Chapter 6
After so many years spent together in a relationship, and having hosted many a party over the years, the throuple's preparations for the Winter Solstice party proceeded smoothly. The decorations had been prepared the day before, so all that remained for them to do was to prepare some snacks and mix a bowl of punch. Katara had wisely pointed out that they would not require as many snacks as on previous occasions because Sokka was away in Cape Kuruk, together with Kya, and he was usually the one responsible for eating most of the junk food. Also, since they wouldn't have the company of Jet, nobody would be mixing all those nice and friendly cocktails everyone loved so much, so instead they had simply secured an outrageous amount of wine and champagne.
With the preparations complete, the three women still had plenty of time to get themselves ready and then open a bottle of delicious rosé before any of their guests arrived. As far as Katara was concerned, all three of them looked absolutely stunning tonight. She and Yue had decided to wear matching outfits, tight blue crop tops together with matching embroidered jeans with beautiful wildflower motifs. Azula had decided to do one better when it came to a sexy outfit, going for a bright red tube top and a black leather miniskirt, defying the latest fashion trends and their insistence that miniskirts belonged to the previous decade. Unfortunately, Azula's choice of outfit had also forced her to crank the central heating to the max, which meant that Katara and Yue would find themselves drenched in sweat once the party got going, and the dancing began.
It was around quarter to eight in the evening when the doorbell rang for the first and certainly not the last time that evening. Kiyi was the first to arrive, hugging them all upon her arrival, but reserving a particularly tight hug for Azula. "I didn't think you'd be lacking for booze, but I didn't want to show up empty handed," Kiyi said, handing a bottle of wine to Azula and then removing her coat before stepping inside. She was wearing a cute red off the shoulder sweatshirt and skinny jeans. Together with her simple ponytail, to Katara Kiyi still felt like an almost entirely different young woman than her punk persona she'd come to befriend many years ago. But that path had led Kiyi to dark days of lengthy rehab, so they were all glad to see Azula's stepsister embracing this perhaps more ordinary, but happier version of herself.
"Come, let's get ourselves something to drink, Kiyi," Azula took over, leading her stepsister further inside the house. "Kat and Yue can take care of the remaining guests."
"Nice of our beloved wife to just decide that," Yue snorted, rolling her eyes at the retreating Azula.
Katara couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I'm not surprised," she grinned. "She's been looking forward to hanging out with Kiyi so much. Anyway, we have more guests to welcome," Katara added, opening the front door for Toph and Teo, Toph pushing her husband's wheelchair up to the porch and across the threshold. Having exchanged a round of greetings, Toph handed a little box over to Yue, which Katara recognized as holding a VHS tape.
"The Changeling?" Yue read the title. "Well, thank you, Toph."
"It's an amazing movie," Toph said, looking excited. "I think we should definitely watch it at some point tonight."
"Are you sure?" Katara asked, feeling a little skeptical. "It doesn't sound very festive. At least not winter holiday festive."
"Oh, you have no idea what you're talking about, Katara," Toph said, pushing Teo's wheelchair into the foyer. "Anyway, we can put it to vote whether to watch it or not, I don't care."
"Fine, we can do that," Katara sighed. "It's a horror movie, isn't it?" she looked at Yue. Among their group of friends, she and Yue were the only ones who weren't excited about horror, while everyone else loved it. Perhaps Aang felt similarly, but with this soft separation from Mai, he hadn't been hanging out with the rest of the group quite as much.
"Yes, and by the looks of it, very bloody," Yue snorted. "I guess we're watching it later. Hopefully by that time I will already be very tipsy."
"Good point, let's not hold back," Katara laughed. "And at least we're properly dressed for some terrified cuddling with our wife. That should be fun."
"What's this about terrified cuddling?" they were interrupted by a male voice nearby, both Katara and Yue almost jumping, having missed Zuko walking up to the still open front door, followed by Ty Lee and Jin, holding hands.
"Oh," Katara gasped. "Toph wants us to watch a horror movie later," she explained as another round of greetings was exchanged. Katara then led the three latest guests inside, leaving Yue in charge of the doors.
"I'm down for that," Zuko nodded predictably. The Nakamura siblings truly seemed to share a taste for the morbid and disturbing.
"We'll see what we feel like later," Ty Lee said, putting her arm around Jin's shoulder. "What we want to do tonight is to maximize the fun." Judging by the outfits Ty Lee and Jin had chosen for the evening, Katara could see that Ty Lee wasn't kidding. The tight vest she wore showed off an almost indecent amount of cleavage. Meanwhile, Jin was wearing a white crochet sweater with very thick mesh, and even if Katara was trying very hard not to stare, it seemed as if Jin was wearing nothing underneath it.
"And we plan to get really drunk," Jin nodded firmly. "I don't know if Zuko will be able to deal with us, but since you mentioned having plenty of free bedrooms, we reckoned we could just snag one."
"Of course, whatever you need," Katara smiled. "Feel free to go and join the others. Kiyi, Toph and Teo are already here," she said.
"I'll do that," Zuko nodded. "And Katara? Thank you for not being, you know… mad about earlier," he said, likely referring to his crushing win over Yue.
"Well, Yue and I are totally cool about it," Katara shrugged. "But I make no promises that Azula won't try to claw and scratch you."
"I'm kind of used to that over the years," Zuko sighed, proceeding into the kitchen, while Ty Lee and Jin stopped to catch up with Toph and Teo.
When Katara returned to the foyer, she saw Yue speaking with Mai, while at the same time Suki and Haru were walking up the path towards the entrance. "No, we're not together together, nobody better make any stupid comments like that," Suki spoke up immediately, making her companion blush. It looked like Suki had already enjoyed a glass or two before the party. "Haru simply had no idea how to find your place," Suki explained.
"Sorry, I just don't know Ba Sing Se very well," Haru said apologetically.
"Don't worry about it," Katara smiled. "The most important thing is that everyone is now here and we can get this party started." She looked over at Mai, as always elegant while fully embracing her inner goth with a black PVC skirt and corset top, thick collar and the mandatory fishnets. "Looking great as always, Mai," Katara grinned, complimenting their slightly sullen friend.
"Mai brought us rum and cake," Yue said, when Mai did not appear interested in responding to Katara's compliment.
"Sorry, I didn't bring anything," Suki apologized. "I was in a mad rush. I had to hit The Harmony Ring offices and drop off my final draft. Then I had to rush back home to shower and dress," she explained, taking off her coat and revealing her outfit, a tiny sequined disco top, high waisted jeans and matching cowboy boots. Suki also looked like someone with the intent to party hard, and considering her recently acquired single status, Katara was only happy to encourage their friend.
Soon enough, the party truly got going, with the guests as always mingling throughout the open downstairs living room and kitchen space. Katara was relieved that nobody had made any remarks about missing Jet and his cocktail mixing skills, and wine was flowing freely, quickly making everyone tipsy. Sokka usually took on a role of the DJ during their parties, but it seemed as if Yue had handled Sokka's absence adequately simply by inserting the cassette tape of Queen's latest album in the player, and it was providing just the right amount of background noise.
Katara ended up sitting with Azula at the kitchen island, chatting mostly with Zuko and Kiyi. Kiyi had just finished telling Azula and Zuko about her studies, and how she had managed to land a couple of lucrative side gigs as a private tutor. It didn't make her financially independent just yet, but it was a step in the right direction.
"What are Ikem and Ursa up to these days?" Katara asked as soon as there was a break in the conversation. "What's new at the theatre?" Following the rehab, Kiyi was still living with her father and stepmother, and she occasionally helped out with musical arrangements for their plays, which was another source of income for her.
"Oh, you're going to want to see the new seasonal play," Kiyi grinned. "It's a horror version of the Nutcracker. I managed to persuade dad to make it really gory, too! And I'm really proud of the spooky gothic vibe of my arrangements."
"I need to see that," Zuko said insistently. "Maybe it's a good thing that Kya is away in Cape Kuruk, or else she'd insist coming along, and I doubt this play is for her."
"Well, I am definitely seeing it," Azula decided, turning towards Katara. "Together with my wives, of course,"
"Of course," Katara groaned. "Why must everything have a horror version of it, anyway?" she complained.
"Because it's amazing?" Kiyi grinned irrepressibly.
"Speaking of horror, let's watch that Changeling movie before you're all too drunk to understand what's going on," Toph insisted, coming up to them.
"Like it's so hard to understand what's going on in a horror movie," Katara complained miserably. "People die left and right, there's not much else to it."
Still, despite Katara's reluctance, it seemed as if most people were on board with watching Toph's horror movie, perhaps because they simply felt too intimidated to argue with Toph. At least sitting on the sofa with Azula tightly squeezed in between Katara and Yue was a very enjoyable experience. Also, as the movie reached the half an hour mark, Katara realized that she was actually enjoying it. It was more of a psychological haunted house terror movie than a gory slasher that Katara usually had no stomach for. Some of their friends seemed to be disappointed about the lack of kills, though. Ty Lee and Jin were the first to slip away, followed by Mai, and then Suki as well. Despite by now feeling fairly invested in the movie, Katara felt that it was still her obligation as the party host to make sure that everyone was having fun. "I'm going to check up on the others," Katara said a while later. Azula and Yue briefly nodded at her, but then immediately returned their attention back to the movie.
Trying her best not to interrupt the viewing experience of her friends, Katara quickly slipped away, trying to figure out where the others had retreated to. She walked up to the stairs to overhear some excited giggling coming from the upper floor. Katara quickly climbed up the stairs to investigate, locating the missing foursome in the gaming room. As Katara entered the gaming room, however, she froze upon the sight of Ty Lee and Mai locked in a kiss, with Jin and Suki looking on and giggling drunkenly.
"Ahem?" Katara coughed meaningfully, blinking when even with the interruption Ty Lee and Mai were slow to part. "What, uh, what are you up to?" Katara asked nervously. Her first thought had been that maybe Ty Lee and Jin were having relationship issues of their own, but that didn't seem to make any sense because Jin looked to be having a great time watching and giggling.
"Relax, Kat, we're just having some innocent fun up here," Suki replied. "That horror movie was way too slow paced for us. This is way more exciting."
"As to what this is," Jin said once Ty Lee and Mai had sat back down again. "We're combining spin the bottle with truth or dare. If for some reason you don't want to kiss someone around this table, we can hit you with a truth or dare instead. So, are you in?" Jin winked at her.
"Uh, I'd have to run it past Azula and Yue… or invite them along," Katara said, aware that her cheeks were burning. "Also, Mai, for someone supposedly straight, you seemed to be really into it."
"I am straight," Mai shrugged. "Don't act like you haven't seen me kiss beautiful women before, though."
"As any straight person would do," Katara rolled her eyes.
"Hey, don't judge, Kat," Ty Lee winked at her. "We're just helping our recently dumped best friends," she pointed at both Suki and Mai. "Have some fun. That guy you invited-"
"His name is Haru," Katara said quickly.
"Haru, yeah," Ty Lee frowned. "He's making a really big deal out of that wedding ring on his finger. Isn't he married to that slutty governor of Yu Dao? It's not like I'm planning to set him up with Mai or Suki-"
"Not really my type," Mai said boredly.
"Yeah, I'll pass as well," Suki shrugged.
"Fine, but he could still be into having a bit more fun," Ty Lee frowned. "He's barely touching his wine, as if we're planning to get him to lower his guard and then take advantage of him. I'm sorry, I know he's your friend-"
"More like an acquaintance," Katara quickly corrected. "And I'm sorry, I had no idea he wouldn't be fun to hang out with."
"That's okay, Katara," Jin smiled. "He's not the only reason why we took this upstairs. I don't think Azula would want us to play these kinds of games with Kiyi."
"Good heavens, no," Katara gasped. "That would give Azula a heart attack."
"I totally believe that," Ty Lee grinned. "Anyway, you in? Come on, we're all totally kissable around this table," she winked.
"Uh, I don't doubt that," Katara blushed. "But I still need to run it past my wives first," she said, turning around to quickly run back downstairs. It seemed like the movie had reached the halfway mark, but since Katara had just missed a fair chunk, she didn't feel like sitting back down and try to catch up again. "Our crazy friends are spinning the bottle upstairs," Katara whispered, leaning in between Yue and Azula. "Want to go and join them?"
"Sure," Yue answered right away, not looking terribly invested in the movie.
"You two go," Azula replied, a little surprisingly. Katara then realized that Azula was not so much watching the TV screen, but instead she was keeping an eye on the other sofa where Haru had ended up sitting very close to Kiyi.
"You're really alright with that?" Yue asked.
"Come on, we've played more risqué games at some of our parties, or in the sauna," Azula snorted. "Go on if you wish, I don't mind."
Katara and Yue exchanged stares. "I guess we're doing that then," Katara said as together with Yue they proceeded upstairs, walking in on Ty Lee and Suki sucking faces in a pretty damn hot kiss between two ladies who at one point had been fairly hostile with each other over Jet's affections.
The next half an hour that it took for the movie to finish downstairs, Katara, Yue and the others had one heck of a time with their slightly naughty entertainment. Azula wasn't wrong when stating that some of their parties had featured even more risqué entertainment, although things were never taken any further than kissing, so this wasn't exactly something shocking for their group. There had also been a lot of dating across their larger group of friends before they had settled down with permanent partners, so the familiarity was already there and not a single one of them insisted on the truth or dare instead of just kissing the target the bottle ended up pointing at.
Katara and Yue ended up getting accused of cheating when their spins most of the time landed on each other, and the others had insisted on them swapping seats several times during the game. Still, Katara got to kiss Ty Lee a couple of times, which wasn't exactly a new experience for her, and she also got to kiss Jin which was a new and very pleasant experience. Yue ended up kissing everyone except for Jin. Years ago, Katara would have worried about Yue kissing Ty Lee in particular, because of how their relationship had fallen apart. Yue had also had a fling with Suki, but it was all ancient past by now, and their kisses, while very enjoyable, were nothing more than just that, fun distractions. Yue had also ended up kissing Mai, which was something new for her, but Yue appeared quite impressed when she pulled away from Mai's lips. For someone claiming to be the token straight girl, Mai seemed to be really into kissing other women.
Katara found that the most interesting dynamic was between Suki and Mai. Their spins ended on each other surprisingly often. Their first kiss had been fairly tentative and almost shy, but with every subsequent attempt, the contact seemed to last longer and feature a lot more tongue. By the time they were on their fifth or sixth attempt, Katara was starting to become seriously hot and bothered simply from watching. The air between Mai and Suki suddenly seemed to become supercharged with electricity.
With the movie coming to an end downstairs, the six of them were forced to cut their shenanigans short and return to the living room. Zuko switched off the TV and pressed the play button on the tape recorder. Sure enough, soon most of them were dancing to Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen. Azula then swapped the tape to the latest Blondie album, as if reading the minds of her Water Tribe wives. Katara and Yue were huge Blondie fans, and the tape saw heavy use during any of their longer car drives. Despite having heard these songs for dozens of times, nothing was going to stop Katara and Yue from excitedly bouncing along to Atomic.
Ty Lee and Jin were right there with Katara and Yue, dancing with just as much energy. Both of them were seriously tipsy by this point and Ty Lee was very close to suffering a wardrobe malfunction involving her tight vest. Jin appeared to be well aware of the impeding incident, but instead of warning her girlfriend, or as good as a wife, she was having a blast, giggling about it.
Suki was dancing with Zuko, which to Katara made a lot of sense, considering that they had a bit of a past. At one point in their lives, Suki had become very close with both Zuko and Sokka, leading to the speculation that she might become the surrogate mom to their friends, but with Jet's return from the war it hadn't panned out that way. Katara was a little concerned that a drunk and lonely Suki might decide to do something stupid while Sokka and Kya were away, so she resorted to observing the situation, but for now, there really wasn't anything between the pair than just some perfectly normal dancing.
Azula had ended up dancing with Mai and she seemed to be enjoying herself, even if Katara was already contemplating a partner swap, wanting Azula to herself as well. Finally, Kiyi had found herself a surprisingly accepting dance partner in Toph. Kiyi probably would have preferred to dance with Haru, but Haru appeared to have been thoroughly discouraged by Azula's warning stare. So, Haru was now sitting with Teo and gloomily discussed the latest world events with Toph's husband. Katara was starting to realize that perhaps trying to invite new people into their group of friends might not have been the best of ideas. Even if they had known Haru since their early teens, he had never truly become a part of the group and he wasn't aware of their in-jokes and quirky dynamics. It was becoming quite clear that he simply didn't belong with the group.
"Cover me with kisses, baby, cover me with love. Roll me in designer sheets, I'll never get enough," Katara and Yue sang excitedly to Blondie's Call Me, as the dancing went on and on. Toph was the first to bow out, leaving Kiyi with no option but to follow. Azula then tapped Katara's shoulder, indicating that she wanted to swap partners. Katara felt a little disappointed, because she had been hoping to dance with Azula herself. She then noticed that Azula kept winking towards Zuko, and despite being fairly tipsy, Katara realized the implication that she was supposed to steal Zuko away from Suki. Given the slight tension between Yue and Zuko, Katara had to admit that Azula's plan made sense, a plan that seemed to be all about freeing Suki and Mai to dance with each other.
"What's going on?" Zuko asked following the partner swap, after he and Katara had already been dancing for a while. The question probably came because Katara kept turning her head from time to time in order to check up on Mai and Suki. They seemed to be having a really good time dancing together, running their hands along each other's sides in a very familiar manner. "Or am I just that boring?"
"Yes… I mean, no!" Katara exclaimed, blushing. "Sorry! I'm just a little bit distracted. We're trying to set up Suki with Mai," she whispered, leaning in closer to Zuko's ear.
"That's not cool," Zuko frowned. "First of all, Aang told me that he wants to work things out with Mai. Second, have you forgotten that Mai is straight? It's just not going to work."
"Yeah, it's so clearly not working," Katara rolled her eyes, glancing at the two women again. Mai had her back arched with Suki holding her tightly around the midriff, their faces flushed with heat of excitement.
"Well, I just don't think it's a good idea, sorry," Zuko said. "I'm going to get myself a glass of water. Do you want something to drink?" he asked as their not particularly engaging dance came to an end.
"No, thank you," Katara shook her head, instead taking the opportunity to join her wives and for the next good while, the three of them danced together. "Zuko doesn't approve of our matchmaking," Katara leaned in closer to Azula when the music finally came to an end and nobody seemed interested in dropping a new cassette into the tape player.
"I don't see his approval as necessary," Azula shrugged.
"He apparently supports Aang trying to win Mai back," Katara said.
"Well, aren't they the best of supportive buddies," Azula snorted. "It's all probably connected to the deal they've made together with Toph."
"But that was just about Pai Sho, wasn't it?" Yue asked quietly.
"I think that pact is closer than I had anticipated," Azula remarked reluctantly. "But we don't have to worry about that now. This is a party. I don't want to strategize, outside of my plan of getting those two to hook up," she added, nodding at Mai and Suki as the pair slipped out onto the back porch, wine glasses in their hands.
"I'd be very impressed if it works," Katara admitted. "I mean, Mai has claimed to be straight all her life. Sure, we've seen her kissing women before, but would she really go beyond that?"
"Well, I feel like she's about to become unstraightened," Yue giggled. "Anyway, I'm nowhere near drunk enough as I expected to be at this point. Time to correct that."
"I like the way you think, love," Azula said, following Yue towards the nearest collection of open wine bottles. Katara was about to accompany them, but she then noticed Zuko and Toph sitting by themselves at the end of the kitchen isle and talking. Katara subtly moved towards them, but the pair immediately stopped talking when they saw her approach.
"Really?" Katara frowned at them. "Discussing tournament tactics during our Winter Solstice party?"
"Nothing of the sort," Zuko replied defensively. "We're just meeting up with Aang tomorrow for a little sparring session, and I was telling Toph that I probably won't be able to make it before noon."
"Yeah, we're not conspiring against your precious wife," Toph snorted. "You can stop looking so judgmental. And tell your cat to stop judging us, too," she added, nodding at Ran, sitting nearby and looking bored at the commotion. Looking around, Katara spotted Shaw sitting on one of the loudspeakers of their stereo system, staring at the party guests with just as judgmental stare as his feline brother. Ran and Shaw had finally reached that venerable age when they no longer dashed around the house knocking over everything that wasn't nailed down and causing havoc. Now they just acted dignified and judgmental, all the time.
"It's been a fun tournament so far, though, you have to admit," Katara said, deciding to try a different approach. "You must be feeling pretty confident about your chances to win, Zuko."
"I've had too many stumbles at the finish line to take anything for granted, you know that," Zuko replied.
"Yeah, and my schedule for the final rounds is easier than Zuko's, so I'm feeling pretty good about stealing the win from him," Toph said confidently.
"Aang is the only one from our friends who's struggling a little," Katara nodded.
"Exactly, which is why I think it's not right to try and hook his wife up with one of our recently single friends," Zuko said. "It would just distract Aang further."
"It's a bit of a dirty tactic, you have to admit," Toph agreed.
"It's not supposed to be some kind of strategic distraction," Katara rolled her eyes. "Not everything is about Aang."
Zuko looked ready to say more, but at that point Haru walked up to them. "It's getting late, so I think I'll make my way back to the hotel," he told Katara. "Thanks for inviting me. I had a great time."
"Of course, Haru," Katara forced a smile. "We'll see you again at the tournament."
"It's like that guy has never been to a house party before," Toph snorted after Haru had left. "He really thinks that his tabloid star of a wife cares how many glasses of wine he has at a party? He's probably getting cuckolded left and right."
"Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers," Katara warned.
"Fair," Toph nodded. "But maybe that wet blanket had the right idea of it being the time to call it a day. Sparring sessions and hangovers are not the best friends, and we have a lot to cover tomorrow," she said, glancing at Zuko. "I'm going to collect Teo and then we'll be out of here."
"Toph is right," Zuko sighed. "I hate to ditch the party early, but I'm afraid I can't stay too long. I know I haven't been very fun to be around, and I'm sorry, but this party really reminded me how much I miss Sokka."
"It's okay, Zuko, we understand that you're not exactly in the best party mood," Katara smiled sympathetically.
"Thank you," Zuko managed a smile. "Also, I'm supposed to give Kiyi a lift back home, so I guess I'll finish this glass of water and get out of your hair."
"If you're sure," Katara said, watching Kiyi sitting with Azula and Yue, talking and laughing. Jin and Ty Lee had taken over the other sofa. They appeared to be seriously drunk, with Ty Lee sitting in Jin's lap, and Jin's face buried in Ty's cleavage. "By the way, Ty and Jin are spending the night here, so you don't have to bring them back."
"Thanks, I would rather not deal with them when they're like this," Zuko said gratefully. He took another look at the back porch to check on Mai and Suki, forcing Katara to look as well. The pair seemed to be standing close and talking in low voices. "Well, careful with that, I suppose," Zuko said, shrugging as he looked at his stepsister nearby. "Kiyi, you ready to call it a night?"
"Aww, do I have to?" Kiyi pouted.
"I can't sleep in until noon tomorrow," Zuko grumbled.
"Ugh, fine," Kiyi sighed, getting up from the sofa.
"We're not going to stop anytime soon, are we?" Yue asked hopefully, after they had watched Zuko and Kiyi head out into the hallway. "We don't have to practice that hard for my game with Aang, right?"
Katara exchanged stares with Azula. "Not really," Azula stated confidently, raising her bottle of wine. "When I said we're going to party hard, I meant it."
Suki stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in the towel Katara had kindly provided for her. Despite the shower sobering her up somewhat, Suki still felt seriously drunk. Over the course of the evening, she had downed at least two bottles of wine, and a couple of champagne flutes. The plan had been to stop feeling miserable about Jet's absence, and it had started to work after around the third glass of wine.
Of course, Suki still missed her idiot ex-boyfriend. But this parting wasn't like that time when Jet had fled to Yu Dao to evade enlisting with the Earth Kingdom army and to instead join the Freedom Fighters. In a way, Suki had seen this separation coming, she just hadn't wanted to admit it to herself until one day it had happened. She had seen Jet's growing unhappiness, but she had either ignored it or simply tried to be encouraging without truly understanding his reason for being unhappy. Suki wasn't sure that she still entirely understood Jet's reasons for dumping her, but it was mainly because she was still angry and upset, and didn't want to try and understand. But as weeks passed, it became harder and harder for Suki to deny that perhaps a part of the issue had been her inability to understand Jet's war trauma, and slowly her anger began to fade.
And this time, Suki wasn't going to wait for several long years before she allowed herself to look for a bit of fun elsewhere. She hadn't actually expected to find that sort of fun in a house party with her oldest and dearest friends, all of whom were more or less taken. If anyone had told her that she would spend an evening of dancing, flirting, exchanging innuendo laced jokes and kisses with Mai Syun, Suki would have considered them insane. It wasn't just that everyone believed Mai when she claimed that she was completely straight. Suki and Mai simply had never shared a particularly close relationship. They were good friends, certainly, but Suki felt like their friendship existed mostly because they were a part of the same group.
Tonight, Suki had spoken with Mai more than in the previous six months put together, and it had been eye opening. There was something about Mai's fierce independent streak and refusal to sacrifice anything for her chosen path and career that really struck a chord with Suki, and the way she had carved her path to being perhaps the most respected news reporter on all things Pai Sho.
Still, even though fooling around during the party had been fun, Suki wasn't sure about trying to take things any further, nor was she certain that Mai was even interested in that, even if her kisses had been full of unexpected passion. But it was also half past four in the morning, Suki was seriously drunk, and as she stood in the hallway of the ground floor of the International House of Lesbians, she decided that this was not the right time to make a potentially disastrous decision that could easily blow up in her face. She'd already had more fun tonight than she had expected to have, so Suki eventually decided to simply return to her room… only to realize that in her drunken state, she had mixed up which of the ground floor bedrooms was hers, entering to come face to face with Mai, the raven-haired woman sitting at the vanity table and brushing her hair.
"Even now you're embracing your inner goth," Suki quipped, forgetting to apologize for this uninvited intrusion, but Mai's goth nightgown with embroidered bats and skulls was too much of a distraction for Suki to take her eyes off.
Mai turned towards her. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. Also, Suki had to admit that with her hair down, Mai looked positively ethereal. "And I suppose you're embracing your inner naked redhead dripping wet all over my carpet," Mai replied drolly, with an amused purr to her voice.
"Is it because I'm drunk that I heard at least two or three different innuendos in that sentence?" Suki grinned.
"Well…" Mai spoke slowly, rising from her seat and walking up to Suki. Their slight height difference of a couple of inches really hit Suki and she couldn't help but find the way Mai towered slightly above her to be very hot. Or maybe it was the slightly see-through quality of parts of Mai's nightgown that made it a little difficult for Suki to breathe. "I think I might be past mere innuendos," Mai said boldly. Suki was aware that Mai was highly inebriated herself. She'd matched Suki glass for glass throughout the entire evening.
"Is that your offer to help me towel off?" Suki asked with a saucy wink.
"To begin with," Mai said, placing her hand on the knot holding Suki's towel in place around her.
"Are you admitting that the International House of Lesbians has finally converted you, then?" Suki grinned.
"Of course not, I'm still completely straight," Mai smirked, tugging on the knot and releasing the towel, letting it pool at Suki's feet. "But we're still going to fuck."