decisions, decisions (red)

@"ReD"

The tail, had it a voice, would probably have purred from Lochlann's touch, as it moved like a satisfied cat at his fingertips. Eph felt his skin on her scales and only smiled. "Again, unnecessary effort. You've already unlocked the "Eph route," so to speak - as long as you don't spectacularly screw up you won't really need to do stuff like that. It's nice though."

She gave a small yawn and stretched her arms up, noting the ease with which she could move despite her outfit. It gave her a small sense of pride, knowing that at least someone thought her plan, or lack thereof, was fine, and that at least she was good enough to make her clothes comfy.

Speaking of comfy clothes.

Eph strode over to the box, stopping a few feet away from it and letting her tail drag it over to her. As she stood in place, it moved, pulling all the clothes back to where she was seconds ago. Then she turned around and returned to her post by the window. "I don't actually even know your actual home. Or your course. In hindsight, I should probably have done a few more security checks before I let you into the premises. Oh well, what's done is done, and I was certainly done."

Something about her words felt alien. Eph never really knew that she could so comfortably, so casually bring up sex in a conversation. The revelation was both educating and mildly disturbing. And fun.

A weak giggle issued forth from her. "Dammit, Lochlann, before I met you I couldn't talk about things like this to anyone and now I'm throwing throwaways like they're nobody's business. You are a corrupting influence in my life," she said, before breaking into a brief fit of laughter.

The laughter stopped almost abruptly when she heard his question, and she pushed the box closer to him. "Take a look for a bit for your next set of clothes while I figure out how to phrase this in a not-too-dramatic way."

"Did I ever mention that I'm a lizard? I don't think I did, but... I know this might surprise you, but I'm not human. And, uh... not all humans are like you, willing to move past the inhumanity clause. I basically got picked on a lot, and I started thinking that if I couldn't change how lizard I was, maybe I could at least work on other things about myself. Then, bam, chicken's done."

It struck her that Lochlann's questions were getting more specific, perhaps to avoid her returning those questions in kind. But he did start an interesting train of thought to follow.

"How, and why are you this comfortable with someone so blatantly inhuman? I've been around for a while, and I haven't met that many people who tried to get inside my life in any meaningful way, even less people have been inside my residence, and you're the only one who's ever been... you know. You know."

@"ReD"

"...ah."

Eph only grinned a taut grin, but inside she cursed his train of thought. That was something that in hindsight she knew would come up, but she was banking on the off-chance that it wouldn't. Too much.

She bit her lip, contemplating how to talk about that matter. She'd only been drunk once, far as she could remember - but there were other times when she'd gotten drunk and remembered absolutely nothing because no one was around to remind her when she woke up alone in her bed.

Her eyes solemnly went to the floor and her lips curled into a shy, nervous smile. Memories surged into her mind, each more embarrassing than the last. She tapped her shoes on the floor with an erratic rhythm as she contemplated more. "I... uh... I..."

"...yeah."

The words she said were slow, carefully chosen. It had to be discussed delicately, not because it was a sensitive matter, but because she found it rather shameful. "I've been drunk. You - you know how touchy I am, right? I... so... Ikissedagirlintheparkandtwoguysandthenpassedout."

She buried her face in her hands, unsure why she even did so. It wasn't the act that bothered her - no, to be honest, she quite enjoyed that. It was her revelation of how uninhibited she was when under the influence that made her blush so red that her green now looked a sickly yellow.

Shyly, she peered out from under her fingers at Lochlann, looking to see if he'd judge her. Asking a question slipped out of her mind entirely, instead focused on his reaction.

@"ReD"

Eph fell to the floor, sitting down and staring straight up. That particular story took a lot out of her to say, and she was thoroughly crimson now. Her attention was elsewhere, and she simply told him, "Vodka," while sitting limply on the floor.

The dam had broken open, and now she was mumbling details to herself - and to Lochlann, mainly as a side-effect - of the event. "I mean, she was really hot, but it was her first kiss, she said... I apologized a lot and we became more or less friends but... that wasn't cool."

It took a good minute of her not speaking for the red to wash away and for her to shift from embarrassed and slack-jawed to bemused. Something came to mind - something wrong. Her eyes widened up and she exclaimed with an accusing finger, "Ah! You - I didn't ask a question!"

@"ReD"

"She's... no, I'm not drunk enough to say. I've caused her enough trouble. Tell me why you want to know first."

Eph snuggled up against Lochlann, highly appreciative of his little gestures. He made her feel comfortable and somehow safe, though every now and then his presence felt dangerous. Even as she rested her head atop his, she exercised caution, which showed in the way her tail refused to relax. As it was, she'd bothered Adelene enough.

A goal formed in her mind. Eph knew she ought to - no, she had to get the conversation away from this topic. Behind her, her tail snaked to her shoulder and gently pushed Lochlann's head off so she could stand.

Eph walked to the crate and dug in deep, pulling out a skirt and a large white shirt. "Hey, I'm going to change for a bit... this maid outfit's starting to get stuffy. Don't pull anything weird, okay?"

Her motions were unnecessarily smooth and seductive while she carefully stripped down and changed clothes, hoping to distract Lochlann from pursuing the topic any further. Each movement had a flourish to it, and though it would normally only take her a few moments to undress and dress up normally, she took her time, both stalling, and relishing the feel of having someone present who'd actually pay attention.

@"ReD"

With a little turn of her head, Eph confirmed that she was more or less in the clear for now. She brought her arm to her chest and pumped it triumphantly away from view. "I'm done, you can look now."

"It's not much, and me taking it off is a matter for debate. I may or may not, depending on your arguments," she said, bending over to reclaim her camera from the folds of the maid outfit on the floor. Again, she took her time, knowing that the more distracted by the sexy Lochlann was, the safer she could be from his prying into that particular topic.

With it in hand, Eph sat back down and pushed backward with her feet, sliding back to where Lochlann sat. She stretched her arms and her legs with a bit of groaning, complaining. "You know how annoying it is to not be able to wear something that isn't a skirt? Sometimes, this tail's more trouble than it's worth... tried to cut it once, it just grew back. I still do it every now and then when i want to feel particularly creepy. Ah, well, at least I look cute in skirts. Probably."

Once more she lay her head on his shoulder and gently wrapped one arm and her tail around him. "I got to know though. Why'd you ask my drink preference? Am I going to one day just wake up somewhere tasting vodka on my tongue among other things?"

"Oh, and if I'm getting too touchy, feel free to push me off, or otherwise..." she warned, adding her free arm to the friendly hug.