Rising Shards

While none of the group could really hear the full conversation between Laenie, Caeda, and Chickadee from where they stood, they could hear some things from Caeda, who spoke very loudly, like she was trying to project her voice to everyone.

"I just think this would be in your best interest! I'm not looking to fight or anything, just looking for some help with something."

Caeda spoke so loudly some of the other bike gang members approached.

"Wow, real group of winners here," Iris said as Ema Kari, Snake Riley, and Kyre Krista walked up to Laenie's desk. Ema and Snake were a duo of bullies, and Kyre was more of a strange loner type who always had too much hair gel on.

"Love the bells," Caeda said as the other bicycle members rang the bells on their bikes.

Laenie nodded as Chickadee started talking, but it wasn't clear if she was really excited to see either of them. She handed both Caeda and Chickadee bright red pamphlets.

"The hell are those...?" Iris asked.

"Here," Roux said as they handed each member of the group one. "I found them on the ground."

Iris opened the tri-folded page. "Red Horns bicycle gang...so this is like an organization or something?"

"I believe so," Tay said. "One of the bigger scout, or scout-like organizations in the country, actually."

"So Laenie acts all tough, but she really just joined a scout group," Maia said, vaguely remembering hearing about the Red Horns in the past. "That makes a lot more sense than what I thought."

"What did you think?" Raytris asked.

It was so genuine Maia was caught off guard. "That, uh...that she was trying to be. Just trying to be tough?"

"That was my speculation as well," Tay said. "She was trying to be tough to earn favor of the Wildfire Hearts staff, who then would allow her to see her brother, who was off galivanting on various Wildfire Hearts journeys in the void. Not sure how A leads to B there, but it's Wildfire Hearts, so I should probably figure it out soon because they'll probably send my cousin off on a quest soon enough, and in general when their rules begin to seep into the rather lax standards comparatively of Rising Shards."

"...huh," Maia said.

"When's your full biography on Laenie coming out?" Roux asked.

"I'll send you a signed copy," Tay puffed her cheeks out.

"Can't wait til you get to my biography, that'll surely be a three-volume affair," Roux said.

The two continued bickering while Raytris fidgeted, unsure of what to add to the conversation.

"Maia, we should seriously think about joining this," Iris said, paging through the pamphlet. "Red Horns get paid? Why the hell are we doing boring-ass clubs instead of biker gang?"

"Yeah, but you gotta sell candy and knives, I think," Maia said.

"And bicycles," Iris said, tapping at one of the columns of the flyer, which showed all the door-to-door sales events the red horns put out.

"And bicycles, yeah," Maia said.

"Hey, hey!" Raytris said. "They're leaving!"

Frantically, the group scrambled to hide as Caeda and Chickadee walked their way, but outside of just circling the big pile of cardboard they were hiding behind there wasn't a clear option.

"Uh, how about..." Raytris said. "S-sorry!"

Raytris shifted her form, turning into effectively a blob. Iris was about to curse her out for having a trick that'd only help her and not the others, but then tentacle-like arms shot out, wrapping around each member of the group. Another shot upwards, pulling them toward the ceiling just as Caeda and Chickadee passed by.

While most of the light fixtures from the old ballroom had been removed and replaced with more basic ones, the few chandeliers left up made for kind of a beautiful view. Laenie and the other bike gang members didn't notice the slime girl hanging from the ceiling with her companions. As they slowly turned, hanging like a mobile, Iris found herself staring at Maia.

Raytris let them down, going a bit too fast. "Sorry, sorry! Never picked this many people up before."

Iris used her own powers then, generating a shield of glowing ribbons that made for a much safer landing. The group bounced with the sound of a large beach ball before the shield dissipated, so they darted away, assuming Laenie's group heard that.

Once they were safely away, Tay began scribbling everything down on four separate notepads, muttering to herself.

"Do you think they're planning something with the other devils?" Iris asked. "Or something...against them?" She hummed dramatically after that for emphasis.

Maia shrugged. "I dunno. That was overall just kinda weird."

"I may know what's going on," Roux said, then grinned smugly, their ears folding back. "But that involves some secrets in my collection, so I better not say anything."

"Could you...maybe tell me?" Raytris asked.

Roux's smugness was shattered by Raytris' innocent voice. "I, er...perhaps..."

Roux and Raytris left shortly after, and Tay was so focused she didn't even notice when they left, or when Iris and Maia said they were going too.

It wasn't quite evening yet, but they'd spent enough time that Iris felt they could go to their room and not feel too bad about spending the rest of the day in cuddle mode.

"That was really weird," Iris said.

"Yeah," Maia said. "Kind of a neat way to spend the day though."

"Even if it was super confusing?" Iris asked. "And overall pointless because we didn't find anything out?"

"We found out that Caeda and Chickadee are doing something," Maia said.

"And we learned about the bikers," Iris said.

"Well, I remember hearing about them before, but I didn't realize Laenie's group was under that umbrella," Maia said.

"Yeah...yeah..." Iris tried to piece it all together, but it was like trying to solve a 1000-piece puzzle with only four pieces. "Ugh, I don't get anything," She hugged Maia. "Except this tall dork here, heh."

"Who are you calling a dork?" Maia said, hugging her back.

"You, dork," Iris said. "You know, when we were hanging up there by the...like ceiling and junk?"

"Uh huh?" Maia said.

"I was staring at you, and it was so weird, the like..." Iris realized she had puzzles on the mind again, but for a less confusing reason this time. "You almost looked like a puzzle piece with one of the chandeliers."

"Uh...what? The hell?" Maia said.

"Ugh, it makes more sense in my head!" Iris said. "Your pointy ears matched the points of the chandelier."

"Oh," Maia said. "I think I kinda get what you mean."

"It kinda made me want to go to the prom with you." Iris said.

Maia's eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah?"

"I know we said that was boring and that we'd skip it," Iris said. "Or...did we? I can't remember."

"I know we at one point at least said that much," Maia said. "Yeah, sure, I'll go with you."

Iris gasped excitedly. "You mean it?"

"Don't get too annoying about it or I'll change my mind," Maia said.

Iris giggled, suddenly feeling giddy. "Let's get super cute dresses. And a limo."

"Probably can't afford a limo," Maia said.

"Doll up your mom's van then? Is she still letting you borrow it?" Iris asked.

"I think it's in the shop right now..." Maia said.

"We'll iron out the details later," Iris said. "For now, let's go do some B.F...er..."

Iris felt a soft kiss against the top of her head.

"Some time just for us, how about?" Maia asked quietly.

"Yeah!" Iris said, feeling like her stomach just did a backflip. "Yeah..."

Iris wasn't sure how long the two stayed in a hallway hugging, but she could have spent the rest of the day like that, safely and warmly in Maia's arms.

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