"Um," Brian hesitantly says.  "Lady Persephone, I'm sorry, but I won't be staying in this Group," He keeps his eyes on the floor.  His shoulders are hunched.  Arms crossed firmly across his body.  "I know he's a thief.  That he stole our loot.  But, I've been looking out for Roderick for so long," He trails off.  "I think I need to go home.  To tell his mother what happened here.  Let my father know what kind of man Roderick's grown into."

Tessa's head whips around to stare at her lover, "Brian?"

"Sorry Tessa," He almost flinches.  "I think I need to go alone."

With those simple words, I watch as her world starts to crumble around her.  In just the short time I've known them, it's clear Tessa is crazy about Brian.  To the point she's practically blind to his faults.  I suspected he was an idiot.  He's making it obvious how much of one he is right now.  Yet, I know better than to make people stay together.

Ordinarily I love watching drama unfold.  Finding out Roderick's father's name would have been great.  Seeing Adelaide get verbally smacked back to reality would have been better.  Witnessing two people get their hearts broken?  Not my thing.  I don't enjoy people's pain. I'm not a sadist.  And I know I've been through this myself, even if I don't remember it clearly.

"Brian?" She echoes his name.  Her eyes shimmering with tears.  A touch of hope that hasn't yet died.

Shaking his head, Brian pulls up his interface, presses some buttons.  The interface says, "Brian Hook has left the Group."  Without a word he walks away and out of the Guild building.  I almost expect him to slam the door behind him.  He doesn't.  It closes gently, soundlessly.  Somehow that's worse.

"Brian?" Tessa is staring after him.  "Don't leave me," My own heart is breaking for her right now.  When she also leaves the Group and dashes after him, I'm unsurprised.  I want to wish them luck.  I don't think they're right for each other.  But, that's up to them, not me.

"Well, that was horrible to watch," I say out loud.  A huff by my knee has me staring down at Shi-Shi.  He stares back up at me.  Those pale eyes unblinking in their regard.

Since we seem to be breaking up as a Group, I wait, awkwardly, for Shi-Shi to also leave.  He doesn't.  He sits there unmoving.  Not liking having to look down at him, I go down on one knee to be at his currently level.  "So, Shi-Shi," I start off.  "Do you want to leave the Group too?"  He shakes his head.  I wasn't expecting that.  "Really?"  He nods.  "Oh.  Okay.  I guess we can stay in a Group."

Now he moves.  Calling up his interface, he uses a paw to prod something on the screen, "Shi-Shi nominates Persephone as Group Leader."

"Well it's not the first time I've been a Group Leader.  I guess I can do that until our Group fills up to the required numbers," I trail off as Shi-Shi goes back to tapping on the interface.

"Shi-Shi votes to change status from Group to Party," Is something I'm not expecting at all.

"Hey, Shi-Shi," I try to explain in case he's forgotten.  "A Party is different from a Group.  You know that right?"  He nods.  "Okay.  And you know that we'll have to make decisions together?"  Another nod.  "That we won't be able to take solo quests?"  A huff and a nod.  Cocking his head to one side, he makes direct eye contact, and stabs his paw at the interface.

"Shi-Shi votes to change status from Group to Party," Gets repeated.  I've never seen a dog lift one eyebrow in judgement before now.

Ever since I've arrived in this world I've been impulsive.  I tend not to think things all the way through.  Some of it was because I didn't understand how this world worked.  It still gets me in trouble all these years later.  Some of it might be because most of my memories were taken from me.  Though I strongly suspect I've always been this way.  Leaping before I've thought of looking.

A Party isn't as easy to get out of as a Group.  We'd have to involve the Guild.  There are meetings.  Forms.  Assets to be shared out.  If we're in a Party, we're assumed to know each other extremely well.  To have fought, bled, and won together.

Biting my lip I try and think through the ramifications of this.  Ultimately being in a Party means good things.  We're a stable set of adventurers.  "How about we trial this Party?" I slowly try and feel my way along this unfamiliar path.  I was forcibly put in my last Party.  The one I got my achievements in.  We faced a Gate.  I was the only one to walk away alive.

"Lets do some easy harvesting quests.  Picking mushrooms.  Medicinal herbs.  That sort of thing for the next few days,"  Nothing too stressful.  And easy for me to get away from him if he turns hostile.  Or controlling.  "See how we get on.  See if we're compatible."

Not even hesitating, Shi-Shi nods, and holds his paw out to me.  I shake it.  All that's left to do is update the interface.  Getting into a Party is easy.  Getting out is time consuming.  The interface tells us, "Persephone and Shi-Shi are in a Party together."

Turning his attention back to the interface, Shi-Shi busies himself with organising things for us.  He gets us a room in the Guild building, one with two beds and a room divider.  Food to be delivered to our room.  And a bathing token for each of us.  He even signs us up for a mushroom hunt tomorrow.  Once he's reviewed everything, he points to the bathing part of the screen, and nods.

"You're off to get a bath?" I try and work out what he means.  I get a nod for my effort.  Then Shi-Shi's leaving.  Trotting off across the Guild room and vanishing through a doorway.  "I am way too sober for this day," I scrub at my face and pull up my spending coin totals on my interface, "Yeah, I could get a glass of wine or two in a tavern before bed."

Wait, elves have really sensitive noses.  We humans smell bad to them.  Was Shi-Shi suggesting I smell?  Does he want me to bathe to not offend him?  We are going to be sharing a room.  Standing up I stretch.  "Guess I'm not getting that wine.  Fuck it."  The Guild doesn't allow drinking on site.  Far too many incidents have put a stop to that.

Following along the route Shi-Shi took it occurs to me I've never seen him in his elven form.  Only his shifted dog form.  I don't even know what he looks like.  Stepping through the same doorway he did, I amble along wondering if I've made a huge mistake by agreeing to make this Party.  Though we're not in the Empire.  And Shi-Shi isn't human.  It should be fine.  Right?