Rising Shards

After finishing our practice, Caya deemed us ready enough for the Wildfire Hearts team, and as thanks for coming in on a non school day for this, treated us all to dinner at a familiar bar and grill nearby, the Like a Ski Lodge. Evy and I had been there more than a few times. I was starving after our mat ball workout, and salivated just thinking about the menu. I sat with Evy and Pippi, once more feeling nostalgic for school days, as the teachers and staff all kind of sat with their own cliques.

"The last time I ate with you two, I got absolutely plastered," Pippi said. "I will do my best not to this time."

Most of the attention turned to Caya and Mahina as we waited for food, as the two challenged each other to a best of seven series in arm wrestling.

"They're really hitting it off," I said.

"I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner," Evy said. "They bring out...something in each other." Even though this was all an event with her coworkers, and Evy was typically very good at being a chatterbox, something about the high school flashbacks drained her. From what she'd told me about her high school time, I understood her vibe at least.

"Each has a powerful jock within them, awakened in the presence of another of their kind," Pippi said, pushing her glasses up.

"You're one to talk about jocks," I said. "You were up there with Mahina and Caya in terms of sheer mat ball playing power. And you screamed a lot while playing, which is very jock behavior if you ask me."

"I was just...invested in the game is all," Pippi said. "Those screams were merely war cries."

"It was nice to see you get to make a splash," I said. "Make any new friends from those war cries?"

"Not particularly," Pippi said. "But I did make some small talk. For example, Mrs. Poppi and I compared the similarities of our names. That's something, right?"

"Ya know, if you married her, your name would be Pippi Poppi." I said.

"Why would I marry her?" Pippi asked. "She's already married, so that would imply her getting a divorce and keeping her married name before marrying me. That, my dear friend, is dumb."

"She could marry you in some polycule type deal." I said.

"You know how bad my luck is when polycules are involved," Pippi said.

"I still say that one mail carrier polycule could have worked out," I said.

"Only if I got very into that MMO about tables that they all loved, which I never could, for moral and ethical reasons." Pippi said.

In spite of her best efforts, Pippi did manage to get completely wasted. Luckily, Evy and I drove her there so we were able to drive her home. Evy had a few drinks, so I had driving duty for this adventure. I was glad about that, actually, because it was nice to see Evy open up to regular levels with her coworkers. Not that she needed alcohol to do that, but I figured a little bit giving her a social boost when she was worn out wasn't too bad.

"I knew how good Letoh is at pool, I should have not taken that bet," Evy said.

"You did prove you can still do a somersault, so that's something." I said.

"I'm just glad it was just our coworkers around seeing me flop in the snow and not random strangers," Evy said. "Or wait, I'm not sure which would be worse."

"This is like taxi service from, uh," Pippi said from the back seat. "From my best friend and her hot boyfriend." She hiccupped. "Oh, I hate drunk hiccups so much."

"Evy, do you have any tips for hiccups?" I asked.

"OK, I actually do!" Evy said. "I was taught that for Kanibari with tails, if you pinch the end of your tail like an inch away from the tip, then take a deep breath for ten seconds, that tends to work."

"No way," Pippi said. It took a few tries, but it actually did work. With her hiccups resolved, Pippi promptly fell asleep.

"That was a lot of fun," I said. "I bet you're beat."

"Most definitely," Evy said. She sighed.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I really thought I was gonna tell Caya today." Evy said. "I had some moments that would be good. And Pippi almost said it outright. But I just...didn't.

"Don't beat yourself up about it," I said. "Caya was in intense jock mode with Mahina, so she probably would have been like, 'yeah, cool,' and went back to try and beat Mahina in a pushup contest."

Evy laughed. "You have a really good Caya impression."

"You think?" I asked.

After some bits imitating Caya, I tried to get a little more serious.

"It's like coming out," I said. "You don't have to tell anyone, and those you do wanna tell you can tell when you're good and ready. I'll say it over and over, whenever, wherever, however, or if you even talk about it, I got your back."

"Thanks, Stel," Evy said.

"Stop being so cute!" Pippi said, kneeing my chair.

"Hey!" I said. "Thought you were asleep."

"I was, or maybe I still am," Pippi said.

"You're very drunk, that's what you are." I said.

"That may be. Something..." Pippi said.

"And we'll try to tone down the cute," I said. I winked at Evy. "But not too much."

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