"So you know that the kids have basically banished themselves to the furthest reaches of the cargo deck?!"

Silverstream says "They what?!"

"They realized that all the elves that kept staring at them were uncomfortable because of them. So they decided that the best thing for them to do was to keep themselves out of sight as much as possible."

Stillwater says "I had no idea. It wasn't mentioned in the reports."

"Stillwater, I expect you to fix this immediately. Also, tell those elves that have a problem with the kids that if they hate humans so much, they should stop acting like them."

Before Stillwater can even reply to me, I turn and storm out of the room. Athena restores and closes the door behind me, but she doesn't follow me. I am not truly mad at Stillwater, but I am feeling guilty and am mad at myself.

As I stomp my way back to my cabin every elf that sees me hurries to get out of the way. However, as I enter the cabin and see Lin sitting at the table, I remember why I left. It is too late now, I can't avoid her now that she has seen me without being rude.

Lin says "Oh, there you are. Good. I was worried you freaked out and ran away."

"No."

Lin says "The kids and I have already eaten lunch. Are you hungry?"

"No."

Lin says "You were already gone when I woke up. What was so important?"

"Introducing Athena to the elves."

Lin says "Oh. Are you alright? Your ears and tail are drooping."

"I'm fine. Athena, can you watch the kids for me?"

Athena says "Yes, master."

Lin says "Are we going somewhere?"

"We need to finish testing the choker."

Lin says "Oh, right. I had forgotten."

Without saying anything else I walk over, open the doors, and step out onto the balcony. Then I put on my saddle and wait for Lin to mount, but for some reason she doesn't use the saddle. Instead, she climbs into her old spot at the base of my neck and hugs my neck.

"I thought you didn't like riding like that?"

Lin says "It is only a quick flight and as long as you don't do any acrobatics I should be fine."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Taking her at her word, I put away the saddle and jump off of the balcony. I don't bother gaining altitude and just stay a little above the tops of the waves. I fly as hard as I can, hoping that burning some energy will help me calm down.

Right now, all I want to do is lash out at Lin, but it isn't her fault that I misunderstood her feelings. Flying at full speed it only takes about ten minutes for me to reach the coast. Then a few minutes later I find a hill with a decent number of trees and land.

After I land, I wait for Lin to climb down, but it feels like she hugs my neck longer than she needs to. It might be my imagination, but it does take her a minute to climb down and she seems stiff. Maybe flying at top speed was a bit more than she was expecting for a short flight.

Lin says "Alright, how do these spells work?"

"You just need to think of a target and activate spell name. For now, until you get used to it, it will be easier to point and say it out loud."

Lin points at a tree and says "Activate lightning bolt."

As she speaks a lightning bolt erupts from the choker and hits the base of the tree she is pointing at. It cuts the tree in half, with the top half falling to the ground with a loud crash. Lin then points at another tree and without her saying anything a firebolt flies from the choker.

Then one by one she triggers the rest of the available spells that the choker has. The spells all work properly, but they are using a little more mana than I expected. The mana gathering formation ramps up as soon as mana is taken from the storage, just as it's supposed to.

Lin says "Alright, that should be all of them, right?"

"No, one more to go. Just hold on a second."

'Can you hear me?"

Lin says "Of course I can, I am right next to you. Wait, why didn't I see your mouth move?"

'Because it is telepathy.'

Lin says "Telepathy? Can you hear my thoughts?"

"No, it only works one way. The choker acts as the receiver so you don't need to cast the spell. I added it so I can talk to you when playing your mount without blowing my cover."

Lin says "Okay, is that everything now?"

"Yes, we are done."

Lin says "Good. Now we can talk. You avoided me this morning and then spoke as little as possible when you came back. I want to know what's going on and why you haven't said you love me today? Did last night really freak you out? If so we can talk about it."

"Why should I say it again?! It is pointless when you don't feel the same way! In fact, we should forget that last night ever happened!"

I start to turn away from her, planning to take off and fly far away from her. However, before I can even take a step, Lin jumps up and grabs my ear with both hands. She then lets all of her weight hang from my ear and it hurts, a lot.

Lin says "Don't you dare try to run away after saying something so insane! What do you mean by I don't feel the same way?! How could you even think that?!"

"Last night, I told you that I loved you for the first time, actually a couple of times. All you said in response was to call me an idiot, repeatedly! I can take a hint when I am hit over the head with it! Now, please let go of my ear, I need to go clear my head. You can gate back to the ship."

Lin says "Oh, no! You are not going anywhere you big, dumb, oaf! Of course I called you an idiot! Do you have any idea how long I've been dreaming of hearing you say you love me? I had pictured it a thousand times as this big, beautiful, magical moment! Then you go and ruin it by saying it in the middle of our first real argument!"

"I don't understand! What are you even saying?!"

Lin twists my ear and uses it to drag my head around until I have to look her in the eyes.

Lin says "I am saying that I love you, you idiot!"

For a second I just stare at her blankly, then out of nowhere I burst into tears. It surprises her too, but then she does her best to hug my head as I cry. It is kind of awkward since my head is almost as big as her torso, but that doesn't stop her.

It feels good, but it also makes me cry even harder until I am bawling like a baby. It is completely embarrassing for Lin to see me like this, but for some reason I can't stop. I don't even know why I started crying, but even though I am crying, I am still extremely happy at the same time.