“Sexy outfits never hurt anyone!” Bonnie snapped back. “But no. I’m not into the animal cosplay. I’d dress the boss up like a proper young noble with a long coat and a fancy collar. Then I’d make his pants and shirt a little tighter for all his female fans, maybe letting out a few buttons near the—”

“Will you stop drooling?” Nick grumbled. “Sexual harassment can go both ways, you know.”

“Psh. You’re still just jealous.” Bonnie giggled as she leaned up against Lucas’s arm. “With my class’s disguise toolkit, I’ll be able to make him handsome, but nothing could save you.”

“Whatever . . .” Nick frowned. “You know he won’t be into cosplay, so you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“I’m fine with that,” Lucas said to Bonnie, negating Nick’s statement. “If you put together a good enough outfit, I’ll wear it.”

“What? Really?” Bonnie’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god, I have the perfect outfit. I’m going to sew in some cat ears too and—”

“No. The one you mentioned earlier. Make me look like a proper aristocrat. The more charming, the better,” Lucas clarified. Since he personally had terrible taste in fashion and had often relied on his wife to pick out his clothes in the past, he saw no harm in letting the master of disguises handle his appearance.

“Lucas, you don’t really need to listen to her. In fact, you probably shouldn’t,” Nick said.

“If you don’t stop your annoying whining, I’ll stab you,” Bonnie said, brandishing a dagger and giving Nick an evil glare.

“You two really don’t stop talking, do you?” Lucas shook his head as he looked at the map more intensely. He hadn’t said much the entire walk, but Bonnie and Nick had filled the time with a rambling rant about their recent brief and unproductive adventures to level him. Bonnie insisted that Nick wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for her, and Nick insisted on the opposite. He complained about how Bonnie would literally use him like bait, vanishing behind him right before a fight started and reappearing after all of the enemies were attacking Nick. Even though Nick had been a Mage previously, she had insisted it was “okay” and that he could “figure it out.” Nick just ended up grumbling about how his stat points sunk into Arcanum would have been better off put in Fortitude, as taking hits was all he seemed to do when he tried leveling with Bonnie. That Lucas had received any EXP at all seemed to be a minor miracle.

“I can wear a gag if you want, boss. It’s only a little extra, but if you’re into that, I’ll be into it for you,” Bonnie said, pulling her backpack around onto her shoulder so that she could start digging through it.

“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” Lucas replied, quickly stopping her. He wasn’t sure if she could have gotten her hands on a mouth gag without money—and before even doing the first quest—but given that she seemed to have a pretty eclectic collection, he also didn’t think he had room to doubt her.