Randal beamed "Thank you Lady Hildegarde! You're the best!"
He shot one last grin at Hildegarde before walking to the door, holding it open for his new Friend. "Tiffany's the cleanup guy!" he said cheerily, only a
little jealous that Ewan would be spending his first few days with somebody else. "He's really nice! He paints stuff too, but not like Porcelina does. Like, he paints Taza's nails for her sometimes!"
~~~
Hildegarde watched the two boys walk out the door, smile fading from her lips. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back on her desk. "Sweet Ansgar, why did he have to be one of
those?"
"An animancer, huh?" Terrence said, stepping forward. Noticing the look on Hildegarde's face, the teenager placed his hand on hers. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. You're past that, remember?"
Hildegarde gave her boyfriend a pained smile, pulling him closer to her. She stroked his hair gently, allowing herself to relax. "I know, Terry. It's just..." She shut her eyes tightly, then opened them again. "No matter how many times I say that... I still don't want it."
Terrence frowned, and pulled himself up onto the desk next to her. "I don't think he does either. You remember what happened last time somebody tried to-"
"Yes, but that was
Kaida. You were in the room with us that one time, you remember what she was like."
Terrence scratched the back of his head in embarressment. "Yeah, that's true. I honestly thought Porcelina had dyed her hair white at first."
The gang leader snickered. "Aw man, now I wanna introduce them..." She shook he head. "Gah. All I can do is wait now, I guess." She looked at the teenager longingly. "Terry. Terry, help me take my mind off it."
The boy smirked, and pulled the girl into a kiss...