Dragon's Charm, Wolf's Allure, Shark's Desire, Unicorn's Passion. (Private)

"My place...?" Tabi curiously asked and looked at Sugary. "I don't really have a home. I usually stay in one place for maybe a week before moving to a different one. But I guess I can show you the tree I slept under for past few nights..." She answered his question and put on a weak smile.

Sugary's smile faded a bit more so, as each time Tabithi mentioned her living conditions, he felt she was revealing things one bit at a time. "... I know, you said so. But I wanna see where it is anyway. Can't exactly share information about work if you're not around, can I?" From there, he'd simply loyally follow her to where she was staying at, wanting to know exactly what she lived under for himself.

"Well, sure, but we ought to first get this meat to a fridge or something. Don't want it it to go bad, heh." she said and began walking towards Sugary's ship to drop off her freshly purchased meat. "And I don't know what you mean by sharing information when I'm not around. I'm not gonna be staying in a place for long, especially when it's just a bigger tree." she added before she slowly began walking towards the forest. After a good 20 minute walk, she stopped in front of a larger tree, grass underneath it laying down where she slept. "Well, there it is. Just a tree that gives me protection from rain, like I said."

Sugary kept quiet for the most part, just making light hums of acknowledgement even as they went to his airship. Then, when they got to the tree, he looked around, and moved onto the flattened spot to sit down and lean casually against the trunk, looking at Tabithi with a plain face. "... Tabi... You sure you don't just wanna crash at my place? I mean, you already got me storing your meat." He then patted beside him, urging her over to sit with him and talk about things.

Tabi nodded and sat down, leaning back on the trunk. "I suppose I could, still better than just a tree for protection from rain." She said before sighing and looking at herself. "Yanno, I somehow think that I was made to live in the wild like that. Thick fur against cold, swift reflexes, amazing smell..." she said before slowly standing back up. "Well, shall we go back to the ship then?"

Sugary smiled softly, thinking deep down that Tabithi was an odd sort who secretly mooched off her family, yet tried to save on as much as possible in her travels and took care of herself well enough. He sighed, nodding as he got up as well while lighting his horn. "We can. We can even save time and teleport back if you want." He held out his hand for her if she chose his method, but would walk back with her otherwise. "I'm just glad you took my offer. I don't expect you to stick around forever, but more good company is appreciated." He also trusted her to be a good mercenary in her own right after their last meeting, so he was glad to give her some aid while he could.

"Nah, a walk would do me good." She politely refused and began walking back towards Sugary's boat. "Well, no, I won't be long, unfortunately. I keep on moving around Equestria, as I said, to search for work. Unfortunately, this town has none." She said and sighed, deciding to primarily stay silent to think of a tasty meal unless asked something on their way back.

Sugary halted the spell and nodded, making the long walk back to the airship casually. "That's fine. I think you might've said something like that last time actually. Guess I should be used to it by now, but even one day is the least I could ask of you..." He then spoke more softly, smirking lightly. "... Besides, all that time apart makes intimacy all the more special..." He'd look to her face with a light blush. "Hey, sorry about earlier... The whole 'bear my offspring' thing? I was really caught up in the moment..." He then looked away sheepishly. "You, uh... Make it hard for me to hold back when we're at it, but I swear I'd never force that on you. You know that, right..?" Trust meant a lot for him, and trust made some of their previous work very successful before. He certainly didn't want to break that trust just because she made him grow a second horn easily too ever since.

Tabi blushed as Sugary continued talking to her and smiled and nodded after the last question. "Of course I do, Sugary." She said before finally stopping in her tracks. "Say... I've been wondering...." She says before looking to the ground in front of her. "What does really make you adore me that much? What do you see in me that others clearly do not?" She sheepishly asked the stallion and continuing to focus her looks on the ground.

Sugary flicked his ears and tail in thought, smiling a little more as he recalled the memories. "... Not sure exactly. I guess, for one thing, we never really had trouble talking about stuff when we started to work together... I think you were a little surprised I was so comfortable around you, right...? Maybe you also remember I told you an old companion of mine is a grizzly bear..." He then chuckled and shrugged casually. "Honestly, I just find you easy to get along with. You seem to keep things simple too whenever you set out to do something. I found that refreshingly pleasant..." He then looked to her, adoration in his eyes as he spoke more gently. "... What about you? What do you think got us to share a nice warm tent even when we could've stayed separate that first passionate night?"

"Very surprised, honestly." Tabi answered his first question. "I guess I am just too used to ponies not liking me for my ... form, so you liking me was rather very pleasantly surprising." She added and made a weak smile before looking up after his second question. "What I just said could be one reason... second being.. I just needed to sleep against a warm body for once after being alone for so long. Your acceptive attitude just makes me happy on it's own." She answered, her shy smile turning into a proud one as she once again began walking towards the port.

Sugary chuckled softly, gently wrapping an arm around Tabithi's waist as they walked together in peace. "I did say you're welcome at my place. And yes, I do like your lovely form..." He grabbed her hand, and kissed it gently before letting go. "... I really meant it by the way. Aside from us sharing our warmth, I'd be happy to help you with work while I can. Just... Give me a bit more time to handle my studies, and see how my other guest is doing. Hopefully, you'll get to meet her soon..." And so, they would return to the ship, and unless she pushed him away, he'd be holding her close the entire time.

"Me too, I really do want to see this guest you keep talking about." She said, smiling. She would allow Sugary to hug her side throughout the whole trip and ignore the weird looks she'd be getting from random bystanders. Once finally arriving back on the boat, she would wait for Market to enter first before following him, heading straight into kitchen. She was already hungry for some actual meat.

Sugary looked around the airship from the deck, but still no sign of Shanny. He figured she might actually be doing okay with an interview, and hoped for the best as he went inside with Tabithi. Once down below, he was about to start cleaning his sheets, but then noticed she still looked like she wanted something while carrying the soiled sheets. "Huh...? You're still hungry? Well, go right ahead and help yourself. I'll just be cleaning up a bit if you need me." And so he hummed about, getting things over to the bathroom to get cleaning unless she needed his help.

"Ofcourse I am still hungry. Did you think a small salad would sate my hunger?" The last few words she said in a badly-attempted evil voice before laughing it off and beginning to prepare her real meal. After some loud chopping and seasoning, there would be a few minutes of silence before Sugary could smell the aroma of the roasting meat. The whole cooking process would take around a good hour before it were actually done and put on a plate. Tabi had prepared herself a nice, big plate of roasted venison with a side of mashed potatoes mixed with roasted onion, which she set down on the table to eat. "I hope the venison doesn't smell too terribly to you... We might have to open some windows to get rid of the smell once I'm done, huh.." she said and began eating.

Sugary scrunched his muzzle at Tabi, but then chuckled as he kept up with his cleaning. "I shoud've remembered a big gal like you has quite the appetite. Use the kitchen as you see fit, I don't mind."

After a while later, he'd be done with all his cleaning, observing from the deck once in a while to see if Shanny had returned yet or not as well as mostly checking on Tabithi's cooking. She was right about him not particularly liking the smell of meat as he opened the windows some more, but there was more to it as he saw her finished result with a tinge of envy. "Yeah, fish goes down fine, but meat tends to... not do as well. I could survive eating it, but... *Blech*... So may other things I'd rather eat... Still... That looks almost good enough for me to eat. Where you always that good a cook? I wish all my meals looked that well made..."

"I understand, ponies were never carnivores." She said and smiled at him before going back to eating her enormous meal. "Well, you have to learn how to cook for yourself if you live completely alone. Besides, meat adds a whole lot of variety to the meal, and it can be done in many different ways. You would not believe how many different recipes griffins have for meat, and there's even more possibilities if you desire to play around and mix things up a little. I often feel bad that you can't enjoy it.." She said after she was done eating and stood up to put the plate into the sink, beginning to wash it.

Sugary chuckled softly as he remained close by. "And yet, you don't like fish! What's up with that...? Guess we're always gonna have that one thing never quite mixing right, huh? Oh well..." He then began to walk out, looking back to her as he did so. "Anyway, feel free to rest whenever. You know you're welcome to sleep in my room unless you prefer the guest room for some reason. Books I have, as well as a few board and card games, if you're interested; Though some are more suited for Mages... Other than that, I'll be running maintenance checks on the bridge. If you need anything, you know where to find me... Of course, I'd be happy to spar again too." He winked, and moved out. And so the day would go on...

"Idunno, Sugary. Fish have very different taste to meat you would find on land. Almost tasteless and... weird..." the wolfgirl answered while washing the plate before finishing, catching a glimpse of the stallion just before he left. "Actually, I might take a small rest..." she said to herself before moving to the guest room, undressing herself and flopping down on the bed. Her stomach needed some decent rest to process the large amount of food.

While Sugary would be working on the bridge, he could hear a soft knock on one of his windows, but once he would turn to look (if he would turn to look), he would see that there would be nowhere at the window.

As Sugary had left Tabithi be to rest, he got around to doing the usual around the bridge as he said he would. Then he heard the knock, and looked outside; He wondered what it was, and shrugged it off as some bird knocking on it on the way past. He got back to work... but once in a while, he looked over to the window, feeling like there might be something nearby. "Mm....."

When Sugary wasn't looking, he could hear a gentle knock again, this time in another window, but once again, when he would look, he would again see an empty window. The knocks were soft and almost silent, while still being loud enough to be audible to Market, as if only trying to grab his attention.

This time, Sugary didn't waste much time just looking around... Well, he did at first, going from corner to corner to see what was up, but he'd then head out to the bridge to see what kept knocking on the windows. He was sure he felt something familiar too, but it was hard to trace so far.

As Sugary would step outside, he would see nothing, but he could suddenly feel a pair of large hands suddenly and gently grip his shoulders, almost massaging around his neck. "Good evening~" the feminine voice said before her arms gently squeezed his shoulders to relax him. "Long time no see, Sugary...~"

Sugary flinched, but then laughed as he loosened up with the shoulder squeeze. "Good grief... It was you! I shoulda known something was up with the light distortion I kept feeling in the air." He then gave the female a kiss on her hand right over his shoulder, and then looked behind him a little. "So, Naina, what brings you over to this corner of the land? Hotel work?" He had by far the broadest smile of the day; First Tabithi, and now another very good friend had come by. He began to wonder if Shanny was a Luck Dragon with how good his was turning out to be.

"Naaah, nothing that much, just some errands." She said, smiling at Sugary as she continued gently squeezing and rubbing his shoulders. "Something about some supplies for the spa that one of my employers usually comes to pick up, but he was busy this week, so he sent me. Since it's getting dark, I'll have to find a place to stay, and yes, I already knew you were gonna offer your airship. It's why I came here, after all." She said and gave him a warming smile. "What about you? Errands as well?"