Greg wiped some sweat off his forehead as he finished with his latest creation, a long, thick scarf for Gloria. "Knitting is crafting too." Greg chuckled to himself as he pulled up his menu and checked the skill level. "And that's high enough." He grinned, spending a skill point to merge it with his tailor skill set. "Man, I must have sunk almost a hundred skill points into all thi-" He froze as instead of a list of merge options, a notification appeared.

[Congratulations! You've earned the 'Creator' trait!]

[Creator - all crafting skills are merged into a single 'Creation' skill. Creation provides increased support to all actions related to crafting based on tier. Creation provides plus five to all attributes per tier. Creation can only be advanced, not merged.]

"Huh…" Greg blinked at his massively reduced status page which now only included the Creation skill, which was at tier four, and his inner sight skill. "Well… I guess I'm done here?" He scratched his head, looking around at all his other selves who'd been helping him learn all the crafting skills he could for the past few weeks. Should he get rid of them? He frowned for a moment, before shaking his head. The Creation skill didn't suddenly make him an expert at everything, all it did was make it so he didn't have to spend skill points for the systems assistance. He still had to learn how to do everything himself. Of course, his other selves wouldn't be getting that assistance… but he could still take what they learned and use it with the Creation skill to speed things up… eh, he'd just leave them to it. It wasn't like he had anything else to be doing with them. He glanced down at the scarf. "I should get this to Gloria." He nodded, heading off to one of Chris's portal points.

"Fort whatever-its-name-is please." Greg called out, stepping through the portal as it opened and into the crisp air of the frozen fort. He paused to take a deep breath, letting out a satisfied sigh. "Man, I love the cold." He chuckled to himself as he began to make his way towards Gloria's office, looking around at all the soldiers rushing this way and that as they went about their duties. He noticed a line of cages waiting near the portal, a few shaking as something angry tried to break out. It looked like they were getting ready for Chris to make them some more ammunition. There were also a few large piles of rock and dirt near a marked off area, which was probably related to something Gloria wanted him to build. He'd have to ask her about that when he dropped off the scarf.

Greg wove a familiar path through the halls of the fort, before knocking on Gloria's door. "Come in!" He heard her yell from inside, grinning slightly as he hid the scarf behind him and opened the door. "Greg?" Gloria blinked as she saw him, before narrowing her eyes at him. "I don't know what you have planned, but I need to get some work done today." She warned, raising a finger at him.

Greg clutched his chest in mock offense. "Are you calling me a distraction?!?"

Gloria rolled her eyes. "That would be an understatement. You're the walking calamity that ensures all my plans are tossed out the window and buried under a mound of crap! So please, whatever idea you have in your head, just- get rid of it, okay?"

Greg pursed his lips. "Are you sure?" He brought the scarf out from behind his back, sending some smoke to whirl around it. "I spent so much time making it… But I guess if you really want me to get rid of it-" He cut off as Gloria leapt across the desk and snatched the scarf out of his hands, glaring at him as he snickered at her.

"Don't you dare!" She growled at him, clutching the scarf to her chest, before pausing. "Wow… this is really soft." She muttered as she pressed her face against it. "And warm…" She blinked down at the scarf. "You made this?"

Greg smiled as he nodded, a warm fuzzy feeling filling him as she admired his gift. "From scratch." He added. "Of course, I used my smoke to make the ingredients, but they're just altered, not actual smoke. I think it turned out nice, right?"

"It's wonderful." Gloria smiled back at him, wrapping the warm scarf around her neck, before grabbing his shirt and pulling him down for a kiss. "Thank you." She whispered as they parted, before letting out a groan. "Ugh, sorry, I have to get back to work, but… I will be thanking you properly tonight." She assured him with a wink.

"Is that right?" Greg grinned. "I guess I'll have to clear my schedule…"

Gloria rolled her eyes, kicking him lightly. "Just get out of here."

"I'm going, I'm going." Greg laughed, turning to leave, before pausing. "Oh, right, I wanted to ask if you needed me or Chris for anything around the fort."

"Not yet." Gloria shook her head as she returned to her desk. "We're still gathering all the necessary materials, but we should be ready in a day or so."

"Alright." Greg nodded. "Just know it takes Chris some effort to connect creatures to his world, so you may want to hand those over a bit early."

Gloria paused, before nodding. "Noted. Thank you."

"No problem. I'll see you tonight." Greg grinned, waving over his shoulder as he headed back to the portal point, a slight bounce in his step.

*

Andrew woke up with a yawn, having decided to actually sleep after the dungeon, due to the sheer mental stress of being hyper aware of his surroundings for hours on end. He'd been able to sleep in Chris's world, so he wasn't in as bad a shape as Thomas, but still. He stumbled out the door, eager to get some food, when he yelped as he tripped over a large mass sitting right in front of his room. "What the f- Elizabeth?" He blinked as he made out the obstruction, who was also blinking awake as she stretched out with a yawn.

"Good morning, mast- er, Andrew." Elizabeth greeted him with a smile, flushing slightly as she fumbled with his name. "Did you sleep well?"

Andrew let out a groan. "Elizabeth, why are you sleeping on the floor outside my room?"

Elizabeth cocked her head. "Where else would I sleep? This area allows me to guard you from any threats while remaining close at hand in case you need me. The only place that would be better would be to actually be inside your room, but I wouldn't dare to intrude on you in such a way without permission." There was a slight edge of pleading in her gaze that implied she would very much like to have that permission.

"Of course." Andrew sighed, shaking his head as he got to his feet. "Listen, Liz, you don't have to protect me or be nearby in case I need you, alright? Just because you're my companion doesn't mean you have to serve me. Just- do whatever you want, okay?"

Elizabeth frowned. "But what I want is to serve you? It is my purpose, the reason I was created… Why would I want to do anything else?"

Andrew grimaced. "That's- you-" He cut off, falling into thought as he tried to piece together an argument. Obviously, the main point was the fact that the dungeon made her want to serve him, but- he couldn't actually change that. Well, maybe he could… At least Thomas might be able to pull it off, but even if he did, there was still this Bond between them. And it was a Bond, complete with a mental connection that allowed him to see how dedicated she was to serving him. He paused. Were their lives bound together as well? He didn't think so… mostly because he felt like Frank and them would have warned him. Though… she might die if he did.

"I will." Elizabeth nodded, catching his thoughts. "My life is bound to yours."

"Gotcha." Andrew sighed. "Then what do you think about having Thomas get rid of the mental compulsion you have to serve me? It won't get rid of the Bond, but you'll at least be able to decide what you want to do for yourself."

Elizabeth frowned. "If it is a compulsion, then I wouldn't mind having it removed, but… I do not believe that is the case. I don't need to serve you, I want to. It's what I was made for, and while there are certainly other things I could do, none of them would bring me as much joy and satisfaction as serving you. Unless you wish to alter my personality on a fundamental level, I believe you're stuck with me." She finished with a smile. "Besides, you can't deny that you enjoy the idea of someone dedicated to serving you, can you? Particularly not someone as attractive as you find me~" She leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

Andrew coughed as he flushed in embarrassment, turning away. "Th- that isn't- I mean anyone would enjoy- but just because I do, doesn't mean I should." He stammered. "Just- ugh, let's make sure you aren't under some kind of compulsion, okay?"

"Of course." Elizabeth nodded, smirking slightly. "We wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable now would we?"

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Andrew gave her a look, briefly wondering if he should be worried about her taking advantage of him, before shaking his head. "Come on, let's go get some food. That's probably where Thomas is anyway." Elizabeth nodded and the two of them began making their way towards the cafeteria, the naga sticking just shy of uncomfortably close to his side, as if she knew right where his limit was and pressed up right against it. Which, now that he thought about it, she absolutely did. And now she was smirking at him again. Freaking Bonds.

It turned out Thomas was in the cafeteria, in the middle of what looked like a heated argument with Annie, but when they got closer, Thomas realized they were just talking about the dumb TV show they'd been watching. "Just because Baron Calcon betrayed them, doesn't mean he deserved to be abandoned on an empty, desolate world! He was protecting his people! Do you really think he should have let his city get glassed just to protect a group of people who are essentially terrorists?"

"No, but he didn't have to hand them over to Queen Tiptyala! There were plenty of opportunities for him to let them escape and he didn't! He made sure they fell into her clutches! That's why they exiled him on Horim!" Annie shot back.

"Because he did his job?!? Once again, the Rogues are criminals by every definition of the word! Holding a grudge because an authority figure did his job is ridiculous!" Thomas countered.

"If he was doing his job then he wouldn't have worked with them in the first place!" Annie snapped.

"He had to work with them because they kidnapped his daughter!" Thomas retorted. "At least, he thought they had. Which just adds to his reasons for turning them in! He saw them as a dangerous group of terrorists who'd kidnapped and brainwashed his daughter! Even if he agreed with their ideals, he couldn't accept their methods! That doesn't make him evil, it makes him one of the only good fucking people in the entire damn show!"

Andrew coughed, getting the two's attention. "Uh… you guys okay?"

Thomas cocked his head. "We're fine. Why?" He asked as Annie nodded, giving Andrew a weird look as well.

"Well… you're sort of getting in a shouting match over a TV show." Andrew replied.

Thomas blinked. "We were shouting?"

Annie flushed. "We're just passionate debaters."

Thomas turned to blink at her as well. "We actually were shouting?"

"I mean… a little?" Annie replied, raising a hand with her thumb and forefinger almost touching.

"Huh… I didn't even notice." Thomas shrugged, before turning to Andrew. "So, what's up?"

Andrew sighed. "I was wondering if you could check to see if Elizabeth has any mental compulsions going on. You know, to make sure she isn't being forced to act a certain way, like the dungeon mobs."

Thomas nodded. "Right, good idea." He paused. "Want me to give her the system while I'm at it?"

"Sure?" Andrew agreed hesitantly. "That should be okay, I think…"

"I don't see why it wouldn't be." Thomas agreed, sending a little cloud of points at Elizabeth to check out her mind, giving her the system in the process. His eyes slowly widened as he looked around, before he coughed, flushing as he quickly pulled the points back out. "Okay, well, she's not being compelled by anything, but… whatever is going on in her head is definitely not natural. It's like her entire existence is tuned towards you…" He glanced at Andrew. "Greg may have been onto something when he said the dungeon gave you a girlfriend."

Andrew flushed. "O-okay, but it's all her right? She's not being forced into anything?"

Thomas shook his head. "Not as far as I can tell. Like, she should be perfectly capable of hating your guts, but… well, based on what I saw, you could probably treat her like literal garbage and she'd still be fully on board."

Elizabeth flushed. "Not literal garbage… I wouldn't be able to be with him if he simply threw me out."

"Liz, no." Andrew groaned.

Elizabeth crossed her arms at him, both sets of them. "I feel how I feel, and I won't apologize for it." She humphed.

"Sure, but there's a point where you have to care about yourself more than me!" Andrew exclaimed.

"But caring about you is caring about me, because your happiness is my happiness." She retorted.

"That-" Andrew began.

"She means that literally, by the way." Thomas interjected. "She actually feels what you feel like she's feeling it, so your happiness is literally her happiness."

"Seriously?!?" Andrew asked incredulously. "Why!?!"

Thomas shrugged. "I dunno. I think it's more on your end than mine. Unless you mean practically… cause I mean, if you want to make sure a companion will look out for whoever they're bound to, it's kinda brilliant."

Andrew scowled. "I hate this World. So, so much. Everytime I think it can't possibly get more fucked up, bam! I mean, who comes up with this shit! Do they enjoy watching people suffer?!?" Even if he wasn't going to do anything like that to Elizabeth, the fact remained that he wasn't the only person to ever receive a companion. He remembered Quinn telling him about people hunting noble dungeons for companions. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but if all companions were like this, he understood why she wanted to make sure his ability to create them remained secret. He could literally manufacture the perfect sex slaves! Or just slaves, he supposed… Either way, it wasn't a pretty image, and he couldn't understand why a World would allow something like that to exist. But then again, everything in this World was fucked up, so why not fuck up Bonds as well?!? "Maybe destroying this place wouldn't be such a bad idea." He grumbled.

"Hey, this World isn't all bad." Thomas replied, giving Annie a look, causing her to flush. "Just because something has some ugly parts doesn't mean it can't be beautiful too."

Annie's flush immediately turned to a scowl. "That better not be a comment on me." She growled.

Thomas blinked. "But I'm saying you're the beautiful part?"

Annie paused, beginning to flush again. "Oh… that's okay then."

Andrew coughed awkwardly as the two of them made eyes at each other. "Okay, we're just gonna go now…" He stepped away, Elizabeth following him, though she glanced back at the other two curiously a few times. They quickly grabbed some food and got a table of their own. "So… crap, I don't know how to deal with this." Andrew sighed, shaking his head. "And I'm pretty sure your answer is just going to be to do whatever I want."

"You know me so well." Elizabeth smiled.

Andrew snorted. "You could say I've known you all your life."

Elizabeth giggled. "The day or so that encompasses, yes." Andrew's expression twisted, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "No, that does not make me a child. I'm as mature and educated as you are. Literally. It's a part of how I was formed."

"So… you know everything I know?" Andrew frowned.

"Not quite…" Elizabeth cocked her head. "I don't have your memories or anything, I just- hmmm, you could say I inherited your skills? It isn't exactly the case, but it's close. As you can see, I'm just as capable of speech as you are, and I can use reason and logic on par with you as well. I also have a reasonable understanding of proper behavior, as you see it. However, I don't really know anything, beyond who I am and how I came to be. I know of history and politics, but I have no knowledge of the land we live in or who controls it."

"Huh… So you're like a newborn adult? Kinda? You don't know anything but you can understand everything?" Andrew muttered thoughtfully.

"Precisely." Elizabeth smiled. "Which means no more thinking I don't have the capacity to understand what I'm doing here. I'm well aware of the problems of fully dedicating yourself to another person, and I don't care. For one, I believe any consequence I may face is worth it, and secondly…" She gave him an adoring look. "You're already working so hard to treat me well. How can I not work equally hard to treat you well?"

Andrew frowned. "I'm just trying not to abuse you… I'm not sure if that counts as treating you well."

"That would be true if your method of avoiding abuse wasn't to make sure I'm doing what makes me happy." Elizabeth smirked.

Andrew's expression twisted. "Well, it'd be kinda shitty of me to just abandon you, since you didn't exactly choose to be Bonded to me. And at that point, I can either treat you well, or poorly, so I might as well treat you well, and that involves finding out what makes you happy… which is apparently what makes me happy, so I have no idea what I'm doing with this. Do I just make myself happy?"

"I'd appreciate it if you let me help, but if that makes you uncomfortable, it does defeat the point." Elizabeth commented.

Andrew sighed. "You know that isn't the issue. The problem is that I think I'd enjoy it too much…" He paused. "I think… Okay, yeah, I got it. You can serve me as you like, because that's what you want to do apparently, but I don't ever get to tell you what to do. You do things because you want to, not because I told you to…" He trailed off. "Does that make sense?" His biggest worry was that he'd get used to seeing her as some kind of slave, instead of a person who truly wanted him to be happy. But if it was just her doing things without his input… Well, that still seemed risky, but less so? Plus he could do things for her… "Fuck, why do all my relationships have to be so complicated." Andrew grumbled.