Pacing Themselves

[Clownpiece]

Dane’s voice faded out of Clownpiece’s mind, leaving only her usual thoughts in its wake. His silly little trick had proven useful once again, allowing him to beckon her without a word spoken, informing her that they were taking a different path this time. It was a welcome detour, to be sure. While she did want to show off the shrine to Dane, and introduce the others to her new pet, the thought of adventure intrigued her as always.

The little hellfairy spun on her heel, ready to confidently stroll back over to her friend and follow him to wherever he wanted to lead. The figures of their makeshift group blurred through her vision, and when she’d finished moving and her site straightened back out, her eyes settled upon Dane, hand outstretched and laid upon the head of the newcomer, Myst. A frown crossed her face and a small pang resounded through her chest. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped forward, almost-bare feet padding along the featureless ground, most of her concentration focused on the swordsman. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a small white blur. Afrátos, still heading off merrily towards the gate.

With a quick turn on her heel, she changed directions and marched back over to the hellbeast, an obviously annoyed spring to her step. With one hand, she grabbed hold of the back of the ceramic beast’s neck and wordlessly hauled him back over to the group, eyes angrily fixed on Dane. Seeing the fairy’s gaze, the swordsman cocked an eyebrow, but other than dropping his hand off the woman’s head, an act he no doubt would have done anyway, he did nothing. 

“Regarding your anomaly, Renko....” he turned towards the fedora’d girl and started off on a ramble, still paying no heed to the blonde child’s glare. Her eyes remained fixed to him during his entire conversation with Renko, as there was no need to pay attention to where they were walking in the Nexus. 

Still, there was no response.

The fairy pursed her lips, making an obviously disgruntled face as she cast surreptitious glances towards the swordsman. He continued to converse idly with Myst and Renko, either deliberately ignoring her, or just plain naive. The gate he had in mind loomed closer and closer, and yet he still didn’t comment on the fairy’s angry glances. Nor did he comment on the annoyed sighs she let loose. No matter how obviously passive-aggressive she was, he still made no comment. With every obvious motion and sound she made, Renko, Myst, and even China sent a cautious glance her way, eyes flicking over to her for a brief moment before they returned to whatever was holding their interest at the moment, but still, the swordsman remained stoic.

“So....” as soon as silence fell over the group, she sprung, pure irritation barely masked within her voice. “I guess we’ve both got new pets, then....”

Dane simply shrugged in response to that, letting loose a sigh that shifted his bangs slightly. In his usual, eternal defiance, he stepped closer to the frenchwoman, lifting his hand up and ruffling her hair again. “What do you mean by that?”

If such a thing was even possible, Clownpiece pursed her lips even more, lifting into the air and zipping around to the other side of Dane in a moment.

“You know what I mean!” Two child-sized hands pressed down on the man’s outstretched arm, and his hand was forced back to his side with little resistance, the headpat ended prematurely.

“No. What do you mean?” The hand not currently being restrained by the fairy rose up and began to ruffle Myst’s hair. The vampire looked pleasantly surprised at this, and surprisingly oblivious, failing to notice Clownpiece’s ire.

“Are you....” A sudden strain entered the blonde’s voice as she planted her feet against the ground and wrapped her arms around Dane’s torso. “Replacing.” Every muscle in her body strained as she hauled her friend up off the ground. “Me?” With the swordsman haphazardly lifted into the air, she took two shaky steps forward, pulling him out of reach of Myst, and planted him back on the ground. Her head tilted up, and she glared at him with bright purple eyes, arms still wrapped around him, daring him to answer this question wrong.

“You think I’d replace my portable flamethrower?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow. He had hardly finished that sentence before he lifted up his unrestrained hand, holding it just above Clownpiece’s turned-up face. A grin spread across the hell fairy’s face, and her eyes closed in preparation....

Snap

Dane’s fingers clicked together and a small bit of red flashed through the fairy’s closed eyes. In an instant her eyes sprung back open and she glared at the swordsman with an unhappy frown. That had been an unsuccessful attempt to get her to let go. She knew she should have expected as much, but that didn’t ease this blow at all.

“Pat me.” She stated, voice as clear as a bright summer day, her annoyed gaze locked to Dane’s own usual, unconcerned look. He remained silent for a moment, and once again he lifted his free hand up.

“Sure...” he mumbled, and again, the fairy smiled. A small weight patted her back once, twice, thrice, and that smile she had fell in an instant.

“On the head!” she exclaimed, holding him even tighter as she pressed her head against his chest. Her mouth fell into a pout, and as if he had finally figured out the situation, Afrátos let out an annoyed hiss.

“....Fine....” Dane finally acquiesced, and the weight she’d been looking forward too finally fell upon Clownpiece’s head. Though her hat was in the way, she could still feel the intent behind the pat anyway, as it ruffled where her hair would have been had she not been wearing it. She giggled, leaning into his hand, and happily ignored as he messed up her hat. Sure it had taken way too much effort, but she’d finally gotten what she was looking for.

“Okay.” And just like that, it was over. The swordsman lifted his hand from her head and pried himself from her surprisingly strong grip. Clownpiece’s face fell, and she stepped closer to Dane. “Getting back on track...” He started forward once again, leading the group towards the gate not too far away. The fairy stuck close to his side, casting a suspicious glance back at Myst every now and again. She wasn’t going to get close to him as long as she had anything to say about it....