Zeviana seems to find all of the people energizing and exciting. She goes from place to place, curious, asking questions about a city she's never seen before - meeting people, talking to people, and, at one point, flirting with a waitress.

Adarin is a bit more reserved. He hangs around Shara, is polite, and is not be particularly huggy in public. Not because he isn't feeling huggy, but because he's worried about how it would reflect on Shara herself.

Kayam finds it highly entertaining that Zeviana flirts with a waitress. She doesn't flirt with anyone herself, but directs a couple of girls at Zeviana. She's also happy to play tour guide.

"Well, he rescued her. And like forty other people, but yeah."

"Yeah. They might ask. But I'm not under any particular pressure to get married in spite of the princess thing because the succession doesn't have to be traditional. So that's the most they'll do even if they adore you, promise, you aren't going to be subject to pushy crowned people."

"Makes sense. Is there anything in particular I should tell them?"

"I was thinking the truth? Is the truth complicated in some way of which I am unaware?"

"Truth's fine, I was just making sure there was no - forbidden lover or something you would like me to cover for. I'm a terrible liar, by the way, don't ever ask me to, I might try if it's important but that doesn't make me good at it."

"Pff, no, I have not been forbidden anyone and have no lovers even of the bidden kind. The terrible liar thing is noted."

"Very well, milady," he says agreeably.

"My parents are nice," she reassures him.

"They sound nice, so far - or, your father at least, saving forty people."

"Well, you already knew at least one of them had gone on a crown-impressing adventure, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I didn't know which one."

"It was him. He wasn't a prince, before, he wasn't even in the principal Swanpennon branch - full-on pennon, no tricky commoner ancestry making it awkward for him to try on the crown when it came up, but not living in the Swanpennon estate most of the year. He was - I think the nearest foreign equivalent is a knight? They're just called blades, here - flag blades if one disapproves of state-sponsored violence and likes to call anybody with a sharp object a blade. And he went around the town he lived in doing that policing misbehavior as it cropped up and then there was a flash flood - people think it was a weather raveler, but it's not clear - and Karaz got everybody who couldn't swim or who'd got hurt in the original wave out of the low-lying area. Including Auriny, my mom."

Adarin smiles. "He sounds nice, yeah. Good for him on saving people."

"They actually didn't start courting until years later, although still before the then-princes and princesses had aged past their first shot and therefore before Karaz had a crack at it."

He nods. "Makes sense, it's still - kind of a cute way to meet. You know, aside from the flood in the first place, of course."

"It was, by all accounts."

"Is it common for the monarchy to meet via - rescue? Or was it just a thing with them?"

"It's - traditional more than it is common?" says Shara. "It's the obvious story. But not overwhelmingly typical."

Adarin laughs a little. "Ah, I see. Am - I going to cause rumors by my very presence?"

"Probably. Please don't worry about them, though, no one who can do anything about it is going to be pushy, there's no one around who can make you."

"I don't think they could make me, I'm - just worried about - ugh, this is going to sound so stupid if I say it out loud. Do you want me to say it out loud?"

"Okay, well. I'm worried about accidentally becoming an - I don't know, accidental stain on your honor due to rumors and my reprogramming due to horrible unethical magic."

"See, it sounds stupid when I say it out loud. Okay then, as long as I'm not making any horrific cultural missteps that personally cause you trouble, then it's fine. Had to be sure."

"You're fine," she assures him.

"Good. Let me know if I'm ever not. I'm kind of being obsessively careful, and all."

"I'll tell you, I promise I'll tell you."

He laughs. "Thanks, I realize I keep asking the same thing of you over and over - it's important, is all. Sorry."

"No harm done."

"I'll stop extracting the same promise from you over and over. I'll choose different wordings of the same one, instead," he jokes.

"If that's what it takes to make you feel comfortable."

"You're welcome."

"You're looking at me funny."

"I'm not complaining, I just don't know what it means."

"I'm not sure how to even begin to explain that one, sorry. Suffice to say, I like your company."

"Oh, good."

"You're doing it again," laughs Shara.

"Pff, sorry, didn't even realize it that time."

"You don't have to be sorry, I'm just super curious. It looks sort of like you're considering painting me."

"If I could paint, I definitely would paint you, but. Can't, sorry."

"Aw. I guessed wrong."

"Try again later and win a prize," he teases.

"Ooh, what's the prize?"

"I have absolutely no idea!"

"Surprise mystery prize."

"All of those things, yes."

"Do you distribute the prize or just anticipate that it will fall out of the sky?"

"I will distribute it, I don't expect the sky to produce prizes. Unless the prize is inclement weather, but I don't think you want that."

"It's not much of a prize. How are you going to distribute a prize you don't even know what it is?"

"I'll figure it out," he laughs.

"What if I guess before you do, though, then what?"

"Then you get a slip of paper that says 'IOU' and you'll get it when I figure out what the prize is."

"I'm beginning to suspect this wasn't very much planned ahead of time."

"It really isn't."

"See if I hire you to run any contests for me."

He laughs. "Nooo, there go my dreams of running contests! They're shattered! I'm heartbroken."

"Awww, I don't want to break your heart. What will cheer you up?"

"Letting me run a contest in the future, obviously."

"What a dilemma. Do I be kind or be responsible?"

"Maaaybe you could placate me with something else," laughs Adarin. "Taking a third option."

"Such as? What do you like? I know not painting."

"Not painting!" he agrees. "Reading, I love books. Uh - I sort of lost a lot of hobbies, and I forgot about the ones that I had when I was younger, so I'll be vague rather than specifics. Introverty, some board games, some card games - I'm really not a party person. I like thinking, though - and I'm good at math."

"What kind of books?"

"Most of them, honestly. I think poetry's about the only thing that I get bored of reading, and that's because a lot of it tends to meander around and waste my time. History, fiction, non-fiction - it's basically all fine, but I do have a fondness for storybooks with clever protagonists."

"Clever protagonists who rescue people? Are you contemplating writing a book about me since you can't paint?"

"I would be ridiculously flattered!"

"I'm not sure I can write a book, though! I could obsessively plan it out and never start, or the prose could be a mess, or any number of things."

"Well, I don't desperately need a book. But if you want to write one you can."

"Thanks! If I get bored I might try it. I might even try to make it into a series, of adventures that I make up."

"I will want to vet any adventures being attributed to me."

"Of course."

"Thank you. No claiming that I have been swashbuckling pirates or something. Totally inconsistent with my established character, that."

He snickers. "It would be, you'd be consistent with your established character and you'd go on lots of adventures with Kayam to help innocent people with the power of talking about it."

"The power of what? Me and Kayam saved you with raveling and a flashball and a knife."

"You tried talking about it first; the flashball, raveling, and knife were in self defense after that failed."

"Yeah, fair."

"So, obviously the adventures would involve you trying to talk about it, the villains not agreeing, and then you have to win through violence."

"I'm actually terrible at violence, personally. Until I was eight I was the clumsiest little girl of all time, and then my parents found me a chronic-healer and now I'm not nearly that bad but anything really complicated is still not going to happen. So Kayam fills in."

"Okay, you need Kayam's help to win through violence. She'll be your sidekick."

"We prefer to call her my friend rather than my sidekick."

"You are being extremely unhelpful with my floundering not-an-author starting attempts, you realize."

"Oh no. How terrible of me. The crown will not be impressed."

"Obviously there is only one way to solve this." He pauses dramatically. "I must never write again."

"Again?"

".... Well. Okay, not again. I must never start writing a novel, though."

"Aww."

"I am entirely free to tell your story in interpretive dance, though." Another pause. "I will not tell your story in interpretive dance."

"You won't? But it'd be so funny."

"It would, I agree! But it would be a recipe for disaster, no good would come of it. I would make a fool of myself, and then where would I be?"

"Hilarious?"

"A recipe for a hilarious disaster, then."

"Aw. It'd be cute."

"Thanks," he laughs. "But I don't know how to do interpretive dance, either."

"Then how are you planning to recount the story for fascinated audiences, I ask you."

Adarin snickers. "I'll get my sister to do it."

"Is she any good at interpretive dance?"

"Nope!"

"Then what's she going to do?"

"You'd have to ask her!" says Adarin, unhelpfully.

"What makes you think she could carry out the task, then?"

Adarin shrugs. "Mostly because I don't think I can."

"Complementary sorts of skills?"

"That tends to be how it goes with us, yeah. It's convenient, actually."

"Neat."

"Yeah. I mean, there are some exceptions, obviously. Neither of us can paint and both of us can feed ourselves, for example."

"Aw, here I was imagining that one of you had mastered spoons and the other only forks and you had to feed each other depending on the course."

Adarin snorts with laughter. "That's - you're hilarious, that would be the funniest thing ever."

"And one of you could manage knives - perhaps not the same one who did forks, so you'd have to cooperate to cut up meat."

"We'd have to do the dishes together, too, one of us has mastery of sponges and the other mastery of towels."

"Oh, and one of you must drink all your beverages with a straw because only the other one can manage cups correctly."

"Only one of us can open doors, too, and the other windows. Doorknobs are confusing things, after all."

"One of you can walk normally and the other has only figured out how to hop. One of you can talk and the other can only sing. One of you can tie knots and the other has learned to use buttons. This sounds like a silly children's book."

"It does, doesn't it," laughs Adarin. "Too bad I swore off writing, otherwise I'd get rich from the book."

"Terrible pity. Such a loss. Perhaps the world would be better off if you didn't keep to random promises made as a joke."

"Perhaps! But now I have to think of silly ways around the promises."

"Maybe you have mastered making promises but only Zeviana has mastered keeping them."

Adarin laughs. "If we were that bad neither of us would ever be able to function."

"Ah. Well, I don't think anybody but me heard you swear off writing. I could just release you from the promise."

"That's all right, I don't think I'd be much good at it. I'm more of a numbers person."

"Fair enough."

"But I guess if we every figure out a way to tell your story in a math problem, I am your man."

"I haven't the foggiest idea how you'd do that. Maybe I'm not mathy enough."

"Yeah, I've got no idea how I'll turn that into math, either. Sorry. You'll be the second to know."

"Cool."

"Bet you it dooooes," sings Kayam.

"If it doesn't I'm making faces at it."

Zeviana inclines her head. "Your majesty."

Adarin does the same. "Your majesty. We are indeed the rescuees."

"We're much less upset about it now."

"It's nice to meet you, too," says Adarin.

"Hello!" says Zeviana brightly.

Adarin grins and laughs. "Looks like I don't have to make faces at it after all. Congrats, Shara."

Adarin's a bit more reserved, and therefore doesn't rush to hug her, but he does grin and look generally supportive.

And, off the twins go!

"Eeeeeee a palace," says Zeviana brightly. "We go to fun places, now, I like her."

Adarin... Does not know how to feel about this. He goes with not emoting. Not emoting is good.

Then the maid asks if they're going to be attending the heir's announcement party and informs them that if so they're going to need formal wear. There is heavy emphasis on formal: she obviously doesn't believe these people have laid eyes on a sufficiently formal garment in their lives.

"Excuse me," says the maid. "I only wanted to know if you needed something spare tailored for you."

"Right," growls Zeviana.

"That would be great, we'd love to go," says Adarin, awkwardly. "Uh - something spare tailored, please?"

"All right then," says the maid, and she produces a tape measure and measures various parts of Adarin and then looks expectantly at Zeviana.

Zeviana sighs, and then lets the maid take measurements.

The maid measures her and then goes away again.

Kayam, in a change of clothes - out of the riding outfit, into an outfit that is less durable but still features pants instead of a skirt - swings by their hall a bit later. "Hi, guys!"

"Hey," says Adarin.

Zeviana is over in a corner, looking annoyed, but she says, "Hi."

"You okay?" Kayam asks Zeviana.

"Meh. Feeling a bit insulted, the maid was rude."

"Oh, did you get her name? I know the housekeeper, I can get you assigned somebody else if you want."

"Didn't get her name. She was all - looking down on us, though."

"Well, get her name next time, otherwise I can't do anything. How do you like the palace besides that?"

"All right. The palace is - okay. Pretty."

"Shara's party's going to be in four days to allow time to invite a few hundred stuffy pennons and other important personages and if I should happen to faint dead away when I see her in that dress they've got socked away for the occasion please claim that I had been neglecting to drink enough water to all witnesses," sighs Kayam.

Adarin's confused. "... Why would you faint upon seeing her in a dress?"

"Oh, am I that good at being subtle about it now? I am pining for the princess of Casasha who is tragically straight. She knows, but I try not to make it weird, I do want to still be best friends regardless."

"Well, you don't have my little anatomy problem, you should just kiss her."

"I - mean um. I don't think she feels the same way, so."

"She likes you and you should kiss her because she's not gonna touch you because you recently had extremely sketchy interpersonal relationships and she thinks you need space, so if you like her, go for it."

"Okay, maybe not completely out of the blue. Get her alone first and tell her you like her and reassure her that the sketchy personal relationship history is not a problem here?"

"That's a better idea."

"And then kiss her. Or, like, tilt your head and lean forward a little and make gooey eye contact, maybe."

Adarin laughs, a little nervously. "I'll - um. Figure it out?"

Kayam looks at him skeptically. "You will, huh? All by yourself."

Zeviana has been trying not to laugh, the entire time. "You're doomed. You're so doomed."

He sighs.

"I don't think he's doomed to anything more than a few awkward moments at the very beginning."

"Fun."

"Can I watch you flail about failing at romancing her?"

"No."

"Yeah, I did say alone, there was a reason."

"Awww. Fine, fine."

"Thank you for not sabotaging milady's love life for your personal amusement."

"You're welcome!"

"I feel so loved," says Adarin in a deadpan.

"Awww. Do you want me to coach you? I can coach you -"

"Nnnnno that's okay, we'll just figure it out."

"Shara will probably produce plenty of opinions about the details when she knows you are not labeled fragile, this end up, keep out of direct sunlight, no sudden movements or loud noises, do not expose to bagpipe music."

"Uuuum, lingering death from... fluid in the lungs, that's what."

"Sounds drawn out. I'll avoid bagpipes, then."

"Well, the point is that you don't actually need the fragility labeling."

"But what if I die?" says Adarin in mock-fear.

"He will never get to kiss her if he dies first!"

"All right, go ahead and be careful around bagpipes but don't be careful around Shara, she doesn't even know how to play."

"Oh, well, that's okay, then."

"She's in the library if you want to go right now."

"Uh - what, right now-?"

"Yup," says Zeviana, who immediately starts pushing her brother to the door. "Right now, shoo, before you think about it too much. Shoo!"

"There," says Zeviana, casually leaning on the door to prevent him from coming back in. "That'll work."

"He doesn't know where the library is, does he?"

"No idea."

"I'll show him where to find it," laughs Kayam, and she lets herself out of the room.

Adarin is currently looking like a confused and lost puppy. "... I don't know where the library is."

"I figured. This way." Stroll, stroll.

"Yeah, I'm kinda pining. But I'm not jealous. And me and her isn't going to happen anyway."

"Okay - I'm sorry."

"That's she's straight? Why are you sorry? If she wasn't we'd have been together since we were about fifteen and you'd never get a bit in edgewise."

"... Fair point," he laughs. "But I'm sorry that you're pining."

"I'm not miserable. I just haven't quite got to the point where I can look at other girls without comparing, in my head."

Adarin nods. "Okay. Then - I suppose I'll shut up about it?"

"Sounds like a plan. You make her happy, okay?"

"I'll genuinely try my best."

"Good. Library's end of this hall, can't miss it."

Shara is in there! She is freshly bathed and in a nice dress and still wearing her crown with the lazily floating diamonds as she leans over a book.

"Hey," says Adarin, for lack of anything better to say.

"Hi!" says Shara, looking up. "How're you doing?"

"Good - you, um. You look nice."

"Thanks! I just sort of throw on whatever my handmaid gives me but she has good taste and I definitely needed the bath."

"Sorry. Anyway, how do you like it here?"

"It's nice - Vi is being abrasive with the staff, though."

"Oh dear. Do I need to intervene?"

"No, no, it's just the uh - maid was acting like we were uncultured. Which, technically we are, but - sister."

"...If she's being rude I can get you a nicer one."

"Ask Zeviana, I was fine with it," he shrugs.

"Okay. So what's up?"

"Um, okay? What?"

"Apparently, uh - you have a crush on me the size of a continent?"

"... There's a system for measuring crush sizes?"

"Nooo but if there were it wouldn't compare them to landmasses, I don't think."

"Okay, well -" He fidgets. "Should I drop this conversation and never bring it up again?"

"I - um - why are you asking, I was trying not to make it - why did Kayam even tell you?"

"Oh. Um. You do?"

He nods, a little shyly. "If - I don't know, if it's unwanted or something, though, I can back off and let you be or - something."

"I was - I mean - you were talking about how you were having trouble knowing for sure what you want and - the like. I - am not sure how to take this, considering - that? But - like the hugging - not unwanted on my end - I'm worried about you is all."

"Well - my head's still something of a mess when it comes to - personal space and how I should act and how platonic feelings work." He fidgets, a bit. "But nothing I had while I was there was - in a romantic sense. So in a disturbing way I seem to be absolutely fine on that note."

"Good, I think I might have crawled off to a corner to die of embarrassment if she had been."

"Well, that would never do."

"No, it'd be pretty terrible," he snorts.

"And maybe the crown would retroactively disapprove if I went and did something like send you to expire in a corner."

"Maybe, and then you'd have to go on more adventures and have to eat more trail food."

"It would be terrible." Pause. "So - what are you thinking in terms of what to do about these incomparable-to-continents-because-that-is-silly crushes?"

If Shara is blushing, it's not visually discernible, but she is hesitant as she says - "My stance on kissing is that I would like to try kissing you."

Kiss!

"First thing," she says, raising an eyebrow.

Kiss kiss kiss.

All of those things.

"This does, you realize," mentions Shara after a fair bit of this, "open you to more scrutiny than just having been rescued and therefore having unsubstantiated rumors."

He laughs, a little. "Oh, that'll be fun. Uh. You'll offer advice with how to deal with that?"

"I don't have any more personal experience with it than you do," she says. "I haven't been on kissing terms with anybody before, certainly not while being a future queen. But if I produce any advice I'll tell you."

"Thanks. I'll - manage, I suppose."

"I think so. You're smart."

That has the interesting effect of making him giggle and look embarrassed. "Thank you."

Kiss!

"Yes, she was just um - the maid from earlier." Pause. "She winked at me when she mentioned you, I suppose I just proved her right."

"I suppose so. Is that bad?"

"No, it's just a strange situation."

"How so?"

"Well, I've never in my life been kissing the heir to a throne after she rescued me from a horrible unethical raveler, and get interrupted by a maid who earlier winked at me."

"How much getting used to, do you think?" Kiss kiss.

"What about when you're used to it, then will it be boring?"

"I doubt it!"