Coye 6.12

Probably one of my favorite chapters thus far. I like writing about that weird space where two are almost lovers but aren't *quite* there yet, especially when it comes to Dorothy lol.

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Chapter 12 - Office Hangout

Coye opened the door to Dorothy's office after deep breathing and steeling himself for what was to come. She was at her desk but managed to clean up whatever she messed up by the time he stepped through. Dorothy wore her usual attire today, but it looked clean and much better than it had in ages. So did she. Coye couldn't remember a time when Dorothy seemed healthier and more well-rested than she did that morning. Most of the bags under her eyes had cleared up, her pale skin free of grease. When combined with the wide, nervous smile that manifested as soon as she looked at Coye, Dorothy looked beautiful.

Beautiful, and evasive. She couldn't hold Coye's gaze for more than a few seconds, but Shayla was surprised to discover the reason why. Dorothy's embarrassment today was sourced from an entirely new emotion that the pixie had never felt coming off of her until now.

'Oh, I just love it when I'm right...' Shayla grinned nefariously and rubbed her hands together.

'Anything I should know?' Coye shot her a quick telepathic message, afraid of the tone of her voice.

'Probably, but it's more entertaining for me if you find out for yourself.' She snickered. It amused Shayla to no end, knowing that Dorothy was having lustful thoughts whenever she so much as glanced at Coye. Yes, certainly much more fun if she kept that little tidbit to herself...

Shayla's cryptic comments were mildly annoying, but they didn't mean much to Coye. He was too busy focusing on his lovely Guild Mistress. She seemed distracted, a little less than she was when she was avoiding him last week but distracted all the same. That was okay. Coye thought of many ways to catch her attention on the spot, and he pulled the first one off immediately.

While looking straight at Dorothy, he smiled, closed the door, and locked it behind him. She blushed heavily. Even more so as he started approaching the desk. That was so forward that she didn't know how to take it other than to squirm happily on the inside and hope her awkwardness didn't seep out.

It did, but not any more than usual.

Dorothy twiddled her thumbs and spoke, trying to sound normal. "Oh, that's, ah, probably for the best, yeah. I don't want anyone to interrupt us, so why don't you come here and have a seat at my desk, I-"

Coye walked past the desk as if he didn't even hear her. Behind the desk was a scarcely-used couch nestled between two large bookshelves with a curtained window hanging behind it. Coye sat down, sinking into the plush fabric, then silently patted at the seat beside him, gesturing for Dorothy to join him.

A lot more of her awkwardness seeped out than usual.

Dorothy swiveled her office chair to follow his movements, and she couldn't even comprehend that Coye had just casually invited himself to her couch and made himself at home. The way he smiled at her was so confident that it gave her shivers. He hadn't said a word, but he didn't need to. She was tempted to do as he suggested, but some nervous part of her won out, and she uttered some nervous gibberish before she could.

"T-That's, um... Coye, I... I didn't say you could... I mean, I didn't say that you couldn't, either, b-but, um... maybe..."

"What are you waiting for?" Coye tilted his head, then patted the seat even harder. "Sit."

Dorothy gulped. Her body obeyed, and she left her chair automatically, eyes trained on the wooden floorboards below. "Yes, Coye..." she found herself agreeing.

The next thing she knew, she was sitting directly next to Coye, only inches apart. Their knees were almost touching. Was that okay? Dorothy didn't know, but the longer she sat there, the sillier it felt to be nervous.

Being with Coye relaxed her to the point where she wondered why she'd been so worried only moments before. She was still embarrassed, but a wave of relaxation washed over her. Unfortunately for Dorothy, that embarrassment would only worsen as soon as Coye spoke.

"You're looking really nice today," he expressed gently.

"R-Really? Ahaha, um... thank you... I'm... not sure why that would be the case as I still haven't found time to wash up or anything, but... I suppose I'll count the little victories. I, ah... I don't know if Tammy told you, but-"

"She said you slept like a rock."

"Something like that," Dorothy giggled, moving some of her bangs from her face. "In my defense-"

"You don't need to justify yourself," Coye laughed. "You needed the sleep, and I'm happy you're feeling better."

Her smile became more expansive, and Dorothy felt a warmness well up inside. "...Thank you, Coye. You seem like you're doing better, yourself. How are your injuries? Please tell me I'm not the only one who got enough rest."

"For the most part, yeah. I did end up with a couple of visitors yesterday, and I woke up a couple of times on and off, but the medication had me mostly knocked out."

"Sorry I couldn't come and see you," Dorothy bit her lip. "I would if I could've, but I'm overjoyed to know you're doing better."

"Yeah? Thanks. I should probably tell you that Auguris was one of those visitors, by the way."

Dorothy sighed, slumping her shoulders. Her brow started to twitch in irritation. "I really wish I could act as if that surprised me, but... well, when that man wants something, he doesn't know when to give up."

"I wanted you to know I told him I'd do it."

Blinking on and off until his words registered, Dorothy looked at him in surprise. "Wait a moment, really? But... he wants to drag you around on gold-rank quests, doesn't he? That's..."

"Exactly why I want to do it," Coye said with conviction.

Dorothy gulped, looking at Coye closer despite her nerves. Dorothy's job required her to know in detail what her adventurers were capable of. She broadly knew the strength of each one, keeping up-to-date on their progress, developments, and training, even though her inquiries were another reason people formerly saw her as nosy.

However, getting to see their powers in person wasn't a common occurrence.

The fight with Auguris challenged her previous estimation of Coye's abilities. Dorothy had him marked as an adventurer who showed lots of promise and would likely make it to gold-rank within several years, but his performance absolutely shattered her expectations and changed how she looked at him in many ways. Before, she never would've personally signed off on Coye tagging along into the deeper parts of the forest where Auguris often found himself. She would've let him, of course, as any silver-ranker can join a party with a gold-ranker, but her concern for his well-being would've been immense every second he was gone.

The old, reliable, up-and-coming Coye of old was no more. All Dorothy saw was her hero. It might've been unprofessional to rely on her gut instinct, but Dorothy now believed there was no reason to be concerned. He could handle himself. Coye was bound for bigger and better things, and Dorothy didn't want to be what held him back.

"I see. Well. As your Guild Mistress, I'm happy to hear that. It would be nice if you could inspire Auguris to put a little more work in like you did with Byng, but I won't hold my breath for that, ahaha. I have to say, though. As your... um... your..." her stammering caught up with her while she wrestled with the uncertain reality of their relationship. "Friend?" Dorothy looked at him as if wanting confirmation, then forced herself to continue without it.

"All I'll say is that while I think you can handle your own out there, the monsters you'll fight will be tougher than anything you've tackled before. Up to now, you've only ever battled up to high C-tier monsters."

"Let's say you had to classify Auguris as a monster," Coye joked. "Where would you place him?"

Dorothy smiled at the thought but shook her head. "Not applicable. You didn't face him while he was using even an iota of effort." Then, she realized she had inadvertently put him down. "Ah! That's not to say your victory was undeserved or unimpressive or-"

"I get it, don't worry. I was only joking."

"Still," Dorothy cupped her chin, and the nerdy side of her brain prevailed, forcing her to run some mental calculations on the sacred art of power scaling. She'd gotten high marks in her Threat Assessment and Classification class back at the Guild Academy simply because she enjoyed envisioning imaginary battles between her favorite monsters and was putting those skills to use. "I suppose you could compare his restrained strength to a monster in mid-B-tier, but at full power, he's certainly sitting over on the higher spectrum of A-tier."

"Cool. I'll pretend like I can comprehend that and smile vacantly." Coye said, delivering on his words and making Dorothy giggle. "As long as teaming up with him will make me stronger and raise my rank quicker, I'm all for it."

"I didn't know you were in such a rush to get stronger..." Dorothy thought aloud.

Coye clenched his fist, his expression tensing. He was serious, confident, and knew what he wanted. The fire in his eyes she saw during the battle had returned for a brief flicker of passion. "The stronger I get, the more I can protect everyone important to me."

Dorothy blushed, wondering if he was talking about her. Shayla knew the truth. He was talking about both of them and still wanted to develop his powers to the point where she was comfortable flying by his side. She rubbed her elbow and smiled weakly but kept quiet so the two could continue.

"That's a noble goal, Coye... how strong do you really need to be, though?" Dorothy asked before an intrusive slipped out wistfully through her lips. "Stronger than your father?" A slight bit of cynicism in her words perked Shayla's interest, but it wasn't her place to draw attention to it.

Coye didn't pick up on it, only laughing and casually stating, "Nah, no one's stronger than him."

"Ahaha... right..." Dorothy returned his laugh, but it was noticeably less sincere.

Recognizing she'd messed up, Dorothy searched for a topic she could quickly pivot to and not have to think about that distressing thought. Because she was throwing a dart at the board blindly, she landed on an embarrassing subject and ran with it, unable to come up with much else.

"I hope your injuries didn't interfere with your, um... your treatment, Coye. You know, the thing you told me about the other day? Are you, ah... are you doing alright in that regard?"

Coye looked at Dorothy, taking in the sight of her crimson cheeks and sweaty brow. If the topic made her so nervous, he wondered why she brought it up. He could've bullied and teased her a little, but Coye thought better of it and answered politely. "More than alright."

"Oh. Ahaha... I suppose that makes sense..." Dorothy said, trying to push the idea of how Byng and Suzette might've given him treatment during his recovery out of her head. Her attempts failed, and she bit down on her lip while nudging her thighs together.

Suddenly, things got even more awkward for poor Dorothy.

Coye took her hand, surprising her by giving it a comforting squeeze. Her face was so red she looked like she might die of a fever. Dorothy's nervous emotions heightened so immensely that a psychic explosion practically burst out from her, temporarily forcing Shayla to recoil. It only lasted a second or two, however. Just like she had with sitting by his side, Dorothy adjusted, growing used to her situation.

Coye's hand was soft like a woman's. More delicate than anything she'd ever felt before. It was lovely, and Dorothy squeezed down on it unconsciously.

Breaking the momentary strides she'd made, Coye stared at her face. His expression made things so much worse for Dorothy. He was deeply concerned, and she could feel the love radiating off of him as he asked, "What about you? Besides that long nap of yours, how are you really feeling right now?"

Dorothy thought to herself, nervous... overjoyed... anxious... lovestruck... all that and more, but she couldn't express any of those. Especially not that last one. She clammed up, sweat pooling in her brow and her palm. It took some effort, but she found the mental fortitude to calm herself and open her heart. As soon as it did, her words spilled out.

"Better. Much, much better. Better than I've felt in... um... ever?" Dorothy laughed candidly. "It's like a thousand different weights have been lifted from me all at once, on top of a thousand more that I didn't even know were weighing me down... for once in my life, I feel... free. Weightless. Like I'm drifting away without a care in the world if that makes sense? Ahaha..."

Short of Dorothy confessing her feelings to him on the spot, Coye couldn't think of anything that would've made him happier to hear. "I think it makes perfect sense," he reassured.

"Oh, good... well, I hope you're happy with yourself. Not to sound overly dramatic or anything like that, but... none of this would've been possible without you, and I'm so thankful for everything you've done for me, Coye..." her voice wavered, her hand clutching his tighter.

Coye couldn't ignore her sweaty palms anymore, but luckily for Dorothy, he found it adorable. It did give him a little mirror into how Byng must have felt when they held hands for the first time. He wondered if she thought he was cute like he did for Dorothy. The thought made him smile and feel warm inside.

"You're giving me too much credit. I didn't tell you to stand up to Auguris or give everyone that announcement speech. Those were all you. Dorothy, you excited everyone in that room by talking to them. You were funny, charming, and engaging, even. That wasn't me. When they clapped, they were clapping for you."

Shayla was watching Dorothy with increasing vigilance. Things were getting romantic in here, and her vicarious enjoyment was at an all-time high. She was invested- addicted, even. Resisting the urge to magically mess with the situation was a nearly impossible ask, yet resisting is just what she did. Nothing was more important than for Dorothy to work out and discuss her feelings independently.

She wasn't conscious of what she was doing, but Dorothy opened her legs a little wider, and her foot pressed up against Coye's on the ground. She looked away from him, bashfully biting her lip and staring into the distance. She thought back to everything he had just pointed out. It was true- all of it- but it wasn't the whole story.

"You really don't get it, do you...?" Dorothy laughed under her breath. "The only reason I was capable of all that is because, well, ah... how do I say this... it's because you were there for me. I was at such a low point that day, only able to get out of bed because I knew I'd get to see you if I did, and then it all went shit because of Britni... but... you stood up for me more than anyone else ever had. I..." breathing was becoming difficult for her. Emotions were running wild, but Coye gave her as long to calm herself as needed. "I knew I couldn't give up... I'm not like you, Coye. I'm not strong, and if you weren't there for me, I would've broken down and given up once and for all..."

"Don't say that about yourself," Coye frowned. "You're just putting yourself down again."

"You're not listening to me," Dorothy shook her head. "I'm not putting myself down. I'm trying to be honest about how much your presence encourages me to try and improve myself... I don't know how to say this, so I'll just let it stumble out there, but it's almost like you make me believe there's something in me that's worth standing up for..."

"That's because there is, and I've always seen it. Do you still not get that, even now?"

"I get that you see something in me, but if you're asking if I see it for myself, then I'd have to answer you honestly... no, not yet... but..." another long pause followed as Dorothy summoned every bit of courage she had to say what she wanted him to hear. "Maybe if you kept close to me, I'll change for the better and learn to see myself the way you do?"

Her suggestion had all sorts of implications, and despite how hard he was trying to be the calm and mature one in this conversation, Coye had to fight against his growing excitement. Fighting back a smile, he asked, "Aren't you worried that if I'm not around, you'll change back to how you used to be?"

"Are you saying you won't be around, Coye?"

"Well, no, but..."

Dorothy laughed nervously, letting her true thoughts slip right off the tongue. "In any case, it's irrelevant. I don't want to ever be away from you long enough to discover what would happen..."

Coye got quiet. When she realized what she'd just said, so did Dorothy. It was the most awkward moment in their conversation yet, which was saying something. Even so, Dorothy made no attempt to correct herself. She didn't care if it was embarrassing, overly romantic, or anything else. She meant what she said and would own up to it if pushed.

Coye didn't do any pushing, unfortunately. His nerves got the best of him, and he took his hand away. Dorothy missed it the second it was gone.

"Good thing I don't plan on going anywhere, huh?"

"Yeah..." she uttered dreamily.

Shayla was flustered that these two simpering fools missed their best chance to get on with it, but antagonizing Coye wasn't going to get her the premium entertainment she craved. She merely exhaled in annoyance and waited for the show to continue.

"You're not pushing yourself too hard today, are you?" Coye asked, pointing his finger at the small pile of papers on her desk.

"Oh, um, no. Not at all. I just wanted to quickly review how Wiska and Chelanne did during my day of rest. After that, I figured I'd perhaps read a book or two while I'm down here?" Dorothy gestured to a sampling of her collection on the bookcases scattered across the room. "I just didn't want to lay in bed all day."

"I understand. Did you have any thoughts on when you were getting back to work proper, or-"

"I was thinking perhaps tomorrow?" Dorothy thought aloud, but the way she said it made Coye suggest she wasn't sure. "The gold we made is enough for me to relax for a little while longer, ahaha..."

Coye wasn't going to take any chances. He switched his tone and suddenly demanded, "if that's the case, take the next two days off. Not just today."

"Two more days?" Dorothy felt a chill run down her spine at his sudden authority, wondering where his sudden shift in behavior came from. "Why, ah, why is that?"

"Because I told you so?" Again, Coye's reply was sudden and severe. Only when he started smiling did Dorothy understand he was teasing her. "What's the matter? Weren't you the one who said I should tell you what to do more often?"

Shayla raised an eyebrow, wondering what she'd missed as Dorothy started blushing upon remembering she did, in fact, say something to that effect. "Oh, yes... I suppose you're right about that..."

"I could always stop if you'd like?"

Something about the suggestion struck Dorothy the wrong way. She couldn't say why, but she absolutely needed to prevent that from happening.

"Hold on, now! I-I was just surprised by your sudden insistence, that's all! You don't have to stop telling me what to do if you don't want to!" She turned to face him and leaned in, her words packed with a shocking amount of passion. When Coye adopted a smug grin, however, she got embarrassed. "Um, that's not to say I'm desperate for you to tell me what to do. I, um... oh, dear..."

"No, of course not," he teased but then let up since it didn't look like she could handle much more. "Really, though. Take another two days. You didn't even get to enjoy yesterday, you know?"

"...Alright, Coye. I'll do as you say."

"But not because you want me to tell you what to do."

"No," Dorothy answered without thinking, only for her brain to think after the fact. "I... I mean, yes, exactly." She cursed herself internally, then looked for an exit from this hot seat. There were none, so she decided to change the topic and make her own.

"While you're here, would you mind if I asked you something, Coye? Your sudden magical talents left me quite confused during the battle. When did that happen? Did one of the tutors you told me about finally make a breakthrough with you, or...?"

Now Coye was planted firmly on the hot seat. He looked away, thoughtlessly mumbling, "Oh, my magic? I meant to tell you, but I never got the chance..."

'I knew she was going to ask...' Shayla broke her silence and slumped her shoulders. 'It's not like I expected we could get away with half the shit we did in front of the whole Guild without turning some heads. Just be evasive, big guy. Push it off until it's time to let her in on the secret.'

'Already planning on it,'

'Good. You're learning.'

"It wasn't any of those tutors, no," he shook his head, closing his eyes as he considered whether he should outright lie, obscure the truth, or just be honest and ask Dorothy to wait. He played it cool at first, saying, "I just took what they told me and figured out some stuff on my own. That's all."

"...You don't say?" The last thing Dorothy wanted was to sound nosy, especially with Coye, but she wasn't buying what he was selling. "I don't mean to pry. It's just that whatever you did to break Auguris's armor had to have been exceedingly powerful. I'm not accusing you of anything, obviously. It's just... a little hard to believe you figured out how to do that much on your own. What even was it that you did, Coye? A jinx of some sort?"

That was precisely what it was, but he wasn't the source of the jinx. Dorothy's expertise didn't solely focus on monsters. As a Guild Mistress, she was knowledgeable about all the different styles of adventurers who might end up at her Guild. This meant thoroughly studying all sorts of combat manuals, treatises on the numerous schools of magic, and so on. By knowing the in-depth secrets of each adventurer's skill set, she could theoretically match them up with quests best suited to their abilities... if only her adventurers cared enough to listen, they would find her advice was more than sound.

Coye knew Dorothy wasn't dumb. On the contrary, she was one of the smartest people he knew. He might've been able to convince her he ate a weird horny mushroom, but he wouldn't be able to wiggle out of this one. It was better to just delay but do so with honesty.

"Can I be truthful with you for a second, Dorothy?"

"Um... yes, of course? Always." Dorothy instinctively leaned in a little closer as if expecting Coye to drop a massive secret she couldn't fathom.

"I'm not ready to tell you about how I learned magic," Coye said flatly.

Dorothy's disappointment was immeasurable, and she looked away with great embarrassment. "...Ah, I see. Okay. That's- I'm sorry, I must've been nosy again, I-"

"No, no. That's not it!" Coye was quick to cheer her up, taking her hand in his once again. That went a long way in easing the mood, giving her a wide smile she couldn't suppress. "I'm just saying I want to tell you more about it, but... it's a complicated situation, and getting into it would be this whole other thing, and I don't want today to be about that."

"Oh. Well, okay then..." Something about how he said it didn't strike Dorothy as very comforting, and she assumed the worst. "Nothing bad happened, right? You aren't developing magic powers because of some curse or corruption or anything like that, are you?"

'Corruption is a very strong word,' Shayla looked away out of guilt. 'I'd prefer to think of what I'm doing to you as influencing...'

"No, nothing like that. I'll tell you in a few days after your break. How does that sound?"

Dorothy was alright with the compromise, even if she was still a little disappointed that she wouldn't learn his secret today. That he would share more of his life with her soon enough made her smile gently in resignation, though. "That sounds lovely, Coye. Whenever you're ready to talk, I'll be there for you. For..." there was a momentary pause. At that moment, Shayla noticed a dark thought creeping up the forefront of Dorothy's mind, which was quickly dismissed. "Well, for as long as I can be."

Coye wasn't sure if he had missed something. He couldn't tell what was going on, not to Shayla's extent, but he was pretty sure her comment had another meaning to it that he couldn't parse. Shayla had the full of it and knew Coye wouldn't like it whenever he came up. She wanted to protect him and his sensitive emotions, so she stroked his scalp again as she did earlier in the day, suggesting, 'Hey, when are you gonna show her those cards, baby? I bet you'll score major points as soon as you whip those out!'

Coye had almost forgotten he'd brought them. Shayla was right, now was a good time to break them out. He took the bag he was wearing on his hip and unfastened its top, taking out the binder and turning to Dorothy. "Before I forget again, remember when I said I would show you my collection of RealMonster cards?"

"Of course I remember! I've only been waiting for this moment since you told me you started collecting them!" Dorothy tried and failed to hide her excitement. She ended up snatching his binder as soon as she could no longer hold back. Then, realizing how rude that must have been, she blushed and meekly used his binder to hide her face behind. "Er- sorry... I got a little ahead of myself. I didn't mean to just rip it out of your hand like that. I just... well, I don't have any friends I can talk to about this hobby, so..."

She really was excited about this, wasn't she? It made Coye happy to see her so enthusiastic, so he took the chance to tease her. "Go on, then. What are you waiting for? Did you want my written permission or something?"

Dorothy was taken aback by the tease, pulling out a rarely seen pouty expression where she puffed out her plump lips and frowned. "I feel like I'm learning so much about you these days, Coye. For instance, I never knew you could be so mean."

"I don't have to be mean..." Coye's voice trailed off, taking a turn for the seductive. He innocently narrowed his eyes at her, continuing, "I can play nice if that's really what you want. Up to you."

Cue the continual sweat. "Ah... ahaha..." Dorothy didn't know what she was in for, not in the slightest. She wasn't used to getting teased, and she deflected it by opening up his binder and peering through his cards. Coye was amused to see her acting as if he had said nothing.

'Geez. She can't stand up against even the tiniest bit of teasing, can she...?' Shayla observed, rubbing her chin.

'Isn't it great?'

'It is pretty fun, I'll give you that...' Shayla admittedly found entertainment in the playful way Coye was getting used to messing with Dorothy. In no time at all, he'd be a master at this. A scary thought.

Looking through Coye's collection didn't take Dorothy very long. He only had a couple of full pages by now, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth the effort. There were so many different types of RealMonster cards in circulation that Coye had a fair few she'd never seen before, on top of having a few shiny cards that she didn't.

"No way, you have a Salt Golem...?" Dorothy marveled as her finger pointed against the card in question.

"Oh, that thing? Yeah, why? Is it anything special? I got it from my first pack, actually."

"Really? Wow. You have no idea how lucky you are. That one is really sought after right now. According to the latest issue of Wizards of the Workshop's Draw Five magazine, it's vital in several current meta decks. On top of having really nice bulk and attack, it has the [Absorbtion] keyword, meaning that any water monsters-"

Dorothy's eyes went wide. Something was on her thigh. No, not something. She wasn't kidding herself. It was Coye's hand.

She gulped, raising the binder over her face to poorly hide the fact that she was now looking at the source of the disturbance just to be safe. Sure enough, Coye was idly resting his hand on her stocking-covered thigh as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. As if it was his and his alone.

Dorothy was on the verge of breaking down from overstimulation.

Where on earth was all of this coming from? All the flirting, the forwardness with locking her door and sitting on the couch with her, and now this...? It was too much. Definitely, definitely too much... or maybe it would've been if Dorothy wasn't as into it as Coye was. She peeked over the binder, catching a glimpse of a casual smile playing on the boy's lips. He was a little redder in the face, suggesting that this act made him at least a little embarrassed.

With his hand positioned where it was, Dorothy had to struggle not to think about the fantasies she had the other day. She bit her lip. Sweat poured down her brow. Coye wasn't doing this to intentionally act lewd, was he? No, that couldn't be the case. This was just... a bit of casual intimacy. Yeah. Surely he didn't mean anything by it. It was only weird for Dorothy because she'd never had any sort of casual intimacy in her life.

Coye wasn't making a big deal out of it, so neither would she.

"You were saying?"

"What?" Dorothy blinked.

"About the Salt Golem."

"Oh, yes, well... Salt Golems are a naturally occurring phenomenon found within the Lillance province, specifically in its most prominent dungeon, the Palace of the Old Salt Lord. Of course, any seasoned golemancer could construct one for themselves, but within the palace's confines, these creatures seemingly form entirely of their own-"

"Dorothy, I wasn't asking for a lore dump. I'm talking about the card." Coye held back a laugh, grinning at her as he took his hand off her thigh and pointed at the card in the binder.

"Oh. Uh. Being on the opposite row from a water monster makes it more powerful... ahaha... like I said, you should feel lucky. Those are going for a few hundred gold right now."

"Well," Coye teased, placing his hand back down on Dorothy's meaty thigh. "I certainly feel lucky."

"Ah... um... ahahaha... yes, well..." Dorothy gave up and froze on the spot.

'Are you trying to give her another heart attack, baby? It's cute as this is, you're pushing your luck here...'

'I guess you're probably right,' Coye admitted with an internal sigh and sadly took his hand away from Dorothy. She felt relieved yet saddened at the same time upon its sudden and unexpected absence.

Some of her faculties returned to her, enough for her to close the binder and hand it back to Coye. As she did, for some reason, this was when she realized that things were so fundamentally different about their relationship now that there was likely no going back. All it took was his hand on her thigh to make her understand that, but in all fairness, it happened so quickly. It was as if she blinked, and things were suddenly like this. If Dorothy allowed herself to get swept up in Coye's pace, who knows where things would lead and how fast they would lead there?

The strangest part was that Dorothy didn't think she would mind finding out despite her conflicted emotions. Openly admitting it would be a different matter, however. For the moment, she was content to see what Coye's plans were.

"So, um... now that you've shown me your collection, were you planning to leave anytime soon?" She asked.

"Why, did you want me to?"

"No!" Dorothy blurted out with not a hint of hesitation to be found. For once, she decided to own it instead of getting embarrassed. "Not in the slightest, Coye. You're welcome to, um, hang out with me for as long as you like... It's not like I have anything else to do today. It's just that I worry we might have run out of things to talk about as of the other day, ahaha..."

"That sort of thing happens when you talk to someone for seven hours straight," Coye laughed.

"Well... we could do something else instead of talking, you know...?" Dorothy looked away. She was twiddling her thumbs again, blush coloring her cheeks. "Something I've always dreamed about doing but never actually got the chance. It's not something I can do alone, after all..."

Shayla was on the edge of her seat. Things just took a turn that she wasn't expecting to come about anytime soon. Who knew Dorothy had it in her to be so brazen?

Wherever this led, Coye was all for it. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, it's nothing important or anything, I just..." Dorothy adjusted her glasses and peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "You've never actually, um, played RealMonster, have you? Like, the actual card game itself?"

Shayla felt dumb for even entertaining the possibility that this nerd had the balls to make sexual insinuations. Even so, Dorothy's childlike innocence was amusing enough for Shayla to forgive her for getting her hopes up. Bit by bit, Shayla kept getting little glimpses of what Coye saw in Dorothy. The guilt she felt over her pixie pettiness blinding her to Dorothy's charms wasn't small, but Shayla was glad to be moving past it.

"I can't say I have," Coye smiled at her casually.

"Oh, really? Me either!" Dorothy couldn't hold back her excitement. She balled her fists and shook them excitedly in front of her chest.

"I know. You already said that." Coye laughed at Dorothy's hopelessness.

Dorothy started to sweat when she realized she was acting like a total dork. Then, after adjusting her glasses to keep them from falling off her nose, she started stammering. "I... ah... well, that's not important, ahaha. Do you, um... maybe want to learn how to play with me?"

"Dorothy," Coye was not above appreciating her ill phrasing, telling her as dryly as a desert, "I would love to learn how to play with you."