//------------------------------// // Ch.3 Style 101 // Story: The First Star of Twilight // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// Petal frowned, arms crossed with one of her hands tapping its fingers on her arm as she stared at a crystal wall. Displayed on said wall was a frustrated pajama-clad Twilight holding up a bright pink dress-shirt in a mirror. The Wraith's right eye twitched irritably at the garment. For the past two hours, Twilight had been showing her what few non-uniform clothes she owned. To call what the girl had presented to her "clothing" was a very generous label. Half of the girl's outfits were boring prim pressed blue jeans and white T-shirts while the rest were garishly colored abominations that existed for the sole purpose of making people go blind. Had it not been for her regenerative abilities, Petal was sure that was exactly what would've happened to her by now. "What about this?" Twilight huffed, shaking the shirt's hanger. "No way in all nine circles of hell," Petal frowned. "Where did you even get that thing?" "My mom bought it for me for my brother's wedding," Twilight muttered, cheeks turning pink as she rehung the shirt in her closet. Yet another thing all of Twilight's clothes had in common. "Let's just throw on a pair of jeans and a white shirt," Petal groaned, palm pressed firmly into her face. "Okay," Twilight grumbled, grabbing said items. "I'll be back in just a minute." Petal pulled her hand away from her face just in time to get a quick, yet jerky, panoramic view of Twilight's room. A few seconds later, she had a clear view of the room's green ceiling with several of the girl's studying tools framing the edges. Petal rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and sat cross-legged onto the cold crystal floor of her prison. Ever since Twilight found out about the true nature of her pendant, she had made sure to not bring it with her whenever she needed privacy. Not that Petal minded all that much, in the grand scheme of things. She never had any interest in what humans did in the bathroom and the wall would always fog over when Twilight used to bring her into the shower with her. As far as changing clothes went, Petal was admittedly mixed. Twilight had a lot of potential beauty hidden under her librarian "style", something that the Wraith appreciated on an objective level. From what few glances she got in the past, it looked like she had inherited most of her mother's best features. With the right outfit and just a bit of confidence, the girl could easily turn a few heads. "I hope we'll find something," she sighed, then grimaced as she added, "I just hope I don't have to bribe her into anything else later." She sat on that in silence as she waited for Twilight to return, the fact that she had to take advantage of her friend's curiosity putting a bad taste in her mouth. At the same time, she couldn't think of any other way to get the girl to step out of her comfort-zone. For Twilight to move forward, she had to do it willingly and if that meant Petal was going to have to dangle a carrot in front of her, then she was going to do it. No matter how much she hated herself for it in the end. "Rabia, please don't let me fuck this up," she groaned, tiredly rubbing both her eyes. *** Twilight stepped back into her room fully dressed and put her pendant back on with a nervous smile. For the first time in ages, she was going to spend a saturday not studying the day away. Granted, a vast majority of it was going to be spent clothes shopping, but the tradeoff was going to be more than worth it. All she had to do was give Petal's idea a try and she would tell her a little more about Wraiths and, more specifically, the Miasma they produced. She hummed a small tune to herself as she moved over towards her mirror and went to work on putting her hair into a ponytail. "No bun today?" Petal asked, sounding legitimately surprised. She shook her head and said, "I only wear it like that when I'm working." "I guess that means you work a hell of a lot, cuz this is the first time I've seen you wear your hair like this." "D-Does it look weird?" she stammered, face turning pink. "Not at all," the Wraith chuckled. "You look kind of cute, actually." "C-Cute?!" Twilight gaped, her whole face burning red. "Yeah," Petal laughed. "You should take more time off. Maybe you'll get a boyfriend." "Y-Yeah," she muttered, her savage blush fading away as a somber smile took its place. "Maybe." Apparently sensing the shift in mood, Petal hastily asked, "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah," she sighed, forcing a small smile as she stared down at her pendant. "Want to talk about it?" the Wraith asked. "Maybe later," she said, her smile shrinking slightly. "Right," Petal said softly, then took on a sharper edge as she added, "Right now, we need you to get a set of clothes that doesn't look like it belongs to a colorblind boozer!" "They weren't that bad," Twilight muttered. "Yes. They were." Recognizing a losing battle, Twilight just sighed, gave her reflection a quick once over, and headed for her bedroom door. As she made her way down the stairs and towards the kitchen, a small swarm of butterflies started to fill her belly. She knew that she was going to have to ask her mom for a ride to the mall. While not a difficult request per say, it did come with certain expectations from the matriarch. Her mind ran in thirty different directions with each step, the poor girl struggling to think of an explanation that didn't sound quite as insane as the truth. "I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, her arms nervously crossing as she stood at the foot of the stairs. "Sure you can," Petal reassured. "Just ask her to take you to this, "mall" place. Simple as that." "But what if she asks to come with me? I don't usually go there by myself," she quietly stammered, "Then say you're going with a friend," she said with an audible shrug. She let out a frustrated sigh, then resumed her march towards the kitchen. "You're thinking too much about this," Petal sighed. "Just try to relax for a change." "Easier said than done," she whispered nervously. "No kidding," the Wraith huffed. "How about this? You talk and I nibble on your worry for a bit. Sound good?" "No," she grimaced. "But I think I'm going to need it." Gulping, she stepped into the kitchen, a plate of waffles and mug of coffee waiting for her at the table. Sitting at said table, enjoying their own breakfasts were Twilight Velvet and a gray-blue man with messy dark-blue hair wearing a navy robe. He looked to be in his early thirties, but much like Velvet, held the spry energy of a man in his prime. While not overly muscular, he looked to be in great shape for someone his age. The man was the first to notice her, a warm smile gracing his lips over his own steaming mug. Velvet sported a smile of her own, a raised brow showing her intrigue as her daughter took a seat. "Good morning," the man grunted, his voice still rough with grogginess. "Morning dad," Twilight smiled. "Morning sweetie," Velvet smiled. "Taking a break from studying I see." Twilight nodded, her eyes locked onto her breakfast. "My little girl's leaving the house?" the man asked, eyes widening as he exclaimed, "Honey! Quick! Get to the basement! The world is coming to an end!" "Oh, Night Light," Velvet sighed, a playful smile spreading across her lips as she rolled her eyes at her husband's antics. Night Light's panicked expression shifted into a tired version of his wife's and with a chuckle, he took a sip from his mug. Twilight internally groaned, her cheeks heating up the more her parent's antics continued. She knew that Petal was getting a full front row seat to the whole interaction between them, a thought that mortified her in ways that she didn't even know existed. The fact that the Wraith had yet to make a single sound since she entered the kitchen only put her further on edge. "A-Anyway," Twilight meekly cut in. "I-I was planning on going to the mall today." "Got your eye on a new book?" Light asked, playfully. "N-Not exactly," Twilight stammered. "I was thinking of getting some new clothes." "Really?" Velvet blinked. The teen nodded, nervously meeting her mother's gaze. "That should be fine," she shrugged. "I'm already ahead of schedule at work, so a day of shopping shouldn't set me that far back." "A-Actually," Twilight cut in. "I-I was thinking you could just drop me off." Both parents shared surprised looks at that. "Are you sure?" Light asked. "It really wouldn't be any trouble for us to come with you," Velvet added, concern heavy in her tone. "N-No, its fine," Twilight stammered, then hastily blurted out, "A-A friend of mine agreed to meet me there anyway." It was when a shocked gape formed on her father's face and an ecstatic smile took shape on her mother's that she realized just what kind of Pandora's box she had inadvertently kicked open. Oh no, she thought with a gulp. *** The Crystal Emporium was one of the largest malls in the city. The massive four-story structure held several dozen different stores, an extensive food court, and a movie theater. It even had an arcade, a rare sight in this era of mobile and console games. As a result, the place was packed full of people, some perusing the store's wares while others were on missions to acquire specific products. In the camp of the latter, Twilight tried to find a specific store while she waded her way through the tide of strangers. As was the norm for her, she kept bumping and nearly tripping into various people, only this was not entirely as a result of her clumsiness. The whole drive towards the mall, Twilight's mother tried to weasel as much information as she could out of her about her new friend. Naturally, the poor teen couldn't tell her everything, but that didn't stop the woman from trying. As such, Twilight was forced to come up with slightly altered versions of what she knew about the Wraith hanging from her neck. As far as her mother knew, Petal was a student that transferred into Crystal Prep from another privet school. They met each other through Crystal Heart, the school's social network, a few days ago and decided to have lunch together at some point. When Velvet asked her what Petal was like, Twilight said that she was a "Very blunt person that was not afraid to speak her mind." She further explained that it was mostly because of this that she was going clothes shopping in the first place. By the end of the interrogation, the poor girl was so mentally and emotionally drained that she could barely muster up the energy needed to keep track of the people around her. Not helping was the fact that Petal had remained completely silent since breakfast. That alone added a whole new bundle of anxieties to her already growing cluster. Had she offended the Wraith in some way? Had their connection broken at some point? Was she sick? Dragging herself over to a nearby bench, she slumped back into it and nervously looked down at the pendant. "Petal? Are you okay?" A moment of silence, then, "Yeah, I'm fine." Twilight let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and practically melted into her seat with relief. "Good. You were so quiet I was starting to worry." "Yeah, sorry about that," the Wraith said glumly. "What's wrong?" she asked, concern heavy in her as she brought the gem up to eye level. "Nothing," Petal snipped. "Don't worry about it." "Is it a Wraith thing?" she pressed. She waited, but when no answer came, the teen's worry steadily grew. "Pe-?" "It's a me thing," she tiredly cut in. "I'll tell you about it later or..... something. Don't worry about it." "Are you sure?" Twilight frowned. "Yeah," she sighed, then in a more playful tone said, "Besides, we're not here to hear me bitch and moan, right?" "Right," Twilight chuckled, actually happy to hear her friend's crass language for once as she let the gem fall back into place. "C'mon Sparkle, let's get a fucking move on," the Wraith laughed. Rolling her eyes, the girl stood up and made her way towards a nearby directory. As both of them looked at the massive map, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads. While Petal couldn't remember the last time she was in this building, Twilight didn't have that convenient excuse. She had been to the mall several times, but most of those visits were dedicated to getting a new book or some parts for a project she was tinkering with. Sure, she knew of a few clothing stores through her mother, but it turns out that they were less than a tenth of the options the mall had on hand. This filled her with dread while a wide smile spread across Petal's face. "Perfect!" the Wraith cheered, pumping a fist as she stared at the map displayed on one of her prison walls. "What is?" Twilight grumbled, the girl's voice echoing all around her. "With this many stores to pick from, we're bound to find you something good to wear." "Maybe," Twilight mused. "But where do we start?" Petal gave the map a careful look over, gnawing on her right index knuckle in thought. "First," she started. "We should stay away from anything formal. I don't think you need a dress right now and this is mostly just civi clothes anyway." "Civi?" "Civilian," Petal frowned, rolling her eyes. "As in, 'clothes I am going to wear when I'm not at school or cooped up in my lab all day'." Something I plan to make happen a lot more often after this. "Right," Twilight said flatly. "Next. No pink." "Really?" the teen asked, a hint of irritation coloring her tone. "It's really not your color," Petal frowned, crossing her arms. "Okay, then what is my color?" Twilight asked testily. Petal was about to give her a snappy remark, but bit it back as she gave the girl's question some actual thought. Given Twilight's hair, eye, and skin tone, darker colors would probably be a good option. Anything bright would clash pretty painfully with her except for maybe white. She quickly shot that down since the girl had plenty of white shirts already. She hummed thoughtfully to herself as she imagined Twilight wearing different colored versions of the the outfit she left the house in to give her some kind of starting point to work with. "Dark blues, purples, magenta, and black," she mused. "Maybe red, but that's a pretty big maybe." "So...evening tones?" Twilight asked. Petal blinked in shock for a moment, then said, "Yeah. Sounds about right." Twilight hummed in thought for a moment, then Petal saw her take a picture of the map with her phone. She raised a brow when Twilight turned away from the map and reentered the crowds. All Petal could see clearly was the map picture on Twilight's phone with only faint hints of the people around them from the outside edges of the device's cover. Rolling her eyes at the lack of a view, she sat cross-legged on the floor of her prison. "I thought you didn't know anything about fashion," Petal huffed. "How do you know about color types?" "I read a book about Color Therapy a few years back," Twilight said matter-of-factly. "While it was brief, it covered different tones and how they could theoretically affect a person's mood in accordance with the time of day and weather that is commonly associated with them." "Well, aren't you full of surprises," the Wraith smirked. "I have my moments," the girl said meekly, a small smile coloring her tone. Petal chuckled at that and stared at her window to the outside world. Just how many other surprises did this human have under her sleeves? That thought made her smile grow a little more as Twilight stepped into the first store. I wonder how many more "moments" she'll have from here on out? *** After three hours of trying on clothes, examining accessories, and several near heart-attacks when price tags were seen, the teen was now walking through the mall with several bags loaded with multiple outfits. In spite of both of their initial reservations, the odd pair of friends actually found themselves enjoying the shopping experience. Twilight was even wearing one of these said outfits, a sheepish smile gracing her lips as she tried to ignore all of the passing glances she was getting. Much like the rest of her new wardrobe, her current outfit wasn't anything too extreme. Her white T-shirt and blue jeans were replaced by a thicker, more formfitting dark blue short-sleeved blouse and equally tight black jeans. "I can't believe you talked me into this," Twilight whispered, blushing fiercely as she walked stiffly through the crowds. "What? You look great!" Petal cheered. "But everyone's staring at me," she grimaced. "So? Let them stare," Petal shrugged. "You're a pretty, brilliant girl and it's about fucking time people started taking notice." "I don't know about pretty, but thanks," Twilight said, smiling sheepishly. "You're welcome," the Wraith said with an audible smile, then sharply added, "But take a fucking compliment for a change!" "R-Right, sorry," she stammered, smiling nervously. Petal groaned. "Look, if you start to get a fat head, I'll poke a few holes and pull you back to earth. Unless someone's trying to play you, just take whatever praise you get. Trust me, you've earned it at this point." "Right. I'll try," she smiled, a bit of confidence adding more strength to it now. A nearby store caught her attention and her eyes instantly lit up. The store was set up to look like the front of a mid-evil castle, complete with polished plank-wood doors and faux gray stone bricks framing them. Plastic gargoyles leered down at those that dared to cross the threshold, a fancy-scripted red neon sign that proudly announced the store's name, The D-20, to the world between them. Petal scoffed at the display, less than mildly impressed by the store's attempt at atmosphere. Not helping in improving her impressions of the store was what she saw on display behind its front windows. Figurines of people dressed in elaborate robes or armer each striking dramatic fighting poses along with sets of many-sided dice of varying colors and styles. Past the displays, she could see countless other products of similar natures. She rolled her eyes, wondering what kind of people would possibly be interested in such dorky things. It was then that she was met by a pair of eager purple eyes, a smile full of childish excitement completing the scene. You have got to be fucking kidding me. "Please?" Twilight whispered, tilting the front of her pendant up towards her face. "You can't be serious," the Wraith said flatly. "Please?" she repeated, her smile morphing into a small pout. Petal made a small choking sound, then snarled out a "Fine!" as she crossed her arms and turned away from her "window", her face bearing a small gray blush. "Just don't take too long. I still have to hold up my end of our deal today, remember?" Twilight's smile returned, a triumphant giggle bubbling past her lips as she quickly made her way towards the store. It took everything she had not to squee the second she crossed the threshold, all kinds of tabletop gaming supplies on full display in every direction. Books, dice, figures, character sheets, and everything one would need to store or safely transport said items stood proudly on displays just waiting to be purchased. Those not perusing the displays or wandering through aisles in the back of the store were sat at tables in groups ranging from three to six putting said products to use. Twilight was full of giggles as she nearly ran towards a dice display. At the same time, Petal was filled with an even split of exasperation and glee. While she couldn't care less about the trinkets surrounding them, the fact that they filled her friend with so much raw joy made the whole situation a lot more tolerable. "I can't believe it! They finally got the Rise of C'thullu set!" the teen gushed, eyeing her target. "Which one do you think I should get?" Raising a brow, Petal asked, "Which ones are we talking about?" A second later, a lavender finger pointed towards a cluster of oddly colored dice in Petal's line of sight. Humming in thought, the Wraith put them under her scrutiny. Each set seemed to be made of some sort of translucent crystalline substance in a wide variety of colors. The numbers all seemed to be made of a metallic variant of this substance that ranged from faded copper to brilliant gold. Each die was coated in an odd glaze that put a kind of aurora effect onto them when the light hit them, giving an admittedly "other worldly" feel to them. Intrigued in spite of her previous reservations, she narrowed down what sets held her interest for more than a few seconds. At the same time, she felt Twilight's excitement gradually building in the background. "I like the black one," she smiled, just managing to give Twilight an answer just seconds before the girl popped like a shook can of soda. "It reminds me of the night sky." Taking a couple of deep breaths to mellow herself out a bit, she gave the set in question a look. The dice were jet black with shining silver numbers. Under the store lights, the coating on them gave off a deep purple aura, as if the dice were plucked straight from the darkest void in space. Smiling, Twilight said, "Me too," before she started moving further into the store. "Aren't you going to buy them?" Petal asked. "Yes, but I want to see what else they have," she giggled, casually studying a few figurines on display. "Fair enough," Petal sighed, lazily ogling what figures drifted into her line of sight. That is, until one particular figurine caught her eye. The creature was completely dark gray in color and looked like a human skeleton cloaked in thick mist of the same color. Glowing white eyes shined from its skull with an ornate silver crown sitting proudly on top. The creature looked to be reaching forward, as if preparing to pull some unfortunate soul to their untimely demise with a mouth wide open in a haunting scream. "What the hell is that?" Petal asked, smiling. "What's what?" Twilight asked, stopping. "The skeleton guy on the bottom shelf." Curious, Twilight looked down and upon seeing what Petal saw, let out a nervous chuckle. "This one?" she asked, pointing at what she hoped was the wrong figurine. "Yeah." Twilight gulped, then awkwardly stated, "That's......a Wraith." Silence, then uproarious laughter filled Twilight's head as the actual Wraith let that fact sink in. "I fucking wish I looked that awesome," she chuckled. "By The Queen, it really surprises me what humans come up with sometimes!" Twilight let out a relieved sigh and said, "That's good. I was worried that you'd get mad." "Please," Petal scoffed. "My kind have had myths and legends spread about us for centuries that would make that guy look like a supermodel." "Such as?" Twilight asked, her worry quickly changing into curiosity. "That we're the souls of criminals that were put to death for our crimes or man-eating demons that want to suck out people's souls," she said flatly. "Hell, some people thought that we could walk through walls and raise the dead. Please. If I had those kind of powers, I probably wouldn't be stuck in this rock." "I see," Twilight nodded, pretending to continue window-shopping. "What kind of abilities do Wraiths have?" "Cashing in a topic now, eh?" the Wraith chuckled. "Alright. While Archwraiths have a few unique tricks, Wraiths typically have a few common powers. We're a lot stronger and faster than humans and we can heal from basically anything." "Anything?" Twilight blinked, taking a monster manual off of a shelve and opening it to a random page. "Yep," she said, a hint of pride entering her tone. "So long as we have the Miasma to spare, we can be completely blown apart and regenerate from the biggest part. Granted, that only works if there's something to regenerate from, so it's not something we do often." "Interesting," Twilight mused. "We can also use our Miasma to make things. Usually it's clothes or weapons, but we can make basically anything. Hell, if we can spare it, we can even make pocket dimensions called Nests." "You can do what?" Twilight blinked, almost dropping the book she was "reading". "Yep," she chuckled. "But don't get too excited. I don't have anywhere near enough power to do anything fancy. The most I can do is change my clothes and send out feeding vines if I try hard enough." "What are feeding vines?" the teen asked, raising a brow. Petal's tone turned sheepish as she said, "They're, um, tentacles that we can wrap people up with to completely suck a single negative emotion out of them. They don't prevent you from feeling that emotion ever again or anything like that. I've....been using them to help with your night terrors." "Oh," Twilight said simply, snapping the book shut and putting it back onto its shelf. "I guess that explains why I've been sleeping better recently." "I really couldn't stand seeing you like that," she sighed. "I bet the whole thing sounds pretty creepy, but I literally couldn't do anything else to help you." "Is that how you eat my stress?" the teen asked, plucking a bundle of character sheets off of a nearby aisle. "No. I just pull it in as is. We only use feeding vines to pull in massive amounts of food. Like, "I'm about to have a heart attack in the next five seconds", massive." "So, near fatal levels of emotional turmoil," Twilight mused, then smiled down at her pendant and said, "Thanks, for saving me." The Wraith sputtered, then said, "D-Don't read too much into it! Anyone would've done something if they were there." "Right," she giggled. "But still, thank you." "Whatever," Petal muttered. "That's all the info you're getting out of me this time." "Alright," the teen sighed, mildly disappointed. "Let's get the dice and-" "Twilight Sparkle?" A monotoned female voice behind her asked. She froze, then slowly turned around to face its source with dread steadily growing in her heart. Standing about two feet away from her was a girl roughly the same age as her. She had a lithe build similar to Twilight's, though it was the kind that belonged to runners. her skin was a soft blueish gray and her hair was white with light gray streaks and styled into a trio of ponytails. She wore a lavender hoodie, gray jeans, and a pair of red wireframe glasses. She wore a perfect pokerface as her grayish orchid eyes scanned Twilight from top to bottom, her gaze adding to the teen's already growing anxiety. "S-Sugar Coat," Twilight whispered with a gulp. "I thought it was you," the girl, Sugar Coat, stated, tone as flat as paper. "Is that a new outfit?" Twilight nodded, nervously taking a step back from the girl. "You look good," she nodded. "A lot better than you used to look when you would come to the school library." Twilight froze, the compliment making her heart sink as her dread steadily grew. Oblivious to the girl's growing fear, Sugar Coat gave the bundle of character sheets in her hand a passing glance. It was faint, but the girl's eyes lit up at the discovery. Twilight's heart slammed in her chest at the sight, already bracing herself for whatever cruel words her fellow Elite had in store for her. Petal watched the girl as well, carefully studying everything she could about her. All the while, the Wraith struggled to keep her friend's fear under control. With eyes locked onto her window, she kept a hand pointed at the wall showing Twilight's soul, sickly black fog pouring out of it into her outstretched palm. The divide pulled heavily on her, but even under the strain she could see that something wasn't right. This "Sugar Coat" didn't seem all that hostile, at least, not as much as the other two girls that hounded Twilight every day at school. She grunted as the influx of fear grew when Sugar Coat spoke. "You're a player?" she asked. Stiffly, Twilight nodded. "What kind of game?" "D-D&D," she stammered, her breathing steadily quickening. A small smile formed on Sugar Coat's face, but to Twilight, it looked like a cruel sneer. "That's perfect," she said, still oblivious to Twilight's growing panic. "The group I am part of has been looking for a new player and it would be good to have someone capable for a change. Do you want to join?" She could hear Sugar's words, but her brain struggled to put them together. Her breaths were turning into panicked gasps. The girl's voice slowly shifted from its familiar monotone to Sour and Sunny's mocking lilts. It was a trap. A lie. Sugar was planning something. But what? She couldn't stay here. She needed to escape! Sugar noticed Twilight's condition, her smile turing into a confused frown as she approached the girl. "Are you okay?" she asked, reaching out a hand. Something in the girl snapped the second Sugar's hand made contact with her shoulder. The lavender teen had no idea what happened next. It was all a panicked mess of colorful blurs and screaming. Had she screamed? It sounded like her scream. She had a vague memory of running, but it was just as much a blur as the rest of her memories of the past few,,,,minutes? Seconds? She didn't know. All she did know was the now and it was such a strange feeling. Everything was dark and she couldn't move, yet she felt no fear. She knew that she would be under these kind of circumstances, but it was as if that particular emotion was being yanked away from her as she felt it. Instead, she felt exhausted, as if she had just ran a marathon or went a week without sleep. If they weren't closed already, she was sure her eyes would be drooping just as much as the rest of her body was in whatever bindings held her. Slowly, those very bindings started to go slack and she became more aware of her surroundings. She heard dripping water and smelled something foul. She became aware that she was on her knees, her hands clinging desperately onto something smooth and cold. When whatever held her slid off of her face, she opened her eyes. She was in one of the mall's bathroom stalls, kneeling over a toilet filled with vomit. In the corner of her eye, she saw her bags laying haphazardly beside her on the floor, but that didn't hold her focus for very long. A dull violet glow from her pedant caught her eye along with the dozens of glowing black vines retracting back into it. For a long moment she stayed like that, mind reeling and drained. In time, she managed to gather enough of her remaining strength to stagger back to her feet. Collecting her bags, she numbly intoned a single wish as she stepped out of the stall. "I want to go home." "Y-Yeah," Petal stammered, an audible strain coloring her tone. "I think that's a good idea."