Fields Of Desire [Veralia/Stella]

Veralia moved in closer to where she was only a few inches away from Stella's face. Afterward, she squinted her eyes as if she were looking into the soul of her friend before mushing her cheeks with her right hand.

"Don't go thinking about death when I'm investing time and energy to keep you alive."

Her tone was half serious, half jesting. There were layers of sincere intent as the point of the training was to increase her odds of survival. So for her to already thinking about death was counterintuitive.

"But then again, it IS nice to have a contingency plan or a will if worse ever happens. So that's actually a beautiful sign of maturity on your part. Bravo."

There was a dry, grim chuckle in her voice as she let go of Stella's cheeks.

Looking off back to her flaming portal, Veralia tapped her chin and took time to think about her desire to see her home. It's not as if she couldn't defend what she owned, so there was no harm in it.

"Sure, whatever floats your boat. If you wanna see where I live, be my guest."

Her casual approval was accompanied by a shrug as she patted Stella's head, watching for her reaction.

"And how soon are you looking to see it?"

Curious about the timing of Stella’s desire to visit, ready to accommodate her friend’s curiosity about her personal domain.

"That's my wittle Stellie."

Smug, teasing and content; her tone was a mixture of many different things, but none of them negative or demeaning. More playful banter and a new nickname as she was pleased to hear Stella trying her best for Veralia.

"Perhaps it's vain, but I love to hear things like that. It makes my little envious heart happy."

Veralia confessed, a snort of amusement escaping her as she continued to gently rub Stella's head, appreciating the sincerity of her efforts.

As the conversation drifted towards the possibility of dimensional travel, Veralia pondered the idea briefly, then tilted her head slightly, a sign of her contemplative state.

"You aren't gonna let up on that? In theory, I could, but that's assuming they don't have anything that prevents dimensional travel."

Not wanting to dwell on that subject, Veralia's eyes lit up as if she had forgotten something. Looking back at the vortex, there was a reason she had the view set on their apartment. With a flick reminiscent of changing a TV channel, she shifted the visuals, pulling up the entrance to a hot spring located in the building next to their hotel.

Turning back to Stella with an oddly playful smirk, Veralia patted her companion's thigh.

"Well, you've earned a treat. Are you up for a little spa evening? Gotta let those muscles repair themselves after all."