#cerberusley

Hana, did you know that Donkey from Shrek and Furina share two of the most powerful qualities ever?

Quality one: Hard not to love em.

Quality two: Certified(tm) dragon tamers.

she knew her turmoil & emotions were painted all over her face, however hardly anybody was brave enough to outright ask her about them. not that she expected them to it was just ... it was a change when someone took her into account - an alien feeling. ' n-no ... not particularly. ' she shook her head, focusing on the campfire & the manner the flames danced over the burning wood. ' i'm sorry, i appreciate your offer i do i just don't want to talk about it right now. '

' fursona, you say? ' furina blinked at the usage of that word. she can't say she had seen anything, she just got back from the vale alongside clorinde & navia. ' um, n-no i haven't! ' neuvillette made it? her thoughts stuck to that now & furina brought a hand up to her lips to withhold the fact that a corner of it had twitched upward like she wanted to smile.

' i'm sure it looks wonderful. ' crafts huh? she was overjoyed.

she saw no flaws in her plan, in what she had set her mind to do, not in the way that wriothesley seemed to have seen. her plan would have saved the targeted melusines in the end regardless of the means she took to get to that end, so why was he almost upset with her? she held on to his hand & then looked over her shoulder where the abyss lectors had fallen to their assumed doom, in fact she was able to spot a catalyst of theirs, stabbed upon a rather sharp rock that stuck out of the crashing waves down below.

' i- ' she wanted to defend her train of thought. yes, she ... did not consider her safety or take it into account, which she now saw seemed to be the problem. she sighed & shook her head. ' j-just pull me up yes? ' beats hanging around all day. which he does & she does her best to assist in that task. once she was on land again she plopped down upon the dirt & sighed, facing up at the clouded sky that had been raining down upon them minutes ago. ' thank you. ' she breathed in deeply & exhaled, the rush of adrenaline a high she had to come down from.

she had to giggle a little. insane? ' maybe a little. ' she admitted aloud, & mainly to herself. her eyes closed as she focused on leveling her breathing now that she wasn't hanging how she was. ' sorry for worrying you, wriothesley. ' she opened her eyes after a while & looked over at him. however she was glad, she was glad that they were safe - that was what mattered to her in the end, that they were safe.

From the corner of his eye he spots a tenant to another apartment on this floor staring at him so Leslie turns to look at them and nods his head. "Hey," he waves casually, the tenant awkwardly waving back before going back into their apartment in a rush. "Sheesh," Leslie huffs. What got into them?

He hears the knob to Furina's door unlock, the duke incognito immediately perking up. Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. "Miss Furina," he greets with a slight bow out of respect and then offers the box with the shark-shaped chocolates in them. "I wanted to give you this," he straightens up, "hopefully they're of your liking."

furina had, in fact, heard the first couple of knocks ... against her will. she was unsure of who it was that was out there, but they were interrupting her precious sleep! it wasn't even noon yet. ' ugh ' she groaned & hugged her pillow closer to her face, an attempt to relax & drift off to sleep again since the knocks had ceased. maybe they gave up? wonderful-!

knock. knock. knock.

furina snapped her eyes open & stared at the clock by her bedside. it was only ten in the morning. she sighed. who could possibly be looking for her this early in the morning? had something horrible happened? furina yawned & she would be lying if she said she wasn't tempted to fall right back asleep, but that would be so unbecoming of a lady such as herself. she can't just ignore whoever it was that was knocking, not after she had clearly acknowledged their presence.

she rested on her back & rubbed her eyes, another yawn unintentionally escaping until she eventually forced herself to sit up. ' coming! ' she announced with another yawn, slipping on her nightgown robe & getting to her feet. she was far too tired to be properly annoyed at the moment. furina hugged herself as she approached the door, her trusty companions snoozing away in her living room as they also do not wake this early. she was surprised none of them woke up to the knocking before her. she brought a hand to her lips, yet another yawn she managed to get out before properly opening the door to greet this surprise guest. ' hello? ' she asked drowsily.

it was more than a little surprise to have the duke of meropide at her door. ' wriothesley ' she said his name in some sense of disbelief. what was he doing here? was everything alright? the surprise of seeing him managed to wake her more & she was prepared to ask how she could be of assistance when he held out some sort of gift for her. she blinked at the box, more confused & lost than before. what had she done to deserve this? a gift? ' oh ... thank you. ' she reached for it slowly & took it from his hands. curiosity made her undo the ribbon & open the decorated box to only be greeted by an assortment of chocolates. shark-shaped chocolates designed with a hairstyle that strangely reminded her of wriothesley himself. chocolates for her? ' oh wriothesley, this is very sweet but you really didn't have to. ' she found herself feeling slightly bashful, but that was only because she was genuinely not expecting such a kind gesture from him.

she was endeared by how the chocolates were designed after sharks though, made her smile & for a moment she forgot that she had been woken up before her usual time at all.

' i- ' she shook her head, no, she can't be rude. ' thank you, wriothesley ' she held the gift to her chest. ' i appreciate it. ' he came all this way to give her chocolates, she can't be rude when his intention was so kind.

Violet eyes briefly widen in unfiltered surprise when she recognises the item set before her and Wriothesley is treated with a fleeting smile.

Clorinde's stoic disposition smoothed into genuine mirth; a sliver of sunshine peeking through storm clouds for a few breaths before they are enveloped again.

"I dunno, your grace." A blatant lie. "But whoever sent you that must be quite the softie, don't you think?"