Maki rang the doorbell of Nico's place, one arm full of donuts and coffee. Umi didn't make her wait long. But after Nico's roommate opened the door, she hesitated. She smelled...uncertain, which was rare, Maki realized even on their short acquaintance.

"Umi?" Maki tilted her head, inquisitively, as she took off her bobble hat.

Umi coughed, apologetically. "Nico's running late. She's picking up Kotori." A pause, uncertainty flaring. "Honoka will probably want to see Princess. She knows." There was a grimace as Umi dodged Maki's sudden stop on the stairs. Maki reviewed her own reactions, surprised, yes; upset, not really.

Maki snorted, remembering Nico teasing Umi. "Can't say no."

Umi raised an eyebrow, "You try it, when she keeps saying how much she wants to see Princess." Umi flexed her fingers, "No petting."

"Agreed." Odd, but adding another person to the list of people aware of her secret didn't freak Maki out. Kotori hugging her, and the high pitched squealing, that had freaked her out, but she felt no threat from Umi or either of her girlfriends, just acceptance and curiosity. No reason not to be calm. It was nice to feel safe, not to have to hide here, at Nico's place.

Umi nodded and led the way upstairs. Maki hadn't even stepped foot in the apartment, when she heard Honoka's happy cry of "Is she here, Umi?"

Maki closed the door behind her and waved in Honoka's direction, dropping the donuts and coffee on the table.

"MAKI!" Honoka vaulted over the couch, "Can I see? Please?" Umi rolled her eyes and Maki found herself getting suddenly shy as Honoka's blue eyes gleamed hopefully at her.

Umi put a hand on Honoka's shoulder, "Remember, we can only talk about this here."

Honoka nodded earnestly, "I know. Maki's a friend. We take care of friends." Honoka threw an arm over Umi's shoulder and pulled her in for a kiss. "Don't worry so much, Umi."

Honoka really was a lot like Rin. Honest and caring. Wandering into the Cup O' that night had been a cure for the severe social isolation Maki had lived in most of her life. Now, she had a girlfriend, and whenever she thought about Nico her posture got a little prouder, and more friends than Rin and Hanayo.

Nico had the heater in her car on full blast as she waited outside the Wirtz Center for Kotori. Too cold to let anyone walk home, Nico thought to herself, even if they had tried to assault your werewolf girlfriend. Maki was very cute in wolf form and like Nico, Kotori found cute things irresistible. It wasn't like Nozomi, going out of her way to make trouble. Kotori was a blur as she rushed into the passenger seat, a green scarf wrapped nearly completely around her head, golden brown eyes barely visible.

"Thanks, Nico!" Kotori breathed, cloud of cold mist at her mouth, buckling herself in.

Nico shrugged, "You're welcome." One favor deserved another, Nico decided. "But hands off my girlfriend, okay?"

Kotori giggled, "Oh, Nico, she was so scared when I grabbed her. I couldn't do that to anybody twice. I was just being silly."

"I can't believe Honoka slept through all that." Nico chuckled.

Nico and Kotori stood before the apartment door. So far, just since coming up the stairs, they'd heard two growls, one Umi yell and Honoka saying a bunch of things neither could understand. Then there was a thump that rattled the floor. Nico opened the door. Maki, in wolf form, was in front of Nico's bedroom door, some article of clothing in her mouth, Honoka was recovering her balance on the back of their flipped couch, some other article of clothing in her hands, and Umi was between them, wielding kitchen scissors like a martial arts weapon. Three sets of eyes, blinked once and then Umi and Honoka started babbling. Maki opened her mouth and half of one of Nico's favorite winter dresses fell to the floor. Nico glared at Honoka as she stomped by, shook her head at Umi and ignored Maki, opening her bedroom door long enough to enter, but closing it before the werewolf could follow. Maki sat, facing the door, whining softly.

"Kotori." Umi stated, carefully putting aside the scissors, arms open for a hug. "Welcome home."

Honoka examined the half a dress she still held, then smiled at Kotori, holding it out. "Maybe you could fix this for Nico, Kotori?"

Kotori pulled Honoka off the couch, "Let's help Umi lift the couch back up. Then we can talk about Nico."

Maki looked over her shoulder and howled, sadly and pointedly in their direction. Then she trotted to the table, retrieving the donut bag.

"Do you want to borrow a set of clothes to change into?" Umi asked the werewolf, as the couch was restored.

Maki shook her head and kicked Nico's door with her back paw. She could hear Nico grumbling but the door opened.

"If you're going to change, do it under a blanket, into clothes. No sexy swaying of Nico's attention. I'm working on my lines." Nico glared at Umi over Maki's back, before shutting the door again.

Umi dropped to the couch, her head on Kotori's shoulders, "On the whole, that went better than I expected."

"Not for Nico's dress." Kotori balled up the ruined fabric. "Please don't try whatever you did anywhere near my closet."

Nico's door opened and the diminutive actress stomped out, grabbed the coffee and slammed the door as she disappeared. Maki yelped.

"Loud noises. Werewolf hearing. Nico should be more considerate." Umi shook her head.

Kotori turned to Umi, letting the fabric fall in her dark haired lover's lap. "Nico should be more considerate?"

Umi shrugged, the portrait of laissez faire.

Honoka laid back across both of them, head on the fabric, winking. "Guess we'll have to be quiet then."

"Honoka." Honoka recognized Umi's tone, it rarely meant that whatever Honoka had planned would was still Kotori, but she was looking wistfully at Nico's door.

"Were those donuts Maki had? I didn't have time for a dinner break. We have so many costumes left to finish. I can't believe tech is this weekend."

"I'll get you one, Kotori." Honoka bounced up and almost got a step before Umi's hold on her shirt stopped her.

"Privacy, Honoka." Umi chided, "Remember. A closed door after 10 means only knock in emergencies."

"This is an emergency." Honoka moaned as her stomach rumbled. "Kotori reminded me how hungry I am."

"I'll heat something up. I think Nico has some leftovers."

"Ooohh," Kotori clapped her hands together as Honoka followed Umi into the kitchen, "yummy."

Nico sat on her bed, half eaten donut in one hand, coffee in the other, worried and apologetically werewolf slobbering over her sweater. "Calm down, Maki. Nico's not mad at you. Nico is sure you have a perfectly good explanation for why another one of my favorite dresses is ruined."

Maki howled, but Nico recognized none of the notes.

"More words, pretty girl, PLEASE, for Nico." Nico sighed, without a free hand she had no way of encouraging Maki to give her enough space to eat the donut. Hmmm. Nico had a thought and wondered if that would still work. She swooped down, bopping an emphatic kiss on the werewolf's nose and giggling as the startled wolf scuttled backwards.

"Good to know Nico's still the scariest thing on campus for redheads." Nico winked.

Maki collected herself and her lavender eyes narrowed as she huffed at Nico, then she sprang past Nico with a whoosh of air, sliding under the blanket and by the time Nico had swallowed the donut and put the coffee safely on her nightstand, a pair of girlfriend sized arms reached out to draw Nico down into the bed.

"I missed you, Nico." Maki's voice smoothed over Nico's agitation, soft and sultry, a whisper of want.

Nico had several, preplanned, incredibly valid excuses for not letting Maki lure her anywhere near horizontal, but as she felt Maki's arms tighten around her, she discovered there really were nearly endless depths and hopes glinting like rare crystals in the green swirl of Maki's amethyst eyes. Or at least enough distractions that Maki's lips pressed urgently into hers before Nico could get a word out. Nico's hand grasped for something solid, expecting to feel the crinkle of sheet or fabric, but her fingers pressed into warm muscle and Maki whimpered, rising up, biting into Nico's lips. Was this last night's forgotten dream, Nico wondered, and would she ever get any work done if gorgeous and bitey kept changing into girlfriend form around her, but never actually putting on clothes. How did nudists manage?

And then Nico stopped thinking as Maki breathed across her ear and Nico's fingers drifted down Maki's side, teasing every curve, riding even the tiniest twitch of the werewolf's torso as Maki thrashed her head back against the pillow, red hair a crazy chaos, giving up her advances as Nico's lips tangoed down her neck, forcing an urgent beat that had Maki open mouthed, on the verge of a scream Nico swallowed with a demanding kiss, leaving Maki shuddering uncontrollably.

At a nod from Kira, Erena knelt down next to the coffin, prying off the false panel built into the bottom. Backstage was eerily silent, the rest of the set and lighting crew finally all headed home after a long night of getting in shape for dry tech. Nozomi had been one of the last to leave, face twisted in pain, complaining of another headache and snapping at the lights running crew. Erena would honestly be glad when they switched over from the receiver to these transmitters; that should cut Nozomi's symptoms and make her easier to work with. Anju had been disappointed when she realized Nozomi was only sensitive to fluctuations in the spectrum of magical energies but didn't actually generate them.

"We'll have to replace the batteries midweek, but this will be a good test to see if feedback surges blow anything out. If the frequencies stay the same, the tech should work." Erena worked quickly, putting the light weight car battery in and using a power screwdriver to make quick work of installing the regenerative monitor. "I am worried about overheating."

"I can keep an eye on it. Plus, there's the backup." Kira nudged the coffin with her steel toed boot, but it didn't move. "This'll be fun."

Erena frowned, "In the future, we'll try to get access to vacuum channel transistors, but if anyone wonders why it's so heavy, just tell them it's a safety feature to cut down on shifting."

"Did you put in air holes?" Kira crouched, lifting the coffin lid for scrutiny. Erena put the screwdriver down for a minute, opening her tool kit and handing a power drill to Kira. "That should be a good sized bit."

The door to the theatre opened. Kira turned as Erena continued to work, sliding the false panel back in to place. Anju stepped in, "Costumes are done for the night. Everyone's out of the building."

"3 minutes and I'm done." Erena moved into a darker part of backstage. Kira drilled three holes near the top of the coffin in front of her.

"Don't forget to mark the coffins." Anju leaned against the stage, yawning, curls falling over her face.

"They're the only complete ones." Kira stretched with a groan, Anju's yawn reminding her of the sleep she didn't get last night.

"They're not actually. Asuka decided she wanted more for the ship scene so they'll be building all day tomorrow." Erena reached for the drill and finished the air holes in the second coffin.

"Then mark those two." Anju rolled her eyes.

"I did." Erena took a moment to make sure her tools were secure in their place.

"Then let's go home." Anju couldn't keep herself from sniping, Kira raised an eyebrow. "Kotori wouldn't stop talking about some dog."

Eli had been asleep when Nozomi came back to her dorm room. She rolled over, expecting Nozomi to wash up and crawl into bed next to her. But the next time Eli came out of her sleep state, there was still no Nozomi. Eli sat up, "Love?"

Nozomi was sitting at her table, laptop open, muttering to herself and taking a pencil to...Eli wrapped the sheet around her shoulders and sat next to Nozomi, "Is that the light plot? Are you still working?"

"There's an extra light fixture." Nozomi circled one on the grid, toward the front of the stage. "I couldn't find any cues it's used in.' She tapped the laptop screen. "I didn't want to make Erena suspicious, so I didn't ask. But I want to take a look at it." Nozomi started to stand, but found that Eli had wrapped both arms around her waist.

"It's too late."

Nozomi closed her laptop. "Erena and Kira were hovering so I finally left."

Eli put her head in Nozomi's lap, yawning, "They might still be there then."

Nozomi sighed, one hand drifting to play with the loose ends of Eli's hair, "Yeah."

"I'll ask Hanayo about it tomorrow, okay?" Eli smiled up at her lover, "Let's get some sleep."

Nozomi blew out a long breath, her fingertips tracing Eli's cheekbones, "All right."

Maki woke suddenly, with a yelp. No sheets, cold, no Nico. She sniffed the air, Nico was on the couch, worried, scared? Had something happened? Maki bounded off the bed, then realized living room was shared space and pulled on her flannel shirt. Nico was under the throw, script in hand, muttering, largest coffee mug in the apartment half full in front of her.

Maki howled softly to warn Nico of her approach, then whispered, "Nico?"

Nico glanced up from her script, her expression pensive, "Hi there, pretty girl. Did I wake you? Sorry."

Maki shook her head, frowning, "Got cold."

Nico snorted, "That's my line." She held open the throw, "If you promise not to distract Nico, we can share."

Maki shook her head again, "Why are you scared?"

Nico had gone back to her script, but Maki's question couldn't be ignored. "Maybe because Nico is feeling like Mina after Dracula makes her drink blood."

Maki twitched. That image was one she was trying never to visualize, Kashima forcing Nico into her chest, forcing her character into vampirism. Thinking about it always started a growl in her chest.

Nico reached for her hand and yanked Maki to the couch, "Don't think about it, Maki. You're going to have to get used to that scene. Nico can't have you growling through her debut as the hottest new triple threat in the industry."

"Triple threat?" Maki sat and let Nico arrange the throw around them both.

"Singing, dancing, acting...like Fred and Ginger. Nico will bring back the big screen musical." Nico leaned back against Maki, script in her lap for a moment. "But bigger. And gayer."

Maki nodded, relaxing at Nico's touch, but the sable haired wonder still smelled off. There wasn't the usual...Maki thought about, hint of magic, still there, the cozy, post cuddling smells that kept Maki in a snug cocoon of Nico awareness, yes, but Nico seemed a little less sharp maybe… "Confidence!"

Nico tilted her head up, ruby eyes scrutinizing Maki's face, "Maki?"

Maki nuzzled into Nico's shoulder, "You don't smell as confident as usual."

Nico's chest puffed out, her voice indignant, "Nico is always ready to seize any day, any stage and be the best" She ruffled Maki's hair, "Boldly."

Maki shook her head, bangs falling over her eyes, sniffing her way up to Nico's ear, "Nope. No sale. Try again."

Nico turned her head and nipped at Maki, "Nico is fine. Nico is Nico."

Maki stretched her leg across Nico, and shifted so they were nose to nose. Nico couldn't look away from the worry or the affection in the lavender eyes. Maki waited.

Nico shrunk down, scrunching her face as if a sour taste had invaded her mouth, "Nico may be a bit worried."

"Why? You're amazing. You make everyone pay attention." Maki's cheerful, fanged grin gleamed with honest admiration. Nico had really never had that much faith directed at her. She sat taller.

"Nico does do that." Nico brightened, but her voice still hinted doubt, "But Nico's been busy and confidence is preparation and Nico is sooooo not prepared." Nico dropped her head into Maki's shoulder. "Did I tell you I blanked on a scream at rehearsal today. That's not even a line."

Screaming? Maki could feel her jaw tensing. What else happened to Nico on stage?

Nico felt the werewolf tense, snuffling through her hair, whining. "Pretty girl?

Maki pulled back, "Sorry. I just wondered if you'd smell scared when you screamed onstage…" Maki sighed, suddenly confronted with a new and unsettling array of werewolf based complexities.

Nico put her hands on Maki's waist. "Maybe Nico should sneak you into rehearsal so you can…" then leaned in for a quick, gentle kiss, "smell what's going on. So you don't try to save Nico."

Maki's eyes unfocused, fang biting into her lip, heart racing suddenly, remembering Nico and Kashima on the Lakefill, seeing Kashima grab Nico, not knowing what was going on, rushing up to separate them…her lips snarled as the growl built and then Nico's hand was on her cheek, her voice soothing.

"Nico is right here, pretty girl." And Nico's hands slid under Maki's thighs, gently forcing her back onto the couch after an initial squeeze, "But I really do have to work on my lines."

Maki dropped her head, eyes pleading behind the tangles of her hair falling down. Nico laughed, hand out to block. "No pouty puppy eyes, Maki. Nico is impervious."

Maki whined and nudged Nico with her shoulder as Nico turned to pick up her script again. Ignored, Maki draped the blanket over herself.

Nico opened to the Dracula scene as a soft cream and red head nestled into her lap, yawning, lavender eyes half closed. Nico chuckled and scritched Maki under her chin, "Cheater."

A/N: Howdy. So what's the longest you've gone without sleep? I think, and it's a blur, I once topped out somewhere after 72 hours and before 90. Finals week my freshman year in college were fun...

Hope this finds you well. We got through a cold weather snap here and Christmas decorations are still up in the neighborhood. Take care!