Elena frowned, shook her head, and sighed at the treatment she was receiving.

Yolin put a hand on Natasha's shoulder and closed in to whisper, “You don't care that people criticize Filestra's decision?”

The Halve shrugged. “I'll hold judgment until I see it with my own eyes. Hopefully sober and in a good mood,” she replied.

The Oni hummed. “I doubt the existence of a Performer who would willingly act it out in front of you,” she pointed out with slight amusement. “It's banned for a reason.”

Natasha arched an eyebrow to her words. “I'm sure Bromisnar has some connections who could help with that. Maybe offer a fat monetary reward or something.”

The tank's eyes squinted in doubt, but didn't insist. She knew better than to question a Halve's word, even if that was her relatively younger girlfriend. Authority is authority regardless of age, and the golden woman was responsible enough so far.

Bonte and Hanna made themselves visible a few meters away from the group, looking around.

Yolin grabbed the Bond in her mind, checking the relative location of the two Scouts in case Doppelgangers or Changelings had replaced them. It pointed to the two individuals in front of her, so she let it go.

The Ork approached first. “We found nothing,” she informed Pokora, glancing at the Oni for the shortest of instants. “The floor is completely empty.”

“No traps, hidden paths, or anything of the sort,” Bonte chimed in, shaking his head.

Pokora tapped her lower lip in thought. She eyed the Halve for a moment, then back to the Scouts and inquired, “Any illusions?”

“None that replicate, hide, or obscure the true shape of an individual,” Hanna supplied, paused, then added, “Unless there are Demons about.”

“No concealment of or by shadows,” Bonte added, undoing a braid on the side of his head.

The party leader nodded a few times, produced a pocket watch to check the time, then looked at the party. “Let's take a short break. Half an hour. We have time for another floor if we go at the same pace,” she announced.

Yolin and the others nodded and called the mountable animals they had left behind.

Sitting on the ground and facing the golden woman sitting on her lap, Yolin watched her girlfriend go on a transcendental journey of the mind with their faces almost touching.

Geometrical patterns formed on the Halve's eyes, growing and flowing as if the pupil itself was being constantly reshaped again and again. Like a kaleidoscope, the shapes came and went, never the same for more than a second, moving from the center of the eye outwards. Gold, black, and white.

Counting the seconds, Yolin was increasingly amused by Natasha not blinking for more than ten minutes straight, but would do nothing to trigger such an event in case the woman went crashing down from the high.

Five hundred kilograms of incredibly compact, absolute purpose-given E'er leaned on the Oni in complete relaxation. The strongest member of the most powerful species on the face of Galeia had a calm, long, and deep breathing pattern, gently pushing her chest against the Oni's every few seconds. Both arms around Yolin's neck let her feel the woman's pulse: fast, strong, and powerful as she was.

With age comes wisdom, and Yolin, in her two hundred years of living, could understand something about Natasha others might not. Unlike Pokora, who saw the golden woman's behavior in a mostly sexual light, Yolin got it differently. Free of the hormonal burdens of an approaching cycle, the Oni saw clearly.

Natasha's love language was taking care of those she loved in the concrete way of financial responsibility and making sure they lacked nothing in life be it food, clothing, shelter, and safety. Those she handed out without a second thought or conditions.

Such a woman was offering herself bare to be taken care of in circumstances of relative vulnerability. She was giving Yolin the trust to watch over her while high on hallucinogenic drugs, something she had never done in any of her past lives.

Yolin knew Natasha would be safe even if she was not being watched over. Halves are no pushovers. There were very few things the Oni could do to actually keep her safe from harm.

What got Yolin so enchanted in that moment was the active choice of resting on her. That tiny 'Please take care of me and please watch over me' that went unspoken.

Unlike the Halve's, the Oni's breathing was excited, shorter, and lighter. Her heartbeat went faster than usual – though still slower than the golden woman's – and her eyes held a glint of fascination.

The fact her girlfriend's eyes were changing shapes right in front of her was still slightly disturbing in the back of her mind. Yolin had a hunch that shouldn't happen to someone.

Still she watched intently.

Natasha took a deep breath. Deeper than the breaths she had taken so far, then whispered, “Even if the stars gleamed the brightest they have ever shone in the billions of years the universe has existed. Even if at that moment they were the most beautiful they have ever been since the birth of the cosmos...” she smiled and brought a hand to the Oni's face, brushed a bang to the side, then smiled wider, “I would still choose to watch their reflection on your eyes, Yolin.”

The Oni's heart stopped for a second, then her face turned darker in a rush of emotions she couldn't properly describe.

Shyness? Embarrassment? Love? Endless comfort?

She could pick, mix, and choose any language to find a definition and still would find herself short.

As such, a nervous giggle escaped her. Like a young maiden in love.