“…So then, the next thing I know, Vallero’s face is smeared with our mother’s makeup and her hair is full of powder. Needless to say, that was the last time I was allowed to babysit for a long time.”
Rhionne looked down at Pierce, who was doubled up in laughter. The two were swapping embarrassing sibling related stories.
It had become something of a routine for them. Pierce would sit with Rhionne as she finished her coursework, and they would talk. Sometimes they would compare the cultures of Earth and Archavia, sometimes she would listen as Pierce told her about his family on Earth.
“Well, I have to get to class.” Rhionne sighed as she stood up from her desk. She turned and grabbed her book bag from the floor next to her and shrugged into the strap. “Do you need a lift down?”
“Nah.” Pierce smiled up at her. “I’m good.”
“Okay. I’ll see you when I get home.” Rhionne smiled. What happened next was a completely unconscious action on her part. She leaned down and pressed her lips to Pierce’s head, before turning and walking out the door.
It wasn’t until Rhionne was halfway down the hallway and she felt the tingling in her lips that she realized what she had just done. She stood in the middle of the hallway, frozen in shock. For a moment she was unsure what to do, should she go back explain? Should she tell Pierce that it had just been… What had it been exactly?
Suddenly Rhionne felt very confused. Her body went on autopilot as she tried to decipher just what had happened. Her feet moved of their own accord down the stairs and out the door, while her mind whirled away replaying the scene. She couldn’t quite figure out why it had happened. It had just felt so… natural.
She blinked and discovered she was sitting in class. She’d walked all the way to her lecture without even being aware of it.
Pierce, meanwhile, was in a similar state of confusion. He’d looked up just in time to be engulfed by the Princess’ soft lips. His mind had gone completely blank from the shock, and when she pulled away his whole body seemed to be on fire.
And Rhionne just walked away as if nothing had happened.
Pierce wanted to stop her, to ask her just what that had been about… but he couldn’t seem to find his voice in time. So he sat there, stunned, on her desk for several minutes. After thinking it over for several minutes, Pierce was forced to come to one inescapable conclusion.
Titan women were insane.
Shaking his head, Pierce climbed down to the ground from Rhionne’s desk and made his way out into the hallway.
*.*.*.*
“And then she just kissed me!” Pierce paced on the desk in front of Tylum, who was smiling down on him with an amused expression on her face.
“So then what happened?” She asked.
“Well, nothing.” Pierce admitted, stopping and looking up at the titan. “After that she left. Went to class I would assume. Didn’t really seem to think there was anything weird about what she had done.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Tylum replied with a frown. “It sounds like maybe you have something you need to talk about with her.”
“Yeah well, I couldn’t exactly go after her, now could I?” Pierce sighed and sat down on the edge of Tylum’s textbook.
“No. I suppose not.” Tylum admitted with a shrug.
“First the thing with Daz, and now this.” Pierce shook his head. “You’re not going to start making out with me or something, are you?” He asked Tylum with a smirk on his face.
“No, I’m not. Trust me” Tylum assured him. “I tend to go for taller men anyway.”
“Very funny.” Pierce got up and started pacing again. “I’m really starting to think titan girls are just plain crazy.”
“Hey!”
“Present company excluded.” Pierce amended. “I mean… I just wish I knew why she did that. Was it because she’s attracted to me, or was it because I make a particularly cute and amusing pet?”
“Well, again, the only way for you to figure that out is to actually ask her about it. Otherwise you two will just keep on like you have been and I’ll have to listen to you agonize about it every day.”
Pierce shot her a dirty look.
“Not that I mind, of course.” Tylum amended. “But it seems to me that a direct course of action is what’s required here.”
“Easier said than done when one is the size of a finger.” Pierce retorted.
“I know. I’m not discounting that.” Tylum told him. “But that’s not going to change.”
“You’re right.” Pierce sighed. “I’ll have a talk with her.”
“Good.” Tylum smiled and stood up from her desk. “I’m glad I could help you sort things out, even if just a little.”
“Yeah, thanks Tylum. I’m glad you were here too.”
*.*.*.*.*
“Tylum! Tylum look at this!”
Tylum looked up from her data pad as Myona rushed into the living room, eyes wide and an excited look on her face. You have to see what I’ve found on the net.”
Tylum sighed and put a marker in her book to keep her place before closing the library program. This was just before her excitable friend pushed another screen under her nose. Tylum squinted as the words on the pad came back into focus.
…learned your language within a matter of days but I have also learned how to compromise the security of your networks. It turns out that even by Titan standards I am something of a genius, rating 89 out of 100 on intelligence capacity tests. I was quite disappointed not to score over 90, but you can’t have everything can you? But even with my remarkable brain I am–
“Do you see?” Myona shouted, snatching the pad away and interrupting Tylum’s reading. “Do you see what this means?”
“Well… no.” Tylum said with a sigh. “You haven’t given me a chance to read the whole thing. All I got was a few sentences before you pulled it away.”
“Oh.” Myona muttered. “Sorry. Here, here’s the first entry.” She pressed a button and handed it back to Tylum.
Greetings students of Tannhauser Gate University, my name is, well my name is unimportant. What you do need to know is that I am a human living on your world, in this very university in fact. I have been on your world for about 4 days and very recently underwent a very embarrassing trip to a vet. I am what you would call a wild human. I have spent the vast majority of my 26 human years free; making my own decisions, going where I pleased, the master of my own destiny. I was robbed of that freedom by a cruel twist of fate and somehow ended up in the company of a lovely young woman who is a student here.
Tylum’s eyes widened and she put the data pad down. “He’s from Earth. Like Pierce is. He has to be.” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I mean, obviously I knew there were others. My sister’s friend Brinn bought one herself. But the fact that this one is reaching out… attempting to prove his intelligence… This could be the start of major change.”
“I know!” Myona said excitedly. The young red haired titan was practically bouncing on her feet. “His writing is very interesting too. He talks about being a physicist on Earth and taking the intelligence capacity test. Apparently he scored really well too.”
“Hm.” Tylum muttered, skimming through the posts. “I’m definitely going to have to keep an eye on this.”
*.*.*.*.*
“Shaar, can I talk to you for a minute?”
The human woman looked up from where she’d been examining some of the pictures in Fara’s textbook. She nodded and sat up, looking attentively up at the titan.
Fara smiled and sat down in her chair. “Good. I… I wanted to talk to you about something. Something Myona wants to try, if… if you want to. And of course you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s entirely up to you, so…”
“What is it Fara?” Shaar asked, rolling her eyes.
“Well, um, Myona was wondering if you wanted to learn about holograms.” Fara finally said.
“What are those?” Shaar asked, leaning forward interestedly.
“Holograms. They’re the things that Myona is learning about in school. The images and such. She wants to know if you want to learn how to fix the machines that make them.”
Shaar blinked. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Oh, ok.” Fara nodded, and started to rise. “I’ll go tell her you aren’t interested, then.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t interested. I just want to know why she wants to.” Shaar said, exasperatedly. “Why would she want to teach me that thing?”
“I… I don’t really know for sure.” Fara said, shrugging her shoulders. “I think she really wants to see if it’s something you’d be interested in doing…”
Shaar bit her lip as she considered the idea. “And I would learn to make those strange images?”
Fara nodded. “Most likely. Probably not at first, because I’m assuming she’ll want to teach you the basics of holoprojectors first, but after that, I’m sure she’d be able to teach you how to program holograms… if you’re interested.”
Shaar rose to her feet. “I will try it.” She said. “I will see if I can make the strange images like Myona does.”
“I’m sure she’ll be very happy to hear that.” Fara said with a smile. She lowered her palm down in front of shaar and, after a moment of hesitation, the human woman climbed into the center of it. “Come on, let’s go talk to her right now about it.”
*.*.*.*.*
“And so then I just kissed him!” Rhionne paced on the floor by her bed on which sat a rather indifferent looking Reevah Tam.
Although indifference was generally Reevah’s default expression anyway.
“And then what?” She asked the princess, who stopped and stared at her bodyguard.
“Well, nothing.” Rhionne muttered. “I hadn’t even realized I’d done it until after I left the room and walked into the hall… and then… well it seemed weird to just walk back in and talk about it. The moment had kind of passed, after all. And then, well, uh, I had a class I needed to get to…”
Reevah arched an eyebrow but didn’t otherwise comment.
“So what do I do now?” Rhionne sighed, flopping onto her bed.
“I’m honestly not even sure what the big deal is, your highness.” The hoplite woman replied with a shrug. “You kissed him. So what? He’s just a human. I doubt he even understands what happened. To him you were just being affectionate, the way Titans are supposed to be towards humans.”
Rhionne blinked. “But it’s Pierce. He’s… different. He’s from Earth. He wasn’t raised around Titans. He’s… well, he’s not a pet. Frankly I’m starting to wonder if…” The princess trailed off with a sigh. “Never mind. I really don’t want to get into that discussion right now.”
“Look if you want my advice-”
“Always.” Rhionne said, sitting on the bed next to Reevah.
“I think you should take a walk. Clear your head. After a bit of fresh air I think you’ll see that this is not the big deal you’re making it out to be. You were just being a little affectionate. He’s a human, they’re cute. It’s natural. But that’s all it is.”
Rhionne sighed. Reevah wasn’t getting it. But, the princess decided her friend was right about the walk. A little time outside and away from the house would do her some good.
“Okay.” The princess nodded and stood up. “That’s a good idea. I should go outside and clear my head.”
“Of course it is.” Reevah smirked. “Go get your coat on; I’ll be down in a moment to escort you.”
Rhionne bit back a protest. She really shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, Reevah was her bodyguard; of course she wouldn’t be letting Rhionne wander around the neighborhood by herself.
“Yeah okay. I’ll see you down there in a minute.”
Once the princess had left the room, Reevah picked up her data pad and quickly entered a communication code into the interface.
After a wait of several minutes, a male face appeared on the screen. The man’s brow creased in confusion when he saw who was communicating with him.
“Centurium? Is everything all right with my daughter?” Tiernan ColVanos asked, a slight note of apprehension in his voice.
“Rhionne is fine.” Reevah Tam assured the Emperor. “However, there’s a bit of a problem that might need your attention.”
It’s nice to see this was finally updated. And, it was well worth the wait! Especially, now that we (your loyal readers) have a clearer idea as to when this story is precisely set.
Speaking of updates (shameless cross-plug time): I finally updated CASE OF THE MISSING MENTAL GIANT, over @ Giantess World, in case any of the resident powers-that-be, here, are interested.
I love Myona’s enthusiasm at discovering Niall’s blog. She accepts it at face value without skepticism, which is kind of refreshing.
The very fact that the royal family seems to know Pierce so well, and that he and Rhionne have managed to influence their opinion on human rights seems to imply that he spends quite a bit of time with her at home. That implies that they have a fairly close relationship, close enough for her to invite him to her home during what I assume would be a holiday or break between semesters.
Also, once again I wasn’t emailed about this update. All the checkboxes are marked in the subscription settings, so I have no idea what’s going on with that.
I checked my mailbox just now, and it turns out that I didn’t get an email for every update either. After looking into it I determined that I didn’t get an email for anything written by Johnny Scribe after Vision, and I also didn’t get an email for The Prince. Hopefully that’ll help with figuring out what’s wrong.
By the way, I hadn’t noticed the missing emails before because sometime after subscribing to the email notifications I started using an RSS feed reader.
Yeah, something weird is going on with it. I’m going to try to fix it tonight.
i still think they will end up as a couple. i mean zhan and his wife are under raps. cant wait when he lays his cards on the table and tells her how he fells.
I’m not sure he even knows how he feels yet.
Pierce you (titan) chickmagnet lucky bastard!you can’t have both lol
Talk about over protective, one little kiss with a human and suddenly the emperor’s involved! Personally I prefer Pierce and Daz, but I did like the symmetry of Pierce and Rhionne’s freakouts.
Great mention of Niall’s blog, almost forgot he had it. Also solidifies the timeline a smidge. Definitely prior to Niall getting a professorship, probably prior to the climax in the original Titan.
I don’t believe Pierce and Rhionne will end up together. Maybe they will given the title and summary of the story, but I feel we would know about it by Contact. No way could Rhionne keep that a secret, not unless she never gets out in public with Pierce.
Plus, in TCA, the prince mentionned Pierce as a “family friend” or something like that. That’d be a bit cold if Pierce and Rhionne had been in a relationship for all these years.
Alternatively, they may be in a relationship but need to downplay it to preserve the public image of the royal family.
Good point, Rhionne and Pierce could be lovers for all we know but there is still a need to preserve the image of the royal family. So far I don’t really know how much power the family( might have been stated before but this is a damn big series and I tend to forget details) has but there is a need to ensure their image doesn’t get perceived as being tarnished by one little dalliance.
So for the sake of it her brother could say he’s a family friend until the time is right for them to come out as a couple. There’s a few ways the Pierce-Rhionne relationship could end:
1. They become a couple after overcoming everything in their way, its known to all.
2. They become a couple but this is after her family says they don’t approve. Rhionne and Pierce know they don’t have much time together due to his shorter lifespan and they have a clandestine love.
3. Like 2 but the family agrees it has to kept under wraps, all understand and they carry on in secret.
4. Both want to do it but the pressure is too much, it ends badly and both go their separate ways, realising they can only be friends.
5. They don’t become boyfriend and girlfriend but its more amicable, they realise it just is not possible and end off on good terms.
I don’t think the call to the Emperor wasn’t really about the kiss itself but rather because of Rhionne’s subsequent confusion, which is part of a general attitude change. It’d be really embarassing for the Royal Family if Rhionne were to do something like join TETH (who are probably seen by the general populace as a bunch of nutjobs).
…Dammit, I put a double negative in that first sentence by accident.
Pierce, women, titan or otherwise, aren’t insane just because you cannot fathom why they’re doing something. Usually it’s just a matter of placing importance on different things. The opposite gender being incomprehensible is a stereotype that makes for good comedy but should not be taken seriously.
It’s actually a little sad to see Rhionne confused like this. I’m almost certain that she kissed Pierce because her subconscious realized after all their conversations that Pierce cannot be less than a person. Her conscious mind has yet to catch up though.
For a woman who claims that Rhionne’s kiss was no big deal, just affection for a pet, Reevah is sure in a hurry to call the Emperor about it. Guess she didn’t quite believe it herself. That’s no surprise though; if it really was nothing then Rhionne would not be confused about it in the first place. Also, while I suppose that Reevah’s job isn’t just to look out for Rhionne’s physical welfare, going behind Rhionne’s back like this is a serious breach of bodyguard etiquette in my opinion. It makes me wonder how else Rhionne has been getting “sheltered” from the real world (or rather, galaxy).
Oh, come on, of course women are crazy. Every straight man knows that! 🙂
“she kissed Pierce because her subconscious realized after all their conversations that Pierce cannot be less than a person”
No, that’s not why people kiss. Kisses convey affection. We don’t kiss people out of respect. We do kiss dogs. Well, some people do. And it’s not because the realize that the dog cannot be less than a person.
Reevah works for the emperor. She is not Rhionne’s personal confidante. She might have to call even if Rhionne was getting involved with a too-plebeian titan. You are right about the etiquette thing, though. If Rhionne knew that things get reported, she might tend to ditch the bodyguard whenever she does something compromising. That’s bad. But anyway, what kind of bodyguard is Reevah, if Rhionne gets to walk to class and back unescorted? It wasn’t said specifically, but there was no mention of Reevah going along to class, and having the conversation later makes it pretty obvious that she wasn’t being escorted when she went to class.
Some people kiss animals, yes. But from Rhionne’s “what the hell did I just do?” it’s clear that this kiss was not like that. That’s why I’m convinced that, for her at least, kissing Pierce means she’s started to think of him as a person.
All women of all species are nutz……Its a well known fact……
All this consternation over a little (haaaa) kiss? Gotta give Pierce props, he does aim high *erps! I’m doing it again!*
Could this be, dare I say…….. love? Oh my.. 🙂
Women are totally nuts, and the only people more nuts are men. 😀
I still don’t know what to think about Pierce and Rhionne as a couple. I think I still prefer him and Tylum more, I think its because she always saw him as more than a pet, but apparently she prefers “taller men” >.<
I still like Myona too ( I like all of the college ladies in Sovereign) but something about the idea of Myona being paired with a human guy is appealing.
Personally I prefer Pierce and Daz, and I’m less than convinced that Pierce and Rhionne will end up as a couple. It’s because of the way they act around each other. Pierce and Daz have had more than a little sexual tension, while Pierce and Rhionne behave more like close friends.
As for Myona, what about a human girl?
I’m on the Paz/Dierce ship personally. As for Myona that’s a good question. We’ve seen later in the series she develops ties to Pryvani and Avalon, really opens her options.
Now that is a relationship we have been eager to scope out the development of. The first date will be very sweet, too. It is easy to like both of them, although Reevah is a meddlesome bossy bitch, methinks. I know it is her job, but mmph.
Pierce has a long way to go, too, but he is coming along nicely.
And Shaar will be civilized soon. Myona is so funny. I can see her bouncing around whenever her enthusiasm is engaged. She is so cute…
And Niall is discovered by the friends of the princess; it looks like eye-opening time at the ranch. How nice to see that from a different perspective. And also nice to hear others’ take on the scenario at Tannhauser Gate as it unfolds. I hope that happens again/more as the story progresses with an alternative telling of the same time period. Great stuff, JS. Thanks for the entertainment. ;-}
Oh, Daddy getting involved eh?
Based on DX’s one shot with the Prince, I think Pierce changed their thinking of humanity.
Those two need to talk it out, Pierce and Rhionne , especially before people start convincing Rhionne her feelings are nothing.
Not just the TCA chapter, you can see it in Exile as well during the awards ceremony at the end of the final match.