Rose with thorns

“If you want my advice? There’s people you play coy with, and then there’s people who wouldn’t know you were flirting if you got on your knee with a ring.”

Manuela sighed deeply, shaking her head. “I’m afraid Ingrid falls in the later category. You might just need to come right out and tell her.”

Her tone turned dry. “Goddess knows that’s what I finally had to do with Seteth. Did you know that man actually thought I was flirting with him out of pity?”

“I’ve been working towards it, but you know I don’t like being too obvious.” She let out a sigh.

The way she said it, Ingrid could practically hear Dorothea’s smile. “Cuddle…” The image conjuring in her head just made her poor face burn even more. She was quick to pay for the swimsuit to get outside in the fresh air. A slight breeze felt nice on her face. 

It was still hard to tell just how serious she was when she said such things. She told herself she was going to try not to ignore it so much. Clearing her throat, she turned to face Dorothea. “Was there anything else you wanted to shop for while we’re out? Before we leave, there’s also a nice little food stall nearby if you’d like, my treat.”

“Mhm.  We can just lay on the sand and enjoy each other.  I’d much rather it be you than some overly-buff beach king.” Dorothea rolled her eyes.

“Hmmm if you really want to.” She closed the curtain all the way, trying to quickly get back into her clothes. “You reaaaally sure you wouldn’t want to watch with some eligible bachelor you may meet there?” She was teasing mostly, yet she was also anticipating hopefully Dorothea would say no.

“Dunban? Well he’s certainly a handsome one, I can’t deny that. It isn’t him, however. He seems just as oblivious and hard to pin down as a certain someone. How is Ingrid, by the way?”

“Alright, I suppose getting refreshed and relaxed is important too.” She couldn’t very well chastise others for overworking if she never took her own advice. 

“It’s been awhile since I tried just having fun is all. I might be a little rusty.” The warmth of Dorothea’s arm on her skin was hard for her mind to ignore for some reason. A part of her wanted to reach up and lay a hand on hers. Instead she just held it in a fist at her side. 

“Me, Sylvain, His Highness and even Felix used to get up to just ridiculous and goofy things all the time.”

Dorothea gave her a wink before directing her back behind the curtain to change again.

“I look forward to seeing what you’ve picked out for yourself. You’re always make everything look so stylish.” Even if it wasn’t her particular tastes, Dorothea wore it so well. 

“Now I’ll just have to make sure to get some extra training hours in to make up for the missed time while we’re out. Although there are lots of fun beach activities that could replace it. Ever play volleyball?”

“I would like to trust you on that fact. Sometimes the glint in your eyes says otherwise.” Her body tensed up, doing her best not to move. Staring down to try and catch a glimpse of what Dorothea’s hands were doing.

She turned to glance back with a raised brow, a slight teasing tone in her voice.  “By my standards or by yours?”

Ingrid was tugging at the fabric, trying to make sure it fit in place. Was a little more girlish than anything else she typically wore, yet she didn’t hate it. “It looks better than I thought when I grabbed it. These sleeves are kind of cute and flowy too.” She swished her arms to prove that. 

“Be honest, the bottoms aren’t too short in the back right?”

She tilted a little in her chair, her eyes immediately going to Ingrid’s backside.

She followed the other girl out, practically skipping.  She loved shopping.  “I’m pretty certain that you look good in anything.  You’re so pretty.” 

Annette beamed, her eyes bright.  “Of course, Dorothea.  I’d be happy to help.”  If there was one thing she loved to do it was honestly complimenting her friends. 

“I would love to!” Dorothea didn’t even need to ask. “What are we shopping for?”