By the time we’re all out of Subterfuge via another manhole, the sun had already begun to set. Apparently, there are doors to the underworld all over the city, just out of sight. They’re all indoors too, which is...odd to see, to say the least, but I get it. Exiting into a dark room, we soon find ourselves in a series of corridors that make up the first floor of some apartment building. Seeing just how late it’s become after such a long day of...whatever the heck you’d call the events of the past few hours, it really does feel like I’d just gotten done with the 9 to 5 from hell. I mean, 9 to 12 wasn’t so bad, good even, but god, everything from Subterfuge and after, maybe even from the moment Coyotl showed up, made my body and soul ache.

On the outskirts of town, it’s easy enough to sneak our way to safety, even if Coyotl doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word. Each step seems to take them ever closer to unwanted attention before we turn ‘em around and show the way.

“Coyotl, I’m really not sure this is gonna work out…” I begin once we’re a good ways away from Monorise and now making the safe part of our journey home. “Our whole thing is stealth. Even if you can make a fighter of yourself, any efforts you make to help would only get in the way of our methods.”

The chimera, hunched over and holding their cloak closed, continues on in stoic fashion, silently contemplating my words, if they’d noticed them at all.

“At least let me try. I just need to try.”

Sigh. I want to keep pushing ‘em away, but something in their radio-like voice sways me back and forth, the wacky inflatable arm flailing cat of morality moving to and fro.

“Fine. But the moment things go bad, we’re sending you on your way home. Speaking of…”

Aspen Town comes into view at last, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to return. Then again, I haven’t really left since moving in, and the days of living here with my moms are long gone to the passage of time. At least I can come back to one of them. I wonder if the other would have liked it here...she teased her wife a lot, but in the loving kind of way, the sort of love that feels like, ‘you’re the only one who can get away with this because I love you so much and I love when you look at me the way you do.’ Or maybe I’m projecting, I sure as hell didn’t have such complicated thoughts as that when I was a kid.

As sunset hues wash over the small town, we all enter, though, Fox takes to the roofs again, allowing us to approach both Bunny and Sue-Zee sitting on a bench just by the town entrance.

“Cat!” my mum exclaims, standing up and hopping on over hurriedly before pulling me into a tight hug the first moment she gets.

I wrap my arms around her in kind. “Evening, mom. What’d I miss?”

The small bunny lady snorts and shakes her head as she pulls back, looking up at me equal parts amused and incredulous.

“What did you miss? What did I miss! One moment, I’m hearing word of a new face in town, the next Sue-Zee is banging on my door telling me you’d just run off into the city in search of some ‘underworld’ before rushing off themselves! Is the moon blue today, or is something in the water?”

An exhausted chuckle escapes my mouth. Probably best not to tell my mom I’m getting involved in underworld dealings.

“It’s all been settled, don’t worry your hare-y hairs off. In fact, things are looking up!”

Everybody looks at me in disbelief after I say that, and honestly, I can’t blame them.

“...Seriously. This here is Coyotl,” I say, patting her back and flinching as I watch her wince at the contact. “Sorry. Anyways, they’re about as clueless as anybody else as to how they suddenly Ascended, but I’ve got a job in the city figuring that out. Turns out the few Ascended back there are curious too, so me and our mysterious stranger here are gonna be spending some time there figuring things out.”

Once again, folks are blinking at me in confusion, Sue-Zee almost in a state of shock before chiming in as they hug themselves.

“I-is that safe…? I’ve been to the city a number of times since we left Railsent, and...I dunno, maybe I’m just paranoid, but it seems really dangerous there now.”

Bunny nods in agreement while Coyotl tenses up, unsure of whether to say anything, which is better than blurting out something stupid like before. I flash them all a catty grin and put my hands on my hips.

“C’mon. I’m a professional, nothing’s gonna happen to me. In fact, I kinda have to,” I begin, bringing one paw up to lift the necklace resting atop my chest, “We found this out there, and...well, turns out not all hope for future Ascension is lost. Yombroila’s out there, and this must be our first clue to figuring out where.”

My mom gasps, big bunny teeth showing before she covers her mouth in astonishment.

“How do you know for sure?! Did something happen involving that pretty thing?”

A small amused breath leaves me. Something sure happened.

“I’m not entirely sure how, but...I was able to offer someone Ascension using this. Maybe I’m not the only one who can do that with it, but I’ll be damned if I let it out of my sight. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.”

Bunny gives me a smile both happy and concerned, nodding at me while Sue-Zee gives me a...curious eyebrow raise, though they don’t say anything.

“As long as you put yourself before the mystery, I’ll support you,” my mom says, reaching over to take my hand in hers. “We’ll need to find someone to replace you as the resident fishing lady, though!”

Ah, of course, I did have responsibilities before becoming a mob boss’ subordinate.

“There’s lots of talented folk around here, I’m sure I won’t be hard to replace.”

Bunny chuckles, though Zee gives my arm a little shove in response to my little self jab.

“Hey, be nice to yourself! It’s gonna be tough not having you around as much, even if someone else does the fishing. Don’t forget how important you are to a lot of people!”

Oh. Through their face, I can see both Sue and Zee smiling up at me, and a little flutter breaks through the self deprecating barrier around my heart.

“...Thanks, you two. I really appreciate it. Still, don’t worry about me too much, I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, but you’ve always had Fox to help look after you, too. Are you sure you don’t want some help?” my mom offers, but I shake my head and cross my arms.

“Don’t worry about it! Besides, I’ve got some new capable help to back me up.” I say, cringing internally as I pull Coyotl in by the shoulder. “Speaking off, they need a place to stay. Can you help ‘em with that, mom?”

“W-wait,” the cloaked one starts, bringing their hands up defensively and shaking their head. “Please, you don’t...you shouldn’t do that for me. I don’t even know why I’m...like you. I shouldn’t be like this, I don’t deserve to--”

“Aaalright, pal, you’ve clearly got some issues to work out,” I interrupt, pushing them closer to Bunny’s side, “Why don’t you think on them in a nice warm home? We’ll send a nice meal your way and you can get real cozy before we get to work in two days, okay? Don’t forget, we have work to do in two days. You and I. In the city. Two days.”

A staticy groan falls from their shadowy face, still seeming rather tense, but giving up any pretense that they don’t deserve shelter and food, for now at least.

“Don’t you worry, young one, you’re in capable hands, and paws, here in Aspen Town. You’re one of us, and don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise.”

Coyotl only seems more stiff at Bunny’s reassurance, mumbling to themselves something along the lines of “I don’t...I’m not…” etc, etc. Still, they follow my mom as she gives me a wave, leaving me with Sue-Zee once more.

 

“So, uhh...sorry the not-date kinda flopped.”

Sue gives me a nervous chuckle as they hold their hands behind their back anxiously.

“We’ve heard of dine ‘n dash, but I don’t think it’s usually supposed to go like that.”

Pff. I flash ‘em an apologetic smile as we start walking back into town ourselves.

“Seriously though,” they start, “we’re not upset or anything. Just means we’ll have to try again another time, right?”

They look up at me with a hopeful face, as if I’d ever be able to deny them.

“I’d like that a lot, I think. You’re two of the few lights we have left to keep us going right now, spending time with you sounds like just about the best thing I could ever want.”

“O-oh, shut up…” Sue replies, hugging themselves and blushing a bit.

“If you say so,” I jest, looking down at them and flicking an invisible zipper across my lips as they begin to panic.

“W-wait wait wait wait wait, no, please talk, we love talking to you!”

I throw my head back as a mischievous laugh billows out of me like smoke from a chimney, Sue-Zee’s giggling joining in as I pat their shoulder.

“If only my schedule hadn’t been filled so suddenly. You’d have more time to hear my cartoonish kitty voice rave about the latest transformation transgender story I’ve been reading.”

“H-hey, I’d like to hear about that...Zee too. Even if he doesn’t like reading as much as I do…”

Hmm. Haven’t heard Zee referred to as such before. Maybe that’s a sign of how comfortable they feel around me. A pleasant thought that brings a soft smile to my face. Oh, crap, they’re staring at that soft smile now. Quit smiling back at me, you’re gonna kill this little pan heart!

“We’re gonna be pretty busy too, actually,” Sue-Zee admits, turning their gaze away from me. “So maybe it’ll work out. I hope. Maybe we can hang out at night instead?”

My smile only widens at their proposal, slowing down and reaching for their hand. The duo looks back at me, their loose grip tightening after a moment.

“Sounds like a not-date to me.”

“When you call it that, it only makes it sound like a sneaky date more than anything else!”

I shrug and laugh softly, “That’s what you get when you get close to a thief. I’m a creature of the night, afterall.” 

 

A wink at the end punctuates the silliness of the claim with a stab of charm, I hope anyways. The navigators end up smiling and laughing with me, so maybe it worked.

“Sounds like a tagline for you and Fox. Trans Cat Burglars: Creatures of the Night!”

“PFF--! Please! Creeping through the shadows does not sound like it makes for starring role material, though, Fox does have the look and feel of a protagonist.”

Zee rolls their eyes at me with a smirk, letting go of my hand to punch me in the arm.

“C’mon, quit putting yourself down! I’ll beat the sad out of you if you keep that up!”

“Hmm, what did Sue say again? We should probably wait to confirm a relationship before we do that.”

My sixth sense for losing any of my nine lives goes off as the shit eating grin on my face feels like it’s about to be wiped off the next second as Zee’s fist winds back, and I can practically hear the springs tightening from the wind up as they grumble, “Why you little…!”

Their gusto deflates, however, hanging their arms and their head with a sigh.

“Not you too...I get enough of that from Sue herself!”

Course, Zee joins in my chuckling the moment after, just as we arrive at the crossroads waiting to split us apart.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow night then? I’m beat after today, so I’m probably gonna fall face first in the snow and lay there for a bit.”

Sue-Zee snorts and looks up at me with a nod.

“Sounds good to us, we’ve got art lessons with Jam, so it works out.”

“Ah, the rotten seafood. What do they do again? The art of assholery?”

The duo sticks their tongue out at me before grinning, swaying back and forth on...huh, just realized they don’t have their skates on. First time I’ve seen that in...ever.

“Actually it’s pretty freeform. They’re helping us with the motions and techniques of graffiti, it’s really fun! And they’re not as bad as you think they are, even if...we get where you’re coming from. Maybe you can join us sometime?”

“Consider yourselves lucky that you’re two of the few people that could get away with requesting something so painful sounding. I’ll keep it in mind.”

The two laugh for a moment, getting a nice smile out of me before, once again, we find ourselves standing in front of the other in awkward silence. Thankfully there’s less of a pause this time, as Sue-Zee steps on over and pulls me into a hug. It’s tight, but not Zee tight, it’s definitely a Sue hug, which I appreciate after such a tiring day, lowering myself to hug ‘em a bit closer.

“Any excuse to spend a bit more time with you is an excuse worth taking, we think.”

“God, you’re way too good for me, let alone Jam.”

“What’d I say about putting yourself down?” Zee says, popping out and hugging me a bit more firmly. “We just said we wanna see more of you, but that won’t happen if you don’t take care of yourself!”

A sigh falls from my lips as I pull back, looking Sue-Zee in the eyes and smiling weakly.

“Sorry, the past month has really gotten to me. Not like I thought very highly of myself before then, but...y’know.”

“Oh, we know,” they say, patting my shoulders with a grin. “That’s why we’ve gotta try extra hard to make sure you know folks care about you. The people you feel are worth protecting feel the same about you.”

Ghh. I’d love to lean in and kiss ‘em right here, but that seems inappropriate considering the circumstances.

“...You’re the best, you two. I’ll try my best too.”

They pull me in for one last moment of hugging before letting go and hopping back.

“You damn well better! Take care of yourself, at least until we see you tomorrow night!”

I end the interaction with a wave, turning around and making my way back into the woodsy path homeward, happy to know I’ll be able to spend some time with Fox, but also terrified of what’s to come in the following days, completely baffled by Coyotl’s existence, and sad that I’m going to have to put off hanging out with Sue-Zee for even longer. So much happened today, I just...I need something. A distraction, some kind of reassurance that everything’ll be alright, anything, I’ll take absolutely anything.

Then I get a terrible, slithery idea, and begin reconsidering anything.