"How pathetic..."

Letting out a long, heavy sigh, Yahanaseara places a hand over her eyes.

"...that was the first promise I ever made, and I could not even keep it."

"...uh..."

Damn it, me.

When I brought up the fact that I didn't know anything about her, it sure as hell wasn't because I wanted her to get all depressed.

"Sorry," I blurt out. "I didn't mean to-"

"You did nothing wrong," Yahanaseara cuts me off, "my failures are my own."

Shit, I don't even know what to say to her.

"I had long been told that pride was my greatest failing," she sighs. "My strength. My beauty. My brother. My home, my people... in all of these, I held immense pride. And in my pride, I thought myself untouchable."

A pained smile.

"But thanks to my carelessness, I lost everything," she says, lowering her head.

"Eh, I'd say that you were able to hold onto your beauty at least."

"!?"

For a split-second, Yahanaseara's eyes widen with surprise... and then a cute little giggle escapes her lips.

"...he used to do the same thing."

"Huh?"

"Whenever I was upset, he would always attempt to cheer me up through compliments," she says. "And whenever I was in a particularly good mood, he would try and improve it even further by giving me even more compliments..."

She pulls back a sleeve, once again revealing the bracelets that she'd shown off a little while ago.

"...or gifts to further accentuate my appearance."

"Well he did a good job," I shrug.

If nothing else, the kid had good taste.

"Indeed he did."

Yahanaseara then reaches into that cloud of fluffiness that is her hair and starts rustling around...

...and with a little grunt of effort, she removes the hair ornaments from their resting place atop her head.

"Even these..."

Smiling wistfully, she looks down at the horns resting in her hands.

"He said that it was a shame that my 'pretty horns' were not visible in this form, and so he made these for me so that I could look more like my 'real self.'"

Uh.

Wow.

She mentioned before that her brother gave those to her, but I didn't know...

...though thinking about it now, it's entirely likely that every single thing she's wearing has major sentimental value for her.

Talk about being careless, Brigitte.

"Sorry," I mumble, "I shouldn't have pried."

"As I said before, you have nothing to apologize for," Yahanaseara replies. "My memories of my brother are a comfort to me... regardless of how painful the fact that I am once again alone in this world may be."

"What?" I stare at her. "No you're not."

"Eh?"

"You aren't alone," I reiterate. "Am I not sitting right here next to you?"

Yahanaseara's entire body flinches as if she'd just gotten slapped, and her glittering emerald eyes snap open as wide as they can possibly go.

"Yes... yes you are," she says.

"And I'll be here for as long as you want me to be."

Taking the horns from her hands, I give them a quick once-over before drawing upon my sixteen years of big sister experience to properly return them to their resting place atop her adorably fluffy head.

"...but what if 'as long as I wanted you to be' happened to be forever?" she mumbles.

"Then I guess you'd be stuck with me forever," I shrug.

whump

A fluffy white bundle of lightning clouds is leaning against my side.

"I would like that very much."

And with those half-whispered words, a comfortable silence falls over the two of us. As such, I finally drop the sound-blocking spell I'd thrown out to guard us from prying ears.

This is nice.

Sitting on a comfy cushion, with a pleasant weight pressing against my shoulder...

...should I wrap my arm around her?

Nah, this is nice enough as it is.

Hell, part of me wouldn't mind staying like this forev-

FOREVER!?

oh god why the hell did I say that it sounded like a freaking marriage proposal why am I so goddamned inept at talking to people god damn it brigitte

I mean I'm a girl and so is she so it obviously wasn't one BUT STILL what the fuck is wrong with me why do I keep dropping stupid lines like that without thinking this is why I keep having trouble with-

...

......calm down, me.

I'm currently being used as a pillow by someone who can like... feel the internal panic going on in my stupid broken brain.

And if I freak out too hard, she'll notice that something's up and probably start asking questions since apparently she thinks it's cute when I panic.

Ugh.

Screw it.

I'mma just sit here and take in the scenery.

And take in the scenery is just what I do.

Fields...

...forests...

...rolling hills...

...we even pass by a lake or two as the caravan rolls along towards its destination.

But when the sun finally gets low on the horizon, the driver of our cart calls out to the others that it's getting around time to rest for the day and set up camp.

With that said, it still takes a little while longer before we finally reach a clearing large enough to comfortably fit the entire caravan.

And once everyone's safely parked, the great unloading commences.

First are the passengers, all of whom are more than eager to finally set foot on solid ground again.

I, of course, am no exception to this.

Then comes the camping equipment, which sees a lot of variation throughout the caravan's members. Some people just prepared sleeping bags, others have proper tents, a couple have like...

...is that a collapsible cabin?

I was born into privilege and even I think that's way too decadent, like seriously.

But there's only one of those, and it looks like most of the people out here are just going to be sleeping in their respective carts.

Not that I can really blame them, considering the total value of some of this cargo they're hauling.

As for me, I have my own-

"Er, Miss Brigitte?"

"Eh?"

Glancing in the direction of the voice that just called out to me, I find a certain guy who's paying me to be here.

Who immediately lowers his head in apology(?)

"We'll be setting up camp here for the night..."

"I can see that," I reply.

"S-" he flinches. "So I was hoping to work out the schedule for lookouts before we all get situated..."

"Oh."

"Normally we just leave this kind of thing up to the adventurers we hire, but a couple of our guys are willing to help with shifts since there's just the two of you..."

Huh, really?

That's actually pretty thoughtful of them.

"Hmm..." I think about it for a couple of seconds. "How long are we making camp for?"

"We'll be setting out just before dawn," Nils replies.

It's been dark for about an hour and a half now, so...

"Have your guys take the first hour or two," I say. "We'll get our stuff set up in the meantime, and then we'll handle the rest of the night."

"Eh?"

Nils stares at me, dumbfounded.

"But that would mean that you'd have like seven hours between the two of you-"

"I'm used to pulling all-nighters," I reply. "And I know a couple of spells to keep myself awake, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh." His eyes widen. "W- well I suppose that's a top-tier Silver-rank adventurer for you..."

Damn straight it is.

"W- well, er-"

He hurriedly points at the aforementioned crystallization of opulence that rests at the center of the clearing.

"I'll be over there if you need anything!"

And with a couple more final idle words of parting, the caravan leader scurries back from whence he came.

Leaving the two of us to our own devices.

"Might as well get to it, then..."

Letting out a sigh of social interaction-induced fatigue, I commence the delicate task of locating a proper resting place for the night. It's not like I'm bringing out a tent or anything thanks to the fact that we're on lookout duty, but I'd still like to find a spot that's far enough away from everyone else that we won't end up accidentally overhearing any, uh... night activities.

fucking harem parties I swear to God

It isn't long before I find us a nice enough spot, upon which time I promptly call forth the mighty Camping Bag #1 in all its splendor.

First I place down a thick, rough blanket to serve as a cushioned base surface.

Then comes a softer, more delicate one for comfort.

"...hm."

I take a look at the remaining contents of the bag.

"Is something the matter?" Yahanaseara asks.

"Just realized that you've got a bit of a choice to make, that all," I reply.

"Eh? Choice about what?"

"What you're gonna be sleeping in," I say, holding the bag open so she can get a good look as well. "It doesn't matter for me since I'll be staying up all night, but you get to pick between a blanket and a sleeping bag."

Naturally, both of them provide the highest level of comfiness.

"Er, Brigitte..." she fidgets. "I do not actually need to sleep, so-"

Her words are cut short by my hand plopping down atop her fluffy head.

"Stop right there," I say, giving it a little rustle for my trouble. "You've only recovered what, barely a day and a half's worth, plus whatever extra you got from a single night of sleep?"

"...yes, that is true..." she mumbles. "But that is still more than enough for me to-"

"Yeah, no," I shake my head. "You're still firmly inside the danger zone, and I don't even want to think about what'll happen to you if you end up overexerting yourself in this state."

"........."

It looks like the truth of my words has her unable to respond.

"Besides, I can always take a nap or whatever when we get back on the road," I say.

"...very well," she replies with a sigh of resignation. "I will take the blanket."

And so, after handing the petite Elemental Spirit a huge rolled-up blanket that probably weighs about as much as she does, I grab a cushion to sit on and proceed to work out a comfortable position to take for tonight's night watch.

It's a shame that the light's too shitty to read in, but it's not like I don't have enough nonsense racing around in my head to last way longer than a single night of neurotic introspe-

rustle

"Um."

Looking down, I find a big, messy pile of floof using my thighs as a pillow.

"......"

...whatever, I give up.