Rising Shards

“Um, well at least it wasn’t anything I did,” Oka said. “I kind of forgot a line, but I recovered! Lillia and I did really well, I think. But it was kind of really stupid to do a rehearsal with some roles missing by people who got raided. And the lead actor wasn’t doing good enough according to Reit and he kind of went off on them, and they stormed off crying. So we’ll have to deal with that next practice.”

“Oh, that is a lot.” I said. “Are you relieved to be done?”

“I’m relieved that I’m here with you,” Oka said.

“Aw,” I said. “Oh, wait!” I reached into my pockets. “The whole reason I went to Twin Wolves! Was…where are they?” I pulled out the hair clips. “Look, they’re limited edition!”

“Cute!” Oka said.

We broke out of our me-sitting-between-Oka’s-legs position so we could sit cross legged from each other.

“Here. I got two.” I said, holding one out to her. On a whim, I reached out and put it in Oka’s hair on the opposite side of where she usually pinned a flower. I clipped mine in as well. “Now we’re matching! And uh, matching is. Like a cool thing girlfriends can…do.”

“Don’t you want both?” Oka said, tracing the hair clip delicately.

“I really want you to have it.” I said.

“O-oh,” Oka said. “Thank you.” She pulled me in for a hug, and I nuzzled up against her, placing my head against her right shoulder. Oka’s camisole showed more…er, skin, than I was used to seeing on her, and I almost gulped when I looked down. Maia's words from earlier echoed around in my mind.

“Just...she bit me on my shoulder. And I dunno. It was like. Different. So like, do you and Oka ever…?”

I hadn’t ever been that close to look at Oka's collar, and for some reason I felt entranced. 

“Can you…if you ever bite Oka, can you tell me how it goes?” 

I had a sudden urge to satisfy Maia's request. I had to really push myself to look away.

“Are you ready to tell me this weird thing?” Oka asked.

“Right, I think so, yeah,” I said, scooting back a bit so I could focus on forming words instead of staring. “So they told me not to tell people, but I’m not gonna not tell you…but can you super not tell anyone this? Like seriously keep it secret? Like. Seriously.”

“Of course!” Oka said.

“OK, good, Stella did say I could tell you as long as you keep it secret.” I said.

“I can do it!” Oka said.

“So, first up,” I said. “Dr. Diast is gonna be my roommate. The new apartment Stella found was just Diast’s originally.”

“Whoa, weird

,” Oka said.

I explained my whole weird day, from going from seeing the apartment to the mat ball game. I stopped before the big news, because that still needed a bit more nerve to actually say out loud.

“You went to a mat ball game?” Oka asked. “That’s the really weird part, right?”

“It was weird, but that’s not it,” I said. “Well, that thing Marne gave me was like a lie detector thing? Or it showed that Diast was hiding something? I got too worked up about it and freaked out and asked Diast what it was.” I took a very deep breath. “And Dr. Diast told me that her and Stella are like…a thing.”

Oka gasped, her jaw dropping. “No. Way.”

“I know!”

“Awww! That’s so sweet for Stella!” Oka said.

“I know!” I said.

“And Diast too! What are they like together?”

“I think…good? I can barely remember the last time Stella dated anyone. Even when they were hiding it they seemed real good, yeah. And Diast was really happy too. Diast said they’re not officially a thing yet, but the way they were talking…”

“Like, it’s gonna happen.” Oka said. “Aww!”

“I know! They thought I’d be mad, but the only real downside is Diast won’t be my doctor anymore. But they’re so cute together!”

Oka’s expression slightly darkened. “Oh my gosh, Kalei can never know. At least not any time soon. She wouldn’t let up. She’d never let you live it down.”

“I know! That was like one of the first things I thought of!” I said.

“I’ll keep it secret,” Oka said. “One hundred percent. And don’t worry, I won’t even tell Berin.”

“Good, because it might be hard for Stella’s new job if that got out.” I said.

Oka zipped her lips and leaned back. Feeling relieved after talking out my day and talking out the big news, the underworld-mutant-equivalent side of my brain diverted attention back to Oka. Well, also the underworld-mutant-friend-equivalent side of my brain, because I was also, in a sense, doing research for a friend. Maia asked me for this favor, and I couldn't let her down, right? Oka smiled faintly as I continued to stare at her shoulders and collarbone area. It may have been my lightning powers doing something, but I felt energy between us that silently crackled with anticipation.

“Hey. So.” I said.

“What’s up?” Oka asked, her voice growing a bit fainter in anticipation.

“Can I take the lead on something?” I said. I put my hands on the bed next to Oka’s waist as I leaned closer to her. I told myself this was a favor for a friend, it was for research purposes mostly, right? That made it slightly easier. Oka leaned back; her eyebrows raised as a sly smile started to form over her lips. She gave a slight nod.

“Just tell me if I’m too much,” I said. “I just…I don’t know. I just…gotta…”

I practically dove for her neck and shoulders. It had been too long since we’d been alone like this. I was once again drawn to the edges of her camisole top. I kissed around her neck and shoulders until my lips reached a spot near her collarbone that felt right. Oka flinched, but I soon felt her hands on the back of my head, gently holding me as I continued to bite and suck on the spot. I didn’t know if it was my feral Cani side taking over, me just needing physical contact with Oka, or some kind of weird vampire thing (I know all the books said Cani weren’t vampires, but I couldn’t help but feel like one as I bit her skin lightly with my fangs), but whatever the case I could barely control myself. My right hand found its way to Oka’s side, feeling the curvature of her hip as I squeezed her fuzzy pajamas. Oka’s soft breaths motivated me to keep going. After a few more glorious seconds of that, I finally pulled away, breathing heavily. I didn’t know how Oka would react to any of that, but she still smiled faintly, maybe a bit more flustered of a faint smile than before. That smile made me feel like the foundation of my soul had been strengthened, so I gave her a quick kiss on her lips as well before I backed up, hoping I hadn’t overwhelmed her.

“Where did that come from?” Oka asked, rubbing her forehead.

“Sorry. That was. Sorry, I maybe did a lot…there…” I said. “Was that too much?”

“No, no! That was…um. Th—” Oka coughed. “Thank you? Holy cow.”

I didn’t know what to say, I was equal parts embarrassed to let that side out of me and exhilarated I’d shared that side of me with Oka.

“Could I return the favor, maybe?” Oka asked as she sat up. "I did once say I was curious about finding a fun way to bite y—" Unfortunately, I was leaning in at the same time and we promptly bonked our heads together. “Ow, sorry!”

“No, that was me…” I said.

“Mutual head bonking, heh,” Oka said. “But, as I was saying—"

Oka was cut short as the door to her room opened. I almost fell off the bed, but Oka caught me by my tail and kept me balanced.

“Sorry, was I interrupting?” Lillia asked, casually entering the room.

“Yeah.” Oka said, turning stiff as Lillia continued to stand there. “Normally people leave at this point.”

“You could also go back to whatever you were doing, I won’t interfere.” Lillia said. “You can pretend I’m not here.”

“I’d rather…not.” I said.

“You’re coming on very strong there, Lillia.” Oka said.

“It’s getting pretty late,” I said, checking my phone. “I should probably go.”

“Wait, while you’re both here, I should probably ask.” Lillia said as I started to climb down from the bed.

“What’s up?” Oka asked.

“I was recently invited to some kind of a ‘mutual enjoyment of time spent together’ type of event.” Lillia said. “I am curious if you two would join us for it.”

“A…what?” I said.

“Do you mean a date?” Oka asked. “Did Ko ask you out again?”

Lillia looked at me, potentially judging to see if she should continue talking about Ko in front of me. At the Fang Moon Web trip, I was there when she told Oka about Ko’s interest in her, so it wasn’t entirely news to me. “She…potentially phrased it that way, yes.”

“So…why do you want us there?” I asked. “Like a double date?”

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” Lillia said. “I was able to talk her down from it happening this week…but it should happen soon. Would you…be willing to help?”

I looked at Oka and shrugged. A double date didn’t sound too bad. According to Oka, we hadn’t officially had our first real ‘date date’ so I would have liked to get that done first. Any time with Oka would be good though.

“We can help,” Oka said. She crossed her arms, shut her eyes, and started nodding. “But then you owe us.”

“Fair,” Lillia said. “Now, really, if you two would like to get back to what you were doing before, I won’t intrud—”

“No.” Oka and I said at the same time.