In the short span of time since Ayana set Fate to her task, the foxgirl has changed dramatically. Sitting on an office chair in the lounge, she looks clean and energetic, as if someone took the time to force a bath on her and transferred plenty of energy to her.
Normal would be the word to describe her, if she didn't have a pair of fuzzy fox ears sticking up through her hair. There are three grocery bags full of food sitting on the ground next to the foxgirl, though she's obviously been going through them at an unhealthy rate, judging by the trash can on the other side.
In one hand Ayana has a bag of beef jerky, and in the other her cell phone is held up to her nose. As she spins slowly in the chair, it's clear she is playing some game with pidgeons as characters.
Fate Testarossa walks through the door, looking down at the floor. She's holding a Retriever gem in her hand, pulsing with energy. When she spies Ayana, she looks up at her. Fate's expression is... one of confusion, though her confusion doesn't seem to be aimed at Ayana.
When she finally does look at Ayana closely, she notices that the Familiar is in much better health. She smiles at this, though she also glances at the food and wonders how much that food has to do with it.
Well, maybe the energy she gathered will help. She walks up to Ayana and offers the Retriever gem, saying, "Well, here's the energy I was able to get... but... um... I did get kindof interrupted."
Ayana has got the chair spinning enough that when Fate offers the gem, the fox-girl spins past her twice before she's slowed down enough to snatch it out of Fate's hand. She's still spinning as she inspects the gem, then smiles at Fate and grabs the girl's shoulder, gently, to bring herself to a complete stop. There's a moment where the kitsune's blue eyes seem unable to focus past the dizziness, but that moment passes eventually.
"Good job!" says Ayana as soon as she's got her bearings again, and then she leans forward to hug Fate forcefully, suddenly, and tightly. "This is great! I don't know if it's enough, but it's probably close! What happened? Who interrupted you? Did you beat them up?"
Fate's tiny shoulder is surprisingly stable, especially if there isn't much force behind Ayana's grab. Fate watches her dizzy eyes and giggles at the expression.
Fate yelps as she is suddenly hugged, surprised by the suddenness of it, but it's not unwelcome. When Ayana asks her what happened, Fate wonders how she should explain it.
"I tried to be sneaky. I used tiny spider retrievers because I didn't think they'd be detectable, but someone found out about them anyways. A friend of mine, and also a girl I don't know that well, were going to fight the retrievers. They didn't know that I was responsible, and I didn't want to fight my friend, but I didn't want to give up the energy, either."
"When I revealed myself, my friend told me that it was wrong, even though I wasn't taking that much. Then the other girl who I don't know offered up her own energy in exchange for the energy I had already gathered. She was a powerful mage, though maybe a little untrained, so I accepted her offer."
Ayana tilts her head a little, one ear twitching at the story. "I see," she says thoughtfully. After a moment, she smiles and hugs Fate again, this time ruffling the girl's blonde hair fondly. "That was very clever of you to use the tiny spider retrievers. You're a very smart girl," she says.
"But you probably shouldn't have given up what you had in exchange for her energy. Remember: we only stop when we're asked nicely, we don't give it back. If it were me," Ayana says, "I probably would have said 'sure, I'll drain you instead', and then drained this powerful mage girl and kept the energy I already had, because once she's drained it's not like she can make you give it back, and lying to someone that stupid is not a problem."
Ayana holds up the little gem Fate gave her and inspects it closely, then frowns. "Also, it's definitely not quite enough. If you'd tricked her into giving hers without giving the rest back, it would have definitely been better. Still," she notes to Fate, "I don't want you to think you did a bad job. You're learning, right? Ayana-senpai will teach you better, I promise. But I need you to give me one of those gem thingies and teach me how it works. I know how to get the rest of what we need, but I will need to do it quickly."
Fate looks up at Ayana as her hair is ruffled. So... Ayana is saying that she should've lied to Nanoha and Runealy? But... that doesn't jive with what Runealy told her. Now she's confused.
Maybe she really does have a lot to learn. How can she bring back mother's smile when she keeps messing up like this?
"So I should've lied to her? I guess I didn't think about that." Was Nanoha dumb to trust Fate? Was Fate dumb not to take advantage of it? Is that the way the world really is?
As the gem is inspected, Fate looks up at Ayana, saying, "So... even that wasn't enough. Well, if you want to know how it works..."
Fate digs into her pockets and finds another Retriever gem, showing it to Ayana. "It should respond to you, since your master made these. You use them magically... kindof like using a device? You give them commands and they follow. I'm... not actually sure about the details."
Ayana smiles at Fate fondly. "It's okay," she says quietly. "Lying doesn't come naturally to humans, like it does to foxes. You all have this weird sense of honesty that just doesn't make any sense. Survival of the fittest, Fate-chan. And the fittest survive by any means necessary."
Ayana's smile warms as she explains, "Lying isn't wrong if you don't get caught at it. You probably shouldn't have even revealed yourself inthe first place; just collected the energy and left. But yes, you should have lied."
Reaching for the gem, Ayana takes it between her fingers, then turns it around and nods. "Alright. I'm sure I can make it work, or Still Night can teach me if I mess it up." She hugs Fate one last time, then notes, "You did really good. I'm really proud of you, Fate-chan. Thank you. Taka-kun will be very pleased."
Fate tilts her head at the explaination. Her sense of honestly is weird? Should she not be honest like that? Ayana does seem to be older and know more, though Fate certainly finds it to be counter-intuitive.
She tries to think back to what her mother taught her, but... her memories are all a confusing blur.
Fate is hugged a third time, and this time she hugs back. When Ayana pulls away, Fate says, "Yeah... I'm sure you can figure it out. I mean, it's not that difficult. And next time I have to gather energy, I'll be more quiet about it. Most people don't reveal themselves like that. I don't know what I was thinking."
She smiles, though, because Ayana did say that Takashi would be happy with it. "I'll do better next time, and I hope it helps. Good luck getting the rest of it."
"It helps a lot," Ayana assures Fate as she pockets both gems. There's a faint look of uncertainty in her eyes, but maybe the nine year old won't notice as she explains, "I'm sure getting the rest won't be a problem. I know just who to get it from." She ruffles Fate again, then shoves some more jerky in her maw and pushes off of Fate to start spinning again.