"I healed you! It works on stuff like skipped meals! Not perfectly, but it helps!"

"But, but - this feels like more than just being less tired, seriously. I mean, it's hard to pin my finger on, but... Like, does your vision usually get sharper when you're less tired? I mean, I guess that's a thing that happens, but..." 

"...I mean, if I stay up for three days straight and then get a good night's sleep, or something..."

"Well, I do forget to eat sometimes... And I probably don't get enough sleep... But really, I had no idea it was this bad!"

"Good thing you're dating a Light mage, then."

"Definitely." 

(It's very annoying that this position is awkward for kissing.)

"... Say, do you have pizza in your world?"

"No, what's that?"

"Okay, pizza break, you gotta try it - the box is on the top shelf of the fridge." 

"I'm in the middle of something here!" She kisses the top of Jinx's head again. "I will try pizza when I'm done."

Jinx giggles. 

"Alright, alright. I mean, it's not like I'm not enjoying this."

Giggle.

Braid braid braid.

mmmmm. She's just going to get nice and comfy here. 

(No, asking Ruava to braid her hair was not just an excuse to make Ruava pet her. It's a wholly practical measure that'll let her look more badass sooner.)

Braid braid braid braid braid. There is so much hair. And it is all getting braided.

This could take a while, and it gets a bit more boring once Ruava's a bit further from her head. 

"So... What was the world you came from like, anyway? I take it you don't have," she waves a hand vaguely at the apartment, "things like this, but I know basically nothing about what life was like for you before you came here." 

"Mm... well, I grew up in Akaiet, the capital of Eianvar, on the Lake of Gold in the Godscrest Mountains. The Lake of Gold is ridiculous. It's magic, and it glitters so bright you can't look at it in full sun. There's two rivers coming off it, the Sekni going south and the Nisemi going east, and the gold takes miles to dilute enough that you can't see it anymore."

"That sounds very pretty. I'd love to see that sometime... Too bad it's so far away."

"Yeah."

Braid braid braid.

"It is pretty, it's just also kind of inconvenient. It's best at night, I think. I used to climb the palace wall and sit on the roof and watch the lake in the moonlight."

"So that's where you learned to climb like that! And let me guess, you had to sneak past a bunch of guards on the way?"

"Yeah. My best friend's the imperial prince, and I hate nearly everyone else in the palace, so I sneak in to visit him a lot."

"Why am I not surprised at all by your interesting life?"

"Probably because you've met me."

First braid done, on to second braid.

Ooh, that's getting distracting again.

"mmm, wouldn't have pegged you for nobility though."

"I'm complicated. My family was noble but they're all dead and their lands were seized by the Emperor and I'm only still around because the Emperor's mistress had a soft spot for my mother."

"Yeah, that sounds like about the level of noble bullshit I'm used to."

"Some things are the same everywhere, huh?" Braid braid braid. "The Emperor's also really fond of torture, like, entirely too fond, if you get my meaning, which is why I hate him and most of his court, but Korva - my friend the prince - actually has a conscience unlike the rest of those fuckers and is just waiting for his dad to die so he can make everything less horrible."