Door to the dressing room that was usually taken by Christian was ajar and two voices could be heard from the inside. Kira recognised Michael, the same doc that before worked on her knee. It seemed like her opponent came back to consciousness and now was getting his portion of scolding.
The sound of the door opening interrupted the lecture and both men turned to look at the unexpected visitor.
Kira dropped the bag. Christian raised his bleached eyebrows.
— Decided to share the prize?
— Got everything fixed?
The man produced a smile and stretched his arm. Kira nodded and raised the edge of her tank top.
— I have a suggestion. Objections?
That actually caused an impression of genuine interest on Christian’s face.
Michael rolled his eyes.
— Damn maniacs! After such a fight!!! You were unconscious three minutes ago! And you — you definitely were hit on the head multiple times tonight! What if there's a concussion?!
Kira looked doc in the eyes. Christian’s hands already moved to “watch” under her top. Woman shook her head violently then stood for a few seconds, thinking.
— No sickness, no dizziness, therefore no concussion.
Christian mimicked her actions with the same response, though Kira suspected he’s not being fully honest.
Michael scoffed, called them maniacs one more time and left, taking his medical case original orange colour of which could be seen under flaking dark blue paint.
Kira looked at Christian.
— So no objections.
Man stood from the couch, lifting her by the thighs and slamming into the wall. This time — not trying to break. Kira hoarsely laughed.
— Finally, interesting sex!
— Finally, interesting fight.
She looked in surprise from under almost pulled off tank top.
— You didn’t give in?
— No.
— Awesome, I was feeling slightly embarrassed. I wanted to take you on fairly — as much as possible, of course.
— Well, you did. Now shut up.
— Make me.
She leans into a kiss first.
— Goodbye, Chris.
— Forever?
— After a setup like this?
— Fair. Wait, I’ll walk you beyond the cameras.
— What, you decided to play romance all of a sudden? Or to help me carry my money?
— They’ll kill you if there’s no witnesses. For not dying in the cage. And for leaving.
— …fair.
Upon breaking the eggs you see, slipping out of the crushed soft shell a small, child-like body of a nymph. They lie in the water, unmoving.
*stab it* [creature dies]
*wait*
Suddenly, their eyes open. They look at you.
*calm them down* It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.
What is going on?
I accidentally broke your egg, I’m sorry. [success: calm down, failure: node red]
I don’t know, I was walking by and saw you lying in water face down, so I came to check on you. [success: calm down, failure: node red]
I just wanted to see what’s inside.
Are you crazy? Is this normal? Are you always walking around breaking everything you see just to watch?! [if any adult nymphs are nearby, they are alerted and interfere, taking the dialogue from here. If you didn’t fight them, you get scolded, your reputation may drop, nymphs will kick you out. If you fought them before — node red]
[if there’s no nymphs nearby dialogue continues]
*apologise* [success: calm down, failure: node red]
*argue (scare them)* [success: calm down, failure: node red]
*lie* Oh, hi, I didn’t see you here! What happened? [success: calm down, failure: node red]
I.. I don’t know *they look around* maybe it's my time to wake up. It feels… strange.*they look at their arms* don’t you think they should be bigger?
Well’ maybe you’re special? Not like the other nymphs. Maybe you are so small, because you have special powers!
[failure] Yeah… sure… You know, I’m going to leave now. [Dialogue ends. Nymph walks away, you can hear them saying “creep”]
[success, there are no nymphs left] Maybe I am… I don’t know. [dialogue ends, they look lost, looking around and hugging themselves]
[success, you didn’t fight nymphs] Maybe I am! This is cool! I’m going to tell others! Or maybe I shouldn’t?
Of course, tell them! You will be the prettiest little butterfly one day.
I will! [runs away]
You should keep it a secret. Let’s make a surprise out of it!
Ohhhh, I like surprises! Okay! [Dialogue ends, they stay near eggs for some time, looking at themselves, spinning around]
Don’t tell them, what if they get jealous of your powers?
*gets worried* You think so? Then I probably shouldn’t… But what do I tell them if they ask?
Maybe your egg was smaller? It just happened.
Say your siblings squished you so you couldn’t grow up.
*shrug* You’re smart. Special powers, remember? You’ll figure it out.
As if I care. You’re on your own, kid.
[Young nymph gets somber, nods to themselves, turns away from you to look at the eggs. Thinks for a moment and starts crushing her former shell] Now they won’t know. [Dialogue ends. Nymph stays near eggs for some time before joining the others]
*attack* [creature screams, summoning all the live nymphs, other eggs break, releasing young nymphs, if there’s less than half adult nymphs and Imago is alive — Imago appears]
— If you’ve managed to successfully calm the young nymph down, they hang out in the location with other nymphs.
— If they tell other nymphs about their “special powers”, adults are guarded around you and make it clearly known to you that they are well aware of what you’ve done and not happy with it. Your reputation drops.
— If you’ve managed to successfully calm the young nymph down and there’s no adult nymphs left, the young nymph stays near eggs, talking to them from time to time.
You can talk to them. They are very lonely but planning to become an Imago one day.
— If you’ve scared the young nymph into not screaming, they stay near eggs, talking to them from time to time, but don't want to talk to you.