[17:31:05] Why was she so...irritated?

When Ciel told Lyse that he had sent Dante to meet with Quinn, a foreign kind of anger bubbled in her gut.
It was jealousy. 'Course, she'd never know that, Lyse was an alien to these sort of emotions. But it was innate -- the drakanite felt it pretty prominently.

Skipping ahead, Lyse once again stood at the foregrounds of Lionhold. She was tired from the trek, but of course she could not rest here. There was some shenanigans going on -- At least that's what Lyse convinced herself was going on -- and she intended to find out.

Here we are. Hopefully Quinn was home.
(Lyse Evander)
[17:31:56] Lyse Evander: (wanna see me do it again?
[17:31:56] Quinn assumes the Cetus stance!
[17:31:56] Set: Ow oof my bones)
[17:32:48] Lyse Evander: (Real bone hurting RPs
[17:32:48] Set: top this)
[17:32:48] Lyse Evander: (3miles
[17:32:48] Quinn: sorry but i have 11)
[17:32:48] Set: N-nani?!)
[17:32:48] Lyse Evander: (I'm going to bench Quinn
[17:33:39] Lyse Evander: (Are yo ustabbing so fast
[17:33:39] Lyse Evander: (The sword isn't moving
[17:33:39] Quinn: yes)
[17:33:39] Set: holy shit..)
[17:33:39] Lyse Evander: (My clean washed hair smells vaguely of ramen
[17:33:39] Set: i couldnt decide on my build so i just put 7 into everything)
[17:33:39] Set: im probably going fast stab)
[17:34:30] Bearded Admin: [jenn]
[17:34:30] Set: how do you do your build jen)
[17:34:30] Quinn: hello)
[17:34:30] Bearded Admin: [where am I mounting your kaors head?
[17:34:30] Quinn: oh!)
[17:34:30] Quinn: its inside lionheart)
[17:34:30] Quinn: i cant get in there)
[17:34:30] Quinn: warpers are broke)
[17:34:30] Lyse Evander: (Fix me up a drink. Apollo
[17:39:37] Quinn was out for a walk - or a run, perhaps. Everything was irritating her lately, and the presence of Dante in the school didn't make it any easier. She ha to speak to him - he was her student - but she didn't want to.

No, she really didn't want to.

She climbs the stairs leading up to the school, and she finds something even worse there. Her heart drops to her stomach when she sees Lyse, and she swallows, hard.

"Hey."

Her voice is cold... hurt?
(Quinn)
[17:43:53] Normally Lyse would be relieved, joyous, and jubilant upon seeing Quinn again.
Didnt' seem like she was returning the feelings. Almost immediately, sirens went off in her head -- something was wrong. Her initial smile wiped away into a crooked frown, slightly ajar. Worry pinched her eyebrows and her anxiety ran wild.

Was Quinn upset?

"Hey, you." Lyse parted the hair from her sweaty forehead. It was all she could say.

Does she go in for the hug? Smile at her? Anything? Even the typically dense Lyse could figure out that Quinn was not happy.
So, let's tackle that.

"...Somethin' wrong, Quinn?"
(Lyse Evander)
[17:47:18] Quinn stops. She turns her head, and her stare meets Lyse's. Normally, she was one of the only exceptions to her distant, cold reception. Quinn would glady thaw the layer of frost on her shoulders for Lyse and Ciel, but now, it was as if they had just met.

It's as if she expects him to know. To her, it was such a big deal that it had to be obvious! Wasn't it written all over her face? Her stare was knowing, almost accusatory.

She doesn't speak.
(Quinn)
[17:53:16] Quinn's glare shook Lyse to her very core, sending shivers down her spine unlike any fear she had ever known. What prompted this? What did she do wrong? Millions of thoughts and recollections trying to decipher the meaning of this situation, every axiom of her brain working past the infinity of miles trying to wrack up an explanation.

Lyse began to piece things together.
Meeting with Dante. Quinn meets Dante? Lyse meets Quinn. Quinn is upset.
Dante must've done something. Dante must have said something to Quinn, something bad about Lyse. Quinn is mad at Lyse.

What did Dante say?

Of the handfuls of interactions with Dante she could think, only one memory made itself known.

I can't believe Dante would ever think that kiss meant anything to him.

A thousand excuses popped up in her head. Like a defense system gone awry, unable to discern which would be the correct answer to this situation. But that shouldn't be the case. Quinn meant everything to Lyse.
Why would you ever give her an excuse?

"I'm sorry. I think. I think I know why you're upset. I, I won't make excuses. But if...You'd let me. I'll tell you what happened. From my mouth."
(Lyse Evander)
[17:58:24] One moment, Quinn was staring at Lyse, accusatory and standoffish. Now, she slides down onto the nearby stool as if she were melting, starting with the tears that were rolling down her cheeks!

She wanted to be strong. She wanted to stand behind her strong defenses. She wanted to push everything in, use it as fuel for the troubles to come, but she couldn't. Dante was sneaky, and he had pried his fingers into the miniscule cracks in her armor.

Quinn was unguarded and exposed, and now she sat at the table with her head in her hands, crying quietly... not only for what Lyse had done, but for what she had done. What he had done.
(Quinn)
[18:02:40] Whoa, holy shit. What do I do. What did I do.

I know what to do, there is only one thing to do.

"Hey, hey. There, I'm here. Agh, I'm sorry, I'm probably the last thing you want t'see after what I did, hey there it's alright. I'm here.
I'm here."

Lyse quick shakes off the doubt and worry and rushes over to Quinn's side, wrapping arm arm over her and rubbing her arm. What filled the place of Lyse's initial anxiety was just straight up wrath for whatever Dante did that made her like this. She wasn't sure what he did, but it sure was bad.
Bad enough to make her cry.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault, I did something terrible and I can't excuse myself."
(Lyse Evander)
[18:06:56] Quinn shrugs Lyse away, jostling her shoulders as though to shake her off. She doesn't want to be touched - not by her, not right now. Everything was so overwhelming!

Little did she know that it was all Dante. He had misconstrued the truth, and warped it to manipulate her. Quinn was the victim here, and she didn't even know it.

"...i thought we were together..." she blubbers between her tears. The words are muffled by her palms.
(Quinn)
[18:10:20] Lyse Evander: (Wanna go to Lionhold so Maniac can find us easier?
[18:11:12] Quinn: oh, sure)
[18:13:45] Pulling back, Lyse could see that Quinn does not want to be touched. She can understand that, and rested her arms on her lap.

"We are. We are, I promise we are."

The least she could do right now was let Quinn have her words. And Lyse would have no choice but to take it. After all she felt so obliged and so responsible for making her like this. Lyse only blames herself.

"I'm so sorry." she repeated.
(Lyse Evander)
[18:16:19] Quinn peels her face from her hands. It's blotchy and red. She slowly fixes her stare on Lyse, and it only makes her cry more! It hurt to know that such a beautiful face had hurt her so bad...

"Why did you kiss him?"

She raises her wrists to wipe at her tears, her nose.

"Why would you do that to me?"
(Quinn)
[18:16:19] Bandit: You best run now!
[18:16:19] Musaka: (whos jen
[18:16:19] Lyse Evander: (Quinn is Jen
[18:17:10] Drake Kasparov: Hello!
[18:20:35] Figuring the strange people were busy, Drake just shrugged, wandering off in the forest in search of more interesting prospects.
(Drake Kasparov)
[18:22:17] Musaka whispers: how much?
[18:22:17] Musaka: (omit that
[18:23:08] Quinn: 500k)
[18:23:08] Quinn: ty)
[18:23:08] Quinn: itll be done in a sec)
[18:23:08] Musaka: (kk
[18:23:08] Quinn: just finishing it up)
[18:23:08] Now it would be time to explain. Of course the truth would still sound terrible, especially in this circumstance. But still, Lyse was not going to let Dante ruin this perfectly good relationship. She loved Quinn too much to let this slip through.

"I can start from th'top. I'll tell you that we've been drinking. It was... Me, John, Ciel, and Dante.
Us, we were drinkin' an' havin' a time. Aye, then Dante came up shmoozin' up t'me, lookin' fer a kiss. 'Course I ain't obligin', but the kid was really testin' his limits. 'Fore I left, I grabbed him by th' collar. Picked up him and gave him the 'passionate kiss' he told you 'bout. Wasn't nothin' special about it 'cept the fact that I smashed my face against his, teachin' him a lesson.

I promise ain't nothing loving about it. Whatever he told you, it was a bald-faced lie. I ain't never do anything t'hurt you. Ever."

Lyse tipped her hat over her eyes, concealing the welling wetness that threatened to overflow. Seeing Quinn cry was....Unbelievably painful. Overwhelming.

"I'm sorry. And I-I.
I...Understand if you ain't wanna see me no more."
(Lyse Evander)
[18:33:23] ....what?

Quinn looks up at Lyse. Her expression twists from anguish to... confusion? What did she mean? Dante had told her that Lyse was looking for attention, that she was schmoozing up to him to try to get on his good side. That he didn't even want it, anyway.

"He - ..." Suddenly, it pieced together.

Quinn's tears became tears of absolute and utter rage.

She stands up and she picks up the table from underneath them and swings it off of the side of the building. She's roaring. A shroud of pure, furious energy rips and slashes at the air around her, warping it to such an extent that it's hard to even make out her face.

She runs over to the side of the building, and her fists begin beating against the concrete. Chips of it are flying off as her knuckles connect. The ground itself is shaking - Quinn is fucking mad.

After wearing herself out - no attempt at comfort by Lyse could calm her - Quinn slumps down to the ground and huffs, and huffs, and huffs.

She's still crying.

"fuck dante."
(Quinn)
[18:35:05] Quinn: <*Oh also her knuckles are fucking bloody obliterated*>
[18:41:55] ....He what?
What did he do?
What the fuck did Dante do?

Lyse had no time to react, it was like a renaissance painting how righteous Quinn's wrath was. All she could do was watch from the ground, staring in both horror and confusion. And a slight bit impressed. But mostly the former. She couldn't stare too long at the fireball known as Quinn, so much of the wall is chipped off, sending pieces of it Lyse's way.

Plus the sheer energy Quinn was radiation made it difficult to even sit there. Overwhelming. Powerful. Dangerous.

By the time she was finished, Lyse had barely recovered from that harrowing and terrifying ordeal. She stood up and brushed the debris off her coat and crossed to room and laid on the floor beside Quinn.

"fuck dante."
(Lyse Evander)
[18:46:11] Quinn started to talk. She was so exhausted, and so rightfully pissed off, that she couldn't do anything else. The anger had drained all of the energy out of her, and all that was left was her dull-toned voice, falling from her lips.

"he convinced me that you kissed him to get on better terms with him, to earn favor in your group or something... like, for attention or something. like that you had been eying him the whole time."

"i got upset, and he used that as an excuse to offer me alcohol and get me drunk so he could kiss me and get close to me."

The words hung potent in the air, simmering with the last few burning embers of Quinn's anger...
(Quinn)
[18:56:25] Thank Kraus Lyse wasn't holding something when Quinn was talking. She recieved the short and skinny of the situation, nearly throwing Lyse over the edge in that one paragraph. What I meant to say was, if Lyse were holding something small, like, a fidget spinner or like, I don't know, a small animal.

Lyse probably would've shattered it into oblivion.

"Dante said what" she peeled herself off the floor, fury hindering her common sense. Dante did WHAT.

"No way in Atmos would I ever, EVER do anything with Dante like that." she was indignant! Furious! Holy FUCK, who cares if that gremlin was in her gang. John better prepare the grave because Lyse was going to put that fucker in the GROUND.

Oh but that wasn't the end of it. Now, the second part.

"DANTE SAID WHAT"

And upon saying "What", immediately her being would be consumed in the flames of her emotions, threatening to sear anyone who got close, even the building itself.
(Lyse Evander)
[19:02:24] Quinn had been there. Now, it was Lyse's turn. She sat back and watched, almost relishing in her girlfriend's rage as fire and wind and pure drakan spirit enveloped Lionheart.

Yes, get mad. Just like she did. The angrier the two were...

...the worse Dante would be puninshed. Her mind was already churning as Lyse threw her fit. He had almost torn her away from the most important thing in her life - Lyse - and he would have to tear him away from the most important thing in his.

"You done? Come on," she said, her arms open for Lyse when she seemed to have finished up. "I'm here."
(Quinn)
[19:15:12] Of course Lyse's rage would be immediately mollified at the sight of Quinn's open arms. Thank Kraus, Asena, Ryujin whatever. God was in her arms tonight.
The fires were dispelled, melting into the ether. She took a deep breath and looked into her eyes, and where the rage used to be, only tranquility and security remained.

She took a deep breath, dangling her arms in exhaustion. Burning all that mana in a singular concentrated dose really knocks someone tired.
And then.

"Ain't no one fuckin' with my Quinn!"

then sighed, retreating into her sweetheart's arms.

"I loved your cookies, by the way. You're really nice."
(Lyse Evander)
[19:19:28] "Only you," she whispers, wrapping her arms around Lyse. She finally felt at peace. The past few days had been completely wracked with worry and anguish and pain, and now, Lyse was the cure to it all.

She buries herself in Lyse's frame for a moment, and once enough time has passed, she pulls away.

"We gotta do something about this. He - He just thinks he can just take advantage of me like that, manipulate me like that. I'm not dumb."
(Quinn)
[19:28:00] He pulled away. This...On Lyse's part, wasn't over. She had one last thing to worry about, to which he would finally find the courage to admit to her.

"This potion is running out. I'm sorry Quinn.
I, I'm worried. Afraid and....I'm. About to be honest. I'm afraid that when I change back. Into a guy. That you'll be disgusted with me. I wanted to stay like this forever and ignore everythin' else but, uh.

Can I...Be okay with changing back?"

She chewed her lip. Evidently nervous. This anxiety has been stewing in her for the longest time now, afraid to confront her about this for fear that it would be innapropriate or...She'd be disgusted after all.
But after a scene like this, well, no holds barred, I guess.
(Lyse Evander)
[19:31:24] Why would Lyse think such a thing?

Quinn moves to take Lyse back in her arms, and she holds her close. Her grip is tight, comforting. She buries her head in her shoulder, and she speaks:

"Lyse, I've wanted to be with you since the very day that I met you. You threw a curveball in my life - you were the first person I'd ever been attracted to. If I liked you then, I'll like you in the future - just like I like you now."

Quinn pulls away, and takes Lyse's face in her hands. She smiles, and presses her forehead against Lyse's.

"Lyse, I will love you as long as you are you."
(Quinn)
[19:35:40] Quinn: fuck me )
[19:35:40] Quinn: : (
[19:35:40] Lyse Evander: (Y-Yeah?
[19:36:32] Quinn: <i|>you." <i|>you."
[19:36:32] Quinn: <i|>you." <i|>you." <i|>you." <i|>you." <i|>you."
[19:36:32] Quinn: <i|>you." <i|>you."
[19:36:32] Quinn: <i|>you."
[19:36:32] Quinn: <i|>you."
[19:36:32] Quinn: <i|>you."
[19:36:32] Lyse Evander: (Shh
[19:36:32] Lyse Evander: (it's not ther.
[19:39:05] At ease, Lyse melted into Quinn's warm embrace, anxiety and her fears in turn, disappating into the comfort she felt being in her arms. She whispered something unintelligible, possibly a prayer, and sighed.
It was hard to say anything that could top what Quinn said.

"Thank you," she breathed.

Later, the effects of the gender change potion would disappate, leaving her body and changing it back.
But that would be for later.

"I love you Quinn. So let's break Dante's spine, yeah?"
(Lyse Evander)
[21:23:12] Lyse Evander whispers something.
[21:24:03] Lyse Evander: (Are you fucking kidding me
[21:24:54] Lyse Evander: (.................lynn
[21:24:54] Lyse Evander: (Good luck)
[21:25:45] Quinn: set a scene)
[21:30:01] He was back in Lionhold academy though he felt as if he were still in the same place back in the west. Yes the journey had been long but when he looked at his hands all he could see was the blood of Ciel upon his hands. He inhaled deeply as he called forth water from the air in an attempt to wash it out.

Of course the blood had long since been cleaned away. That mattered little. It still appeared in his own eyes when he looked upon them. He moved from the small table to sit upon the blacony where he'd been with Ciel during their meditation training, looking out over the forested area before him.

"Should make the most of my time...." he muttered before sliding into a meditative position and closing his eyes, doing his best to block out the world around him as he concentrated. Not as intensly as he had during previous training, but a more relaxed trance.
(Dante Malakia)
[21:31:44] Lyse Evander: (Give me a minuuuute
[21:34:17] Dante Malakia: (Quinn mind going ahead and posting to keep things moving, a little tired)
[21:34:17] Dante Malakia: (Unless you particularly wanted Lyse to go next in order)
[21:37:42] Quinn doesn't take the stairs. No, she flies up, quietly, stealthily. She lands softly next to Dante, her legs swung over the edge of the rooftop and crossed comfortably over one another.

An arm slides behind him, and wraps around his shoulder. Quinn's grip is snug. If he opens his eyes when she approaches, she'd meet his gaze with a sly, half-lidded stare of her own.

"Practicing, huh?"

Her voice is friendly. Had she warmed up to her student after all?

"How's it going, Dante?"
(Quinn)