Rising Shards

As soon as Alix was unpacked, she looked at me with a wry smile. "Alright, let's get to it."

I was ready to tear my clothes off, but Alix opened one of her suitcases, filled with copies of the books she'd written, Corinani-nomics for Cani, and How to Free Yourself from Corinani-nomics for Cani. She put a copy of her book in each drawer by the lone bed in our room.

"Just a little self promo, you know?" Alix winked.

"I see," I said.

Alix's books were, to put it as politely as possible, not very good. Both Corinani-nomics and its sequel were a mix of self-help, finance, and autobiography. The self-help advice was laughably simple, the economics incoherent, and the continuity made little sense to the point that it was clear she made most of the details up, whether it was about her beach buggy racing career, or the legion of assassins that wanted her dead. That said, it was amazing and I loved every page, even the part where she went to the secret demon sex dungeon in the void where the demons said how amazing she was at sex that went on for like seventy pages. I rated them both five stars on every site I could find them on. I hadn't told her that I read her books, or that I maybe a little bit stalked her on her social media pages.

"And now we get to the real fun," Alix purred.

"Right now? Like for realsies right now?" I squeaked.

Alix plopped down at the foot of the bed and turned the TV on.

"Welcome to the All-Day Paradise, where your paradise will be...all day," the narration on the TV had a pleasant voice. "This hotel chain is a subsidiary branch of Brambler, Co."

"Hotel TV is always required viewing," Alix said. "I could watch the intro channel for hours."

Alix sighed and leaned back on her hands. The hotel intro had relaxing music, at least. I got unpacked as Alix watched, trying to keep my cool and not rush anything as Alix eventually started flipping through the channels (I think she made it to the fourth loop of the hotel intro video before she got bored). Most of the channels were from Brambler's entertainment wing, so lots and lots of Teensly Street. We settled on Teensly Street: The Fifth TV Movie, which featured one of the many Teensly Street classes going on a ski trip. It started with a twenty minute scene of a girl upset that her crush was in love with someone else.

"I can't believe Skumpler is in love with Clydler! When I'm right here! It hurts, it hurts!"

"This is a first for me," Alix said.

"The whole hotel getaway thing?" I asked. "Or first time seeing TSVTVM?"

"I've seen bits and pieces of this movie," Alix said. She scratched her head. "The hotel part is new. I've never been in a hotel room with someone like this. I've never even watched a show with someone in a hotel."

"Really? Not even on a family trip?" I asked.

"My family was politically opposed to the concept of vacations," Alix said. "It's something I'm trying to unlearn."

"Huh..."

"I'm gonna be honest, I'm really scared," Alix said. "So if I run off to throw up and then run back out, dive through the window, it's not you, it's me."

"Awwww," I scooted up beside her, gently touching her shoulders. It was like trying to console a scared deer as she nearly made good on her words about running away. "You're doing great, don't worry. We just got here, and we're here for fun."

"I..." Alix blinked a bunch. "Can you hand me my glasses?"

Alix's smart glasses were on one of the drawers she shoved copies of her book into. I brought them to her, and she quickly booted them up.

"Diary, load diary!" Alix said. "Pippi said I'm doing a good job! I don't think anyone's ever said that to me before!" She shut the glasses off. "Sorry, wanted to document that about the second it happened."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, because it was almost too cute for words. We settled for a bit after that, resting up after the long drive, enjoying watching one of the mid-tier Teensly Street movies together.

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