Archive of Our Own

   Ryan deciding to lie about sleeping with her was probably the best thing he could have ever done. Mary went up in her ranking. It wasn’t enough to get her out of house pet territory but she was right on the edge. Blake’s death had certainly knocked everything off course, a sad end to a rather chaotic day. It made everything feel weird. Even more so, how everyone looked at her. 

   The school thought she slept with Ryan, which wasn’t ideal. It certainly didn’t help that he asked her not to talk about it. Ryan didn’t like lying, that much was clear. She knows telling the school he was a monster in bed, or a generous “lover” would at least help the rumors that spilled around. Instead, she was left with his order to say nothing and brush it all off. It reminded her of love sick school girls and she hated the idea of being one. Each time someone asked her she had to awkwardly brush it off, and run away as if her tail was between her legs. 

   At a place like St Dom’s Ryan sleeping with an ex-student council member, now house pet, lasted far more than the thought of Blake’s death. Two mere days had passed and Blake’s sad passing had been a blink while Ryan was still getting 1/4th of the schools population asking him if they could have a piece of him. Mary gagged thinking about it. The only real thing she could do to get away from it was hide in her room. Eventually it would pass. Yumeko would do something insane and the whole school would forget about Ryan’s “lost” virginity. 

   All too suddenly, Mary’s silence is broken. Zero knocking, the bedroom door clatters open and Michael pants in the entry way, holding onto the handle for dear life. 

   “What the fuck, dude. What got into you? Did Yumeko—“

   “Riri challenged Ryan for you to be her house pet.” Mary dropped her pen. For a moment, her entire world titled on its axis. 

   “Are you fucking with me?”

   “No she— She challenged him. Here.” Micheal scrambles to pull something out of his pocket. She’s halfway off the bed when he hands it over to her. She’s seen Riri’s writing a handful of times. Elegant cursive, beautiful loops, and clean penmanship. It all stared right back at her. Short to the point sentences, and a signature that marked doom. 

   “Why the—“ Kira. She knew the answer was Kira, it always was. Whatever game this was, she did not want to be a part of. But her life was in Ryan’s hands. “Oh god he’s gonna lose!”

   Mary ran out of the room, Michael hot on her tail. When they burst through the lounge doors the main table was surrounded. To Mary’s horror, Kira was downstairs, standing two feet away from the edge of the table in between the two. Ryan was sweating, Riri looked as if nothing bothered her, and nothing probably did. 

   The air was so stilted she couldn’t even get words out. Not that she knew what to say. The game had started. Ryan was already losing. There was not a plan she could create. Not when the student council was scattered around the room, and the head bitch herself was right between the two. This would only end one way. 

   Her heart dropped. For a moment there Mary really thought she would be free. She wondered if Runa fucked her over. Had ratted her out to Kira. It was the most probable answer, and before Mary could make it out of house pet territory they decided to snatch her right up. Keep that grip around her throat, and foot on her head. 

   “He could still—“

   “No, he can’t,” Mary cuts Michael off. “You know Riri. She’s Kira’s golden card. She only plays her when she wants a sure win. Ryan’s not a very good player, anyways.” Micheal gives her a devastating look she chooses to ignore. The chain around her neck feels a lot more heavy. 

  They watch. It’s all they can do. Kira looked up at her a few times, and Mary couldn’t look at her. Humiliation was already thumping through her. Mary was a pet being traded around. No, worse. She felt like a chew toy between dogs. One that would surely be torn to shreds by the end of it. 

   Everyone saw it coming. 

   Ryan clasped onto the table with a groan, his hands fisting his head. Yumeko fell to his side, whispering in his ear. Mary expected to hear Kira’s evil laugh, but instead watched her glare intensify at his head. An anvil waiting to drop. But wasn’t this it? What more could they have?

   The room was roaring with laughter. You would think Ryan would be used to being humiliated by now, but it seemed like it hurt him as much as it did every other time. She doesn’t ask why he didn’t just tell Riri no. She knows that you can’t say no to Riri Timurov. She knows when the Timurov sisters play there is no choice. There is only praying the pain will not be too drastic, and you will still be breathing by the end of it. 

   Riri stands. She flattens her skirt, stepping to lean down to hear whatever Kira whispered to her. Just as quickly, dark eyes were on her. 

  “Shit. I gotta— I’m gonna run.”

   “You can’t out run them,” Michael says. 

   Mary knows that. Of course she knows that. That’s how she got into this mess in the first place. But she still high tails it out of there. Pushing through the crowd and out into the empty hall. Her feet are loud as she begins to speed up, heart pounding in her chest. 

~

   Mary hid the entire rest of the day. It had been one of those days, you go to bed hoping it would all be a nightmare, and wake up hoping the same. She left her room, jaw clenching the moment eyes started to lock onto her. The whispers were the confirmation she needed. 

   Keep her head high. That was the plan. Whatever game Kira and the council was playing, Mary would win it. She’s done it before, she can do it all again. She was almost free, on the cusp of being out from under the line. 

   After getting her food, her sad bowl and water, entering the seating area she barely had five seconds before Riri was walking towards her. “Jesus Christ,” Mary hissed. She straightened her shoulders, waiting. 

   Riri paused in front of her. Eyes slowly trialing over her. Mary shifted uncomfortably, wondering what could be going on in that head of hers. Just as quickly, Riri tilted her head towards the council table and Mary followed without a word. She didn’t have to give them anything. But maybe being quiet was giving them something?

   Either way, Mary silently trudged towards the table. Expecting criticism, or snarky remarks from Chad, or even, hell, Dori, she was met with none. Kira, of all, was checking her lipstick in a compact mirror. When Riri motioned for her to sit in the chair next to her own, pushed slightly back so she wouldn’t be able to actually use the table, Mary felt those nerves bubbling up. 

   “Is this a joke? Or some sick test? Because if I sit down and you punish me for that I’m—“

   “Just sit the fuck down, Davis. You’re her house pet, do as Riri pleases,” Kira snaps. Her eyes roll, closing her compact shut and overlooking the cafeteria. 

   Mary blinks, because what the fuck was happening. She looks up at Riri who just motions gently to the chair she pulled out. Swallowing, feeling as if the floor is about to be pulled from beneath her, Mary sits, balancing her tray on the chair's arm and sits

   She’s seen them treat house pets. She’s seen them both harm people in ways that make her skin crawl. Her only conclusion is some new psychological warfare. Riri sits beside her, poise and perfect, glancing at her sister, before leaning over and whispering something nobody can hear. Kira nods sharply, Mary’s stomach clenched. 

   The entire breakfast she waits for the shoe to drop. It never does. Not even when Runa arrives, and the table becomes more joyful as Chad and her hit up a conversation. 

~

   Mary doesn’t know what the fuck is happening but by day four she was losing her fucking mind. The tasks she was asked to do weren’t humiliating. At least not as humiliating as the council normally treats housepets. Mary wasn’t asked to be a footrest, or eat her food off the floor, or even lick somebody's shoes clean. Nobody tricked her into a task that ended with her bruised or bleeding. 

   Riri seemed to be the only one giving her tasks, besides Kira on the rare chance. Which wasn’t off for a normal housepet, but Mary was well aware of how the council worked. The housepet of one was the housepet of the council. Unless it was Kira. She knew there was a plan. The only clue she had towards what it could be was that they did everything in their power to keep her away from her friends. She gags at the idea of calling Ryan her friend, but, in the solitude of her mind she missed him. 

   The council was isolating her. The cafeteria was the biggest no go zone. Mary didn’t even have to enter the cafeteria before one of the council members was on her to drag her back to the council table to sit slightly behind Riri. It really was psychological warfare. How the fuck was she supposed to fight that? 

   One of Mary’s last remaining shards of hope was struck down when she got an answer for her roommate request form. She had sent in a request shortly after Blake’s death to switch to Yumeko’s room. It was a resounding no, signed by the student council President herself Kira Timurov. 

   Mary had shouted, tore the paper to shreds and kicked her bed frame. She had survived at St. Dominic’s for long enough on her own but it was the waiting that got to her. The not knowing what move was next, when the anvil would finally crush her skull. She was playing a waiting game. Each task she did, she expected it to twist, to change. For something wrong to happen. Hell, she wanted Kira to hit her at this point just so she understood the game. 

   The weekend came agonizingly slow. Mary had to sneak around, trying to avoid the cameras she knew were almost always being watched. There was a cornered off area in the garden, far from eyes, where most people just went to make out. The benches there were old, dedicated to some rich fuck who definitely didn’t deserve any sort of dedication. 

   “She lives,” Is the first thing Ryan says to her. Mary glares at him, but smiles softly at Yumeko's happy squeal as she stands, rushing over to hug her. 

   “Jeez, relax,” Mary says. She hugs her anyway. She felt exhausted and fucking deserved it. Yumeko rubbed her back twice before pulling away, still smiling with a little twinge of worry. “I’m fine.”

   “The bloody council whisked you away! Kira and Riri haven’t stopped giving me death glares. Riri feels like a weeping angel getting closer every time I look away! I’m so sorry, Mary. I really tried. She came out of nowhere and—“

   “You never had a chance. You’re a loser. Putting you against a Timurov was like challenging a newborn to walk out of the womb.”

   “Ouch.”

   “What have they had you doing? We’ve barely seen you! I was looking forward to my new awesome roommate!” Yumeko pouted, jabbing Mary in the arm. 

   “Kira declined it. They’re keeping me isolated. I’m practically an indoor cat now, or one of her fish. Stuck in a stupid tank swimming around and around. It’s insane. I’m going fucking insane!” 

   “We have a plan! Ryan was telling me about the house hunt! Mary, if we get you to win we can get you out of housepet status!”

   “That’s—“ It wasn’t the worst idea . “Spade wins every year.”

   “You’ve never had me before!” Yumeko grins, wickedly. “Trust us. Trust me. Ryan may not have been able to beat Riri but I know you can get out of housepet status. I’d bet on it.”

   “You’d bet on anything ,” Mary sighs. She chews her lip, looking between her two friends. Ryan gave her a little smile that made her roll her eyes. If only he were good at gambling, but he was always a loser. He had never been a middle player, always skimming the edge of the bottom. 

     You’ve never had me before . 

   It repeats. Yumeko's eyes are soft, wide. Her pupils are blown, the freak that she is. Does she trust her? She’s not entirely sure how far she can trust, but Mary really doesn’t want to end up bleeding once the council finally reaches whatever end goal they’re waiting for. Because she will bleed. That is a fact. 

   “Fine. What’s this plan?”

   They all sit down, ignoring the bench to lounge on the grass. Yumeko is quick with talking and Mary listens carefully to her every word. Ryan looks like some lovesick puppy, sometimes putting input that doesn’t really matter. 

   It felt good to talk to people. Her claws wrapped into the idea of winning. She could feel that piece of her thrum. Alive, waiting, breathing, hungry. She hadn’t gambled in far too long. And this would be one of her biggest gambles yet. Nothing could compete with Yumeko, but this would be going against the council. If Mary lost and Kira realized what she had planned, then she would surely suffer her kiss of death. 

~

   They should have questioned whether Kira would let her play or not. When Kira called the Council back to the council room Mary had been prepared to take the trek to heart house quickly before the game officially began. She hadn’t been dismissed, but Runa had sauntered down the steps in her lion onesie with the Council lining up. Mary stepped away, inching towards the door to quietly leave. 

   “Where do you think you’re going?” Kira asked, voice firm. 

   “Uh, to my house?” Mary replied. She bit back a retort that would surely make Kira smite her. Even now, Kira looked annoyed. 

   “You’re staying here.”

   “I’m not spade—“

   “I know you aren’t spade,” Kira spat. “You aren’t playing.”

   “Then why the fuck did you have me get a card?” 

   “Riri.“ Riri made a move forward at her name. Mary took a quick step back. She wasn’t afraid of Riri, per se, but the nerves of the week were gnawing on her. She knew what the older girl was capable of. Even if they used to share looks, and laugh at Chad's stupid remarks that didn’t matter. It never would. 

   That hurt. Deeper than she expected it too. Mary hadn’t really taken the time to think about Riri actually hurting her. And doing it now, looking up at her face covered by her pretty black mask made her heart ache. The feeling was foreign. It didn’t fit. It was a thought that felt as if it should never have crossed her mind. 

   She wasn’t council. She wasn’t Kira. Why wouldn’t Riri do as her sister asked? Mary knew the rules. She knew what was law and what happened if you broke them. That meant Riri Timurov, quiet shadow and terminator in question. 

   She expected Riri to hit her. She waited for it. Bit her tongue, and braced herself. She did not look away. Because if this was about to happen in front of the full council Mary was going to keep her head fucking high. They would not have this over her. They would not make her feel weak, or like a fool. 

   Riri didn’t hit her. Instead, at the last moment two feet away from Mary she pulled one of the council seats out and turned it around. She gestured, eyes scanning Mary’s face. 

   Mary swallowed. The knot in her stomach, prominent, as she slowly sat down. When seated, Riri turned back to get in line with her hands behind her back. And then it was as if Mary wasn’t there. As if she hadn’t just talked back to Kira. As if she hadn’t just finally thought the shoe would drop. 

   Each council member got their cards from Runa. Mary saw every single one of them. Her eyes tracking each movement? Everything mattered. And Kira might think she can keep her locked in here, but if Mary got out the flag was right there, which meant she would win. She just had to bide her time and wait for the right moment. 

   It was boring. Kira sent Chad, and Dori out on tasks. She watched her cameras, stalking Yumeko and muttering to herself. Riri had been around, doing her orders as they came. 

   It had been a while into Mary bored scrolling on her phone when Riri had silently come back and stood behind Kira. She watched, discreetly. Riri said something, and something went through Kira. Whatever her words were, they rattled her. 

   “Stay here. I’ll know if you leave,” Kira says. “And don’t even think about touching that flag, Davis. You won’t survive.”

   Mary swallows, watching the two sisters urgently leave the chamber. 

   She’s alone. 

   Or, as alone as she can be. She glanced around the corners of the room, trying to find the camera. She could try and edit the footage, but even then Kira would know. It felt too sticky. Whatever she did would have some punishment against her. 

   She took her card out, sighing. She’s never had a face card before. Of course the first time she does she’s a prisoner. She hated herself for staying. For playing into this game like a well trained dog. 

   If she left she would run into somebody. Michael first. If Dori and Chad were headed back she would be fucked. Neither of them would hesitate to have her head if she stole the spade flag.

   Mary stood. Slowly. It wasn’t cheating if she grabbed it. Riri was her owner, so maybe she could say she was never ordered. Even if that was a boldface claim when whatever was Riri’s was Kira’s. Her head tilted up at the spade flag. 

   She stared at it for a very long time. Minutes passed. She was stuck there. Knowing what needed to be done but knowing Kira meant what she said. She wasn’t stupid. Suki was gone. Dead. And there were many before that. Hell, Blake’s roommate. You didn’t mess with the Timurovs unless you were suicidal. There was no untouchable spot. Yumeko might like to play with fire, but Mary was afraid of the burns. 

Creak . 

   “Pst. Hey, over here.”

   Mary jumped. Her eyes swiveled around the room till she saw a wall pop out. Inside the sliver of the door was the face of a girl with gold rimmed glasses. 

   “Who the hell are you? And what the hell is that?” Mary blinked as the girl gave her a wide smile. She motioned with her finger. 

   Was she going to die? Definitely. By Kira, or by this random girl. The secret door opened wider, giving Mary a full view of her face and the housepet tag swinging in front of her chest. 

   “Come on , toots. We have to get moving!”

   “Where?” Mary started to walk towards her. 

   “Get the flag! You want to win, don’t you?” Mary froze. Her eyes traveled back to the flag she left on the table. “You can’t want to be a housepet forever.”

   “I’m sorry, who are you? Because I’ve never seen you before.”

   “That doesn’t matter! You only have so much time. If we use the tunnels you can reach heart house and win.” Mary opened her mouth, she felt her heart in her throat. The girl wiggled her eyebrows but Mary couldn’t move. She’s not sure why. 

   She looks at the main doors to the council chamber. She feels the words before they come out. Like a rotten tooth ready to fall. The trepidation. The anxiety. It’s all there. The expectation of pain. 

   “No. I can't.”

   The girl looks genuinely surprised. “You can’t?” she repeats. “Aren’t you scared?”

   “No.” It’s a lie.  

   There’s a weighted silence. The girl steps back a little, her head inclining forward. Mary watches her eyes flicker to the camera that won’t be able to see her because of the door. 

   “I’m giving you an out and you’re saying no? You could have a free ride out of housepet status if you won. You don’t want to be here. You’re scared.”

   “Stop saying that,” Mary snaps. The girl doesn’t flinch like she wishes she would. “I’m not a baby. I can handle myself. I have handled myself. Kira wants me under her thumb, then fine. I don’t need some nameless housepet to be my knight in shining armor. I can save myself.” 

   The girl ducks her head, hiding. “Of course. I'm sorry. You can ask for help, though. You know that, right?”

   Mary was genuinely losing her mind. Because how did she end up in this position where a random girl coming out of the wall was telling her she could ask for help. “Fuck off,” Mary says.

   It’s that easy. The hidden door closes as if it were never there. Mary’s spine is tense, her breathing ragged. She had a chance. A real chance. The girl had mentioned tunnels that led all the way to heart house. Her victory was in her grasp. 

   She slowly walked back to the chair and sat down where Riri had set her. Her eyes landed on the fish tank, watching a red and white goldfish with a long fin swim across before turning around. 

   She wanted to know the game. She wanted to win her way. She wanted to figure Kira out and crumble her entire plan into ash. Walking out the doors was too easy. Sitting and waiting like a leashed dog was hell. It was tormenting. But she would get out of this her way on her terms. Mary might not be able to make student council again by the end of this year, but she would get out of housepet status. Phycological warfare be damned. 

   It was then that she realized it could have been a trap. The girl, the housepet. Kira could have so easily left her alone to fall for it. Mary smacks her head three times out of frustration. Of course it was a trap. Kira wanted a reason to get rid of her. To humiliate her. She was feeding Mary candy in hopes she would walk right into the big white van and shoot herself.

   The flag stayed. Mary stayed. The fish swam back and forth. The filter hummed. Her phone stayed untouched, tucked away in her skirt pocket. Her legs crossed, bouncing up and down. Her eyes wavered between the fish. Her mind was scrambling, thinking. They gave her an entry to the council. Mary couldn’t waste it. 

~

   When Kira came back, she arrived as if she thought Mary would have bolted. Anger, hot, boiling. As soon as her eyes locked onto Mary in the chair she smirked. “Good job, Mittens.”

   “Fuck off, Kira,” Mary huffed. Kira swiftly came over and smacked the back of her head. Mary hissed, cursing, cradling the now dull throbbing spot. 

   “I will get a spray bottle and it won’t be filled with water.”

   “I didn’t even do anything! You’re so temperamental!” Mary shouted. 

  “Quiet. I need to think. Pets don’t talk.” Mary glared, wishing it would set Kira on fire. 

   Her view of the fish tank was blocked. Leaving her to stare at the back of Kira’s stupid head as she sat in the chair across from it. She’s seen Kira do this before when she was on the council. Something must have bothered her. 

   “So, what was so important you had to leave me here?” Mary asked. It pushed her luck, but if Kira popped now it might be for the better. 

   “What did I just say?”

   “I’m not trained very well.”

   “ Clearly.”

   Mary rolled her eyes. She wanted to push more but the council doors opened. Riri entered the room and gently shut the doors. Her eyes glanced at Mary, nodding, before setting on Kira. She moved a chair next to her and sat down, hands folded in her lap. 

   It was quiet for a while. Mary found herself bored. A day that should have been filled with adrenaline had been the complete opposite. Instead she had been met with confusing heightened emotions and traps laid out by the queen bitch herself. Something very much not fun. 

   Mary’s not sure how it started. She hadn’t been fully paying attention. Zoned out, thinking and plotting. But when she did look up Riri had a hair brush and a lock of Kira’s hair on her hand. She cradled it gently, as if she could hurt Kira. Each stroke of the brush was done with more care than Mary had ever seen. 

   It was intimate. Something that should have stayed between the sisters. Something Mary knows they wouldn’t allow anyone to see. Had she really fallen that low? That both Timurovs thought she wasn’t on the board anymore? That they could make moves, and actions in front of her without fear?

   “I hate seeing her like that. It’s pathetic,” Kira says. Her voice was low but in the empty room Mary could still hear it. “I know people hate me. Or fear me, same diff.” Mary rolled her eyes. “They don’t know how hard it is. To give them entertainment, discipline, purpose. They’ll never understand the pressure. Be beautiful. But never vain.” Never vein? Mary thought, with a barely held in scoff. “Be ruthless. But never cruel.” Mary decided Kira was just making jokes now. “The mark on her neck was new.”

   Mary felt the air in the room evaporate. Her eyes dared to flicker up at them for a second. She saw Riri freeze, looking up at her sister. 

   “I thought after the divorce, he’d lost interest in her. But he’d never give up his leverage, would he?” Riri slowly started to brush her hair again. 

   Mary had to look away, because if she didn’t, she knows what looking at this conversation would get her. But she had questions. And thoughts. In one minute she had a very inside look at the Timurov family she didn’t ask for. 

   Kira turned. “Your mother. Does he…” Mary glanced up in time to see the small nod from Riri. She never asked herself why Kira and Riri were so violent. They were rich spoiled kids with legacies to uphold. But it was learnt. Crafted. Woven into them by a man who apparently hit his child’s mother’s. Mary didn’t like Kira, but she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. 

   Kira leaned forward, grabbing Riri's hand. “When I take over, things will be different,” she said earnestly, almost feaverishly. “I promise,” she added with conviction. They both nodded at one another. Small. Barely able to be seen if you weren’t paying attention. 

   Kira turned forward again. Back to her fish. It was brief before she stood, hands folded in front of herself. Mary looked away again before Riri could catch her staring as she stood. 

   “Dori and Chad are securing the heart house flag. Go secure the club house flag.” Riri turned around, ready to go, then— “Give me your ace.” She froze. They both turned to face each other, Kira’s hand already raised. They swapped cards. “I need the best card so I can stay behind and play defense. Yumeko’s gonna be gunning right for me.”

   Mary pretended to be very interested in the council table. She only looked up when a shadow loomed over her. Riri tilted her head towards the doors. Confused, Mary stood slowly. Riri nodded, and started to walk away. Mary might not understand why she was following, but knew better than to stay behind. 

   She followed her out the council doors into the hallway. Mary didn’t try to say anything. After overhearing that conversation between the sisters it felt wrong too. She tried to stealthfully look at Riri and wondered . If a man could hit the mothers of his children did that mean—

   She shouldn’t. It didn’t help that Riri wore a mask. Mary quickly connected dots she didn’t want to connect. But the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Even if the idea of Kira or Riri being anything but the strongest in the room seemed absurd. A man like that didn’t know how to parent. If he did, his daughters wouldn’t be what they were. 

   “You stayed.” Mary jolted. Wide eyed looking at Riri whose head was confidently forward. 

   “I— Yes.” It’s all she can say. And it makes her feel her theory on the housepet was true. The girl had been a trap. “I’m not stupid, you know.”

   Riri looked down at her, tilting her head. 

   “You can’t lay traps in front of me and expect me to blindly fall into them. I was on the Council once.” Riri nods. Mary can’t tell if she’s even taking her seriously. But she doesn’t look mad, her eyes are soft, actually. 

   “You are smart,” Riri says after a moment. It’s the most Riri has ever talked to her and it’s blowing her mind. Her voice, soft, gentle. Kira’s voice had made her think it would be raspy. That it might be rough and full of something. But it was almost the opposite. As if her vocal cords were delicate things. 

   Mary huffed, crossing her arms. She ignored the inquisitive look Riri sent her. “Can I go to my room or something if I can’t play? This is total bullshit.” Riri shook her head no, of course. Mary was stuck with her. 

~

   Riri was a force to be reckoned with. It was kind of hot, in a scary and really annoying way. Mary couldn’t be touched. Riri walked in front of her with a purpose and bulldozed down everyone in her path. They easily secured the Club house flag and headed right back to the council room. 

   She hadn’t spoken again. Part of Mary wishes she had. It was insane. The entire time she was on the Council Riri had never said a single word to her. And then there she went today. Speaking. As if it wasn’t insane for her to do when she wasn’t angry. As if she hadn’t carefully plucked words and placed them in cotton. 

   It made her wonder what Riri would be like if she hadn’t grown up the way she did. If she hadn’t seen what she must have seen. It gnaws at her. She shouldn’t say anything. Mary really needs to learn to keep her mouth shut. She would never say Kira was right, not unless hell burned out, but maybe a shock collar could get her to shut up. 

   “I’m sorry,” Mary says. It’s not enough. There’s no context. She has to force the context out because now she’s in it. “About… your dad.”

   It’s heavy. The hallway feels suffocating. It takes five seconds for Riri to grab her arm and then suddenly they are stepping through lockers and in a secret hallway. Seriously, did St. Dominic’s just have a whole fucking secret tunnel system she didn’t know about? 

   “I-I didn’t mean to— I just— That must really fucking suck,” Mary explains. Her heart beats rapidly. She expects Riri to snap here, but instead she lets go of Mary and looks down at her with softer eyes than she’s ever seen. 

   “Thank you,” she says. She says. Something must be in the air. Riri looks away. Even with the mask Mary can see her jaw clench. “She does try.”

   “Kira?” Mary asks. Riri gives a small nod. She doesn’t know why Riri is being honest. Since the moment she took her as a house pet nothing has made any sense. There had to be something in the water. 

   “He makes things difficult.” The sentence is said with the most venom of the night. Mary nearly winces. The implication. 

   Mary chooses to do something entirely insane. She grabs Riri’s hand and she squeezes it. A small gesture, but one that shouted between the two of them. Riri looked down at their linked hands for a long moment. Mary felt like she swallowed her own tongue. 

   When Mary first got thrown off the council she had gone to Riri first. She did that for a reason. Away from her being Kira’s right hand she was the most sane. And they had… something. Not friendship. But an understanding between each other. She thought it was a lie. But maybe it was still there. 

   She still fully believes Riri took ownership of her because of some sick twisted game for Kira. But disregarding that, a big disregard, Riri was still the girl who met her eyes across the council table and titled her head in that cute way that made Mary laugh. Because she understood and saw the insanity that Mary saw. And now here she was, bridging something new, and who the hell was Mary to deny her?

   If all she had was Kira, she definitely needed somebody else. And if Riri for some insane reason thought Mary was safe enough she couldn’t destroy that. There was no part of her that wanted to hurt her. If Suki were still alive he would have used it against her. But Mary hadn’t thought of doing that for a second. 

   “People suck,” Mary says. It’s simple and it’s sweet. “Bad things happen and it’s—“ she doesn’t expect her eyes to start to tear up but they do. It’s embarrassing how fast it happens. “Shit, I’m sorry. It’s just… messed up, you know? You can’t do anything. Men just get away with anything. Especially men with money. You can try, and fight, but it feels so…”

   The thought is never finished. She chuckles, her face heating up as Riri squeezed her hand. She had forgotten. She can’t now. Not when she’s so focused on how warm it is in her own. How Riri’s hand perfectly fits in her own. Surprisingly her hands are soft, even with the calluses she knows are there. 

   There's nothing else said. Riri never unlinks their hands. Instead, she pulls them through the mysterious secret tunnels of St. Dominic’s to what Mary assumes is the council room. 

~

   Back in the council room, Mary lazily tried not to spin in the council chair. Watching Kira crash out over Yumeko was funny . She couldn’t say that, and each time she began to smile, Riri gave her a look that made her try to force it down. That, and, everytime Riri did look at her she remembered what it felt like to hold her hand. 

   Michael came through the council doors, defeated, and annoyed. 

   “What do you want?” Kira asked him. “Go hide in the library if you don’t want to play.”

   “Actually, your moms here, in the rotunda. Said it’s urgent.” 

   Kira took a deep breath with her eyes closed. “Gaurd the flag,” she ordered Riri. She left, shoulder checking Michael with most of her body. Mary didn’t even try to hide her snort. Michael glanced at her, clear curiosity but he quickly left. 

   Mary leaned back, accepting Kira’s disappearance as her nap time. No evil muttering, or incoherent plans to be heard. She could hear Riri walk closer to her, but didn’t pay any mind.

   Then, like a bull entering a china shop the doors clattered open. Mary jumped, sitting up with wide eyes to watch a panting Ryan stumble into the room. His eyes were blown, his lip was split, and his clothes were a mess. Yumeko was behind him, ever the picture of a chaotic goddess.

   When Yumeko met her gaze, she frowned only a little bit. Mary mouthed later to which the girl nodded. 

   And then— The unexpected happened. Or maybe it was expected and Mary just hadn’t been thinking about it. 

   Riri body slammed Ryan into the wall. It was so hard that something cracked. Whether it was the wall or Ryan was unclear because he groaned, loudly. 

   “Riri—“ Mary stood, the chair quickly wheeling out from under her. 

   Riri’s hand wrapped around his throat, anchoring his shaking body. “Oh-Oh my god! Let go!” Ryan screams. His hands grabbed at her wrist but Riri was far stronger than him. 

    “ Stay.” Riri growled. Her voice was the exact opposite of what Mary had heard not that long ago. It was rough, and demanding. It held weight. It settled in the pit of her stomach. It was kind of very hot. She watched the tendons in Riri’s hand twitch as she squeezed harder. Ryan gasped, his eyes watering. 

   “Shit. Riri— Riri, stop, please. You have to stop!” Mary shouted. 

   The council doors opened once again. The loud clatter drew only the attention of Mary as Kira stood there like a paralysis demon ready to strike. Her eyes took in the scene, settling heavy on Ryan and her sister. 

   “Kira, make her stop,” Mary said. She didn’t beg. She would never beg Kira. But Ryan was gasping, and his face was turning a different color. His hands weren’t fighting as hard anymore. 

   Kira titled her head. “Drop him.”

   Riri hesitated. Then Ryan’s body fell to the floor like a rag doll. He coughed, clawing at the ground. Mary sighed, stepping backwards. She didn’t need to witness a murder today, especially over a school game. 

   “What do you think you’re doing?” Kira asked. Mary followed her gaze to Yumeko who stood by the filing cabinets. 

   “What— Nothing. Challenge!” She exclaimed, skipping across the room as if Riri hadn’t just tried to choke Ryan out. 

   “Your time is up, Kawamoto.” Mary watched as they drew their cards. Kira took the ace from Riri. Yumeko's 2 of hearts gleamed. 

   “Hm, two beats the ace, right?” Yumeko said, giggling. 

   “Riri!” Kira shouted. 

   Riri was there, tapping Yumeko. She might not have called challenge, but it was understood. Yumeko pouted. Her card was still between her fingers, and when Riri pulled out her card her eyes twinkled. 

   “Aw, man. I really wanted to beat you Kira-san. I guess I’ll have to wait till next year to steal the spade flag.”

   “I’ll crush you,” Kira growled. “You won’t survive that long.”

   “Promises, promises,” Yumeko giggled, side stepping Riri to poke Kira in the arm. Kira huffed, glaring hard. 

   “What the hell,” Ryan groaned from the ground. 

   Honestly, Mary forgot he was there. And considering the looks on Yumeko and Kira’s faces, they had as well. But not Riri. Riri hadn’t taken her eyes off his convulsing body. Ryan sprawled out on the ground as if every ounce of energy had been sucked from him. 

   Riri, elegantly, back straight, hands clasped behind her back, walked right over to him and kicked him . 

   “Oh!” Yumeko shouted. “We already lost. Is bruising Ryan really—“ Riri kicked him again, harder, as if that were possible. Mary even winced. 

   “Riri,” Kira said, voice stern. Riri stopped, her shoulders shook with each ragged breath. Mary waited in almost awe for her to turn around and when she did her chest was rising and falling with exertion. “What did I say?”

   Riri nods, and bows her head. Kira sighed, looking down at the floor where Ryan laid in disgust. She walked over to him, heels clicking loudly with each step. She crouched down, her lipstick glinting in the light as she leaned towards his ear. 

   Mary wishes she heard what Kira said. She would pay money to have it repeated. Ryan’s body tensed. His painful sobbing completely came to a stop as if fear froze every inch of him. For a moment, Mary thought just Kira’s voice alone had killed him. 

   Kira stood swiftly, easily. “Get out. You lost.”

   Yumeko stumbles past them both. Mary’s eyes settle on Riri. The way her hands start to clench behind her back. How it looks like she’s trying so hard not to move. To not stop Yumeko from picking Ryan up and helping him leave the council room. But she does, and the both of them leave. 

   Mary has no clue what just happened. She knew Kira and Riri were trying to isolate her but even that seemed extreme. Riri looked as if she had vengeance. As if there was something powering her. It was to a point Kira had to tell her to stop. A clear order Riri struggled to take. 

   She went to speak— Kira raised a hand, silencing her. Kira turned to Riri, tilting her head. The sisters communicated silently. 

   “Riri will escort you back to your room.” That couldn’t be it. 

   Riri walked towards the doors, holding one open for her. Mary blinked once. Then twice. She forced herself to move, and left the room, Riri following close behind her. 

~

   Things were weird. Some days it didn’t even feel like she was a housepet. She studied, kept her grades up enough to keep her scholarship. Her fingers itched to gamble but the 86 was still metaphorically blazing on her back. But if she blinked too long, looked the wrong way. Silently sitting besides Riri at the council table, it felt like she was a part of it. As if she never left the council in the first place. 

   She laid in bed, unable to sleep. Alone and thinking of the small moments she shared with Riri during house wars. It made her start to notice things, or just watch Riri more carefully, more closely. The way she moved. Poise, proper, somehow elegant. It reminded her sometimes of a ballerina. 

   Sometimes, guiltily, when she’s so tired she’s on the edge of sleep she will imagine it. Riri, somewhere else, somewhere different. Dancing, moving as if it were as easy as breathing. The music made for her. Soft, and sweet. Words that people were too afraid to use. But Mary found herself feeling more and more comfortable with them on her tongue when it came to Riri. Her eyes weren’t very hard, not all the time. 

   Mary needed the shoe to drop. Because each day that passed she realized the small thing gently lighting up inside of her. She could taste the smoke on her tongue. Feel the singe in her heart from each spark, each (longing) glance. 

   She needed Kira to slap her. Or Runa to do something insane. Or Dori to try to cut off her fingers. She needed Chad to say something stupid, hateful, and probably a little sexist. She needed to breathe, to see what they were. To ruin and taint the image of Riri before it became too hard. Because this was a game. She was here because of a game. 

   She hadn’t seen Ryan since that day, but she found him in the halls. He walked quickly, with an anxious purpose. When Mary pounced on him he genuinely shirked. 

   “Geez, doofus. Do you want them to hear us?” She shoved him into an alcove, looking around. The few students who did see them hopefully would be too uninterested in Ryan to spread the word. 

   “What are you doing? Riri practically killed me! I’m not allowed to talk to you. Kira made that pretty bloody clear.” Ryan clutched his side, pain splattered on his features. 

   “I know,” Mary huffed. 

   “No, you don’t . She’s been on me like a hawk, Mary. I’m losing my bloody mind. Yumeko keeps being pulled away by Kira and it’s left me in the flipping deep end.”

   “Oh, boohoo, get a grip. You’re a man. And not a virgin.” She winked. Ryan stepped back, sinking a little against the wall. His expression was unimpressed, ungrateful , really. “Hey, anyone would be grateful to say they slept with me! I’m awesome.”

   “Yeah, whatever,” he said, nose scrunched. “What do you want?”

   “I want your money.”

   “What?” Ryan choked. 

   “Play me. I’ll win, and then be out from under the line.”

   “I—“ he looked around, anxiously glancing behind her. She wondered briefly if she would see Riri step from the wall like a ghost. “You’re still 86’d.”

   “Are you kidding me?” Mary asked. She chuckled, crossing her arms. “I did you a favor. I’m calling it in.”

   “They’re both already after me!”

   “I’m in the wolf's den!” Mary shouted. It was enough to make Ryan flinch and look behind her again, expectantly. “Nobody’s there. Pussy up and help me.”

   “Why don’t you just ask Yumeko? They aren’t mad at her. At least not more than the usual.”

   “Because—“ I can’t beat her. I’m afraid of losing. I’m afraid of a replay. “Because Yumeko doesn’t owe me. I thought you wanted to help me?”

   “I do—“

   “Then what the fuck are you doing?” She tilted her head, waiting for an answer as he fumbled. Pathetic . She grinded her teeth, narrowing her eyes. “I should have never trusted you.”

   “Mary—“

   “No. You’re a coward, you know that right? Running away, afraid, with your tail between your legs.” She stepped closer, he had slumped down far enough that her face was level with his. “Yumeko would be so disappointed in you if she knew the truth.”

   Ryan blinked. His eyes welled. Mary didn’t care. “As if you didn’t owe me,” he says, voice wavering. He didn’t even have the balls to say it with a straight face. 

   “I owed you?” she steps closer, whispering with intensity that burns. “You would be nothing without me. Hell, even without Yumeko. You gambled, Ryan!”

   “You cheated.”

   “So that’s how it is. Still stuck on the fact you challenged me. You knew what the council was. I didn’t and don’t owe you shit.”

   There’s a beat. Long, silent. Both of them breathing deeply before he says, quietly, stilted, “you were my housepet.” It’s simple. But she gets what he’s saying. Favors weren’t favors. She helped her owner, and that meant getting nothing in return. 

   “Oh, fuck you!” Mary shouted, jabbing her fist into his chest. She backed up when he crumbled, groaning. “You pull that fucking card!”

   “What— It’s not fair?” he asks. It’s not a taunt but it feels like it. If he knew how to wield his words it would have scarred her skin. It still hurts , though. “You’re a cheater.”

   Her fists clenched at her sides. Jaw rolling. She never thought of him as her friend. But he was something, wasn’t he? She got him a cupcake for his birthday. She lied for him. Told people they had sex. Did what he asked, and kept quiet. Played it off like a stupid girl with a silly crush. 

   She steps back, once, twice. She wishes Yumeko were here. Ryan was so wrapped around her finger she knows she could get him. But all Mary wants to do now is scream. To yell and shout. She doesn’t know what’s ahead of her, and that scares her. 

   She blinks, quickly wiping her face. Looking away to pretend like this wasn’t affecting her. She was better than this. 

   “Hey.” Ryan steps forward. Her eyes are immediately glaring towards him. She walks back again, but he grabs her wrist, stopping her. “You know the rules.”

   She chuckled, turned into a wet laugh. “Oh, so the rules are good as long as they protect you, huh?”

   “You would say the same.” She would. She has.

   “Get off me.”

   “Mary—“

   “I said get the fuck off me, Ryan!”

   “You’re upset. I get it. But— You won’t tell Yumeko, right?” It’s always fucking Yumeko. She wants to scream. She can feel her nails biting her skin. Her eyes have zeroed in on the floor, glaring, wanting it to collapse beneath them. “Mary—“

   “Get off her.”

   She appeared from thin air. Silent and deadly. Ryan jolted, stumbling till he hit the wall and slid down with fear written across his face. “I-I wasn’t— I-I didn’t—“

   Riri stepped in front of Mary, and he instantly shut up. Mary swallowed the lump in her throat. It was confusing, the whole situation was. Because seeing Riri step in front of her like that made her feel… something. But then there was Ryan, who had to continue to be a coward.

   She saw the twitch. Riri is going to move forward. To hurt. To main. Whatever it was, Mary acted first, grabbing the older girl's hand and lacing their fingers together. Her chest squeezed. Riri stopped, tilting her head backwards to look at her. 

   “Can we go? Please?” Something shifted in her expression. Something Mary had never noticed before. The flip from terminator to something gentle and sweet. The Riri hidden behind the mask. 

   Riri nodded, sending one glance down to Ryan that spoke volumes. Then she was leading them away, out of the alcove and into the hall. Students saw them. Eyes wide, gasping, whispering. Mary kept her head down, jaw tightening with each little hiss of speech. 

   Then, she felt it, Riri’s thumb rubbing back and forth. Small, but everything. And she was sure. Mary knew, for a fact, that she liked Riri Timurov. She looked up, eyes trailing the sweep of her jaw, the slope of Riri’s mask, her blue eyes.

   Mary was fucked. 

~

   Riri gave her more tasks. Nothing big, or insane, or humiliating. Just stuff to keep Mary occupied. Probably to stop her from sneaking off and talking to Yumeko or, god forbid, Ryan again. But she was done with him. He didn’t want to help her. She would deal with him when she clawed out of this hell hole. 

   So she poured water for the council. Took notes when Riri advised her too. Grabbed snacks for the Council room. Ran errands that didn’t really matter. 

   It was nice to have some distractions to fill her time between school work. When nobody was in the room sometimes she looked down at the gambling hall and yearned to be back there. When she had nothing, things got bad. When council meetings were long and boring, sometimes she found herself watching the quiet and still side of Riri’s mask. If she paid enough attention she could see the fabric move every so often from breathing. 

   She left each day, screaming at herself to stop. And each time she told herself stop, the more the feelings bubbled up inside of her. Especially the day after the Ryan incident. 

   She didn’t have to ask who left them when she opened her door. There wasn’t a note, or even a signature. But there was only one person possible of doing such a thing. A bundle of flowers had been gently laid outside her door. She recognized the lavender instantly. A pinkish rosebud that looked mossy nestled into its purple embrace. Flanked by what were maybe clippings of a shrub. Small leaves on a branch, with blue cones, that had the resemblance to berries. They were tied with a silk black bow. 

   Mary stole a cup from the cafeteria and filled it with water that night. She was careful, leaning it near the wall so nothing could fall. She stared at the arrangement for a long while. Till her eyes hurt. Till she knew she had to do her homework or she might fail. 

   What did it mean? Why did Riri care enough? She shouldn’t, right? Mary was well aware she embarrassed the entire student council. The cloud over her head was heavy. The gift, the gesture, meant far more to her than it should. 

   She hates knowing deep down it had to be fake. That it didn’t mean what she wanted it to mean. What she shouldn’t want it to mean. Mary had to focus, get back on her a-game but that was becoming explicitly hard. 

   The gala was coming up. Fast approaching and she still had made zero movement. She thought about asking Riri to take back the 86 and let her be free but knew better. They had her, why would Kira let her go? 

   The council left that day. Mary stayed. Her feet took her to the window, finding the noise and crowd of the gambling hall. The fish tank whirled in the back. She wondered if they had broken her already. Silently. Easily. With simple things. A nice guiding hand to trip her into fake submission that turned real on muscle memory. 

   Mary groaned, rubbing her hands into her eyes. She had to do something. She was smart. She just had to take the leap. If she were Yumeko, she would do something crazy, insane. But she wasn’t Yumeko. Ryan had been her first idea, he should have agreed. 

   A door creaked open. Mary didn’t care enough to look. If it was Kira she would have already yelled at her, and if it were anyone else besides Riri she would have heard them coming.

   “Are you okay?”

   “I’m good, Riri.”

   “I’m not Riri.”

   Mary quickly turned around. Her eyebrows raised when she saw the girl who tried to urge her to take the spade house flag. Round gold glasses, short hair, and a different beret on her head. “Shit, you’re the tunnel girl. You sound eerily like Riri when you aren’t trying to trap me.”

   “I’ve never tried to trap you. And my name is Wendy,” she said, walking deeper into the room. “You’ve heard Riri talk?”

   Mary shrugged, turning away. It wasn’t any of Wendy's business. She looked back down to the gambling hall, ignoring the feet that walked closer to her. Wendy stopped right next to her, looking down into the room. 

   “I lost my first game,” she whispered. 

   “You must suck.”

   “I do,” Wendy laughed, brightly. “My mom was a housepet, so, no surprise.”

   “Housepet by genetics, damn.”

   “Yeah, but I don’t mind. I think I’m far more helpful in the shadows. It keeps the eyes off you.” Mary looks at her, watching Wendy wiggle her eyebrows. 

   “Are you trying to swindle me again?”

   “No,” Wendy says. Mary didn’t believe her. 

   She looked Wendy up and down very slowly. Her clothes were expensive. Tailored. Pretty earrings that were hundreds of dollars, and a silver necklace with a shiny diamond on the end. Wendy clearly came from something. Money, like most at St. Dominic’s. Whether she was a housepet or not she had something to fall back on. And then, tucked away, hidden in her collar she saw the flash of a spade. It made her chuckle. And wonder. A legacy housepet spade.   

   “Are you Kira’s?” she asks, meeting Wendy's gaze. “Tell her to stop sending her pet to fuck with me. I’m not in the mood.”

   “You miss it, don’t you? The thrill. Gambling. You might not have started it for that but—“

   Mary took a sharp step towards her and jabbed her finger into Wendy's shoulder. “You don’t know where I started.”

   Wendy sighed, looking away. There was something eerily familiar about her profile that Mary couldn’t quite place. 

   “I know you’re here on scholarship. I know you aren’t a legacy. That money means something to you.” Mary clenched her jaw, fighting to hold herself back. When Wendy's eyes met hers they were intense. “And you got hooked . Like every other person here. That’s not bad. It’s the truth. You have stuff to lose, though, Mary. Fight against the rope that’s binding you.”

   “It’s not that easy. I’m 86’d. No one will gamble with me.”

   “That’s an excuse.”

   “The hell it is! The council has isolated me.”

   Wendy tilts her head. “Have they? Or have you been too afraid to try?”

   “I’m not afraid,” Mary spits. 

   Wendy laughs, high, bright. “Oh, toots, you're terrified.” There’s a beat. “Bad things happen. A bad thing happened,” Wendy says softer, her eyes dimming, face grimacing. “But you can still win the game. Kira’s not going to kill you.”

   “Right.” Mary rolled her eyes. She moves away, staring down into the hall. The board is alight, shifting and changing. Her number is right on the edge. She’s at the top of all housepets. 

   Wendy scoots closer, not touching her but close enough to lean down to her ear. “You can do anything, Mary. You know that. You’ve been on the student council,” she whispers. Mary’s hand grabs the windowsill. “You just need one good game.” 

   The exhale she takes is shaky. The gameboard lies before her. Traps glowing. Wicked games and pleasurable highs if she wins. She was good. Really good. Mary started cheating from fear. Because she knew what losing her place would mean. And because she did get high off the feeling once she knew what it felt like. 

   But, she never cheated because she was bad. That meant something. She didn’t have to cheat. Hell, Yumeko was a walking catastrophe. She won more than possible, and it was all by luck and pure chaotic blissful genius. All Mary had to do was play one good game .

   “If you’re a trap,” Mary began in a low grumble, “you’ll be the first body I bury.”

   “I’m looking forward to your climb, Mary.” Wendy’s voice was sweet now, soft, familiar. It made Mary pause. Her eyes slowly shifted to Wendy. She was looking down at the gambling hall now. Mary’s not sure what she was even looking for, but she felt that she should be looking.

~

   Mary hadn’t been paying attention. She had been thinking about when the best time was to sneak down into the gambling hall. She might have more luck if she found some snotty nosed idiot and threatened them into playing with her. That’s when the water spills over the rim of the cup. It’s not by a lot, but Chad still yells. 

   “What the fuck! These jeans cost more than your worth!” Chad screams, grabbing onto her wrist, hard . 

   Mary knew it was her fault. It was a simple task and she managed to fuck up by being too far in her head. Honestly, she probably deserved it. Even if his grip would leave a bruise by the end of the day.

    Riri’s head snaps. “Why are you touching her?” The room goes silent. Chad freezes as if he had just been slapped.

   Mary feels her heart stutter in her chest. Chad's grip doesn’t loosen, if anything the fear that rushes through his body makes him hold on tighter. 

   His comically large eyes meet Riri’s. “What?” Chad utters. 

   Riri’s eyes glance down to his hand, his fingers still wrapped tightly around Mary’s wrist. To her effort, she hadn’t dropped the pitcher of water, even now. the water trembled inside of it, making waves, but never falling out. 

   “Why are you touching her?” Riri repeats. She stands, and it’s enough to make half the council flinch and for Chad to finally let go. Riri grabs his wrist, squeezing it nearly as hard as she could. His sharp intake is the loudest thing in the room. 

   “I-I don’t— I don’t—“ His eyes leave her, glancing at Runa, then Kira, before landing back on Riri. 

   “Why are you looking at them?” Riri tilts her head to the side. It's the most Mary has ever heard her speak. Actually, besides Kira, it might be the most anyone has heard her speak.  Chad's body is shaking so hard the chair is quivering. “They’re not going to save you.”

   “Please! I-I didn’t— She’s just—“

   “She’s mine. I never gave you permission to touch her. Did I give him permission?” Her question towards the room is met with a chorus of no’s. Her sister's answer was firm. Runa’s answer came with a little wobble and some random nobody sounded as if he were about to faint on the spot. 

   “It was a-a mistake. I swear! It won’t happen again Vice Pres— FUCK!” Riri snapped his finger back. Flawlessly, easily. As if his bones were just twigs that could bend in half. His body crumbled forward, a loud cry shuddering from him. 

   Mary shouldn’t have thought that was hot. The crunch made her flinch. The sound was horrific. But the image, the power inside of it lit a fuse in her already burning heart. She should be terrified, but couldn’t find an ounce of it. 

   Riri lent down, mask brushing his ear. “Don’t fuck with my stuff,” she murmured. Her voice soft and smooth but held all the meaning it needed too. 

   Chad cries out an answer. It’s enough for her to let go. She spares a look at Mary who hadn’t uttered a single word since Riri had spoken. The pitcher is set on the table now, water rumbling inside from each shake of Chad’s cries. Mary’s lips are parted, shock, maybe (heat) fear . But her eyes stay on Riri. 

   Riri inclined her head, glancing down at her wrist. Mary inhaled sharply, wrapping her hand around it and rubbed the skin gently. “It-It’s okay. Thank you.”

   Satisfied, Riri sits back down next to Kira. Her sister stared annoyed at Chad, glaring at his body. Everyone else, besides Mary, avoids looking at her. The tension in the room is stifling. Runa’s lollipop is left to sadly wilt between her fingers. 

   “Sit,” Riri says , looking back up at Mary who quickly nods. Nobody comments as she sits down in the chair slightly behind Riri. 

   There is a beat. 

   The council doors burst open. Dori whistles loudly, uncaring. She stops a few feet into the room as the doors fall closed. “What the fuck happened?” Her question is met with silence. She doesn’t seem to care, walking to her chair and eyes gleaming when Chad finally sat up. “Whoa, dude. Did you finger bang somebody too hard?”

   Runa winces. Chad is too busy crying, cradling his hand. And then one second later, softly, before it erupts like a volcano Mary is laughing so hard she falls forward. It makes Dori grin, her eyepatch moving with the upward curl of her cheek. She whoops, sitting down with far too much energy. 

   “Can we finally begin? Or did anyone else want to do something stupid?” Kira’s eyes point at Chad. Then they begin, as if Riri hadn’t just snapped Chads fingers in half. As if she didn’t claim possession. 

    You’re her housepet, chill the fuck out . Mary breathed deeply. She might need to get laid if this is how she was reacting. Shaking her head, she began taking notes to help with the upcoming gala. They were very close to the big day and Kira was insistent that everything must be perfect, as always. 

~

    Mary never thought in a million years she would be in Riri’s bedroom. But there she was, being guided to sit in her desk chair. She watched curiously as Riri knocked on her wall and a secret door opened. If every room in St. Dominic’s had some secret door, Mary really needed to pay more attention. Riri took a bag from somebody. For a moment she thought she saw gold frames before the wall door was shut, vanishing. 

   Riri turned and walked over to her desk. She carefully took out the supplies. “You know it’s just a bruise,” Mary murmurs. Riri ignores her, taking the plastic off the cream bottle and opening it. 

   When Riri had gestured for Mary to follow her after the meeting, she honestly thought it was just to walk her back to her dorm room. It wouldn’t have been the first time it happened. Riri had a habit of it by now. Mary found herself expecting it. So, you could understand her surprise when they started to go towards spade house instead. When they ended up in Riri’s room. 

   And her room, god. Mary could never picture it just right. Not that she tried… because why would she picture Riri’s bed, or her dresser, or what she placed on her desk. Why on earth would she care about Riri’s pillows and how soft her blankets were. She cleared her throat, parched, having nothing to do with the feeling running its course.

   First off, Riri’s room had a lot more plants than she expected. There was even a spreadsheet taped to the wall. Seemingly some sort of schedule for the plants. Her curtains were almost entirely drawn closer, besides a three inch slit that showed one of the pots. Behind the curtain were other various ones lined up that she couldn’t see. There were more, scattered, on her desk, on her dresser, leaves cascading down the side. 

   Her room was clean. Put together. Perfect. Everything had its spot, and seemed to stay there. Straight, aligned, smooth. Her bed looked like nobody lived in it. Besides the small indent in the well used pillow. Black sheets, and a comforter with spots of red like one of her masks. 

   She wonders how many times Riri stood in front of her body mirror. How many times she picked a mask from where it hung above her dresser and stared at her own face, her outfit. She wonders, briefly, because if she sits on it too long she might go insane, if Riri knows how absolutely pretty it is. If anyone has said it besides people who have to, who are too afraid, falling over their feet out of fear. 

   Mary hissed when Riri took her hand. Riri freezes, her eyes ever so slightly widening. “I’m fine,” Mary reassures, smiling up at her. “You know I can—“ the moment Riri’s fingers touch her skin with the cream she can’t find it in herself to say she can do it herself. 

   Her hands are kind of cold. She’s so soft with her movements. Fingers light, barely putting any pressure on the bruise. It’s not bad, a little dark on her skin, something that would disappear without a scar in the coming weeks. Riri rubs the cream into her skin, cradling Mary’s hand with her free one. It was maddening how fast Mary felt heat rise to her cheeks. 

   “What else you got in there?” she asks, entirely to distract herself from the consuming feeling. 

   Riri pulls away for a second just to nudge the bag towards her. Mary opens it and only feels the feeling intensify. It wasn’t more first aid supplies. It was candy, and even a soda. It looked like a gas station care package. 

   Her next breath is sharp. She can’t help it. Riri softens her touch as if she could ever hurt her. Mary doesn’t quite know what to think. If this was all some sick game, she would break. She wouldn’t know what to do with herself in the end. She already feels like she’s losing herself in it. 

   “Why are you doing this?” she asks, chewing on her bottom lip. She has to look at Riri to see her answer, because the chances of her vocally responding are slim. And every twitch, every glance and slight movement is Riri speaking. So she has to catch it all. 

    Riri finished rubbing the cream in, laying Mary’s hand gently down on the desk. She stared at it, for what feels like forever. It almost starts to make Mary feel self conscious and she’s not even entirely sure why. 

   Mary opens her mouth. Words get caught in her throat. She can get through it, though. She’s gotten through much worse. Done much worse than ask for honesty, and speak her heart into the void. 

   “You don’t give housepets this kindness,” Mary says. “It’s a game, isn’t it?”

   Riri meets her eyes. She wants them to say the truth. That it’s all a game. Some fucked up joke to keep her in line, under Kira’s thumb. That they realized all they had to do was confuse the fuck out of her without pressing into her wounds and she would unravel herself. Out of confusion, out of insanity to beat the game. Biting herself, a never ending ouroboros. 

   Did they take into account she would fall for Riri? Had that been the whole plan? Was Riri seducing her by playing savior? It made her feel nauseous just thinking about it. Her honesty, their vulnerability, all a crafted tool. 

   “You’re different,” Riri says. 

   Mary’s not sure what to do with that. If they screamed at her it would be easier. If Kira drowned her in her fish tank, it would be smoother. If they threw her from the council room window she could manage it. 

    This . Whatever the hell this was, Mary didn’t know what the fuck to do with it. 

   It felt like losing. And maybe it was. Something that was entirely frustrating and aggravating. She fought for her place, and fell from grace. She was a myth, Icarus flying too close to the sun. Wendy said she just had to win one good game, and sure, yes, she did but it felt entirely different with Riri across from her. That game wasn’t the same. 

   Mary chews on her lip, her eyes finding the wall of Riri’s masks. She doesn’t dare look at her, or, god forbid, the mirror. The words that are about to come out of her mouth are heavy, vibrant and ichor filled. They taste like poison, but she must say them anyway. Even if they could be used like a knife to flay her open.  

   “I wish you would just hurt me. It would be easier.” She would have a reason to be mad. To be scared. To have a righteous fury burning inside of her. If they hurt her, beat her, threw her from the top of the building, humiliated her deep to her core she would have something. “You Timurovs sure know how to fuck with people. I didn’t know kindness could break me.”

   And it wasn’t even kindness, exactly. She’s been isolated. Even if Wendy said otherwise, Mary didn’t trust her completely. She was still one of Kira’s toys. Kira still snapped at her. Still got annoyed at her. But they didn’t treat her like the other housepets. She still wasn’t an equal, not by a long shot, but they allowed her to move freely without abuse. That wasn’t kindness, but in the game of St. Dominic’s, it was the closest thing to it.

   “I’m never going to hurt you ,” Riri whispers. As if she meant something. Mary let her eyes flutter closed. To process. To feel. To hear what she said to Chad all over again. “Have I?”

   Riri’s question hits her harder than it should. Confused, and almost meek. As if the idea of hurting Mary was the most heinous thing she could have done. It’s so far from the rough and tension filled voice that called Chad out before snapping his fingers in half. It’s confusing, and almost makes her feel humiliated. 

   “When I was on the student council you were never interested in me. Why now? What game are you playing?”

   “It’s not a game,” Riri says. Mary slowly looks up at her. Riri’s eyes are so intense, so full and soft her heart nearly crumbled. She’s in her hands, a terrifying realization.

   “Everything’s a game,” Mary replied. “What’s your end goal?” Riri shakes her head. As if that’s enough. As if that doesn’t make Mary more confused. Angry, even. “I’m here for a reason. The least you could do is be honest with me,” she spits. 

   “I wanted you to be safe.” It’s the farthest from what she expects. Riri could be lying. She was an excellent gambler. But her face was the softest Mary had ever seen it. She wanted to find lies written in her eyes but couldn’t. 

   “No,” Mary says. “That’s not true.” Riri tilts her head. Mary gulps, the lump in her throat thick. It doesn’t go away, it becomes worse. She could choke on her feelings and die right here. “You don’t care about me. I’m a pawn.”

   “You could never be a pawn, Mary. You’re too smart. I didn’t want to see you diminished.”

   Mary’s hand clenched. What does she say to that? Riri speaks with such elegant softness. Mary wouldn’t cry, but it pulls at something deep within her chest. 

   “So, what, you whisked me away just ‘cause?” 

   For a moment Riri’s eyes turn dark. As if the shadow inside of her almost slipped out. But then it’s gone. Back to soft features and open soft blue eyes. “No,” is all Riri says. Simple. Blunt. It gives nothing else and leaves her hanging. 

   “Right,” Mary murmurs. 

   And then they both just sit there. The tension in the room swirling. Emotions high and confused. She feels ravaged. Cheeks flushed and eyes on the precipice of clouding over. She has to take a deep breath to keep herself rooted, otherwise she might just fly away. 

   “What the fuck, Riri?” Mary finally exhales. “Seriously, just— I don’t know. I don’t fucking know.” Mary grounds her jaw. Then, she stands quickly. She almost knocks the chair over. She’s far from caring about it now. All she wants to do is get far away. 

   “You changed,” Riri says. It makes her freeze right at her bedroom door. Her hand hovers over the doorknob, ready to bolt at any second. “When you fell. When you were on the council you weren’t yourself.” 

   “How could I be? On the council I played the role Kira wanted me to play.” Mary glanced back, just to see Riri nod softly. 

   “Your mask was off.” The word was rings in Mary’s ears. She can’t help but tilt her head, be confused. 

   “What, you think I started hiding? Did that scare Kira?” Riri shakes her head again. A long groan rips from Mary. “Then what ?”

   Riri stands slowly, clasping her hands behind her back. Each step she takes Mary holds her breath. Can’t find it in herself to breathe properly in case it shatters whatever is happening. 

   When she’s finally in front of her, Riri tilts her head, her eyebrows knitting together. “I wanted you safe ,” she says, emphasizing the word. Mary can hear her heartbeat in her ears. “That’s not a game to me. I… I’ve always cared about you, Mary.”

   Mary looks down, looks at the bruise on her wrist and can feel the residue from Riri rubbing the bruise cream into her skin. The moment with Chad is fresh in her mind. Some things couldn’t be faked. Then, she remembers what happened in the hallway with Ryan. How Riri had appeared out of nowhere and instantly stood to protect her. 

   Suddenly, she hears his voice, something he said weeks ago by now. “This is crazy. Hooking up with my housepet? I mean, that’s sus.”

   It knocks the wind right out of her. The pieces fall into place. The board becomes fully visible. She understands. “Oh, fuck, Riri… Ryan never hurt me. So, if that’s what all of this is about we never had sex. We lied.”

   Riri blinks. Slowly. Once. Twice. “You stopped acting like yourself. You became quiet—“

   “Ryan didn’t want it to be a big deal. He was embarrassed. He told me to play it off quietly, and brush everyone off. So I did.”

   Riri squints at her, concern filling her eyes. “You can be honest with me.”

   Mary’s heart flutters. “I am. I promise. He said it would look sus and I convinced him to go along with it. He never touched me.”

   “Your talk the other day. You told him Yumeko would be disappointed if she knew the truth. He said you owed him . That you were his housepet—“

   “Hey.” Mary hesitantly grabs Riri’s arm, enough to calm her down, to anchor her. The anger that revved up behind Riri’s eyes was bold and bright. “We were talking about the lie. I wanted to call it a favor and he said because I was his housepet he didn’t owe me one. He did not hurt me, Riri.” 

   Riri’s eyes drift off. They stay that way for a while before a soft “oh” leaves Riri’s lips. 

   “Did you really challenge Ryan and threaten him just because you thought he hurt me?” Mary asks. 

   Riri instantly looks at her. “I wanted to kill him. Kira said it was too soon… I’d do anything to protect you.” Her words are vulgar, shouldn’t be held with such care but they fall from her lips like velvet. Soft and smooth and real. 

   Mary bit her lip, staring in awe. She would need at least a week to unpack this entire revaluation. “It’s not a game,” she whispers, in disbelief. Riri gently shook her head no. “Can we make a deal?”

   Riri nods. Mary prepares herself in her mind. She could say no. Riri’s feelings might be true, but there could still be a part that was using this to keep her under the council's thumb. Mary was going to take a leap anyway, using the cards she had. 

   “Let me gamble my way out of housepet status and I’ll owe you a favor.”

   “I don’t need a favor. I would have never stopped you.” Why did Wendy have to be right? 

   “You have to want something,” Mary says. She watches the small twitch of her face. The small movement of her eyes and the tightness of her shoulders. “What is it?”

   “Would you consider going to the gala with me?” Word choices were important. Riri was always very good with them. Consider. Not an order. Not even an outright “will you go to the gala with me” but the thought of thinking about going with her. 

   Mary didn’t have to think about it. As unstable as the floor felt beneath her, something in Riri’s eyes told her this was real and true. “I’ll go with you,” she says. The look on Riri’s face, even half hidden by the mask, is enough to let her die happy. “Well, I have a lot to fucking think about. Thank you… for the cream.”

   Riri nodded, a silent of course being communicated. Right before Mary could leave Riri moved quickly to grab the bag from the desk and hand it to her. Mary grinned, dumbfounded, sick with a fluttering feeling she shouldn’t have but was growing extremely used to its company. 

   “Thank you,” she muttered. Hoping Riri won’t notice the heat on her cheeks. She finally leaves the room, and begins the long trek back to her dorm room with a lot to think about. 

~

  Mary spent the night twisting and turning on her bed. She thought a lot. So much she drowned in her mind and when she woke up it felt as if she hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. She knew exactly what she would do today, and hadn’t wasted any time following her plan. 

   It was fate that when she reached the gambling hall Ryan was there. As soon as her eyes set on him she knew what she wanted. She sped up, spotting Chad and Dori off to the side. She weaves through the crowd ignoring the few curious glances that looked her way. 

   When her shadow cast over him, Ryan looked up, surprised. He had been focused on Yumeko's game. She was nearly done wiping a boy out of nearly all his money. A wicked grin on her features, pupils blown wide as she was on the edge. Ryan was enraptured by her. So it made it easy to scare him. The second he noticed her, she watched the realization hit. 

   “Mary— What are you doing?” he asks. His eyes are frantically looking around, flicking up towards the council room. 

   “Mary! It’s so good to see you! Did you want to play a game?” Yumeko asks, eyes bright. 

   Mary doesn’t take her eyes off Ryan. She takes a step forward, and jabs her finger into his shoulder. “I challenge you,” she says, voice strong. 

   He shudders, mouth gapping. Yumeko squeals from next to them. It’s already enough to garner the attention of the room. Mary feels her heart begin to speed up, and the hunger for that feeling claw at her inside. 

   “Are you insane? You aren’t—“

   “I’m what?” she mocks, tilting her head. “Are you too scared, Ryan? I get it. You don’t want to lose to me twice. That’s pathetic, you know that, right? Letting go of a chance to prove yourself. I mean, all your money is because of me. Isn’t it?” 

   The room had gone silent to listen to them. Some of them laughed at her taunting him. It made her grin, wide, manic. 

   “Being afraid is perfectly normal, Ryan. It’s okay, we understand.” She rubs her hand up and down his arm. Watching his eyes flicker to the movement, and back up towards her. 

   “You don’t even have money to gamble with.”

   “If I lose… let’s say I owe you a favor. Not like I haven’t before.” The crowd went fucking bonkers. Yumeko broke out into laughter, bouncing up from her seat. 

   “This is going to be so fun! Ryan, you have to rematch her! Mary hasn’t played in forever.” Yumeko looks at Ryan with star-filled eyes. Mary smirks, knowingly. His mouth gaps, like a fish. 

   “ Fine . One thousand. Is that enough to satisfy you?”

   His answer makes the crowd lose it again. Instantly, every other game is forgotten. They take over the main table. Mary locks eyes with Chad standing off to the side. She smiles at him, he winces. Her eyes flicker to the board. Side bets were being sent in. From who would win, to what Ryan’s favor would be if he won. 

   “What are we playing?” Ryan asks. He clears his throat, pulling the collar of his shirt. He looks around the room fearfully. Mary feels her insides relish in it. She would tell him afterwards that he was free from Riri’s wrath. Sure, he had already been beat up, and maybe a little traumatized, but he was still a bit of a coward. 

   “Skirmish.” she replied. “Yumeko split our cards.”

   “Of course!” Yumeko bounces between them, shuffling the deck. She smiled like the Cheshire Cat as she dealt them. 

   Mary took her cards, inhaling slowly and exhaling as she looked at them. This feeling she hadn’t felt in so long. But here it was, back, high, making her head dizzy. She understood why Yumeko was the way she was. Mary let fear guide her for a long time, and that would never leave her. She had to worry about money. Yumeko, like most people here, didn’t. But she could get so intoxicated from this. 

   “You know,” Mary began as she placed her first card on the table. “I learned something from our little freak Yumeko.” Yumeko giggled, Mary playfully winked at her. 

   “What's that, not to be a cheater?”

   “Yes,” Mary forced through gritted teeth. If only her eyes could cut him open. But he was already sweating. “But also what playing for fun means. Letting luck guide you. Do you think you have luck, Ryan?” She’s just messing with him. Saying things to make him twitch. 

   Ryan put his card down. They stared at one another. Yumeko quietly told them to flip, and they did. Mary, nine of diamonds, and Ryan’s five of clubs.

   “Oh, well look at that.” 

   Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. Eyes flickering to Yumeko, to the crowd fully focused on them, and then back at Mary. She could physically see him gulp before a shaky hand put down another card. 

   They flipped their cards, and Mary won again. She laughs, loud, and free. She feels buzzing in her hands. Excitement wanting to burst right out of her. Nobody's going to stop her. Not with Riri’s permission. She’s not sure how Kira feels about this, but she definitely does not give a fuck. Ryan slumps in his chair, glaring at his cards with intensity. 

   “Are you holding back on me?” Mary asks. “Or does your deck suck that much?”

   “Shut up. We’re only on the third round out of seven.”

   She hums. They play the next round. He wins. It doesn’t phase her. She still smiles, still laughs. The crowd they’ve gathered might be the whole school now. She can see Chad from the corner of her eye, on the edge. Mary almost freezes when she sees Riri. She’s not very hidden. Standing almost fully behind Mary, but just enough for her to make her out without fully turning her head. 

   She should have realized. Ryan had hunched over. His hands clench his cards as if they were his lifeline. His nostrils flared. Mary tapped her nails on the table. Humming, waiting. It was sad. She wonders if he deserves this much torment. But then again, she reminds herself, he decided that he didn’t owe her.  

   They place their cards. Yumeko calls flip. Mary wins for the third time. 

   Ryan’s body shakes. His eyes flicker behind her, over her shoulder. She knows who he’s looking at. She can see the wave wash over him, and how he tries so hard to shake the fear. All he had to do was agree in private. He made her do this. Make him a display, hang him out in the sun for all to see. Then again, she’s not sure what would have happened if Riri was still working with her old thought process. 

   “Just one more win,” Mary whispers. “Aren’t you so happy you get to lose to me again, Ryan?”

   “You’re cheating.”

   “Yumeko is standing right next to us.” They both glance at her. Yumeko smiles, nodding her head. She’s been playing with her chip, flipping it back and forth between her fingers. 

   “Mary’s been on her best behavior! Not a finger out of line.”

   “Right,” Ryan sighs. They draw their cards, placing them flat on the table. “You know… I-I didn’t… mean to hurt you.”

   Mary freezes. Her eyes stay on the cards. She can feel his gaze simmering on her. “You didn’t hurt me. We aren’t friends,” she says. 

   “I just did what I thought I had too.”

   There’s a noise behind her. Sharp. Mary finally tilts her head to see Riri stepping closer. Their eyes lock, and Mary shakes her head gently. Riri looks like she might not listen. Like she needs to keep moving, but she stays, rooted right beyond her shoulder. 

   She wonders why because Riri knows the truth now. That it was a misunderstanding. That Ryan had never hurt her but she’s still acting to protect her. She thinks of Chad, and her eyes fall on him. His fingers wrapped in a cast. With her eyes on him for so long he jumps, running off to Runa like a child looking for their big sister to protect them.

    “I’ve always cared about you, Mary.” 

   Riri wasn’t someone who acted on instinct for a lot of people. Her sister, absolutely. But other than that she thought, and she planned. Mary saw her, clearly, vibrantly moving on instinct for her . Real instinct, not something fake or crafted. This isn’t even the first time she’s seen it but it’s the first time Mary’s fully processed it and accepted it.

   She clears her throat, focusing on Ryan. Trying to remember what he said last. “It’s St. Dominic’s. Shit happens.” 

   There’s a beat. How long had she zoned out? Yumeko calls flip in the silence. Mary holds her breath, and Ryan wins. She smiles, looking at her hand then back at him. 

   “Did you finally learn to play? Or has luck finally crawled in your ass?”

   “Luck has never been my friend,” he murmurs. She almost feels bad for him. 

   Mary looks at the board. Ryan had a few thousand. Taking one thousand from him wouldn’t put him under the line. But it would free her. From her uncertainty. From being in the grasp of the council whether it was for safety or not. 

   “Luck isn’t meant to be friendly,” Mary finally replies. 

   They pick their cards, sliding them onto the table. The tension in the air is stifling. She can hear her blood rushing in her ears. She wonders if he feels the same, or if the only thing he feels is fear for what the cost will be. 

   “Flip,” Yumeko says. 

   They do. For that split second, the world is silent. It is slow. Their cards face up on the table, and lay flat. Mary sees it. Blinks, and stares. She won. 

    She won. 

   “Are you happy?” Ryan asks. 

   And she is. The smile that breaks across her face is so bright it hurts. Her cheeks stretch, her eyes water. The crowd cheers, side bets are calculated. Mary watches in awe as her name finally moves out from under the line. The weight is still there in her chest but it’s lighter. 

   She stands, slowly, legs shaking. Each breath she takes is too big, and hurts as it enters. She can’t help but laugh, and when Yumeko hugs her, she hugs her back even tighter. “I knew you could do it,” Yumeko whispers in her ear. “Even if you didn’t have my help.”

   “Thank you,” Mary says. 

   When she pulls away she sees Riri. Standing, waiting. It makes her shiver. She pushes through her nerves and steps over towards her. 

   “Ryan’s a pushover,” is the first thing she says. Her eyes look at the leaderboard again just because she doesn’t believe it. But it’s true, her name is above the red line. 

   Riri lends out her hand. Mary stares for a second before she’s fighting off wanting to kiss her mask like an idiot in heat. She takes the housepet tag off, and hands it to her. Far softer than when Mary had handed her blazer over. 

   “You know, you weren’t half bad,” she whispers. “Thank you,” she adds.

~

   She touched up her makeup a billion times. Adjusted her dress, changed her dress, tossed five different pairs of heels on her bed as she tried to figure out the best look. When she finally had it down, Mary left. 

   She was a free woman. No housepet tag, no chain holding her down. When she arrived at the gala, even though she had been in the room while they planned it she still gasped. Still looked on in amazement at the shit rich people could put together. 

   “Mary!” Yumeko was bounding over to her like a puppy. “You look amazing! You’ll vote for me and Ryan, right?”

   “You came here with Ryan?” Mary asks, surprised. She looks around but can’t seem to find him in the bustling crowd. 

   Yumeko steps closer, wrapping one of her arms around Mary. “We’re trying to win gala king and queen! He’s a lot better at dancing than me.”

   “People definitely don’t vote on who dances best.”

   “Well, they will today! You’ll vote, right?”

   “Of course I will.”

   “Great! I’ll see you later!” Yumeko walked off, going to some poor couple to convince them why they should vote for her. Mary watched in amusement, she knew she had missed her friends but seeing Yumeko really cemented that. 

   Her eyes flickered, and Mary’s lips parted when she saw Riri. She looked incredible. Like a model, or a goddess, or somebody Mary should be on her knees for and worshipping till her jaw locks. 

   She breathed out her nose harshly, stepping forward. The music around them slows, pulling into something elegant and rich. Riri extends her hand, Mary’s heart stutters in her chest as she takes it. 

   She’s so careful, and holds her with grace. Riri helped Mary place her hands, giving her a look, the lights twinkling in her eyes. She leaned forward, her mask brushing against Mary’s ear. “You look beautiful.”

   “Coming from you ,” Mary says. “You look gorgeous.” She wishes she could see her blush. Because Mary swears there is something there when Riri pulls back but it’s hidden by the mask. 

   Neither of them speak. She finds herself pleasantly okay with that and Riri’s hands on her body. They sway, dancing through the crowd, eyes boring into each other. She never understood when people said eyes were the key to the soul, but now, she feels as if her soul is open for the girl in front of her. 

   They dance through two songs. Stepping closer to one another till Mary’s arms are wrapped around her neck, and Riri’s are on her waist. “I think I believe you,” Mary says, quietly, right beside her ear. She can feel Riri tilt her head. “That this is real.”

   Riri pulls back, locking their eyes. The air feels stilted. Then, she’s pulling away, lacing one of their hands together and gently pulling Mary through the dance floor. She doesn’t question it, afraid of what that would mean or change. 

   They leave, and find themselves in the tunnels of the school again. Mary tries to remember the path. They exist far from where they started, and when she enters the room she gasps. Candles, a hundred or more of them. A white cloth covered table, with a whole dinner set on top of it. 

   Riri lets go, and pulls out a chair and then walks to the other chair and stands behind it. She slowly walks to the chair, taking in everything. “This is… wow,” Mary exhales. 

   “Sit.”

   They lock eyes. Mary feels something hot inside of her. “Is that an order?” Riri’s small nod makes it rush to life, blazing hot like a wild fire. 

   She sits. Riri lifts the lid, revealing lobster. Mary has never been treated so well in her whole life. Even while on the council when she had money, she had to keep it. Had things to worry about. A future and a dream that needed to happen. 

   “If this is a game, you’re going to break me,” Mary whispers. Her eyes flit up to catch Riri as she sits. “Please don’t be a liar.”

   “I’d hand you the gun.” And then, as if that wasn’t enough to knock the wind out of her, Riri does something she should have expected but never dared to dream of. 

   Her fingers grab the strings of her mask, and she pulls it off her face. There’s a lot to process. How pretty she is.The familiarity of her face. The confusion that shoots up her spine is smushed down by the scars. They were all circles, some smaller than others, but looked like someone had grabbed her face and repeatedly put out a burning cigarette or cigar on the left side over the course of years. 

   She doesn’t have to ask herself what that face would look like without them. She’s seen it up close. Looked at her with this odd feeling in her chest, and a sense of familiarity she couldn’t place. Wendy was a Timurov. 

   Riri’s hand almost self consciously comes up to her face and snaps Mary out of her thoughts. She can think about it later. Ask later. But right now this Timurov, this girl in front of her was her priority and she would die before she made her think she wasn’t pretty, she decided. 

   “You know you look like a goddess tonight,” Mary says, voice soft. Riri’s eyes slowly look up. Her smirk turns into a love-sick smile when she notices the twitch of Riri's lip. “Seriously, Riri. I wanted to kiss you the moment I saw you.”

   “Do you still? Want to kiss me?”

   Mary nods, feverishly. “Yes.” There’s a stilted silence. Mary can actually see the blush on Riri’s face and she’s leaving off each second of it. She could stare forever, drink her up as long as she had to live. 

   Riri breaks eye contact, pours wine into their glasses. Mary knows she’s going to go high on all of this. It’s too perfect, too sweet, and she’s already in far too deep. She picks up the stem of her glass and takes a long sip before setting it down. 

   They eat in comfortable silence. It’s one of the best meals Mary has ever had. She keeps looking up at Riri and watching her. Taking her in. If you asked her a few weeks ago where she would be, she never would have thought this. But being in the moment it felt so right, so real. 

   When they were done, she reached out, hovering her hand to give Riri a chance to decline. Of course she didn’t, Riri took her hand to hold and gave it a squeeze. Her lips were pink, shining with wine, and her eyes sparkling from the candles. 

   “So,” Mary draws out. “What’s a girl got to do for a kiss?”

   Riri stands, slowly. Mary doesn’t breathe, can’t. She watches her movement closely, taking in every piece of her that’s possible. When she stops beside her, Riri gently used her fingers to tilt Mary’s chin up. 

   “Just one?” Riri whispers. 

   “As many as you want,” Mary replies, licking her lips. “Even if that answer is zero,” she adds. 

   Then, she sees one of the most gorgeous things of the night, Riri smiling. Softly, perfectly. She leans down, tilting Mary’s head up more, and when their lips meet she breathes into it. It feels just as exhilarating as a gambling win. It’s like she climbed to the top all over again. 

   Soft warm lips gingerly kiss her. It’s toothachingly good. Mary lifts her hand, hovering it over Riri’s cheek. Riri leans farther down, grabbing her hand and allowing it to touch her skin, to cup her cheek. Her breath stutters, Riri licks into her mouth pulling a small moan from her before they’re breaking apart. 

   “I mean it,” Riri says. She doesn’t have to explain. Mary knows, understands. And for the first time she truly believes her down to her soul. Riri cares about her, has cared about her. 

   She pulls her back down. Wants to suffocate in the kiss. Wants to pull Riri down and never leave this room, or this chair. She kisses her for as long as Riri will allow it. And when they’re done she’ll wait for the next moment she has with her, and the next after that and after that. With the way Riri holds her, touches her, and pulls back with that dazed look in her eyes she has a small feeling she feels completely the same. Maybe falling from grace wasn’t that bad.