After Fenrir asked Yerin to be his friend, she had stood still for a full minute. He had begun worrying whether he'd done anything wrong when the fifteen year old girl had given her consent to his request, though she had stuttered a bit. He had found this rather confusing, but simply assumed her strange behavior to be another part of humans being strange. He had never come upon anyone who acted like this; the only people he had had direct contact with were his parents, male demons, and her, so it was a possibility that Yerin's behavior was because she was female. However, his parents had greatly stressed that men and women were equals, so he concluded that it was likely because she was human. Perhaps humans had some strange customs when it came to friendship? It seemed to have something to do with his face, as Yerin had almost begged him to put his hood back on, though she seemed somehow reluctant. When he asked why, she had replied "Your face is a cheat, and it's distracting."

Fenrir decided to give up understanding her actions, and simply note her actions for now. Drawing a conclusion could wait until he had a larger database to draw it from.

Fenrir 's mental deliberations were interrupted when Yerin asked him about the fight with eager eyes. "So, what was that movement just now? How did you move so quickly? How long have you been training? Who was your master? Why did you pretend to lose?"

At the barrage of questions, Fenrir 's face became downcast. It seemed that he wasn't as good at hiding as he had though...

~~~~~~~

Seeing Fenrir pout childishly, Yerin couldn't help but laugh. Even though it was obvious that the boy was trying to hide his thoughts, anyone could easily tell from his body language. It was clear that, though he was undeniably skilled, the boy wasn't even close to proficient at acting. Seeing his naivete, Yerin felt the slight sense of inferiority that had come with her defeat fade away. For a moment, she had thought of the boy as simply her benefactor, who seemed to be aloof and separate. Now, she thought of him as a friend who she could casually tease.

"Heh, that acting wouldn't even fool an idiot! It was obvious how you were pretending."

Seeing Fenrir become even more downcast, Yerin grinned. "Here, I'm the heir of a family of Grand Dukes, I know how to act. If you teach me how you did that, I'll teach you how to fool people."

Soon, Yerin was exhausted. She just couldn't seem to move as Fenrir did.

"We should stop for today," the boy said. Yerin was about to say that she could continue when he added "If we continue, let alone progress, you might end up hurting yourself."

Yerin felt that the timing of that statement was a bit off. It had come a bit too late for if Fenrir had originally intended to say the last part. It was almost as if he had gazed into her soul-

"It was obvious what you were thinking," said the boy, seeming once more to read her mind. "Besides, if it was me in your place, I would want to continue as well."

"Whoa, it really is as if you can read my mind..." said Yerin, grinning broadly. "At least, you understand me much better than that damn Fars boy."

Fenrir tilted his head, obviously confused. Seeing this, Yerin quickly explained. "The heir of the Fars family wants to marry me, but even though I clearly said I'm not interested, he's treating me as if I'm his belonging, the shim bastard." Somehow, Yerin's elegant composure evaporated before Fenrir. She felt comfortable with him; the boy's voice had cleared her troubled mind, and he seemed to understand her better than even her family.

Fenrir cocked his head the other way, an action that Yerin though made him look like a small animal. "If you've already refused, should he not respect your wishes? And why would he think that you belong to him? You're a person too, aren't you?"

"I know right?" Yerin nodded emphatically. Fenrir's comment had touched a nerve; since childhood, Yerin had trained in the spear, resulting in an independent and headstrong personality. Upon entering the world of politics, she had been frustrated at how all the other nobles seemed to view her as an object, just because of her gender. And thus began a long rant about the injustice of the world, as the girl listed her grievances about the stupidity of nobles (excluding her own house, of course) to the only one who seemed to understand her frustration.

~~~~~~~

When Rokvur came back from his post, he noticed Yerin and Fenrir off to the side of the clearing. Suspicious, he walked over to them, hoping that the young miss was not causing any trouble. As he came into hearing range of their discussion, he realized that their conversation was rather strange. From the tone of Yerin's voice, it seemed like she was teaching a close friend how to do something; she seemed to be gloating at Fenrir’s ineptitude, but in only in a teasing manner. It reminded him of the saying: "When you fall, a good friend will help you up and ask if you're okay; your best friend will help you up while laughing." He was rather confused; Yerin had clearly been quite hostile to Fenrir before, but now she treated him closer than her lifelong friends. Granted, she had never seemed to feel as if those lifelong friends had been true friends. She had always simply described them as connections; their relationships were just business. The only people who she treated even close to how she was treating Fenrir were her family, and even to them she sometimes acted cold, with an attitude that seemed to say "You just don't understand me." With the boy, she acted as herself, before she had entered the uselessly complicated world of court intrigue. Her personality was bright and sunny, unlike the cold and elegant mask that she wore before other nobles. Seeing this, Rokvur's confusion turned to relief; as the guard captain of the Aelis house, Rokvur had been there to watch the girl grow up, and felt as if she were his own family. Of course he had been worried as she had become colder and colder, forced into a mold by court society. Then he noticed the contents of the conversation; Yerin was teaching Fenrir how to trick people! Over the course of the few days since Fenrir had joined them, Rokvur had come to see the boy as half a son to him, especially due to his pure and almost childish actions. Now the young miss was teaching the innocent boy how to lie! He had to stop this!

~~~~~~~

After some chaos, dinner was finished and the travelers ate. Trevor Aelis was surprised that Yerin was acting so friendly towards Fenrir, but did not investigate after she explained what had happened to him. Rather, he became slightly jealous that his daughter was closer to Fenrir than her own father... From the start, he had been a doting father. After all, Yerin was his only child, and Trevor had never quite gotten over the death of his wife. Eventually, the travelers finished dinner. Unlike before, they ate all at once; last time, Rokvur had been worried about Yerin causing trouble, and so had had Trevor and Yerin eat after the rest of the travelers. Once more, the food was delicious, and all of the members of the caravan felt their parental instincts stirred at Fenrir’s obvious happiness when they praised it. Meanwhile, Fenrir finally recognized the warmth in his chest as a sense of belonging, and he thought back to his days with her. Soon, the travelers entered their individual tents and went to sleep...