Rising Shards

I wasn't sure what I wanted out of this bus ride; if I actually wanted Oka and Zeta having some sort of wingmen competition with Iris and Maia trying to find me a date, or if I wanted to just try and enjoy the ride finding some sort of distraction from the noise. I did begrudgingly say yes already, so it would be rude to go back on that, but the headphones in my pocket were calling to me, and I was very tempted to get them out to drown out some of the noise. After Anastasia shouted, everyone talked like we were riding on a road filled with eggshells, keeping the conversations short. Everyone except Iris and Maia, that is.

"P.D., why don't you let me an ol' MaiMai be your wingmen?" Iris asked.

"No," Anastasia said.

"Because I don't think Lillia's gonna listen to our advice," Iris said.

"I'm not," I said. I reached for my headphones, but didn't quite put them on yet, something telling me I should wait a bit longer. "If I'm playing this game, I think Oka and Zeta will be my preferred wingmen."

"That's right!" Oka said, high fiving Zeta.

"So P.D., what do you say?" Iris asked.

"I already said no," Anastasia said. "If anyone's gonna wingman for me, it'd be Sai, I guess. But I'm not looking, so quit asking."

"What a freaking bummer," Iris said. "We'd be great wingmen."

"Would we?" Maia asked. "Have we ever done that?"

"Well, no!" Iris said. "But, like...you know!" She gestured frantically between the two. "Our like...yeah!"

Oka let out a terse sigh. Her fuse with Iris was very short, and seemingly shorter hearing the two dance around their relationship status.

"Did you remember what Zeta and I told you?" Oka asked.

Iris and Maia exchanged a glance. Maia turned away towards the window, scratching her ears.

"I..." Iris said. "We certaintly..."

"Certainly." Maia said, head whipping back just as fast.

"That's what I said,"

"You said certaintly, you put a T in there."

"No I didn't," Iris said. "Either way we've certainly been thinking and discussing. About...those things you said."

"Kinda getting the sense Iris doesn't know what conversation we're talking about," Zeta said.

"No, I totally do! At that diner!" Iris said.

"When Iris really is lying, she—" Maia started but Iris shushed her.

"Don't tell them that! You never know if I'm gonna play poker against them or something!" Iris said.

"You two really are like an old married couple sometimes," Zeta said.

"Uh uh, we're like a young alive couple!" Iris said.

"...married doesn't mean dead." Oka said.

"...shut up, I misheard! You're all getting me flustered!" Iris said.

"And you said couple, good for you two!" Oka said.

Iris looked like she was having trouble calculating that one. I was glad to have Oka on my side to get a rare checkmate against Iris' nonstop chatter, but a victory like that is short lived.

"Talk to me about this dating show," Iris said. "I'm curious."

"You're like, way into this wingman thing," Maia said.

"Sure, but I also want to get attention off of us!" Iris said. "So you got sucked into the void, had to do a dating show. Who'd you pick? I'm asking anyone that was there, by the way! Not just the grumps here."

"It wasn't really a show where we pick, we got split up into groups, mostly duos but there was one trio in there," I said.

"OK, OK!" Iris said. "Who'd you feel the most zazz for?"

"Hold on, Lillia picked us, get your own person to be a wingman for!" Oka said.

"Ugh," Iris said. "So it's Zeta and Oka trying to get Lillia a date, and Sai trying to get Anastasia a date."

"I never agreed to play this game," Anastasia said.

"Ana, maybe just play along?" Sai said.

"Are you serious?" Anastasia asked.

"Iris' voice gives me a headache," Sai said. "If you talk more, maybe she'll talk less."

"Wowwww," Iris said. "Sorry, I'll try talking more quietly actually."

"I'm not playing along," Anastasia said. "I know you think it's easier to just play along with shenanigans like these, but I disagree."

"I wouldn't say that, exactly," Sai said. "But I bet I could be a good wingman for you, though."

Anastasia mulled that over. "Fine. But we're all still going to the dance as friends, so even if you find someone great I'm turning them down."

"Sure, sure," Sai said.

"OK, we gotta find someone else then," Iris got up on her knees on her seat. "Hey, anyone need a date to the dance? We need to win this thing!"

"I...perhaps would enjoy to...play this game..."

A meek voice was matched by a meek hand held up behind Iris and Maia. Iris peeked over her chair. "I can barely hear you, can you speak up?"

Tay's head poked up. "I too was part of the dating show game, and was woefully underwhelmed by my romantic results from it."

"I still think you were responsible," Anastasia said.

"I told you a thousand times, that's not my style! I would've found a way to get a date if it was machinated by my hands," Tay said. "So, er, if you'd have me, ehehe..."

"Eh..." Maia shrugged.

"No, no, we can work with this, Maia," Iris said. "There's hope again for us in this pointless challenge!"

"As we're on the way to another pointless challenge," Maia said.

"Well at least we get dresses out of that," Iris said. "But! Tay, the girl who tracks everyone else's dating lives and friendships and junk, now seeking love herself! We can work with that!"

"I guess that's a pretty good story," Maia said.

"Watch, we get to the place right now before we get to any wingmen stuff," Zeta said.

"No! We gotta do this!" Iris said.

"Is it just like whoever gets their person a date first, or...?" Sai asked.

"I think it should be who gets the best person," Iris said.

"How would you possibly measure that?" Anastasia asked.

"Oh, we'll know," Iris said.

"That sounds mean, is this gonna be mean?" Zeta asked.

"No, like compatibility or whatever, we'll be able to see who's most compatible!" Iris said. "OK, the teams are set and the challenge is on, go! Go! Go!"

The rules were nebulous and about sixty percent of us didn't want to play, and we had a very small window before we arrived. Not the most ideal conditions for a game like this, but I feared that even if I got up, ran forward, pried the front doors open, leapt out into the street and rolled away, that somehow the pull of Iris and Maia's game would bend reality until I was back playing it. I put my headphones back in my pocket, deciding that I trusted Oka and Zeta with any potential matchmaking more than some void imp, and that I had to see how they'd do in comparison.

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