Volume 11 - Building Up, Chapter 76 - Party Hard
After Yuisu's call with Agent Will, news of Mimi's approaching departure spread quickly through the house. Before the night was over, Tsuen and Mara had already started planning a goodbye party, keeping Tsuen up far later than she was used to. They were kneeling on the carpeted floor of their bedroom, wearing PJs and writing out a plan in a notebook.
"So, is that everything?" Tsuen asked before being overcome by a wide yawn that ended with a cute whinny sound.
Mara found it hilariously adorable, but tried to keep a straight face. She wanted to keep things moving forward so that Tsuen could get to sleep. She nodded and said, "I think so. All that's left is to make a list of food and alcohol, then buy it."
"Alcohol? But Mimi's not old enough to drink!" Tsuen said, her tired eyes wide with surprise.
Mara chuckled. "As if that's ever stopped a delinquent like her," she said with a hint of reverence, one troublemaker appreciating another. "Believe me, she'll want alcohol at her going away party, and besides, she was old enough to drink in France. As for what kind to buy, I overheard that Mimi likes vodka, and I'll get some espresso or something for myself so I can join the fun. What do you like to drink, Tsuen?"
Tsuen crossed her front hooves and fidgeted with her hands. "Uh, I don't drink often, but I guess I really like mead."
"That honey-wine stuff? Alright, I'll pick some up for you when I go shopping with Yuisu."
Another long yawn from Tsuen reminded Mara to wrap up for the night, so she jotted down a note to figure out food later. Mara put her notes by her computer then returned to prod Tsuen into bed. "Come on, sleepyhead, let's get you to bed. You've got work in the morning," she said as she tugged Tsuen by the arm.
"Uh huh," Tsuen replied sleepily. She climbed onto the low, sturdy bed and feebly tried to wriggle under the blanket.
Mara clambered around to tuck Tsuen in under the covers, then brushed her megenta hair out of her face and gave her a kiss on the nose. "Goodnight, Tsuey."
"G'night, Mara," Tsuen whispered before quickly falling asleep.
Mara stayed up for a while longer, sketching and writing in a different notebook while she referenced something on her computer screen.
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The next day, while Tsuen was at work at Sports Club Kobold, Mara and Yuisu went into town for errands.
As Yuisu drove, she caught sight of the long list Mara was reviewing and asked, "Is all of that for Mimi's party?"
Mara shook her head. "Most of it is, but I also wanted to get a Christmas gift for Tsuen."
"Ah, good thinking," Yuisu said, keeping her eyes on the road. "The stores can get a little crazy in December, so it's a good idea to do gift shopping early."
Mara grinned up at Yuisu. "That's not why I'm buying it early. This gift is gonna be a one-of-a-kind dress, made by yours truly! I adjusted that kimono for Tsuen, but this'll be the first dress I've ever made from scratch, so I need time to get it just right."
Yuisu raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Wow, very nice, Mara. I think she'll love that." After a moment, Yuisu tilted her head and asked, "Just for clarity's sake, I'm buying all the party stuff since I'll be reimbursed, but you're paying for the dress supplies yourself, right?"
Mara smiled and nodded. "Yep! I've been saving for this for a while. If all goes well, I might even make some more dresses to sell to other centaurs. A lot of arachne become amazing seamstresses, but most of them don't bother to cater to other races. And I could use a real source of income."
Yuisu steered her little red truck into the parking lot of Okayado's only strip mall. It was smaller than the large indoor mall across down but it was home to a good variety of retail shops. It had everything Yuisu and Mara needed on this trip: a fabric store, a liquor store, and a grocery store.
The human-arachne pair got some stares as they shopped, mostly because Mara didn't visit town very often and a bright pink spider certainly stood out. Thanks to Mara's organized list their shopping was pretty quick, at least until they got to the liquor store.
After finally convincing the shopkeeper that Mara was indeed twenty years old despite her childlike appearance, they entered the liquor store and wandered around a bit. Mara stopped next to a shelf full of clear liquor, then grabbed two bottles seemingly at random. "Uh, Yuisu? Which of these is good? I don't know squat about liquor…"
"Hmm. I'm more of a beer and sake girl myself, so I'm not sure about these." Yuisu looked at the two vodka bottles and paused in thought. "But I recognize that brand and the price isn't bad, so maybe go with that?" she said, pointing at the bottle in Mara's left hand.
Mara set that bottle in her basket, returned the other to the shelf, and continued on to the next section on her list: mead. Since honey-wine is pretty niche, the store only had a couple options for Mara to consider. As she read their labels, words like 'adjunct', 'fermentation', and 'metheglin' overwhelmed her until she found something she recognized: 'alcohol by volume'.
This one is 8%, and the other is 20%. She glanced at the vodka in her basket and saw that it was almost 50% alcohol, so she thought, Whoa, I guess this 8% stuff is no good then. I'll get the 20% one for Tsuen. Mara hefted the large bottle into the cart, struggling a little with its weight.
Yuisu paid for their liquor and the pair drove home with their full haul from all three stores. Since the party wasn't until the next day, they loaded all the food into the fridge and Mara shuffled off to her bedroom to work on Tsuen's Christmas gift.
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On Friday, Mimi was busy in her room, packing for her move the next morning. She'd brought very few possessions with her when she'd snuck into Japan, but since then she had accumulated a fair number of souvenirs, some new clothes, and other minor things.
KNOCK KNOCK!
Mimi paused with a bag of bathroom supplies in one hand. Before she could do anything else, Chione's voice came through the door, "Hey, Mimi, come out here real quick."
"Be right there!" she called back. She dropped the bag into a cardboard box. She was thankful that during this move she wouldn't have to hide away inside her chest with all her belongings. Her trip into Japan had been far from comfortable.
Mimi rolled to the door on her electric dolly, yet another new thing she was thankful for. Her life really had improved since moving here, in more ways than she could put into words. She opened the door and was immediately surprised to see more than just Chione standing there. Nearly everyone in the household was crammed into the hallway, and they were all looking at Mimi. Even Actia was there, peeking out from behind Chione's wing.
Mara skittered forward and thrust a glass of pink liquid into Mimi's hand. As Mimi looked down at it in confusion, Mara said, "Don't worry, Iormu mixed it, after she said that I have no idea what I'm doing."
At that, Quess giggled and said, "I believe Iormu's exact words were, 'By Odin's beard! A full glass of 100-proof?! Are you trying to kill the girl?'"
Mara scrunched up her face and glared at Quess, indignant. "How was I supposed to know? I get drunk on caffeine, not alcohol."
Mimi looked around at all the faces crowded around her. "What's going on? I don't understand."
Chione put a hand on Mimi's shoulder and squeezed. "We're throwing a goodbye party for you, Mimi! Come celebrate and hang out. You can finish packing later, and I'll help if you want."
Sliding, skittering, and rolling, the group made their way into the kitchen, where Yuisu was preparing a huge tray of snacks and a bunch of alcohol was already set out on the counter.
As everyone else rushed toward the food or drink, Mimi stopped and slumped in her chest, then muttered, "All this for me? I thought you all didn't like me very much…"
Mara suddenly appeared to Mimi's right side, holding a can of espresso in one hand and already looking a little buzzed. She said, "I gotta admit, when you first showed up, I had my suspicions about you, and you were kind of a huge bitch."
Tsuen stepped up behind Mara and bopped her on top of her head with one fist. "Mara! Don't be mean."
Mara glanced up at her girlfriend and scowled. "Give me a chance to finish." She turned back to Mimi and continued, "But that bad first impression was all my fault, and you grew on me over time. Your antics are super fun, and once you stopped fighting anything Yuisu suggested, you were nice to have around." She took a big gulp of her coffee, wiped her mouth with the back of a carapace-covered hand, then smiled and said, "I'll miss you, Mimi."
Mimi broke into a smile. "Thank you, Mara. I'll miss you t—"
Mara interrupted her by shouting, "Now chug that vodka lemonade thingy and join the party! I picked out a bunch of great snacks and we can play some games too." She immediately ran behind Mimi's chest and started pushing it toward the snack table, her eight sock-covered feet slipping and sliding wildly on the smooth wood floor.
As Mara shuffled off, Tsuen chuckled and shook her head. Mara sure is Mara… and I love that about her. She made her own way to the kitchen counter where Iormu had mixed Mimi's drink, but the jormungand had slithered off to get some food. Tsuen shrugged and poured herself a big glass of mead, unaware that this particular mead had a much higher alcohol content than what she was used to.
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While most of the girls were occupied with a raucous game of Cards Against Liminals, Iormu retreated to the corner to get her massive tail out of everyone's way. Then she pulled out her phone to call Agent Will. He was babysitting Pwess for the night, and even though Iormu trusted him and she knew he was great with kids, she still wanted to check in on her little princess, just in case.
To Iormu's relief, he answered the phone quickly. "Hey, Iormu. Everything's going great. Pwess is watching some Disney movie right now and behaving wonderfully," Agent Will assured her. "Now you should get back to enjoying your mommy's night off, Iormu."
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"Thanks, Agent Will," Iormu said. As she hung up, she was already imagining how much Pwess must love a princess-centric story, given the origin of her name. Though we'll have to explain that queens aren't as evil as Disney movies like to imply...
While Iormu was lost in thought, Tsuen pranced over and joined her, presumably because the centaur wasn't keen on the crude nature of the card game everyone else was playing. "Hiya, Iormu," she said cheerfully, then she asked, "How are you doin'?"
"Pretty good," Iormu answered, but before she could elaborate, Tsuen wobbled unsteadily and leaned against Iormu's mountain of coiled tail for support.
"Ooh, you're comfy." The tipsy centaur lowered herself to the floor and snuggled her brown-furred body up against Iormu's scales.
"Uh, thanks?" Iormu replied. Being cold-blooded, she certainly didn't mind the warmth, but she wasn't used to Tsuen being so physical.
"Psst, Iormu," Tsuen whispered loudly, "I heard that the tip of your tail is an erogenuzz zone… Wha's that like? Can you like…"—she looked side to side conspiratorially and leaned in closer, blushing profusely—"put it in?"
Iormu raised one purple eyebrow and eyed the clearly drunk centaur with concern. She ignored the lewd question and asked, "Tsuen, how much have you had to drink?" While lightweight centaurs weren't as bulky as Iormu, it should still take a lot of alcohol to get them that drunk.
"Juss the one glass," Tsuen responded matter-of-factly. Then she grinned at Iormu and added, "It was really tasty, so after that, I juss drank straight from the bottle… or is it a jug?" At that, she used both arms to lift a sizable glass jug to her lips, but it was already empty. Tsuen pouted, her long brown ears wilting. She whined, "Aww, all gone?"
Iormu's eyes went wide as she realized just how much liquor Tsuen had consumed. So much for mommy's night off, she thought as she resigned herself to taking care of a drunk girl for a while. "Let's go get you some water, Tsuen," she offered and started to unravel herself to head to the kitchen.
Tsuen stood up, but instead of following, she stamped one hoof on the floor defiantly. "Not 'til you answer my queztion! Can you put it in?" she practically shouted. She blushed and added, "Not right now, I mean, like in general…"
Iormu cast a worried glance around, but it seemed the others were too distracted by their game to notice Tsuen's outburst. Iormu sighed and answered, "Fine, fine. Yes, I can 'put it in'."
"In yourself? In your girlfriend?" Tsuen asked. Her wide cyan eyes were innocent yet mischievous, like a kid breaking a school rule for the very first time.
Wow, Tsuen seems pretty inexperienced, Iormu thought, It's been millennia since I was that naive. She tugged Tsuen by the arm toward the kitchen and said, "Yes, and yes. And it feels as good as you'd think."
"Aw, so lucky. I can't even reach myself… but I have Mara, so I don't have to." She paused and made intense and awkward eye contact with Iormu, then added, "She's so good with her tongue it should be illegal."
Iormu just nodded and continued toward the kitchen, already regretting getting involved in that conversation. Hopefully Tsuen won't remember any of this tomorrow...
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Yuisu finally scored the winning point in Cards Against Liminals, thanks to the combination of a lucky hand of cards and a surprisingly dirty sense of humor. The girls were still giggling as they stood up to stretch their legs and get more snacks and booze.
Chione offered to bring Mimi a drink, but Mimi shook her head and said, "Nah, I'll come with you."
As they moved slowly down the hallway, Chione giggled and said, "Sorry about all the lesbian-related jokes you had to suffer through in that game."
"Don't be. I don't mind 'em, and it's actually kind of nice to get a glimpse of your world, Chione."
Chione turned and looked at Mimi. "'My world'? Is it really so different?"
Mimi shrugged. "In some ways, it kinda is. I'm just not attracted to the female body at all, and I guess you're the same for the male body. The thought of a big, firm dick probably just doesn't do it for you."
Chione scrunched up her face in slightly-exaggerated disgust. "Ugh, yeah… I guess that's true."
Mimi smiled at Chione's reaction, then said, "I don't find girl-parts that gross, since I have them too, and I guess I can appreciate feminine beauty… but it just doesn't get me hot."
Chione grabbed the hem of her plaid skirt with both hands and fidgeted. Cautiously, she said, "Um, about the 'feminine beauty' thing… Do you think I'm beautiful?"
Mimi chuckled and stated, "Oh, absolutely. And if I was gay, I'd hit that so hard."
Chione turned bright red, then turned away and busied herself with pouring drinks.
Mimi continued, "Seriously though, you really are beautiful, and cute, and a wonderful person. You're a hell of a catch, Chione."
"T-thanks, Mimi," Chione stammered. Her heart was aflutter from the compliments and her brain was stumbling over its own thoughts. She knew she wanted to stop thinking about Mimi romantically, but actually stopping was another matter entirely. Mimi's my best friend, and I've got Actia now. As much as a I hate to think this, maybe getting some distance from Mimi will help…
Mimi watched Chione's expressive face, which reflected her thoughts surprisingly clearly. "If you're having trouble moving on, talk to Actia about it. I think she can really help you out here," Mimi suggested. "And if you ever get any dirty thoughts about me, just get them out of your system with her…" she added in a teasing tone.
Chione's eyes went wide and she said, "I'd never have dirty thoughts about you!"
"Oh, really? What about that time back in boarding school, when you walked in on me when I was masturbating? You sure had an interesting look on your face," Mimi said, grinning.
Chione's wings flapped nervously, fanning air onto her heated face. "Uh… um…"
Mimi stood up and slapped Chione on the back. "Don't worry about it. Thoughts like that are normal, even about your friends. Now, how about you finish pouring those drinks already?"
Chione filled two glasses with a simple mix of vodka and pink lemonade and handed one to Mimi. They returned to the living room to find everyone deep in conversation in groups of two or three. Chione sat down in an empty armchair and Mimi rolled up next to it.
Mimi said, "Speaking of boarding school, do you remember when that ghost girl enrolled? She creeped me the hell out, but you didn't mind her at all."
Chione smiled at the memory. "Toria was just misunderstood. She had a hard time staying corporeal during the day, so she looked really focused and unpleasant, but she was really fun and talkative at night."
"But weren't you worried that she'd possess you or something?" Mimi asked. "Ghosts are scary."
Chione blinked slowly and gave Mimi a critical look. "Mimi. Look at us. We are just as 'scary' as ghosts. And ghosts can't actually possess people."
Mimi slapped a palm to her forehead. "Oh, duh. I guess picked up some superstitions living as a human for so long."
For a while, Mimi and Chione reminisced about school and about coming of age. They both shared the unique difficulty of becoming a liminal after a childhood of appearing to be human.
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A bit later, Yuisu herded everyone into the living room, got everyone seated in a circle on the couch, chairs, and floor, then said, "You're up, Quess."
Quess stood up, holding a glass of plum wine in a hair tendril as she waved both hands emphatically. "I wanted to play spin-the-bottle, but someone said that it would cause tension in relationships," Quess said, casting an accusing glance at Iormu with each emphasized word. "So instead, we'll play something that will help relationships through communication! Truth or Dare!"
The look on Iormu's face suggested that she wasn't sure about this game either, but she let it stand.
The sloshed slime briefly explained the game, since some of the liminal girls had never played it. Then she turned to Iormu, who was sitting on her right, and called out, "Truth or dare?"
"Truth," Iormu responded, playing it safe to start.
"So you've probably met some famous people in all your years. Who's the most famous person you've slept with?"
So much for 'safe', Iormu thought, then she answered, "That'd be my first boyfriend, though he wasn't that famous at the time. We had a really bad breakup at a tavern, fighting and breaking stuff until we were both thrown out and banned for life. I guess the whole ordeal got exaggerated and became a bit of a folktale."
Mara pointed one hand and a couple legs at Iormu accusingly and said, "Hey, you gotta tell us his name too, or it doesn't count."
"Oh, I guess you'd know him by the name Thor," Iormu said offhandedly, as if she'd planned the slow reveal all along.
A look of understanding slowly crept onto everyone's faces as they put the pieces together. Then, people started asking questions all at once.
"You mean that Thor?!"
"So you mean the myth of Thor and Jormungandr killing each other at Ragnarok was actually just your breakup…?"
"Wait. 'Boyfriend'? You're bi?"
The last one was Chione, who had never heard about Iormu's situation with Antonio the lizardman.
Iormu leaned back against her tail and waved a clawed hand dismissively. "Only one question per turn. It's Actia's turn now."
To Quess's left, the quiet mothgirl nodded, then looked to her left at Chione. "Truth or dare?"
Chione fretted, tugging on the edge of her skirt. It's just Actia… she won't make me do anything awful, so… "Dare," she answered.
Actia's innocent face suddenly twisted into an adventurous grin and she stuttered, "I d-dare you to sh-show everyone your b-b-butt."
"Actia!" yelped Chione, but she turned around so her back was to the circle of women. She leaned forward on her knees, then lifted her skirt with her tail and one hand, revealing plain lilac-colored panties that hugged her butt in a surprisingly sexy way.
[https://i.imgur.com/LHvxQmi.png]
"Mmm, that's a nice ass," came a voice from across the circle.
Every face turned to the source and they were all surprised to find Tsuen. Well, except for Iormu, who knew exactly how drunk Tsuen was.
"What? Itz true, ya know," Tsuen mumbled. The late hour and alcohol were clearly taking their toll on her alertness, but she seemed determined to stay awake.
"Is that enough?" Chione asked pleadingly.
"Yeah, you're good, Chione," Yuisu said, "And it's your turn next."
Chione quickly spun around and knelt on the carpet, tugging her skirt back into place as she tried to calm her racing heart. "Uh, I guess I choose Mimi. Truth or dare?"
Across the circle, Mimi wore a focused expression and answered. "Dare."
Before Chione had really thought it through, she found herself saying, "I dare you to kiss a girl."
Mimi's determination wavered, but only for a second. "Alright…" She swept her eyes around the circle of women, starting at her right. She passed over Tsuen and Mara, then Chione and Actia, then Quess and Iormu, then Haru. She finally settled on Yuisu, who was sitting just to Mimi's left.
Yuisu didn't have time to react before Mimi leaned forward and grabbed Yuisu's face with both hands. Mimi was never one to half-ass something, so she pulled the surprised Yuisu into a deep, open-mouth kiss.
Mimi was tipsy enough that it was easy to pretend she was kissing Hajime, but Yuisu got to enjoy it for what it really was: a very sensual, wet, and illicit kiss with another woman.
Yuri-su returned the kiss with passion, until a very harsh "Ahem" came from her left.
"Are you quite done?" Haru practically growled. All of her feathers were fluffed up and she leaned forward aggressively, making her look huge and imposing. Her gold eyes shone with a hint of menace.
Yuisu pulled back from Mimi in a hurry and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Sorry, Haru," she mumbled quickly. It seemed Haru had a jealous side and it was not to be trifled with.
Mimi leaned back in her chest, made a show of smacking her lips like she'd just sampled a fine wine, then said, "Nope, still straight."
While everyone giggled at that, Yuisu seized the opportunity and deflected everyone's attention by saying, "Your turn, Mara!"
The game continued for one more cycle around the circle, with pretty tame questions and dares, until Mara chose 'dare' on Tsuen's turn. Tsuen was still drunk despite drinking only water since finishing her mead, and she immediately said, "I dare you to eat me out."
Mara grinned and nodded excitedly, and Tsuen started to roll over onto her back right there in the living room.
"Well, that's enough for tonight! Game over," Yuisu immediately shouted. She jumped to her feet and frantically waved her hands like a referee stopping a play. In a way, that's exactly what she was. Then she made a shooing motion at Mara and Tsuen and said, "Take it to your room, you two. Seriously…"
Mimi stood up inside her chest, reaching just over five feet high, and said, "I leave early tomorrow, and I've gotta pack and get some sleep, so…" With a bittersweet smile, she finished, "Thanks everyone, for this party, and for being my friends."
Everyone crowded in to hug Mimi and say goodbye. There were misty eyes all around, including Mimi's mismatched purple and red ones. After all the goodbyes, people wandered off to bed, but not before Iormu reminded everyone to drink some water, to avoid hangovers.
For Chione and Actia, it was effectively midday and they weren't tired at all. Chione turned to Actia and said, "I'm gonna help Mimi pack up for a bit. We can hang out more after."
"Sure thing. I think I'll go fly around a little bit. It's a beautiful night tonight," Actia replied.
Chione bent down to give Actia a quick kiss, then went to Mimi's room to help her pack.
"Ah, thanks for the help, Chione," Mimi said as she welcomed her into the box-filled room.
Once they were alone, Chione asked at nearly a whisper, "Is it alright if I still love you, Mimi?"
Mimi looked her in the eyes and said, "Yes, Chione. You're my best friend, who I flew halfway around the world for. You are my family, my sister, and I love you too."
Chione sat in perfect stillness for a moment, then a single tear ran down her cheek. As several more drops followed, she broke from her statue-like state. "Sisters…" she mused, then a smile slowly spread across her face. "I've always wanted a sister."