Coye Vol 3 Ch 4

The most important thing for Coye to do was pull himself off of Byng as fast as he could. He failed to do so, and the reason was obvious. It felt so good to be atop the green huntress, grinding his poor little hips away, that Coye desperately wanted to keep at it despite Miss Whittle's presence. He was close, very, very close, and ending things as they were would be torturous.

Sad as it might be, that's precisely what he did.

Through sheer force of will and a heightened sense of shame, Coye managed to wrangle his mind out of the gutter and hop away from his lewd companion. Coye waved his hands around in a flurried panic as he stared straight at the Guild Mistress, desperate to explain himself. Not that there was anything he could say that would even remotely justify his actions, but if he didn't try, Coye believed it would make him look even worse.

Byng was of a similar mind, and she started things off, hoping to ease the situation with her typical excitable chillness.

"Oh, hey! Nice to see you, Dotty. Looking real good this morning, yup, yup. Love what you did with your hair! I don't brush mine either. Brushes! Who needs 'em?"

Coye was far less chill when he started talking.

"M-M-Miss Whittle?! It's, um, not what it looks like! I-I, I mean, we were just- quests! Yeah! L-Looking for quests, the both of us, and I, uh, I tripped and fell and-"

Dorothy stared at Coye, paying his words little mind as he babbled on and on. Against her will, her gaze traveled southward. Even as he tried to wiggle out of this, a prominent tent strained against his trousers.

Dorothy gulped, knowing that that thing of Coye's was pushing against his Guildmate only moments ago. She didn't have the best of views since it was covered by his tunic, but he seemed big- bigger than she would've expected from someone as cute and pretty as Coye was.

As for Byng, Dorothy noticed that she looked hot and bothered if amused that Coye was trying to play this off as anything other than what it was- a furious, aggressive dry humping session performed right in front of their boss's office. Even an inexperienced bookworm like herself knew precisely what was going on here.

After two years of being in charge, Miss Whittle was used to being disrespected. This, though? Nothing like this had ever happened. It was unthinkably disrespectful, and yet... Dorothy wasn't angry over it.

It was more like she was in denial.

On and on, the Guild Mistress stared as if in a trance. It was like she believed this problem would somehow fade away if she glared at it for long enough. Needless to say, it didn't, and it wouldn't.

The realization pained her, but Dorothy knew she would actually have to address this.

"This... this... t-t-this..." she tried speaking, but all that came out was a bewildered series of repeated words and shaky sounds. Dorothy's face might as well have been a tomato, it was so red. The flustered woman gave it a second, collecting her composure enough to straighten out and deliver a much more coherent sentence, saying, "This is not acceptable, Byng! Coye!"

'Oh, this is just too good,' Shayla mumbled to herself, watching the drama play out and enjoying the spectacle that was the wrath of Miss Whittle. 'It's always the quiet ones, I guess... though I'll be the first to admit, I didn't think she had it in her.'

Coye took the disapproval of his Guild Mistress as well as he would a dagger to the heart. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean it!" He said without a thought.

"Oh? That so? Sure felt like you meant it to me, but what do I know..." Byng cackled and put a bit of bite behind her words. She was somewhat upset over Coye not getting to finish what he started, and it showed.

Coye shrank back, unsure of what to say to that. He didn't mean to dismiss Byng like that. He was just worried about how Miss Whittle would treat him from now on if he didn't resolve this amicably.

For her part, Byng thought it was probably best that things didn't escalate any further. There was a chance she would've lost control of herself if they had. But hey, it was fun while it lasted, and there might be more fun in the future if she stuck around. She chalked it up as a preview of what was to come.

Rather than suffer more excuses, Dorothy began firing up her most extraordinary defense mechanism. Her task was simple- spouting off regulatory nonsense meant to sternly discipline the two adventurers, even though they couldn't understand a word of what she was saying.

"According to the Guild Master's handbook subsection 32-a, bylaw 1.7, paragraph four; sexual contact between two adventurers is by no means prohibited but is not to take place within the premises of any Adventurer's Guild, its grounds, or any associated facility.While I... um... while I wish the two of you and your unlikely pairing-"

"Unlikely?" Byng grumbled, taking offense as Coye blushed.

"Nothing but the best, p-please keep this helpful information in mind the next time you consider... um... cuh... coupling! While this Guild might be your home, it's also a shared workplace. There are all sorts of things to consider when performing such intimate actions in public. Hygiene, for one... and more importantly, if someone saw you, the Guild would be liable for sexual harassment complaints! And... and... oh, Gods...!" Dorothy's redness had reached critical levels at the apex of her rambling. Her glasses fogged over, her brow covered in a thick veneer of sweat.

She was done.

The overwhelmed Guild Mistress rushed back into her office, unable to keep a straight face or remain stern. Not like this. Coye was still hard, and Dorothy couldn't bring herself to continue looking at her employee with a distracted gaze. The way she was staring probably counted as some form of sexual harassment in and of itself, and Dorothy just couldn't risk that.

Byng had another look at Coye and what she was disheartening. Being seen like this had made him beside himself. Although she didn't hang out

at the Guild all that much, Byng knew all about his crush on the boss lady, and unlike Shayla, she wasn't the jealous type. Given that Coye was just put through the emotional wringer, on top of whatever else he was dealing with down south, Byng thought she'd throw him a bone.

"Hey, Dotty? I know it looks bad, but short-stuff here's telling the truth. We really were just looking at quests! At least, at first. Then he went and tripped, and things ended up a little heated. Honest mistake- happens to everyone now and then. You know how it is. We didn't mean it! Really!" Byng made an emotional plea, making her eyes all big and watery. Then, she sped ahead and changed topics, hoping to confuse Dorothy by blowing from one thing to the next. "But hey, you're up now, right? Good! In that case, do you mind helping us out with some quests?"

"Byng...?" Coye looked over at the target of his lust, who gave him a smile and a wink. Byng had his back, which the girl proved further when she hopped up and extended her hand to help him up. He took it and allowed her to pull him up, his emotions running wild to the point where he couldn't look her in the eyes.

Shayla nodded approvingly. Although the Pixie wanted nothing more than for a certain someone to get the wrong idea, she wouldn't deprive Byng of points just for inadvertently making Coye look better in front of her sworn rival.

After considering Byng's words, Dorothy poked her head out of her door just the slightest bit. She looked at the two adventurers, skeptical, raising a single eyebrow.

"Wait, um... hold on a second. Did I hear you right? The two of you are going on a quest together?" Miss Whittle asked, explicitly looking at Coye like a concerned, overprotective mother.

Before he could answer, Byng cut him off and threw her arm around his neck. "Oh, yeah. We're really close now. Best pals, even. Maybe more?" She tilted her head at Coye as she patted his leather pauldron. "Maybe. That one's still tee-bee-dee, but hey. Fingers crossed, huh, short-stuff?"

"T-Too close," Coye warned her, holding in his breath to avoid taking in a whiff of Byng's aroma.

"Whoops," Byng loosened up and allowed him to pull away, yet still stayed in what she considered an affectionate range.

"Coye? Is that true?" Dorothy ignored most of what Byng said, preferring to hear it from him.

The Guild Mistress was afraid that Byng might've been taking advantage of Coye somehow or that this was a roundabout way of bullying him like what Britni and her ilk did on a daily basis. Her concern for her adventurer's well-being overshadowed any misgivings she had about sexual misconduct around the workplace.

"Y-Yeah," Coye forced himself to speak up. "It's true. Byng and I are, um... w-we're hanging out today. It was my idea."

"Really...?" Dorothy gapes. "But... Byng, what about the stink bomb incident? Or the pitfall traps you dug on the property? Or... um... any of the other things you've done that made me separate you and Coye?"

"Allllll cleared up, right?" Byng winked at Coye, expecting him to cover for her like she did for him.

"Yep, water under the bridge..." Coye nodded his head, even if the memory of a few of those events still stung. It helped to know that he'd likely move past it sooner than later. Coye found he was a surprisingly tolerant person when it came to forgiving cute girls who seemingly liked him, between Byng's various shenanigans and Shayla's stalkerish, well, stalking.

"Huh," Dorothy lingered on Coye for as long as she could without blushing and losing her sense of professionalism. As far as she could tell, he was telling her the truth. It wasn't his nature to lie, anyway.

"Well, um... alrighty, then. If that's the case, why don't the two of you just... mn, give me a few minutes to go and freshen up? I'll be right with you." She said, resolving to do her job despite the oddness of the current circumstances.

Dorothy then retreated, shutting her door again. It went unsaid, but she trusted Coye and Byng to behave themselves long enough for her to make her morning debut.

Byng was giving Coye a playful look but remained focused on keeping her distance for the time being. She figured he might get worked up again if she got in closer. That, or maybe he would die of shame. Neither outcome was desirable, so Byng relented.

'Soooo, I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed to say I'm sorry,' Shayla cleared her throat, taking full advantage of Coye being unable to talk back to her in front of Byng. 'In my defense, I thought it would help you two get closer- and hey, it worked, didn't it? It's not my fault you went all dog in heat on the girl.'

Coye grumbled at the Pixie's flimsy excuses.

'Ah well, I still maintain that you'll thank me later. Probably.' Shayla shrugged, eager to deflect the guilt and focus on the positive outcome.

Byng stepped forward a single step, holding her arms behind her back, leaning slightly over to look up at Coye. "Hey, there. You doing good?"

"N-No, not really..." Coye shrunk in place, feeling even smaller than Shayla at the current moment.

Byng frowned, worried over whether or not she made things better or worse. As much as she didn't want to, the girl felt it was only fair for her to offer Coye an out.

"Yeah, I thought so... hm... that's tough, buddy. Real tough. Shame how things are going so far today. I know that was, ah, pretty weird just now... and on top of that, I kinda already ruined your morning, sooo..." Byng hesitated, struggling to express the hard part. "I'm just saying if you wanna call things off for now or reschedule our little date for some other time-"

"Hey, w-wait a minute. I don't want that!" Coye responded, cutting Byng off mid-sentence. It surprised the girl with how much emotion he put behind his declaration. He felt embarrassed in retrospect and tried to downplay it. "I mean, um... I still do want to hang out with you. Really, I do. I'm just upset because Miss Whittle saw us, and... on top of that, I thought I was doing good enough to get back to work, but it turns out, I'm not... not after I went and did all that to you..."

Shame burned a hole in Coye's heart, making it difficult to breathe over the remorse weighing him down. His actions were inexcusable as far as he was concerned.

'Hey, don't beat yourself up over this, baby. It was an accident! Your condition is probably fine. I bet you wouldn't have gotten all weird if she didn't smell funky. Maybe she's got some kinda weird goblin pheromones going on?' Shayla did her best to reassure Coye behind the scenes, but it didn't go far and did little to relieve his conscience.

What Coye did was no accident- he knew what he was doing as he dry humped Byng, which made him feel lower than low. Byng, however, took things differently.

"So?" She tilted her head, arguing with full-on sass. "If you still wanna hang out, and I still wanna hang out, then what's the big deal? We're good, short-stuff. Stop beating yourself up over this."

Coye looked at her aghast. He didn't know why he had to explain this out loud, feeling it was pretty obvious. "Byng, I... I almost-"

"Coye," Byng interrupted, giving him another of her brilliant smiles. "I know what you almost did, and I don't care. I was right there, telling you to do it in case you forgot. Now, do me a favor. Think back to like, oh, I dunno... five minutes ago to when you were humping and pumping-"

"C-Can we please not call it that?"

"Denied. Anyway, back to all the humping and pumping. Did it look like I minded what was happening? Did it sound like I was uncomfortable or didn't want it?"

There was a profound silence as Coye thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No," he blushed, remembering how Byng's cheeks burned red, the feeling of her hands on his ass, and how she moaned for him as he pushed against her body. "You, um... you seemed pretty into it, I guess..."

"I was," Byng admitted with a rare, meek blush. She then pulled her fist back and bopped him in the chest with a bit of strength behind it, enough for him to reel back a step. "So cool your tits. Y'know, we had a saying back home, 'A true man eats the meal placed before him, regardless of what it smells like on the way out.' Classy, I know, but do you get what that means, Coye?"

"Um," he stammered, completely put off by the toilet humor. "No?"

"Ok, so maybe some of the subtleties are lost when translated to the Common tongue, but it more or less means 'fuck bitches, and fuck the consequences.' Things usually work out better if you just stop worrying so much, ok? Ok. Cool. Glad we had this talk!"

"Byng, I can't just-"

Byng sighed and crossed her arms. "And why not, huh? Gah! You're just not letting me make this easy, are you? Fine, have it your way. I'll just ask you upfront, then. You've got something weird going on down there, don't you?"

Coye reflexively huddled over, trying to cover his shame and draw attention away from his lower regions. His face was panicked now that the secret was out. "W-What? How did you-"

'It's not like you're very good at hiding it,' Shayla suggested with a sigh.

"A girl picks up on these things!" Byng declared, putting her hands on her hips in a dramatic fashion. "So, here's what I've gotta say about it. Do you need to go and finish before we take off for the day? I mean it. I want you at your best today. I'm talking top form, raring to go! If that means you need a handy real quick, or you wanna visit that big-titted milf of yours, then say the word. Whatever helps. It's your call, short-stuff! What'll it be?"

Coye felt stunned over what he was being asked, to the point where he couldn't say anything back at first. Harems being a cultural norm or not, Byng had to be some sort of Saintess if she was cool with her date sexually visiting one of his other women before they went out together. It would be convenient if he could get some time to 'let loose' before their date, yes, but Coye would still feel like a total sleazeball if he went and did that to her. He didn't want to ask Byng for help, either. It was too soon, and as willing as she might've been, Coye wanted to take things slow after almost jumping off the deep end with her.

As they were obligated to do, someone had an opinion of her own that she saw fit to express.

'I say you should finish what you started, baby. It's unfair to get a girl so worked up and not get at least one of you off, you know? But hey, it's not my date. Your call.' Shayla chimed in. Coye didn't need to be reminded that the Pixie's agenda included him skipping toward an explicit entanglement with Byng as quick as possible, but at least Shayla was consistent.

Coye shook his head out of stubbornness once his mind was made up. The last thing he wanted was to be a slave to his desires, and besides, this only happened because of Byng's scent. He was adamant in his thinking that he would've been able to resist better if it weren't for that.

"Byng, thank you for being so understanding... but, I think I'll be fine as long as I don't, um, you know... get up close and smell you again..." he admitted, finding it even more embarrassing to say out loud than he already thought it'd be.

Byng wasn't sure what to make of his staunch refusal beyond confirming that the boy really did have some sort of smell fetish. That, or her pheromones were stronger than she gave them credit for. Either way, she could roll with the punches.

"Yeah? Hm... well, whatever. I'm just saying that if you gotta go and do your thing, then stop being a little baby about it and just do it. You're a man, and men need to jack it from time to time or go crazy. That's just a fact of life, no matter where you come from. Trust me, I know how it works! You're not impressing me with this tough guy act, short-stuff."

'She makes a convincing argument,' Shayla nodded, having also come from a background where sexuality was displayed loud and proud.

Coye, however, wasn't hearing it.

"I mean it," he said, summoning the courage necessary to look Byng in the eyes while making a confident expression. "I'll be ok. I promise."

Byng put him under her scrutiny, staring him down. When Coye resisted faltering despite her intense gaze, she relented and let out a long, somewhat annoyed sigh. "Alright, fine, if you're gonna be as stubborn as a Ravragahr, then far be it from me to get in your way. I just don't want you slipping up on the hunt because you went and got yourself blue balls, you get me?"

"Of course," Coye nodded his head with simple-minded determination. "I'm not gonna let that happen! I'll do my best out there like I always do."

"Hm... well, good enough. Play your cards right, and I might let you go sniffing around on your own terms later, anyway, so it's all the same to me, I s'pose." Byng shrugged her shoulders but gave him a teasing grin and a cackle, intending to catch him off guard.

Coye could feel that she was being supportive beyond her flirtations, and that made him feel content. "I think I might like that, m-maybe..."

'How romantic,' Shayla rolled her eyes at what passed for Coye's attempt at flirting. 'Keep it up, baby. Tell her how much you love that sweet, sweet tomboy stank. That'll get her wet and ready for you.'

"Oh, you would, would you? Gahahaha!" Byng was tempted to lean in even closer but managed to reign the impulse back, settling on merely smirking at him from afar.

Realizing just how forward his slip of the tongue was, Coye recoiled and tried to cover up his inner desires with another flustered denial. "N-No, that's not what I- ah-"

Just as Byng started having a hearty cackle at Coye and his embarrassment, the Guild Mistress's door opened, and Miss Whittle emerged once again from her office.

No one dared to say anything about it, but Dorothy's idea of 'freshening up' left much to be desired. The changes since last they saw her were minimal. Her clothes were slightly less ruffled, and there was an undeniable yet poor attempt to brush her greasy hair, but otherwise, she remained the same. She only looked marginally more awake, too, having gone without her morning coffee thus far.

Dorothy shut the door behind her and looked at the two adventurers, marveling at the flirty atmosphere they had going on. There wasn't much romance at this Guild, given its proximity to such a joyless location, so it seemed noticeably brighter around them. It made it uncomfortable to intrude upon, making Dorothy feel like a third wheel.

As she struggled to come to terms with the pairing of Coye and Byng, she remembered that Byng made a camp outside of town. Dorothy incorrectly assumed that this meant his Guildmate here was who Coye alluded to spending the night with the other day. With a wistful sigh that she couldn't help expressing, Dorothy moved past the two on her way to the front desk, wishing her own romantic life would improve one of these days.

As she lifted the bar and took her station, Coye still felt so bad that he couldn't even look at Miss Whittle for more than a moment. Even though he had plans with Byng, it still hurt him to think he might've ruined his chance with his beloved Miss Whittle before things ever had an opportunity to develop. Coye knew it was greedy to be worried over such a thing, but that was just how he was, and he was growing increasingly accepting that he had much and more love to give.

"Alright, I'm ready to help you out whenever you need me. Oh, did you want any advice? I can come over there and find something fitting for the two of you to work on!" Dorothy offered, showing she was willing to put the awkwardness behind her and resume her duty to the best of her abilities.

"Nah," Byng smirked, then ripped off three quests from the board before Coye even had a chance to see what they were. "Got a few things in mind already. Thanks, though! Mind setting us up with these?" She asked, slapping the papers on the desk and sliding them towards the boss.

Dorothy looked over them, sighed, and put one out of the three to the side. "Byng, we've been over this. You're still Bronze-ranked. The first one is fine, but I can't issue the other two quests to you, you know that..."

"Gahk- come onnnn! Not this junk again. Seriously? Dotty, for real. You know me. I've killed way stronger sons of bitches than these before!"

"Yes, but you actually need to bring in proof of your kills, or else I can't send your work off to the Association and get it on your record. You won't ever qualify for a rank-up otherwise..." Dorothy sighed wistfully, despairing over all the gold she'd lost out on thanks to Byng's habit of coming into the Guild, seeing what was on the board, and hunting anything that caught her eye without actually accepting the quest or returning with a trophy.

"Didn't I tell you that wasting part of my kills so you can send them to some nerd is against my religion? Huh? What does your little rulebook say about that? Sounds like discrimination to me!" Byng leaned over the counter and banged her fists on the wood, hoping to spook the woman enough to get her way.

Dorothy shrank in fear of the potential scandal the dreaded d-word could bring but remained steadfast in her refusal. "I-I understand that. Please remember that here at the Association of Adventurers, we strive to provide an equal opportunity workplace where adventurers from all manners of Realms, religions, and walks of life can work together in harmony! B-But you understand I can't just take you on your word, right...? It's not that I don't trust you. It's-"

"It's just the rules, yeah, yeah..." Byng groaned and slumped over the desk. She gave Dorothy a sympathetic look and nodded her head. "I get it, but you can't blame a girl for trying, huh? Geez. Sometimes it feels like this whole Guild thing is more trouble than it's worth... but hey, it's a good thing we're going as a party! Right, Coye?"

"Huh?" Coye snapped out of his dejected mood as Shayla nudged him from above. "Oh, y-yeah. There wouldn't be a problem if you registered the quests under my name and Byng tagged along as a party member, right?"

"Wait, really?" Dorothy blinked, having thought she'd never see the day Coye would be forming a party with someone of his own volition. In a way, she was proud of him, but the bizarre circumstances still made it hard to come to terms with. "Er, I mean, yes, that... wouldn't be a problem," Dorothy nodded, stacking the papers neatly in her hands as her sleeve knocked a pen onto the floor without her noticing.

Before Coye or Byng could point out the clumsy folly, the Guild Mistress asked, "Is this a temporary arrangement?"

Shayla noticed a subtle glimmer in the Guild Mistress's eyes. 'I think she's setting up another scam,' she warned. 'Tread carefully, baby.'

Byng gave Coye another wicked smirk as she rested her elbow on the counter. "Good question, Dotty. I don't believe we've really put much thought into that just yet. What do you say, short-stuff? Is it?"

Coye felt the pressure, and he pulled at his collar. He didn't know the difference between a temporary party and one that was formally registered, like Britni's 'Baddest Bitches.' Rather than get into all that would entail, he decided to put it off.

"Uh, yeah. This is just for today. We're just seeing how it goes..." Coye offered non-committally.

Dorothy wasn't about to let a chance slip her by, and before he even spoke, she was already firing up a sales pitch.

"Are you sure you don't want me to register your party? For an application fee of only 500G per member followed by a subsequent monthly fee of 300G, I can grant everyone in your party access to a simply astonishing amount of benefits! What sort of benefits, you might ask? Mn, well, I'm glad you asked-"

'Oh, I just hate it when I'm right,' Shayla groaned.

"These include discounted group subscriptions to monthly or weekly potion refills, cheaper premiums on Journey's End life insurance policies for parties consisting of more than four adventurers, access to exclusive, high-reward quests and dungeons, and much more!" Dorothy rambled, breaking her lengthy diatribe only to produce a beefy-looking catalog from under the counter, which Coye had never seen before. "There are even special products you can buy with your party's logo on them! Canteens, flasks, pouches, matching jackets, you name it! What's that? You don't have a logo for your party? In this day and age? Fear not, for we at the Association of Adventurers have you covered! For only three easy payments of 400G-"

Rather than letting Dorothy continue at the expense of her sanity, Byng interrupted, "Dotty, stop, stop, STOP! Holy crap, girl. How long do you spend memorizing this shit?"

Byng was on the verge of total exasperation at her wit's end, while Coye wasn't doing much better. Having listened to many such speeches from Miss Whittle over the last two years, Coye could see just how hollow and artificial her by-the-plate approach was at selling products. He felt foolish for not picking up on their intent until Shayla had wisened him up, even though it now seemed so obvious.

Called out, Dorothy paused and grew red in the face. She slumped her shoulders, avoiding Byng's question by whimpering, "S-Sorry, um... force of habit..." as she returned the catalog to its home, knowing it would see no use.

No one ever wanted the matching jackets...

Even though it was her job, Dorothy hated giving these long-winded spiels. Alas, since finances were desperate, so was she. The fact that these speeches were more or less an automatic process for her after so many hours of practice, repetition, and memorization left the woman with a heart full of existential dread.

Seeing how beat up Miss Whittle looked, Coye was quick to try and comfort her.

"It's ok. Who knows, maybe we'll sign up some other time?" He suggested, scratching behind his ear and giving his boss a weak smile. Working alone suited him, especially now that he had Shayla, but he wasn't against whatever the future might bring.

Shayla wouldn't hear of it, however.

'Excuse me? Don't you dare give this bitch money just so you and your new girlfriend can get matching jackets! Hell, I'll make you some myself if that's what you really want!' The Pixie declared, bopping Coye on the head where no one could see. Even if he could barely feel it, she made her point.

"Sure, just let me know," Dorothy gave the pair of adventurers a complimentary, if tired, smile and handed the quest fliers back to Byng. As she made for the records room, she looked over her shoulder at Coye and told him, "Good luck out there... I'll... mn, I'll be rooting for you..." as she fought off another yawn.

"Thanks a lot, Dotty," Byng said as she waved the lady off, taking the quests and folding them small enough to fit in a pouch strapped to her thigh.

"Thanks," Coye grinned nervously as Miss Whittle left, hoping that this meant things were ok between them now. It looked like they were, much to his relief.

After Dorothy was gone, it occurred to him that he never learned what sort of quests Byng even signed them up for.

"Um, were you going to tell me what the plan is for today, or-"

"What, and give away the surprise?" Byng blew a raspberry, rolled her eyes, and patted Coye on the shoulder while remaining a respectful distance from him. "No way, fat chance of that! Now come along, you. We need to grab some grub before we get going."

"I don't think the cooks are even up yet," Coye sighed, thinking Byng should have planned things out better or talked to him about the agenda the day before.

"Oh? It seems someone thinks I can't feed them myself. You're dead wrong about that, short stuff. Dead. Wrong! Gahaha! Let's head on over to my camp, and I'll cook us up something special!" Byng spoke highly of herself and pounded her chest with pride, but Coye had his doubts.

Seeing this, Byng narrowed her eyes and grew defensive. "...And what's with that look you're giving me, huh?"

"I-I'm not giving you any looks," Coye scratched his head awkwardly and looked away. "I just didn't know you could cook, that's all."

"Why, yes, Coye. I can cook, clean, and do all the other weird things you Karnallians expect of your womenfolk, thank you for asking!"

"T-That's not what I-"

"What's that, invisible person in this room that only I can hear? Indeed, I would make the perfect wife! You're very astute. Wouldn't you agree, Coye? Heh! Now, c'mon, short-stuff- I'll show you how damn good of a cook I am!" Byng grinned and then surprised Coye by grabbing his hands and pulling him to the front door. Only after they were there did she remember to ask for permission. "Oh, you don't mind about this, right? We don't really hold hands where I come from, and I was curious about it cause I see couples doing it alllll over the place here in Karnalle. Figured I'd see what the big deal was."

'Hell no, you don't mind. You let that green cutie hold your hand if you know what's good for you, baby!' Shayla threatened, giving Coye no other option than to consent.

Not that he minded. Holding hands was oddly exciting, and it made him feel warm inside. After all the uncertain anxiety he'd felt this morning, a dash of wholesome contact did wonders for his mood.

"I think that'd be ok," he smiled. "J-Just make sure not to get too close or anything..."

"Can do!" Byng gave him a thumbs-up and rudely kicked the door open. Coye held his tongue, knowing she was just excited.

"Where's your camp?"

"Not too far out of town. It's a little off the beaten path, but it won't take long for us to get there! I got it set up between some hills to the southwest. Great place. Lovely place! You'll love it, so c'mon!"

"Alright," Coye nodded, the hype convincing him to go along with few complaints. "I am pretty hungry..." he admitted.

"Gahahaha, is that right? Well, you just let me worry about that, shorty!" Byng smirked, yanking Coye's arm, pulling him out the front door and onto Mainstreet.