Xaviers!

"You sneaky little goose," Katarina grinned. "That is what you are. A goose. Who is sneaky."

Jez broke out into a giggling fit. "Is that a common expression where you're from? I've never thought of geese as especially sneaky." Well, except for that one game....

"Is it not also an English expression? Well, I'm making it one now," Katarina grinned. "Podmukla guska."

"Nu, pogodi." Jez replied in a poor attempt at a deep and menacing voice, before giggling. She leaned over far to snag another slice of pizza, digging into it.

"Where'd you get the pizza, anyway? I didn't think many places delivered out here."

"I had them make it down in the dining hall, special," Katarina smiled. "Is it good? It is not the Italian-type pizza we normally get; I asked them to make it more American."

"All kinds of pizza are good pizza." Jez took another big bite, chewing happily. "Even the super cheap, super greasy kind. With the right company and circumstances of course."

"I hope I am the right company, and these are the right circumstances" Katarina smiled.

"...Nika said that these have been...well, dates. Are they?"

Jez slowed her chewing, and swallowed hard. "Well, it takes two to tango, as the saying goes. I'd like to think of them as having been dates.

"... what would you like to think of them as?"

"Ah-ah, no," Katarina said, waggling her finger. "I asked first, remember?

I can never be sure if Nika is pulling my leg. Again. I must remember to tell you about the toothpaste incidents."

"Well then, fine. They were dates. At least, attempts at them. I'm not... actually very good at this sort of thing." Jez admitted.

Katarina was quiet for a moment, chewing on her pizza.

She reached and grabbed another slice.

"My father...would not approve of you. For multiple reasons. I am his golden girl, and must remain pure and virtuous for the sake of...for the sake. Nor are you able to sire an heir to keep our family line going forward.

...I do not know how he plans those two to work, as they appear mutually exclusive, but that is my father for you."

She chewed again, slowly.

"I come from a very different place. People like you...

People like us are not as accepted there as they are here. Nor have I been open with you about...everything about me. Things are not simple. Things are never simple, where I am concerned.

Do you understand?"

Jez listened patiently, considering what Katarina had to say. She let the young woman finish before she spoke.

"Well, it sounds to me like you're not too opposed to the idea, it's just your Dad who is." Well, that was one way of taking it.

"But, going on some dates doesn't mean you're eventually going to marry the person, you know. You could use your relative freedom to... experiment."

Jez had some secrets as well, some she was even debating sharing, but she didn't let on that she knew more about Katarina's situation than she appeared.

"I am saying that if you were to...date with me...it would be more complicated than an average person in the dorms, yes? You are talented and smart, you could have your pick. I just need you to know that I am not only with sunshine and roses," Katarina said, quietly. "If you are looking to...experiment, there are safer choices."

"Well, I'm a little more complimented than you realize." Jez answered. "Actually, that's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. But it's just... difficult. Like, sometimes there never seems to be the right time to confess something, you know?"

She looked at the redhead. "But regardless, even if things are too complicated for any more dates and flirting... I'd still like to do stuff together. As friends."

Katarina was quiet for a long moment, chewing her lower lip.

"I do not want to be just friends anymore, Jezabelle." she finally said. "I would like to be closer to my podmukla guska."

Jezabelle flushed softly, fidgeting with her glasses.

"Well, then I guess now is as good a time to confess as any." Her voice wavered a little bit before she fortified herself.

"Katarina, what else did Nika tell you about me? Did she tell you what I said to her, or of my... past?"

"Nika told me nothing," Katrina said, sliding closer. "Only that you were not dangerous."

Jez let out a little sigh of relief. "That's good. I..." She found herself at a loss to best get out what she needed to say. It was so much easier in XUPS meetings and such because there were others like her. But, if Katarina was interested in her... then she was like her too.

"Katarina, I'm a member of the pride movement for reasons other than liking girls." She gently placed her hand on theirs. "Do you know what a trans person is?"

"I am guessing, from context, it is you?"

"Well, yes. But do you know what that means?"

"...No, I don't think we have any of those in Symkaria."

"I think you do, they just aren't in the public eye." Jez took a deep breath. "It stands for transgender. That means someone who identifies or expresses a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth."

"I don't understand. You can identify men? Is that unusual here?"

Jez shook her head. "No, Katarina, no, it means... I portray myself as female. I think of myself as female. I act female. But I was born... male."

"And then you changed into a female? Like, with your mutation?"

Jez actually started to laugh a little bit. "Ohhhhhh, I wish. No, this has been a long, long process. Once that's not finished yet."

"I see," Katarina said.

She didn't.

"Is this...are you...

You are concerned with how I will take this, yes?"

The girl nodded her head.

"Some people take it better than others. For some, things go on as they always have. Others maybe gain new insight into me as a person. And some... choose to distance themselves from me."

"Well, I can not promise much. But I shall try for number two, yes? I do not understand yet, but I would like to understand, if it means I get to know you better, Jezabelle."

And do not worry. Your secret is safe with me. I will not tell anyone else you are a transient," Katarina smiled.

Jezabelle took Katarina's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "You don't know yet how wonderful it is to me that you feel that way. So many people don't want to learn to understand things they don't understand."

The redhead's choice of wordage made the girl break out into laughter again, the tension she had felt fading. "T-thank you. And... yours is safe with me."

"You...know my secret?" Katarina said, catching her breath.

Jez nodded her head. "Yes. I only found out since we last spent time together. A friend happened across a picture of you in a newspaper. Don't worry, they're good at keeping a secret too.

"Luckily for you, I'm American, so we don't give a damn about royalty. We obsess over celebrities and rich people instead."

"Damn that Lady Windsor. I didn't think anyone here would read the society pages, but here we are," she sighed.

"Yes, I am Katarina Karkov, sole heir to the throne of Symkaria, the Golden Girl who shall lead our nation into the next era of peace and prosperity and so on and so forth," Katarina sighed. "My life has been very much on a straight path.

A straight path which does not include universities in London or politically inclined guske, mind you. So, I guess I do kind of know what you are like, then; not wanting to be who the birth says you need to be."

"Heh, I guess you do. Don't worry, this doesn't have to change anything between us."

"It is, though, the thing that makes this more complicated," she sighed. "I do not want you to feel you have to be a secret, but there are people who would not like to see me with you."

Jez shrugs. "Eh, fuck 'em."

Whoa she was being super American today.

"If you've got so much potential power, why even care what they think? Tell 'em to mind their own business or you'll send them to the dungeon. Even princesses should be allowed to hold hands and eat a burrito."

"Were it that simple," Katarina smiled. "I am afraid I am not one of the video game princesses, stuck in a castle. There are difficult things at play.

But these are not fun things to talk about now, no?"

"You're right, we can talk about anything else in the world." Jez smiled softly.

"Any plans for the fourth date?"

"Planning the fourth date in the middle of the third date?" Katarina teased. "The pizza hasn't even gone cold yet. I guess that's what happens when you can be in more than one place at a time."

"I don't know. This is nice, being here with you, watching you Witcher. I'd like to stay for a while.

Maybe we should be out and about next time, though -- something normal girls would do."

"I guess it's like food. My dad and I would be eating supper and he'd already be talking about what we were going to have the next night, or other times we had something really good." Jez continued to play, just one of her for now, but was able to game and talk at the same time.

"I'll be happy to Let's Play for an audience of one anytime. Some people prefer to watch the story of the game than actually play it. There are two more of these games, you know?"

She turned to look at Katarina and smiled softly. "Sure, we can go into Maldon and do something. I think there may be some events going on soon, like some concerts and stuff."