imitations of rebellion.

Mercedes practically beams when the cats meow seemingly in response, and takes it as a showing of their gratitude. She remains seated on her heels, hands folded neatly in her lap as she watches over the felines to make sure they get their fill.

A small, surprised 'oh!' escapes her at the sound of a new voice behind her, the woman looking over her shoulder to look at Miorine and immediately brightening.

'i didn't have any pets where i lived.' animals, yes, and perhaps they were pets to earth house too, but farm animals nonetheless used for that purpose. she'd had a few pets when she was younger but... not for long before her father saw to the end of that. it must have been nice, to have all these cats roaming free around you.

But when they were like this she remembered just how small Miorine truly was. She carried all of her burdens with her head held high, but she was just a girl. They both were. They were only teenagers and yet they both had blood on their hands, they had hurt each other, they had braved things no one else their age ever would.

And yet in the end they always found each other again. She took Miorine at her word that she'd be fine.

"I guess... that's a difficult question? Technically we've been in the city for about one year, right? When we first arrived I remembered as far as Plant Quetta though. A couple of months ago... I remembered our reunion at Beneritt HQ... and me getting ready to sortie in the Calibarn." And so it was a little confusing at times. "I didn't want to worry you by mentioning it though. My feelings for you haven't changed, Miss Miorine. I was... worried if you weren't in the same situation as me that you might think I was lying, or that you'd be upset if I told you anything..."

'one year...' she cleared her throat as she folded her arms across her chest, gaze cast downward in thought. 'and you say you remembered everything gradually?'

it had been the same for her, though she didn't say it aloud. what did that mean? collective amnesia, somehow inflicted by their captors? they already had the power to - if she could bring herself to believe it - kidnap them from across dimensions. what was the erasure of memory by comparison?

Miorine wasn't very good at picking up after herself and she had promised to clean her room. Of course Suletta would never say that aloud.

"Oh, good morning Miss Miorine!" She'd thought to greet her on sight, but was met with the force of being grabbed and held. Suletta stumbled back a step but managed to weather the embrace. For someone who was quick to fluster a lot of the time, she could tell when Miorine was upset about something.

She became very clingy, for one. It took the Holder a moment to process what was happening but she eventually wrapped her bride up in a hug of her own. "...Right." It was better just to accept when Miorine didn't want to express her feelings vocally. It was rude to pry, and she knew that she'd be told eventually.

'i'm fine.' her hands grasped tighter on suletta, in stark opposition to her words. 'i will be fine. i promise.'

and then, after what felt like an eternity, she pulled away, and looked up at suletta with a small, cautious smile.

The stars above the maze illuminated what fireflies and torches did not. Even though it was nighttime it was still hot and humid, but despite the fact that her hands were sweaty because of it she didn't even think for a second of letting go of Miorine's hand. Suletta knew that she wouldn't have wanted her to either.

but now wasn't the time to dwell on unhappy thoughts, not when there were new memories to be created together. together.

'your hands are clammy,' miorine remarks offhandedly. she squeezes the other girl's hand tighter, pushes in close as their arms are wound together. 'but so are mine.'

Without telling her that part!

"What do you think, Miss Miorine? Did I pick something good?" She gave her fiancée's tiny hand a squeeze with her own, fingers intertwined. She hadn't let go of it since they'd left for the event together in fact. Now that she was standing beside Miorine not as a Holder but on her own terms, she'd wanted to make a big showing with a nice date.

Things back home were uncertain, but she knew the both of them could benefit from a little distraction. As long as they had each other here then things would be okay. She gave Miorine a little tug so that they were closer. "Are you ready to go in?"

truthfully, she might have gone with anything suletta had chosen, if only for the fact that she had had a difficult time being out of sight for too long. three messages a day only carried you so far, even if this place had been relatively more calm than their home world.

'i guess you did fine.' she squeezes suletta's hand back, though her features are uncolored by outward emotion. 'yes, i'm ready.'

His objective for the day was to simply scout the place out. Observe and take mental notes; see if something or someone could be of use to him here. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a young woman haggling with a salesman. No, haggling wouldn't be the right word for this.

It looked like she wanted nothing to do with this stall and yet...

"Then, I'll take those." Aqua's sudden declaration seems to have worked, momentarily distracting the suspicious salesman. "Junk like these will have their use. Rust is easy enough to polish off with the right know how so I don't mind it much."

To an outsider it may look like Aqua cut into the younger woman's intense haggling with this salesperson when in reality, he took some of the pressure off of her. Not that he knew if some otherworldly spell was at work or not but the shop owner seemed satisfied enough after Aqua made his purchase so he let them both go and on their way.

'we could make some use out of these.' she reaches into one of the bags and pulls out a rusted screwdriver and a bent wrench. 'not worth the price he was charging, but with some polish they might pass.'

restoration of any sort is not a skill she possesses, but there are resources here, and she's willing to learn. she's not doing this out of some misguided desire to make up for involving him in a con artist's scheme - there's always something to be gained. move forward -

but that's a fool's saying.

of course with all of the room she had, she could finally rehearse the plays that she wanted to show off. it was the same play she had told praetor before, the really bad one. sadly, no one was here to witness such a fun story. or at least that is what nero thinks, upon turning around she catches her eye on on a young girl staring. maybe she could some positive feedback from her. the servant decides to walk up to where she is standing.

though, she thought, these were technically different circumstances. she'd never been asked for critique of this sort before in her life, for starters.

'it was decent.' a bit more harsh than necessary, but she could soften the blow yet. you needed to encourage people to try their hardest, right? 'perhaps i need to see more.'