I sit on the bed, pulling Twila down with me, and silently send her a message. ‘Guess what Trigger told me.’ I say, my excitement shining through, I’m sure. She tilts her head my way, raising an eyebrow. Her expression indicates that she’s thinking something along the lines of whispered into my neck while we were alone together, probably while our bodies were rather tangled together. Which, to be fair, isn’t that far off from what happened. I shake my head before she can make another suggestive comment, though she’s made less of them since the cabin. I can feel my face heating up as I try to decide how to explain this to Twila. She’s effectively my best friend, as well as my, strange though the situation may be, my… lover?

‘Umm, he… proposed. Mostly. I think. And he sent pictures of rings and jewels and stuff, I...I kinda wanted your opinion. He wants me to pick one, a favorite, for my engagement ring, I mean.’

Twila’s eyes sparkle, then she moves in for a long passionate kiss.

‘I figured he would,’ I can hear the smile in her thought. ‘Let’s see these pictures.’

I smile back at her and send her the file or whatever you call an image stored on an AI chip embedded in your brain, and she giggles as she ‘looks’ at the options. I hesitate, then ask her what I’ve been wondering about for the last hour or two.

‘Have, have I been married before?’

Twila ponders for a moment, I can’t tell if she’s trying to remember or considering what to tell me, but I’d guess it's the second one. Before she answers though, I see Trigger walking back towards us carrying two plates of food. One of them is meat and cheese and it makes sense, it looks almost normal. The other one, however, has a bunch of brightly colored and oddly shaped things on it. They look crunchy, like chips, or pretzels or snacks from Earth, but we normally don't have chips that are neon blue, or bright green, or an odd shade of purply red. I hop up and he kisses me before setting them down on a table next to the bed, and l watch as he sprawls out on the bed on his back. I let myself watch him for another few seconds before I turn and pick up a piece of meat and begin nibbling. I sit down next to Trigger, my leg against his ribs, and can just reach the food without needing to lean. I glance down at him, he changed to a t-shirt and shorts now, and his green eyes are gazing up at me intently, but lovingly. Like he just wants to make sure I'm still here. I lightly brush away his hair from his forehead, then stroke the rest of it. I almost feel like I’m petting a kitty, but I rather like it, and it seems he does too from the way his eyes close in satisfaction as he leans into my touch. His hand strokes my calf and I relax under his touch. I ask him about any spiciness, and he warns me about the green ones. I don’t like spicy chips, even back before I got enhanced senses. I have a feeling my mouth would not enjoy the experience, however. I smile at him again, then reach for the bright blue ones, which he tells me taste minty. I have never had a minty flavored chip, and I nibble on one carefully, unsure what to expect. It’s not that bad, though I think that mint-flavored Doritos probably wouldn’t sell well back on Earth… Well, maybe as a novelty item.

I finish the food I dare to try, which is everything except the green chips, which Twila seems to enjoy enough for both of us. I feed Trigger a bit of cheese as he lays on the bed beside me, his hand still stroking my leg. I sigh and stand up, then walk over to my food replicator. All these chips, including the ones that taste like mint and fruit punch, make me crave at least a little bit of earth food. I ask for several egg rolls, and it dings in a few seconds. I pull them out, at just the right temperature, warm, but not so hot they will burn your mouth, and hand one each to Trigger and Twila before stretching, and then biting into my own. Trigger grins at me, and I wonder just how much he liked egg rolls before he became a vampire… That grin is bigger than any I’ve seen from him, except maybe when he realized we were with real live dragons.

“How did you know I liked egg rolls??” He smiles up at me. I shrug.

“I guess I got lucky. I like them too,” I say before turning and shuffling a bit closer to the door. Trigger sighs and gets up, morphing back to the clothes he had previously. Twila hops up a bit more eagerly and walks up behind Trigger.

“I think Lillith is eager to go shopping, despite what happened last time she tried that particular feat. Maybe we should accompany her this time.” Twila ‘whispers’ to Trigger, loud enough I can hear her.

“Definitely.” Trigger states firmly and steps up beside me. I duck my head as Twila reminds us of my, umm, unplanned sightseeing on Zorro. Trigger hugs me, and then opens the door and escorts me through it, Twila a step behind us. He leads us through the hallways and out past the front desk, nodding at the person there. When we step outside, I notice Trigger glancing up at the sign as if to take note of the name. I slip my hand into his elbow, letting him lead me as I admit, I get a bit distracted by the bustle and noise and shops around us. It’s still a bit overwhelming, but with Trigger guiding me, I feel like I'm in a small bubble of calm and nothing outside of it can matter much. Trigger glances down at me and raises one eyebrow, motioning to the shops with his other hand. I look around, then point at one that has the prettiest ornaments on it, spun glass and other shiny baubles. He leads us over there and into the shop, it's much quieter inside, with not many people around. The shopkeeper looks up at us and smiles rather toothily, given that his teeth look more like a dragon’s than humans. He also has a set of horns just above his ears and talons protruding from his slightly scaly fingertips. Trigger nods at him and Twila starts perusing the shelves. I glance around as well, it seems to be a pawn shop of some kind based on the fact that there is no organization, duplicates, or standardization of any of the things for sale.

‘Or it's all handmade, therefore, there is no duplication.’ I hear Trigger send. I shrug, walking closer to a shelf that seems to have at least something like jewelry on it. I can’t tell if this is a handmade luxury shop or a thrift store, but there’s a beautiful blue bracelet made to look like a curling vine with blue inset gems as the leaves and petals of the flowers. I pick it up, glancing at the shopkeeper to make sure he doesn’t mind. When he smiles again I figure it’s permission, and I slide it onto my wrist. It fits pretty well, almost perfectly, in fact, and I turn with a smile to show Trigger. He smiles down at me and nods happily. Twila steps around the corner with a beautiful yellow necklace on. It’s more elaborate than I would have chosen, with bright strings of yellow and pale green beads hanging from a chain about her neck, each ending in a bright yellow jeweled teardrop larger than my thumbnail, but she seems happy with it. I giggle and she prances closer like she is modeling for a fashion company. Trigger smiles again.

“Anything else?” He asks kindly. I blink at him, then glance at Twila.

‘Do you suppose he’s been shopping with girls often?’ I ask her mentally. She gives a slight shake of her head while smiling.

‘Do you want to explain to him, or shall I?’ She responds, and I turn back to Trigger.

“So… Here's the thing. We walked in only a minute or two ago. It’s impossible to know what we came in here for or if we have everything we want, because it’s been impossible to look at everything yet.” I say teasingly.

Trigger rolls his eyes and smirks. “A simple ‘Yes’ would have sufficed.” He winks at us before walking over to the shopkeeper and strikes up a conversation with him, but still watching us.

Twila and I grin at each other, then continue looking at the various shelves. I call Trigger over once when I find a particularly nice fixed blade knife. He inspects it closely, then smiles and nods.

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“It’s a good blade.” I shrug and set it in his hand before returning to the shelves. He can decide if he wants it or not, it just seemed like something he would appreciate. I glance back over my shoulder and see him spin the knife in his hand, then jab a couple of times before checking the shelf for its leatherlike sheath and walking back to the counter with both items. I hide my smile at finding something for him, even if he is the one paying for all this, and pick up a golden circlet. I’m not sure if it’s a crown or necklace, but it fits atop my head. It has one silver gem with two smaller blue gems, one on each side. I put on my new crown-type thing, and turn to see Trigger looking at me.

‘How do I look?’ I ask him, half teasingly.

He smiles again, ‘You look amazing…’ I receive a mental picture of me, yet, not me… it's me but far more beautiful than I recall, but the headpiece is definitely there, adding to the general beauty of the person. I blush, glancing Trigger’s way, then reach out to my ever-present AI.

‘Can you, umm, photoshop, a mental image?’ I ask KT curiously. It is possible, but this image shows no sign of doctoring, but is instead filtered through his mind. In short, this is how he perceives you. It responds, and I stop just short of actually nodding thoughtfully. I smile back at Trigger, and then just for fun send him his own picture, or at least, what he looks like through my eyes.

He smiles lovingly at me, then turns back to chatting with the shopkeeper. I glance around a few more times, but this is all that really appealed to me. Twila found a few more things, although some of hers seem to be more of a practical sort, like a vase. Fancy though it is, it is meant to hold the bouquet of flowers that she also found. Nothing like I’ve ever seen on earth. The colors are far brighter, for one thing, and the petals are spiky yet fluttery, like flames, if flames came in every color of the rainbow. I slide next to Trigger, tucking myself under his arm, and placing my items on the counter. Twila follows suit. Trigger looks up at the shopkeeper who looks at the items and states a price that I don’t understand, but Trigger seems to. Some haggling ensues, then Trigger hands off a medium amount of gold, and the shopkeeper seems happy. Twila picks up the items, gently placing them in a bag that I hadn’t noticed, all except for my crown, which she places carefully on my head, before we leave the shop. The noise hits me again as we walk outside, and I stick even closer to Trigger. The sun has noticeably moved position by now, and I glance up at him, quietly apologizing for taking so long. He shakes his head teasingly, then focuses on watching the area around us. I notice a place with the smell of roasting meat drifting from it, and it smells delicious. I glance up at Trigger, then across him to Twila, nodding to the shop with a canopy for shade.

“Wanna try some more local food?” I ask them, my lips twitching hopefully. Trigger nods, and guides us over to the food, letting us pick what we want to eat. I find an item that seems to translate to “meat on a stick” and I ask for that and fruit juice. Twila picks something more like a sandwich, and Trigger gets a mid-sized chunk of roasted meat with toasted bread and cheese. We sit on the high, sturdy stools in the shade as we wait for our food to be cooked, and I notice a group of what seem to be, as far as I can tell, younger dragons. Most of them are in their human form, and I guess they are boys? Males, I mean? I still have a hard time telling, but the way they act makes me think of some of my friends from college. They seem to be discussing us, at least, they keep glancing over and gesturing this way. One of them slaps another on the back and he shakes his head, though he’s grinning. Another seems annoyed by everything, and I note that he doesn’t have a partner hanging around him like some of the others do. Or draped on top of him, for that matter. I guess it’s acceptable, at least for some people, to show affection like that in public. I glance over at Trigger, wondering if he’s noticed them, and how he would feel about being quite that… affectionate in public. He nods subtly at them and I raise my eyebrow, knowing he sees them. The annoyed one gets up and, to the jeers of his comrades, saunters over to stand in front of Trigger. He eyes Trigger, then turns to me and says,

“Heyy babe, mind if I hang out over here?” I blink, and can feel my face heating up as the name he used registers. I glance over at Trigger and Twila and duck my head, waiting for one of them to object or invite him to join us. Trigger seems to stiffen, but I don’t know how to say no to someone. Trigger puts his arms around Twila and I.

“Sorry man, these ones are taken.” He states flatly. The young dragon stares harshly at him, anger and annoyance flashing in his eyes, before he looks back at us, but speaks to Trigger.

“Why don’t you let them speak for themselves, hmm? Afraid you won’t be able to control two girls if you don’t keep them tied to your side?”

Trigger smiles, a cold, cruel smile, before glancing at us. “Well, girls?” He asks, and I duck my head. I don’t want to be in the middle of this, I really really don’t… I bite my lip as I try to let my hair fall into my face so the young dragon stops looking at me, just please go away, don’t pick a fight with Trigger, I beg in my head. Twila leans forward, closer to the dragon.

“No thank you, we have no need for your company.”

That seems to set the dragon on his heels, at least for a moment, but he plows forward anyways. “Well, I think I’ll have to prove that you have a need for my company. After all, what’s the point of having two girls if you can’t protect them? Seems like she’s too frightened to say no to you.” He retorts hotly.

I shrink further into myself, trying to hide from what I can feel in the arm Trigger has around me. I whimper a bit as he squeezes my shoulder tighter than is comfortable. He loosens his grip immediately, but doesn’t glance at me.

“A duel then?” Trigger states coolly. The dragon nods, smirking.

“There’s a dueling place two blocks from here,” he points. “I challenge you to a duel now.”

Trigger shakes his head. “We just ordered food. I will wait until I receive what I paid for, then we will fight.” The dragon nods, then steps away from us. I blink after him, still hunching my shoulders a bit as Trigger finally turns to look at me.

‘It’ll be ok, I can handle him, how are you doing?’ He asks in my head, not angrily, not exactly, but confident. Still a bit cold. I just shake my head, looking away. I’m not worried about Trigger ‘handling’ him, I don’t want them to be fighting at all! He sags a bit, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t just walk away, that's not how all this works…’

I nod slowly, I understand, I suppose, but part of me feels guilty, like it’s all my fault to begin with. If I had just said no in the beginning, maybe he would have just walked away! And another, larger, part of me doesn't like the quickly fading bruise Trigger left on my shoulder while he was challenging this dragon either.

Twila takes my arm gently, pulling me into a warm, safe hug as Trigger walks back to the stand to grab our food. I hide my head in her shoulder, feeling bad all over again. She strokes my hair softly, then tilts my chin up.

‘What happened there?’ She asks in my mind. I can tell she’s trying not to be too harsh, but she seems at least a little frustrated. ‘Did you want him to join us?’ I shake my head and don’t answer at first. Twila waits patiently, adjusting my crown to sit evenly on my head again. I duck my head, too ashamed to look at her.

“He just reminded me of…” I pause before saying his name. “I could never say no to Chris either, no matter what he asked me. It’s a miracle I managed to break up with him at all. I, I didn’t exactly tell the truth earlier. I had a pretty good idea of what was going on for months, I just ignored it because I didn’t want to confront him and I was scared and I didn’t want him to leave… I broke up with him, kinda, but I did it over text and refused to see him after that because I knew that if I saw him he would convince me to come back to him and let him keep seeing other girls anyways. He, he blamed me for all of it over text, but I didn’t see him again and it was only a few months later that I almost got hit by a truck and… well, you know the rest.” I hide my face in my hands, trying not to cry.

“Oh…” A look of understanding flashes over Twila’s face in the second before I look away. She rubs my shoulder gently, but I don’t look up until I hear Trigger return with our food. He hands us some warm, paper-esque bags. We start eating, but I can barely taste it. Trigger eats his calmly, but I can see the deathly glint in his eyes as he finishes. He then looks towards the dueling place, his face still set like flint. The young dragon has been watching us, and when Trigger finishes, he gives a sharp nod towards the ring. Trigger nods back, then looks away. They both walk towards it, ignoring each other. Once they reach it, an older man steps out and talks quietly with them before announcing to the bystanders that a level-one duel was about to commence. Twila and I press close to the ring. I’m too afraid to watch, scared even though I don’t completely understand why.