"You know Bell," Linna said to Belldandy, "I just realized something." They were sitting on the couch together, the TV on more for the background noise than anyone actually watching it. Linna had her arm around Belldandy's shoulders, holding her close. "What's that?" Belldandy asked, knitting carefully. The sweater would take some more work to complete, but Linna was so pleased by it, Belldandy was determined to finish it as soon as possible. She looked up to meet Linna's smiling gaze. "Well, with Skuld down below, Sylia off wherever, and Nene and Mackie helping with Urd and Priss' big date, we're all alone here tonight," Linna said in conversational tones, with an odd twinkle in her eyes. Belldandy matched that smile, after carefully putting her knitting down beside her. "Isn't that interesting," she answered cheerfully. "So what would you like us to do about it?" Belldandy asked Linna leadingly. Linna grinned, pulling Belldandy up from the couch. "Last one in bed's a rotten egg," she grinned, then scampered off down the hall. "No fair, you cheated," Belldandy mock protested, racing down the hall after the laughing Linna. She opened the door and went into their bedroom only to freeze. Linna lay on the bed, wearing a broad smile and nothing else. Belldandy's smile matched hers as she walked towards the bed, carefully pulling her robes off. One by one, the garments fell to the floor before she climbed into bed beside her. They kissed, savoring the moment. "I love you," Linna said to Belldandy softly, nuzzling at her neck. Belldandy gasped softly, "I love you, too." The two young women at the next table over were arguing softly. The red-head seemed very passionate about whatever it was, while the blue haired girl answered her calmly. Priss noticed Urd looking at them and smiled slightly. "Don't worry," Priss said quietly, "Asuka and Rei do that all the time. I think it gives them an excuse to kiss and make up again." Urd laughed softly at that. Priss had walked her around, introducing her to all her friends. The place had a friendly atmosphere, and it was obvious that Priss was held in high regard. Urd just hoped that she could keep all the names straight. "This place is really incredible," Urd sighed softly. There were several couples dancing nearby, and Urd's eye was caught by a striking couple. The sandy hared woman was dressed in a form fitting tux, and almost looked like a very pretty boy. She escorted a gown wearing girl with aqua green hair, and the two of them seemed to fit very well together. They were almost perfect. Urd looked back across the table at Priss, meeting those brown eyes of hers steadily. She felt a suddenly spark of heat inside of her, and she fought to keep a blush from her face. "Have you brought your other girlfriends here?" she asked frankly, a little smile on her face. "Occasionally," Priss admitted. She smiled a bit, "I have so many friends here, it's kind of like bringing someone home to meet the family." Urd smiled happily. "So, I'm important enough to you to take to meet the family. Thank you, Priss. I'm honored," she smiled, taking a small drink from her glass. She got up, "I have to go to the bathroom." Priss tried to get up, but Urd gestured her back to her seat, before walking to the door marked 'Hers'. As soon as she left, Priss felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Arisugawa Juri smiled down at her and directly asked, "You're in love, aren't you?" Priss blushed under the older woman's gaze. "Yes," she admitted, "is it that obvious?" Juri sat down a moment, a grin on her face. "Only to someone who knows you," Juri answered calmly. The owner of the club sipped her drink, "You've made a good choice this time." She stopped to give Priss a thoughtful look, "Have you gotten over your 'fight or flight' impulse?" "Working on it," Priss said quietly. "She's on the rebound, so I don't want to push her," Priss said quietly. Juri gave her a 'my, you're dumb' look. "She's hanging on your every word, dressed to the nines" she shook her head and sighed, "it's obvious she likes you, Asagiri. Just make sure she knows how you feel, kid. Or you might just loose your chance." Juri looked up and then quickly got up and out of the seat, "Oops, here she comes." She patted Priss on the shoulder comfortingly, "Good luck, kid." Urd watched Juri walk away from their table with a raised eyebrow. The tall, aristocratic lady looked good, only a few streaks of gray in her long golden hair. For a moment she wondered if there had been something between her and Priss, "What was that all about?" Urd asked Priss curiously as she took her seat. Priss smiled and shrugged. "My friends approve of you," she said with a grin. "She was just giving me a bit of advice," she added softly. Priss looked at Urd, the long white hair and dusky skin making a striking package. Urd shook her head, "I doubt you'd need it." She smiled at Priss, and for a moment they both seemed lost in each other's eyes. Priss hesitated, more than a bit nervous. "I've loved having your company tonight, Urd. I was wondering if you'd..." she trailed off. "Yes?" Urd prompted her gently, taking Priss hand. "Could we make this a bit more permanent?" Priss said softly, a blush on her cheeks. "I think I'm falling for you, Urd," Priss confessed. "You're a charming devil, Priss," Urd said, and bent across the table to kiss her, softly. "I'd love to," she said softly. "And I fell a while back, myself." The two of them made their way down the nearly empty street a bit unsteadily, each leaning on the other for some support. They made an rather odd looking couple, the silver hared woman in her stylish business wear and the eclectically dressed demoness. Both clutched fairly large bottles of booze, and would occasionally wave them around a bit while trying to make a point. Sylia waved her hand in the air, coming to the end of her story. "And then," Sylia said with the cheerfulness of someone who was well on her way to being totally and completely blotto, "I kissed her." She hiccuped, covering her mouth with her hand. Mara blinked at her owlishly. "Damn," she said with a admiring smile. The equally drunk demoness stopped talking a moment to think about it. "So was Linna any good?" Mara leaned over to ask her curiously. Sylia chuckled at the memory, "Not too bad." She shook her head, and nearly lost her balance. Mara caught her, and once she recovered she said, "I think I surprised her, so it probably wasn't one of her best performances." Sylia thought about it for a moment before adding a bit blurrily, "Belldandy hasn't made any complaints." Sylia looked over at Mara a few moments later and asked curiously, "So, did you ever kiss one of your friends?" "Other than Urd?" Mara asked in reply, with a bit of bitterness in her voice. She took another large swig while she thought about it. "I did smooch Belldandy once on a dare," Mara confided to Sylia with a impish grin. "How was she?" Sylia asked before breaking out in a case of the giggles. Mara rolled her eyes, laughing at the rude question, "Oh, pretty good. I did get slapped for my trouble, though." She looked over at Sylia thoughtfully, and with the utter tactlessness that goes along with strong drink she asked, "What's with you and Priss?" Sylia smiled and shrugged sadly, a few tears glimmering in her eyes. "We had a fling back when we first met," she said, still smiling through her tears, "but we broke it off after a while." She sighed a bit sadly, "I guess we both wanted to be the one to lead, not follow." Sylia took a generous swig of her own bottle, adding "I guess I always liked having her around as an.. option. But now I guess that's gone." Mara nodded to her in sympathy. "Same here, I guess," she admitted. "It's not like our affair was going great guns before now, but it was easier knowing that I had her," she said sadly. Sylia didn't reply, so Mara looked over at her curiously. Sylia swayed there, looking at Mara more than a bit blurrily. Still smiling sunnily, Sylia slowly and gently toppled over backwards. Mara's quick reflexes let her catch her, barely, and Sylia lay limply in her arms, out cold. Mara sighed wearily before putting Sylia in a fireman's carry across her shoulders. She looked around, then stumbled off down the street. Nene looked across the table at Mackie curiously. "So what do you think of all this, anyway?" she asked quietly. "All this what?" Mackie responded mildly. He had his cellphone sitting on the table beside them, in case Priss should call them for pick up. Nene frowned at him. "The goddesses, Mara, and everything else that's going on lately," she clarified, trying not to let the other patrons of the cafe hear her. "I mean, I never believed in this sort of stuff before, and now..." Mackie nodded in sympathy. "I know what you mean," he agreed softly. He looked down at his plate thoughtful, "I guess we have to believe the evidence of our own eyes. It's real, so I guess I just have to deal with it." Nene nodded mournfully. "I guess it helps that they're all such nice people. Even that little brat Skuld," she said with a sigh. "I wouldn't say that," Mackie cautioned her. "I get the feeling crossing Urd is a very bad idea, and Mara? I just don't know about her..." "Well, she is the bad guy," Nene shrugged. Mackie sighed. "I just didn't like the way she looked at Sylia that night they met in her office," he said thoughtfully. "They what?!" Nene said, surprised. "When? Is Sylia all right?" she asked, not caring if the entire cafe could hear her. "Right before Sylia told Belldandy and Urd to turn the wards on," Mackie said, a bit surprised by her reaction. "She tried to make a deal with Mara, but she turned her down." Nene groaned and put her head in her hands. "Just the sort of thing she'd do, too," Nene sighed softly, a vexed expression on her face. Mackie looked at her helplessly, even as the cellphone began to ring. He picked it up, "Mackie here, what's up? Uh huh, OK, we'll pick you two up in about ten minutes." He put it down, "Priss and Urd want to head back to the Silky Doll." "Lets go," she said, looking at her plate a bit mournfully for a moment. She shook her head, adding "And when we get to the 'Doll I'm gonna have a little talk with Sylia about this." Sylia felt sunlight on her face, opened her eyes a crack and then groaned softly as the light bit into her half opened eyes painfully. "That is just far too bright," she mumbled, trying to pull the covers up over her head. "Sorry," a familiar voice answered her wryly, "but the hotel doesn't have very good curtains. Or much of anything else." Sylia gave up on covering herself and rolled onto her side to see Mara walking to her bedside in a sheer nightie, carrying two small cups. Sylia also quickly noted that the other side of the double bed showed signs of being recently slept on. "What is that?" Sylia asked, a horrible taste lingering in the back of her mouth. "Orange juice, and some aspirin for your hangover," Mara said, reaching over to hand her a few of the small tablets and one of the paper cups. She then took her own aspirin and followed it down by drinking whatever was in her own cup. She visibly shuddered at the taste, then said to herself with a happy sigh, "Hair of the dog that bit you." Mara's gaze lingered, and Sylia realized that she was naked beneath the sheet. She mimicked Mara's actions, then after drawing a total blank on the last evening's events had to ask her "What happened last night?" Mara looked wounded. "You don't remember our wild night of passion? I'm so hurt," she said, then grinned at Sylia's clearly horrified expression. Mara sat down on the bed beside Sylia. "We both got really drunk, you fell over from the drink, and I carried you here," she said with surprising gentleness. "Nothing else happened, sadly," Mara said with a bad girl smile. "Thanks," Sylia said softly, and blushed as the events of the night before began to come back to her. She looked at Mara thoughtfully, she wouldn't have expected the demoness to be the one who's shoulder she had cried on. "No," a small shake of the head, "thank you," Mara said softly. She smiled at Sylia, a odd expression on her face, "I think I needed the company last night, too." She looked at Sylia with a bit of concern as she quietly asked her, "Are you going to be all right?" For just a moment their gazes met like the crossing of blades, Mara's eyes full of years of lonely experience, Sylia's filled with the pain and anger that had driven her on for so very long in her war with Genom. They seemed to freeze a moment before both turned away, uncomfortable with the intimacy of the moment. "I think so," Sylia said, feeling suddenly shy. She tried to smile at Mara as the pounding in her head began to ease off. "Good," Mara said, and was suddenly fully dressed. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically, "but I've got to go." With that, she simply and silently disappeared. Sylia took a moment to finish off her orange juice before a thought occurred to her. Two, actually; first, who had undressed her last night, and second, where in Tokyo was she?
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