Denver's airport is weird.  The main building has a series of tent-poled up canopies which are intended to look like the snow covered Rocky Mountain peaks, which I guess they kinda do if you look at it all abstractly.  On top of that, all of the concourses for departures and arrivals are split off into separate buildings behind security and connected by an underground tram.  So Sylph and I were parked on the edge of a fountain right next to the exit way that all the new arrivals flood through at regular intervals as the tram system lets off loads of travelers.  

    I was staring off into the distance, idly trailing my hand through the water of the fountain as at least one form of purposefully distracting stimulation in the face of all the noises and faces causing distressing overstimulation.  Apparently Sylph had said something to me as she now sent me a sharing depicting me unintentionally ignoring her and how cute she thought that was, but also tinted with concern.

    It was nice to be able to reply without words as the immense amount of background chatter and moving around of bodies, combined with anticipation and anxiety was making producing words complicated.  I shared with her what it felt like to be in my body at this moment.  Thoughts racing through my head of what to say to two people I loved dearly, but haven't seen in years.  Thoughts that weren't allowed to reach any satisfying conclusion, clouded by the background of the most people I've been around in that same time period; not that those thoughts would conclude anything satisfying even in a quiet distraction free environment given how my anxious brain works.

    I began to feel my purposeful dissociation mechanism start pulling me back from my awareness of the world around me, but before that could get very far, I felt a gentle touch from within me.  I turned towards that touch and there was the other instance of me.

    *Hey, you okay?*

    'Yeah, just crowds.  You know how it is.'

    *I think I can fix that for us.  We could edit the failsafe into a sorta noise canceling headphones thing, but for more senses than just hearing😜*

    'Okay yeah, that sounds amazing.  Can Fungie do that?'

    *It can, I was just talking to it about that before I bothered you.  Want me to have it implement the instinct?*

    'Yes please and thank you.  I'm so bad at taking care of myself sometimes, but apparently if there's two of us we can take care of each other.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy😊  I love us!'

    *Me too😊*

    I turned to Fungie and was presented with an instinct on how to use my new crowd canceling filter which other me had chosen to represent as a mental knob going from zero to eleven.  I shifted my awareness back to reality, and taking mental hold of that knob, started cranking it up.  As I turned it, all of the crowds around me faded away.  The ambient noise of humanity drifted off, far into the background.  The vibrations of their footfalls and rolling luggage ceased to reach my feet and ass where they were in contact with the floor and fountain ledge.  They even appeared to dissolve into thin air, like I had access to an opacity slider on the people layer in the canvas of my reality.

    I turned the knob all the way up to eleven.  The entire airport around me became devoid of all movement and sound.  I could hear my own breathing and heartbeat, but nothing else.  Even Sylph ceased to exist other than my awareness of her presence through our connection.  As far as my awareness of reality was concerned, I was alone.  It was honestly pretty lonely.  Welp, not gonna be using level eleven often…

    I dropped the filter down to a comfortable level five and life filtered back into the airport.  Thankfully a subdued and vaguely translucent life.  Most importantly, Sylph was there.  She existed next to me in her full vibrancy, only made more evident against the backdrop of washed out, filtered away humanity.  Other me must have set it up so that people I cared about were prevented from filtering at all but the highest settings and I mentally hugged em for this.

    I couldn't help but smile at Sylph, and reached out to rest my hand on her thigh.  She smiled back at me, but then her eyes were drawn over my shoulder to behind me and her smile brightened further.  I turned to follow her gaze and two figures slowly resolved out from the mass of not quite there people.  It seemed the filter took a few seconds to add new faces to its exclusions as at first I couldn’t recognize the pair.  Somewhere, on a purely subconscious and emotional level, my mind started processing their presence.  Without being aware of the source, I felt both sadness and joy well up within me and tears well up within my eyes.  Slowly, the identification opened up to me and I recognized Cairn and Lilly as they walked through the entry way amongst another flood of arrivals.  

    The emotions hit me full force and now I was fully crying.  Two people I adored, but hadn't been within a thousand kilometers of for more than three years were now in shouting distance.  I wonder why people don't call that a megameter?  The thought briefly distracted me from my emotions and the vast reduction in that megameter distance, now only on the order of a decameter.

    They both noticed me shortly after and a screech from Cairn shattered the artificially muted soundscape of the airport as well as my distraction on the linguistics of lengths.  Cairn ran up to me, wrapping me up in a hug that nearly plowed me off the ledge into the fountain.  "O-M-G bitch, you look amazing.  Now stop crying and stand up to hug me back so I can bury my face in them tiddies."

    In the emotion of the moment, I looked at them completely confused until I looked down.  I had chosen a maroon sweater with a deep V-cut and a well structured push up bra to wear today.  So my tiddies were very much on display.  Carin, despite having disposed of their tits with extreme prejudice, was very much a breast focused person.  My memory of this fact broke through the rest of my confusion and distraction, bursting to the forefront of my mind.  I broke down laughing.  Quickly standing up, I wrapped them in a hug and the shorter enby motorboated me while I giggled.

    Lilly made it to us shortly thereafter, having collected Cairn's hastily forgotten luggage.  She grabbed Cairn's head with two hands to slowly remove them from my cleavage.  "Do you need something to wipe off the slobber now Marin?"

    This only served to make my giggling worse and I began crying again as well.  The ever-gallant Lilly extended a handkerchief to me.  I didn't even bother to take it, instead pulling her into a hug and burying my giggle-sobbing face into her neck.  I remained there for quite a while, only coming back to my senses when I became dimly aware of Cairn introducing theirself to Sylph and likely also offering to motorboat her so she didn't feel left out.  The thought, shifting giggle-sobbing more towards purely giggling, allowed me to pull back from Lilly's now slightly soggy neck.  After a brief but meaningful gaze into her eyes and a tip-toed peck on her cheek, I interlaced my fingers with hers and turned to save Sylph from Cairn's chaos.

    "Sylph, this is Cairn and Lilly… who you've sorta met already in the game I guess…"  I looked between the two of them, "and this is Sylph.  My girlfriend.  Isn't she dreamy?!"

    Lilly stepped forward and extended her hand to Sylph "We have seen pictures, but pictures do not do any justice to your true beauty."  As Sylph took her hand, Lilly bent down to kiss it.  Both Sylph and I blushed profusely and shared a thought towards how hot she was over our connection.  Lilly turned back to me, "yes, she is quite dreamy."

    "If we could, it would be nice to get moving out of here.  I'm pretty emotional right now and there are way more people than I've been around in several years."  I giggled anxiously.  Even though they were less visible and audible, I was still aware of the crowd's existence.  One cannot simply fix anxiety by turning down the volume of the source.

    Sylph took initiative and began collecting baggage.

    Lilly went to stop her.  "You really don't need to carry those, Cairn's is a bit heavy…." but she trailed off as Sylph easily hoisted both larger pieces of luggage and started walking.  The impressed smiles both Cairn and Lilly gave me as they followed after her were priceless.

 

    We made it back to the hippie van without issue.  There was much hugging after the loading of the luggage and we all piled in to start the trip back home.  Badger of course would not leave the new people in the car alone and there was much excited doggy whining and grumbling until they got enough of Cairn and Lilly's scent and attention to quiet down.  Sylph was first to break the ensuing silence that had settled as I made our way back to the highway.  "So, how was your flight?"

    Cairn barreled into the conversation to move past the annoying pleasantries.  "It was fine, but that's unimportant.  Give us the gossip about Marin.  We know we know eir not giving us the full story when we ask if ey is doing alright.  Also, when you getting married?"

    Lilly swatted her partner.  "Marin dear, what this chaotic troll means to say is we know you are doing your best, but your best hasn't been you being happy"

    "Oh yeah, happiness wasn't really on my radar for a while.  I can’t say everything going on in my head these days is perfect, and I know I’ve not really been able to be open about that…  Even to myself.  But I can look back on who I've been for the past year.  When I look back now I can see the change.  It’s only been a week, but I cleaned out her room… and then I met Sylph… It’s like I cleaned out space for something else in my life, something other than mourning.  Sylph just fell right into that space and…  Ewww I was about to say you complete me.  How sappy is that shit?”

    There was a chorus of laughter from the other occupants of the van.  Badger joined in with a small howl.

    “Also Cairn, no we are not getting married.  I guess we did have something we wanted to talk with you both about later when I'm not driving though."

    "One of you is preggers?"  This was followed again by a swift whapping sound and a giggling yelp from Cairn.

    I joined in the giggling on this one.  "And that's just extremely unlikely from an anatomy standpoint, as you should be aware."

    "Hey, bodies are weird.  Anything's possible, and we know you two have boned."  Another whap and a giggle, but this time the giggle became muffled as Lilly had firmly placed her hand over Cairn's mouth. 

    "Sylph.  Had Marin properly prepared you for this thing next to me who appears to be asking to be gagged?"  Lilly glared wonderfully across the car at her partner as she asked the question. 

    Sylph had been watching the back and forth like an amused dog at a tennis match.  Her laugh at the question was downright musical and I loved it.  "Yes, you can consider me having been warned.  Marin has shared much about the two of you with me, not all of it good, but everything endearing."  She turned to playfully glare at Cairn and dropped her voice down a bit.  "You may remove your hand, I think I'm well equipped to deal with them."

     Lilly removed her hand and Cairn gulped and giggled with mock anxiety.

     "Cairn, if either of us become pregnant or married I will ensure you are the first to know."  This was followed with a wink and Sylph's amazing smirk as Cairn started the motion for a fist pump.  "On the condition I get to tape your mouth shut if you become too annoying in asking about it."

    Cairn's fist was aborted mid-pump as their jaw dropped.  They looked to Lilly and she merely shrugged with a smirk of her own.  There was a brief moment of contemplation and then they extended their hand.  "Deal!"

    The whole car erupted with laughter.

    * * *

    We arrived back at my home around dinner time.  We had made a brief stop for snacks on our way out of Denver, but three hours later we were all ready for actual food.  Cairn offered to cook out of minor recompense for their ongoing playful annoyances throughout the drive home.  Despite their mischievous nature, they were actually amazingly nurturing when it came to meeting the material needs of those they cared for.  I opened a box of wine and the rest of us huddled into the dining room next to the kitchen so banter could continue whilst they cooked.

    "So Sylph, what's your current favorite thing about Marin?"  Cairn was shouting over the kitchen island at us while whisking some eggs.

    "Currently…"  Sylph looked thoughtful for a moment, "the way ey blush at me when I smile at em in just the right way."  She smirked at me, my kryptonite, and I blushed in what was apparently the exact way she was looking for.  Cairn and Lilly laughed at me.

    Lilly smirked at me too after her laughter had calmed.  Her smirk very much did things to me as well, but it carried different emotions and context.  Sylph's smirk was equal parts loving adoration and lustful predation.  Lilly's smirk was both those things, but with an undercurrent of command to behave or face the consequences.  When Lilly looked at me like that, it split me figuratively into two minds: one wanted nothing more than to obey, the other very much wanted to experience the consequences.  Now that I literally had two minds, both of them split right down the middle in the face of that smirk.

    I apparently had gone very quiet as everyone was now snickering at me.  "I agree completely with that.  I too have grown to enjoy the looks on Marin's face in response to a good smirk."

    "It appears I shall have some practice to do with you Marin.  I would like be able to elicit similar results to what Lilly just got from you."

    If my face wasn't already red, it definitely was now.  I sputtered several times attempting to respond, but the power of speech had fled from me.  All that was left was for me to bury my face in my hands.

    Cairn noticing my distress came to my aid, threateningly shaking a pan at the two women.  "Y'all need to stop ganging up on em until you are about to follow through on all this flirting.  I need Marin to be able to compliment me on my cooking and em being able to speak is useful for that."  

    Lilly and Sylph both nodded in apology.

    "Sorry though Marin, after dinner you're fair game."  They shrugged at me and made their way back into the kitchen, the mouthwatering scent of basil and peanut oil left in their wake.

    I gawked at Cairn’s betrayal.  Thankfully Badger too had noticed my distress and had shoved their big head in my lap.  "You'll protect me from the two beautiful intimidating women won't you Badger?"  My wonderful companion yawned at me and I hoped that meant yes.

    My salvation was quickly called into question though.  Lilly snapped her fingers, commanding attention.  "Badger sit!"  Badger sat right away completely ignoring me.  She had used The Voice and Badger was nowhere near immune.  If I hadn’t already been sitting, chances were good I would have quickly dropped my ass to a seat as well.

    I resigned myself to my situation.  “Welp, abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”  

    “I suppose that depends on what you might be hoping for.”  Sylph had a bright hopeful smile on her face.

    “Well you seem to be enjoying yourself.  Honestly though I’m just so overwhelmed and happy right now.  This house, it feels so warm having you all here.  I Just love you all so much.”  And then I was crying.  “I haven’t even finished a glass of wine and I’m already getting all mushy.”

    “Marin honey, you are always mushy.  We haven’t ever known you to not be mushy.”  Cairn began setting plates down in front of us.  “Also dinner is served.  You may praise me now”

    It was a simple stir fry over noodles with egg fried rice, but if the smell was any indication, it was spiced to perfection.  I took a bite and it was delicious.  “Mmmmm, consider yourself praised.  I didn’t know how much I missed your cooking until now.”

    “Wonderful as usual, my adorable pile of rocks.”  

    We all turned to Sylph as she took her first bite.  Her face flushed and her skin had begun to glisten with tiny beads or sweat.  "Oh this tastes wonderful, but it's… painful?"  She started fanning her open mouth with her hands.

    I started to giggle, but was also concerned.  "Oh crap, is this your first exposure to spicy food?  I should have warned you.  We are all masochists when it comes to spicy."  All the food I've had her try hadn't been spicy at all.  Something else was wrong though.  Neither Lilly nor cairn were giggling with me, just staring at Sylph open mouthed.

    Cairn was first to finally react.  "I've had some people not like my cooking, but I don't think anyone ever turned literally green like some cartoon about to puke."

    I looked back at Sylph and only just now noticed rather than a normal human red faced blushing, Sylph's skin had taken on the purple tinted green of how she looked when we first met.  This was so normal for her, I didn't even process that it wasn't 'normal' for a human audience.