Dainin found that finding a dress for a woman was a little harder than finding clothes for a man. It seemed that most men had clothes roughly the same size and shape, just with embellishments for certain occasions. It was the opposite with armor, which had to be tailored to fit every joint exactly.

It turned out that most female clothes were like armor. It was tailored to fit the torso and arms and hips in a particular fashion. So, it took him a while before he found a loose and flowing velvety gown in black. It had been meant to be someone’s mourning gown, but the order had been canceled, and the tailor offered to make some amendments to it to make it easy to fit to most body types and would add more color.

I guess I will have to get her out to get proper measurements at some point if we are going to get her proper dresses that she will likely enjoy. The idea of the stubborn dragon who had to eat her whole meal with her fingers to endure being touched by anyone in a shop made him a little tired, and he had not even tried to bring it up with her yet.

Maybe if she likes this dress, then it will be a good way to get the idea to be more agreeable.

It was nice, even if he was tired, to just sit and wait for the tailor to make his adjustments. It has been so frantic that I have not looked at the updates I got to my abilities because she was so beaten up before I got to her that we had to rush straight back.

He stretched, and began to focus on the abilities in the corners of his visions.

Uncharted Water, one new ability available.

He had looked at this one before briefly, but now he properly focused on it, the Goddess’s voice reading to him.

Caretaker of the Path: You can sense where she is and whether she is presently in danger.

The ability moved from the quest zone in his upper right and down to the lower left of his vision where he had several updates waiting for review. Too bad it didn’t have other things to help him with the difficult dragon like her mood… or her measurements. He reclined back, glad that his reaction to the blessing hadn’t earned him a voice of sass in his ear.

He reviewed the three updated abilities, Scurrying Mouse, Rag Doll, and First Knight of Chaos.

The voice read to him, Scurrying Mouse. You will go faster the next time you try to outrun something bigger than you. This ability has been updated to give you some insight on how a big creature is about to attack, to better allow you to react. It was now a more purple color instead of pale pink.

After fighting the dragon, I do not think I am that motivated to keep fighting big things. I hope this is not really a plan for me.

But his thought went unanswered.

With his lips slightly pursed, he listened to the next update: Rag Doll! The next time you get shaken and/or tossed through the air, you will not dislocate joints and will be more resilient! Additionally, when you take a stunning or crushing blow from above, you recover more quickly!

He sighed. I suppose that is from the rock crushing me. I cannot say I am excited at being thrown or struck better.

Finally, he reviewed First Knight of Chaos, for it had not updated for a long time.

First Knight of Chaos has been bestowed upon you to allow you to wield the weapons of chaos granted you, Chaos Bow and Blade of Unusual Chance. This ability has been upgraded to include Caretaker of the Path.

He reclined in his chair and contemplated that. The first thing his Goddess had suggested was getting married. That this was tied in with his overall of magical class with Goddess made him realize there was a good amount of weight with the Uncharted Waters Quest. It could be a long time before he came close to completing it, if ever.

He accepted it. She was not all bad, she was just a little difficult right now because she was afraid and forced to face something new. He dozed for a while, accepted the dress wrapped in a gauzy fabric, since it was a gift, and he paid generously before returning to the inn.

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When he made his way upstairs, she was bundled in a sheet, her green hair spread out over the pillow and slowly drying, and he could really see all the hints of pink in it clearly. He decided to let her sleep without bothering her as much as possible. He was also pleased to see that the inn’s staff had brought the extra bedding.

It was hard to keep himself quiet as he slowly sat in the chair near the bed. His whole being ached as he started to remove his armor one piece at a time as quietly as he could while every part of him ached. I have been going for so long, just… quick bath and then bed, I think. If he was not so filthy, he would just crawl into those blankets and sleep his day off.

He would move behind the screen to strip off his clothes, expended a little bit of imber magic to heat the water again, and slide into it. He let out a big sigh as he started to feel relief. He closed his eyes and laid back.

***

She awoke when she heard a big sigh. She could tell by the sounds of the water moving in the tub, he must be in it. She quietly stood up, leaving the sheet behind, and walked up to him. He had his eyes closed, he was just sitting there, water rippling against his chest and arms from his breath displacing the water slightly. Is he asleep?

Perhaps he sensed her though, because a moment later, his eyes snapped open, “Path!” he yelled, bunching up so quickly into a ball in the tub that water sloshed over the wood floor and onto her toes. He was rapidly turning a shade of red not too dissimilar to an apple.

Embarrassed? “What? You’re making a mess,” she pointed out with intentionally innocent tones as she stepped back from him just a little bit. His legs were snuggled up to his chest, she could see in the ripply water that his ankles were crossed over each other against his rear and he was sunk down in the water as deep as he could get.

“The partition exists for a reason,” he gestured with a hand, for her to go back on the other side of it.

She tilted her head, and then grinned as she understood it, “What, it’s all right for you to see me naked after you invade my home, but you don’t want me to see you naked?” She advanced a step instead, and he turned redder and inched more beneath the water - and as his magic interacted with his emotions, it seemed to climb up around his shoulders as if to cover him. Too bad it was still clear though.

“Path,” he pleaded as she came to the side of the tub. But he didn’t finish the plea, he was too red and too tense.

She liked this… there was something alluring about his embarrassed vulnerability that was on display now. She felt powerful again even though she was trapped in his weak body. She braced with her arms on the edge of the tub and crouched down, to be eye level at him. “It doesn’t seem very fair,” she observed with a grin as he pressed to the other side of the tub from her and squirmed.

“Path,” he repeated again as she looked up at him and he looked away and turned a couple shades darker.

“Yes?” she asked with her best impression of total innocence.

He huffed and stared away from her, unable to answer her question. She could almost hear his rapid heartbeat. He didn’t say anything else, he just leaned to the far side of the tub and the water crept up over his shoulders and neck.

I need to do… something, she thought and tilted her head to one side. She wanted to do something to cement this… power… she had over him, but it was hard to think what a human would do in this situation. She gave up on what a human would do, and just focused on what a dragon would do. She leaned forward and licked his cheek.

When he went rigid as a board and squeaked, she hopped up and bounced away, out of sight behind the screen. She held her breath and listened as he squeaked and then cleared his throat and gasped for air and tried to audibly calm down. She giggled.

“Path, don’t laugh at me, you’re a monster,” he complained.

“I am a dragon,” she agreed.

She was gratified to hear him muttering to himself and the water sloshing around. She enjoyed when she got to be the one flustering him for a change. She climbed back into the bed, listening to him start to wash his hair. “You were gone a long time.”

“I got you a dress. Tomorrow morning, I will help you put it on.”

“I will not like it,” she declared, thinking of the shirt and the rough linen skirt.

“Yes, yes, I hear what you say, but we will see in the morning. Now wrap yourself in the sheet, I am going to get out, and lay down on my bed.”

“This on the floor?”

“Yes. In the morning, I will go to the temple, and you can wait for me if you do not want to come.”

“I do not want to come,” she said flatly.

“All right, in the morning, I will go to the temple, and resolve the issues there.”

“And then we go back to my cave?” she bundled up in the sheet as asked.

“What? Why?”

“That is where my hoard is. If I leave it alone, it will not be there.”

He breathed out a frustrated noise, “All right, but I have things to do and we’re not living in a cave, lady dragon.”

Path grumbled and flopped over on the bed. “I will embarrass you or lick you until you beg me to let you live in a cave.”

“Monster, you shall not defeat me with these threats” he huffed again, but this time it was more playful sounding because he had recovered from the shock. He had a robe thing wrapped around him as he laid down in the bedding on floor. “Go to sleep so your healing can finish.”

She huffed, “Only because I am still tired,” she informed him.

He waved at her sleepily and was out almost immediately. She watched him for a bit before falling asleep herself.