Rising Shards

Ms. Corinani got progressively more terrified the longer the group was in the gold warehouse. When she reached the woman called Snowglobe’s office, she looked to be drenched in sweat and was muttering to herself even more than normal. She wiped herself down before uttering a noise that presumably was intended to make the group feel reassured.

“Alright,” Corinani knocked at the door. “Snowglobe? My dear friend! Are you…”

The door flung open.

“Whoa,” Marmalade couldn’t help but be audibly impressed at what lay before her, a hall filled with all sorts of arcade machines, all lit up and glowing. A furious looking cat Kanibari woman with an eyepatch sat on a desk carved out of an expensive looking stone that swirled with various sparkly covers.

“She looks kinda like you, MaiMai,” Iris said.

“No she doesn’t,” Maia said. “Her fur’s all gray.”

“You have gray fur on your face!” Iris said.

“And her’s is all gray,” Maia said.

“Alright, alright, simmer…simmer down now.” Corinani forced a smile.

“Alix Corinani.” Snowglobe said, holding a hands clasped pose as she glared at her guest.

“That’s me!” Corinani said, plucking at her shirt like she had suspenders on for some reason.

“Why are there children with you?” Snowglobe asked.

“It’s fotally tine! I mean, you know what I mean!” Corinani said.

Snowglobe stood up abruptly, making Corinani screech.

“You wouldn’t beat me up in front of my students, now would you? C’mon, you’re bigger than that, heh…”

“You promised me you could get rid of the monsters plaguing my important shipment,” Snowglobe said. “Ones that only you could deal with. And then you ran away. And now you show up a year later, completely unannounced.”

“To finish the job!” Corinani said. “I’m sure you’ve kept them ready and waiting for me, you have such a soft spot like that, Snowglobe.”

Snowglobe got up in Corinani’s face, forcing the teacher into a whimpering submission almost immediately. She then started to chastise her for all her faults for an uncomfortable amount of time. So long that Michi found a nearby chair to sit in to draw a bit, Marmalade sat down next to them, and Roux enjoyed the show.

“Hey,” Iris whispered, pulling on Maia’s sleeve while the others were preoccupied. “I think this is gonna go on a while.”

“And?” Maia asked.

“You know what,” Iris said. “Come on!” She took Maia’s hand and the two darted out unnoticed.

“Dude, this is such a bad idea,” Maia said.

“We’ll just be down the hallway!” Iris said, checking every door they passed. “Surely there’s…here!” She found an unlocked room that only had a few more arcade machines, a dingy couch, and a coffee table in it.

“Alright, five minutes for real this time,” Maia said as she sat down.

“Uh huh, uh huh,” Iris beamed as she sat on Maia’s lap, cupping her face and smushing it a bit. “If a break room in this dingy warehouse doesn’t get you in the mood to kiss me, what will?”

“That’s so dumb,” Maia said. “I kinda hate that it makes me want to kiss you more.”

“Then random void trip B.F.S. is a go,” Iris said, not hesitating to lean in.

Iris knew she’d been begging for maybe a bit too risky B.F.S. time a bit too much, and was glad Maia didn’t grill her about it. She was even happier that Maia seemed to enjoy the thrill of the moment as much as Iris was, giving some extra spice to the make out session, her kisses filled with even more passion. Iris gladly let Maia pull her shirt collar to the side, gleefully accepting the bite of Maia’s fangs on her shoulder.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a really good bite like this,” Iris said, almost out of breath as Maia bit down harder.

“Gotta make sure we get a good balance in our B.F.S. time, you know?” Maia said.

“Yeah, we definitely d—” Iris started, freezing mid-sentence when the door to the room opened.

“Uh, you two…probably shouldn’t be doing that,” A flustered worker said, somehow blushing harder than both Iris and Maia were combined. “And you shouldn’t be in here? Who are you?”

“Yeah, sorry!” Maia said, getting up and grabbing Iris’ hand. “We’re leaving!”

The two couldn’t help the giggles that escaped them as they rushed out.