The Nineteenth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: Everyone
When: Day 43, evening
Where: The Mermaid's Beach

Come on, come on heroes...! Come hither!

[ There's a playful giggle and the sound of splashing as the Mermaid's beach appears in the clearing. ]

Let's play a game...!

Comments

[bluediligence]

[ pffff ]

When you put it like that, it makes sense. What kind of trial was it?

[malignstar]

Child-rearing. We changed to help our daughter.

[ Holds out his free hand for hers ]

My turn?

[bluediligence]

E-Eh? There's trials like that?

[ ??? that sounds like a lot of responsibility!! ]

[ but she stops and offers him her hand ]

[malignstar]

[ He actually isn't bad either and has definitely done this before ]

Only one so far. Which is too bad because I'd love to see her again. She must be getting so big.

[bluediligence]

[ Oh, that. That actually feels really nice. She fidgets and tenses her hands a lot when she's stressed, oops. ]

... Huh. [ She's a little distracted, sorry. ]

[malignstar]

Sorry. I guess I've had some experience I don't know about.

[ Also known as an extremely stressed out boyfriend ]

[bluediligence]

Huh? Oh! No, no, you don't have to apologise. Sorry for spacing out.

[ Shakes her head, grinning sheepishly. ]

You're really good at this, yourself.

[malignstar]

I guess it just means you're enjoying it.

[bluediligence]

Apparently my hands are more tense than I realised. [ Which is to say, yes. Yes she is. ]

[malignstar]

This place can do that to people. These trials especially.

[bluediligence]

[ huffs a laugh ]

I wish there were more trials about ... you know, competitive games? Harmless competitive games.

[malignstar]

Oh~, got a competitive streak, do you?