Guardian Anna Zirski deserved a break. Really, her whole team did, but Anna had worked extra hard the past week during the group's exploration of Uzo Island. Her slashers came in handy breaking through the dense overgrowth on the tropical island, and she took it upon herself to hack through as much of it as possible. To top it off, the island's beasts were like none other she had seen on the rest of Motavia. They were larger, tougher and even more clever than their mainland counterparts. When she wasn't slashing through brush, she was slashing through monsters, and right now all Anna wanted to do was unwind on a Friday evening and enjoy her hot shower. Unfortunately, Shir was also in the bathroom primping for a night out.

"Thank goodness Rolf let us have this weekend off, huh?" Shir commented as Anna turned off the shower and reached her hand through a sliver of space between the shower door and the wall to grab a towel from a nearby rack.

"No offense, Shir, but you spend a lot of time in this bathroom. Just once I'd like to shower in peace," Anna griped to her teammate, who was concentrating on putting in a contact lens as she leaned over the bathroom counter. Anna pulled the shower door aside and felt an instant sting of cold air as she stepped onto the bathroom mat.

"Ahh!" Anna shrieked as she instinctively clutched the towel she had wrapped around her. "You had the door open the entire time I was in the shower?" she fussed at Shir, giving her a hard glare.

"Of course," Shir shrugged nonchalantly. "How else was I supposed to keep the mirror from fogging up?" She stood up straight after successfully inserting her contact lens and blinked a few times to secure its placement. She opened her eyes wide and leaned closely into the mirror over the sink, inspecting her new eye color. After a few head tilts and practice "come-hither" glances, she turned around to Anna, who was busy drying her hair.

"So, what do you think?" Shir asked, forcing herself into Anna's personal space and batting her eyes.

Anna frowned. "I think you need to get out of my face," she quipped as she pushed Shir out of the way and went into the adjoining bedroom. She walked over to her dresser and began pulling out undergarments and a clean outfit. Though she had ignored Shir's original question about the weekend, Anna was glad to have some time off. She picked out a tank top and some comfy sweatpants as she thought about relaxing for the next couple of days. Maybe she'd go shopping tomorrow for some new armor, or get her slashers adjusted, or...

"I meant my new eye color, Cranky McSourpuss," grumbled Shir, breaking Anna's train of thought. Anna looked over at her larcenist roommate, who was standing in the bathroom doorway with her hands on her hips.

Anna began to wonder why she tolerated Shir so much. It wasn't as if they were friends or really had any relationship outside of being teammates. In fact, Anna and Shir were on opposite sides of the law, yet for the sake of team unity Anna had to suck in her pride as a guardian and accept Shir the way she was: a thrill-seeking thief and a bit of a spoiled brat, too. She had to admit, though, that Shir had her strong points, such as supplying the team with fake identities, banned weapons and medicine, and she had an incredible knack for intelligence gathering and surveillance. None of that stopped Shir from being annoying, but perhaps it was what made her at least worthy of Anna's tolerance.

Anna sighed as she pulled on her sweatpants and tank top. "Oh, all right," she groaned, "Let's see these new eyes of yours."

Shir's face lit up as she clapped enthusiastically. She happily skipped over to the blonde counter-hunter, shoving her face in Anna's again.

"Geez," Anna flinched, moving her head back, "not so close! How am I supposed to see anything when you're practically making out with me?" She put her hand out to ensure some distance between herself and Shir, then carefully examined her eyes. She noted they were now bright pink rather than their usual blue. They appeared odd to Anna, but she wasn't interested in fashion fads and had no idea what was considered "in" at any given time.

"They're pink," Anna flatly remarked, taking her hand off Shir and turning her attention to putting on a pair of socks.

"Aw, you are no fun, Anna Zirski!" Shir whined as she plopped down on the end of the bed next to Anna. She crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "You know, studies have shown that red and pink increase the heart rate, therefore increasing attraction, too."

Anna looked down at Shir's outfit and raised her eyebrows. "You really think anyone's going to care what color your eyes are when you're wearing... that?" she asked, waving her hand at Shir's tight, hot pink tube dress. "It looks like you're wearing a thin layer of cling wrap. Where are you going, anyway? Street walking?"

Shir stood up and scoffed, "You sound just like my father. Why don't you live a little? Stop acting like you're over-the-hill!"

"How do you know I'm not already over-the-hill?" Anna asked with a devilish smirk.

Shir rolled her eyes. "You would be the most well-preserved middle-aged woman I've ever met, if that was the case."

"Plastic surgery and cloning can do wonders, you know," Anna continued to antagonize the green-haired socialite.

"Uh-huh," said a skeptical Shir. "Like you would ever do either of those things. Everything about you screams utilitarian, Anna." Suddenly an idea came to Shir. Anna was one of the most attractive women Shir had ever met, yet for all her beauty Anna didn't seem to care much about her appearance other than to stay in good physical shape. Actually, Anna seemed to hate having any attention called to her looks at all. This was partially stupid, considering Anna insisted on wearing a short and clingy athletic dress most of the time. She claimed it was to free up her movements, which was probably true, but was Anna really that naive or was she clever enough to know she could use her sexuality to her advantage as a guardian? Shir wanted to find out if Anna was willing to show a seductive side for a change. She was sure she could transform Anna into the sexiest bombshell Motavia had ever known.

"Hey, I have an idea," Shir sang sweetly to Anna, sitting next to her on the bed. "Kain, Rolf and I are going to a club in Kueri tonight. It'd be great fun if you'd come along with us. What do you say?"

"Are you serious?" Anna threw her head back and laughed at Shir in disbelief. "Why in the world would you want me to tag along? You and I have never hung out before!" Anna let out a snort and scooted her back against the headboard. She picked up a book on the night stand and opened it, deliberately ignoring Shir's continued presence.

"Maybe that's our problem; we haven't gotten to know each other properly. I bet we have more in common than you'd imagine!"

Anna peered at Shir over the top of her book. "Our similarities begin and end with us both being females, Shir. End of discussion."

Shir wasn't ready to give up, though. She already had in her head the idea of turning Anna into her living doll, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. She studied Anna reading-or pretending to read, anyway-as she formulated a plan of action. Brazenly, Shir inched over to Anna and snatched her book away.

"Hey!" Anna shouted, sitting up and reaching for the book.

"Ten-thousand," Shir said as she held the book away from Anna.

"What?" asked a bewildered Anna.

"Ten... thousand... meseta," Shir repeated slowly and emphatically.

Anna could only blink.

Shir sighed. "I will give you ten-thousand to come to the club with us."

"Oh," Anna replied as she thought briefly about that proposition. "There's a catch, right?"

"Of course," said Shir, rising from the bed and tossing the book onto the dresser. She looked at Anna with a twisted grin and told her, "I get to do your hair and makeup and pick your outfit."

"No deal," Anna quickly decided, getting up and crossing the room to go to the kitchen.

"Fifteen-thousand," Shir immediately offered. Anna stopped in her tracks and shook her head.

"You are too much, you know..."

"Twenty-thousand," Shir interrupted.

This time Anna pondered that much money. It was almost enough money to buy a completely new set of armor and slashers.

"Twenty-five," Anna counter-offered, "and you're not allowed to do anything ridiculous, like put clown makeup on me or dress me up like a Motavian!"

"Done," Shir accepted without hesitation. "Let the makeover session begin!" She rubbed her hands together enthusiastically. There was a twinkle in her eyes that scared Anna a bit.

Anna took a deep breath and chanted in her head: New slashers. I'm getting new slashers. Must remember that.