Theodoren was the first to meet Daisy on the way to the apartment, hurrying into the taller mouse's arms. "You're okay! You're alright!" His eyes were wide, ears perked, whiskers twitched.
She smiled down at him. "I'm just fine." She returned the hug that Theo seemed eager to give. "Did Cedric fill you in on what happened? I was arrested, but I got cleared."
"Yeah, that cat jerk took you away, but you didn't come back. What did they do with you?"
"Jailed me overnight, and put me on trial today." Daisy wrinkled her snout. "Big waste of time. Whatever, all cleared. Oh! I made a new mouse."
Cedric stepped up from behind Theo. "You did what? Who?"
"Dose. She was the shopkeeper that was accidentally turned to a little towards a mouse woman before. She wanted to complete the process and be a mouse properly." Daisy rubbed at an arm. "And Elina got some valuable research out of it. A win all around."
Theo looked at her suspiciously. "The only mutagen you've admitted to is these." He prodded one of Daisy's considerable assets. "Did you let her, I mean, that?"
Daisy reached up to gently smack his hands away. "Yes. She wanted to drink directly, and Elina said it was a good way to test the mutagen."
Cedric reached over towards Theodoren to give him a gentle shove. "She gets to decide who's allowed to do that to her."
"I know that!" Theo fumed visibly. "That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. I never even met this person, and they got awfully close to you." He could see the guilt on Daisy's face. "I knew it. She's already family to you, isn't she?"
"Yes, actually. I feel like she's a sister, for some reason." She shrugged lightly. "I'm not sure why, but I can see it in my status screen. I had one family nearby, when there was only her."
Cedric inclined his head. "You, um, know that? Wow." He ran a hand over his ears, flattening them a moment. "Must be a brood mouse power, but that's pretty amazing."
Daisy reached out and gently stroked along Theodoren's back. "It's all okay, I promise. If nothing else, we're still closer than I am with her."
Theo looked at her suspiciously, his ears still back. "Look, Daisy. I trust you." He deflated a little. "But that doesn't mean I trust everyone else in the world. It's your body, but, um, please. Bring us into the loop with this. I'd like to meet them first. They're probably nice if you get along with them."
She leaned down to kiss Theo on his cheek. "I didn't mean it to go this way. I figured she just really liked the taste, and didn't think much about how far the mutagen would go." She frowned at her own words. "Which was dumb of me. I made a mistake. How can I make it up? I was wrong."
"You don't need to make anything up, you did nothing wrong." Theodoren fumbled for words. "Well, maybe a little." He gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, I know you're a good person." He grabbed her closer hand to cradle. "Just let us know before someone's part of, you know, us? Okay? That's all."
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Daisy nodded at that and squeezed his hand gently, pulling it closer. "Okay."
With that settled, the two students returned to their homework, plentiful as that was. Lacking homework, Daisy instead turned to the list of potential dungeons and got out an atlas to start tracking them down and how far away each was.
"Anything interesting?" Theo asked, looking up from his textbook.
"Oh, um, not really." Daisy held up the book. "I'm looking into more dungeons, trying to decide which one to tackle next. She tapped with the end a claw. "This one's closest. Not entirely undead, but close. Crypt of Mechanical Death? Sounds scary, but probably up my alley. It's about 3 days away."
"I'll come too." Theo nodded eagerly, his attention on Daisy. "I mean, I got nothing better to do. You'd need me there, anyway." He smirked, bushy fox tail swaying. "Besides, we get credits for visiting dungeons, more based on if we finish it, and the rating. What is the rating on that one?
"A four." She looked down at the description. "The mechanical undead are weak to smashing." She offered a gentle smile. "That'll be a challenge, but maybe it's time I stopped hacking everything with this dagger."
"That thing is sharp!" Theodoren perked ears. "But it isn't the answer to everything."
Cedric nodded, his tail waving. "But he does have a point. It would be nice to expand your range of weapons a bit."
Daisy drew her dagger free to examine it. "It's served me well, but what kind of warrior refuses to use anything else?" She slid it away with an agitated tail flick. "I'll visit a smithy and see what they have."
"Maybe a mace or something?" Theo suggested with a shrug.
Daisy nodded. "Good idea. A mace should help out well here. Maybe something else as well." She looked at her own hand, closing it into a fist. "Something bigger, like me. A huge warhammer?"
Theodoren grinned with excitement. "That would be amazing! You could just go around and smash up the place with that."
Cedric smiled, nodding along. "That does sound fun. You could go while we're at class." He waved between Theo and himself. "You don't need two wizards getting in the way of weapon shopping."
Theo smirked over Cedric. "And I know how much you love watching her train. She does that with no shirt on, sometimes."
Daisy wiggled a little, cheeks faintly colored. "H-hey. I practice to get better in dungeons, not show off."
"Doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy watching." Theo grinned and leaned in. "I mean, I don't mind if you watch my magic training."
Cedric colored at that, rubbing his arm. "I never said that!"
Daisy gave him a kiss on the cheek before she stood up. "Don't worry, I'm not mad, and Theo is teasing us both." She swept both up easily. "Now, are you two done with homework?"
Cedric nodded, leaning against Daisy's chest, feeling her warmth. "Yeah, we finished that. Did you want us for something?"
Theo nodded eagerly. "Yeah! You have a great plan, don't you?"
Daisy shook her head. "Only this one." She tossed the two onto their shared bed. "Let's get some sleep. We have plenty planned for tomorrow."
Cedric looked down at himself. "You don't need anything else first?" He spread his arms. "I could give you a bath? Or maybe something a little more personal?"
Theo laughed at Cedric's proposal. "Subtle. The way she's looking, I'm going to just lay down."
Daisy grinned. "I do appreciate the offer." She gently pat Cedric on the head. "But I have stuff to take care of in town. Get some sleep. I'm sure you'll be using magic all day tomorrow."
Theo gave her his own pat. "That we will!" He leaned over to kiss her cheek, then settled in with them, all nestled warmly together. Sleep came for quickly.