'Hm… for sleeping arrangements. I don't think Mo would mind sleeping with Rune, and then Vive can use my bed, and maybe I'll just sleep on the floor. It's been a while, but it's honestly not really any different than my old bed at home. She still seems pretty uncomfortable around me. Or… More like she doesn't fully trust me yet.'
Before I knew it, we were back at the tower… Everyone was staring as always as we walked through the halls… It was because of me, but I'm not sure Vive knew that, as she suddenly started walking much closer to me, even stepping on my heals by acedent once or twice, muttering an apology quieter each time until she just let out a soft whiny groan as a substitute for one, like a scared dog that just got its claw stuck in the carpet. 'This is ridiculous…' Rolling my eyes, I finally just grabbed her hand and pulled her to my side. I understood that she didn't like people touching her, or being close, but… It still felt like the right thing to do. 'Maybe I should have tried talking to her more while we walked instead of getting lost in my own thoughts…'
When we got to my room, I opened the door and sure enough, it was the same familiar sight. Mo juggling knives, and Isy pouting that Rune once again destroyed her at cards. "Hey girls…" 'Ah… I… Have to introduce them, don't I… And explain… How should I… I mean… How would they react? Does she want to keep her being a demon a secret? I…' The stares and tilted heads waiting for an explanation made me suddenly a bit nervous. Chuckling, I stepped to the side to try and push her forward, but… Vive stepped to the side with me, making it a bit harder to actually show them who she was, as only one eye nervously peeked out from behind me… Even after seeing the new people were just a bunch of little girls, all that changed was her whole face peeked out, though her hood was tugged farther down, so I'm not sure it was much of an improvement…
'Well… For now, I guess I'll do the talking.' "I have another new guild member for you all. Meet Vive… She's had a bit of a long day, so go easy on her, will you?" 'That was fine, right… That… Well, she probably can't be an official guild member, but who cares…'
Mo caught her knives again and kicked her feet over the side of the bed. "Half goblin? Fast? Is she any good in a fight?"
'Why does everyone guess half? What does a full goblin look like?' I glanced down at her, "She's uh…" Her head was slightly tilted, one of her long ears falling out of her hood just slightly. "Yeah, she'd be alright in a fight, and she's fast too… But she hasn't been trained."
"I can fix that."
'Is Mo… Actually excited about this? It's hard to tell because her face is so…'
Before I could finish my thought, Isy carefully walked up and leaned over like a caring mom. "Hi Vive, nice to meet you. Call me Isy."
"Are you Siya's boss?"
She chuckled nervously as though she was afraid I'd be mad. "What makes you ask that?"
"You're a noble, right? But you're bigger."
"Maybe a little bit, but, believe it or not, Siya's way stronger… She's actually my boss."
I couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, I'm kind of a big shot." Rune's eyes sparkled at me, confirming I had the right to feel cool.
"That doesn't sound right… You're not even big. Strong maybe. Oh, and you can breathe fire, right? That's cool. But you don't look like a noble at all."
I sighed, closing the door behind me and leading her further inside. 'She believes I can breathe fire but not that I'm important?' "What about me doesn't look noble? I've got the clothes, my sword is huge, and I was even wearing my family crest."
"I don't know what any of that means… Nobles are huge, that's like their whole thing. You're tiny."
Mo awkwardly tried to distract herself by asking Rune about the score between her and Isy, leaving me alone to defend myself. "I'm… Still a noble though…"
She shook her head. "You were definitely born a commoner, though. She was born a noble for sure."
"She's not even that much bigger than me…" I grumbled. 'And I'm way bigger in my other form…'
"What are you talking about? Her boobs are huge? You don't even have any. All nobles have huge boobs. Even the guys have big chests… Although it's made out of muscle, so I guess it's different? Well, I guess you have a lot of muscle too, but it's not the same."
I felt my face twitch. Unsure if I should be insulted… Or just glad she didn't ask if I was a guy… 'Is that what she's been talking about this whole time?' A short breath came from my mouth to warm my hands as I slowly rubbed my face, looking over at Mo, who was gripping the air over her chest. "Am I not a noble after all?" She asked with a dull, uncertain voice.
"Of course you are… You were taking drugs to stop yourself from growing… Remember…" 'Why do I even have to say that out loud… How could she forget that?'
"But I stopped taking them? Father said I'd start growing again, but it's been over a month… What if I don't grow up? Who will carry on the family line? My brother? He's not an assassin… All our arts would be lost, maybe that's not such a bad thing?"
'Has she… Always been prone to spiralling like that?' I took a deep breath, looking back over at Isy, who was similarly covering her chest, even over her clothes. "N-not only was Siya born a noble, but she's also the leader, I promise."
Vive rolled her eyes as she continued dismantling the mental state of my team. "I don't believe you."
Isy's eyes nervously glanced back at me as if I was about to pick a fight with her if she didn't set it straight. "Y-you should see her other form. She transforms, and when she does, she gets twice my size."
I didn't even have to look down, I could feel her eyes suddenly staring holes through me as her grip tightened on my sleeve, and she stepped slightly further away.
"Ok, do it."
'Well… At least she isn't all shy and stuff anymore… Maybe I was worried for nothing.' I yawned, shaking my head. "What am I doing now?" 'It's not like I never noticed when people have looked at my chest, but when she does it, it's so much more uncomfortable for some reason… Is it because I'm not in my dragon form? Well… In that form, my brain's practically wired to love attention, so I guess… It doesn't matter, I'm too tired for this…'
"Transform or whatever, then I'll believe you."
I lifted my free hand into the air, trying to hold it steady to test how stable I was, and only feeling more exhausted as it started to shake. 'To be honest, I sleep way better in my other form anyway since my skin is tougher and my body doesn't care about the temperature, but on the other hand, it's so much work… Not to mention I'm a bit nervous… My soul still feels sore from slamming it into itself… Can't we just all go to bed now? Besides…' "What makes you think I care if you believe me or not anyway?"
Rune slowly got up and walked over, tugging on my shirt and yawning, as if my tired feeling was contagious. "Siya… I'm sleepy…"
'All five of us in one room… This was my idea, though…' I rubbed her head. "I think we'll all be going to sleep soon, don't worry." 'I'm surprised she isn't nervous about meeting a new person either, though I guess they haven't actually even said hello yet…'
Vive stared at her for a long while, almost forgetting my question, before suddenly responding. "Why would you care? I guess you wouldn't…"
'Why'd you have to go and say it like that…' I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. "You really don't believe us? Even when we're all telling you the same thing?"
She shook her head, prompting Rune to scowl at her, baring her teeth through her sleepy eyes.
'I've never seen Rune mad before…' I knelt down, rubbing her head some more until she practically passed out. 'Just like that… This one little girl managed mentally break my assassin, put Isy on the defensive, and piss off a fluffball that I thought could only feel love and joy… I knew it… She's going to be… Well, fun probably wasn't the right word. "If I show you… Will you stop messing with everyone…"
"Pft I'm not…" Her voice slowly faded out before she looked around the room, slowly folding her arms. After calmly shutting her mouth, she simply nodded in response,
'She seriously didn't even realise what she was doing? If it wasn't on purpose… Ok, maybe she's a little fun…' I hid my smile as I walked off towards the bathroom. "Fine, fine, just let me shower and change first so I don't ruin my clothes…"
I still didn't really get how the whole transforming thing worked… Like at all. But one thing I did notice with experience was that switching it out was kind of like putting one in a closet. And of course, if you don't clean things off before you put them in the closet, it isn't the most fun taking them back out again…
After I cleaned myself off, I dried my hair and wrapped my towel around myself. 'Ok… Here we go…' Taking a deep breath, I dove deep into my soul and tried to change forms, but the conflicting forces ground against each other, causing a fire to rise in my chest until I collapsed to the floor. 'Ugh… That freaking hurt… Mr Dragon, are you there? Are you ok?' My eyes felt like they were focused on everything they could see, but at the same time, I couldn't process any of it, making my vision feel like it was starting to blur as my breath staggered.
'Pipe down… And eat some more demon flesh before you try something like that again…' His voice resonated through me like my head was turning into a tuning fork.
'I feel sick…'
He didn't respond, but he didn't need to. Hearing his voice once was enough. I transformed, and despite the pain, there were no lingering side effects of essentially splitting my soul in half and slamming it back together… Which, in hindsight, probably wasn't a good idea…
I let out a long groan as I stood back up, and threw the towel to the side, staring at my outstretched hand for a moment to acknowledge my change of habits. Being more aggressive, having no sense of shame, overwhelming arrogance, and powerful emotions. None of them came out in full force because of my base personality, but it still felt surreal to suddenly be so different in not just body but mind as well.
Before anything else, I took a deep breath, feeling my body relax as air entered far deeper in my lungs than was possible with my other body, letting it out as a cloud of steam before washing my face with cold water to calm down my body's sudden jump in temperature. Just then, the door opened. 'Did I not lock it? Not that it matters, I guess.' I turned to Vive, placing my hands on my hips and staring back at her dumbstruck face. "Did you need something?"
"N-no." Her voice cracked.
"Then why did you open the door…" As awkward as I may have felt, having her gawk at my naked body… It honestly didn't compare to seeing my own, so once again, the only thought in my tired mind was. 'It doesn't matter…'
She didn't respond, so I went ahead and just tried to ignore her, tying up my hair to keep it out of the way, and just before I started getting dressed, I heard the door slowly close as someone sank down against it on the other side. 'Believe me now… Brat.' The water on my body all evaporated before my temperature corrected itself to a more reasonable degree, almost instantly drying my hair for me, but I still pulled it back and covered it with a hood because of how prickly it was. 'If I can't cut it, what are the odds I can actually use it as a weapon? Is that a stupid idea? Probably more likely I'd get drug around by it with how long it is. Though something does seem appealing about every part of my body being a lethal weapon…' I slowly lowered my head to my hands. 'I'm having dumb man brain thoughts again… I need to just get some sleep…"