//------------------------------// // Rest Experience // Story: Equestria Was Merely a Setback! // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to Magestikus, GrezterGreen, God of Physics, ChaoticLightning, Quixotic Enigma, Reykan, Mad Maudlin, refferee, Whinifree, Schroedingers_Katze, nioniosbbbb, SilentMech, Ketvirtas, and Tinee-The_TinCan for commenting last chapter, as well as everyone who liked/favorited this story which got it on the front page! Thanks for your support, I hope you continue enjoying, and I hope to continue to hear from you in the comments! Trixie had taken it upon herself to be the one asking around for the mage trainer inside the building while Kael trailed behind silently. Since he was getting odd looks from some still, the brunt of conversations were left to Trixie to handle. Sadly, despite asking around for what felt like forever, Trixie could not track down someone who knew where the mage trainer was. In fact, everyone seemed unhelpful for those who might have known and the ones who were clueless spent no effort in helping them beyond that point. Not even a point in the right direction. This changed when a yawning man who was laying down on a pillow in the corner of the circular and one room building made her think that perhaps a more sleepy person might not be decidedly unhelpful because of her company. “Excuse me, do you know where the magic trainer is for new mages?” The man on the ground rubbed his eyes drowsily, another yawn escaping his lips as he worked on staying awake and responding to the question posed, “I apologize, but the mage trainer is sick today. Would you mind coming back tomorrow when they are better?” Trixie lit up in excitement. Even if it meant that the teacher was not there, it meant they would be in the future and she just wasn’t being ignored by whoever it was. Trixie gave a small bow in thanks for the information, “Of course,” she looked back to Kael and beckoned him to come closer, “Where would we be sleeping for the night, however?” The man on the ground shrugged, “Some sleep here, but there is an inn across the plains and through an area overrun by the Wretched. The inn has more privacy and is nicer in my opinion. A wagon should be running there soon, if you would like to go.” Kael shrugged too, not caring about the location they slept, while Trixie smiled to the helpful Elf, “I don’t see why not. My whole body is aching as it is. Thank you for the help, and we will see you tomorrow.” Trixie did not wait for a response before turning on her heel and grabbing Kael by his tattered sleeve, desperate to leave behind the people being so rude to her one and only friend. Kael, apathetic to the disgust being shown to him, just let her drag him away while giving a parting wave to the man who helped them out. The man returned the wave while continuing to yawn, “Be safe you two!” he paused as they left the open building with its lack of a door, only to then yell after them as he thought of something else, “Or don’t! We’re kind of going extinct as it is…” Trixie didn’t get it, but Kael started laughing as he was pulled towards the wagon. Night fell quickly over the landscape, and in the time Trixie was inside it went from looking like mid-afternoon to the dead of night. She wanted to get a better look around while she was riding, see what the sleepy man had spoken about, but the lack of light prevented her from really telling anything. That, and she was finding it difficult to pay attention to the surroundings as her eyes were drawn to Kael’s hands. He was using a small bit of fire magic to grant some light, and Trixie smiled as she watched it flicker back and forth in his palm. The ride was quite short, only taking a couple minutes, so Trixie found herself being led to the so called inn before she could even take in anything else about the area. The wagon driver had someone take his horses away and park the vehicle while he brought Kael and Trixie inside their home for the night. On the way in, Trixie noticed two things however: the lack of a door again which made her question the heating of the structure, and also the blue drapes that swayed in the night air and formed the only “door”-like thing of the building. As Trixie passed them, she pulled on Kael’s sleeve to get his attention. “Ooh, blue drapes. I like blue.” Kael stopped and smiled, all the while questioning the structure’s odd opening which was shaped like a straightened and rotated S before opening into the main chamber of the building, “It is my favorite color.” Trixie rose a long silver eyebrow at him, genuinely curious about what he said, “It is? I would have guessed red was.” Kael sighed, a part of him telling him that this was not the first time someone had made that mistake, “The color one wears does not mean it is their favorite color.” Now inside, the two took a look around the structure. The rectangle shaped building was dim and had an intricate architecture lining its walls, with a periwinkle purple table sitting atop a darker purple rug right by the entrance. Given the seats placed around it, Kael assumed it to be a dining table while Trixie did not give its use any thought, since her mind was on the color of it. Trixie pointed first to the table, making sure not to be gesturing to its golden accents and to be pointing at its main color, “Well, mine is purple, in case you ever buy me anything. I look good in it,” she then lowered her finger to point at the floor’s rug, which she was by no means fond of, “Lavender purple. Not violet purple or whatever this is.” Kael tried to come up with a description for it, but found himself grasping at straws while secretly wishing he could take a seat in one of the L shaped chairs despite their low seats and short legs. His legs were killing him from all the standing he was doing that day, though to be honest the ached ever since he awoke in the Isle without any memory as to how he got there, “Grape purple?” Trixie let the issue drop as a woman with brown hair, a white shirt that revealed her full cleavage, and a red skirt approached them from the back of the building, revealing to the two a staircase in the back they had not noticed before. The woman bowed to the two as she introduced herself, “Welcome to Falconwing Square Inn. I am Delaniel, the innkeeper here. May I prepare a meal for you, or ready a room?” “A meal would be nice, but we are here for the night,” Trixie responded, realizing that her skinny stomach was actually rumbling. She had been aching so much across the rest of her body that it did not occur to her before that she was hungry, for she merely thought she was suffering of a hurt stomach after a day of physical activity. The innkeeper nodded before quickly snapping her fingers as she remembered something, “Actually, I am sorry, but we only have one room and bed available tonight. Will that be okay for you and your…” she looked over the disheveled Kael’Thas with interest, “partner?” Trixie scoffed as she pulled out her coin bag and removed a few coins, causing Kael to reach into his bag and do the same, “Of course, we only needed one room to begin with.” “E’ast?” (One bed) the woman replied with some shock. Not that she did not have regulars come by her inn with a bedfellow, but she was still surprised by the boldness demonstrated. Trixie, for her part, was simply being cheap. She had never intended to spend twice as much money when one room could house both her and her companion. The idea that it was odd or carried connotations with it completely went over her head as she paid the woman up front with some copper pieces, Kael doing the same. Actually able to understand what the innkeeper said, Kael gave her a sheepish smile while responding, “A’ther.” (Thank you) Delaniel chuckled as she realized that this must be a new couple, given that he seemed embarrassed while his companion was more open about it, “I don’t see that many young couples these days. Well, take a seat and relax yourselves. I will ready a meal and your room. Are there any dishes in particular you would like?” Trixie nodded readily as she moved to sit down at the table, Kael following suit, “Bread and hay would be nice. Thank you again.” Delaniel continued to laugh, though it was more nervous this time around, “Hay is for horses.” Trixie blinked. Why had she asked for hay? Huh… To not embarrass herself further, Trixie laughed at herself and what she said, trying to play it off as something other than a mistake, “A joke, haha,” she cleared her throat before repeating herself, “Bread then, please. And whatever plants grow nearby please.” Kael gave her a look of interest, as he could tell that she had not in fact been joking. He kept his curiosity to himself though as the innkeeper turned to him for his own order. Kael cleared his throat and pointed to an assortment of food and drink lined on a bar on the far side of the inn’s first floor, “I too would like some bread, though that fruit pie you have seems delectable as well. May I have some of that and the Moonberry juice you have?” Trixie looked over to it and whiffed it with her nose, “May I have some of that blueberry pie too?” “It’s cherry,” Delaniel responded, beginning to get the feeling that this poor girl wasn’t all there. Good thing she had a guy to look after her, Delaniel thought. After a moment, Trixie mumbled, “…I don’t like cherry,” her stomach continued to rumble as she thought about food. Certain preferences were coming back to her, like her interest in bread and butter, “Is there blueberry? Or apple. Apple sounds delicious, but blueberry is my favorite,” unable to really recall why that was, Trixie had a vague feeling it had to do with whoever her mom was for some reason, “I think I get it from my mother.” Eager to please, Delaniel smiled to Trixie before going into the back, “I will see what I have.” Once their host left them, Trixie found herself instantly drawn to the bottle and glasses already on the table. The shape of the bottle and the glasses, as well as a unique smell, gave Trixie a good idea about what was in front of them, “Ooh, is this alcohol?” “Yes, it seems to be,” Kael responded, not wanting to actually drink it and instead waiting for the juice he ordered. Trixie, on the other hand, grabbed the wine bottle and opened it up with a look of glee on her face. “I never got to drink fine wine before!” she paused to bring a finger to her chin, “Or, at least I don’t think it’s something I’ve done.” “Be careful not to ingest too much. I prefer coherent company,” Kael deadpanned, all the while looking at Trixie’s legs. Not for any perverted reason, as her body was fully clothed by her purple robes, but because of how Trixie had sat down. Delaniel had not been able to see it because of the back of the tall chair getting in the way, but Trixie was sitting like an animal might…legs spread apart but bent so that she was sitting, and her hands rested in-between them when they were not in use. Trixie held a finger up to him to shush him while she chugged down a full glass of the whine, stopping to wipe her lips before cheekily sticking her tongue out at her partner, “Sorry, what was that? I was busy enjoying myself.” Despite her odd idiosyncrasies, Kael decided to let the whole matter go. No reason to really care why his friend was so odd, he only needed to accept her for who she was just like she was doing for him. Unlike so many of the other Elves they had met… Kael waved a hand to dismiss the matter, “Never mind. I am just glad the day is over.” Seeing that Kael was not going to be drinking any, Trixie brought the bottle to her mouth instead and began to drink it straight from the source. She did not remember ever tasting something so great, though to be honest she had little to nothing to compare it to. Still, it felt awesome, and so she was not going to stop anytime soon. Kael watched with both parts amusement and confusion as Trixie chugged the bottle down until it was half-done, only to then turn to him and point at him using the wine bottle, “Okay, now that we have time, talk.” “About what?” Kael responded with further confusion. It seemed like she wasn’t being general about it, but he did not know what the soon to be intoxicated woman wanted to discuss. Trixie shrugged and gestured around to the entire surrounding area, “You know more than I do, so what’s going on here? I honestly need help, and I don’t know anyone I could trust more to explain the situation.” “More than you means practically nothing given how little you know?” Kael said back as a question, not really sure what to say. He knew some things, but it wasn’t like his mind was a library he could draw from and tell her things from. On occasion since he woke up he would remember something, but in reality he was little better off than his companion. “Are you accusing me of being stupid?” Trixie pouted as she finally put the bottle down so that she could accept the plate of bread being handed to her from Delaniel from behind. Kael thanked their server as he shook his head, taking his own food and placing it down in front of himself on the table, “Stupid? No. Ignorant? Yes, I could be said to be accusing you of that.” “Are you accusing me of that?” Trixie questioned further, only for Kael to shrug and laugh. “I feel there is no way to win this conversation, so I will begin by saying that I remember just a little about our culture. Not enough really to be useful.” “Blood Elf culture…” Trixie paused as she thought back to what the Magistrix said earlier, “Or was it Sin’dory?” “Sin’dorei,” Kael corrected with a smile, currently amused by how she continued to sit in such an odd way. She really was a character, even if she was clueless at the moment. And about to be very drunk. She quickly began to tend to her food, which was a loaf of bread and a whole blueberry pie, and Kael found himself surprised by how fast she managed to cut the bread into slices in a systematic fashion only to then butter it with the butter provided along with her food. How quickly she did it made him think that perhaps she had eaten a lot of this cheap, common fare food before. Trixie pointed the knife she was using to cut the bread at him briefly, “Yes, that. Tell me more about those.” Delaniel gasped softly as she finished handing over the last pieces of their meal, “Oh my, is your companion suffering from some kind of memory loss, sir?” To make Trixie feel less embarrassed, Kael spoke up about his own issues as well, “We both are, to be honest.” “What a shame,” Delaniel sighed, only to then realize that Trixie had already finished half a loaf of bread. She ran into the back and grabbed another loaf of bread for her customer, “Here you go,” Trixie thanked her in-between bites, causing Kael to laugh at how thoroughly starved his friend must have been. Seeing that the two were enjoying themselves, and not particularly fond of the moaning coming from upstairs, Delaniel decided to stay with her present company, “Mind if I join you? Things are slow right now, and I don’t think there will be anyone else coming by tonight.” Kael gestured to the vacant seat next to Trixie, “Go ahead.” Delaniel took the seat, instantly noticing that the girl was sitting weirdly beside her before not caring just as quickly, “Thank you. I can share any information you two need. Where shall I begin?” “How about…” Trixie laughed as she realized how utterly confused she was in general. Beside her, Kael was actually surprised that Trixie was not yet displaying actual signs of being any level of intoxicated, “Well, pretend I know nothing about Blood Elves and go from there. Just pretending of course.” Delaniel nodded before clearing her voice and preparing to tell a story, “Of course. Now, long ago the exiled race known as the High Elves landed on the shores of Lordaeron. These are our ancestors, who had been changed by their usage of arcane magic and driven out by their Night Elf brethren for simply using magic like we do.” “These Night Elves sound like jerks,” Trixie grunted. Prejudice over just basic magic? That was just mean. At least, it seemed that way with what little she knew. “They tend to be even more stuck up than we are, and we are known for being the most stuck up member of our nation’s alliance,” Delaniel continued, “Now, we struck out to find a new home, and after many battles with the trolls, established the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Using a vial of sacred water stolen from a Night Elven source known as the Well of Eternity, the High Elves created a fount of mystical power at a convergence of ley energies in Quel'Thalas. They named this fountain the Sunwell. Its potent arcane magic fed and strengthened the High Elves, and soon the wondrous city of Silvermoon was established.” “What’s ley energy?” Trixie piped up again, trying to follow the best she could as she ate and listened. Kael actually gave his bread over to Trixie so that she could devour it, and he found himself amused at the sheer speed at which she managed to consume it all. Less interested in Trixie’s oddities, Delaniel kept talking, “Think of it as magic energy that comes from the land itself that lines the ground and provides extreme power to those who harness it,” she cleared her throat to get back to telling the tale of their people, “Anyways, protected by a magical barrier, the High Elves enjoyed peace for roughly four thousand years, but that peace was not meant to last. The tribe of trolls known as the Amani gathered an immense army and assaulted the elven kingdom. Vastly outnumbered, the High Elves hastily struck an alliance with the human nation of Arathor. The elves taught a small number of humans how to wield magic. In exchange the humans aided the elves in destroying the trolls' power base forever.” Once again, Trixie interrupted to ask a question about things she felt like she should know, “What’s a human? And what’s a troll?” “A human is like a broader, less refined, Elf with nowhere near as much magical ability and a far greater tendency towards betrayal. Trolls are taller, but have poorer posture and are colored anything you might find in the rainbow. Except maybe purple. I have not seem a purple troll yet, but I have quite some time left to do so,” Delaniel answered, seemingly amused by the idea of seeing a purple Troll. Trixie began to work on her pie, though she began to eat it directly off its tray instead of using a knife to cut it up. Kael laughed as Trixie pulled her face back and revealed that the lower half her face was blue. Beneath the pie on her face, Trixie blushed as she felt silly and like her manners were not quite suited for her present company. Was she supposed to eat differently? In any case, Trixie did not want to be purple or blue even if she liked those colors. She felt bad for the Trolls, since seemingly being those colors was not normal here. They must face issues because of their different skin color, since something told Trixie that looking different meant being treated differently. Trying not to laugh at her paying client, Delaniel did her best to continue her story without making fun of Trixie, “Over the following years we High Elves returned to our reclusive ways, but during the major conflict known as the Third War, the diabolical Prince Arthas Menethil, under influence of the nefarious Lich King and following the orders of the demonic Burning Legion, brought battle once again to our doorstep. “ By then Delaniel had calmed down, and her face was actually one of anger. Trixie felt chills go down her spine at the change, and a look over to Kael revealed that he had lost any amusement that had been in his face. He actually seemed angry, as if he had remembered something. Keeping her own temper in check, Delaniel grunted before she went on, “Arthas required the power of the Sunwell to revive the necromancer Kel'Thuzad and raise him as a lich. He invaded Quel'Thalas and wiped out most of its population. In the end, even our King Anasterian Sunstrider lay dead.” That made Trixie look back at Kael, who was clenching his fists underneath the table angrily. She brought a hand over to touch his hand to comfort him, the fist softening slightly at the touch. If Kael’Thas was prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider, that would mean that…well… “Additionally it became clear that the High Elves had become addicted to the Sunwell's arcane energies. Now that the source of their magic was gone, the few remaining High Elves quickly grew ill and apathetic.” “Wait, I’m addicted to magic?” Trixie scoffed, not at all happy to learn this. Kael seemed surprised as well, though he kept quiet because of how angry he was about this news. However, the addiction WOULD explain why her entire body ached at all times. Withdrawal and all. Delaniel nodded, her response terse, “Yes.” “Oh…” Trixie paused as she thought about what to do, quickly realizing she did not have a clue about how to confront this issue, “How do I fix that?” Delaniel reached into a pocket and pulled out some shining gems, “I have some magic crystals that you can crush and replenish yourselves. Remember to keep yourself energized, as falling too far into addiction will cause a physical transformation into a being so wretched…” she laughed, “Well, that they are called Wretched.” Trixie held her hands out for the crystals, desperate to stop the constant pain she was feeling, “Magic please.” Delaniel snorted as she handed over the crystals to Trixie and Kael, who each crushed the soft gems in their hands. Once crushed, a glow emanated from the broken gems. This glow floated towards each of them, only to touch and enter their bodies without them doing anything else. Trixie instantly felt some of the pain leave her, while Kael barely felt different. “There are also ways of siphoning it from other sources, but you will have to speak to a magic trainer about that,” Delaniel explained. “Now, are you ready for the story again?” Trixie and Kael both nodded yes, so Delaniel continued her expositional onslaught that was sadly necessary for them to underdstand, “Prince Kael'thas, last of the royal line and who looks just like you handsome, returned from his studies in Dalaran to find Quel'Thalas in ruins. Thirsting for vengeance, he gathered the survivors, renamed our kind Blood Elves to honor our fallen, and took a group of the strongest fighters to join Lordaeron's campaign against the Scourge.” Trixie nudged Kael with a smirk, comfortable in doing so in front of Delaniel since Delaniel seemed to think Kael was just a lookalike, “He sounds like a valiant and great man. Right?” Delaniel shrugged, causing Trixie some concern since it wasn’t a straight up yes, “Perhaps. Due to human prejudice placing him and his people in a dangerous position, Kael'thas was forced to accept the assistance of a woman known as Lady Vashj and her reptilian Naga. When the humans and their leader Garithos discovered that the Blood Elves had been working with the Naga, Kael'thas and the others were imprisoned and condemned to death.” That infuriated Trixie immensely. The idea of someone being needlessly cruel and judging someone else only based on their race was just wrong, and she felt like making her opinion known to this monstrous man. Trixie slammed a fist down on the table while Kael began to look down at the floor blankly, “Where may I go yell at this terrible man Garithos and his similarly terrible followers?” “A graveyard, though sadly he was not slain by one of our own…kind of,” Delaniel offered no explanation before continuing further, “Lady Vashj soon arrived to set them free, leading them through a portal and into the broken wastes of Outland. There, the elves met the one being capable of putting an end to their hunger: the renegade night elf-demon hybrid, Illidan Stormrage. Certain that the Blood Elves would die without Illidan's assistance, Kael'thas agreed to serve the man known by the Night Elves as ‘the Betrayer.’” The sound of a not-mean Night Elf made Trixie smile. Perhaps they were not all as judgmental and cruel as previously thought, “This Illidan guy sounds like he’s not as mean as the other Night Elves. Even if he is a demon, which sounds like it’s a bad thing.” Delaniel smiled as she stood up from the table to go grab something, “He is also quite handsome. With his glowing twin blades of Azzinoth, he makes for quite the fine specimen…” she removed a piece of paper from a drawer and sighed happily as she looked at it, “Because of his wings he can’t wear normal shirts, so very little is left to the imagination…” Curious as to what she was looking at, Trixie soon had her question answered as Delaniel returned and handed Trixie a picture of this Illidan,“Here is a picture.” The man had a piece of cloth covering his eyes, curled horns coming from his head, large and unhealthy looking wings sprouting from his back, and feet that were more like hooves. Those features together made Trixie a little uneasy, though she was curious about his hooves for some reason she could not explain. Outside of his more grisly looks though, he had a very muscular body and looked to be the size of many Kael’Thases. Trixie looked over to her companion and looked inside the holes of his clothing again. He was quite fit, though he simply could not compare to the gigantic Night Elf-demon thing. Trixie continued to squeeze Kael’s hand in support, since she could sense that all of this was biting at him. Looking back at the picture, Trixie noticed something: a glowing green blade being wielded by Illidan. It had a very appealing design, with curves along its bow shaped form, as well as the face of what Trixie believed was called a panda. Why she knew that and not some other useful piece of information she did not know, but she thought it funny that such a odd looking man had what was known as a fuzzy and cute animal on his weapon. On a personal level though, Trixie wanted that blade. Or a replica. The glowing green sheen, the panda face, and the overall awesome curves and appearance of it made Trixie just want to possess it even if she knew not how to use a blade like it. After swooning over the picture for a little while longer, Delaniel decided to bring her tale to a close, “Since then, a lone representative, Rommath, was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the Blood Elves remaining in Quel'Thalas: that one day Kael'thas would return to lead his people to paradise. Rommath had made great progress in teaching the Blood Elves advanced techniques to manipulate arcane energies. With renewed purpose, we Blood Elves have rebuilt the city of Silvermoon, located close by, though it is powered by volatile magics. Emboldened by the promise of Kael'thas' return, the weary citizens of Quel'Thalas now are focusing on regaining our strength, even as we forge a new path into an uncertain future.” She paused, once again giving Trixie a sense of concern, “But…” “But?” Trixie questioned, not liking the sound of that. “Well, there are rumors spreading around of a most disheartening matter,” the innkeeper lowered her voice to a whisper, “Rumors have long spread amongst our kind like fire through a forest, but the nature of these are quite…” She looked around to make sure none of the inhabitants upstairs had come down before continuing, “You didn’t hear it from me, but there is word going around that our Prince is…allied with the Burning Legion.” Trixie might be new to it all, but she had learned enough to know that that was a very bad thing. Looking over to Kael, she could see that his face had gone pale even as he continued to stare at the ground blankly. Delaniel scowled at the mere thought of her leader turning on their people, “The Burning Legion were the ones who brought the Scourge into this world, I hear. The ones who guided Arthas. They are the cause for all that has happened to us. For our beloved prince, who has for so long fought to save our people, to turn and join them crushes one’s soul.” Seeing the state of the Kael-lookalike and the now worried Trixie, Delaniel decided to call it quits there. She had said enough, and it was getting late. She stood up and took some of the finished plates from the table. “Anyways, it is getting late. You will need your rest for your continued training, so I won’t bother you any more.” Trixie nodded to her, a smile upon her face despite everything. At least she knew now these terrible things, “Thank you for everything.” With Delaniel gone, Trixie stood up as well and tried to pull Kael up too. “Come on. It’s okay.” Once they found their room, which happened to not have a door either, Trixie sat Kael down on their singular bed and took the space beside him. “Are you okay?” The glow of his eyes helped hide it, but Trixie could see that the man was nearly crying, “I…” Trixie continued to hold his hand to comfort him. The poor man had little to no memory, and yet he was now faced with a shattering discovery of possible crimes and misdeeds he had done, in addition to the general sadness of his race, “Do you really think you’re this Prince everyone is talking about?” “It feels like I am…” Kael leaned back on the bed, losing his strength to stay up as he became more distraught at the possibility of being a terrible person, “My name…what little I can remember…her words seemed quite familiar.” Trixie did not lay down too, but she did move back on the bed so that she could run a hand across his cheek to take away a tear. He was her only friend right now, and he was hurting bad, so she would try to help him however she could. “Perhaps we should find you something to wear to conceal your face.” Kael shot Trixie a look, only for her to quickly follow it up with a smile and explanation, “I do not care who you are or were so long as you continue to be the gentleman you have been this whole time, but others have their own prejudices. We will attract less attention if you cover your face.” While overall forlorn because of what he learned that night, Kael felt a glimmer of happiness due to the support shown to him, “I suppose you are correct.” Trixie stood up and placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head back for a haughty laugh, “Of course I am. I’m always right.” “Even when you think you can challenge a sociopathic Hunter and win, and you lose?” Kael snarked from the bed, moving so that he could lay the correct way on it. It was not a terribly large bed, and while that might be fine for…certain activities where space was conserved, it did not make the fact that he would be sharing it with his clueless partner any easier. Trixie, meanwhile, was approaching a mirror in the room she had just noticed. She was quite curious about what she looked like, so the fact the room came with one pleased her. “Oh ha-ha. Very funny Kael.” As Trixie began to look herself over, Kael let his sore body collapse fully on the bed, “Thank you…” Trixie could not find it in herself to just say “You’re welcome”, since that would be an admission that she was being very kind and generous and deep down, actual praise made her uncomfortable. She was acting tough and proud based on her insecurity, so actually receiving real thanks made her feel extremely modest. Instead of replying to him, Trixie finished taking in her looks. Not really caring that Kael could see, Trixie began to disrobe. She felt odd in the full clothing, and did not really get why everyone was being so modest. Yes, her experience with her chest before was embarrassing, but it was embarrassing because of her lack of knowledge and how she asked Kael about it, not because of the actual organs sitting atop her slim frame. Underneath the robe she was still wearing an odd piece of cloth that bound around her chest, covering the spots Trixie did not intend to touch again, and another that looked like a very, very small pair of shorts. So small that it barely covered anything more than her crotch. Ignoring these garments, Trixie was able to do what she intended to do: see what she looked like without the interference of her robes. Her eyes were the thing that interested her the most. They were purple instead of green, which made Trixie curious as to why hers were different. She decided to look into it later, and decided to move down. Her face was quite normal, at least by what she had seen of Blood Elf faces, and she could not tell if she was pretty or not. She wanted to think she was though, so she decided to use herself as a benchmark for what would there on out count as “pretty”. Moving further down were the things causing her back more pain, and Trixie was about done observing them for the day. Further down was a flat stomach that also held some firmness to it, though Trixie felt positively weak compared to the muscular man across the room. Ignoring this, Trixie’s eyes then fell to her hips, which she noticed were much wider than those she had witnessed on other females. In fact, they looked to be little larger, despite being wider overall. Trixie blushed at the thought of what this could do for her, and instantly blocked out all related thoughts. Behind her, Kael too was observing her, taking in her body and trying to forget his sorrows as he realized that he was going to be sleeping next to this that night. He began to pray that she would put the robe back on, but Trixie decided to feel comfortable and left the robe where it was as she circled back to the bed. She blew out the blue colored candles on her way to the bed, and when she climbed on top Kael felt himself being pushed to one side. Brushing up against him, Trixie felt the cloth of his torn clothes and decided that the feeling was bad as was the appearance of the thoroughly used clothing, “Perhaps we should also get you a new set of clothes tomorrow. Your current ones are in poor shape.” Kael snorted at her small insult, expecting her to have at least said by then some kind of “you’re welcome”. Trixie could feel that it was expected of her, so she huffed as she asked, “What? Just because I’m haughty doesn’t mean I know how to tell someone they’re welcome that I’m so gracious.” That was enough for him, and Kael found himself trying not to look at or touch Trixie as she made herself comfortable beneath the covers like he had already done without thinking. “Now stay on your side of the bed. You are paying for half the room after all, so stay there,” Trixie commanded, only for Kael to snark. “There really are not halves to this structure…” “…fine. To conserve space you may wrap your arms around me and we will intertwine and overlap our legs.” Kael was beginning to want to sleep on the floor. This woman had no sense of personal space at all, or at least not a conventional one. “Goodnight, partner.” Still…she was there for him, even after hearing that he possibly was an evil man who sold out their race. She seemed to want to be supportive of him and be close to him, so he would allow it. “Fale'shorel, O'thal'ronae...” (Good night, my peaceful friend) He whispered back as he closed his eyes. As she began to drift off into sleep Trixie smiled at his words, even if she could not understand them. She would make him teach her the pretty words another day.