Dee's Sharo Home

"MarriageMan?" Myst asked, her eyes widening as the unfamiliar name was spoken and cursed. "Who is MarriageMan and why do you want his head on a spike?" She seemed to understand now that the intruder was the one grabbing DragonierMan's attention, but she had no conception of the full scope of the issue.

"Ladies, I hear your concerns, but this is absolutely necessary! According to my scout, DragonierMan has refused to properly respond to one of the questions his wife posed him. Until he answers her solidly, I cannot neglect the duty sworn by my vow as a Blesser!" MarriageMan responded, clenching both fists. "He's also only held his kiss for a minute and was wholly distracted! There's nothing passionate about it!"

Stepping back to the fireplace once again, he pressed one fist to the mantlepiece and cupped the other around his mouth. "DragonierMan! If you want this to end, she needs a passionate kiss and an honest answer to her question: which look do you prefer?!"

"Is that him?" the towel-wrapped girl asked DragonierMan, raising one eyebrow. "I don't see what business it is of his!"

Suzume and Aya did not know what was going on upstairs, their hearing and sight wasn't great from their vantage point. Besides the shouting, most of the noises from upstairs were muffled. "What do you mean by 'what look do you prefer?' Wasn't she taking a bath and not dressed? And he's been up there for some time already, just like for the rest of us, that sounds passionate enough to me." Suzume commented as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Aya on the other hand perked up at the mention of a scout. Wordlessly she raced out of the room through hole in the wall. How could she have been so stupid? There must have been someone looking through the windows on the second floor. She darted around the outside of the mansion, looking up in an effort to catch sight of the scout. She pulled out a pair of climbing claws as she raced around the building, strapping them to her wrists. She would deal with the trouble maker herself.

"I ALREADY SAID BOTH LOOKS ARE FINE!" DragonierMan shouted back at MarriageMan. He then turned back to Myst and quieted his voice, speaking quickly, "He's a navi that has the mistaken impression that I am your soon-to-be husband to you and Arch and he is forcing me to do whatever you two say and ask and punishing me every time I apparently fail at this task... And I am going to hunt him down after this and make sure he never recompiles." He clenched his fists at the end and shook in fury for a brief moment, his eyes closed.

"But right now I am being forced to 'sweep you off your feet' with a passionate kiss in order for him to leave." He opened his eyes and looked at Myst as he calmed down. Though his eyes, filled with distracted hate, also had a hint of pleading. Then he chuckled wearily, "It seems like there is always something conspiring against us, love."

"Well... I never thought that anyone would have to be forced to come kiss me, to be perfectly honest," Myst laughed awkwardly, sounding somewhat off-put by his wording. "It's true though; I was really hoping that you could have an uninterrupted, comfortable, and perhaps mildly erotic visit with us this time," she sighed sadly.

"DAMN YOU, DRAGONIERMAN, ANSWER A SIMPLE QUESTION!" MarriageMan roared back from downstairs, spit flying from the corners of his lips and onto his beard as he raged. "YOUR COMMITMENT IS SO WEAK I CANNOT STAND IT!" The Blesser was so far blinded by his rage that he didn't even see Aya sneak off.

The search proved to be fruitful; several objects were perched along the mountainside. They were almost like turrets: shining, pink orbs with gold metal framing them and anchoring to the ground, with long cannons extending outward, tipped with diamonds. Each cannon was bisected by a metal shield, making them look entertainingly like the circle and bisected stick indicating female gender. One of them was pointed towards the second floor bathroom's window and the orb inside was glowing, presumably powering up to fire.

"DRAGONIERMAN! SHOW YOUR RESOLVE AND EMBRACE HER DEEPLY! KISS HER PASSIONATELY! FULFILL YOUR-!" MarriageMan barked, so loud that Aya could still hear him from outside. His voice stopped as he stared down, noticing an arrow newly embedded in his chest. "I've been shot," he muttered dumbly, turning towards the kitchen.

Indeed, Arch had emerged from the kitchen and released an arrow directly into him as he stood there. As he glared him down, he stared back stupidly, then suddenly panicked. At first she thought it was because of what she'd done to him, but that wasn't it at all; the problem was that she'd activated one of the traps he set out earlier. A shower of diamonds burst out seemingly from nowhere, slashing at her clothes and body and sending data shooting out from the wounds. Only Aya could see that one of the turrets, aimed through the kitchen window, had just fired.

"Dear God in Heaven... what have I done?!" the big man sobbed, pressing both tremendous, gloved hands to his bald head. "Woman! The healer! Get downstairs, quickly! I've done something terrible!"

"You sure have; you've ruined our evening! I have a mind to punish you for it, too!" Myst scolded him, taking a moment to revert to the form of Dee before stepping outside in her towel. As she did, she noticed the alarmed eyes of the unfamiliar MarriageMan, before turning to follow his gaze and see Arch. "Archie!" she cried out, running downstairs to kneel over her friend's fallen body.

Using her healing magic, Dee began to take care of Arch's injuries. MarriageMan grimaced, holding both hands to his lower lip. "I've betrayed my oath... My oath as a Blesser! I've harmed a woman! Oh God, Almighty, hallowed be Thy name... forgive me..." he mumbled.

Arch looked up from her place on the floor, clenching her teeth and obviously in pain. "What's everyone so worried about? I can just jackout..." she reminded all of them.

"Archie, no! You can't do that!" Dee pleaded, looking deeply affected.

"What? Why?!"

"Because, I need you to fix dinner for all of us! A-And you're supposed to be my wingman here!"

"Oh for the love of-!" Arch groaned, rolling her eyes before jacking out of the net.

"Nooooooooooooooooo!" Dee wailed, raising her fists to the sky.

....

Amidst the otherwise comical scene, MarriageMan stumbled towards the door, looking as though he was planning to make his exit. His hands groped the walls to stead himself as he moved. "I am no blesser... I am no man! I must... I must pray for forgiveness," he whispered quietly. He hadn't even bothered to pull the arrow out of his chest.

DragonierMan had ended up with quite the scene. What was he here to do again? Have a dinner and get a chip? Somehow he'd ended up with only Dee and Suzume... unless he went after the addled MarriageMan to get his revenge. "Phooey! My dinner's ruiiiined! DragonierMan, could you eat roast beef even if it wasn't quite done cooking yet?" she called up to her guest.

The turrets outside had started to disappear before Aya's eyes, vanishing one by one as they were recalled.

Aya watched as the turrets disappeared before her eyes. It seemed like the threat had finally passed. But as they vanished she took the time to study their layout and function, noting how and what they fired, for future notice. Suzume was so startled by the speed at which everything changed around her, that she stuttered and missed the opportunity to heal Arch through song, watching her log out. She then noticed that Aya wasn't there. So she rushed over to the hole in the wall and looked out, trying to find Aya. "Aya?"

DragonierMan nodded towards Dee's question. "Sure. In fact, I'm getting really hungry now that this is all over." He turned his head toward the exiting MarriageMan and glared. "This isn't over," he muttered sourly. He then walked over to Dee and helped her to her feet. "I assumed that this weekend was supposed to be about us. Hopefully Arch will come back soon, after she's had some rest, to be your 'wingman' as it t'were. Let's enjoy what's there for our meal, then I'll fix the hole in the wall, and we can try to pick up where we left."

MarriageMan continued to trod out further into the snow, moving slowly with heavy crunches and gradually becoming obscured by the snowstorm. Dee ran over to close the door, realizing that she was depressed just looking at him. "I don't know what his problem was, but he's gone now! And er, not a moment too soon... that door staying open was about to give me hypothermia," she shivered, clutching her arms around her chest. "You know, even now that the door's close, it's still pretty cold... oh right, that hole," she reminded herself.

Whatever conceptions she'd had about snuggling up to DragonierMan vanished when she heard that he was going to be fixing the hole he'd smashed in the wall. "No offense, but yes, it's probably best if you take care of that one yourself. While thus dressed, I don't believe I want to be anywhere near all that snow," she chuckled. "Contrary to popular belief, aqua element doesn't mean one has to like the cold."

"Now, while Drago takes care of that... I'll go put the finishing touches on dinner~" she sang, moving into the kitchen and cooking in her towel, which was only slightly more modest than what Arch had on. It was pretty lucky for her that the heating in the house was so thorough...

----

Luckily, the materials had all been present for DragonierMan to plug back up the wall, if not with the same finesse as the original creator. Whoever had put the place together must have had a real passion for doing things in an old fashioned, "human" way, because there was no easy tool for putting the bricks in place; he had to do it the old fashioned way. By the end, he could only be thankful that neither MarriageMan nor Dee had asked him to paint it again... They ought to make another expression like "watching paint dry," only with setting mortar.

When he finally got away from the wall again, however, he found the temperature a lot more inviting and the aroma of food even more so. Apparently, Dee had managed to salvage the roast beef to the extent where it had not only become appetizing, but mouth-wateringly tasty smelling. As he moved back into the living room, he found a few plates set out with roast beef, set out by the smiling host. She'd taken a seat at the bar, which appeared to be the only decent place to eat a meal thanks to the lowness of the table.

Of course, Dee had taken the time to dress back into her usual blue dress with white adornments. "Before you get too excited: no, I'm not quite the perfect woman. Archie had finished the dish before she ran out of the kitchen. All I had to do was reheat it... so it might not be as good as it was warm, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say," the general chuckled, patting the seat next to her. Plates had been set for Aya and Suzume too, but she made it clear she preferred to have him nearby.

With no further ceremony, she dug her fork into the meat and then quickly into her mouth. As the head of the fork slid from her painted lips, she chewed loudly with a humorous lack of etiquette. "It's really good! But you know," she spoke around her food, leaning her head on one palm, "I still don't understand any of this. That big bald guy, what happened to Arch, your new girls... but then, I don't think I really want an explanation. I get enough briefings and reports on these kinds of things at work!"

She tapped her fork up and down rhythmically against her plate, as if trying to remember something important. Her eyes widened as she turned back to DragonierMan. "Oh, right! The wall, right. You'll get your WoodPowder, but I feel like I owe you a little something extra for the labor," she cooed, leaning a bit closer so that it was hard to avoid looking down the low cut of her dress. She kept on chewing even as she did, which made the otherwise alluring gesture a little silly. "Can you think of anything you'd like? As a general, I'm authorized to give you some faction points... maybe a nice handful of zenny... is there anything else that would strike your fancy?"

She seemed to have forgotten or disregarded the fact that the other girls were present, beyond setting them out food to start with.

DragonierMan worked up to be a sweaty mess. As he labored he had eventually discarded his heavy plate and chain mesh, leaving him in his wool-cloth vest and leggings and heavy leather boots. He placed the pieces of armor on a nearby table and draped the chainmail shirt and white cloak over the closest couch. Eventually, after about an hour of hard work, Drago was done and started to toweled off.

Suzume had found Aya collapsed in the snow, catching her breath and still looking pale. The adrenaline from before had worn off and Aya was exhausted. With her white cloak wrapped around her for warmth, she looked like a snowman against the white snow, only her steaming breath gave her away. Suzume knelt beside her sister and hugged her. She moved her hands about, trying to rub some feeling into Aya's extremities to make her feel better and get her out of this cold. The snow was falling with some frequency as Suzume led her sister inside.

It was then that Drago was entering the living room, freshly toweled, and was led to sit down next to Dee. The sisters looked up as the tantalizing smell of hot food reached their noses, causing their mouths to water just a bit. Suzume helped Aya over and sat her down on a pillow across the table from Dee, then sat down next to her sister. Aya slightly revived a little after she cut out a piece of meat and took a bite. A good meal would do wonders after the day they had.

Drago had looked apprehensive at the meat for a moment. He had been poisoned once before by eating something delicious. But he did remember that he was stronger than he had been before, his constitution much more capable of removing dangerous conditions from his body. So without further ado, he dug into the delicious-smelling meats. Which he found, almost immediately after swallowing the first mouthful, well worth the wait.

He listened haphazardly to his one-sided conversation with Dee, shoveling food into his mouth at a fair speed. He was a quick eater, as he was constantly thrust from one situation to the next with little time to waste. Though he tried to slow down enough to not look like a pig. Taking the time to chew thoroughly and swallow. Hopefully his mannerisms weren't too off-putting to Dee.

The girls were much slower at their consumption of the meal, more to Dee's pace. Aya was resting a little between bites, attempting not to go too fast to avoid potentially throwing up. Suzume was using her own bandana to wipe off some sweat from Aya's brow, and generally comforting her twin, between her own bites of the delicious meal. The excitements of the day were now over, giving the girls time to settle in for a more relaxed evening. They were sorely in need of rest, as they were still not used to the hectic life of an always-on-duty combat navi.

Drago looked up from his meal as Dee suggested other ways in which she could reward him. "Points and cash are a good start. Add in some Bugfrags for my SPs as well," he said with a nod, before leaning close and grinning. "But perhaps my good General would also 'fancy' something from her loyal subordinate? All she would have to do is command it. I am serving at her leisure after all."

"I'll make sure the kiosk has a little goodie basket waiting for you, then," Dee smirked, as if amused by the fact that it didn't sound like DragonierMan could quite pick just one thing he wanted. "As for what the general commands her soldier to do, all I can really think of is..." she murmured, continuing chewing as she spoke. Her eyes watched the vintage collection on the other side of the bar while one hand brushed across DragonierMan's leg. It was a secret gesture, placed such that DragonierMan's girls wouldn't catch on. "I want you to keep being around, so you can help me out with important things... Like fixing walls, debunking camp rumors, making out with my friends, protecting us from pasty bald guys... That sort of thing."

"Without Archie, I'm not staying in this place for too long... It's my 'dad's' old house he doesn't use any more, and the place can get pretty creepy. I'm going back to the NS base where people take care of everything for me! But one of these days, let's hole up together for a while, just the two of us," she suggested with a whimsical smile, running one gloved finger around the rim of an unfilled wine glass as she did. "I'll leave my girls, you leave your girls, and you can wear something nice for once..."

"In the future, of course," she ended with an air of finality, moving behind the bar to examine the stock.

------------

With dinner settled and the storm picking up outside, Dee began to power down various aspects of the house. "Be sure to remember to go by the kiosk. I know the pleasure of my company is reward enough in itself, but for my soldiers to understand how truly gracious I am as a general, it's important that they accept additional indulgences," she joked with a haughty chuckle, then left the net.

After dinner was over and Dee left, DragonierMan turned to see Suzume tucking Aya in for the night. She was set up on the couch using her cloak as a blanket. He motioned to Suzume to use the cushions on the floor next to the couch as he grabbed up his dry cloak. "Get some rest and see to your sister. We should have an uneventful night now and we could all use a little shut-eye." He said before walking over to one of the bigger chairs and sitting down in it, wrapping himself up for the night...

Which was uneventful. And before long daylight came streaming in through the windows. The three woke up, stretched, and gathered themselves before shutting down the rest of the cabin and disappearing in beams of light.

[DragonierMan, Aya, and Suzume Logged Out.]