Be nice to the poor girl, dummy! There's plenty of time for teasing later. Right now is when you need to be treating her respectfully.' Shayla interrupted her telepathic silence long enough to chastise the boy.

It helped him realize he had gone too far, so he scratched the back of his head and looked down at the mattress in embarrassment. "Sorry. Teasing is kind of second nature to me lately... especially with you. I'll give you an honest answer without all the playfulness tacked on if that's what you wanted."

"It is," Dorothy's expression was relieved, happy to see he could realize when he acted in a way that upset her.

"Well, get comfortable. If you get me started on this, I won't be talking about anything else for a while... and that isn't me teasing you. It's the truth."

"Ah..." Dorothy lowered her head, her face flushed. She was close to regretting her request and got the impression she might've asked for more than she could handle. "C-Carry on, then..."

"The reasons I love you can't be boiled down into one simple thing that'll make it easy for you to understand. It's a lot of things on top of each other that all add up to these immense feelings I have for you, Dorothy. I could start by telling you how much I love how you get so passionate about things you care about or how you have a gift for holding my attention and making me interested in everything you say. Or maybe I'd tell you how you work so hard it inspires me to do my best, despite all the trouble that habit got you into. There's also how damn smart you are- so much so that your knowledge is practically bursting out of you sometimes-"

"W-Why did you have to put it like that...?" Dorothy laughed while hiding behind her hands, embarrassed and ashamed. "You're almost making it sound like you love me because I'm annoying!"

"You're not annoying!" Coye countered firmly. "You're quirky, and I'm really into that."

"I... um... okay, I suppose that's a bit better..."

Shayla wondered how thin the line was between quirky and annoying but supposed it was a matter of personal preference. Either way, she was pleased to see him navigating this topic well.

"I'm not done. On top of everything else I've already said, there's also the fact that you took care of me these last two years when I didn't have anyone else. Because of how dense I am, I've always had trouble connecting with people around me. For instance, I don't see obvious social cues that easily and couldn't tell when a cute coworker or a friendly older woman was flirting with me. You, though? I never had any trouble connecting with you. It was simple between us, and I knew what to expect. You would assign me a quest, make sure I was fully prepared, I'd complete it, and when I got home, you'd be there waiting for me with a smile. If only you knew how much that smile got me through my hardest battles, maybe you'd understand why I love you as much as you do."

Dorothy waited for him to continue speaking, but he didn't. There was only silence between them until she understood he was done, and she had time to process his words. The longer she did, the more embarrassed she became. Dorothy was unused to such significant praise, let alone from the boy she was in love with. Sure, it wasn't that different when he stood up for her back on the day of the battle, but... the current topic was substantially more intimate.

She wanted to flop onto the bed and collapse out of embarrassment, but Dorothy couldn't even do that much. All she could do was stare at him in awkward silence, asking, "Is... um... is that all, or is there more?"

Coye wasn't sure, but he almost thought he heard a hint of desperation in her voice. Like she wanted him to keep talking. Fighting back his urge to tease was nearly impossible, but was it really teasing if he spoke from the heart? So long as he phrased it honestly and not playfully, he figured he could get away with saying what he wanted.

"No, it's not. There's also how attracted I am to you, but if I'm being honest, that wasn't a huge part of my feelings until recently. I mean, I always thought you were-"

"A-Attractive?" Dorothy gulped.

"Sexy," Coye shook his head. "You already know that sex only started being a bigger part of my life recently, but it's still a factor."

"Oh, dear. I-I mean, um... Thank you?" Unsure of how to take that, Dorothy merely nodded her head. She supposed it wasn't terribly surprising, given what she knew of his libido, but the word 'sexy' still somehow shocked her.

Sensing her doubts, Coye went out of his way to lay them to rest. "I'm serious, you know. Full disclosure, I want you really bad. I don't care how forward it sounds, and I'm not teasing. I'm just stating a fact."

Shayla raised an eyebrow, worried he was pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable, but Dorothy wasn't as embarrassed or stressed about the topic as she might've expected. Instead, she blushed, smiled, and stared at Coye with a look of adoring passion.

"Thank you for spelling it out to me like that, ahaha... even if my self-esteem issues make me unable to understand why you think of me that way, I'm, ah... still a girl, last time I checked..."

"Well, I would certainly hope so?" Coye tilted his head and laughed awkwardly.

"Er... I meant that, um, n-no one's ever told me that I look 'sexy' before, and the validation feels... nicer than I would've expected. That's all. I don't have many girlish traits, I don't think, but it seems I'm not immune to flattery. At least not when it's coming from you." She continued staring at him for some time until adding in, "That was indeed overly forward of you, however. Was that your condition talking, or...?"

"No, not at all. It only helps me say what's on my mind and makes it so there's less of a filter. It's all still me."

"Yeah? I'm happy to hear it..." Dorothy giggled, then looked off dreamily. "If only you ate that magic mushroom a little sooner. Might've saved us some trouble."

"If only." He agreed.

Shayla laughed to herself at his cover story. It was funny when he first told her that 'I ate a magic mushroom' was the best he could come up with, and it was funny now.

"What else did you want to talk about? I assume you have actual topics we need to cover, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. I... look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you this hasn't been the happiest night of my life, but two things are stopping me from calling this a... um, a done deal if you know what I mean."

"I have an idea, sure. Go ahead. Let's cover them both, and we'll see what we can do about making this work." Coye was resolute and showed it in his severe expression.

Seeing Coye's confidence made a lump form in Dorothy's throat. She wasn't anywhere near as confident about how this would all go, and the entire situation intimidated her. Still, his dedication inspired her to continue. Dorothy shook off her hesitation, looked him in the eyes, and decided she would get the easier topic out of the way first.

"The reason I passed out the other day is more complicated than I told you. I hope you'll understand why I didn't tell you the whole truth, but it should add important context to everything that happened before and after..." Dorothy said. "You might've noticed last week I was acting... well, somewhat cagey toward you..."

'Not quite how I'd describe it, but close enough...' Shayla laughed.

"Yeah, that rings a bell or two," Coye smirked.

His casual dismissal of her regretful behavior made Dorothy smile, and she continued. "It all started the day before you moved out. I didn't know what it was then, but that was when I first realized something about our relationship was... different than I previously thought. I know I was stubborn and difficult to deal with, but I... um... that whole week I spent avoiding you, I was trying to understand my feelings. I'm not proud of the way I handled it. I kept writing off the obvious conclusion, rationalizing my thoughts, and outright denying the truth."

A profound sense of guilt started hanging over Coye. "I'm sorry if something I said put you through all that. I... fuck, Dorothy. I'm sorry if I somehow caused-"

"No, no-" Dorothy fought back against his interruption and shook her head. "Please, let me finish. You weren't the reason I had a breakdown. Not in the way you might think."

"Well, that's reassuring."

"You're still not letting me finish." Dorothy pouted.

"Sorry... hard not to jump to conclusions when it's such a heavy topic."

"I understand. What I'm trying to say is that as bad as that week was, I was quite close to understanding my feelings near the end of it. If that damned inspection hadn't happened when it did, maybe I would've sorted things out before they got out of hand..."

"Okay, but how do I have anything to do with your panic attack?" Coye was curious and supportive, so he scooted closer and offered Dorothy his hand, which she took for comfort. "Was it just the additional stress, or was there something more specific that upset you?"

"...You came up during the discussion."

"Wait. Really?" He looked at her in confusion. She hadn't mentioned that before, and his attention was captured.

"Yes..." the situation was getting more difficult to talk about, but Dorothy could still navigate it as long as she had his help. "The inspector implied something that set me off and triggered a dramatic response. You... ah... do you remember when you were upset over my sales pitches a few weeks ago and felt as if I was trying to squeeze you for money?" Dorothy's voice grew low.

Now Shayla was the one with a ton of guilt hanging over her while Coye looked away and nodded. "Yeah, I remember... what about it?"

"Well, I... gods, I just don't know how to tell you this, but... one of the reasons that inspector came sent here in the first place was to pass down an idea on how I might take advantage of you."

Shayla didn't know how to take that. While she didn't know a thing about the AoA's corporate structure, it didn't make sense to her. There was no way Coye made enough money that it'd paint a target on his back, so what could they possibly have wanted from him?

Rather than confusion, Coye's reaction to this new knowledge was severity. "You need to tell me what they said. Now."

Dorothy knew he wouldn't like this, but not much could be done about it. She told him the truth. "It had to do with your father. For as much as you've told me about your life, I don't think it ever came up that he was a platinum-ranked adventurer."

'Platinum?' Shayla remarked in wonder. 'I didn't know there was anything past gold...'

"That was a long time ago. He's retired now."

"Yes, that's where I'm going with this..." Dorothy let out a long sigh as remembering took a toll on her mind. She didn't like reliving that awful conversation, but she had to. Coye deserved to know the truth.

Luckily for her, Coye picked up on how hard this was for her, and he finally crossed the distance between them and sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist. The gesture surprised her with how fast it happened, but she didn't protest. It was hard to care when he was so close.

Dorothy leaned into his side and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "This is still hard to think about."

"I understand. Don't worry, I'm here for you."

"Okay... let me piece it together. One of the main reasons the inspector was sent was because they knew the son of... um... 'Muscled Mountain' Bronson..." Dorothy struggled to say the man's ridiculous epithet during such a serious conversation but powered through it. "I get the impression that the Association wanted me to press you for information- see if you could do something about his retirement- but... the inspector learned of our closeness. That gave the woman the idea of... ah... in her own words, using you as a ladder to climb out of the hole I'd dug myself in..."

'Are you fucking joking?' Shayla was furious on Dorothy's behalf. If that bitch ever returned to Cransmere and Shayla was around to see her...

Coye was also upset yet remained quiet, taking in all the information as it was presented. Noticing this, Dorothy continued. "She framed it like she knew your father's character, insisting he'd likely rush at the chance to help the Guild of his... um... his daughter-in-law..."

"Huh? He doesn't have a-" Coye blinked as realization hit, then blushed. "Oh. Fuck." His embarrassment gave way to further anger. "What makes that so bad is that they're probably right, too... there's no way he wouldn't do something if I asked him for help. That's just the kind of man he is- and the kind of man he raised me to be."

'This is all kinds of fucked up...' Shayla rubbed her forehead. She could imagine what Dorothy must've gone through after hearing all that, and it wasn't pretty.

Dorothy pulled herself away slightly from Coye's lazy embrace, now feeling more composed. "As soon as she left, that's when my breakdown happened. At the time, I was in a profoundly poor state of mind. It felt as if the Association itself was trying to whore me out, even though that idea only came from the inspector after discovering we were already close."

"Still-"

"I know. It's still not great." Dorothy sighed. "I was so close to understanding my feelings, Coye, and they ruined everything with their implications. She said the Association wouldn't care about our relationship so long as it was profitable, and I just... I broke. I broke so hard I almost-"

Coye couldn't bare it any longer. He went in for a deep embrace, but she shocked him by refusing it. Dorothy turned to face him and shook her head. Despite the steady stream of tears, a look of pure conviction was on her face.

"I'm okay. I'm not going to let it hurt me anymore. The reason I'm telling you all this isn't so I can garner your sympathy and have you coddle me. It's to ease my conscience before starting our relationship. Suppose I didn't tell you this happened, and you found out about it somehow. You'd then have reason to believe I had ulterior motives, which couldn't be further from the truth. Coye, I never want you to suspect I'm using you ever again. That's why I'm nipping this in the bud and telling it to you straight. If you don't believe me, I'd understand, but-"

As if Shayla couldn't feel any more guilty than she already did. Not only was she wrong about Dorothy using Coye for money, but the degree to which she was wrong was also staggering. She would have to apologize even more profusely than planned once the introductions were squared away...

Coye was taking a little better, instantly telling Dorothy, "Okay. I believe you."

"Oh. Ah. Wait... r-really? Just like that?"

"Just like that," Coye smiled gently, only for his expression to tense. "I appreciate you telling me all this, but I have to ask. Do you really want to keep working under the Association after all that?"

"I know how it looks, but I don't think it's as bad as I initially thought..." Dorothy sighed. "Besides, what would I do with my years of training and job experience? Become the Guild Mistress of some non-Association Guild? Let me know if you ever happen across one of those in your travels, and I'll consider it..."

Coye knew as well as she did that there were no such Guilds, and there hadn't been for a very long time. Not since the Association cozied up to the monarchy untold years ago and slowly established a monopoly over the adventuring business.

"I won't argue with you if you really want to stay, but I won't lie and tell you it doesn't worry me a lot, either..." Coye frowned. "Who knows what else they might try and make you do one day?"

"Nothing. That's what they'll do. They won't care about the Cransmere Guild as long as they get their profit from it, so that's exactly what they'll get. I've worked too hard to get where I am today, and the last thing I want is to throw it all away."

"That's pretty different from what you were saying the other day."

"And whose fault do you think that is?" Dorothy gave him a soft smile. "You motivated me to keep going, so I hope you’d respect my decision."

Coye gave Dorothy a long look and noticed she was still composed. There weren't any tears, only determination. Even if he didn't want to respect her decision, he couldn't help conceding the point after seeing that. Dorothy wouldn't let a shitty employer stop her from moving up in the world and doing what she was best at.

"Okay. As long as you're certain, you have my support..."

"Thank you, Coye..."

"I have to ask, though. You don't want me to send a letter to my dad, do you?"

Dorothy was taken aback by his sudden suggestion. She had to do a double-take before realizing he was serious. While tempting, her pride wouldn't allow her to appear so easily suggestible.

"It's very kind of you to offer, but no. We aren't in any immediate financial trouble anymore, so extreme measures like that aren't currently necessary. On top of that, I'm worried about how that would look."

"Won't they already think that's what happened if we get together?"

"Well, um... perhaps..." Dorothy blushed, remembering what this was all about. "But we aren't exactly going to report our relationship anytime soon. They’d want to send someone again to ensure I'm not treating you favorably, and I barely survived the last inspection, ahaha..."

'Poor thing...' Shayla sensed the stress behind Dorothy's laughter, but even as her sympathy expressed itself, she couldn't help feeling somewhat excited by the prospect of an office romance. A pixie ordinarily wouldn't have been familiar with the concept, but some of Suzette's books that she thumbed through that time were based on that premise. It seemed like it would be fun and ripe for mischief.

"Fair enough..." Coye nodded, though he held back a tinge of disappointment. He wanted everyone to know that Dorothy was his, but it wasn't worth the potential mental health crisis she might suffer. "So, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

Suddenly, the mood shifted.

Shayla noticed it before he did, and it wasn't good. Dorothy took on a significant frown as she looked off to the side, knowing this could be a considerable contention point between them. The first subject was much simpler, but this one was a thousand times more serious.

Desperate to try and help her partner however she could, Shayla made a list in her head of all the things Dorothy could want to talk about before starting a relationship, and one of them stuck out more than the others. She hoped to all the gods she was wrong, but Shayla knew better. It was a subject they absolutely had to talk about, and it was a miracle that Suzette and Byng started relationships with him without mentioning it.

"Oh, um... about that... this topic is a little worrying. I'm unsure if now is the best time to discuss it, on second thought. We had a lovely time together tonight, and I'd hate to ruin the memory..."

"What? No way. Whatever this is, it's stopping us from having a relationship. Right? I want to clear it out of the way so that we can settle things. Tonight."

"Ah..." Dorothy blushed, then wiped some sweat from her brow. "Is there any special reason it has to be tonight?"

Coye realized how that sounded, then tried to downplay it. "No, I didn't mean it like that... I meant that I don't want to wait. I want you to be with me, and I'm eager to clear any obstacles standing in the way of that. That's all."

"...And what if it's an obstacle you can't clear, Coye? What then?"

"There's no such thing." Coye laughed.

'Baby...' Shayla closed her eyes and chewed on her lip. 'Don't push on this any deeper than you have to. You won't like it. It might be better to let her go home tonight and continue after I've had time to prep you for it.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

He still didn't get it. To be fair, the subject in question was one he went out of his way to push from his mind on any given day. Given how little he tried to think about it, picking up context clues relating to the topic was challenging.

Dorothy didn't want to outright say it. It would hurt him- a lot- and all because of something that was never his choice. Yet if she didn't, it would hurt both of them. Maybe not anytime soon, but one day. It was one of the few things in life that was guaranteed.

Sucking in a deep breath of air, Dorothy looked Coye in the eyes and forced the words out of her mouth. "First, I should preface this by saying it isn't a total dealbreaker, but... I... I can't start a relationship with you until we discuss your lifespan."