Charles Patricius

[Bloodedge]

Miko wasn't the only one on a veritable bender since their initial fall. As Charlemagne, Kazu started the night before that fall, and the fall itself led to even more deviance ─ even growing by the day. Today was far from an exception. Technically, he'd been with Angelica, Miko herself, and even Saori all today, and the day still wasn't over. Now, there were three other girls who were present. That didn't have to be an issue at all, but this group was also far from unattractive. "Do you just surround yourself with... you know what? I can't even say anything," Kazu muttered under his breath.

It seemed there was something Miko had been meaning to talk about before. As with many things, however, the moment got away until now. "Eh? Do you wanna just get it out of the way now? I'm pretty sure we've both got a lot on our plate, and that's officially become more, I think," he said. Within moments of that whispered exchange, the pink-haired girl introduced as Totsuka Chika had the strangest question for him. She wanted to know if he was 'the secret boyfriend' ─ whatever that was. Kazu also had no idea what 'something juicy' was supposed to be, but he was very used to things that didn't make any sense by now. "I'm... Kimura Kazuhiko. I'm usually not a secret anything. Seventeen, from Saitama, also Charlemagne who may or may not be Holy Roman Emperor ─ not sure if that part still counts, because complex reasons."

[Apollymi]

Kazuhiko decided to comment on the look of this general group. The student council of Shuchi'in Academy did indeed include several attractive girls. There were men and others there too, but the core was these five Kaguya included. Kazuhiko decided he couldn't question her surrounding friends... for whatever reason and Miko could only nod. She did surround herself with attractive people, that wasn't necessarily on purpose and it also wasn't every attractive person, but the good-natured ones she'd absolutely hang out with, and this particular group had been tight since middle school.

As for his question about getting things out of the way, in particular the things she'd forgotten to mention earlier given her 'Emergency Meeting'. Their plates were full and would only be getting more so if these girls got their way. The conversations needed to happen and clarity needed to be present. Miko wasn't a dishonest person, she didn't lie and she wouldn't be encouraging any added oddities in the group either. "Yeah, actually... it'd be easier of I just explained..." Miko started. Ah, but she wouldn't get to finish that statement because Chika was now very close to the pair looking between their faces and wiggling her eyebrows as she inserted herself into their conversation, questioning directly Kazuhiko's relationship to Miko. "Charlemagne? And not a secret anything..." she said as if logging the information away, she wasn't. "But... Mi-chan is secretive always gone at the oddest times, if it isn't for a secret boyfriend then she's hiding something else. But it has to be a cover! A sudden wild bestie popped up on Instagram that we'd never met before, and that's you... Kazu-kun! So, fill in the blanks... " she said as if this was a logical line of thought to have. Chika looked to Kei and Ai as if looking for backup. "I'm not getting involved in this. I already owe Mi-tan an apology and this one is Charlemagne and we've met our own mentors already so... it's probably best hear her out before being rash," Ai said shrugging. But rash was something at least one of the others always was, "Well he said he's not a secret anything, and she didn't lay claims to him so obviously whatever I do is fine!" Kei said with her nose turned up. "Can you not be so fucking weird right now!" Miko snapped at Chika. "I don't know how many times I have to say I don't have a secret boyfriend. It's still complicated and it's a lot to unpack and not all mine to do. I couldn't properly answer before because I couldn't explain magical world stuff to you when you to my knowledge knew nothing of it. Besides all that he may not be my secret boyfriend but he already has two wives, so at least finish finding out things. Unless it is your goal to pull a Kaya-sen, and she's still recovering from yesterday!" Miko was on a tirade the likes of which hadn't been seen from her just yet. Kaguya hearing the commotion had come to join the group and grinned. "You guys are gonna wake the monster, and we haven't even gone out yet. Okaeri, minna♥~" Kaguya flirted.

[Bloodedge]

A certain conversation was best had sooner rather than later, even if Kazuhiko had no idea what it was about. Whatever the case, this group obviously wasn't leaving much freedom to address other matters. Most specifically, there was the pink-haired girl who reached Astolfo levels of closeness to ask additional senseless questions. Kazu made a connection between those two immediately. They looked so similar, he briefly couldn't even distinguish them while Chika behaved so similarly to the male he'd known for centuries. Before he even realized what he was doing, Kazu had two fingers extending outward to thump the girl's forehead. "Cesse!" he said in commanding fashion, accidentally recalling a method he once used against Astolfo with great frequency.

As for the growing list of questions Chika had, Kazu thought it best to silence her randomness early. "Did you think maybe we met in the other world hundreds of years ago? 'Cause that's what happened. Why do you always jump to the weird conclusions?!" he snapped slightly, only realizing moments later that he wasn't speaking to Astolfo. "Oh... wait, sorry. I thought I was talking to Asta. Well, I feel like that's closer to the truth than I'm comfortable thinking about," he added, sighing. It seemed Kazu wasn't the only one snapping; Miko did the same with a tirade that involved some... questionable topics from an outside perspective. Was something being missed here? Perhaps it had to do with that conversation never had. "So, before this keeps going, I want it on record that I have no idea what's even happening right now," Kazu interjected, finally prompting a statement from Yuuya. "You're not the only one. I think I should..." Yuuya wouldn't even finish speaking before he tried to creep away slowly, hoping the addition of Kaguya would give him ample room for a safe retreat.

[Apollymi]

Chika was being... Chika. A sentence that Miko realized was already within her vocabulary because of the extensive time spent with Astolfo. Their likeness going unnoticed by her was really quite criminal, she'd think that over later, attributing it to her lack of memories and her inability to observe certain things when they were happening in front of her eyes. Something she would observe however was Kazuhiko managing to tame Chika. A single utterance and a tap the girl's forehead seemed to still her and push her back from invading his personal space. Chika for a moment felt like the movements of her body and the raging chaos of her mind were being overpowered. It was strange, and somehow familiar. His follow up answers to her questions also made sense. She didn't know long long Miko had been gone for, she supposed, if she'd been friends with someone for hundreds of years, their inclusion in a bestie selfie made a bit of sense. "Hai." she said seemingly calm thereafter. "Asta is Sai-tan, if you didn't realize," Ai clarified for Chika who seemed to take it in a very specific way. "Well, if my brother listens then I will too!" she said seemingly triumphant.

That same voice had a bit of a different effect on everyone present. Ai had her brow rise, Kei seemed to obviously shiver and Miko... Miko turned her eyes back to Kazuhiko with the light in them dancing about as if she was excited. "Box it. You have to teach me how to do that later..." she said for two seemingly unrelated reasons. The thing that went in the box was the voice itself which hit her ears in a way that made her loins tingle learning a better way to corral Chika had always been on her to do list. In truth, Miko had a bad habit of simply bubbling over when it came to Chika and most of their conversation ended with the pink haired girl on the floor being abused in some way. At the same time, Kazuhiko wanted it on record that he had no idea what was going on. Kaguya would be the one to clarify while Miko organized her thoughts and she winked at Yuuya while he snuck off, yuu people would continue to stick together. "The easy way to explain it is, you are witnessing the chaos of a girl group chat... of which you happen to be the topic~" she said with a knowing smirk. "Kaya-nee! Mi-sen's acting like she can pull rank on me, that doesn't work anymore..." Kei seemed to be a bit pouty. 'It's really early for you to be crying to Kaya. You haven't even been punished yet.' Miko thought... oh, that was a little aggressive. Where her thoughts about Kei always like that? Yes. But it'd been a while since she'd experienced them. It was an annoyance to Kei right now that the conversation was taking so long. At the same time, Miko was now ready to fill in Kazuhiko in a way she'd not managed to before. Which was easier to do with Kaguya here to distract the others for a few moments. "Basically those three... saw you in my Instagram post and immediately ganged up on me to find out more about you... which I couldn't actually tell them because magical world stuff was in the way. The conversation I wanted to have in not so odd a way... was to let you know how likely it was that any of them would be trying to toss themselves at you, as they expressed interest in the hot brunette on my page. But now that they are here, I also want to make sure they know what they're getting themselves into. I also think you should know that as well, given at least one of them has this side complications. That's it I think..." Miko spilled all that information to Kazuhiko the way she would have at any point during their time knowing each other. While her friend all showed themselves to be quite odd, the ones who looked least disturbed were Kaguya and Ai as both were at least a little aware of life beyond themselves at this point.

[Bloodedge]

Just as he would once receive immediate calmness and acknowledgment from Astolfo, the same came from Chika after a single thump and an order. It was astounding how similar these two were, that he didn't even realize it wasn't Astolfo in the moment. A single stint of accosting had Kazu mentally in the court of France again, ensuring Astolfo's assumptions about himself, Jeanne or others were not allowed to fester. "Merci," he said with a sigh. It seemed Miko wanted to learn whatever trick he used, but he didn't think it was a teachable thing. "There's no secret to it or anything. It might be part of a Charisma Skill? I dunno, but I guess I can try teaching it," he agreed.

According to Kaguya, what he witnessed was the chaos of a girls' group chat. That was something he never wanted to be part of, but he supposed it was becoming more unavoidable by the day. Whatever the case, Miko finally got around to mentioning what she didn't get a chance to earlier. A previous chat amongst the group led Miko to believe the others would eventually be throwing themselves at him. Oh. As it happened, Kazu had been mentally fishing for the next opportunity to work all the deviance out of his system. Upon hearing Miko's explanation, he paused to think while glancing at the other three. "Sou ka. Well, I don't think I'd say no to anyone here. I've actually been trying to work out all the extra stuff, but... what do you mean by complications?" he wondered as an afterthought. Kazu was no stranger to complications at this point in life, but he thought it'd be necessary to know if it was something really out of the blue.

[Apollymi]

Thanks, uttered in French was the end result of Chika's declaration of understanding. Interesting. It would seem that as twins, Chika and Saika were almost interchangeable for some things. Miko really was starting to feel a bit bad for not noticing that likeness. Moving on from that, it would appear that Kazuhiko didn't know if his taming of Chika could be taught, claiming it might be part of a Charisma Skill or something similar, but he'd still try, "Yeah, thanks. I mean... I can get her to stop but it usually involves me pinning her to the ground and...." Miko paused while Kaguya looked bemused and Chika mildly excited. "You know what, saying it out loud like that makes it sound super aggressive...." Miko said looking a bit bashful her face fully reddening. "Never mind that part," Miko mentioned keen to move on from her weird utterances. "Oh? But Mi-chan, I like the part where you pin me to the floor all aggressive and show me who's the boss, it's the best part~" Chika commented. 'Seriously, how did I not realize they were related?!' Miko thought while shooting a dangerous look over at Chika.

Ah, but that wasn't really the point of their crashing conversation. Miko eventually was able to spit everything out and it seemed to cement one idea, that Kazuhiko wouldn't have said no to any of her friends. And that he only really wanted to understand the complication she'd mentioned. How would she explain that situation? Well, she could give him the gist and leave her friend to fully explain the details in a different way. "Uh.... Oh, I know, remember that one town 20 years ago when we ended up on step four because a warlord claimed he didn't receive his tribute on a deal... it's basically that," she said. Reminding the lad of an issue they'd run into where, a peace treaty had been broken because a warlord didn't receive everything in the peace treaty and the everything was technically a bride, who decided she wasn't property for a trade and it ended up being a long process in which they had to help work out everything else and find a deal that didn't include marrying someone off an unwilling participant to guarantee peace. "The details are a bit different but it isn't mine to share directly. But it's that kind of thing..." Miko said. If she'd done so properly she might have shared enough to make sense of the situation without taking away Kei's chance to be honest about her endeavors. At the same time, Kei was appealing to Kaguya but like a good big sister she was going to be told the truth, playfully though it was presented, "Oh? Not seeing the forest for the trees. It'd be a shame to misunderstand something so very clear, simply because your vision is currently blurry~" Kaguya mentioned. Miko wasn't getting in anyone's way, she was doing her job and protecting as many of her friends interests as possible. She wasn't the jealous type to pull rank or anything like that... she simply wanted everyone to have the best time possible while being fully aware of all things that were going into their current decision making. Life was simultaneously much simpler and more complicated than it was for them before.

[Bloodedge]

Miko had her own way of getting the pink-haired girl to stop being ridiculous. Sadly, she didn't share the whole story... but what she did share, was enough to grab Kazu's interest for the moment. "No, no, keep talking," he said with eyes bouncing between the two girls in question. He could almost see what Miko was talking about, and it was actually quite interesting. With Chika expressing her opinion on the alleged control methods employed by Miko, things only became more interesting. "Teach me how to do that," he added.

As for the complications attached to one of those three, Miko made a reference to a more recent adventure they shared on Alaya. She spoke of a story involving an arranged marriage gone south ─ one that he remembered being salvaged long-term by the intervention of... Astolfo. That one was one of many roller coasters they went on during a long journey. Contemplating the tale and comparing it to modern times in this world, Kazu figured he knew where this was going. As such, he looked to Chika, then Kei, then Ai. One of the last two had to be the 'princess' in question. "Forced arranged marriage, son's parents adamant about connecting families or keeping their wealth and lineage stable, bigger family putting pressure on the smaller one... that kind of thing? Seen it a million times. That kind of thing is really common in the other world," he said. "So, the plan?" he wondered, assuming a plan had already been established. Kazu had seen enough failed plans to have a good idea about what would, or wouldn't, produce the desired results in cases like this. "And I'm guessing it's... you," he concluded, pointing toward the white-haired girl.

[Apollymi]

Miko was told to keep talking about her oddly dominating behaviors toward Chika. Miko seemed to be flushed of face by the time it came up and Chika continuing to speak on it, while seeming so pleased about it. "Filthy fucking masochist," Miko swore under her breath. "Oh? A call of praise, Chika is best♥!~" Chika referred to herself in the third person about the utterance of Miko making Ai and Kaguya chuckle, that is how those two friends loved each other. No big deal. "I don't think it's something to learn... I think she presses my buttons until I react and somehow likes it," Miko said firmly. Granted, she'd been told by a couple of times, by people in this very room that they enjoyed when she punished or threatened them. She supposed that wasn't the weirdest thing to think about anymore.

Moving on, her explanation to Kazu, was one he understood and he even managed to figure out which individual she was speaking of based on his own deductions. "Yeah, something like that... it was one of our bigger deal things we were figuring out," she said. There were other situations, minor and major between them, but the two with the most direct set of issues were Kaguya and Kei. "At the end of the day, it boiled down to the spoiled goods scenario but... it wasn't one I necessarily agreed with, given what some of our school lives were already like. Now though it's a bit different," mentioned Miko. When Kazu addressed the group again, he was speaking to Kei, whom he'd correctly deduced as the one in trouble. Kei, for her part since Kaguya spoke, realized that Miko was actually still just trying to help her, and was initially at a loss for words at how to respond. She'd not seen the girl in a while, and knew she'd lived her life in the other world, the fact that she wasn't being as weird as it seemed wasn't what she expected after everything else. "Hmpf. Well, if you're going to figure out that much on your own, you're not doing too bad." she said as a sideways sort of compliment. Tsunderes were always going to be tsundere. "If that isn't so much a problem and they fully understand what they are getting into... nothing else concerns me. But you have your own things going on too. It'd have been in bad taste, regardless of gender not to warn everyone present," Miko mentioned of her own thought processes.

[Bloodedge]

Maybe calling Astolfo and Chika 'twins' wasn't in good taste. The longer this interaction went on, the more they seemed like a gender swap than any level of familial relation. Regardless, that was not the point of concern for Kazuhiko presently. Avoiding the growth of scenes like that was always for the best, in his long-term experience dealing with Astolfo. Besides, it would always come back to the forefront whether he let it do so or not.

For now, this situation with Kei was something to address. Arranged marriage scenarios tended to get a little crazy when ignored or put off for a later time, so Kazu believed addressing the plan was imperative. He nodded throughout Miko's mention of a plan, stopping only when Kei acknowledged his mental processes in... a very, very familiar fashion. "Sou. That's cute on a..." Kazu cleared his throat, stopping himself there. "Anyway. Centuries of experience. Seen it a lot. 'Deflowering the princess' or whatever you wanna call it... is high cost, no guarantee. It worked that one time, but it's like... a three out of ten thing. Tricky stuff," he mused before falling into deep thought, recalling numerous similar situations from a long past. "Uhh, let's see... Country of Elaria? Settle the war. Mistfall Vale? Make the High Enchantress too vital to be married off, establish her own freedom. Kingdom of Eonis? Weaken the family with power, establish matriarchy. House of Shirogane? I'd say... abuse the fact that we're in a non-magical world by just saying no. That sounds weak, I know... but the best answer in this case is one I'd take from completely different experiences. I can explain. . ."

[Apollymi]

Chika would be left to her 'victory'. Miko had no intention of addressing Chika again, lest she have to actually act aggressively towards her. It really was easier to call her and Astolfo a gender swap of the same person. Regardless, there was something else to consider. Kei had a tsundere way of answering his thoughts, which he apparently called cute. Even if he cut himself off, it was still said and Kei was prone to fluster. "It's not like I care," she claimed, ah, but all the other girls present knew what she actually meant. Emotional honesty wasn't common in that one, but... perhaps she was being overly provoked in this time. She was their group crybaby, perhaps there would be tears today.

Whatever the case, hundreds of years worth of experience were being shared, and each of the girls odd though they were, would easily listen and take what they could from his expertise. According to Kazuhiko he'd been involved in a few such situations and each time a group had a 'deflowering' it only worked 3 out of 10 times. Those odds were kind of bad, "Those odds are terrible," Ai admitted she'd also been against the idea. Of course, there was a certain desperation involved, but all of that seemed to melt away with a lot of things in the magical world. So, what did Kazuhiko have to offer, the idea of simply saying no. He could explain why that stance wasn't so weak as it sounded. Meanwhile, Miko seemed to be blinking her mind ablaze as she realized the truth of such a simple plan. "I'm not going to go into how ridiculous that sounds but... fine. Explain it... not like I have any other ideas," Kei said frowning but there was a certain light of interest in her eyes. At the very least an idea that didn't put anyone else in danger and wouldn't do anything weird to her existing friendship was rather good. Besides, if there was something reasonable and more within her control, then perhaps it was worth looking into.

[Bloodedge]

Kazuhiko knew his plan didn't sound very reasonable right away. It couldn't be so easy to just say no, right? In this case, it would be easy for Kei's parents to force the issue, as they had power over her life for the time being. However, that power was fleeting with a simple matter of age... or something else. Luckily, Kei was willing to hear him out. "Alright, so... it's completely normal to think 'no' isn't an option. It's being pushed by your parents, they decide everything about your life until you're not under their roof and all that... it's not true," he explained initially. How would he word the rest? Well, it hardly required thought.

"In this case, you shouldn't just look at it as an arranged marriage. It's a hostage story. Your freedom is the hostage, and you're the ransom. It's a catch 22 on their part. I'm guessing you're the only daughter? If that's the case, you're officially not a hostage anymore; you're the ace they can't win without. If they say you have to marry someone you don't want to, tell them to shove it. If they're not listening, threaten to disown yourself. They can't make you do anything if you're not their kid, but you have 100% control over your life if they're not your parents," Kazu continued. He may have been rambling a bit, but he intended to make his perspective very clear. "It's the ultimate power play: a counter trap! Either they take nothing with a future chance of working it out, or they get nothing with no more cards to play! And that... is a one-turn deck-out mill strategy!"

[Apollymi]

According to Kazuhiko it wasn't at all true that parents were in control of a life while the child lived under their roof. Obviously there were sometimes caveats but hearing out how Kazuhiko's thought processes worked had all of the girls present quietly taking in his words. Miko though she understood, was interested as she always was, finding herself looking at him with pure awe, as the light in her eyes danced. His stance was truly brilliant. "100 percent control..." Kei murmured seeming to like the way it sounded. She was technically already in charge of her household's finances. She considered at some point running her family into poverty to get them to leave her alone, but this... was much better as a plan which didn't cause her to sabotage her own future to get her way.

"Sou ka, I don't really get the card game reference but... I do like the idea in general," Kei mentioned. "Are we going to start playing card games? I am all here for more analog stuff to do~" Kaguya confirmed. She'd also been around long enough and inside Miko's head enough to know the kind of strategy he came up with was top-notch. Ai respected a type of thought process which didn't involve putting anyone in danger socially or physically. As for their games, "Well, we were all supposed to go to a card shop together but someone was busy," she said looking to Miko. "I was doing a thing. Respect the thing!" claimed Miko. In truth at their last group outing she'd been recording some vocals for a certain aspect of her jobs. Regardless, it would be Chika who had the most succinct thing to say. "This strategy seems like Kei-chan just being her usual Control Freak self, just aimed at her parents," claimed Chika in a moment of lucidity. "Also what thing were you doing, huh? Who were you doing?!" she questioned. "Don't fucking start." That was all Miko said. She wasn't about to go into anything crazy with any of these people. But with a proper plan in place, all things could be worked out. Whether it failed or not wasn't the point, there was at least a good starting point, and the worst thing that could happen is Miko having to get the paper work from her father to help Kei emancipate herself. Well, aside from the guy on the other side being a problem, but Kei wasn't prone to going anywhere alone so that seemed like it could be avoidable. "Also, in case you're wondering, this is why you're the leader~" she pointed out. It was easy to miss one's own shining moments.

[Bloodedge]

Kei seemed uncommonly excited by the idea of wresting full control from her parents, but that was no prerogative of Kazu's. If nothing else, he thought it was good to enjoy the thought. "Absolutely 100. You can't make someone do something they don't want to. You can only convince them to agree. Parents just tend to get a bonus because they don't let kids believe they can be in control," he preached, nodding at the end.

A single reference to trading cards led to the group discussing card games. Apparently, they once had a plan to partake. Now it was Kazu's turn to be excited. "Everybody should play card games! They're awesome!" he assured. "If anyone wants to learn AoE TCG, I'll teach and play! As for the reference, it's a win condition in most trading card games. If you don't have any cards left to draw at the start of your turn, you lose automatically. There's always a deck that makes the opponent discard cards with the intention of making them run out. Fun to play, terrible to play against," the lad explained.

After a brief additional silencing of Chika by Miko, the brunette expressed a train of thought he expected from about half of the 12 peers at any given moment... but not the girl who was once the second most quiet member of the group. "Et tu, Annie?!" he questioned initially ─ an outburst of sheer reflex. "Not time for that!"

[Apollymi]

There was much logic to be heard in Kazuhiko's words. Parents did normally get to manipulate children because they convinced them that they fully wanted to comply with their wishes. Even if said children weren't interested in compliance. Such things were easy to dismiss in early life, for simple tasks, like teeth brushing or going to school. But something like marriage, which according to all current propriety was an issue for the rest of one's life? Parents shouldn't be in charge of that sort of thing, they'd already lived their own lives, it was ridiculous to try and live vicariously though someone else. "That does sound like pretty sound advice. Nice..." Ai commented. She enjoyed this and it took care of one of the major problems of their friend group. There was only one other 'problem' child left to deal with but that problem was well on its way to ending as well.

In the meantime, Kazuhiko gained new excitement at the potential of teaching everyone to play card games. AoE had a TCG which meant they could all play. He even explained the win condition he was explaining in context. Kei heard his words and smirked. "Sounds like something made for me. Next activity is that... my vote!" Kei proclaimed adamantly. Kaguya heard this and nodded. "Technically I assume it is the next activity after today..." she claimed knowing that Miko had a particular plan already in place for the day which included doing all of her necessary back log of work before... jumping into Kazuhiko once more. Speaking of a certain utterance came from Kazuhiko as Miko pointed out his goodness as a leader, and it made her pause, giving him a strange look. She'd never been the subject of that particular phrase before and it sent a jolt straight to her core. He dismissed his words immediately claiming it wasn't the time, so Miko also fell into an old habit. Standing at attention and saluting the lad with a smirk on her face. "Aye, Sir♪!~" she chimed at him in return.

[Bloodedge]

From the sound of things, this group learning how to play trading card games was on the menu. Despite the seriousness of their conversation mere moments before, Kazu thought this was a bright and shining opportunity to spread the love of trading cards. Kei voted that they all participate after gaining an interest in a certain playstyle; Kazu would happily join her excitement. "Second! Do I get a vote? If I get a vote, I'm siding with her," he chimed. The one who took a marked interest in his favorite hobby would officially go into Kazu's list of excellent people, if no one else did.

Kazu could only hope there were more card games and new opponents in his near future. He was so into the idea, he almost moved past deviant thoughts... almost. Alas, there was still one mostly-naked blonde in the room they currently occupied, and that didn't make it easy to change topics mentally. Besides, there was the matter previously addressed by Miko about these three. Kazu highly doubted she was making anything up, or making the wrong assumptions. "So... probably weird to ask, but did tonight just become really exciting, or am I just still too wound-up?" he wondered. Of course, there was another thing that couldn't possibly escape his notice. Miko, as Anais, had once been regarded as having a very fine salute. What Kazu didn't expect was the sight of it in a sassy fashion, but such a moment had him giving warning. "Ice is looking thin, Annie. I'm still on edge," he warned.