"Bah, annoying is what it is. Nepgear and Uni get to be all lovey dovey, but we can't date anyone because they're either too old for us or human? That's not fair at all. Hey Rom, it's biological reasons that make incest a problem, right? So since we're both girls and infertile, it shouldn't matter. Let's try all that stuff!"

"I guess so, but let us wait until we are a bit older. We are just five, maybe Blanc will be nice if we behave."

"Fine, you have a point. But how about we go scare her with this right now? Would that help?"

"I am not sure... but I want to do it anyway. The face she will make will be great!"

-Ram and Rom


IF eyed the assortment of bottles and glasses spread over the table, unsure what to make of it. "Are we supposed to drink all of that? Is that healthy?"

For, much to her surprise, the amounts present would be enough to poison all three of them.

While 5pb. was busy chuckling, Cave explained: "No. She insisted we get different ones because you do not know which flavour you will like." The redhead motioned for the mirthful blunette, who waved cheerfully. IF returned a hesitant nod and sat down.

The Makers were situated in their lounge, far away from public eyes and the staff alike, being left alone to have a quiet evening amongst themselves. The sole window at the room's far side, looking out onto the sea, was dark and had a curtain drawn in front of it. Night had since fallen, all three women tired from another day of work.

"W-Well," 5pb. started with a bit of a stutter, motioning for the various bottles. "Do you have anything you want to try?" She threw a curious glance to IF, who had already admitted to the fact she never had any alcohol before, aside from a casual sip here and there. Mostly from Compa insisting, though.

The younger woman shrugged lightly, overwhelmed by the sheer number she could choose from. "I don't know much about this stuff, what do you suggest?" Not that it mattered, she was the one who paid for it all anyway; on the other hand, her bank account had not really suffered much under the expenses.

Her friend ran a thoughtful look over the assortment, then sighed and grabbed a sleek green bottle out of it. "Alright. I don't really know much about alcohol either, but I guess we should start with wine instead of the hard stuff. Drink slowly, okay? And drink some water once in a while, the alcohol draws fluids out of your system." She did not even watch IF nod, instead taking the time to fill two wide glasses halfway with a dark red liquid and another three with water they had prepared as well.

The open bottle went back to its place while Cave had grabbed another, this one white wine, to fill the final glass. This last one was taken by the redhead as her own while 5pb. offered IF one of the red-filled glasses. "Cave doesn't like red wine," she explained while the brunette took it.

IF nodded again and beheld the glass and its crimson content; she almost sipped from it immediately, but noticed that her blue-haired friend appeared as if she wanted to say more. She hesitated for a moment, then raised her glass toward them with a little smile. "A little late, I guess. But who cares! To still being alive!"

The planeptunian could not help but snort, yet she did not hesitate in clinking her own glass against 5pb.'s; Cave did the same a moment later and the three softly sipped from their first drink of the evening.

Red wine, IF found, was nice. Somewhat fruity and prickly, but not overly much. She took another small sip before throwing her colleagues a grin. "Looks like we have a hit already." This earned her a pair of nods, probably being about as expected. IF did not mind it either way.

Her glass slowly emptied and was then quickly rinsed out; she had a new drink in front of her after a few sips of the water in-between. Neither 5pb. nor Cave seemed to mind taking their time, seeing that they had taken the following day off to recuperate from this episode. IF wondered how bad it would be after hearing a bit about hangovers from Compa in the past. Then again, she figured she could worry about it later.

The harder alcohol however, she quickly discarded. It burned itself down her throat, far too much for her to be comfortable with. Even with her friends' insistence that it would get better, she gladly returned to the wine and decided to stay with it.

At some point, they had begun chatting idly as they drank.

"Ugh, I'd wish Carol came to visit me more often," 5pb. complained at them with the slightest slur. She took another gulp of her whiskey, having revealed herself to be quite fond of the stronger spirit. "I mean, she's supposed to be my sister and all!"

Her gestures had become a little exaggerated by now, though neither of the other two minded it. IF kept thinking by herself however, and gave in to her curiousity this time: "I've been wondering, you're both Leanboxians, right?" She waited for 5pb. to nod, then made a motion for their surroundings. "Why isn't she serving here, then?"

The younger Maker always figured it would be rude to ask, but while she did not yet have enough wine to impede her behaviour noticeably, her inhibitions had been lowered by this point. Something which she regretted when the idol's face fell.

"'s a bit of a long story," 5pb. muttered before downing the rest of her glass and refilling it. Then Cave set a hand on her arm to remind her of going slowly; the blunette sighed and let go of the beverage, leaning back for a moment as she reached for her water. "Did you talk to her before?"

"Kind of?" IF shrugged lightly, only now remembering how averse MAGES. had been to telling her; she did give her a little bit of information after she spoke about herself, but not all that much. "She said something about your mom being abusive, but that was all I heard about it." She slowly refilled her own glass, emptying the bottle. "You don't need to-"

"It's fine," the idol interrupted her with a dismissive motion; then she grabbed for her glass again. Cave did not stop her this time, being busy with her own drink; the redhead had begun to sample various spirits instead of committing to one of her liking like the other two had done. She mostly kept quiet and listened.

"There's really not much more to it," 5pb. told her with a shrug. "She was no good mother and we felt it until Carol got everything together to get us out. I... I tried to keep her attention on me," the blunette added quietly. "I'm the older one after all. I guess it worked, but she left me with this damned condition. I can't even go out without a cordon of people I know around me, or completely invisible."

She scowled and took another sip while IF frowned; she had not known that this had been the origin of her friend's problems. It obviously bothered her more than she normally liked to admit. "Didn't it get any better at all?"

The blunette made a croaking noise and ran a hand over her throat. "Zilch. Tek is getting better with her fear of men, even if it goes really slowly, but nothing's changing for me. I doubt this is ever going to go away."

IF blinked and tilted her head slightly. "What is with Tek?"

Her question gave the older woman pause; a moment passed before she took another gulp from her whiskey, which IF used to drink from her wine in turn. Then 5pb. shook her head. "Not my thing to say, and you really shouldn't ask her until you know her a lot better."

The younger woman nodded slowly and hoped that she would remember this. Then she grimaced and put the glass down; she was feeling a little too warm despite the fact they did not turn up the heating. Either it was the alcohol, or the leanboxian nights again. So IF sighed and pulled off her coat, simply flipping it over her chair once she slipped out.

"Oh my..." She blinked and turned her attention back to 5pb., whose eyes were on her arms. "I figured you must be well-toned, but it's a surprise you're so lean." The blunette got up from her chair and wandered over to run a finger over IF's triceps. The younger woman shivered from her soft touch, but did not pull away.

"So firm, heh." She did not seem intent on stopping; normally, IF would have asked her to do so, but in her current state, she found the gesture rather endearing. So she let her do as she pleased and sipped from her wine again. 5pb. made a thoughtful face after a little while, eyeing her uncertainly. "What were we talking about?"

"Why you and your sister live on different sides of the world," Cave commented from the side. An actual grin had wormed its way on her face by this point, be it the alcohol or the situation she found her colleagues in.

"Oh, right." The blunette paused and looked around for a moment; upon not finding a chair in convenient reach, she unceremoniously plopped down into IF's lap. "Don't mind me." Her swirling drink was held in its glass by a softly glowing dome of magic, the idol's powers still working flawlessly even while somewhat inebriated.

IF, however, blinked at her owlishly. She knew that alcohol did things to people, but this was more than she expected; then again, she was actually fine with this turn of events herself.

"Ugh, so... the gist of it? People are assholes." And again, IF was caught off-guard by the fact her friend just spat out a curse like that, where she was usually so soft-spoken. "I mean I get it, I put a lot of effort into my music even back then, so it makes sense I get recognised for it, but everyone constantly putting me on the pedestal and ignoring her went on Caroline's nerves. She worked hard too, but I was the only one who took any interest in it. She wasn't happy, at all." 5pb. sighed and took another sip. "And that spread to include me."

She fell quiet and leaned against IF, the warmth of another body being actually quite pleasant to the younger woman. She hesitated for a moment before awkwardly patting 5pb.'s shoulder, who offered her a weak smile.

"And that's what happened, really. She didn't like it any more than I did, so when Lady Blanc offered her a job, she took it. We're getting along much better again now that we're apart... but I do miss her."

The conversation stalled once more, though not for long. A few seconds after her last words, 5pb. perked up and addressed the room in general. "Okay, that settles it! I'm heading to Lowee for Winter Solstice and Carol will like it!"

IF could not help but snort at that, which was surprisingly mirrored by Cave. "You're drunk," the brunette told her friend.

5pb. only giggled and leaned back against her. "So what? We all are or will be, and I'm with the cutest girl in the room. Let me have this." Her words drew a giggle from IF, even as her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Come on, I'm not that cute." She could not help but deny it; 'cute' had rarely been a fitting descriptor for her.

"Fine, then you're a little cute. And your competition is Cave."

IF slowly looked toward the redhead whose expression had mostly returned to the usual blank look. Well, putting it like that... "Point taken." Cave huffed, but did not seem to take offense. Then IF turned back to 5pb.. "What about you, though?"

"I'm not cute, I'm an awkward mess." She did not even hesitate to answer like this, still leaned against the younger woman without a care. "I can't even talk to people I don't know really well, I can't go out, it's awful!" And with that, she downed her drink once more. IF followed suit on that with the rest of her wine, then made to grab for a new bottle; unfortunately, it was out of reach.

Fortunately, the bottle started flying and founds its way into her hand. 5pb. patted her shoulder with a winning smile, which prompted IF to grin back; then she huffed while refilling her glass, her belly and mind pleasantly warm. "Thanks."

"Naw, no need to thank me," the blunette told her with a light slur. She snuggled back against IF, who could not find it in her to protest. "You're always so stiff, so I'm happy you let me be here. It's nice."

"She always starts like that," Cave deadpanned. "Give her ten more minutes and she will start getting handsy."

"Will not," 5pb. retorted with a bit of a whine. "I do wanna touch her abs, but I'm not gonna ask... oh." Only then realising that she actually blurted out her desire, the idol blushed slightly and averted her gaze from a similarly red-faced IF; it was the first time the younger woman could remember anyone aside from the young children back at home asking to touch her.

Yet she also found herself not being against the idea. Not even a little. "I don't mind."

Which brought her two sets of owlish stares; even Cave appeared surprised by the turn of events, though she quickly hid it behind a half filled glass of wine. 5pb. beamed and slid off of IF's lap, then lifted her magically and reversed their positions.

Now IF felt weird, having been deposited in another woman's lap. Her friend giggled, a newly emptied glass hovering aside to clink on the table, and ran her hands under the younger woman's shirt.

The brunette shivered under the slightly cold touch while dainty fingers followed the lines on her stomach, but soon relaxed again when 5pb. did in fact keep her hands there.

Cave snorted into her drink and offered them a mocking toast. "If you're going to take this further, please tell me to leave first. Voyeurism is not really for me."

IF went still and turned a deep scarlet within moments, the colour spreading from her face to the rest of her body soon after. Before she could start sputtering however, two lithe arms hugged her and 5pb. rubbed her cheek against the younger woman's back. "Ignore her, she says that every time and nothing ever happens. Not that I'd mind, but... ignore that, I'm getting drunk." Her slur had grown to be actually noticeable, but her words did not manage to calm IF. Then again, she did relax somewhat while Cave snickered at the side.

Sighing, the brunette changed the topic back to something from earlier. As awkward as it was to bring that up in this position. "I don't think you're awkward, by the way." The hands on her stomach paused, a lull in the confusing sensations that gave IF time to continue: "It's not your fault, and you're still trying hard."

She wanted to say more, but the words eluded her at this point. Even though she only drank wine, it was IF's first time experiencing alcohol; she drank quite a bit.

Then 5pb. sighed and her hands resumed their wandering. "That's nice of you to say, but I still don't like it at all. I like your muscles, though. Nice and firm and warm." She squeezed a little, eliciting a squeak of surprise from IF, then chuckled about it. "And cute, too."

IF merely returned to blushing.

. .

. .

Waking up the next morning was a chore; her head did not pound like she heard hangovers described before, but it did feel somewhat heavy. IF groaned and rolled around under the covers. She almost forgot the presence by her side, but remembered in time to not slam into her.

Well, she noted to herself with a grin, this had not been on her list of things to do in Leanbox. Not that she would complain. 5pb. mumbled in her sleep, but otherwise stayed in the land of dreams; the blunette was sprawled over her side of the bed, but a sleepy attempt to steal the blanket apparently ran into the problem of IF's superior strength.

The brunette just shook her head and stretched, unwilling to get up just yet. Weird, unusual, new experiences all around; she wondered faintly whether the booze made her do something wrong or right. Or whether it made any difference at all.

She still thought about that when 5pb. woke, the other woman yawning softly; it only took her a moment to realise where she was and still. Then she slowly, oh so slowly turned toward an amused IF, who flicked her forehead. "What? You offered."

"I-I guess," the blunette mumbled softly, a weak blush on her cheeks. "Just surprised, is all. I never thought you would be interested." She made to lie back down, eyes curiously roaming IF's face and neck. "Sorry about the hickeys."

The brunette blinked and tilted her head until she could see what her friend indicated, then shrugged. "It's fine." Not that her indifference fooled anyone, considering how she averted her gaze and began to fidget.

5pb. giggled over that and stretched, involuntarily drawing IF's attention back to her body. The brunette quickly stopped herself before she was seen staring. Then she rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling, a question forming in her mind. "So, I hate to be that person, but what does this make us? I kinda don't think we would have time for an actual relationship and stuff."

She dared a sideway glance at 5pb., who thankfully did not appear hurt by her implied dismissal. The idol made to look at the ceiling as well. "You're right. We work hard for our people and live in different nations. RED and Falcom made it work somehow, but... well, you don't strike me as girlfriend material anyway."

IF winced playfully and threw a teasing "Ouch" at the blunette. "Harsh, but fair. I work too much to be a good partner." She could change that, but did not want to. Not to mention that she really did not feel like dating anyone still.

"Then that's that. Friends with benefits." 5pb. shrugged at her, but the grin she wore took any potential sting out of her words. "Don't worry about Cave, she won't tell anyone unless we say it's fine. And make sure to coordinate with me if we want to drop this on other people. The faces would be great."

IF could not help but giggle, knowing that her friend was right. She needed a moment to catch herself, then threw a grin back at the other Maker. "I can imagine. 'Hey MAGES., guess what I did last month? Right, your sister'!"

"Oh, you're horrible!"

They shared a laugh over that before settling down again. IF was honestly content with how everything turned out, even if the turn of events itself had been most unusual. With the silence however, she once more felt the consequences of their night spent drinking. Seeing that the woman next to her mostly drank whiskey, she wondered: "Aren't you hungover?"

5pb. snickered before leaning over and mockingly petting IF's head. "Aww, do you have a booboo?" The perplexed look that earned her made the idol crack up and laugh once more; IF shrugged off her hand and huffed as she sat up properly. Her friend did the same, having calmed down but grinning widely as she pointed her thumb at herself. "Well, sweetheart, this one here doesn't get hangovers. Never have. Why do you think I'm insane enough to just keep chugging whiskey?"

That made sense, though IF would not have expected it from the usually timid woman. Yet she could not help but needle her a little: "So you're the born alcoholic?"

"Eh, I guess?" 5pb. waved it off with her grin still in place, though it slowly warped into a bit of a concerned expression. "But seriously, are you alright? You only had wine and we made sure you took it slowly, but, well..."

"Just a little out of it, I'm fine." She paused slightly and cast a glance around, unsure how to proceed. "Uh, what do we do now?"

Much to her dismay, this drew another bout of giggling from 5pb.; the blunette bowed forward with one hand over her mouth, but her mirth still spilled out. IF sighed, blushed somewhat, and had to wait a few seconds until her friend was done.

Only then did she grin at her again, this time a little more ambiguously. "Well, unless you want to go again, we should take a shower. If we get within a few dozen metres of Lady Vert smelling like this, she will know what's up immediately. And, well," she slowed down slightly with a glance at her own naked body, "we smell either way."

IF made a thoughtful noise and stayed quiet for a little while. Her friend huffed in amusement and leaned back against the wall; they had a day off after all.

Then the idol remembered something else and tapped IF's shoulder, breaking the younger woman out of her thoughts. "One more thing. You're not going to call me 5pb. in private anymore. It's Lyrica for you." Her tone had held a stern note at first, but nobody could have missed the warmth in it.

IF's eyes widened slightly, but her surprise was quickly wiped away. "Lyrica," she tested the name thoughtfully. "Alright. Isabelle it is for you then." Her friend tested her name as well, but then gaped when IF continued: "Now I'll make you scream it."

She felt surprisingly bold this morning, but going by the coy smile she received in turn, it was appreciated.

. .

. .

A few weeks later, as the ferry gently danced amidst the waves, IF felt a certain amount of sadness about having to leave. Leanbox had been an interesting place for her to be in, full of new experiences, both good and bad.

Tekken made a full recovery and actually went out with her colleagues before the brunette had to leave, which gave her one less thing to worry about. She stood at the back end of her ferry, looking back at the Land of Green Pastures while it slowly shrunk in the distance. Then her eyes strayed to the vast ocean all around. It had become rather cold by this point as the year progressed.

A moment later, she allowed herself a sigh and turned away. This was not farewell after all, only goodbye. She would be back sooner or later, as Makers often traveled to aid other nations. Her friends, she would definitely see again in the near future. Both the leanboxians she just left behind and the people waiting for her back home in Planeptune.