<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Backstory:  Nephie and Vanessë</strong></span><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">((This is the encounter that c0i9z and I played out to help understand our characters' relationship.  It turned out surprisingly sweet!))<br/>((Also, Marie, if you want anything changed about the way we portrayed Mella, please do let us know and we'll certainly be happy to amend the story.))</span><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/z284SRZ.jpg)</div>Vanessë, Vanessë, Vanessë. That was all that had seemed to be on Mella's mind, an old friend from when she was young, came back after so many years. Certainly, it had been enough to pique Nephie's curiousity. Or perhaps her jealousy. She had few friends, after all. Not that that was strange, for a goblin like her. What was more strange was that it seemed to... bother her. There was something about this village that was so different from the time... before, back in the city. In the time she'd spent here, she'd started to feel... things. Things that seemed almost to be against her nature, but things that she wanted to feel more of. It was unclear which had caused Nephie sneak her way here, in Vanessë's new room, while the girl was away. Her true nature? Her new feelings? Some strange combination of the two? All that she knew was that looking at Mella and Vanessë from her hiding place as they met again, she'd felt a strange wave of hunger and irritation. Here was Mella, the one Nephie though of as her truest friend fawning over... what? Some noble elf girl who wouldn't know the back end of a tiller if it was carefully placed in a... carriage where she had... tea... ceremonies? Nephie's imagination had run blank on that one. She had no idea what nobles actually did, but she knew deeply that it had nothing to do with either her or Mella. So here Nephie was, in Vanessë's room, looking for... she wasn't sure what. Something to... 'borrow'? Some prank to embarrass the girl? A bit of both, perhaps? But for now, she was content to merely poke around, uncaring of the mess she was making in the process.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://yt3.ggpht.com/a-/AAuE7mBViEXufNE3sOcr1sfm2PL7B4vFb6ocvHP9Cg=s240-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no)</div>Nephie's poking around the Vanessë's room revealed to the goblin that the elf girl didn't seem to actually own very much; the biggest mess would have largely been leaving drawers open, and the meager items she found, strewn around.  Well, she could totally make a mess of the bedsheets on the neatly-made bed.<br/><br/>The armoire revealed only a couple of changes of clothing, and nothing fancy either:  just simple light elven dresses, a single belt, a silk shaw, and a traveling cloak.  It appeared she didn't even have a spare set of shoes.  Her underwear drawer revealed pieces that were lacey, coming in a variety of colors ... and really small.  Her desk was furnished with writing equipment and a few books.  Another drawer revealed basic grooming tools.  And another drawer ... a dagger of elven make resting in a sheath ornamented with a floral motif.<br/><br/>"Can I help you?"  The room's occupant had appeared at the doorway, her footsteps had been very soft; if Nephie had detected it, it would have only been moments before Vanessë's arrival.  If the elven noble was alarmed by the room's intruder, she betrayed no sign of it; she appeared calm.  The manner in which she had addressed the goblin was neither hostile nor demanding.  If the goblin could recognize it, the tone had been soft and polite ... even respectful.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/z284SRZ.jpg)</div>Nephie didn't know how nobles lived, but she certainly had expected more than... this. This was just what she'd expect to find when poking around some normal village girl's room. Everything was of much higher quality, though, like some richer girls' places she'd been in. Except those also had a lot more... stuff. The combination of the two seemed strange an intriguing to her. And the most intriguing bits were the thin, lacey bits of fabric she'd found in one drawer and the beautiful dagger she found in another.<br/><br/>It was just bad luck, really, that those were the pieces that Nephie had been examining when the noble girl spoke up, the sheathed knife in one hand, some of the strange fabric in the other. Nephie was good at hiding, of course. Very good. When she tried. When she didn't, though, she was easily distracted and surprisingly easy to sneak up on. As had just happened. Nephie froze and slowly, fearfully turned to see the noble girl looking right at her. There was a momentary pause, then out of the window she went, in a flash of green, the items still in her hand. There had been no time to think and consider maybe leaving the items. Pure, overriding instinct had set her to flee so that by the time she realized it, she was already running and it was already much too late to turn back.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://yt3.ggpht.com/a-/AAuE7mBViEXufNE3sOcr1sfm2PL7B4vFb6ocvHP9Cg=s240-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no)</div>Vanessë, of course had not been expecting the little goblin in her room, but Mella had only just told her about her unusual friend.  With that on her mind, the elf managed to remain steady even through the surprise, and even attempted to be friendly, despite the fact that the goblin held a family hierloom in one hand and her panties in the other.  Had she not been forewarned, she may have kept a calm appearance -- she had been rather notorious even among elves for her ice-princess demeanor -- but she would not have attempted to be so friendly.<br/><br/>She ran to her open window, stopping as she leaned against the sill.  Good the goblin was still in range.  She lifted her finger, pointing at the fleeing figure, and uttered an incantation:  the first cantrip that she had ever learned.<br/><br/>The goblin heard the elf's voice as if she were whispering right next to her ear:  "It's alright, you don't have to run.  I won't hurt you.  You're Nephie, right?  Mella was telling me good things about you.  Let's be ...." the message was cut off at that point as Nephie had run out of range.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/z284SRZ.jpg)</div>Nephie's heart was beating hard as she leaned back against the tree she had ducked behind. There had been a... a voice, right in her ear. She calmed her breathing and shifted low and into shadows, let the forest consume her as she was well practiced in. Then, she listened carefully. Not a sound. The voice had been so clear, as if the speaker had been right next to her. But now... nothing. If anyone was so close, she'd have sensed them by now. Especially, she would have expected some reaction from her disappearing from sight and hearing. But nothing. Elf-magic, then? Since she'd come to the village, she'd well found out that some of the elves there could do... things. Strange, confusing things that seemed to come naturally to them.<br/><br/>So the noble elf had cast a spell on her. But not to harm her or stop her. Just to speak. Of course, people had often spoken to her when they'd found her taking their things. Yelled, more properly, though that could be excused from the fact that she was often far away by then. But... this was different from those other times too. There were no threats, no demands. Only reassurances. And... she hadn't called her 'goblin girl' or... worse things. She'd used her name. 'Nephie'. The only name she knew. Before, she was just herself. She didn't feel the need for a name. But Viola and Desmene had brought her to the village, named her, they said, after a beautiful flower that grew in marshes. She hadn't understood, at first, why she would need such a thing, but now... now the name was hers and it glowed with a strange warmth that seemed to be at the center of all of these feelings she was still struggling to understand.<br/><br/>And it was that warmth, maybe, that pulled her back once more towards the noble elf girl. Slowly, carefully and unseen, she crept back, until the fancy knife, wrapped in the strange cloth, clattered on the widow sill. "I... brought things... back.", say a voice from outside, its source still hidden. The Tullok was awkward and broken. Nephie was learning surprisingly fast, but it would be a few years yet until she would be fully comfortable with the language. "Knife looks... best thing. Didn't want to take best thing. Wanted to take... good thing. Make elfie angry. Laugh. Give back later."<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://yt3.ggpht.com/a-/AAuE7mBViEXufNE3sOcr1sfm2PL7B4vFb6ocvHP9Cg=s240-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no)</div>When she realized that the goblin had run out of range, Vanessë lowered her hand, watching the little green form disappear behind a tree.  She watched for a few more moments, then turned around, surveying the mess in her room with a sigh.  "I see what you mean by 'she can be a handful and fall to old habits'," she said, recalling how Mella had described Nephie.  Her entire education had been that the only good goblin is a dead goblin, one of the few things that elves and dwarves seemed to agree over.<br/><br/>It was her own opinion that her people could afford to broaden their horizons that she could listen to what Mella had to say.  And even then when she had expressed a bit of skepticism, Mella's adamant insistence is what brought the elf to promise that she would treat the goblin kindly and patiently.<br/><br/>Having so few belongings that she brought with her back from the Elven Court, cleaning up was a pretty simple affair.  She was admittedly tempted to chase after Nephie to recover her dagger ... well, yes, her panties also ... but as patience has always been one of her virtues, she decided to believe Mella on this one.  No, not just believe Mella, she thought.  She should uproot the prejudices that had been instilled in her through her education.  She would choose to believe in Nephie.  Well, unless proven otherwise.<br/><br/>But as it turned out, she didn't need that last thought after all.  She heard the clatter on the window sill and saw ... her panties barely covering her dagger.  Now that would be embarrassing if any of the village boys saw.  And she heard Nephie's voice, as she struggled to express herself.  She smiled.  Mella was right.  This was no stereotypical monster.  "Nephie, thank you.  You really are a sweety," she said, making no move towards the window so as not to frighten the girl away.  Then she repeated the sentence that had been cut off during her magical message, "Let's be friends."