The soft ding of the elevator kept Svetlana grounded as she headed back down to the restaurant. Her brain was half jelly right now, between Augusta and the connection to O’tmyil from earlier. 

Augusta had fallen asleep after a bit of cuddling, though. She’d been running on a daylight schedule for planning the party, while Svetlana had still had work and so was still fully in nocturnal mode. Not wanting to disturb her sleeping girlfriend, Svetlana went down to see who was left for the party. After leaving Augusta a note, of course. She was a gentle—lady? Gentlelady? Sure.

There weren’t too many folks left from the party. The Mynx girls had somehow climbed out onto an alcove in the hotel atrium, having curled up and gone to sleep. Svetlana wondered how they’d managed to get up there as she walked past. It seemed like the few hotel staff on the floor at this hour were wondering the same, and trying to figure out what to do. 

The few other remaining guests were in the restaurant proper. The caterers were putting away the last of the food, while a few of Svetlana’s coworkers were trying to grab whatever they could before it was gone. The DJ was taking down his set up. Agent Lee was sitting quietly, sipping on what looked to be a coffee in a corner. 

Then, there were Plynx and Thisbe, the vampire girl showing the feline princess how to lead in a (somewhat drunken) waltz.

“Might go easier when you’re both sober,” Svetlana said as she walked up to the pair.

Both girls jumped at her voice, before lighting up when they realised it was her.

“Heh, probably,” Thisbe said, with a slight blush.

“The attempt is still most appreciated, Thisbe-cute,” Plynx said, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.

Svetlana felt a smile grow across her face at seeing the two so happy with each other. Sure, them enjoying each other’s company didn’t lead to as direct a burst of joy as O’tmyil’s interactions, but it still brought her joy.

“We should probably head off. I think the staff want to clean up,” Svetlana said.

Both girls nodded, mumbling agreements. 

They went down to the underground level, which connected to the subway station, as well as the underground mall system that Hammer City shared with most other Canadian cities. Though the mall was closed this late at night. There were still a train or two left before it also closed for the night at least, thanks to it being a Saturday. Or, well, a Sunday at this point. 

So, it wasn’t really Svetlana’s birthday anymore. 

Not that she minded that too much as she plunked down on the subway train. She felt a bit lazy just taking it for two stops, but she had to admit to being a little tired. Physically. And they had all the bags and boxes of presents to carry, which would have been a hassle to walk all the way home with.

Plus, Thisbe liked the cave-like structure of the subway stations, so liked to take them whenever she had an excuse. Plynx was less fond, but seemed to be making up for it by snuggling.

“So,” Svetlana asked as they got off the subway, “What ended up happening with Noah?”

“Geordi-friend diagnosed Noah-nurse with ‘the genders’ and recommended a ‘follow up appointment’ when both were sober,” Plynx replied.

“… Yeah. That’s about what I should have expected,” Svetlana said with a light chuckle. 

They were quiet again on the rest of the walk through the station, which was eerily silent this late at night. Svetlana couldn’t shake the feeling that talking would disturb something. The back of her mind saying that it was a place she had to be on alert, lest something strike from the shadows.

Something like… well, a large predatory feline or a nocturnal monster of myths and legends.

Which left her laughing to herself as the three of them stepped outside, her vampiric and lynx-like girlfriends both staring at her sudden outburst.

“Oh,” Thisbe said with a nod. “It was just a primal fear. I had wondered what had you so on edge.”

“Primal fear? Of what?” Plynx asked, glancing back at the station.

“Prey instincts,” Svetlana said, smiling at Plynx.

“Ahh,” Plynx replied, seeming to only half understand.

“I barely remember them, myself,” Thisbe said. “But they can be quite irrational.”

“So, not to spoil the mood,” Svetlana said softly as they kept walking. “But I got distracted with how busy this week was and I forgot to ask… Plynx, why doesn’t Feyr like birthdays?”

“Oh. That, yes… the Siege of the Moraq. She was there, and it started the day of her eighth birthday,” Plynx replied. After a pause, as she remembered the name wouldn’t mean anything to the two earthlings, she explained further. “The Moraq is a most holy planet to some members of our nation. A rogue Kobaroic general launched a surprise attack on the otherwise non-militarized planet. There was much fighting and bombardment. The siege lasted close to… ten Earth months, if my mathematics is correct. Poor Feyr-sister was convinced it was her fault the attack occurred as a child.”

Svetlana felt her heart ache at that, and could see similar compassion on Thisbe’s face. Svetlana wanted to give Feyr a hug the next time she saw them, though there wasn’t much to do right now. 

Though, any further thoughts on that matter was interrupted by finding Agent Lee sitting on the chair in the lobby of her building. Svetlana found her brain a bit confused, remembering that Lee had still been in the hotel when they’d left, and there wasn’t much walking on either end of the trip.

“Misses Fujikawa, Thisbe, and Plynx. We have an emergency,” he said, his voice calm as he said it.

---

The hotel desk clerk watched as one of the custodians set up a ladder to try to get the strange lynx girl down from the alcove she’d climbed into. The ladder wasn’t quite tall enough, though, and the man had to head off to get a broom to try to poke the girl.

It was eventful, at least. The whole night had been interesting. A birthday party for a woman with five girlfriends, two of which seemed to be aliens. The clerk blushed at the thought. She didn’t swing that way, but she had to admit she envied how happy everyone in the relationship-thing seemed.

She was walking over to provide… some sort of support for the custodian as he climbed up to poke the sleeping lynx, when the front door chimed.

Turning, the clerk blinked at the massive woman who had just stepped in. She was probably a little shorter than the one woman who’d been at the party (who had likely been the tallest woman the clerk had ever seen in person), but the new arrival had enough muscle on her to look like she could lift a car.

She also had a rather impressive horn growing out of her forehead, flowing forest green hair, and an outfit that looked like someone had crossed one of Napoleon’s uniforms with a designer dress.

The clerk decided the forehead horn might be a hint to the woman’s identity, though, and hurried over with a smile. “Ah, are you with the DJ?”

“Pardon?” the large woman asked in a deep voice, raising an eyebrow.

It was then that the clerk noticed the woman had a tail. With a large club on the end, like a dinosaur or… there were armadillos that had that too, right?

“Uh… sorry. Just, he, uh, had a horn too,” the clerk replied, feeling nervous under the woman’s authoritative gaze. “He’s a unicorn, apparently. I didn’t know those were actually—sorry, did you need a room?”

“The party tonight. The guests are still here?” the large woman asked.

“A few are… but most of them left?” the clerk replied.

“You will tell me if Fujikawa is still here,” the woman said, her tail club swinging slowly behind her.

“Fuji—um, some of the Fujikawas are staying the night, but the one whose party it is left, uh, with the other cat girl?” the clerk replied, watching that club with fear.

“How? We were watching the building,” the woman said, leaning in and showing some rather impressive tusks.

“Uh, through the subway connection downstairs?” the clerk replied, hoping that staying calm and avoiding sudden movements would keep her safe.

The large woman stood back up to her full height, pinching the bridge of her nose, and then muttering something in a language the clerk didn’t recognise, but somehow made the woman’s voice sound deeper.

And, despite her fear, left the clerk wondering if maybe she was a little bi. 

Before she could process that thought any further, though, the lynx girl in the alcove woke up and let out an unearthly wailing noise. The tank of a woman leapt into a fighting stance at the sound, her tail swinging behind her and smashing through the metallic frame of the door behind her.

The clerk decided to book it and hide behind the front desk.

She heard the woman shouting more, followed by what had to be the front windows shattering. It seemed like she'd brought friends. And they were heavy based on the thundering footsteps they had. The woman roared what sounded like more orders, though the clerk couldn’t understand a word of whatever language it was. 

---

Karyna Fujikawa had a splitting headache as she was forced into the elevator with her husband by a large alien robot. The elevator groaned as the robot stepped on, her still half awake eyes glancing towards the weight limit and hoping that they weren’t exceeding the elevator’s capacity right now. 

At least the ride down to ground level was quick, so she was able to get past that fear soon enough. The issue of being taken prisoner by some sort of alien robot remained a fairly significant concern, however. She supposed, logically, it should have been the primary concern the whole time, but an elevator failing due to too much weight was a more grounded concern her brain could latch onto, so had taken first place.

Being pushed into the lobby, she was struck by the presence of several large alien robots, as well as what seemed to be just as large aliens in armour, as well as one alien woman in a more formal outfit shouting at the others. Mostly at the others, who were trying to get Mynx down from a chandelier in the middle of the lobby.

The feline girl was hissing and scratching at any of the nets they tried to swing at her, and leapt to the next chandelier when they started trying to shake her down instead.

Her husband nodded a few times at the sight. “I think I’d rather not deal with this.”

He then fainted, Karyna scrambling to catch him. Trying to find a good way to hold her husband up distracted Karyna from the chase above, and her attention only went back when she heard an unsettling ear piercing wail. Looking up, one of the aliens in armour had somehow managed to catch Mynx, who was squirming and flailing about, claws swiping in every direction. Another one of the horned aliens walked over with handcuffs of some sort, it taking three of them in the end to manage to get Mynx restrained.

She was then put down beside Karyna and her husband, while the apparent lead alien woman shouted something to do with Augusta at her soldiers.

Mynx turned to the Fujikawas, eyes filled with concern and fear as she realised Dan was unconscious.

“Svetlana-Father was hurt?” she asked.

“No, no. Dan just doesn’t handle stress well, and so he fainted to avoid dealing with it,” Karyna replied.

Mynx nodded a few times, until the motion became a general rocking back and forth of her whole body. “None of us-three want to deal with this either, but to be fainted does not seem smart.”

“Are these people dangerous?” Karyna asked, as another large alien thundered past.

“Kobaroians-enemies are… disciplined. If they do not have wanting war, then no major hurts will come to us-five,” Mynx said, before closing her eyes and whispering something in her own language in a soft sounding tone. 

Right. Karyna remembered Sveta saying something about Mynx actually being three girls. She wasn’t sure which one she was talking to, but she must have been trying to calm the other two in her head. Karyna decided to reach out, gently hugging the young girl(s), who leaned into her hug and began to cry while purring.

It was then that another group entered the room: Augusta with two aliens in armour behind her. The would-be princess had pulled on some sort of historically style military parade uniform, the blonde glaring as she walked in. Her eyes landed on the lead alien’s after a moment.

“You! Who are you to imprison moi, Princess Augusta Friede Nadezhda Hozenberg-Lemonov-Bouragne?” the blonde asked, crossing her arms and doing her best to look intimidating despite the other woman having an advantage of nearly 20cm of height, a massive horn, and surely 100kg of muscle.

The large alien woman gave a grin of her own as she leaned down into Augusta’s. “I am Bokarza Kreck. Queen of the Kobaroic Emergency Authority.”

She then blew a burst of air in Augusta’s face, before straightening back up to full height.

“…ah,” Augusta replied, a soft blush on her face. “A queen. Respectable.”

Karyna stared at the blonde. While she was glad the girl had accepted her sexuality, now was not the time to develop a crush.

---

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