THIRTY-EIGHT
"Kirika and Shirabe called today," Maria mentions as she brushes her hair.
Groaning, she answers, "Our next phone bill will be sky-high."
Maria glares at her through the mirror, protesting, "We're not that bad! Besides, it was a Skype call."
"Is that so?" She turns away to search for pen and paper. "Maria, do you remember where I left my notepad?"
"The one for work? It's in the top drawer of your night table."
She checks, and sure enough, there it is. "Thank you," she says, though her mind is already going through the cases she archived today. She flips to the last page, adding another entry: #38, Izak Malus Dienheim. She glances through the rest of the names on the list, crossing the resolved ones out.
"And how are the two terrors?" she asks once she's finished.
"Kirika and Shirabe," Maria corrects her, "are doing well. Chris was out, but Kirika asked me to tell you that Chris is doing just fine."
She leans against the headboard, watching Maria brush her hair meticulously. "Good," she says. "They will be home in a few weeks, correct?"
Maria inclines her head. "You know, they ordered a bouquet of flowers for me." She giggles, smiling a smile that only Kirika and Shirabe can draw out. "Apparently Chris knows a lot about flower meanings. I looked for a guide on the internet, but that's redundant, isn't it, when I have my own guide with me already," Maria teases, eyes laughing at her through the mirror.
"Yukine is a person of many interests," she says. She opens her arms invitingly, "Join me?"
Maria runs her brush through her hair one last time before doing so. She stops to turn off the lights, then clambers into the bed.
Knowing how clumsy her wife is, she shifts closer to the opposite edge, and narrowly avoids being elbowed in the stomach. Maria's hand fumbles in the dark; she reaches out to tug her closer, closer until Maria is pressed flush against her.
She breathes in the scent of Maria's hair and tightens her arm around Maria's waist.
"Don't complain if you wake up with a mouthful of hair," Maria warns her.
"As long as it is your hair, I do not mind."
Maria laughs, filling up the darkened room with her joy.
"I am glad they called," she murmurs into Maria's bare shoulder.
Maria hums. "You miss them too, don't you?" Maria asks.
"While I do not necessarily miss their antics—your sisters definitely frighten away dull days—I do miss them, and Yukine."
"Is it just me," Maria muses, "or is it weird to call them my sisters? I mean, they're together romantically… does that count as incest?"
She rolls her eyes, though Maria cannot see. "Go to sleep before you start spouting even more nonsense," she says, resisting the urge to laugh.
Maria twists in her arms to face her, chuckling, "That does sound weird, doesn't it? don't know where my mind goes sometimes.
"Family's family; even if we can't concretely define our relationships to each other, all that matters is that we consider each other family."
Tucking Maria's head under her chin, she grumbles, "I worry for you, dear. But yes… we are one big, troublesome family."
"Hm. That's—" Maria yawns—"mean."
a/n: As promised, the Tsubasa chapter that gives a teeny-tiny bit more clarification. But, just to be clear: Kirika and Shirabe aren't related to each other, nor to Maria, but the three of them are family, with Maria being like an older sister/mom figure to the other two. I just... somehow failed to articulate that in the chapter. Anyway...
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