Coye 5.3

Chapter 3 - Coye’s Week 2 - Smoking Sexy Style

One passionate night of strengthening their magical bond later, Coye and Shayla were heading to the Guild the following morning. Today, he brought along with him something special. Not as special as the sexually exhausted Pixie laying across his scalp, but noteworthy nonetheless.

Dorothy had been all out of sorts lately, and it seemed likely to him that it might be his fault. Coye couldn't live with himself if that were the case, so he thought today might be a good time to try and bridge the gap, hopefully returning them to their status quo. Coye planned to accomplish this by showing her the binder full of trading cards he'd tucked beneath his arm.

Coye had already promised he'd show Dorothy his collection, but the way she'd been acting gave him few opportunities to do so. Rather than waiting for the perfect chance, he decided he'd take it upon himself to make one. Coye was optimistic as he opened the front door, his hopes only increasing when he saw not only Tammy but Dorothy herself sitting at the reception desk.

"Sup, Killer?" Tammy greeted him with a nod of her head.

"Hey, Tammy. Not much." He casually waved at her, a far cry from how he used to avoid having anything to do with the quirky redhead. Then, he turned to face his goal. "How are you doing today, Dor-"

"H-Hi, Coye..." Dorothy cut him off though she didn't mean to, blurting it out. Coye was just happy she greeted him without running or hiding, which seemed an indication of progress. It would've been more impressive if she could look in his general direction, but it was a start. "How are you doing today? Ready to, um... g-get back out there and do your thing?"

Shayla could tell that Dorothy was struggling to speak to him, but at least the painful negative aura around the Guild Mistress had eased up somewhat. That, or Shayla was just getting used to it. She hoped that was the case, as thinking back to Dorothy's condition the day of Coye's appointment was enough to make her tiny head sear with pain.

"Yeah," Coye smiled ear to ear as he leaned against the counter and placed his binder on the surface. "I was gonna pick up a quest, but first, I was wondering if you had time to check out my card collection like we talked about the other day?"

A spark of interest lit up Dorothy's eyes. Putting aside her hesitation over being around Coye while she still felt vulnerable and emotional around him, this proved as rich a temptation as any. There were so many RealMonster cards out there, hundreds upon hundreds which she'd never seen! If there was a chance Coye had even one or two new ones outside her own collection, it would certainly brighten up her day.

"Oh, I'd... almost forgotten about that... ahaha... that... m-might be fun?"

"It's still not that impressive, but... yeah. Maybe we could go to your office for a second and-"

All of Dorothy's excitement was replaced by fear, causing her to freeze on the spot. Coye had been in her office countless times. On paper, it shouldn't have been a big deal. Yet, her office was... private. Her own stuffy little sanctuary. Letting him inside now of all times would be downright improper, wouldn't it?

It wouldn't, but that was how Dorothy saw things in her delusional state.

Like an untied knot, Dorothy's progress was unraveled, and she suddenly couldn't bear to be in the same room as Coye. She stood, making an exaggerated gasping noise like she'd just recalled something before shutting herself off in the records room again.

"I'm sorry, Coye, I just remembered I... I have something to do back here, um... yeah."

"Again?" The boy frowned.

"Y-Yes. Again. Why don't you go on your quest first, and, um... m-maybe we'll see if I have time to look over your collection later?"

'Fucking Gods, this is getting old...' Shayla groaned at the resurgence of pain she experienced from sensing Dorothy's emotional whiplash. She already wasn't the Guild Mistress's biggest fan, and the fact that she was developing a migraine every time Dorothy was around certainly wasn't about to start endearing her to Shayla. 'How long is gonna take this check to sort her shit out already?!'

Coye wasn't sure. He'd started the day in high spirits but felt worse now that his attempt to bridge the gap had backfired. Tammy saw the poor little guy and couldn't help but try to relieve some of his worries.

"Try not to hold things against her right now," Tammy said soft enough that Dorothy couldn't hear her. "The boss is going through a lot of shit at the moment."

"Is any of it my fault?" He asked Tammy candidly, putting her on the spot. It was unfortunate that as much as she might've wanted to comfort him, she utterly lacked the social skills necessary to do it.

"That's not important," Tammy shrugged the question off, implying the answer was obviously a yes. "She got a letter from her parents yesterday that put her in a bad mood, and that's on top of everything else already going on around here, so... it's not like... all your fault?"

"Awesome," he nodded blankly.

Tammy sighed and nervously squeezed a small stress ball she carried in her palm. It wasn't for stress, just so she had something to do with her hands. She'd forgotten her little cube at home today but always kept something at the Guild for such an occasion.

"Look, I suck at this," Tammy conceded with a deep sigh. "Just go back on the grind and pick something out. Keep yourself busy with all that monster-killing and sex-having shit you do, and I'm sure this will all blow over in a week or two."

"You really think so?" Coye looked at her with an expression that dared to hope.

"One way to find out," Tammy exhaled. She wasn't reassuring, but the fact that she was trying served to slightly pick Coye up, if nothing else.

"Will do. Thanks again, Tammy."

Coye went to the lounge and then the quest board in front of Dorothy's office. There were still slim pickings like the day before, but Coye and Shayla noticed a stark difference. A trio of big posters meant to catch the eye of anyone passing by was pinned to the center. Interested by the display, Coye leaned in to discover a Silver-ranked urgent quest which he found more than a little ironic.

'No shit?' Shayla teased as he eyed the posters and took one from the board. 'That's perfect. Yesterday you had the warm-up, and today you'll get the real deal.'

"Don't let her catch you calling her anything but the real deal," Coye mumbled softly as a joke.

What Shayla was referring to was that for the appealing sum of 5,500G, Lord Harwell, a lesser nobleman pledged to the Cransmere's Baron, requested the slaying of a particular beast that caused him a headache yesterday. A retinue of his household knights was training west of Cransmere in a camp they'd established when out sauntered a Lycanbeast from the woods.

A high-ranking C-tier monster, Lycanbeasts were mindless variations of your typical lycanthrope. In other words, they were what happened when a Werewolf succumbed so profoundly to their curse that they lost any sense of lingering humanity left in them, robbed of the ability to ever change back. Their sadness and unending rage caused these unfortunate souls to further mutate, becoming as big and powerful as they were tragic and devoid of hope.

Worst of all, they still desired to return to humanity on a subconscious level, leading to them seeking out people, which only ever ended in disaster. This particular Lycanbeast killed four horses and two unarmed knights, grievously injuring three more who tried fighting it off before it fled the area.

Yesterday, Coye battled a girl who believed herself to be a wolf. Now, he would put down a wolf who thought itself to be a man. It was all too perfect. The only downside was that there were multiple quest posters, and on closer inspection, it seemed that someone else had already taken one. Typically, Coye would never accept a quest someone was already dispatched on. It wasn't ever worth the hassle, but he found the coincidence too juicy to pass up just this once.

He brought it to the front desk and showed it to Tammy, who dredged up the effort required to take a few notes. He then asked, "Any idea if there's anyone else already on this quest, by the way? I that there was a poster missing, so..."

"I wouldn't know," Tammy stated the obvious and then looked to the records room. "Boss, did you send anyone out on the Lycanbeast quest yet?"

"Oh, um," Dorothy stuttered from the other room, straining her short-term memory for an answer. It failed to summon one. The only thing on her mind was how Coye was on the other side of the door, likely staring straight at her. "I-I don't believe so, no, but... I might be wrong about that. A bunch of people set off on quests this morning, so I, um, might've... forgotten... ahaha..."

'Cool, it's not like it's her job or anything to keep notes on that shit,' Shayla rolled her eyes. Then, she remembered she was supposed to be trying to act nicer regarding Dorothy. 'I guess it's not her fault if she's having a rough morning, though...'

Coye didn't think Dorothy sounded very convinced, but it wasn't that big of a deal. "Alright, thanks anyway," he frowned, nodded goodbye to Tammy, and turned to the door to exit. Before he could, he was surprised by the sound of Dorothy cracking the door enough for her to poke her head out.

"H-Hey, Coye? I know you probably don't need me to tell you this, but, um... make sure you coat your sword with silver oil if you want to make quick work of it. Okay?" For this quick advice, Dorothy managed to fight against her nerves and look directly at him as she spoke. It went a long way toward cheering Coye up, the boy smiling at her sudden appearance.

"That's the plan," he gave his boss a casual thumbs up. "Thanks though, Doro-" the door was shut before Coye finished speaking. "...thy."

Tammy scrounged up another shrug to give him on his way out, Shayla patting his head behind the scenes. It wasn't until after Coye left that realization struck the Guild Mistress. "Wait a second," she said, rejoining her employee. "I did send someone else after the Lycanbeast already... Gods, I'm stupid..."

"Do you think it's going to be a problem?" Tammy raised an eyebrow, mildly curious.

"Probably not," Dorothy said, yet still she hung her head in shame. "I still feel bad about it, though... I should be better than this. No, I will be better than this!"

Tammy remained a skeptic.

After dropping off his cards at home and coating his blade with silver oil, Coye made the journey west, following the instructions on the poster to take him to the ruins of the hastily abandoned encampment established by Lord Harwell's knights. A wooden fence was erected around its border, a measure of self-defense that meant nothing to a monster as big as a Lycanbeast, who could easily jump over it. Byng used a similar, less polished-looking fence for her camp, but she supplemented it with many traps. These men weren't nearly as prepared as they should've been.

Coye entered through the still-opened gate, inspecting the campsite for himself. It wasn't pretty. Shayla, who was flying around openly now that there was no one to hide from, scrunched her nose at what they saw.

"Fuck, that's nasty," she gagged. "What a shitty way to go."

Coye couldn't help but agree. The Lycanbeast enjoyed its prey once everyone else had fled. The four horses it killed were scattered throughout the camp in bits and pieces, suggesting the monster ate them haphazardly and with reckless abandon. The two dead knights suffered the same fate. Coye wasn't bothered by seeing shocking displays of gore. That was just part of the job, but even so. The aftermath of this particular incident was especially brutal, and he felt for the victims.

The horses and knights were far from the only thing the Lycanbeast had ravaged. The entire camp was torn apart. Crates upon crates of provisions were cracked open, their contents stinking from exposure to the harsh summer sun. It looked like they were planning on staying here longer than they ended up doing.

Coye's inspection led him to discover tracks and loose clumps of bloody fur heading southwest. There was a large indentation on the ground where the monster jumped and exited camp, leading to some hills off in the distance and beyond them, the Gnarled Woods. Together, they made for the hills until their destination made itself apparent.

The pair of partners heard the pained howling of what sounded like a wolf but was much too bellowing. They looked at each other, sharing a nod of understanding before Shayla flew onto Coye's pauldron and held tight so he could dash off full speed without leaving her behind. The howling was getting closer, coinciding with the increasing pain in the Pixie's poor tummy. When the monster was only a few hills away, Coye paused his approach, tilting his head to confirm what he thought he had heard.

"Fucking- GURK- warn me next time you're gonna brake like that!" Shayla's stomach lurched at his sudden stop. "What the heck was that about, anyway?!"

"Listen," Coye shushed her. "Someone's already here."

Shayla heard it, too. The sounds of combat were mixed in with the Lycanbeast's howling and the occasional comment or grunt coming from a smooth, feminine voice.

"Ugh. I knew Dorothy was full of it. What do we do? Start heading back so we can pick up a different quest, or-"

Coye lifted up his hat, implying she should make herself scarce. "We need to at least make sure that whoever's fighting the target has it covered. The last thing we want is to head home and find out someone died because we didn't help out."

"Right, right," Shayla nodded and entered her hiding spot. "That makes sense. Lead the way, big guy."

Coye did so, crossing the last few hills before arriving atop the one right before the ongoing battle. He kneeled there, looking down to find someone he wasn't expecting to encounter. The other adventurer assigned to this quest was Marlie, and far from needing his help, the stylish Half-Demoness seemed to have this all under lock and key.

She was dressed in her typical adventuring gear, but in her hands was a weapon Coye hadn't ever seen her with before. It was a long poleaxe with a large and prominent blade, more axe than pole. She held it tight with two hands, strafing around the prowling beast already riddled with minor wounds. The report said the knights didn't inflict any damage, meaning Marlie must've given it those injuries herself.

The monster was as huge and intimidating as he thought it would be, standing at a hulking ten feet tall. Its posture was low to the ground, almost identical to Coco's stride when looking for opportunities to lunge at him. Strangely, the mindless beast seemed small before the slim, dark-skinned girl who was barely half its height. Its tail was tucked between its legs, but it didn't dare flee. Fight or flight was irrelevant here. It was as if it knew there was no running away from her and resolved to try its hardest to rip and tear its way out of certain death.

In the blink of an eye, it crossed the distance between them, slashing at Marlie with claws the size of her forearms. She backstepped once, and Coye could've sworn she scoffed at it. No, he was sure she did because she followed up with a taunt.

"You keep trying that, but it doesn't ever work. Is it true what they say? Can you really not learn any new tricks?" Marlie asked in a teasing tone. "And to think I'm trying so hard to teach you..." she clicked her tongue and sarcastically shook her head.

Coye had never heard her speak like that and was shocked to see how chatty and playful Marlie could be. He kept quiet on the topic, but Shayla didn't.

'Is she... making lame jokes to herself when no one's watching?' The Pixie snorted. 'And to think I thought she was the cool one!'

With the Lycanbeast directly in front of her, Marlie struck the air with her weapon. There was a brief flash of green energy, followed by a slicing crescent moon wave emanating from the poleaxe, which shot out at the monster and sliced open its bicep while also knocking it about fifteen feet away. The wound wasn't deep, which seemed to disappoint her.

"Really?" She sighed. "I wasn't expecting much of you," Marlie looked at the weapon in her hands, not the foe before her. "But you've somehow managed to perform below those already low expectations. We're going to be having a talk about this later, mark my words."

'Uh...' Shayla was at a loss. Far from being the cool one, Marlie was starting to look lamer by the second. It was like she was having a one-sided conversation with her weapon.

Before she could comment further, Marlie vanished the magical poleaxe. It dissipated into a wispy puff of embers, leaving only a shroud of black smoke behind.

"Your turn, now. Show me what you can do." She declared, summoning another weapon. This time, it took the form of an oversized gauntlet on her left hand. Compared to the dark and edgy one she typically wore on her right, this one looked like it would've better fit the fist of an Orc than hers.

"Don't worry, I know how this looks," Marlie spoke to her foe again, raising the gauntlet toward the Lycanbeast. "But I promise this isn't for fisting. Hell, I didn't even bring any lube." She then committed the most cardinal of sins- Marlie laughed at her own joke.

Like Shayla, the Lycanbeast did not share her sense of humor. It took another cue from Coco, launching toward Marlie in a blatant attempt to chomp down on the girl with its gigantic fangs. Far from deterred, Marlie performed a palm thrust with her the gauntlet, which started to shine with a bright, colorless light.

"Heel," she teased, the same light enveloping the Lycanbeast entirely and stopping it in its tracks. Then, Marlie tilted the gauntlet, which had a strange effect on the monster suspended in midair. The Lycanbeast was rotated in total synchronization with her hand. Whether Marlie twisted her wrist left, right, up, or down, her enemy was subject to her whims.

"Alright. You, my friend?" Marlie spoke, her burning violet eyes regarding the tool. "You pass with flying colors, at least as far as your powers go."

She made a fist with the gauntlet and pulled it toward her chest, launching the monster straight at her just as the bright light faded. This all lasted only a few seconds, but when the magic had worn out, Marlie crouched and delivered a leaping uppercut to the bottom of the Lycanbeast's jaw.

It snapped shut, crunchy pieces of yellowed fangs exploding off in every direction. Coye and Shayla both winced to see it. It was a devastating counterattack, which Coye had to appreciate as her peer. Shayla thought Marlie would've looked cool if she hadn't followed up by striking a dramatic pose and flicking her short, dusky red bangs. She took a single, equally dramatic step forward from that pose and leaned on one hip.

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted to go for a walk." She mockingly looked down at the whimpering Lycanbeast, whose now-bloodied paws cradled its broken muzzle. Her second weapon disappeared like the first, more embers and smoke bursting from her fist.

Outraged, the monster unleashed a flurry of quick claw swipes at Marlie. After a single flash of fire, she manifested a means of defense. Now she was wielding a silver trident with a polished purple shaft. Marlie met each attack with one of the prongs, using the monster's strength against it by redirecting the attacks, leaving it open for the girl to poke it full of holes.

Blood was trickling out of the Lycanbeast, each new wound threatening to burst it like a balloon. The harder it worked to end the life of its aggressor, the more bodily fluid it lost until the battle was as good as over. It was haggard and breathless, its vision blackening to oblivion.

Even now, it refused to give in. The tremendous wolfman did all it could to remain standing, moving one paw slowly in front of the other to try and swipe at Marlie one last time. "Sorry, Spot. You're too tuckered out to keep playing, but I suppose we can go for one last fetch if you insist."

Marlie leaped backward to avoid the latest pathetic slash coming her way, twirling her bloody trident like an elegant baton. It started glowing with energy, and its owner again addressed the crackling weapon.

"This is your chance to impress me," she said to the trident. "What? No. For the last time- I don't care if I picked you up out of the bargain bin. Stop doubting me. I know what you're capable of."

Shayla thought this chick was a lunatic, but for a second, Coye thought he felt a tiny thrum of power pulsing from Marlie's weapon. After twirling it again, she threw the trident and struck the finishing pose. It brightened like a bolt of lightning on its way to the enemy, but before it made contact, it vibrated, blinked rapidly, and split into three identical copies of itself. The highest of the three pierced straight through the wolf's skull, the second skewered its heart, while the last impaled its groin.

The Lycanbeast collapsed, and the additional copies of the trident broke down into fluttering particles of mana scattering in the wind. The real one remained lodged in its torso until Marlie strutted toward it, plucked the weapon out with her tail, tossed it into the air, and caught it like a dancer doing a routine.

The battle was over, and the Half-Demoness stood both triumphant and stylish.

"Better luck next time, pooch," Marlie regarded her fallen foe before turning her attention back to her trident. Though her face mask secured her expressions, her eyes seemed as if they were smiling. "And as for you, what did I tell you? This is what happens when you apply yourself. I knew you could make more than one copy. Hell, maybe we can get you up to three copies after a little bit of practice?"

She stopped smiling and gave the weapon a curious gaze "...Wait. What do you mean behind me?"

'Shit! Get out of here before she-' Shayla tried to warn him, but it was too late.

Marlie looked over her shoulder and noticed Coye peeking at her from over the hill. Silence ensued, and it was a long one. She stared, and Coye stared back. Finally, she turned away, dissipated her trident, and coolly brushed her hair from her face.

"You can come out now, Coye." She spoke in a relaxed and dismissive tone, suggesting this wasn't a big deal.

Shayla couldn't believe it. 'There is no fucking way she's going to try and pretend she knew you were here this whole time! Does she think you're that dumb?!'

Coye believed it was less Marlie thinking he was dumb and more that she was trying to save face. Still, he decided he would let that go because of how surprising and exciting it was to see this side of her.

"Hey, Marlie," Coye revealed himself and greeted her as casually as possible. He was still a little stiff, not having reached the level of familiarity he did with Tammy, but he was making an effort. "Sorry about that. I, um, didn't mean to spy on you or anything except-"

"Except that you did anyway?"

'Abort!' Shayla pulled at his hair. 'Abort, dammit!'

Coye ignored the stinging pain on his scalp and scratched the back of his head. "If that's how you look at it, I guess. It's just that I took the same quest you did, and after tracking the monster for a while, I ended up hearing the two of you duke it out."

"Hm," Marlie looked Coye up and down as he descended the hill, the exposed volcanic cracks on her cheeks, arms, and hips seeming to him like they were glowing a brighter shade of yellow and orange. "I noticed Dorothy was acting strange, but still. To think she'd send you out right after I told her I'd be taking this quest..."

"She's not doing so great," Coye admitted. "I'm a little worried about her, actually."

"I don't see how that's any of my business," Marlie shrugged her shoulders.

Unlike Britni and Tiph, Marlie was ambivalent regarding her Guild Mistress and had no strong opinions on Dorothy Whittle one way or the other. More importantly, she recognized exactly why Dorothy was doing so poorly. Dorothy wore the same look of confusion and longing Marlie had witnessed so many times on Britni's face, and she wanted nothing to do with it. Marlie only had it in her to care about so many people and wasn't about to subject herself to even more romantic bullshit.

"I don't mean to sound cold," Marlie stressed. "I just can't be asked to care about everyone I vaguely know."

"I understand," Coye nodded awkwardly, and the silence picked up again. He wanted to converse with her, but it didn't come as easy as it had with Coco.

Furthermore, Shayla was very consistent in her desire to prevent him from growing closer to the daughter of a mighty Demon Prince. She wouldn't stop him from chatting her up, but she wasn't about to feed him any ideas or offer up topics of conversation he could use on Marlie.

Much to her dismay, Coye thought of something on his own.

"So, um... those weapons you were using. They were really cool." It was a lame thing to say, but then again, Marlie was much lamer than Shayla initially gave her credit for. Her eyes flickered with momentary interest, but a distance remained between them.

"They were, were they?" Marlie looked away. "Thanks, I guess."

"I couldn't help hearing that you were-"

Her expression tensed as if anticipating what he was about to say. "Why are you doing this?" Marlie cut him off, pointing a clawed finger at Coye and then gesturing at herself. "Trying to chat me up, I mean. You've never done this before." She was very blunt with him, but Coye couldn't tell whether Marlie was amused or trying to dissuade him from talking to her.

"I'm doing it because I've never tried talking to you," Coye confessed.

"Alright, but what do you stand to gain from it?"

"That's the thing. I won't know until I try, you know? I'm not trying to get anything from you. It's just... we're both here, so... why not try my luck? I've been trying to take new chances lately, so I don't miss out on anything."

Good. This was going poorly, and Shayla was pleased to see their conversation going nowhere fast. It made sense that there had to be someone immune to his feminine yet boyish charms in this town, and the Pixie was glad to see it was Marlie. In reality, Shayla was just guessing. As a Half-Demon, Marlie's emotions were impossible for the Pixie to perceive. She took Marlie's quietness and blunt behavior as dismissive when if anything, the girl was still embarrassed she'd been caught testing her newest toys.

"So," Marlie cupped her chin and looked over her shoulder at the meek boy. "You're saying that you believe you might be missing out on something because you've never tried to get to know me, even though I've shown no interest in ever getting to know you."

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds sort of... strange," Coye thought aloud and tilted his head as if he was trying to figure out why he was talking to Marlie for himself. "But yeah. That's more or less what I'm trying to say." He gave Marlie some awkward laughs while Shayla celebrated his lack of social graces.

Without a word, Marlie went over to her fresh kill and harvested its left foot, depositing it in a fancy black leather pouch on the back of her belt. It must've been magic because the paw was much bigger than the pouch. Then, Marlie walked past the boy and sat down on the grassy hill overlooking her slain target. She unfastened a badass canteen with a skull motif from her belt and then inserted a straw, taking a long and thirsty sip. Coye just stared at Marlie, unsure what was going on, until she pointed at the ground couple of feet away.

"Well? I'm not sure what you expect from this, but I'm bored enough to hang with you and give it a shot just this once."

"Sounds good," Coye smiled at the chance provided and sat down a respectable distance from Marlie. "You owe me for all the beers I've bought you, anyway."

"Pretty sweet deal," she gave him a dry laugh, feeling a little impressed that Coye would try teasing her over that. "Free piss water for a year, and all you want in return is to sit around and chat? I'd have to be some sort of Demon to turn you down after that."

There it was. Coye smiled at Marlie, feeling the first flickering of a spark between them. This wasn't hopeless. Marlie wasn't as cold or as mean as she looked. On the contrary, she joked around just like any other person. Coye believed he could work with this.

Shayla wasn't too thrilled. She thought for sure his goofy ass had blown it, yet he'd somehow failed upwards. Marlie was intrigued by him on some level, which the Pixie couldn't believe was the case.

'Please, don't fuck this up or piss her off, baby...' Shayla grumbled to him and pulled at her hair. 'I'd rather you hand me off to an alchemist right now if it meant I didn't get tangled up in abyssal affairs!' She was exaggerating, but not by much.

Coye didn't plan on pissing Marlie off, but he supposed anything could happen and resolved not to do anything that would make the Half-Demoness mad. More than anything else, he was curious about getting to know Marlie. It wasn't like with Coco, where he knew he was attracted to her, so Coye wasn't planning on blatantly flirting with Marlie as he did with the mutt. His intentions were pure, which seemed a rarity these days.

Marlie surprised Coye by taking hold of the conversation and steering us somewhere uncomfortable right off the get-go. "Sorry about Britni," she sighed. "I'm not sure what to say, so I figured we might as well clear the elephant out of the room."

"Huh? Oh. Don't worry about it. Nothing to be sorry about."

"I guess not that you're into it now, apparently," she shot him a sideways glance that sent a chill down his spine. Marlie seemed to find amusement in how he blushed upon remembering the last bullying session, but she kept it to herself. "But for future reference, I would recommend just not giving her the time of day. It'll be easier for her in the long run."

That struck Coye as strange. Shayla thought that Britni liked him, and given that Marlie was one of Britni's best friends, he didn't expect her to advocate he stay away from her. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"It's really not my place to talk about her problems," Marlie sighed. Coye felt like the Half-Demoness believed things would be much simpler if she could tell him whatever was going on with Britni. She seemed irritated and annoyed, but it wasn't aimed at him. "So let's just say she has issues and leave it at that."

"Don't we all?" Coye laughed softly. "It's really not that big a deal, though. A-And I don't just mean because I'm into it-"

"But you are."

His ears were steaming as he stared at the grass beneath his feet. "You saw the proof. It's... not like I can deny it."

"No, you definitely can't," another playful chuckle emanated from her mask. "Maybe if it was only a half chub, you would've had some wiggle room for plausible deniability, but that thing was-"

"C-Can we not talk about this, maybe?"

"Strange. And here I thought you had a humiliation fetish and that I was doing you a favor by rubbing your nose in it."

"I-I... don't think I'm into that?"

"He says in the least convincing way possible."

"I'll... get back to you when I know for sure, I guess..." Coye admitted his defeat through a couple of awkward laughs. His face was reduced to a blushing mess aside from the smile Marlie was bringing out of him.

As much as it pained Shayla to admit it, she had to concede that not only did the two have chemistry, but she was actually starting to like the Half-Demoness. Marlie was chill, sarcastic, and unafraid of busting Coye's balls. She acted pretty lame when no one was looking, and there was also the creepy talking to her weapons thing, not to mention her father. Still, Shayla was picking up what Marlie was throwing down.

"Well, since we're getting to know each other..." Marlie left the sentence to linger in the air for a moment, creating a sense of intrigue that put Coye on the edge of his seat. "I've got something of a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Marlie leaned in close suddenly, almost enough to kiss him if it weren't for her mask. "You're afraid of Demons, aren't you?"

"Gah!" Coye flinched from her proximity, losing his breath when he caught sight of her intense, slitted purple eyes and their bottomless black sclera inches from his own. He started to blush even further than he already was, but now it was from shame and fear. "I... I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to-"

"Chill. I can tell this isn't a race thing. You wouldn't be here trying to get to know me if it was. Just wondering why you always freak out a little bit whenever I'm near. That's all."

"Damn it," Coye mumbled. He was so embarrassed with himself, and their conversation was going well. More than his embarrassment was the guilt he felt over instinctively reacting like that to Marlie's face. He rationed that the only way to make up for it was to tell the truth. "It's... kind of a long story, but back where I grew up, I had this bully-"

"A Demon bully?"

"Y-Yeah. She was a Succubus, but you both have similar eyes, tails, and claws, so-"

"We do, do we? Interesting. In other words, you're saying we all look alike?"

"T-That's..." Coye almost bit his tongue. He fell for the same trick Byng used on Suzette and felt just as dumb for walking right into it.

Shayla snorted to herself. She could call Coye as shallow as she wanted, but the truth was that Shayla was much the same. She liked anyone who could mess with that silly boy of hers half as well as Marlie could.

"Kidding. She must've been pretty bad if you were traumatized for life."

When he realized it was safe, Coye let out a relieved sigh and nodded his head. "Nothing Britni's ever done to me holds a candle to the stuff I went through when I was a kid. That's partially why I've never tried to stop her all that hard. I've been through worse."

"Hm. I guess this is the part where I should apologize for not turning down all those free beers."

"You have to be sorry for something to apologize for it," Coye laughed.

"Saw straight through me, did you? Makes me wonder what use this stupid old thing is..." she tapped the rim of her mask, intentionally driving up his level of intrigue only to dash his hopes of learning the truth. "Before you ask, you don't want to know. Especially not if you're afraid of Demons."

'Damn,' Shayla silently snapped her fingers in frustration. 'I was really hoping to find out what's going on under there...'

"I'm gonna take your word for it," Coye laughed uncomfortably. He agreed with Shayla in that he was curious about what Marlie looked like under her mask, but if it really wasn't just a fashion statement and she was indeed hiding something horrifyingly beneath, then Coye agreed now wasn't the best time to see it. "Thanks for not taking it personally, by the way. I'm not proud of it. Maybe I'll get more used to Demons if we-"

"Did this more often? Subtle. No promises that you're getting more than one shot at getting to know me, though. You should make the most of this."

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Coye smiled, a hint of embarrassment coloring his cheeks.

And then, the conversation died out. Marlie drank from her canteen, waiting for Coye to say something while Coye tried thinking of something to say. This was a challenge for him. All the other girls he'd recently gotten to know did most of the talking, but Marlie was quiet and soft-spoken- especially with people she barely knew.

Coye wouldn't let this wall stand before him for long. If she wanted him to make the most of this, the now was what he was going to do.

"So, that weapon swapping thing you did. That, um... that was really cool. Every time I see you, it seems like you're always messing around with a new sword or whatever. How many weapons do you even have?"

It was an innocent question, one Coye didn't know led straight to Marlie's heart. Her demonic eyes regarded him, the fire beneath her cracked skin raging. Marlie looked away into the distance, hoping to cool herself off. Excitement roiled her wicked blood at the prospect of droning on about her arsenal. Marlie didn't want to overwhelm him, but Coye did ask...

"Not as many as I used to," Marlie mumbled, her gauntleted finger fidgeting against her knee. "Right now, I think I have a little over two hundred. Might be lowballing it."

"Two hundred?" Coye blinked. "That's... a lot."

'And I thought you over-prepared for everything,' Shayla teased.

"It's not as big a deal as it sounds. I only use ten or so regularly, and the rest are really situational ones that I rarely break out unless the monster I'm up against requires something really specific. You know, like..." Marlie felt her blood heating up again- she was losing her internal battle to keep cool. She didn't want to embarrass herself, so she kept fidgeting and said, "Nevermind. I don't want to bore you with-"

"No, I totally get it!" Coye surprised her by unintentionally scooting closer, stars in his eyes upon recognizing he'd met a girl after his own heart. "I do the same thing. I have all these tools I bought from Dorothy, and so many are only useful in specific situations to the point where I hardly ever bring a tenth of my collection."

"...No shit?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "I'm a little jealous of that smoky thing you do. Is that some kind of summoning magic, or what? Wish I could call out my tools like that."

"It's... a little something passed down in the family. It's hard to explain, so... if it helps to think of it as summoning magic, then you can call it that." Marlie had moved on from fidgeting and was now bouncing her entire knee up and down against her control.

Shayla wasn't blind to what was going on. Marlie wanted to talk about her weapons- wanted an excuse to break the stoic image she presented of herself and geek out just like Dorothy did whenever she got started on her monsters. The only difference between the two was that compared to the Guild Mistress, Marlie had a much greater level of self-awareness and restraint. She was a tough nut to crack, but Coye was already well on his way to breaking that shell.

Maybe she should point it out to him and give him some advice? Not a lot, just a little. Enough for him to realize he needed to stay on the topic of her weapons if he wanted to- no, no. Shayla viciously shook her head and reminded herself that she would have no part of this.

"That must be really convenient," Coye marveled. "Is everything in your arsenal magic?"

"Mostly, yeah," she absentmindedly nodded and looked away. "I like it when my toys have lots of bells and whistles. Still, sometimes you can't go wrong with something a little simpler. Like a really fucking sharp sword or a spear that can really just get in there and fuck something up. You know?"

Coye was a little overwhelmed by how Marlie suddenly changed the more the conversation developed. She was starting to act friendlier, her body language becoming more pronounced as she emphasized her words with excessive hand gestures. Even an idiot like him knew he needed to keep moving ahead with the weapon talk.

"What about the ones you were just using, then? You should tell me about those."

"I... could do that, I guess. If you really got nothing better to do, I mean."

"Go for it. I really don't have anything else planned for-"

"Cool," Marlie's excitement got the better of her, and she interrupted Coye, summoning the poleaxe she was wielding at the start of her battle with the Lycanbeast. She handed it to Coye so he could inspect it. "Okay, so. This thing is called the Creslash Braxis- I'm not too big on the name, personally, but that's what it wants to be called. Won it off a drunken Dwarf a few weeks back at some shitty dive bar Britni dragged me to. Dumbass thought he could beat me at five-finger fillet, but his hairy ass had another thing coming. It's not bad. Not very strong, sure, but I've worked with worse. I don't see myself getting much use out of it, but I might mess around a few more times and see if I can eke any surprises from it."

"Wow, that's-" Coye honestly didn't hear half her story. She was talking too fast, and the passion with which Marlie spoke was making him blush. It reminded him of how he felt when listening to Suzette talk about her store, Byng's stories of Grurguhrohk, and, obviously, Dorothy and her monsters.

Before he could even ask for clarification, Marlie vanished the poleaxe and re-summoned the oversized gauntlet, then tossed it to him. Coye struggled to catch it. It was much heavier than it looked and already looked pretty damn heavy.

"That one right there tells me it's the Axis Fist. Better name than the last one, and a lot more useful. I could see myself having some fun with it here and there, but it doesn't really gel with my aesthetic. It sucks, but it happens. Sometimes you run into something that kicks some real ass but just doesn't vibe with you. There's nothing you can do about that besides maybe seeing an artificer, but that's whatever."

"Axis Fist, huh?" Coye tried to make it sound like he was keeping up, but the gauntlet was gone just as quick as it came, and Marlie's trident found its way into his hands before long.

"As for that baby, you're looking at the Repentant Repeater. The original name it had was way, way shittier- we're talking shittier than Creslash Braxis, here- but I managed to talk it into letting me pick a new one. It's pretty rare when they let you do that, but the poor thing doesn't have much confidence. Anyway, we stopped by this small village a week ago while we were on our quest. It was unremarkable except for the local mage who ran something like a pawnshop for assorted magical bullshit. They had some other interesting-looking weapons, but I found that one in the bargain bin. I knew something was up the moment I laid eyes on it. The sort of thing happens from time to time, usually when you got an amateur blacksmith with tons of heart and soul but no talent to back it up. Their passion can end up soaking into whatever they make, and you end up with magical weapons that look and feel like duds unless you're like me and you know what you're looking for. The mage didn't know what he had on his hands, and I walked away with something worth a lot more than I had paid. I don't know the upper limit on its power, but I'm looking forward to... testing... it... out?"

Coye's head was spinning. Marlie talked so fast and with such vigor that it overwhelmed him to the point where he started feeling dizzy, leaving him on the verge of tipping over. Shayla was having a rough go of things, but it was primarily irritating for her rather than disorienting.

Marlie stared at what she'd done in silence. Smoke billowed out of her cracks, a dark blush coloring the bits of her ebony cheeks exposed above her mask. She knew this was a bad idea. The girl looked away from Coye and cradled her temples, ashamed at the uncool side of herself she'd revealed to him of all fucking people.

"Fucking, fuck, fuck, fuck..." her velvety voice was hoarse with aggravation. Marlie ripped the trident out of Coye's hands and sent it back to wherever it came from as she stood up and started walking away. Then, realizing how bad it would look if she just left, she turned back to Coye and said, "This was stupid. Forget all this ever happened. I should really be heading back around now. I-"

"W-Wait, Wait!" Coye raised his hand at her, begging her to slow down. "Where are you going? I was having fun talking to you, Marlie."

She scoffed at that. "More like I was boring you to tears."

"Not at all!" Coye stressed. "You were just talking way, way too fast for me to follow along with! You know by now I'm not the smartest. You can't just speed through all that and expect me to keep up...!"

"Hang on a second. Are you... serious? You weren't bored?"

"No way," he smiled at her weakly. "I love listening to people talk about the things they're passionate about. I don't have much going on in comparison, so it always makes me feel a little less... empty, I guess."

Shayla comforted him, patting that empty head of his which was only filled with an increasing amount of perversions. 'It's okay, big guy. Just tell it like it is, and she'll understand.'

"So... what? Do you not want me to stop?" Marlie sounded like she couldn't believe it.

"I want you to try that again, but slower this time..." The boy laughed, grateful for his secret source of tiny headpats. "If you still want to, that is?"

Marlie stared and stared some more. This didn't feel right. She loved her friends, but even they couldn't handle her when she was like this. How long had it been since she could speak so candidly with someone who wasn't her parents, if ever?

She sat back down, this time at a further distance from Coye. Marlie sighed and refused to look at him, staring straight ahead. "Of course I want to, but now I feel stupid. There's no way I can just... try that again and not feel like an idiot."

"What's so wrong with being an idiot?" He innocently tilted his head and gave her a playful smile. "You don't have to try and be so cool all the time."

Marlie remained silent for a moment before looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "You think I have to try to be cool?"

"Nah, you're still pretty cool," Coye admitted. "But you'd be much cooler if you gave it another shot. You might not get another chance with me, so you should make the most of this."

She looked at him, stunned, but Shayla noticed that her tricky little man habitually used other people's words against them. At least Shayla felt content knowing she wasn't the only target of his occasionally cunning reversals. The Pixie was a little proud of him, honestly. She never expected to see such a dumbfounded look on that Half-Demoness's face, yet there it was.

"I'm starting to think I had the wrong idea about you, Coye," Marlie was forced to admit. "If you'll really let me try all that again, well... I already said I didn't have anything better to do today, didn't I?"

Marlie gave it another go. This time, her ranting was dramatically slowed down. It was an actual conversation this time. Coye could get her to pause now and then, articulate her thoughts better, and even answer a few of his questions. He found the topic much more entertaining and fulfilling now that he could make heads or tails of it. Marlie seemed happier, too. She wasn't as emotive and passionate, no doubt because she was trying to rein herself in. Still, the difference in behavior between Marlie at the start of their conversation and Marlie then was staggering.

She didn't just love weapons. They were her life- her everything. Marlie talked about them like they were people with their own thoughts and desires, and as odd as that struck Coye and especially Shayla, it was equally as endearing. He always had the impression that Marlie was a serious person who never said more than a few words of time, but this entire interaction threw that preconception out the window.

When Marlie finished recounting all the information she sped through, the conversation naturally evolved from there, and Coye asked something that had been on his mind since she brought it up.

"You said you used to have a lot more weapons, right? What happened to all of them?"

"A couple of years back, I moved out of my dad's place, and he sealed away all of the fancy toys he'd given me over the years. He said it would do me some good if I made my own arsenal, but he's just petty that I didn't choose to stay with him." She laughed at her observation, the memory of her father appearing to give her momentary warmth and comfort. "He's given me back a few of my favorites here and there if I earn them. I'll have all the ones that matter back eventually. It mostly comes down to whether or not I find anything he'd be willing to trade me for."

Shayla grew uncomfortable now that the topic had finally shifted to involve Marlie's mysterious father, who terrified the Pixie to her core. She grew up in a forest tainted by demonic energy, and stray Demons were not uncommon in the Gnarled Woods. Usually, these were worshipers of the fallen Demon Lord of Arrark's past, Thalrad, or those who came seeking vestiges of his power. Even so, her people had a decent knowledge of the comings and goings of those who hailed from the Endless Hells. Stories of powerful Demon Princes and Princesses and their wicked deeds were just another of the many ways older Pixies loved scaring the younger generation, to the point where even as an adult, Shayla didn't want to fuck with any of that.

In contrast, Coye was much more interested. He tried asking subtly, but it wasn't a topic one could broach casually. "So, you used to live with your dad? Um... down there?"

"Yup," she confirmed. "Spent a good nine years in the Endless Hells. I love it down there, but I like it up here just the same." Marlie brushed aside her fond recollections long enough to notice that Coye obviously wanted to ask about her family but was having trouble doing so.

Guess he already knew, then. It wasn't like it was a secret. Word got around. She saw no harm in telling the truth, so Marlie decided to save him the effort.

"Did you want to know more about my dad, or what?"

"W-What? No, I... I just heard a thing or two about your family and, well-"

"I'd respect you more if you'd just own up to it. It's not as big a deal as you might think."

"Okay," Coye sighed. "Fine. Is your father really a Demon Prince?"

"That's what they tell me. Argored of the Abyssal Armory," she nodded casually. "If the name means anything to you."

It didn't. Coye was anything but an expert on demonology, but the name just about doubled the intensity of Shayla's fear. 'Oh, are you fucking kidding me?! Why didn't I notice sooner...?' She whined and slapped her forehead, figuring her growing interest in Marlie blinded her to the obvious red flags. 'Out of all the possible Demon daddies this chick could've had, it had to be the fucking Infernal Collector? The Dread Dealer of Arms? The one who lives in a gigantic gods-damned castle made out of swords, suffering, and molten steel? They say Argored is so powerful and cruel that all of the other Princes or Princesses suck up to him and avoid getting on his bad side!'

Interesting. Coye silently thanked the convenient exposition Fairy, then reconsidered his previous estimation on whether or not his dad could defeat Marlie's. He still leaned toward yes, but it wasn't as clear-cut as it used to be. Then, he casually used Shayla's info dump to his advantage.

"The infernal Collector? Whoa. That explains a lot." He remarked with an empty head.

"More or less," Marlie didn't find the topic that notable herself, but she found herself intrigued by his reaction. "You're not freaked out knowing one of the most powerful Demon Princes in all the Endless Hells is my dad?"

"Should I be?" It was a genuine question.

There were moments of silent contemplation before Marlie answered with a hint of amusement, "Nah. He's more of a dork than anything else."

'Did... did she just call Argored of the Abyssal Armory a dork?!' Shayla was so thoroughly lost now that she had no idea what was happening.

"Cool," Coye smiled and pressed on. "So the weapons fixation is a family thing, then?"

Marlie started to fidget again, but it subsided when she reassured herself that Coye wanted to hear her talk. "You could say that. Demons have different innate forms of magic that other races can't copy. It gets passed down by blood, and I inherited many of my dad's powers and interests."

"Hey, um... do these powers have anything to do with the way you talk about your weapons as if they're alive?"

There was another long pause, her eyes narrowing in consideration. "I've already told you a lot about myself today. A girl can't just reveal all her secrets, can she?"

"If you say so," the boy laughed.

"Let's just say it's a quirk I got from my dad and leave it at that. I picked up all kinds of nasty habits from having his blood in my veins, and they've gotten me in all sorts of trouble. Whenever I see a weapon I want, I have to have it..."

"You mean like my sword?" Coye was doubly worried over the answer when her gaze rested upon the hilt peeking out over his shoulder.

"Yes," she admitted. "I already told you what'd happen if you don't good care of it, and today hasn't changed my mind. You wouldn't be the first person whose weapon I've stolen, and you wouldn't be the last." Marlie's smooth voice took on a menacing quality as she spoke in a low whisper and glared at him with her burning eyes.

Coye gulped, his fear resurfacing. He was absolutely sure Marlie wasn't joking. Then again, he couldn't see the tiny smile hidden beneath her mask.

Searching desperately for a response, Coye tried his hand at levity. "You'd have to fight me for it, and I don't go down easy," the boy awkwardly laughed.

"Would I?" She cocked her head ever so slightly. "It seems like I could just walk up and take it."

"Ahaha, yeah, I'd... um... like to see you-"

Marlie closed the distance between them, sitting up and getting in his face. Coye froze like a lake in the harshest of winters, her threatening glare not leaving his face for even a second as she snaked her arm around him and drew his sword in one fell motion. She mockingly patted the blade's broadside against her palm several times, an amused humming noise emanating from her mask.

"You were saying?" Marlie teased in a soft, sinful, downright sensual tone. At that moment, she brimmed with power and authority. Her piercing eyes shot straight through him to see into his soul. Coye was naked before her, and he couldn't move an inch.

He was like a kid again, only...

The Half-Demoness had her fun, slinking his sword back into its sheath and standing up. She patted down her pants and her long, flowing cape skirt to remove all the grass built up, then walked a few steps away, undoing Coye's psychological paralysis.

He was on the verge of bumbling a few words, but Marlie cut him off. "I'll be the first to admit that this was pretty fun, but you made a crucial mistake somewhere along the way."

"I-I, um, I'm... not sure what you mean?"

"Sure you do. You started believing I wasn't so bad, and now you know better."

Shayla gulped, but it wasn't out of fear for Marlie or her dad. It was from what she felt coming from Coye.

"I'm gonna take off now. I'll see you-"

As Marlie started to walk away, Coye got on his knees and reached out a hand. "Wait, Marlie! D-Do you, um... think we could hang out like this again some other time?"

His voice was desperate. Pathetic, even. That funny little masochist was red-faced and breathing heavily. Hell, he was downright trembling. So why did Marlie find it so amusing?

She was almost tempted to say yes, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Marlie enjoyed talking about her passions but was well aware of what would happen if this was anything but a one-time occurrence. What it would do to Britni if one of her only friends started frequently hanging out with her obsessive crush.

Trading all her friends for a single boy that liked listening to her rant about magical weapons wasn't a wise tradeoff, even if Marlie doubted she'd find someone like him ever again.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea," she shook her head, experiencing the strangest stirring in her heart when she saw the disappointment on Coye's face.

Shayla was happy at the news but already knew Coye planned to contest it. "Is this about Britni again?" He asked.

"Could be," Marlie shrugged, black smoke enveloping her body. "Might just be I don't see the hype and think you aren't as cute as everyone else does. Who's to say?"

And just like that, the shroud of smoke concealed her, and she was gone, leaving one conflicted and sexually confused femboy behind. Coye stared idly at the area Marlie had stood only seconds before, feeling like she'd taken a piece of him with her.

Shayla was not having it.

She flew out of the hat, crossed her arms, and looked him straight in the face. "No," the Pixie stressed firmly.

"Yes," Coye plopped back on the ground, smiling like an idiot.

"I don't approve."

"You make bad decisions all the time," he pointed out. "It wouldn't be fair if you didn't let me make some of my own."

"Fair doesn't factor into it, baby! Her dad isn't just a Demon Prince. He's one of THE Demon Princes. The upper class of the upper class! The kind who could make a decent attempt at becoming the next Demon Lord if they really wanted to!"

"Marlie said he was a dork, though."

Shayla made a frazzled expression. It was possible her dad really wasn't that big of a concern. Maybe he was like Marlie and just put on airs to look cool when in reality, he was just some nerd who made lame jokes and struck dumb poses when no one was looking? Yeah, right.

"It's not a position someone can just stumble into. Demon Princes are tyrannical overlords who each rule a slice of the Endless Hells. The only thing keeping them from ending Karnalle is that they're literally too strong to be summoned! You'd need to sacrifice more humans than the Realm has just to manifest one of their ass cheeks, Coye. Their ass cheeks!" Again a slight over-exaggeration, but again, not by much.

"You're a 'good' Pixie. Why don't you think there can be a 'good' Demon Prince?" He tilted his head.

"Are you seriously crushing on her so hard that you're willing to skip over the 'tyrannical overlord' thing, or what?"

"Maybe," Coye blushed and twiddled his thumbs.

Shayla hated to see it, but he was damned cute when he got like this. During their conversation, she sensed the exact moment where Coye's fear of Demons morphed into fearousal.

"She's so cool," he whispered dreamily like a lovestruck girl in her early teens. "The way she fights, those poses she struck-"

"Wait, you thought those were cool?" Shayla raised an eyebrow and then shook her head, gesturing for him to continue.

"And then I got to learn so much about her, and she ended up being so different than I thought she was. I wasn't even trying to impress Marlie or hit on her or anything-"

"Unlike with Coco."

"Y-Yes," Coye admitted, his voice becoming desperate. "I really just wanted to get to know her- honest! I didn't mean to get a crush on her, Shayla, I just-"

The Pixie sighed. She couldn't do it. Relaxing her standoffish posture, Shayla flew to his shoulder and perched. "I'm not mad at you because you got a crush. That happens, especially if you're really becoming more like a Pixie. I told you before how we feel emotions so much stronger than other beings, and... if I'm being straight with you, I fell for you pretty much the exact same way and just as fast."

"Wait, really?" Coye looked at her in wonderment.

"Yes," Shayla blushed profusely but remained mature. She had to, for his sake. "But you'll need to learn sooner or later that you can't chase after every girl who makes your heart flutter. It's cool that you're trying to get to know your bullies. It shows you're trying to grow up and act more mature. Hell, I'd even support you if you went for... okay, so maybe Coco is the only one with my stamp of approval if it weren't for the whole 'already being in a committed relationship' thing, but yeah. I'm rambling at this point, but do you understand what I'm getting at with all this?"

"You want me to show a little more self-restraint," he frowned.

"You got it, baby."

"It's tough to do that when I have all these weird new feelings I've never had to process, though..."

"I'm not saying something can't happen with them eventually," Shayla conceded at the risk of sounding like she might approve of hitting on Marlie down the line. "I just want you to try and detach yourself from the intense shit you feel when you first develop a crush and just... do what I did."

"You... want me to stalk Marlie?"

"Very funny," she shrugged and rolled her eyes. "But actually, no. You know what? Let's roll with that. Maybe I am telling you to stalk Marlie. At least by putting distance between you and your feelings, observing what happens in future interactions with her, and not pressing things. Do you think you could do that, baby? It's just another way of taking things one day at a time."

Coye really had to think about it for a while, but he reached a conclusion with a nod. "Yeah, I think I can try. I won't push my luck with Coco, Marlie, Britni, or Tiph-"

"You better fucking not push your luck with Tiph, you little shit!" Shayla dropped her comforting older sister routine to remind the boy of her opinion on that drugged-up floozy.

"Sorry," Coye laughed. "Just covering all the bases."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, then noticed Coye still had a somewhat troubled expression. "Something wrong, baby?"

"I'm just worried..."

"About what?"

"What if I mess up and can't control myself? Or worse, what would happen if it's not just a crush and my feelings for Coco and Marlie keep developing? You're not going to be mad at me, are-"

"Of course not!" Shayla raised her voice and snapped at him. "You dumbass! All I'm asking is for you to make an attempt. If you do manage to do that much and things still go tits up, I'm gonna be there for you, and we'll figure out what the hell we're gonna do about all these stupid bitches- together."

Coye was speechless. There were many times he'd caught himself thinking he didn't deserve Shayla, and this was certainly one such occasion. He was staring at her, staring so hard that it started to creep her out and make her nervous.

"What?" She finally asked after she couldn't take the pressure any longer. "You're freaking me out down here, so either tell me what's on your mind or-"

"I love you so much, Shayla," he smiled wholeheartedly.

Shayla clutched her heart, her radiant pink and blue eyes opening wide as the shock exploded throughout her tiny body and made her momentarily lose balance. She fell from his shoulder, seemingly forgetting how to use her wings. Coye caught her before she fell, but instead of thanking him, she quickly gave him some lip.

"W-Where the fuck did that come from?!" Shayla yelled. Even after hearing him say it repeatedly over the last couple of days, the L-word still hadn't lost any of its impact.

"Gee. It's almost like you just gave me a long-winded emotional support session that made me value and appreciate everything you do for me while reminding me how lucky I am to have you?"

"W-Whatever, I don't want to hear it," the frustrated Pixie folded her arms across her chest and flew away from his hand, fluttering down the hill. "In case you hadn't noticed, you got work to do!" She pointed at the wounded Lycanbeast corpse Marlie had left behind intact, aside from its left foot. "If you really love me so much... t-then stop rubbing it in, get down there, and strip that thing for parts! Improving that cabin isn't gonna pay for itself, you dummy!"

His growing infatuation with Marlie pushed to the back of his mind for the time being, Coye removed his ordoghite hunting knife and descended the hill, a wide grin spread across his adorable face. "Okay. But only because I really love you."