Catch up with them.

You hustle down the road to both Malakae and Trin strutting their stuff in tandem. While it may look like two dragons working together to the untrained eye, you can tell it's the exact opposite. Both of them are trying to steal the spotlight from the other. They each have in their minds that if they walk together, they'll prove that they look better than one beside them. Trin may be more modest, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have an ego of her own. There's just no competing with Malakae's unadulterated bratty behaviour, and Trin is certainly **** with it. You watch from behind as their thick, draconic tails sway left and right along with their hips. When you finally approach, they split apart to make room for you in the middle.

"That took you long enough. Did you need a couple minutes to be intimate with Luna before following?" Malakae asks haughtily.

"Nah. That's later," you respond. "Did you accidentally lose any articles of clothing yet?"

"E-Excuse me?"

Trin glances over with a curious tilt to her head. "What's the joke?"

"There is no joke!" Malakae snaps back. "Kyle isn't funny."

Silver and gold. One smaller, one taller. Wearing blue, wearing red. You glance back and forth between the two dragons as your group makes their way down the snaking pathway, between buildings and trees as well as beautifully tended flowers of all colours.

Trin grunts. "Ugh. I can't do this anymore," she mutters. She stops in her tracks, causing you and Malakae to halt as well.

"What's wrong?" you ask.

"Sorry. It's these," she says, slipping her feet from her heels. She bends down and plucks them up. "I've worn heels like once or twice in my life. Not a fan."

Malakae chuckles with a smug expression on her face. "Unsurprising."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Yeah, I'm not a noble or anything like that. I don't usually put on makeup, or wear heels, or put on elaborate dresses, or even wear much jewellery, but that's because I don't feel like it." She wiggles her stocking-covered toes against the pathway below. "It feels more free this way. And if a dragon wants to be an adventurer, they can't really weigh themselves down with a bunch of impractical stuff. Sure, if you want to rest on your laurels and waste away in your mansion, you can wear anything you want."

"Pardon me?" Malakae stomps a heel down hard. "Do you think I'm unable to get my hands dirty? Yes, I'm wearing gloves right now, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of casting all this aside and throwing down. I've fought many battles, including one against my very own family. Just because I wish to look beautiful as often as I'm able doesn't mean that I'm resting on my laurels, you brat."

Trin hesitates for a moment as she thinks up a response. "R-Right. That's fair. Sorry, I didn't mean to make us stop. Let's keep walking."

"Play nice," you say to your dragon.

Malakae glances away once more. "I am nice."

"You're occasionally nice."

"Hmph. Just listen to Trin and start walking."

Now with Trin carrying her footwear instead, your trio walks leisurely through the little hamlet you've fleshed out here in Castle Phoenix. You spot and wave to a few of the newcomers that joined not long ago, as well as a handful of others--Thomas, Chini, Yin, Fang. For a fortification out in the mountains, it's certainly lively and full of colour and warmth--the latter metaphorically, as the autumn breeze has gotten cooler. Thankfully you're in a rather warm biome, so even at this altitude it doesn't seem to be getting frigid.

After a bit, you hear a voice calling out. "Hey, you three!" Delphi shouts as she flutters down from above. Her magic purple ropes extend down from her body in the shape of a net, and within it is a flat wooden box. "What are you up to?"

"Just resting. Finding something to do to pass the time, I guess," you reply. "It was a pretty exhausting morning."

"Oh really? Good! I just got this set of cards and chips, and I was gonna ask if someone wanted to play some Tivera's Gamble."

You look her over for a second. "I don't wanna sound rude, but can you play a card game? I mean, because of your size."

"No offense taken. I can. I just lay them down. Listen. When you're a pixie, you figure out how to make it work. This just happens to be a game I learned back in the woods, when some poor sap wandered in with a deck of cards and I suppose a hope in besting me. Anyway, he ran off and I got his cards. I didn't bring them when I came with you though."

"Some guy went to the Cackling Woods with a set of playing cards and chips?" you ask.

"No, no. I think he was hoping to gather materials or something. He didn't even have chips. That's why when he ran off, he was buck-ass naked. Anyway, do you want to play or not?"

Malakae glances down at her nails despite them being covered by her thin white gloves. "I'm quite good at games like that. I wouldn't mind proving it."

"Ooh. I know how to play that!" Trin says. "I'd love to pass the time playing games with your pixie friend, Kyle. Castle Phoenix sure is a more fun place than I thought it would be. When William talks about it, it's all business. Military might, defenses, the type of stone used... Everyone's been really kind so far. I mean, uhm. Mostly everyone."

"I assume that was directed at me," Malakae says. "I'll have you know that I can be plenty kind to those who deserve it. Now come. We'll compete once and for all in the game of Tivera's Gamble. A game of not just luck, but games of the mind, and strategic thinking."

"Go easy on them, Kyle," Delphi says. "There's no way these girls can keep a poker face."

"Hey!" Trin shouts.

"I'll have you know I have the greatest poker face of all!" Malakae yells back.

Delphi shrugs at you. With a smirk, she flutters back towards the castle with her card set still hanging within her magical net. "Oh. And Kyle? Go get changed. You're dressed like you're ready to go monster-hunting. People don't rest like that. Meet us in the War Room when you're in something other than armour."