Chapter 9: Chapter 9: A Mistake and a Bath

-Tessa POV-

 

When I first saw Vigilante on TV, I was distracted by her physical appearance and the newness of superpower fights. It felt odd, though, how familiar she seemed. Her appearance, her outfit, her voice. It was as though I had all the puzzle pieces, but I couldn’t put the picture together.

And then she started to fight.

That style of slipping in close, then doing as much damage as possible in as few hits as possible… I knew that style.

And then…

She winked at the camera.

Suddenly, I recalled every time I had seen someone take a video of Marissa in the past.

And every time, she winked at the camera.

With such a seemingly insignificant detail, I managed to put together the puzzle.

It all made sense: her suit was the same as the one she was wearing when she had left for work, she fought the same way she taught us, the list went on.

The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why it took so long for me to realize.

I had turned to Maia, but stopped before I could say anything. She was still staring intently at the news report, her eyes following Vigilante’s every move. Something in her expression stopped me from telling her.

At the time, I quietly turned back to the TV.

But now, Maia had asked. And I had told her.

She turned away from me, and I couldn’t see her expression. I was worried about her reaction.

{…Maia?}

 

-Maia POV-

 

This was…

so incredibly embarrassing. What had I been thinking?

I couldn’t look Tessa in the eyes. I couldn’t even respond to her.

And the worst part was, it made sense.

In hindsight, Vigilante looked exactly like Marissa, albeit without the animal parts and with different colored eyes and hair.

How had I not even noticed that before?

Hell, Marissa had even worn silver contacts at one point in the past. And somehow, every single detail had slipped past me.

Even thinking of Vigilante now brought to mind Marissa. I couldn’t not see it now.

{Maia, please answer me.}

I turned back to Tessa. Upon seeing my face, she pulled me into a hug.

Not in the mood to discuss my massive blunder, I let myself fall backwards until she was laying on top of me.

{Maia?}

I made a sort of grumbling noise.

[Don’t wanna talk about it, don’t wanna think about it. Please, just… forget what I said earlier.]

{Mm.}

I rolled over so we were laying sideways.

{…I’m sorry for not telling you earlier.}

I didn’t know what to say to that.

I was at a bit of a loss, really, for what to do next.

Feeling as though I wanted to be alone, but also like I needed her next to me, I hugged Tessa tight, eliciting a small squeak.

[Thanks for telling me.]

She squeezed me in return, and we stayed like that, arms wrapped around each other, for a long time.

And then, the week passed.

Without any further major events, we settled into a sort of rhythm, attending school, watching movies and playing games during club meetings, and having fun at night.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

Although…

It was kind of strange how much the world had stayed the same, at least as far as I could see.

And, to be honest, it was also kind of disappointing.

Superpowers were real, and yet, it seemed like the only change was that people occasionally fought in the streets using them.

Vigilante was still taking part in those fights, and I hadn’t confronted Marissa about it. I didn’t really know how I wanted to do it, or if I wanted to at all.

That aside, Tessa seemed happy, really happy, and I was too, to an extent. We could finally physically be together, and be girls, and do all the things we wanted to do.

And yet, I didn’t feel satisfied. Tessa wanted to study to become a librarian in the future, but there was nothing that I was interested in like that.

I had fun, sure, but still… it felt like something was missing.

I sighed while pushing open the front door.

{Finally, the weekend!}

Tessa rushed inside, taking off her shoes at the door and practically throwing herself onto the couch.

I chuckled at that, then sat down on the couch next to where she was laying. I patted my lap, and she wiggled around so her head was on my lap and she was looking up at me.

I absentmindedly ran my fingers through her hair, making her giggle.

I had expected hair as long as ours to be harder to keep clean, but it seemed like we were doing fairly well.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to me.

[Hey, Tessa, why don’t we take a bath together?]

 

-Tessa POV-

 

[…I can’t help but feel like we’re doing something wrong here.]

{…Because we’re in the bath together, or because nothing’s happening?}

[Either, I suppose.]

I finished mixing shampoo into Maia’s hair, letting it fall into the water to scrub later, then leaned forward and rested my head on her shoulder.

{Do you want to do something, then?}

She froze, then turned around with a grin on her face.

[Hmm, I could wash your front.]

I blushed and looked away.

“You know, you’re really pretty,” Maia said softly, closer than I was expecting.

Trying to retort, I responded, “Well, we look pretty much the same, so doesn’t that apply to you as-“

Just before I finished my sentence, I turned back towards her.

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And…

“Wait, where are you looking?”

“Ehehe.”

“If anyone else stared at me like that I would probably beat them up.”

“Hot. Wait, no, I mean, I would too.”

I had to laugh at that. I scooted closer to her, positioning myself so I was sitting on her lap with my legs wrapped around her waist.

[…]

{…Too much?}

[Maybe a little.]

We went back to helping each other wash, without doing anything extra.

Or so I thought.

While Maia was scrubbing my back, she moved her hands under my arms and grabbed my chest.

{What is it with you and touching my chest?}

Instead of responding, she squeezed.

“Ah!”

I quickly covered my mouth.

[That was completely adorable and now I feel bad.]

She released me, going back to washing herself.

{And that is completely unfair.}

I did the same maneuver, sliding my hands forward and onto her.

{Revenge!}

“Eep!”

She must have been more startled than I’d expected, since her fox ears and tail popped out. Which presented its own problem.

{Tail. Under me.}

[Sorry, um.]

Her tail twitched.

“Ah!”

She turned back towards me, curling her tail around herself without touching me any more.

“That was on purpose!” I said, my face burning.

“Heheh.”

Seeking something to change the topic with, I looked at her ears.

“Hey, how do you clean your ears?”

“Hm? Oh. I- haven’t, actually. Are they still clean?”

Her ears swiveled this way and that as she looked up in an attempt to see them.

I giggled at her display, before continuing.

“Yup, and so is your tail.”

She held her tail up to her face, which had gotten wet and now looked kind of sad rather than fluffy.

“Sure enough, still as white as the first time I saw it,” she said in wonder.

I called forth my moth form, to see if mine worked the same way.

Twisting to see them, my wings were still pristine, even in the water. And touching the fluff on my neck, it seemed just as fluffy and soft as the first time I felt it, at least until Maia splashed me with water and it got wet.

In mock anger, I splashed her back, causing her to giggle. We splashed each other a few more times, giggling all the while. The water felt strange on my antennae, but it didn’t bother me.

Suddenly curious, I allowed my moth form to dissipate, before letting it pop out again. It was kind of weird how easy that was getting, now.

Interestingly, my fluff was fluffy once more, not having any of the moisture that had weighed it down before.

Maia stood up, then repeated the process I did. I noticed a lot of water falling into the tub when her tail disappeared, then it was dry and fluffy once more.

{Huh, neat.}

[That certainly simplifies things.]

I absentmindedly looked over at the clock on the wall, before realizing something.

{Wait, doesn’t Marissa get home in like fifteen minutes?}

Maia and I quickly got to work finishing cleaning each other, then got out and dry as fast as we could. With only about a minute to spare, we were wearing pajamas and in our room.

[…Let’s not cut it that close again.]

{Yeah.}

 

-Maia POV-

 

After dinner, Tessa and I climbed into bed. It was perhaps a bit early, but I was worn out from the week, and Tessa seemed to feel the same.

I rolled over to look at her, then wrapped my arms around her like she was my hug pillow.

“Mm.”

[Hey, what should we do this weekend?]

{Mm, homework, maybe?}

I smiled into her shoulder. She was so cute when she was tired like this.

[After the homework, I mean.]

{…A date?}

I blushed a little at that. She also said things like this when she was tired.

[That sounds great. Sunday?]

{Sure.}

She let out a long yawn, and I swear it was the most adorable noise I had ever heard.

{Good night.}

[Sweet dreams.]

And like that, we drifted off to sleep together.

At some point during the night, though, I was startled awake by my ringtone. I recognized it as my ringtone since Tessa and I specifically picked different ones to avoid confusion.

Still half-asleep, I let go of Tessa and rolled over to the nightstand. I picked up the phone and, without even checking the caller ID, I answered it.

“Yeh, hello, who’s dis?” I mumbled.

The voice on the other end chuckled, before calmly saying a phrase that chilled me to my bones and instantly had me awake. It was a voice that called to mind shimmering, opalescent eyes with nothing behind them.

“Hello, Maia.”

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