Reincarnated as a Phoenix

Chapter 160 – Gifts

"Seriously Petra? Can't you just tell us already?"

<...?>

"Heh, just be patient you two, we're nearly there"

Currently, me and Mute are being led by Petra towards where our gifts are residing. Absolutely zero clue on what they could be and why Petra's done such a thing, feel a little guilty I haven't prepared anything for her but the only things Petra seems to like is weapons, combat and well, me after all. I was shit at gift giving even back on Earth.

I'd also say walking alongside a dragon in our settlement is weird but at the end of the day, I'm pretty certain the looks we get is always from awe since people just don't care about dragons around here anymore. Ah, Mute did just get stopped by a kid cuddling her leg so it's not just us getting attention, she does seem to be the favourite attraction to all children around the place.

Anyways, finally arriving at where the gnome is now setting up shop, it's the blacksmith's place we've been to on several occasions where the main focus of the smelting operation is based. The smelting doesn't actually happen here anymore, mainly because it's easier to do it in and outside the mine but this place records and makes sure the right amount of gold gets sent to the docks. Other than the treasury, this place might as well be a storehouse for gold. It's basically filled with boxes and ledgers now anyways.

We walk into the store and see an old but familiar face currently working behind the counter. You remember that grumpy old bastard we spoke to when first setting up the mine? The guy who could be in his nineties and gave us Jaxon way back? Yeah, he's the one currently working the forge, I did hear about him and Garry becoming business partners but by the looks of it, the gnome is fully in charge.

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"Garry's in the back, don't bother me kids"

Even now, he's still as charming as ever so we ignore him and find Garry shifting through some of boxes filled with God knows what. Mute has to wait outside for obvious reasons.

"Gnome, have you got the two items I requested?"

"Urg-, Petra! Give me some warning, would you? Just how impatient are you?"

The gnome who was crouched down gets startled from being disturbed and ends up banging his head against a shelf he was under, that looks like it hurt! Doesn't help all the boxes on said shelf end up collapsing all over the floor as well.

"Heh, idiot. Did ask that you make it a priority, assume the items aren't completed then?"

"No no, I've got them done Petra. It's just that I'd rather not have to waste my expertise doing something mundane like this. Give me a second and I'll get them..."

Garry while speaking, grabs several of the boxes that fell to the floor and passes them to Petra. I'm still getting more and more curious on what these gifts could be.

"...This time around, I'm definitely charging you Petra. I'm not slaving away working for free on another favour"

"Heh, no worries gnome, guess we'll forget about all the times I've given you a hand"

"Urgh, whatever. I'll just put it on a tab or something"

Both of us leave the grumpy blacksmith's and return to the dragon who now is neatly sitting down waiting for our arrival. Even she is curious on Petra now, albeit Mute can only show curiosity rather than asking. That head tilt she does to question is pretty funny though, reminds me of that thing dogs sometimes do.

<...?>

"See? Even your sister is like this Petra, the suspense is killing us. Just reveal it already!"

"Heh. For all you know Ikarus, you may not even like it..."

Sighhh, oh no, I think I know my fiancé too well. The way Petra says that, she's gotten me clothes and it's going to be the embarrassing kind. It's either going to be pink, extremely girly or cute, that's the only sort of stuff I may not like from her.

"...First of, this box is for Mute. I'm not sure if it will work yet but I've also got some clothes prepared just in case"

<...?>

Petra opens the smaller box with Mute looking a little puzzled over receiving something, then Petra pulls out... a dog's collar? There's also black clothing in the box, although I'm not sure what it is yet.

"Remember your old choker from the empire Ikarus? The one that allowed you to change form?"

"That's what you had Garry turn it into? Why a collar-... oh, guess she doesn't mind it then"

<...!>

Is Mute's eyes sparkling or something? Why the hell does she look so happy to receive what basically is a dog's collar? I know it's enchanted and all but is she part pet or something? Eh, no point questioning it too much, everyone has different tastes I suppose. This dragon clearly has the slight dog or cat instincts, those creatures have always been pretty unique.

"Just put this on one of your claws Mute and it should hopefully allow you to gain a human form. Might want to go somewhere hidden first and take the box as well"

<...!>

Mute, the towering dragon takes the gift and hurridily finds a building to go hide behind. She takes a few minutes to get ready, then comes back out but no longer as Mute the dragon.

Dark, flowing hair that seems to glow a dark shade of blue in the sunlight, a face adorable and comparable to Petra's and an outfit that's basically a black sailor's uniform. Mute the dragon really seems to rock that human body looking cute as hell!

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For the record, this isn't one of those moments where I start to admire a different woman, Mute just seems to fit and suit this form more than words can describe. You can definitely tell those two are sisters as well.

"...!"

By the way she's handling that form and instantly smothering Petra with hugs, I'm guessing she must've had a human body at some point in time but obviously the lack of a voice has affected her in more ways than one. It's still a shame she can't speak even now but we'd have to come up with a new name if she could, what's the point is using Mute if she could chat as much shit as I do?

"Heh, calm down a second, got Ikarus's stuff next. You don't have to stay with us if you want as well Mute, go run around and experience that body or something"

"...!"

Mute gives Petra one more big hug before she decides to skip off into the distance to do whatever it is the dragon does in her free time. I'm still betting on her being a puppeteer or something like that but at least having human hands will now help her with that.

"So then Petra, can I open mine up now!?"

"Heh, open them up Ikarus. Start with the larger one first though"

Petra passes me the boxes and like I'm a kid at Christmas, I can't help but get straight into it tearing it to pieces. It's a shame it's boring wood and not decorated with fancy wrapping paper with ribbons, really can't expecting the gnome to be doing something fancy like that though.

Finally getting inside of the larger box, I find two garments of clothing inside and just from the feel alone, I'm certain these are kimonos.

"You said you liked the black version Ikarus? Heh, I tried to limit the flowers but couldn't bring myself to ignore it on the red belt"

To think, she must've drawn up designs or something because there's no way the gnome would've been able to make something look this good. Unless he's also a master tailor as well, that's probably the case to be honest but still, these look freaking dope!

"What about the white one though?"

"Ah, that should be mine, that idiot of a gnome shouldn't have put them together. As for the point of this, remembered you liked wearing one back in the last dungeon so thought why not get some made? It'll definitely be more comfortable when relaxing now"

I'm honestly a little speechless at her kindness... wait...

"Petra... is there something about to happen you're not telling me about? I mean, just look at it! It actually suits my tastes and isn't pink or extremely girly. You're hiding something so what the hell is it?!"

This devilish woman of mine has to have a hidden motive, right? I'd rather she just say it and not play games if the intent is for something like teasing.

"Heh, did you want it in pink Ikarus? Believe it or not, just wanted to do something a little different for you. As much as I love your face going bright red, that's not always my intention"

She's actually being serious? Oh, for fuck's sake, why does she have to be so kind at times? It's actually giving me heartache how she can really be at times.

"Well then, let's both go and get changed real quick, then it's onto the other gift. I'll wait before I suffocate you with kisses..."

__________

"We're definitely going to be wearing these when relaxing now Petra, these are really dope. You basically look like a Goddess!"

"Heh, thanks Ikarus. Don't forget about the other gift as well"

Having walked around together for a little while in our new kimonos, I'm noticing we're getting even more onlookers than usual. I'm purposely trying to filter out all of it because the number of idiotic citizens that worship us seems to be a little annoying. I'm down for them doing it towards Petra but they can piss right off if they want to kiss my feet or something... Why did I even go there?

Anyways... Sure, it would be nice if I could still have my doubled stats wearing this but for pure relaxation, these outfits are pretty great. Eh, I'm powerful enough like this already.

As for the outfits themselves, mine is mostly black with a flowery red belt while Petra's, is mostly white but with a hint in black at the seams and the belt. Keep in mind, these are considerably loose compared to the ones we've worn previously so they are really comfortable. I can definitely see why Petra likes to wear robes all the time, this also gives me no worries about any potential skirt uplifts due to going commando, even if that's never happened before because this ain't no ecchi! Even if we can sometimes go down the hentai route, let's just forget about being pedantic. 

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Moving on, both of us are sitting on a bench and I'm opening the second box, I really can't help but get really excited again when I see what lies inside. Petra in her infinite wisdom seems to vividly remember the two things I liked from that love dungeon with all the kissing shenanigans. The first was the kimonos we've currently got on and the second, was that toy I love so much.

"Oh my God! It's identical... There's even a plushie of me!"

"*Sigh*, did tell him to keep them separate, guess the gnome forgot about this one as well. The Ikarus one is mine by the way"

By the looks of it, Petra has gotten Garry to make us two plushies of each and boy, they really are exceptional quality. I've already described the perfect plushie already but the one of me looks pretty cool as well, am slightly worried Petra may use it for voodoo reasons but knowing her, it would only be for embarrassment reasons anyways. Could see her trying it when she's a little horny though, best not think too heavily on that as well.

"Erm... There is one huge problem with all this Petra..."

It's inevitable I've got to bring the mood down. It doesn't matter how much I love the Petra plushie and my lovebird, my own brain always betrays me at times like this.

"...Now I feel bad cause I don't ever do shit for you. Seriously though, you get the gnome to do all this for me and Mute yet, I've got you nothing. It makes me feel bad at times"

"Heh, I've got you Ikarus, that's enough"

"But that's not enough! I don't freaking deserve you"

I don't like to say this sort of stuff but it's true though, she always so kind to me and yet I feel like I do nothing for her. I'm not counting making myself flustered because that's for both our sakes really, I'd always flat our refuse if I hated doing something anyways.

"Heh, stop that Ikarus. All I'm doing is just giving you a couple of things, it defeats the entire point if you're going to feel guilty about it. Just enjoy them or... the plushie will it"

"Eh... I guess I'll stop Petra, it doesn't hel-... Wait, what were you going to do to the Ikarus plushie!?"

'Is she threatening the fake me!? I knew she was going to do voodoo stuff on it, or is it something else?'

"Heh, nothing too bad, just give it a hug and declare my undying love for it. Might end up marrying it instead of you if you don't cheer up"

...

Okay, now I understand why she gets so jealous when I do that sort of shit, fuck that plushie! How dare she parade it around like it's better than me! That thing needs to die!

"I've now got a love rival I need to burn!? You better hide that Petra otherwise you may find that it has become dirt!"

Did that fucking toy just flip me off!? Of course it didn't Ikarus, that would be insane... But it's thinking about it, that plushie knows exactly what it's doing...

"Heh, maybe I took I wrong turn with this Ikarus, let's put that plushie away for another time then..."

Petra puts the Ikarus plushie into her storage while I do the same to mine pouting the entire time. To think I actually want to destroy a toy right now, never realized I was secretly the jealous one out of us two but it least it's confirmed I have that side to me. Never really felt any need to show it towards Petra's ex but to think I have to compete with myself!? That's a plot twist nobody expected...

"...Heh, you have any idea what we can do now Ikarus? I'll be honest, your reaction took be aback slightly and I've forgotten any ideas on what to do next"

"At least you know now what it's like having a jealous partner, lemme have a think..."

Hmm, I wonder if there's something I can do for her, like get her a gift now or something. Not out of guilt or anything like that, just to show my appreciation really.

What does Petra like more than anything in the world? Well, not trying to seem arrogant but it's got to be me, right? Huh, maybe I can work with that, she'd be happy with anything physical but I know deep down she isn't a huge fan of things like that. Maybe I can be literal with this...

"...You know Petra... I think I've finally thought of a gift I can give you now"

"Heh, told you earlier Ikarus, the guilt was unnecessary"

"No no, I'm not doing this out of that Petra. We'll have to go home before you can have it though"

Petra pauses for a second, obviously pondering what it could be, then returns with a smile. Knowing how smart she can be, I think she's got an idea what it could be.

"Now I'm intrigued Ikarus, lead the way..."