The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 31 - It’s a DATE!

Walking around towards the shops and restaurants along the city’s mainroad, Elua decided that they should look at other people until they found a spot with lots of couples. This persisted for about an hour... because walking around with her ’fortress’ in public holding hands was already ’very good’.

After that relative failure of theirs to make more of a plan on what they could be doing, the pairing stopped at one of the better food stalls the young miss had been told about. The smaller of them asked a few questions of the proprietor’s nearby wife while ordering a set of meat pastries and used the information to plan where to take the taller girl to visit on their limited time together.

For the first stop, they walked to the local Youth Guild while eating and chatting about ’old times’. With a little convincing in the form of verbal reassurance that they wouldn’t cause trouble - and monetary greasing so that the receptionist ’felt better’ about looking the other way - they were able to enter the training grounds.

Thus, another half hour of sitting together and talking idly about everything they saw the *mostly* younger kids doing was spent. It was so very simple and both of them were content. Though one of them was thinking something in the back of her mind while they sat close.

’I do wish her spirit would stop pawing at mine. It’s really quite challenging not to take another *small bite* out if it - for safekeeping.’

The brunette shifted her fingers and scratched at the calloused skin under each of the sword wielder’s digits. Because she had been out on official business before this, the member of The Ironclad Order proudly wore the blade she had been gifted. It hadn’t been done just to come to dinner all the other times they’d met.

"You know, I’m a little surprised that you haven’t been more bothered over that weapon at home."

Elua really expected that it might become a reason for her to start a fight with the Yecine family. It wasn’t *the* reason she made it, but it would have been an ’acceptable’ side effect. So far, the mint-eyed girl had only been told by the other that she had been questioned when it was first brought back.

"I do see some of them look at it in appreciation or have one of my elders praise it from time to time. But... we’re not..."

Qat had wanted to say that they weren’t at each other’s throats like some families she’d hear about. However, the dynamic between everyone also wasn’t anything like she would experience when she joined the Goltbreds for dinner.

"We don’t covet and steal from each other."

"It’s a good thing that no one there is a thief. But there could still be comments and pressure anywhere. Some people seek to make you more willing to give up things as if it was your own decision."

Pigeon blue eyes quivered and looked over and down at the younger girl playing with her hand.

"You don’t sound like you simply read that somewhere."

Elua’s content smile twitched. She remained quiet and stopped fiddling her fingers. One of the main reasons that people who had been actually acquainted with her in her last life wouldn’t trust her as far as they could throw her... was due to the ancient cultivator’s history of ’manipulating events’. The means with which she did so varied, but they were usually psychological.

"No. I’ve actually been on both sides of that sort of matter. The more something is done to you, the easier it is to allow yourself to cross what you might have once considered a line. I... I’ll remember to tell you about it when I’m ready to explain more."

Her fiance nodded and let it drop. It wasn’t an answer that ended her curiosity, but not turning their outing into something upsetting was more important. The brunette hopped up on her feet and spun to face the taller girl. She physically shook away the wan look of ’shame’ on her face before replacing it with a ’determined’ look.

"Maybe we should move on. I heard that there was a short street-play that starts up again every two hours when they’ve drawn a crowd. We could make it if we go now?"

"Okay."

They exited the Youth Guild while first keeping a little more distance from each other. Despite appearing shamed by what she hadn’t actually talked about, the schemer had dove right into casual manipulation and testing. The Goltbred was curious whether the Yecine would be the one to close the opened gap or if she would let it stand.

The hand that was closer to the older girl would nervously rub fingertips on her own palm in open view. When that didn’t change things much after a couple minutes, she gently bumped their clothing together ’on accident’ before shifting away again. Qatrand noticed all of these things but chose to do nothing for another few minutes.

"If you want me to hold your hand, why aren’t you just asking?"

"You noticed? Then just do it! I was about to give up and just jump on your shoulders."

The blonde blinked. She was reminded of her momentary thought about a back-mounted El and needing to train for it. After deciding that she would probably let the girl be carried that way if she pressed the matter, she thought of how to respond.

"How... are those two things related or equivalent?"

Mint eyes ’glared’ then looked away as her cheek puffed up. Out of the corner of her mouth, she ’muttered’.

"It’s called escalation, not equivalence. Though if we’re talking about being fair, you think it is alright to just provoke me with your *concern* and *interest* without me expecting more of it?"

She walked forward and gestured for the other girl to lean down. Having experienced it a number of times for a parting goodnight kiss, her ’fortress’ didn’t hesitate very much. Their faces became only a hand apart while Elua lightly gripped the black blazer collar on either side with both sets of index and thumb.

"I’m... I’m very greedy when it comes to the person I love, Qat."

"Does that mean you insist on riding on my shoulders?"

...

After being stunned by the question, the young miss ’giggled’.

"If you want me to do that so much, why aren’t you just saying so?"

"I only thought that it was what you wanted."

That was the vocal response, but the spirit of the swordswoman wavered more upon realizing that she was the one who brought the conversation back to that topic. The brunette shook her head with a ’smile’ before kissing her cheek. Not upsetting the teenager - and not losing the opportunity to go for a ride - was more important!

"Okay, well you’ll have to squat down so I can sit. Actually, that’s not entirely true, I could probably climb or hop up there as long as you don’t move... but it just feels to me like it would be less humiliating if you were offering that small help and I wasn’t just... doing it."

"Is it any different from hugging me like when you first saw me earlier?"

Elua flapped her lips with no sound.

"I suppose it isn’t. I feel bad now about being... too much."

A hand palmed her forehead and shook lightly.

"That wasn’t what I meant. I’m saying if I haven’t complained about that, I probably wouldn’t complain about you landing on my shoulders out of nowhere... as long as you aren’t knocking me over."

"A-ah. Oh. If I ever do that, I’ll do my best not to hurt you."

The fingers on her head bore down after her answer.

"Us. You’ll do your best not to hurt yourself as well."

The blonde felt the smaller girl try and nod against her grip, then quickly let go and turned around. She adjusted her secured blade while bending her knees and offered her back to the fiancee, who first stroked underneath the shoulder blades for a few seconds. Then she climbed up and sat on the strong muscles!

The taller girl carefully stood so that El would not fall. The fingers placed on top of Qat’s head and securing her posture shook in excitement. She willfully dulled most of her other senses and just enjoyed the rare combination of bodily locations touching.

’This might be the greatest day of my year~ at least until I come back for our wedding ceremony.’

"Are you okay? If so, I’ll start to walk."

The mint-eyed girl whose face couldn’t be seen by her husband-wife licked her lips before trying to control her face. It wouldn’t do to make such creepily slack expressions in public! She hurried to come up with conversational material and blurted out the first relevant thing to say.

"I haven’t done this since I was very small. My father would play with me like this every now and then. It’s a different experience when we’re this close to the same height."

"You aren’t close to my height, though?"

A light tap on blonde hair in ’punishment’ ensued.

"You know what I mean. The difference between a man of that size and his three year old daughter is much greater than ours right now."

Qat remained quiet for a bit. Her thoughts had turned again to the difference between her own family and that of the Goltbreds. Her spirit was clearly a little unsettled and even she noticed that, but before El could say anything she hid it away for later and came up with another response.

"Is it so different? You still seem as though you are almost the same size as when we met."

Seeing that the older girl was in the mood to tease, the young heiress would let the fluctuation she saw with her spirit sense slide. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t return the serve. She rubbed her fingers in the natural colored hair of her special gem and cooed.

"Are you that hopeful that I’ll change into the young beauty you now know I’ll be in a few years? I did show you to prove to myself that I could become someone you were very interested in, but I thought you could be more patient than that~"

Unruly fluctuations began again, but were clearly troubled in a different way than moments before. From that point on, Qatrand er Yecine decided she would never bring up the difference in their height... lest she be forced to think about the strange emotions which that illusion had caused her to meditate upon the last couple years.

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