“I'm sorry you guys can't come with me. It's too dangerous.”
The brunette had been trying to convince her slimes for the past ten minutes why they couldn't come with her. It was obvious that they missed her and the feeling was more than mutual. Immediately after she finished speaking to Yuki the teenager ran to play with her pets.
Pudding was as cute as ever but had a noticeable upheaval in confidence. It seemed that the presence of another slime made the goo pile throw its weight around and act brave. She was shocked to see that not only were the pair communicating but Sprinkles was listening to Pudding.
When Pudding moved, Sprinkles moved. When Pudding crawled over to her Sprinkles came barreling after while cooing. Elizabeth was amused by their sibling behavior and was overjoyed that Pudding's depression had seemingly ended.
But the downside of this was that once Sprinkles saw Pudding making a fuss, it began to cry too. Elizabeth was promptly crushed by her couch sized pet and her hair was gnawed at by an overeager Sprinkles.
She was super thankful that the slimes didn't weigh as much as they looked because if they did she'd be dead. Not knowing what else to do she rubbed one hand over Pudding's rubbery body with an exhausted sigh. The teen couldn't blame them for being so clingy.
She'd missed them a lot and found herself drawing doodles of the pair on her tablet during class. They were her kids in a way, more than a pet which she called them often. They did mark her as their mother after all and they acted like clingy toddlers with grubby hands. Which ultimately made her more determined not to waver on her decision.
She would be gutted if her slimes got hurt under her watch. Elizabeth didn't trust any of the other players to not go after them even if she made it clear they belonged to her. Once they saw how big Pudding was they'd target the baby and she'd have to hurry to protect it.
Sprinkles was a bigger worry as while it was pretty tiny it was a SPIRIT SLIME after all. Meaning that killing it would be more beneficial than any other slime in the area. Just the thought of her slimes dead with a blade through their bodies and chunks of their slippery skin on the snow made her tear up.
The teenager couldn't let that happen. No matter what. So, she would have to leave her beloved babies at home again and miss spending precious time with them. It truly gutted her to do so but Elizabeth knew that it was the responsible choice.
There was a knock on the door and Elizabeth moved her head to see Jake looking in. There was someone with him but the teen couldn't recognize who it was. This was a problem as that meant her slimes didn't know who it was and became anxious.
Pudding rolled off of the girl, allowing her to take in a deep breath of fresh air with a wheeze. Right after she inhaled the teen began to panic. She didn't know if her slimes would go on the offense like before in a mess of a temper tantrum or actually become aggressive.
The teen gulped as Pudding began to move and quickly grabbed Sprinkles. It bounced around her arms like jelly, thankfully oblivious to the stranger outside the room. She looked in a panic away from the adorable Sprinkles to what she assumed would be a destructive Pudding.
Sweat was dripping down her face and she was praying that Jake moved out of the way. With a dry gulp, she waited for Pudding to do something. And waited. And waited. But instead the goo ball just scrambled behind the teenager like a scared little kid.
Elizabeth was confused by this as Pudding began to tear up like he did before but didn't do anything. It just stood there with globs of good coming out of its eyes and pitiful noises leaving its mouth. Her heart broke at this and she hurried to hug the slime.
Sprinkles made a groan that Elizabeth assumed was an effort to comfort its big sibling. The brunette appreciated it and wrapped her free arm around the large sobbing blob. It leaned into her touch, rubbing against her chest with a depressive whine.
“Did we walk into something?” The mysterious stranger asked and Elizabeth instantly recognized that southern drawl.
She sighed and continued to rub Pudding's head as she replied. “It's alright, Ann. Pudding is just sensitive when it comes to strangers.” As she said this Sprinkles started to chew on her hair again making her wince.
The woman began to apologize, blushing as she explained herself. “Jake must have warned me in the messages he sent me. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused. I've never encountered a domesticated slime before.”
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Jake chimed in. “Hey, it's alright.” The man definitely was enraptured by the woman. Elizabeth could hear the admiration in his deep voice. “We talked about a lot over these days so no wonder it went over your head.”
Elizabeth wanted to be angry. She had spent days trying to get Pudding comfortable with her guild members and that was a struggle. Jake should know better than to bring Ann over unannounced. The teenager opened her mouth to bring it but quickly shut it.
She didn't know if it was because Jake had helped her out so much in the past or her own mistakes came to mind. But she realized that the guild base was for everyone. Just because the teen decided to get two rambunctious slimes didn't mean the others had to plan their lives around them.
Especially when this was their escape from the drama and stress of the real world. The girl felt guilty over her near outburst of self-centeredness and was thankful for her sudden slap of reality. Instead of acting like a brat she took a deep breath and let her mind come to a stop.
After a couple seconds of inner peace she got up and turned to face the pair. As soon as she saw their faces, she was so happy that she'd taken her time to think before saying anything.
Because Ann looked incredibly apologetic and Jake looked equally as awful for causing a ruckus. Elizabeth frowned at the sight of two players having their day ruined by her decision making.
She knew that she needed to clear the air. “It's alright. I need to train them if I'm going to keep them. Their behavior is solely and wholly my fault.”
Her eyes moved to glance at the frightened ICE SLIME and she deflated. Sprinkles let out a pitiful whine so she quickly gestured for the poor slime to come out from the shadows. “Come on. Pudding, they're your friends.”
Elizabeth beckoned the slime forward but it stayed in its spot. Pudding whined and hid its face from her view. It was clear to the teenager now that it hadn't made as much progress as she had hoped. Thankfully, Sprinkles was much more eager to meet the pair.
It bounced around her arm and let go of its death grip on her hair to give a friendly air kiss at Ann. The teenager blushed at this act having never seen the rainbow puddle behave so boldly.
“Wow.” Jake laughed at the slime's happy wiggle and kissy face.
Ann finally began to become less tense. She covered her mouth with her hand, chuckling in disbelief as the slime teased her. “It's so hyperactive.”
The change of environment made the teenager feel braver. She walked over to the pair with an excited Sprinkles in her arms. “You guys can pet it but you have to be careful. It's still a newborn and might freak out.”
The pair thankfully took her words seriously and approached Sprinkles with caution. One at a time, they came up and touched the multicolored slime.
The puddle was ecstatic to have the attention as it preened from Ann's touch. It practically melted into the woman's scaled palm and kissed it. Elizabeth watched Ann's eyes widen again with this and couldn't help but to laugh at her expressions.
The southerner was very open with her heart as she played with the SPIRIT SLIME and treated it with the utmost care. But the teenager wasn't ignoring her other child who sat in the background. She wanted to try and goad Puding out again but knew it was risky.
If she upset the ICE SLIME it might lose control of its emotions and tantrum again. She was happy to see that Pudding was calm now with it sleeping to her utter relief. The slime was dormant and had closed its eyes. Still, she felt guilty.
“Yuki messaged me that you're going to go somewhere with Catherine. Is that true?” Jake asked to which her acknowledgement made him snort with his stutter of a laugh. “Well. I’m shocked. She's always trying to avoid us.”
“So, everyone noticed that, not just me.” She muttered meekly as Ann tickled a giddy Sprinkles that was practically doing cartwheels in her grip.
Jake noticed her sudden shift and quickly softened everything about him. “It's not like she doesn't like you. I think she's one of those people who get stuck in their head and don't realize how standoffish they come across.”
“I know. I know, it's just I feel like since she's our guild mate there's more pressure to make a good impression.” She was blushing as she admitted part of the pressure she felt on her shoulders. It was humiliating to say.
Ann must have read the room as she stopped playing with Sprinkles and gave them both a bright smile. “I'm going to go eat something while you two talk.”
She nudged Jake's shoulder with a smirk. “See you later, hun.”
The woman walked away with Jake looking after her with those googly eyes. The teenager was happy that her friend had found someone. She could only hope that those feelings were reciprocated if they ever met in real life.
The man noticed that she was looking at him watching the woman's behind and quickly turned around. He cleared his throat, awkwardly staring in her face.
Elizabeth just ignored his poorly hidden gawking and embarrassed expression as it didn't matter. There was no point in making the friendly vibe they had going turn sour by her needless prying and prodding into his business.
“Don't worry about Catherine. Enjoy your time on the mission as you never know. She can show her real self to you since it's just going to be one on one. We are a huge group of strangers playing together.” The chainmail clad knight did sound squeaky from his humiliation but the advice was still nice.
“Yeah,” Elizabeth looked down at the now pouting Sprinkles and sighed. “She could be overwhelmed by everyone constantly trying to talk to her.” His words made sense but she still was still unsure of herself.
But that wasn't important right now. She shook her head, her slime launching onto one of her curls and started to suck on it as she groaned. It's antics reminded her of a favor she wanted to ask.
She needed someone to watch her slimes and make sure they continued to behave. The teenager wasn't interested in using the powder like a crutch for any longer. It would have to stop working like magic eventually.
“I was wondering if you and Ann will be here while I'm gone. I need to make sure somebody is here.” She asked to which Jake’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, his smile wide and toothy.
“She's going to hang out with me for a couple hours so you don't have to worry. Apparently, there's some metals in the mountains and rivers near us she wants to sell. So, I'm going to help her out.” It sounded like a rough job with the rivers freezing and the mountains resembling more of a maze.
But she trusted the pair not to get themselves into too much trouble. Elizabeth smiled and wished him luck with Sprinkles keeping impatiently as it demanded a kiss. “Well, if anything happens just send me a message. Have fun with her as you two get along pretty well. Just be careful out there as the river's current is kind of terrifying sometimes.”
The man laughed, his snickers sounding like a how's snort to her utter amusement. The rest of the day went well with her slimes hanging out with her and her guild members checking in every once in a while. Ann even came into her room to bring her a delicious treat.
A slice of cherry pie that tasted like the real thing and made Elizabeth mouth water as she smelled its delectable aroma. All of this made her mood rise and her slimes noticed so they adjusted their behavior.
Pudding wasn't happy with the southerners presence but the ICE SLIME just cuddled Elizabeth instead of attacking.
The teenager was overjoyed with the change in atmosphere and felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Only later would she realize she was being misled for what was to come when she embarked on her mission.