Headed by a Snake

Tycondrius observed Miss Coraline's reaction.

Her distress was obvious. Was it because she abhorred Lone's presence or... was she just... shy?

The physical signs to either were... similar.

He greatly hoped that he was identifying more nervousness than anger and outrage. The former was positive. The latter two turned his well-meaning wishes into sexual harassment.

Tycon did not consider himself a very good judge when it came to the feelings and fickle hearts of young ladies... He doubted anyone was.

His request to Coraline on Lone's behalf was, by its very nature, ambiguous-- its results, difficult to evaluate.

At its core, all he asked for was an open mind. Opinions are ever-changing... Further, he specified no time limit, nor a duration for her requested open-mindedness.

As the young lady seemed to be in a state of shock, Tycon decided to press his luck.

He'd solidify his request by asking for something more substantial. The tactic also utilized a psychological 'trick.' If he could have Coraline accept even a single facet of his proposed deal, in theory, she'd be more agreeable to subsequent... amendments.

It would be ideal if he could have the two enter an informal contract, as monogamous lovers. It would fulfill Lone's initial wishes of attaining the 'girlfriend' he so desired. Coraline was ideal, as Lone was attracted to her physically and mentally, and the two had obvious personal synergy.

Tycon ultimately wished for his friends and allies to succeed in their endeavors. However, if his Ranger companion were to utterly fail... he would have still upheld his end of the bargain.

He gestured openly towards the young Elven lady, "Once we touch down at Cersei's Rest, you will go on a private outing-- *just* the two of you."

"B-b-b-boss?!" Lone gulped, "J-just the two of us?"

Tycon twisted his lips in confusion. Had he stuttered? Why was Lone panicking? Just the other evening, the young man had nothing but good things to say of the target of his affection. .

He nodded slowly... "Indeed... Mister Lone, you will be taking Miss Coraline out to dinner."

"I will?" Lone asked.

Was the fool even paying attention!? Perhaps he should have allowed the young man to die in those halls... At the moment, it seemed the hassle of keeping Lone's spirits up was outweighing the benefit of him as an Iron-Rank Ranger.

In Tycon's peripheral vision, he saw the corner of Coraline's lips curve upward into a sly smirk. The elf girl placed a hand on her hip, confidently pointing her opposite palm towards the ceiling.

"Not gonna work! Because..." She pointed her thumb at herself, "*I* don't have any MONEY!"

"Irrelevant," Tycon waved dismissively. "Your gentleman companion will be paying for that particular expense."

Lone sighed in defeat, ��I always pay for the meal, though..."

"Hmph!" Coraline crossed her arms, turning away from Lone, "That's... grr... Fine! I get to pick the restaurant, though!"

"Now HOLD ON!!" Lone yelped, "Boss?! I'M the one paying for the meal! I should be the one that gets to choose!!"

Tycon raised an eyebrow, "Why are you looking at *me*? That's not my problem."

...

Coraline clenched her teeth. This was a battle that she absolutely could not lose.

Lone turned to face her, "What do you mean by *you* get to pick the restaurant?!"

"Exactly what I said, dummy!" She shouted back, "And I get to plan the rest of the itinerary too!"

Sir Tychon's request was actually not so terrible.

So what if she had to agree to going out at Cersei's Rest? She wasn't planning on staying in an inn room all sun, anyroad! If someone was going with her, then so be it!

HOWEVER! It wasn't going to be romantic-- not at all! She'd be going out on her OWN terms!

Even if everything did work out...

--which wouldn't happen.

Any 'date' she'd go on with Mister Lone-- no, with ANYONE, would be a massive fail.

THUS, since failure was an inevitability, Coraline was going to make sure she'd have fun no matter what~!

...Anyroad, there wasn't enough time for her to forge a meaningful connection with Lone. She'd already purchased her second ticket from Cersei's Rest to Archangel... which meant she had less than two suns to spend in the city proper.

Falling in love... takes time-- more than they had.

The entire time she and Lone DID spend together... they'd just been running around, trying to figure out all the terrible things that had been happening. They barely knew anything about each other. And for the emotional connection, it's...

It's not like she... trusted--

Coraline hesitated... and turned to look at her stupid, trustworthy companion...

...Empty night.

She did.

She did trust him.

They did have an emotional connection.

She even thought he was a tiny bit attractive-- an insignificant, meaningless amount of attraction, which wasn't at all important, so she had no reason to think about it.

"We're going..." She jabbed her finger into Mister Lone's padded-armor pectorals, "--ROCK CLIMBING!!"

"Oh, really?" Lone rolled his eyes, "*You* think you can climb rocks?"

"Yes. I. Can," Coraline wiggled left and right, drawing circles on Lone's chest with her finger, "I. LOVE. CLIMBING ROCKS!"

Lone crossed his arms, his chin lifted up arrogantly, "Well, I've climbed rocks for three MOONS in the Mosswood Wilds!"

"Doesn't mean anything!" Coraline sighed in exasperation, "I've been climbing rocks and... and TREES since I was a SAPLING!!"

"You're STILL a sapling!��

That was technically true. Coraline was still a baby in Elven years-- she wasn't even very old by human standards.

HOWEVER, she did NOT like the way Lone was talking down to her!

"I want to go to the--"

Lone pressed his finger to Coraline's mouth, surprising her into silence.

"Shh!" Lone pursed his lips, "Add 'going to the beach' on our schedule."

Coraline slapped his hand away. How dare he?!

"Why?!" She glared, "So you can PERV at women in their swimsuits??!"

"What?!" Lone drew his head back, pretending to be insulted. "No! I just like to swim-- also, swimsuits are nice..."

Whaaaaaaat?!

This... this guy, he really--

Coraline couldn't believe Lone's AUDACITY.

"So you ADMIT IT!!" Coraline fumed, "Well, TOO BAD! Because I packed a REALLY cute one-piece swimsuit! No one-- I mean NO ONE will go DARE go near you as long as I stick closeby!"

"Y-you'd RUIN me like that?!" Lone growled. "FINE! Then since YOU'RE picking the restaurant, I'm ORDERING for you!"

"You're going to order something STUPID!" Coraline gnashed her teeth, "Well, FINE! I'm ordering FOR YOU, THEN!"