Lia and Phineas

She took Phineas' hand, placed it on her blushing cheek and closed her eyes. "I'd love to see that one day." Lia cursed Phineas for being so gentle with her. Staying by herself and reading romance novels the last few months made her imagination go wild.

The queen opened her eyes again after realizing that she had hold his hand maybe a little too long. She let it go and cuddled more into the sheets. "I bet you are pretty good at carving wooden ducks." She laughed a bit.

Phineas took a Deep breath as Lia held his hand to her face, hee skin felt so smooth and she looked more beautiful than ever, he felt almost remorseful as she let it go again.

He laughed at her remark though, "I've yet to try it " he admitted " but I might as well if you put such deep trust in me " he winked at her at that. He then went silent for a while looking down at the hand that touched hers for a while. "Listen," he started, his voice sounding slightly insecure again " I kind of really liked holding your hand, would you mind if we kept ... doing that ?" He brought out blushing slightly and averting his eyes again " it might help me fall asleep" he quickly added

Lia blushed again. "Oh. Uh. S-Sure." Slowly she slid her hand above from under the blanket and layed it on Phineas'. She looked at him curious and cuddled a bit more under the blanked so that he wouldn't see her shy smile. "You are my guest after all." She mumbled between the sheets and closed her eyes.

Her heart was racing. Lia layed her free hand on her chest and hoped that he wouldn't notice. This was just like one of her books.

Phineas smiled at that and laid down more comfortable as well, taking her hand fully into his and stroking her skin with his thumb slightly to soothe his own nervousness "thanks" he said and closed his eyes

A short while later, when Lia dared to open her eyes again, she wanted to blow out the candle so that they could really go to sleep.

She wanted to turn around but when she tried to get her hand free from Phineas she saw that he was already asleep, holding her hand tightly.

Lia got up a bit and looked at him, smiling. His sleeping face was just too cute. She really had to get herself together, she almost gave him a little kiss. But just almost.
With her free hand she casted some cold wind to douse the candlelight and layed down again.

The last thing she did before finally completely dozing off was cuddling more onto her future husband.

as Phineas awoke the next morning he felt something small in his arms pressed on his chest, at first he thought he was back home, then he wondered if Cornelius had shrunk until he finally cleared his mind enough to realize that the person he was hugging from behind and that pressed her rear so snugly against his crotch was, in fact, the queen ! He cursed inwardly as she shifted a bit and rubbed against him in her sleep. He'd try to get away but unlike hemni and ugo he might not be so lucky to not wake her.

In that moment frantic knocking was heard against the door, which made him jolt in surprise, he noticed that the queen was about to wake up and quickly acted as if he was still asleep himself.

The knocking got more hectic and when Hemni also started to call for the queen she finally woke up.

First she didn't remember that Phineas was sharing a bed with her but when she turned around and was now almost nose-to-nose with him she opened her eyes completely and nearly fell out of bed in surprise. Quickly she stood up and wrapped herself in her overcoat just to stumble to the door to open it slightly after checking if the prince was still sleeping.

"What?!" She hissed at Hemni who looked very troubled. "I'm sorry my queen. I'm really sorry but it's an emergency!" Lia sighed. "What is going on? Why are you two making such a ruckus?" She looked over to Ugo who was, just like his wife, still in his sleepwear and nervously stepping from one foot to the other. "Oh my queen I am unconsolable but the prince is gone! We searched everywhere when we realized but he's just gone! No letter, no nothing!" Hemni layed her head into her hands and sobbed. "I hope he's okay!"

Lia grimaced. "Oh dear, Hemni. He's okay." - "How can you be sure my queen? Is your faith in him that big? Oh how wonderful of you~" She sighed. "I know because he's laying behind me in my bed."

Before Lia recognized what she had just said a smug expression came over both Hemni and Ugo's face. "Oh no you two! It's not what it seems!"
"Oh my queen. No need to worry. We won't tell." , Hemni said.
"Yes, yes. It's understandable. You won't buy a horse you haven't ridden, right?" , Ugo added.
"Reminds me of our before-honeymoon, darling." Hemni placed a paw on Ugo's chest.

"No you two! It's really not. like. that." Lia felt her cheeks flushing. "Yes. Right. Come on, darling. Let's prepare dinner and leave the youngsters be..." Hemni grabbed Ugo's hand and the both of them walked down the hallway without listening to the queen any further.

Lia sighed again and closed the door. Without thinking about Phineas who was still laying in her bed she leaned against her door and slid down until she sat on the floor. Her overcoat was just barely covering her. "What have I done to deserve this?"

Phineas was not able to suppress his laughter, he had expected a lot but not that kind of reaction. He made his way over to lia and reached out his hand towards her once again his gaze averted. "Come on princess it could be worse, at least they're happy for us"

Lia took his hand and let him help her. "They will never let us have our peace now. I am expecting the worst." Once she stood again she did her overcoat again and walked over to her wardrobe to look for a nice travelling outfit. "So, my dear. You wanted it yesterday - now you get it: What should I wear today?" She laughed.

Phineas grinned wickedly marching over to lia and coming to a stand right behind her, for a moment he pressed his warm upper body against her back leveling with her ear he whispered, " well if it was me, you could just wear nothing all day " he turned away from her just as fast crossing his arms behind his head "BUT, I guess something comfortable might be good, long journeys probably get uncomfortable in a corset " he went to pick up his own shirt "so what do you have for me in that category?" He grinned after pulling it over his head

"well if it was me, you could just wear nothing all day." When Phineas came so close Lia suddenly remembered the heat from his hand and she blushed a bit. (Yes, she blushed more from remembering a cute little moment than having the naked body of her soon-to-be-husband on her back) "I am afraid I can't do that, what would your servants and family think? Other than that this would probably be a good idea, I bet I will die of a heatstroke when we enter your kingdom."

She looked over her clothes and picked three outfits she layed on the bed for Phineas to see.

The first one was a mostly white dress with a petticoat-like skirt and 3/4 sleeves. It got a light blue flower pattern and white lace edgings on it. It looked fancy but also casual.
The second one was a fancy white blouse with two lace edgings in the middle. With that there was a blue pencil-skirt. This outfit talked business, it looked a bit strict but also reputable.
The third one was a flowy white summerdress with white see-through lace sleeves and a deep-cut back filled with white lace as well. It got little blue details stitched into it.

She looked to Phineas. "Which one would you like to see first?"

Phineas crossed his arms for a moment studying the clothes, "you know I'd almost say that this dress would be best for the occasion " he pointed towards the third one "it is not too much nor too casual and sitting in a pencil skirt for too long could make you feel confined, even though you'd probably look very good in it, you could still take it along if you'd like to change later on. Plus I think that the bare back and the embroidery would fit you very well -" he caught himself at that moment blushing and scratching his head awkwardly "sorry I got too caught up, my sisters use me as a sort of counselor for such things too so I got very invested in it, it's a bit embarrassing.." he apologised

Lia chuckled a bit. "I guess that this one will be it then." She took the summerdress and walked behind her folding-screen. "And no need to apologize, I didn't know that my future husband would have such high qualities. That'll be useful in the future."

She started to undress behind the screen. "I can't wait to meet your sisters. I've heard a lot about them. I'm especially hoping that I meet Adelaide soon. Her career sounds so interesting."

Lia came out from the folding-screen and sat down on her dressing table where she began to brush her hair. "Could you be so kind to help me with the zipper?" She said as she turned her back to Phineas, smiling at him coy through the mirror.

Phineas grinned and made an elegant bow at her remark "I'd love to be of service for you my lady "
He then went over to her sitting at her table and took the zipper in his hand, his hands shaking a bit, but he tried to suppress his nervousness"I am a bit hesitate to let you meet adelaide to be honest " he held her gaze in the mirror while pulling the zipper up slowly "she would probably try to snatch you away from me in an instant " he laughed at that , having zipped up her dress he smoothed it out against her sides and convinced himself to let his hands rest on her shoulders for a short while "not that I could blame her " he added slightly caressing her shoulders with his thumbs before retracting them .

Lia's heart throbbed in her chest the entire time. She felt really nervous. He teased her with such kind words before but this time felt different. Or was she just imagining things?

As he took his hands from her shoulders again she almost reached out for him - she wanted to feel his warmth more. "Don't be silly." She quickly replied. "As if I'd let me snatch that easily. Except for... Well... If she'd be skilled with swords and got an eye patch I'd probably be head over heels for her." She laughed a bit.

Lia stood up again and turned to Phineas, leaning against his chest. "Don't worry my dear. I wouldn't let her get me without a fight. I mean... Which girl doesn't like her love fighting for her?" ,she cooed.

Her face was just a few inches apart from his. She could see the hypnotizing fire in his eyes again and smell his scent. How nice would it be to kiss~

"MY QUEEN AND SOON-TO-BE-KING! THE CARRIAGE IS NOW READY FOR YOU!!" Hemni shouted from outside.

Phineas jolted up and cursed, he quickly brought some distance between the two of them as if he just now noticed how close they were, he blushed hard and laughed awkwardly "I should better get dressed myself, can't go around wearing the same thing twice" he shrugged and wanted to turn to go through the door behind him just to bump headfirst into it. He groaned for a minute rubbing his face, damn that hurt.

Lia was at his back again quick. "Is everything okay? Let me see..." After cooling her hand down she placed it on his forehead. When she realized that they were so close again she took her hand off of him again and blushed a bit. "With me you always got an ice pack around." She laughed awkward.

After that she opened the door for Phineas. "Well yes you should change or else those two will start thinking the wrong things again." When he left she decided to put some jewellery on and she also took the fan with her family's emblem on it with her. She was sure she would need it the next few days.

Her luggage was already at the carridge but Lia decided to take the blouse and the pencil-skirt with her as well. You never know when you will have to look serious.

After she got the last pieces together she walked down to Hemni, Ugo and Albert who were already waiting for her.

Ugo was sitting on the coach box, Hemni next to her. The two of them were chatting as Lia tried to come up with a solution how to get Albert in the cart. She wanted him to be with her at least for meeting the other royals. It's always nice what kind of impression Albert makes to people who don't know him. In the evening he would return to the castle with Hinns and Ugo who got the task to take care of the Niflyss.

Phineas stood before his own door, touching where lias hands were just moments ago, her touch lingering there. He then moved to open it and let out a startled shout when it literally opened by itsself, excpt it didn't because on the other side stood cornelius looking rather unfazed. "So I see I worried over nothing" he said looking phineas up and down "Hemni already informed me that you must have had a pretty nice night" he smiled at that and moved to let phineas through. "don't worry I won't tell your parents " phineas blushed at that, dropping his ears slightly "it's not what you all think geez" he answered, pulling off his shirt and taking a new one out of his luggage. "It must have been pretty nice though, the way you looked when I opened the door kind of gave it away" Cornelius teased as he held phineas coat out for him to slip into it. Phineas scowled slightly "it wasn't bad okay? w-we kind of held hands and...talked" phineas voice got more and more silent during the sentence and he acted as if he was concentrating on buttoning up his coat. Cornelius sighed at that and just straight up buttoned it for phineas instead "that does sound very nice and i am happy for you, one question though" at that cornelius cornered phineas against the wall behind him with one arm a fake smoulder on his face "is her hand holding better than mine?" they both stayed silent for a while before bursting out into laughter and going to the carriage together.

When they arrived cornelius took phineas luggage and placed it to the other ones, while phineas stood beside the queen who desperately tried to get albert to get into it. "he seems to be a bit hesitant huh?" he joked at that when an idea struck him and he slightly elbowed lia to get her and alberts attention . "all the better" he said gazing down at albert and putting an arm around lias shoulder pulling her towards him and lifting her head with his hands at her chin to look into her eyes, inside the carriage you could hear hemni squeal. "that way we will surely have more opportunities to be together alone" he purred. His bait must have worked because Albert perked up at that. his ears laid back with an angry scowl getting onto his paws and making a show of pushing himself between the two of them before getting into the carriage. phineas couldn't help but laugh at that and took an elaborate bow towards lia like an actor bowing before the audience bfore helping her in as well. he then closed the doors and took a seat beside cornelius at the front, nodding at him to get it to start moving.

After the little trick worked to get him into the carriage Albert spent the whole travel sitting there and growling at Phineas. "Oh will you just stop it already you big baby?" Lia ruffled through his fur. "I know that you don't like travelling in the carriage and that hot weather makes you sick. But it's just for a few hours and then you can go home again with Ugo. Don't be mad." Albert turned his head and looked out of the window.

Lia sighed and looked out of the other window where she saw her castle getting smaller. It was the first time she left her kingdom after she returned. The queen was a little bit scared but also excited. She heard a lot interesting things about the Feuerlanden.

they traveled for a while, as soon as Phineas saw the terrain changing from the normal dark brown ground into a finer red of the desert sands and then into the black of the Vulcan rocks that were ever present in the Feuerlande he shrugged off the heavier and warmer clothes, relieved to get rid of them. He couldn't wait to be back home, even though he was also kind of nervous about how his father would behave, he knew his temper well and thus hoped that his mother would try to keep him calmer.

Night soon approached and Phineas sat up in his seat beside Cornelius, he could finally make out the towers of the city, in their white and gold, they were easy to make out against the giant volcano in the back and the black stone around it. Soon enough they were stopping in front of the stairs of the castle, Phineas already waving towards his waiting family, he saw Alice run towards the carriage with open arms shouting his name happily so he jumped off the still driving carriage in advance walking towards her to catch her in his own and lifting her up into them, she hugged him hard almost making him choke and said over and over again that she missed him, meanwhile his family had caught up at the end of the red rug that was splayed out . at its end, the carriage had stopped, and the princess was getting out with her entourage, with Cornelius giving her a hand before she came to a stand before his family in front of her.

Across they were standing across from her, at the top King Alcazaar the red dragon, towering in his size, a mountain of a man, beside him his wife Flores, almost looking frail and small beside him. Flores had her hand on one of his arms and Phineas knew she was using her calming powers on his father, and he was plenty grateful for that. Besides his father stood Angeline, looking reserved as always, it seemed as if Adelaide wasn't present, beside her was Agathe, her eyes cast downward and her hands folded in front of her, and then there was Alice who was now literally choking him in a death grip while glaring at Lia beside him.

He gently unfolded Alice's arms from his neck and placed her down and she promptly grabbed his legs all the while glaring daggers at the queen beside him. His father turned to Lia, getting down on one of his knees to bow in a manner of welcoming her, at the same time his mother and sisters bowed as well, albeit less long. "We Welcome you to our castle Queen Rhe Ac Lia, it is a pleasure to finally have you here" even bowed down he was still a giant and Lias' hand seemed tiny on his own as he placed a chaste kiss on her hand as a greeting.
His mother stepped forward after his father got up to his feet again, with a gentle smile she first went towards her son, placing a kiss on his head and then turned towards Lia placing a hand on her shoulder. Phineas wasn't sure whether or not she was using her powers on Lia but his mother soon spoke up " We are so happy to have you and your servants here with us"
A grumble could be heard from his father who had now his arms crossed "We'll see about that " he remarked in his deep voice but he soon faltered in his demeanor when his wife shot him a glare. He coughed and turned around towards the castle entrance "Let's get you to your room fist, you must be tired after your journey" Phineas sisters followed, including Alice who ran to Agathe but not before sticking her tongue out towards Lia when no one was looking. Phineas was glad to have his legs back though and he followed the others, his mother dropped her hand from lias shoulder and followed the others besides her, smiling all the while.

When the carriage finally came to a stop Lia took a deep breath.

She stepped out and immediately regretted it. Her dress was pretty well suited for early summer days in Karrakar but it was definitely too warm for her here. She had to constantly cool her body temperature down with the help of her ice powers and her fan, otherwise she would die of a heatstroke soon.

When the royal family bowed down to greet her she made sure to look as friendly and pleased as possible - she wanted to make a good first impression even though her heart was beating way too fast.
When Phineas' mother placed her hand on her shoulder Lia suddenly felt much lighter. She let out the breath she was holding and relaxed more. Could those be the magic powers she herd of? "We are so happy to have you and your servants here with us" The queen of the fire kingdom smiled at her. A grumble could be heard from Phineas' father who had now his arms crossed "We'll see about that " he remarked in his deep voice but he soon faltered in his demeanor when his wife shot him a glare. He coughed and turned around towards the castle entrance "Let's get you to your room fist, you must be tired after your journey"

"I am grateful that you'll have me, thank you." Before she followed Phineas' family too she made sure that Hemni, Ugo and Albert came with her as well. She needed some emotional backup.

When she came into her room she sat down on the bed first and buried her face in Albert's pure white fur. "Oh goddess, what am I going to do Albert?" She mumbled while kneading his big paws to calm herself down. Hemni and Ugo stood beside the closed door and exchanged nervous glances. "M-My queen. Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. ... The queen looked really pleased and friendly don't you think?" Hemni made a step towards Lia who lifted her head a bit in her direction, one half still covered in fur, the other one looking near to tears. "Oh come on Hemni, I bet she was just polite. ... I can't even hold it against them, I wouldn't want to have someone like me at their home, too. Those are going to be long days here..."

She cuddled a bit more with the now panting Albert - the heat was really too much for him. After a while she got up and sat down at the dressing table where Hemni began brushing her hair while humming a lullaby Lia's laidy-in-waiting sang for her when she was little.
Halfway through the song they herd a knocking on their door.

"Geez alice at least let go of my shirt "Phineas fussed aa he straightened his clothes with one arm while holding a few packages under the other one, he knew that the queen must feel really warm by now, not to mention hemni with her fur and even Albert. While he couldn't help the queens pet with what he had in the packages he could at least help her and the others by giving them clothes from his country to wear. He still had some servants with drinks and fresh fruit coming with him though, so that they'd have something fresh to snack on while they waited for the dinner banquet. He didn't however calculate that alice would be clinging to him as if her life depended on it the whole time. "Come on, don't you want to make a good impression on our guests?" He asked her but all he earned was a stern "no!" And a pout.

Ugo was the one to open the door and as soon as he saw who it was he stepped aside, letting Phineas in who straight up had to drag her behind him as she was holding onto his leg.
He bowed towards the others while his servants set up the fresh drinks and fruit. Striding forward, as good as he could, he gave the packages to hemni. "I am deeply sorry for the inconveniences you must be experiencing due to the heat, I am here to give you some of our traditional clothing along with the treats, in hopes that they will make your stay a bit better." He heard a growl off from Albert who was obviously thinking that Phineas was way too close to Lia "of course I have some fresh water for you too, mutt " Phineas answered grinning while a male servant placed a golden bowl before albert. Before the bear could bend down to take some relieving gulps of the water though, an eardrum shattering scream filled the air and alice was running towards the large animal throwing her arms around Alberts throat in a death grip while gushing about how cute and fluffy he was.

Hemni took the packages Phineas handed her and placed a paw on her cheek. "Oh my, my. Thank you my prince. How considerate of you! We'll gladly wear those." As Alice strangled Albert Hemni opened the packages and took one of the outfits out to show it to Lia.

"Just look my queen, isn't this fabric just beautiful?" Lias sight let go of the struggling Albert and went over to Hemni. The maid was holding a beautiful 2-piece outfit made out of light, blue fabric with a sheer scarf. She took it and stroked over the cloth, then she looked up to Phineas. "It is really beautiful, thank you. But I can't wear this." Lia got up and placed it in the box again.

Hemni was confused at first and wanted to lecture her queen but then she remembered Lia's little secret right above her tailbone. "Oh. Well. What a bummer. You're right my queen you can't wear this revealing outfit. I... I mean you're a reputable queen after all. Well... If you excuse me. Ugo and I need to get dressed." She placed the box with Lia's outfit on the bed and took her husband by the arm - dragging him to the next room which was their sleeping room.

Phineas brows furrowed in confusion. He couldn't explain why the queen couldn't wear anything like this into he came to the conclusion that it must have been because of her insecurities. He scratched the back if his neck awkwardly before he stepped towards her and went to place his hands on her arms. "Listen, I can understand if you'd feel bad because it might not be your usual get up, but you're beautiful and I am sure you'd look even better in our clothes and ..." he glanced to the side and blushed "..i would honestly be very happy to see you in the clothing of my country" he felt embarrassed for admitting it and it showed, but the thought of Lia in the clothes he had chosen made his heart beat faster in his chest.

It would be an understatement to say that Lia was confused. She only thought about the little tattoo she got when she was travelling the seas with pirates and not about her body.
When she snapped out of her confusion she realized what Phineas had said and blushed hard. "Oh... Well.. Thank you my Prince. But... That's not it, really." And a little quiet she added "Not this time."

Lia thought about what to say for a moment and then she pulled Phineas a little bit closer to herself. This way she could talk to him without any other person hearing about her secret. She didn't even realize that they were this close now.
"Listen Phineas, by 'I can't wear this' I don't talk about my adult body. I talk about a... Secret from the past I don't want anybody to know about. And even if it hurts me that I can't wear your pretty garments I really, really have to refuse."
She pulled away a little to look in his eyes. "Well unless you got another one that doesn't lay my back bare." She smiled helplessly.