[TheSpatialWeeg]

“E-ehehe...you can thank Ms. Accord for that.” Lidelle replied, blushing from the praise. Back at Primp Town, Ms. Accord filled the void left by her mysteriously missing parents. The wise teacher shared important pieces of wisdom for the young dragonkin, words she made sure to take to heart and follow them, no matter what. The little girl tilted her head as Shin!Arle had came to a conclusion regarding Peach’s choice for the bab to mother her. “...I guess that makes sense. W-what better way to teach you to open up than the ones that have their heart open at all times, h-heh…”

Shin!Arle hugged her again. While Lidelle was mildly scared of what she’d call her, she ended up banishing those worries with a shaky breath. “Y-you can call me whatever you want...okay? I-I won’t mind.” she reassured, wrapping (or attempting to do so) her smol arms around the other. In the end, she started crying too. The mix of prolonged exposure to Warle’s tears and her little grievances probably caused this.

[Mari]

For a long moment, Warle declined to say anything. Instead, she just held Lidelle tightly and let the tears flow. It seemed like they could both use a good cry, and who was she to interrupt that? ...Eventually though, once she wasn't blinded by her tears and after she'd given Lidelle some time to cry with her, she did deign to address what Lidelle had said. Whatever she wanted, huh? She had been considering 'sister', but Lidelle's choice of words made her second guess herself. She had to wonder, was she to infer that this was an invitation? Did Lidelle realize what 'anything' meant for them? She had to assume she did since it had been a point of awkwardness when she originally joined the family. Peach had entrusted Lidelle and Amitie to take care of her and make sure that she didn't do anything crazy or murderous or anything like that. It had felt very purposeful that there had been some parental overtones to the arrangement. She hadn't really known how to feel about it one way or another at the time, but now she found she wasn't particularly bothered, knowing what it entailed. She gently tightened her hug a bit, quite enjoying this. " . . . You're a wonderful mom. You gave me your love, ...you took me into your home, ...you protected me from myself, ...and you helped me become a better and stronger person by teaching me things I think I forgot a long ago. You've been patient with me through my moments of weakness, and you've listened whenever I needed someone to talk to. ...And that's what being a mom is really all about, isn't it?" Warle softly explained, opening her heart to Lidelle seemingly as far as it would open. "...I don't have to call you mom if you don't want me to, but I think it would be very rude of me to call you anything else without your permission after everything you've done for me. ...You may be young, but... you gave me my life--the one I'm living today. I don't think that's a debt I can ever hope to repay, but I think I'm okay with that."

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Lidelle made a rather...funny noise when Warle called her 'mom'. The smol looked at Warle, taking in the fact that...well, she was called that! Whatever the case was, she did say she could call her whatever she wanted, so...Lidelle lightheartedly sighed in defeat, deciding to indulge the other. "You...you clever little sneak! Waiting for me to say that so you can get a free pass on calling me mom, eh~?" she said in a mild teasing tone. "Guess I gotta pay more attention next time! But...oh well, you win! I did say you could call me whatever you’d like.” she added with a smile. “To be honest, I...I was afraid of slipping into that role before. I’m still too young, and being a mom didn’t seem to jell with me at first. That’s why...that’s why I initially refused to carry the responsibility. But now...I noticed I was playing said role without really...noticing it. It’s strange how things just...come to you like second nature sometimes…” she scratched her cheek in mild embarrassment before turning to the red-clad mage again. "You don't need to repay any 'debts'. I'm just happy to help you....and I hope I can continue to do so."

There’s a bit of silence afterwards before she lightly nudges Shin!Arle. “Say, how about we show the Power Star to Mom now? I’ll tell her that you were the one who found it~...unless you’re too embarrassed to take credit for it, that is!” she asked, then teased some more.

[Mari]

Shin!Arle couldn't help but smile at Lidelle. "...And you don't need to change a thing for me. I love you just the way you are." she replied, affectionately nudging Lidelle back with her nose. "Actually, I think I'd rather just say we found it while playing together~ But yeah. Let's go show this to 'Grandma'." Shin!Arle replied, pointedly poking fun at Peach. She doubted Peach would appreciate being called that in person though. Releasing Lidelle, she moved to lead the way.

((End-Presence?))

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Lidelle giggled as she received the affection from Shin!Arle, her blush sticker getting slightly bigger as the other spoke some choice sweet words. That of course, got replaced by her attempts to stifle her laugh when Shin!Arle referred to Peach as her grandma. "S-sure~! Let's go--pfft..." she replied, following the red-clad mage while trying to contain the laughter that was threatening to erupt.

Trying being a keyword.

((Sounds good. End Presence))