Guns and Paintings

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #1

After their adventure in the mound, Gabriel took Danielle back to his hotel room. Under normal circumstances, the Professor wasn´t very picky about the rooms he was staying in and preferred quiet and inconspicuous places, but this time he needed to put a good impression on people who treasured money above everything else and so he was actually staying in the presidential suite of the local hotel. Unlike the regular rooms, this place was accessible only through a separate staircase guarded by a giant of a man. More than six meters tall, with a bulky build that combined mighty muscles with an excess of body fat. The sumo wrestler was wearing a traditional marine blue kimono, with flowery motives. His presence filled almost the whole entrance hall, with his top knot frequently hitting its celling.
“Master.”
His deep voice boomed through the hotel as he greeted the Professor. Gabriel sighed for himself. He strongly disapproved of this formal behavior of his companions, but they insisted, that it’s necessary, at least in public places.
“New recruit?”
He asked, looking at Danielle.
“He looks skinny. Should I send a lunch upstairs?”
Gabriel laughed wholeheartedly.
“I don´t think SHE would like to bulk up, but…”
He looked at his watch.
“Lunch would be great, thank you.”
Hariyama grinned in response.
“My apology miss!”
Shaking his head with a wide smile, Professor Moon led Danielle upstairs into his room. Well, it was more like a private apartment, with several separate rooms, a spacious living room, and a large balcony. Everything looked luxurious and crazily expensive.
“The bath is behind the doors on the left. If you tell me where your hotel room is, I sent someone to bring you some clean clothes. Or I can buy you something if you want. We still have time, so no need to rush. In meantime, I´ll prepare the needles.”

[Bobbie]

Danielle was sad to have to get off Beast’s back, but she did at some point and walked with a bit of a limp. It wasn’t all entirely faked, she really had strained her ankle, but she could have walked just fine if she wanted to. That, however, would give away her ruse after she faked a sharp wince and a heavy limp back at the underground cave to get Gabriel’s pity and urge him to stay true to his promise of these paintings.

As they reached the large man who filled the entire passage way, Danielle paused and looked up at him - she had never seen anyone as huge as this man. Despite the intimidating size, he seemed to be an ally to Gabriel, and that made him an ally to her, so she soon relaxed and simply waited for the command for him to let them through. Allowing her mind to wander, she thought about how wealthy this professor actually was in order to afford such a fancy place like this one, with a private staircase and a bodyguard whose rates must have been as demanding as his body weight. She wasn’t the least bit bothered that she was called a he, quite used to it and having grown to actually enjoy the ambiguity, but as she was called skinny, she frowned.

In comparison to you, sure... she thought to herself, before Gabriel spoke for her. She wouldn’t mind a nice lunch anyway and so she didn’t argue.

Managing to climb the stairs as inconspicuously as she could, she finally made it to the luxurious suite, and her jaw dropped. “This is ridiculously nice...” she muttered, getting lost in the finer details of the room. She hesitated before turning back to him, “I was staying at Ingrid’s Inn. Yes, if you could have my things delivered here, I would appreciate that. You don’t need to buy me anything. I don't want you to buy me anything.” she paused with a subtle frown. “I own clothes. They’re just not all here right now.”

Then her head turned once more. A bath sounded nice, and it wasn’t like she had anything else that she needed to do, as she couldn’t make any headway on her plan to retrieve those paintings until her companion made a move. “I will have a bath then, thank you,” she began limping to the door, but came to a sudden halt as his words registered in her mind.

“Needles?” She whipped her head around, her hands gripping the door knob of one of the doors. Looking down at her foot, which she was keeping elevated off the floor as much as possible so as not to put unnecessary pressure on it, she then shook her head, looking up at him again.

He’s insane if he thinks I'm going to let him.

“I don’t need any needles!” she blurted out, though she wasn’t quite sure if he meant needles for acupuncture or some sort of numbing agent to be injected into the injured area.

How is it that in the span of only one day, this psycho discovers my two greatest fears so effortlessly?

Before he could answer, she pushed the door open, slipped inside and slammed the door shut, locking it behind her. “No needles!” she shouted through the door before getting started on running her bath. However, Danielle would not emerge for a very long time, as she sought refuge in the privacy of the bathroom to hide from Gabriel and whatever needles he planned to stick into her skin.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #2

Danielle made a good impression on him by how cooperative she was. Well at least up to the point, when he mentioned needles. Suddenly, almost as if her foot wasn´t painful anymore, she disappeared into the bath, closing the door behind her shut, screaming that she doesn´t want any needles at all. Taken aback by her reaction, Gabriel looked at the door puzzled.

“Please don´t tell me you are actually afraid of them.”

He said as that would make his plan complicated. He originally wanted to take Danielle as his plus one to a party that was supposed to happen this evening. But how could he expect from her to go if she was hurt, and afraid of the only treatment he could give her?

“Seriously, where is Myra when you need her.”

Gabriel muttered to himself, walking down to ask the local staff to bring Danielle´s clothes. When he returned, the girl was still taking her bath, so the Professor took off his jacket and went through his training routine, focusing mainly on QiGong and the Water Kata, which limits he was trying to push lately.

As he was moving, a young maid brought in Danielle´s back, taking it into their last free room upon Gabriel´s instructions. A moment later she was back with two large silver plates with covers.

“The lunch you ordered.”

She announced with a smile, putting it down on the table, before disappearing again.

Frowning, Gabriel looked at his watch. Thanks to his sister he knew how long it could take a woman to take a simple bath, but…this was way too long.

“Danielle, are you alright?”

He asked, knocking gently on the bath door.

“The food is already here, so hurry up before Beast eats your serving.”

As he said that, the large malamute froze mid-movement, with her jaw just a few centimetres away from one of their plates.

[Bobbie]

“Please don’t tell me you are actually afraid of them.” Danielle mimicked Gabriel very quietly to herself, wobbling her head as she did so and rolling her eyes. “Who in their right mind wouldn’t be? Especially in the hands of a creep like you.” Getting into the tub of hot water and bubbly soap, she let her body slide down to have half of her face in the water as she blew bubbles.

She remained in the bathroom for a long time, as even after getting out of the water that had gone cold and getting dressed, she remained in there, hoping that the man on the other side of the door would simply forget about his plans for torturing her with needles. When the knock came, she nearly jumped out of her skin, and knocked over a number of bottles of soap, creams, and the like off the shelf above the sink upon which they stood.

“Y-Yes! Fine!” she sighed, arranging the bottles again and staring into the mirror for a moment. She took a deep breath and frowned, staring at herself with her eyepatch removed - it was an ugly sight that she didn’t like looking at very often. “You can do this... whatever he throws at you, you’re doing it for Rosalina. It will all be worth it in the end...” she whispered to herself; however, when Beast was mentioned, she froze for a second, grabbed her eyepatch and rushed to the door while still putting it on and barefoot.

“Where's Beast?” she asked as she opened the door and stepped out, one hand over the eyepatch to adjust it until it was in place comfortably and her bangs fell over it.

As she saw Beast so close to eating the food on one of the plates, she smiled, faked a limp over to her and pet the malamute. “I’ll give you some of mine, you gorgeous beast,” she rubbed behind her ears, nose to nose with her.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #3

The Professor sighed for himself. This woman was getting predictable. No matter what was going on just a mention of Beast and she was unable to see or hear anything else. Well, to be honest, it was giving her a lot of positive points in his book as dog lovers were usually good people in their hearts, unlike people who preferred cats.

“Please don´t, she already ate a whole two hams. By the way, that room over there…”

He pointed to a door to Danielle´s left.

“Is yours now, all your things are already there.”

“Now, if you excuse me…”

Gabriel disappeared in the bath as well, to get rid of the dust, mud, and spider webs he collected during their little adventure. Unlike Danielle however, he reappeared only after ten or so minutes, wearing a suit completely identical to his previous one, but in this case clean and freshly ironed. He then sat down with the two ladies, eating his serving salad, with marinated salmon, before turning on Danielle again.

“Alright…”

He started with a tone, that was usually reserved for negotiation with Beast. The poor malamute was so confused by it, that she looked at her owner with suspicion in her eyes, almost as if she was expecting deworming pills or something like that, but when she realized, that he was talking to Danielle, she calmed down again.

“What do you think, can we start with your treatment?”

With that, he reached to the shelf under the table, pulling out a rather long and slim carved wooden box. Inside, there were dozens, if not hundreds of long and very slim needles, separated by red velvet. Seeing something long and sharp, Beast started whining and backing away, but Gabriel calmed her down.

“These aren´t for you silly.”

She tiled her head to the side almost as if she was thinking if she should trust him or no and then slowly and carefully returned, resting her head on Danielle

[Bobbie]

Danielle continued to pet Beast as she looked away from her in the direction that Gabriel pointed. “Okay. Thanks.” She nodded, glancing at him only once before she went back to showering Beast with love.

Once Gabriel was in the bathroom, she inspected her food in search for anything that she could give Beast that wouldn’t be harmful to her. Picking out a carrot that had no salad dressing on it, she fed it to Beast with a smile, “Here you go, our little secret,” she whispered, before tearing a piece of salmon that had no sauce on it and giving that to Beast as well.

With a content smile, she sat at the table, just as Gabriel emerged from the bathroom. “You have multiple suits of the exact same kind?” she asked, quite surprised to see that nothing in his outfit changed. Of course, neither did hers, but she didn’t have any clean clothes to change into, so she slipped back into her dirty ones after her bath. Looking down at her outfit as she realised this, she felt a bit self-conscious.

His voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked at him while she started to eat her food. Beast’s reaction confused Danielle - is he talking to me or the dog? She looked at Beast, then at Gabriel, then to the wooden box that was revealed to hold so many long needles.

Danielle suddenly choked on her salmon as Gabriel reassured Beast that they weren’t for her... they’re for me!? A couple of splutters and large gulps of water later, Danielle sat back, staring at Gabriel in horror as her hand instinctively rested on Beast’s head, gently petting her ear as she caught her breath. “O-Of course,” she muttered, swallowing air as her throat became so dry that she had to swallow again, having no more water in her glass.

“Let me... change into something cleaner... now that... my clothes are here...” her sentence was fragmented as she caught a breath between each phrase, her face gone pale, but she couldn’t go back to hiding in the bathroom. She stood up, having eaten all that she could until the needles presented to her completely removed her appetite. “After the treatment, we talk about the paintings?” Danielle wanted- no, she needed a reminder to keep her grounded that this was for the paintings. For the money. For Rosalina.

As she walked past Gabriel to her new room, the wobble was not fake this time, there being no need for acting as the girl felt woozy just thinking about all those needles, the image of them forever implanted into her mind. Disappearing into her room for only a few minutes, she’d soon emerge in a new outfit that largely consisted of the same things: a dark pair of trousers that were loose enough to remove any element of curviness in her thin body, but not so loose that they looked unnaturally large on her, and a plain light-colour cotton t-shirt that loosely fell relatively flatly on her chest. She left her jacket on a chair once it was cleaned and dusted to air dry. "I'm ready."

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #4

The Professor was watching Danielle leaving with a hint of suspicion in his eyes, almost as if he was thinking that his companion was trying to avoid the treatment. Still, he didn´t stop her from leaving the living room, to get what she wanted.

“Sure…”

He muttered, pushing the needles away for a moment, to pat Beast, who suddenly lost her new best friend. To his surprise, she returned sooner than he expected. Well, to be honest, the first surprise was, that she returned at all.

“Alright, boots and socks down and lie down on the couch.”

He asked her.

Beast, almost as if she understood what was going on jumped down from the couch to make more room for Danielle, getting ready to put her large head on her at the first opportunity.

Gabriel waited for the young treasure hunter to prepare herself, before reaching for the first needle. The Malamute, who couldn´t bear the sight of someone being stabbed with needles silently whined and turned her head so she would look at Danielle´s face, while at the same time blocking that young woman´s view on her feet.

“To answer your previous question…”

The Professor tried to redirect her thoughts elsewhere.

“Yes, I have dozen or so identical suits. I am buying them all from one particularly talented tailor from West Blue. He is very busy, but I think that with my recommendation he might make one for you as well if you want. Well…”

His fingers started running across the lower part of her calf, as he was trying to find the right spot for the first needle.

“Although, I think you should give a try to dresses at least time from time. You are a really beautiful woman, there is no need to hide it…hmmmm I would swear it should be somewhere here…it looked so easy in that book…oh her it is!”

Gabriel grinned victoriously, applying the first needle.

[Bobbie]

As she emerged from her room, the first instruction from Gabriel sent a shiver down Danielle’s spine. Taking a deep breath, the blonde made her way to the couch and sat down, leaning forward to take her boots off and then her socks, tucking them away into her shoes. Then the rolled her trousers up to her knees and brought her feet up onto the couch as she turned to lie on her back and stare at the ceiling in silent panic.

Being stabbed with dozens of needles was never on her to-do list for the day. It wasn’t even on her bucket list as nowhere along her path of life did she ever envision opting for such an experience.

Once Beast started whining, Danielle realised that it was coming - the first needle. Gulping air, she looked at Beast, distracting herself with the adorable fluffiness that now had her head on Danielle’s belly and blocked her vision of her own feet. She ran a hand through the malamute’s fur, gently stroking Beast’s ear. “I know, this is very scary for me too...” she whispered to her, before hearing what Gabriel was saying about his suits. She didn’t really particularly care, she had only asked as an automatic response to seeing him dressed in the same style of clothing.

Danielle rolled her eyes, her body tense as she could feel the man’s fingers trying to find the right spot to poke a needle into her first. Then he mentioned Danielle wearing a dress and she frowned. “Do you have a crush on me or something? Stop saying that I’m a beautiful woman! I don’t wear-” she snapped, a bit more aggressively than she meant to as she suddenly raised herself onto her elbows to glare at him-

Just as he applied the first needle.

Her attention moved away from him and to the needle that she now had a clear view of over Beast’s head. With an eye open wide, the blood drained from her face as she stared at it, sticking out of her leg, and then she dropped back to lay flat on the cushions again. It would be easy to mistake this action for fainting, had she not started mumbling soon after in the softest tone she’d ever spoken in since meeting Gabriel. Her voice was more of a whimper at this point.

“I can’t believe this is happening, this is really happening, there are needles... in my... F***ING LEG!” she screamed as her chest began to rise and fall more rapidly. Draping her arm over her face to cover her eye and eyepatch, her lip quivered as she continued.

“Why do I deserve this? What have I done? Everything that I do is for love, for Rosalina, I can’t believe this is happening.” Her words were uttered very quietly and in between short, sharp breaths, making it hard for them to be made out unless they were listened to very carefully.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #5

The Professor raised his head in confusion when Danielle asked if he had a crush on her, as this thought didn´t even cross his mind. His experiences were telling him how dangerous this kind of question could be, so he tried to answer as diplomatically as he could.

“Well, I mean, you are a very attractive woman, but…”

He didn´t get to the no as at the moment Danielle seemingly collapsed from the sight of a needle in her calf.

“Ooops…”

Gabriel moved with incredible speed, pushing protesting Beast sideways, just as the treasure hunter started screaming. She was like a desperate and abandoned puppy and the sight was tearing his heart apart so much, that he would stop the treatment right there if it wasn´t so vital for his plan.

“You poor little thing…”

He whispered, petting her head as if she was one of the dogs in his care.

“I know this is very hard for you but trust me I wouldn´t do it if it wasn´t necessary. But you know what? After this end, I´ll buy you something good. Would you like something good?”

He asked, still gently petting her head.

“What about some good nougat-filled cookies, you like them am I right?”

Then he however heard the rest of what she said, and his kind smile became more serious.

“I see, so that´s how it is. You are trying to look like a man so people wouldn´t judge you and your girlfriend? I am really sorry, people can be incredibly cruel sometimes, but you know what? It isn´t the same everywhere. Perhaps you and Rosalina could move somewhere else? Somewhere, where people would accept you for who you are so you wouldn´t have to hide your true self anymore?”

He said encouragingly.

“If you want I can even recommend to you a few places I visited in the past.”

[Bobbie]

As Danielle continued to mutter things to herself about how far she would go for Rosalina and how she ended up in this predicament to herself, an occasional hiccup blended into her quick breaths, as the unthinkable happened - Danielle broke down and began sobbing. Thankfully, however, her tears were instantly caught in the crook of her elbow before they could be revealed.

She was so absorbed in her own crying that she barely heard what Gabriel was saying, as he made his excuses for torturing her like this, until moments later, she realised something very odd - he was petting her head.

The weeping stopped in an instant as he mouth grew very still, and then a little twitch happened in the corner of her lips.

Okay... so he’s petting me, speaking very gently, and offering me treats again... Danielle was quite surprised by how quickly he rushed to her side, now that she actually thought about it. This man legitimately cannot tell the difference between a person and a dog... do I behave that much like a puppy? She was horrified by the thought, considering it a sign of weakness, an image that she would never want to portray herself in. I wouldn’t mind some nougat cookies though, since the last packet that he offered me were tossed to the floor after he decided to hoist me up onto his shoulder like an old sack of potatoes. He’d deserve the expense and the inconvenience...

Her arm still covering her face, she slowly nodded, agreeing to the cookies, but then he went on to say something that genuinely stung.

“Excuse me?” she asked in a quiet tone, trying to contain her rage at such a statement that he made. Again, the twitch in her mouth returned, and while he wouldn’t be able see her brow that was concealed by her arm, it was so heavily knotted that the rim of her eyepatch was irritating her skin.

“I’m not trying to look like a man, you clueless sociopath! This is my true self and I’m not hiding from anyone!” she lowered her arm as she turned in a sudden fit of fury and threw a punch at him. In her current position on the couch, however, her movement being a bit limited because of the needle in her leg, as well as going into her assault blind, she clearly miscalculated the strength of her punch and the distance it would need to travel. As a result, the momentum carried her body to roll right off the edge of the couch, as the edge of the couch also happened to be closer than she remembered, and onto Gabriel.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #6

Gabriel was trying his best to make Danielle feel better, but truth to be told, he was no expert on interhuman interaction and so he felt quite awkward doing so. And the fact, that Danielle was covering her whole face with an arm during the whole thing, so he could only guess how she was feeling wasn´t really helpful as well. Still, he was quite surprised by the quiet and angry tone the treasure huntress used, when she finally spoke up. Accusing him of being clueless and a sociopath.

“Sociopath? Wait, what did I…?”

The Professor noticed, that she took a swing against his face, but was so confused by what was going on, that he didn´t even try to defend himself and this confusion became even deeper when instead of hitting him, Danielle fell right on him.

“Ehm…”

Unsure what he should do next, Gabriel carefully hugged Danielle with one arm, while his other hand continued to pet her head.

“Shhh, that´s alright. You don´t have to act tough all the time you know? Sometimes it´s o.k. to cry. You don´t have to worry about all these bad people. You are safe here, so you can let it all out.”

He said with a kind and soothing tone, while his mind was asking the most difficult question of them all.

“Why do women have to be so complicated,”

It was hard to say if Beast understood what was going on and wanted to help Danielle as well, or if she was simply jealous of all the attention she was getting from her dad, but at that time, she came to them sitting right next to Danielle to lick her face several times, before she put her fluffy head on Danielle´s.

“Wooo”

She said silently to calm the woman down.”

[Bobbie]

Danielle found herself in the man’s clutches, her body partly on the sofa and partly in his arms, making it very difficult for her to get into a good position to effectively pull away from him. Nevertheless, she tried to, rather unsuccessfully.

“Let go of me!” she hissed at him, but before she could say anything else, Beast put her head on top of Danielle’s. This pushed Danielle’s head down just enough to press her face into Gabriel’s shoulder, as if she were leaning into the hug and resting her head on his shoulder for support. Of course, this was certainly not the case, but her mouth was pressed against his shoulder and so it was difficult for her words to come out clearly.

“I don’t... need...” her words were muffled by his clothing, until she gave up and let out a loud frustrated groan, “Ugghhh!”

There was nothing she could do, as there seemed to be no convincing this man that she was fine - the real cause for her tears was in fact him! Reaching over behind Gabriel, Danielle continued to pet Beast to distract her mind from how awkward this was.

Does he really think I need his shoulder to cry on? What I need are those p a i n t i n g s !!

She had an unamused look as she rolled her eye and let out the best sigh that she could, running her fingers through Beast’s fur, as she thought to herself, Who’s a good girl? You are! Yes, you are, Beast! as if Beast could read her mind.

“I’m okay now.” she tried to say, craning her neck to catch some air and be able to talk properly. “You can let go of me now. Thank you.” she said, grumpily. “I’d like to get this needle treatment over and done with so that we can move on with those paintings. You promised we could talk about them.” she uttered, trying to sound as patient as her lack of patience allowed her. Maybe if she just played his game, things would go more smoothly.

“I won’t freak out again.” She promised, though in reality, the chances of that being true were very slim.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #7

To an outsider, Danielle´s behavior could seem to be confusing. But the more time Gabriel was spending with her, the more he was realizing that she was simply a stray puppy. One that was never properly socialized and so she developed strange mannerisms and general distrust for people, even those who were kind to her. He saw it with so many dogs who he adopted. At first, they were all growling and biting, but eventually, with enough patience, love, and care he gained their trust, and they became a happy member of his large pack. Maybe that was what Danielle was missing as well? Well, if nothing else, it was worth the try.

“Don´t worry, you are a good girl.”

The Professor said encouragingly, petting her head and back, until Danielle pulled off, claiming that she was o.k. now. Hearing these words, Gabriel released her, with a proud smile on his face. It really worked! While she still seemed to be somehow cranky, she wasn´t yelling at him or trying to attack him, clear evidence, that the physical contact and little encouragement really was what she needed.

“Alright, let´s do it.”

With that, Gabriel moved back to her leg, applying the remaining twenty needles, before letting them do their magic. Throughout the whole time, Beast was keeping Danielle company. Licking her face and provoking her to another round of scratching behind the ears and on her large neck. Twenty minutes later, the Professor removed the needles, giving Danielle a wide smile, like if he was praising Beast.

“You did really well. I hit the points that should lower the pain of your foot and ankle and also speed up their regeneration. You will need it, because it would look weird if I brought you there with a bandaged foot. Not to mention it would get in the way during our dance.”

[Bobbie]

Hearing Gabriel’s words as he called her a ‘good girl’ urged Danielle to close her eye in fear of the rage reflecting in it and being picked up on by Beast. Dogs are clever creatures that could read emotions very well, Danielle had no doubt of this. Yet, she couldn't help screaming, internally...

I am not a dog, you creep!!

She took a deep breath as she felt his hand petting her head and back, it deeply disturbing her that the man seemed to genuinely think that this was normal behaviour. It is not. If somebody said he was raised by dogs, I would believe it. How is he allowed to teach at a university?

Opening her eye once she was released, the cranky look on her face was one that she couldn’t keep hidden, but she did manage to stay her tongue this time. Granted, her jaw had to be tightly clenched, her teeth grinding to remind her to keep her mouth shut, lest he pulls her into another hug and calls her a good girl again or tries some other strange soothing methods.

Completely silent in fear of another outburst, Danielle lay down on the couch again. The tension in her body did begin to ease up, but that was largely due to Beast and not the acupuncture, as the man that she currently shared a room with was a deeply unnerving individual with a set of several needles in his hands, currently being poked into her leg and foot. It would be difficult for her to relax through that very dangerous combination, especially considering his previous comment - he seemed to be an expert on acupuncture in theory, but less so out of the books and in practice. Her gaze fixed on Beast, the woman gave the fluffy dog exactly what she wanted, scratching behind her ears and all around her large neck, getting to every spot that she could reach from her current position.

Occasionally, a subtle wince or misinterpreted whimper would escape Danielle’s throat as the entire process was a terrible ordeal that she simply wanted to be over a lot faster than the twenty or so minutes that it lasted.

By the time all the needles were out, she had both hands on Beast, fully focussed on the dog to distract herself from the pins, and only once Gabriel was done did she finally open her mouth to speak. “What did you mean by ‘it looked so easy in that book’!? Did you just carry out an experimental procedure on my leg with over twenty needles!?” Once her jaw was allowed to unclench, all her anger and frustration just rolled right out of it. Raising her bare foot, she began to push him away as she didn’t dare try to kick him again - a push was slow and more calculated, preventing any sudden strains if he did use Tekkai.

“And I’m not a- dance!?” she snapped, staring at him as she brought her foot back down to rest on the couch cushions again. Gently moving Beast’s head off her, she dug her heels into the couch to slide up into a seated position, an arm going over the back of the couch for support. “What dance? Is this for the paintings?” her question was followed by an aggravated sigh, “It better be, because you promised we would focus on them next!”

It made sense, something like an art auction would be something high-end, so naturally there would be some kind of fancy dance involved, like a ball. What she didn’t understand was why she had to participate in said dance to acquire the paintings. “Fine, whatever, if it gets me closer to getting those paintings... but, you know, a bandage around my ankle wouldn’t have mattered, it’s not like it would show underneath my trousers anyway.”

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #8

When Danielle snapped at him, because of the acupuncture, the Professor looked surprised for a second, before pulling out a reassuring smile.
"What? No, no, no there is nothing experimental about acupuncture. The method dates back thousands of years. It's just that I never had an opportunity to test it on a living human."
Beast, who, unlike her master, understood that he wasn't really helping his case by this, silently howled.
"Actually yes, it has."
Gabriel, completely oblivious to what was going on at the moment, answered her second question right away.
"Did you ever hear about a man named James Gatling? He is one of the biggest weapon dealers in East Blue and a famous art collector. Today, he is making a banquet for his most important clients and business partners in his villa just outside the city. From what I heard he has paintings that could be sold for up to ten million there and I have plus one invitation for the party."
Gabriel explained the situation they were in, before gently laughing.
"Yes, but you won't be wearing your trousers silly."
He said kindly, patting her head almost as if she was a puppy that got itself into some hilarious accident.
"As my plus one, you will have to be dressed properly. That means evening dress, high heels, and other accessories."
Professor Moon paused for a moment before continuing.
"Of course, you don't have to worry about all these things. We sadly don't have enough time to get you a tailored dress, but I saw several good shops in the city, so you should be fine. Of course, you are my guest so I will pay for it."
He smiled encouragingly, almost as if he thought that Danielle's greatest problem with his plan would be the cost of all these things.