I turned around, my eyes shifting from the jade orbs to amber ones as the sleeping princess made her entrance. Her hair was lightly disturbed, straight strands turned unfurled curls above eyelids that looked groggy but blade-like. The elegance from earlier remained, but gone was the serenity now replaced by her taciturn grace that could shift any room's atmosphere down a few degrees on the thermostat.

Also, why does she have my coat on her shoulders? Didn't I use hers to blanket her..?

"Oh. My. God." But the voice that followed was not hers. Instead, it was one wreathed in velvet fabric, "Here I thought I'd never see you again!"

"And here I wanted to never see you again, Thea." The words fired back, facing the honeyed softness with icy daggers.

"Cold as I remember, Myla." But the custard-haired woman wavered not.

"Eh?" I was caught between sugar and ice and nothing too nice, and I found myself confused, "You two know each other?"

"If that implies mere acquaintanceship and nothing else, then yes." My partner swiftly retorted, walking up to the desk and at my side—the feeling strangely comforting.

"Come onnn." The young woman pleaded with a half-endeared frown being bared forward, "Don't downplay our entire high school journey together." But the ice wall in front of her refused to melt.

"I can call it whatever I want. Memory of the beholder, sister."

I froze at her call sign, the term rather unbefitting of the straitlaced noble at my side, "...Did you just call her sister?"

She recoiled at the question, quickly realizing her own shift of register, "Wh-What? Am I not allowed to use more casual terms?"

"Yep. It seems the cuteness remained the same too, if not even higher than before, no?" Thea complimented, her face alight with a nostalgic delight, "Still, I seriously don't remember Gale mentioning anything about you at all. I'm sure I would've recalled if he did, and it's not like he knew about us being acquainted. Ain't that odd?" She seemed just as in the dark as her old friend but with far less worry and more blissful indifference, "He did talk plenty about your partner here, though."

Why do I feel like Gale wanted something like this to happen..?

It seemed I wasn't alone in that thought as the noble beside me seemed to direct a sigh to both the musician and the librarian, "So you two were classmates?" I tried to defuse the tension, moving the conversation anywhere forward.

"More or less, leaning toward the latter."

I looked to her less-than-classmate for approval, which she readily gave, "Yep. I stuck with her 'cause she was always so fun to mess with."

"On that, we can agree-" You can add another bruise to my head, this time around the back, "Owie."

"I told you some things should be kept behind sealed lips, right?" Thea reminded me, an index to her mouth and a wink from one of her jade irises that seemed to annoy Myla a touch further.

Still, she managed to keep it together. Being able to work with me meant she was good at dealing with annoyances, after all, "So you decided to study here, huh? How many relationships has it been since we last met?"

"Around seven or so, I might've lost count." The pudding-haired woman giggled, an alarming comment accented with joy, "And you really did throw yourself right into aiAI like you said. I'm more than impressed."

So even back in high school, it really was her plan, huh? I wonder if Thea knows anything else about it...

I would've pried her for more of those deets if it weren't for the objection of my other half, "Well, whatever the case, it's about time we headed off. Come on, Bridger, let's grab our stuff." She said uncharacteristically hurriedly like a kid seeing their mother stuck in chatter with a friend at the supermarket.

"Huh? Oh, right." And unlike our mothers, I quickly obliged.

I turned on my heel, riding my own coattails as the oversized coat fluttered on my partner's slim frame before something akin to molasses slowed our pace, "Ah, wait a sec." We stopped to face the young woman, her smile remaining a permanent fixture of her expression, "Lemme borrow Bridger for just a little longer, will 'ya? I just wanna finish our chat before you two go." The offer was undoubtedly promising, both as a way to kill some time and to get to know a side of Myla I didn't know much about. Still, we didn't all think alike, and as I saw my partner's amber gems turn serrated, I questioned if I was exactly safe standing in the middle of all this.

This is the exact moment people figure out whether or not friendly fire is enabled...

Footfalls began to trail from behind me, each clack of the heel on her shoe echoing like shattered ice, "Listen here..." Prompting the pudding-topped woman to draw back slightly in surprise, as if watching a storm trail its way towards you, "You can have your fun and mess around however you please, but..." And right as she made it to her, it was as if her gaze was buffeting her with hail and gale. However, what followed didn't match her march towards the understandably frightened Thea, as Myla paused in place for a moment and seemed to hesitate. I couldn't see her face, but any hints of apprehension were easy to spot, considering her usual bravado.

Just what is she up to..?

A response came, but not exactly one that elucidated any more than her prior actions. She turned to me for no longer than a second, but the image was internalized within that brief lapse. Her pale face was aglow with a candied tint—cheeks, and forehead flushed with color that matched the pink highlights of her outfit. I didn't know how to react. The time to do so was absent as well as she quickly returned to her less-than-classmate to whisper something into her ear.

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Thea at first seemed hesitant, like someone reaching out to a cat with the fear of being scratched. But as the inaudible words began to reach her expectant mind, her droopy eyes seemed to widen and fully reveal the sheen of her jade irises, "Ohhh..?" She exclaimed, "Ohohohoho!" She followed with even more emphasis.

"Got it?" Myla commanded, exasperation about the same as when I was having a good day.

Thea began to snicker with a voice that made you feel like you could float, the notes almost sing-song as she tried to compose herself, "Clear as day, Myla."

"Good."

"...But you have to take his place and hang out with me next week. Deal?" That guise of ice quickly shattered at the request, leaving the overconfident princess tongue-tied.

I wasn't sure how to act. I felt like I was in the backseat of the car, watching two people argue about whose fault it was they got lost, not really being able to chime in since I fell asleep about halfway through our trip. But still, I wasn't completely helpless, and standing on the sidelines wasn't really my thing, so I decided to speak on what I was sure of—on what I knew was important to me, at least.

"Actually..." I spoke up, garnering the attention of both gem-like gazes with a single word, "We already have plans to head to Fable's concert next week, so do you mind if I have her until then?" I asked without much thought into it, partly because Myla didn't seem all that thrilled with Thea's advances and also because we did promise Gale.

The pair seemed taken aback by what I said, both of them sharing a look that made it seem as though I just told them I kicked babies as a pastime.

Which, for posterity's sake, I stopped doing once I was in my twenties, okay?

"...Well, of course!" The girl with the hair of pudding broke out of her daze first, clearly placing quite the effort in not bursting out laughing, "Go on then, go on then." Before leaving her station and pushing the sculpture that was my partner to my side, our shoulders bumping against one another, the thing that finally turned her lucid again, "Oh, and by the way," But before she would let us off the hook completely as if to return the favor of her old friend, the woman's honeyed voice made its way to the ear of the silver-haired sovereign, "That coat sure doesn't fit you, sister."

Myla seemed to grumble something under her breath, perhaps not having the energy to correct Thea on her assumption and just letting it slide without protest.

Well, she always has been a bit of a stickler for a good fashion sense. I guess it won't kill me to help her out.

"Well, yeah. After all," I pointed at my partner, letting my voice take a casual tone, "This one's mine." Myla seemed to jolt at the words, with said energy traveling to Thea, who could only beam in response.

Yep. That seems to have resolved things.

"Take care, you two. I'll be getting back to work now. Bubye!" The honeyed voice bid, leaving us with a sweet aftertaste as we waved farewell back.

Aren't we gonna see her again on our way to the exit, though..?

We began to walk back to the hidden chamber of the library, passing by the aisles of anthologies and novellas with few words being exchanged—Myla's back still swaying with the hem of my coat.

"So..? What happened with you and Thea anyway? You seemed pretty hostile back there."

"Well, to be honest, I'm probably just overreacting and playing things up to match how we were back in high school." She remarked, the nostalgia only now apparent as she spoke without her acquaintance's presence.

I guess that partly explains how she can deal with my shenanigans so well. Thanks for running her through the wringer early, Thea.

"We were close to polar opposites, but the moment she found an opening, she stuck to me and didn't let go until we graduated. Quick to make friends, even quicker to fall in love. I honestly can't remember how often I had to deal with her heart robberies followed by inevitable heartbreaks." Myla spoke as if those memories were weighed down by a certain exasperation, but what betrayed her was the gleam in her eyes and the subtle curve of her lips at the reminiscence of her old friend, "Honestly, what a high-maintenance girl."

"Is that why you never kept in touch?" I asked just as we walked into the quiet passage, two chairs vacant in the company of a hundred authors.

"Maybe, but I see it more as a result of work becoming my primary focus, leaving me too busy to manage my old connections."

"Ah, I see. I guess that's understandable then," I reorganized our things, tidying the desk before turning to Myla, who was now back in her proper wares.

"But still..." She offered my coat back, looking off to the side as she seemed in thought, "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to keep her close again." Her voice was serene, making me wonder if this was the quality it would take had she spoken back when she was dreaming.

Maybe I was projecting a bit, but I wanted to support that idea. While I obviously didn't know what Myla got up to off the clock, and my jokes about her being antisocial come from a place of humorous assumption, I did, at times, worry if perhaps some people found her unapproachable or difficult. Not that I minded her peculiarities—in fact, I looked forward to it.

Oh God, this isn't some sort of sadomasochism developing, is it?

Whatever the case, having an old friend, more-than or less-than classmate, was probably a good idea, "That's quite the change from earlier, but I think you should consider it." Especially since she seemed to accommodate Myla well, even if their first cordial exchange didn't exactly showcase sunshine or rainbows, "Which, by the way, you seemed extra annoyed earlier. Was there something else bothering you?"

My partner returned to her earlier state, once again looking bothered by her own thoughts and having her lips sealed against volition, "Well, that was..."

"Go on..?" I donned my coat, bits of warmth and winter fragrance still clinging to it.

"Because I thought you ran off and left me there to chat to some random college student. Which, for all intents and purposes, you did do." She grumbled, looking less discontent and more annoyed.

"Oh, come on. She knew me because of Gale, and I was telling her I had to go back ASAP, so-" I bit my tongue.

"...So? So what?"

"...Were you jealous?-"

No"."

"Oh, okay."

She replied so fast the period and quotation marks couldn't even catch up and got lost. Scary stuff.

Despite the air of questions still surrounding the misadventures of Thea and Myla, I could find myself agreeing with one thing she said regarding my partner—that she was well and truly an endearing little thing.

As more and more pieces fell into place about the image I was building of Myla Marika, the more they stayed the same and the more I accepted that the short and simple of it was that she was fun to be around—and I honestly think work wouldn't even be a quarter as enjoyable without our mismatched dynamic.

And to that end, I think I found my answer.

Indeed, it was that, "Shall we be on our way then?" I much preferred knowing that I was the only one who could see the current Myla.

"If we don't want to be late." Myla began pacing away, turning one last time with a smile that could freeze hell over, "And thanks for letting me sleep. Even if you left halfway through." Petty as she was, I couldn't help but laugh, hiding the traces of heat that flushed my face and beckoned my heart.

Still, I do wonder what it was that Myla whispered to Thea that made her look so nervous. It was probably an inside joke at best and some horrific blackmail at worst, meaning it had little to do with me. As much as I enjoyed open-ended conclusions, some things are best left without much thought, instead focusing on what's done and what's gained.

So to that, let's head to our next stop, shall we?