Sigrid blinked her eyes open. Judging by the fact she could barely see, it was still late at night. The campfire crackled outside.

Wait, campfire? Everyone was asleep. Had people from the Explorers Guild come down to check on them, and set up a fire to warm up? Did a stray Firebird somehow light the campfire and then run away? No, Elowen would've immediately shot anything moving into the campsite. ...Was it a group of thieves in the Labyrinth? Had they done something to Elowen and Afon?!

Sigrid didn't particularly feel like taking chances. Quietly, she grabbed her sword, and began to move towards the tentflaps. She listened for any hint of conversation, but all she heard was the fire and normal Labyrinth noises. She braced herself, knowing it would be her versus potentially several thieves, and then--

Oh. No thieves in sight, but Momoe was cooking something over the fire, with her back to the womens' tent. Sigrid felt a bit silly at having prepared herself for mortal combat, and put her sword back where it was, before sneaking up on the unaware Momoe. She positioned a finger over Momoe's shoulder, leaned into Momoe's ear, and...

"Boo."

The flirtatious Ronin did not expect anyone in the campsite to still be awake, and let out a brief "yeek!" before tumbling backwards off the log she was sitting on, taking Sigrid down with her. The pair landed on the ground, Sigrid first, with a sound akin to a whump.

"Ow, ow, ow, why would you even do that?!" Momoe exclaimed, annoyed that her late-night cooking session had been so rudely interrupted.

"A-ahaha, sorry, I...couldn't help myself."

"Why're you're up this late, anyway?" Momoe asked while rising from the Labyrinth floor. She didn't take Sigrid for the night owl type.

"I heard the campfire going, and I thought that maybe monsters, or even thieves, somehow slipped by Elowen and broke into our camp."

Momoe paused, taking in Sigrid's earnest face, lit by the campfire. She expected Sigrid to laugh and then give her the real reason any second now. Yet, the Dark Hunter kept waiting for a response. "Ahahahaaaaa!" Momoe let out a hearty laugh, amused by Sigrid's concern. "Pfft, oh-- Oh man, you do not give Elly enough credit. I guarantee you she immediately woke up from your 'boo,' and gave the place a quick scout before going back to sleep. Monsters or thieves would not get by her, trust me."

"I..." Sigrid took a bit to consider that statement's veracity. "Honestly, I can't disagree. Still, though: what are you doing up?"

"Oh, well, uh... See, I was kinda hungry. Our basic rations didn't sound appetizing. I thought about taking some of the dried meat Rosa made, but, uh, Judith would've definitely noticed that. So I found this Firebird hanging around outside the door, killed it, and started cooking it."

"Firebirds need cooking?" Sigrid asked, looking slightly confused.

"Well... Yeah. What were you expecting?"

"Oh. I...thought the fact that they store fire in themselves meant that they'd be already cooked." Sigrid turned her head away, but Momoe could see her blushing a little. Momoe let out a small giggle in response.

"Nah. They're spicy as hell, though. Wanna try some?"

"I'm not going back to sleep any time soon, so...sure."

The two sat down on westernmost log in front of the campfire. "Give it a quick cut there, and-- Here you go!" Momoe said, extending a slice of cooked Firebird meat to Sigrid. The concept of naturally-spicy meat bewildered Sigrid somewhat, but she wasn't going to complain--it was delicious, after all. The two consumed their late-night Firebird steaks in silence for a while. After they'd both finished, Sigrid piped up.

"Hey, Momoe, um... I've got a kind of weird question."

"And I'm kind of a weird girl," Momoe retorted, adding a small laugh at the end. "Seriously, though, what's on your mind?"

"I've, um, never thought much about this myself, so: why do you like other women? I-in a romantic sense, I mean."

"I'unno," Momoe quickly fired back. "You'd have to ask someone more worldly than me for an answer. There are people who think about these kinds of things, y'know, the ins and outs of sexuality. I don't. I like girls because I'm Momoe. It's just a fact about me, y'know?"

"So, it's just...a part of yourself that you realize and come to terms with?"

"That's about the gist of it, yep."

"...Mmm." Sigrid obviously had a lot on her mind, but Momoe decided against prying. "Actually, I have another question. You spend an awful lot of time flirting with...basically every woman in Etria."

"It's fun, y'know? And it's good practice for when I eventually meet The One," Momoe said with a big grin.

"So, um... What do you plan to do when you do find the perfect woman, and date her?"

"Eh, it depends. Hopefully I'll go on a second date with her."

"And...after that?"

"Well, things'll happen, et cetera et cetera, I'll either die of old age or in a blaze of glory. Either works."

"...One more question, and then I'm going back to sleep. What would you look for in a long-term girlfriend? N-not someone you flirt with for a few nights, but...someone you'd want to spend your life with."

Momoe paused for several seconds, in heavy contrast to how quickly she'd been responding up until now. She went through her mental list of things she likes in other girls, and the kinds of girls she'd want to be with. Eventually, she arrived at, "Patience."

The two went silent for a while, before Sigrid responded with, "...Yeah, that makes sense." The Dark Hunter's smile brightened for an instant, before returning to normal.

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