"Wouldn’t it be simpler to just maintain clear boundaries? She already knows we’re married."
The words finally ca out as the taller girl walked her wife back ho, to the Goltbred estate. Though the mood on the trip was not quite as wonderful as the last jaunt through the city, the heiress did not mind so much. While she would never claim to have a limit on how much she desired, she did have enough discipline to recognize when she had been given a lot in a short ti.
’So that’s what she ca up with after all of that brooding?’
Elua smiled in a way that suggested she found her wife’s straightforwardness both endearing and naive. It was a soft smugness that, if it wasn’t so cute, would make the blonde want to lock her fingers around her face!
"Simple refusals don’t always work with people who’ve shown that level of interest. Boundaries can have cracks, openings, or just *shift* over ti. Soone interested enough will watch, test, and wait."
The smugness grew brittle and her mint eyes darted away.
"Trust , I would know."
’After all, this is my first *arranged* marriage. Waiting, in many forms, is sothing I grew good at. The others who drew my eye took a lot more prodding and convincing... though so lost my favor during that.’
In the few early and badly identified cases of potential partners, so of them already had a person they claid to love. She pushed at the first of those people anyway... only to realize through repeated patterns that such malleable faith was not worthy of her.
The next few, the ancient cultivator tried to be the rock that waited. The manipulator that led their loved one astray. The necessary option. All sorts of ways to deal with her desire to completely possess the love of her intended were explored, culminating in a more refined approach to her romantic targets and her choices with them.
’Learning from mistakes doesn’t erase them. Though the way she looks at does hide my mory quite well~’
The set of pigeon-blue irises t Elua’s eyes with sincerity and concern every ti they drifted back up and hurried away. She really wanted to stare right back! However, it seed prudent to not hide *all* of her buried sha... even if she was growing more and more sure that her precious gem was so sort of reward from the cosmos.
It had taken from her enough that she would give it a break in her complaints, if so.
"What about allowing her the chance to learn from rejection?"
The Yecine ’heir’ tried a different route with her. The illusionist chuckled and stopped pretending she was *that* embarrassed.
"My dear, sweet Qat. You realize I fully expect you to reject her *quite* soundly before I ever push soone else at her, right? At least, if she shows any sign of not learning from the last conversation I had with her..."
With the kind of veiled warnings, explanations, and threats she had given... she would imagine that most would stay away.
’Most is not all. I could tell she looked down on even as her fear of consequence grew. She is quite lucky that we shared a Guild... I have never been the person who struck first against an ostensible ally.’
At least, the kind of violence she ant by ’striking’ was out of bounds. Doings *things* that affected the person were still valid! The brunette’s spirit oscillated with sothing between ’embarrassnt’ and ’pride’.
"I admit... I may have another ulterior motive for seeking to make her a branch manager."
Her cheek bulged into a pout as she quickly set the tone of her opinion. Elua let out a huff of annoyance... if she didn’t need soone to use as a shield, she wouldn’t have bothered to think so much about the person most ’deserving’ of the position!
"Do you have any idea how much paperwork is involved in running a Guild branch? It’s not that I *know* they would make the manager, but I certainly don’t want to risk dealing with all of that bureaucracy myself!"
Qat blinked at the small teen, then found herself laughing at the admission. Her El had wrapped a ’practical’ convenience in layers of scheming. She had listened to her long enough and on so many topics, that it was clear that this part of it all was the start of her plan.
"It shouldn’t make feel better that you intend to force her to relocate to our city just so you have less to do. Sohow, it’s nice to know that behind my wife’s plots, she’s only impulsively trying to avoid extra duties."
"Forcing is a harsh way of putting it. Just because I intend to word the request as a strong desire and trust in her capabilities... as well as that I can’t think of anyone better suited... and-"
The heiress felt like she was only making it worse, so pivoted to a different tactic.
"I-in the first place, you assu that she wouldn’t be overjoyed at this opportunity for advancent!"
"You assu she will be. Alright, I don’t really want to argue about it. Though I would like so input on the person you... sacrifice to her."
The brunette tilted her head at the final wording before she opened her mouth in shock.
’Did my Qat actually dislike the woman so much that there was a *negative* impression left behind?’
"Of course. I’d love to listen to any of your advice... on any plan I ever have. Though you are still making it sound like I intend to force all of this to happen."
She quickly stepped ahead and turned around to face her husband-wife. While she didn’t feel overly emotional, the illusionist dropped her facade to reinforce the seriousness of her next question.
"Tell , Qat... you don’t think I’m capable of doing things that I expect you would dislike, do you? The much harsher actions and the much simpler ways of doing things? I could be making use of my own lack of certain morals to deal with every irritation that gets in my way, that looks at you wrong, that isn’t as good of a person as you are-"
She closed her eyes suddenly and, when she opened them, they held the light of a ’normal’ person again. The cultivator didn’t like the way the things she was saying ca out. The monotone along with the implications of the content made it feel too heavy handed.
"I’m not trying to say you should ignore the slightly wrong things I might do, just because I could be doing worse. I just want you to know that I constantly look at everything which I pause to *consider* doing with the light your existence shines on ."
Feeling that the mont had gotten quite stark, she turned her face into the sky with a soft sigh and stepped closer to the swordswoman. When she reached out to take the tall girl’s arm in hers, so that they could continue the walk, she instead found her shoulders wrapped by two muscular limbs.
"...I don’t think you would do anything wrong on purpose. I’m sorry if that’s how it sounded. I was just trying to work through what was making uncomfortable with your idea."
"I know. I’m proud of you for challenging my outlook. Don’t stop when you feel sothing about my plan is ’off’ and I’ll love you for it even more."
Her arms carefully stroked the taller girl’s lower back as she sought to both reassure and warn. She already held herself to what she saw as her husband-wife’s standards, but her perspective could always be wrong!
"That liaison might figure out you arranged her happiness eventually. Whether it is the job or the partner."
While part of the swordswoman’s issue was her wife ssing with the will of another person whom they barely knew, the other part was having another individual around constantly looking at her wife with suspicion. She wasn’t pleased with her family mbers already for it... let alone relative strangers.
"Oh, I’m practically counting on it. By the ti she understands that I’ve nudged at both sides of her life, she’ll be too invested in it to bother being angry."
A smug smile popped into view when the head held into Qatrand’s stomach forced its way across fabric to look upward.
"Knowing I orchestrated it might actually make her less likely to interfere with us. I know that if I learned we weren’t paired together by chance, I wouldn’t want to annoy the one responsible."
"You’re very unapologetic about this."
The low voice sounded exasperated, but it barely made an appearance in her spirit.
"Until you ask not to do it, I have no reason to feel sorry. Speaking of things you asked not to do, tomorrow morning we really should go to the Opal Scale Guild. I’ve been pestered more than once by my parents about those dangerous items on their property."
"Yes. I haven’t forgotten. Thank you for waiting."
The tone in the voice of her ’fortress’ shifted at the ntion of that task. Her arms grew slack on the smaller girl as the mory of those surgical tools surfaced. She’d trusted Elua enough to almost forget that they existed.
"You’re right. We should handle checking on that registration... together."
The brunette noticed the change in her wife’s deanor and spirit. She let her own facade slip slowly away as she stared. While she had theories about the teenager’s reaction to the Negavigor items, she hadn’t pressed for details.
’Enough things had already been in the way of enjoying the night of our wedding together, so I let it slide by.’
Now, she was thinking that it might be one of the secrets she hadn’t actually believed her beloved had!
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