Novella - Macross Xilimyth 2/6 (Patreon)

No sooner had the door closed than something previously said rang through Xilimyth's memories. "What was this about me being full of energy?"

The doctor must have been really lost in thought with how high Xilimyth's question made him jump. "Oh? Oh! Yes. Well, I'm not entirely sure what any of this is about yet. When the chamber was destroyed during your macronization, you somehow absorbed the energy yet failed to trigger its growth effect. I thought it would break down like our bodies normally do with such things, but this has remained welled up in your cells. Think of it like a battery being charged."

"I'd rather not." Xilimyth shuddered at having fantasies of her exploding from radiation overflow or something. "Let's just get me through another chamber, and that's sure to use up all my..."

"No way, tiny cat!" Bren said for the first time since she had woken up. That annoying, if true, nickname for her current state did nothing to calm rattled nerves. "The doc and I both agree that's the last thing you should try until we figure out what went wrong. Macronization chambers have never acted like that, so jumping back in now could trigger any number of bizarre effects."

The more Xilimyth heard the more she wanted to really go back into a profound sleep.

"So...I'm stuck as a pre-adult shrimp...?"

"Afraid so. At least until I can repair enough to get the diagnostics running. It took a good portion of the bullet fire saving my own tail. Might have to be rebuilding the thing from scratch."

"But isn't the data stored under the base of the chambers?" Janus asked. Bren gave a soft nod. "Great! So how long could it possibly take?"

Bren started to scoff but shot Xilimyth an apologetic look immediately. "To find parts specifically for Zentradi biology and recalibrating it all from scratch? I may have to get an expert in on that. Let's not forget the launch hull took a direct hit from a megaton missile. It could take a month at the least before the entire bay is operational again."

Now Xilimyth did fall back onto her hospital bed in a weak whimper. A whole month stuck as some short, scrawny nothing. Looking up at all her friends towering by at least a foot and a half. Combat training might have been less emotionally stressing as this gloomy prospect.

The sight of a young cheetah on the verge of tears gave Bren pause. His mouth remained open in a vain search for something comfortable to say but closed after a few seconds.

Janus was equally lost on the subject. He was just glad that mouse pilot had not gotten hurt cause of his distraction. Granted she punched surprisingly hard for all the weapon damage her VR got. The damage he had absolutely nothing to do with.

The doctor ended up breaking the mood for them. "Listen, it's been a stressful day for all of us. Seargent Cruiser, maybe you should take your co-pilot down to the barracks for a good meal. You too, Mr. Derlin. A half day of rest will help us think of ways to solve our problems a lot faster."

There was little point in arguing against such truth. Now that hunger had been put into Xilimyth's mind the pillows were starting to resemble delicious marshmallows. Her legs continued to throb like crazy, but the boys were thankfully supportive of her little plight. Bren was quick to allow her a shoulder to lean on while they walked back to the barracks.

That turned into a waist to hug due to size difficulties.

A meal turned into a very dreary hour. Having to sit surrounded by soldiers double her mass took a lot of appetite out of Xilimyth. Even the females got a bit intimidating when they were close enough. Their mature breasts loomed over Xilimyth, looking ready to crush her head when each pulsing breathe caused them to swell slightly.

Barely a day went by before anxiety caused Xilimyth's entire sense of awareness to shut down. Once a positive enforcement morale, almost everyone on the barracks watched in sad disbelief at the child zombie shuffling the halls. Occasionally there would be visits to the gym, but her inability to lift weights lead to concise sets followed by light jogging.

At least she still managed to act normal around Janus. Being stuck restricted to the military decks together seemed to bring her some form of comfort. Most of their time was occupied by Schott's mandatory clean up and repairs; both to equipment and laundry of their fellow soldier's. At least the wolf had finally gotten Xilimyth into his brand of video games. Many ran on some borderline ancient technology, yet still provided a fun challenge.

If only Janus could do real combat half as good as he played simulated ones. They might have ended up the most terrifying squad in this fleet.

After two weeks the only problems seemed to arise when something triggered Xilimyth's realization of being stuck a fraction of her natural size. Like the day Janus found her in the break room trying to scale a chair and milk crate to get at some coffee creamer on the high shelves. She was muttering declarations to burn anything and everything within reach out of spite for the people that followed in after her.

Janus only regretted opening his mouth to get her attention when the bottle of rosemary slammed into his nose. A large deposit of its contents poured right onto his tongue as he fell backward. At least dropping over gagging on a tongue burning with spices seemed sufficient in breaking his friend out of their depression induced rampage.

"Oh, Karabast! I'm so sorry, Janus!" Xilimyth hopped down, fetching a glass of water to rush to her copilot.

"Don't...don't mention it," Janus said after managing to wash out enough herbs to feel his teeth again. "Least you're not throwing the metal cups again."

"Eh heh yeah..." Xilimyth wrung her tail sheepishly diverting her gaze to her toes. It was tough not to think of her as a child with such an adorable posture. "So how you dealing with our mandatory 'barracks detail?'"

"Bored out of my mind. Already read every comic I could barter off other pilots, and I'm all out of bubblegum." That had been meant as a weak attempt for humor, but it only seemed to make Xilimyth look meeker. "But hey! That's why the captain sent me to find you."

"They finally going to discharge a useless half-Zentradi?"

"Better! We need to report for a mandatory physical training."

"Oh..." Xilimyth blinked. That was unexpected since her current state made it hard to lift a flour bag. "But why would I be needed anywhere?"

"The general is calling it a 'retraining' session for, uh, both of us." Janus coughed feeling a blush come over himself. "Apparently pirate sightings are getting more and more frequent since we...demolished their storage outpost and, uh, lost a quarter of our defense's on the counter-attack. He wants every soldier combat ready to protect the colonists if they try a full on raid before we're back in secure U.N. space."

"They...want ME to pilot a VR?" Xilimyth spoke slowly in looming dread. "Janus, you know I don't like those things."

"I tried to explain that, but the general's not about to pay you a combat salary scrubbing toilets." At receiving a weird look, Janus shrugged apologetically. "His words, not mine. At least you get to play in something huge again."

"Yeah...something else huge..."

Before depression could set back in Janus disrupted Xilimyth's thoughts by giving the space between her ears a good ruffling. She swatted back with a reflexing yowl but did offer him a small smile. At least she was not being loomed over like in the medical wing. It was actually easy to get a few revenge jabs nearly being even height with the wolf.

"There's that kitty we all love," Janus said backstepping to avoid another finger into his side. "Better get dressed, I'll meet you at the gym."

"Dressed, huh?" Xilimyth flicked her tail in bewilderment watching Janus leave. There were very few garments in her footlocker outside standard military fatigues. For someone that never liked staying human-sized longer than necessary, it had always been a case of modesty over style. After being stuck like this for weeks, it was getting weird.

Maybe a workout would help relax her mind, at least. Heading back to her bunk already felt a bit better than the usual zombie shuffling between odd jobs. It might not even be embarrassing to curl some tiny dumbells. She was only at ten percent her actual muscle mass, proportionally speaking of course.

Changing into some spandex was refreshing too. After washing the same pair of pants every other day, Xilimyth was not surprised they took some work to get off her boyish hips. Dang pair was even starting to pinch a bit. The feel of spandex hugging her frame almost made it feel like there were still curves left. There was also a spot of cleavage with how tight it pushed her chest. Might be time to order a new set with how much it had been washed too.

By the time Xilimyth made it to the gym, Janus was already down to his own scrawny work out clothes. The wolf was getting a usual treatment by the Sargent stuck with making sure every soldier on the ship stayed in peak performance.

She was a vixen by the name of Wanda; big as a tank and hits her underlings just as hard. Being stuck on a career that hinged almost entirely on an army lacking in personal fitness had convinced her to pass the misery onto everyone that came through her gym. In fact, it was custom to 'evaluate' people based on how hard they punched her bedrock of abs.

Bonus points were given to those that did not break their wrists.

"And here's the other dingus to brighten up our cloudy day!" Wanda said in a tone attempting to draw attention from the other soldiers from their routines. Thankfully there were only a few people doing sets, and two of them barely regarded Xilimyth for more than a few seconds. Leaving Janus to finish his first set of sit-ups, she strode over to personally greet Xilimyth. "Guess the general is starting to go nuts out in space. You were barely worth canon fodder ten meters tall. I fail to see what you can accomplish at two and a third."

"Ma'am!" Xilimyth said flatly. Both she and Janus learned long ago the best method of dealing with their drill Sargent was to bore them. A plan that involved standing at attention with all emotion checked at the door.

"Don't ma'am me, kitten! You have any idea how much of a money sink you two assclowns are to this corps?"

"Yes, ma'am! Sorry, ma'am!"

"It's a damn shame your fancy shrink machine doesn't work on terran's. All the colonists would just need me and about a quarter of this outfit."

"That is true ma'am."

Honestly, the idea of Wanda as a ten-meter tall war machine was both horrifying and titillating. But without much of a response to drill Xilimyth on, her imposing amazon figure eventually ceased it's looming with an angry flick of the tail.

"Get your tomboy ass to a machine and make sure you're sweating by the time I get to you. I'm still not done with your boyfriend."

Xilimyth shot past to the first open curling press she could find. Even before she set the weights Wanda's voice began resonating across the gym again. All she could do was sigh hoping Janus was dealing with the verbal 'motivation' as well as their training camp days.

Even with the pin sliding into the first plate, working up a sweat was going to be easy. There was no sliver of Zentradi strength on the cheetah's bones. But hell if that was not going to stop her from trying.

Xilimyth settled her scrawny tail-end into the seat with determination to accomplish something in front of their favorite abusive officer. Grasping the bar firmly in both hands she took a few moments to tense whatever muscle she had before giving it a hard curl

"GAH!"

The bar smacked into Xilimyth's chest, nearly rocking her off the machine. Not that her boobs were grateful for having to soften the blow at their minuscule mass.

She was still royally confused once the shock had worn off. Last time she had ever tried this was six months ago. Nearly threw out a shoulder just trying to benchpress with ten-pound weights. Sure, she still needed all her effort to keep the bar up, but she managed to hold for a few seconds before the pain in her biceps forced it back down.

Xilimyth started up a rep just to make sure it was not a fluke. Each curl somehow felt progressively more comfortable, although she was still panting in labored gasps by the time she was done. Flopping back against the machine, she raised an arm to examine it better. Not that there was any way to tell if something was different. It still looked like a scrawny twig of a bicep. She gave a flex and pondered over the way her bicep swelled. Perhaps it was just a little bit thicker.

"What is this garbage!" Wanda said as if suddenly materializing next to Xilimyth. Her angry, sensual, voice booming in the cheetah's ear quickly shut down any sense of curiosity. "I said I wanted you sweating, not chilling back like you actually accomplished something."

"But I feel...weird," Xilimyth replied. Having the unfortunate position of not finding the right words for her excuse left her feeling meek once again. Something just felt off after being startled out of her rest. She had to tug a quick tight wedgie out of her short before adjusting to a new position for sufficient curling again.

A distraction Wanda utilized to adjust the weights on the machine before Xilimyth had a chance to notice, much less object. "Yeah? And I feel horny, so we both got problems! Now we're going to do a proper set, and you better give me some results. Otherwise, you'll be spending dinner washing my vibrators. Believe me, I'll be using them vigorously tonight too."

Xilimyth had little issue ignoring such vulgar talk. It was a bit of regular training to keep troops focused on their task. Granted, Janus had her beat when it came to discipline. The wolf once caught fire and failed to notice until he started looking for whoever was cooking bacon.

The real problem came from grabbing the bar again. She could tell just by gripping it into position there was an insane amount of weight added to her previous setting. One look at Wanda showed they were not about to let Xilimyth drop that bar without a severe lashing. With a tongue or a paddle was a bit of a mystery not worth solving in this position. Bracing herself for a world of hurt, Xilimyth took a deep breath and tried to curl with the same strength as before.

Nothing happened for five solid seconds. The cable connecting the bar to its weights vibrated intensely from Xilimyths efforts, but nothing budged. When the burning of biceps could take no more, she let the bar drop with a hard gasp. She had made the mistake of holding her breath, and now lungs burned with her weak muscles.

"I knew you were a credit to your mixed species." Wanda was all too happy to throw out her two cents before the bar hit solid ground. "Can't stand being on equal footing with us 'little' people, eh?"

"To be fair, ma'am, there's nothing about you even Terran's would consider little."

Judging by the way Wanda's hands reflexively moved to her cannonball breasts, that attempt at a joking compliment had been taken the entirely wrong way. An awkward pause settled between them making Xilimyth's tail coil under her chair. Amazingly Wanda's expression remained unreadable even after catching her hands back to her hips. Suddenly, without a flicker of emotion, she went around the back of the machine. Sounds of soft metal grating and clicking were all Xilimyth needed to know that the weights had been increased again.

"You better hope this next one reaches your amazingly tiny tits," Wanda said upon re-entering Xilimyth's vision. "Or we're going to be canceling your pilot training til tomorrow. Oh! Did that make you angry? I'm so sorry. I completely forgot I was talking to a carefree idiot! Then how about you do so much as one curl and you both can go crash some VR's early."

Well, this was going worse than expected. Xilimyth hated herself for letting the slightest flicker of anger cause her lip to curl attempting to pull the bar down at least once.

Did Wanda really have to attack a body physique Xilimyth could not help? Comparing proportions at her real size, Xilimyth would have put those vixen's jugs to shame. It was not like she wanted to be this tiny forever. Gods forbid everyone just shut up about it and get on with the day.

Cheetah ears flicked about, almost startling Xilimyth to realize Wanda had gone dead silent. The bar slipped from her chest with a thunderous bang that drew many confused stares from the other soldiers working out. Turning to figure out what her problem might be now, Xilimyth was caught off guard to find Wanda gawking at her in apparent disbelief.

Other things began to register to Xilimyth too. Her palms burned from holding the metal bar. Biceps and chest burned from keeping it close to her chin. All of which was covered in fur burning with a hot sweat that left it starting to clump together. The arms themselves looked notably thicker, even for having their muscles worked raw. "Did I...do one?"

Wanda closed her jaw before giving a single, slow, nod.

"Six in fact. Almost a full rep." Wanda seemed to realize there were lots of eyes on them. She straightened back up with a cough that seemed to reset her standard bitch settings. "And almost just isn't good enough, in the long run, little cat. But I am a woman of my word. You are dismissed for pilot training, and take that noodle of a wolf with you."

They were not about to argue with that kind of order. Janus looked like someone had given his VR got a new paint job for Christmas.

"That was so badass!" he said once they were safe in the hallways. "Did you chug a Redbull before we got here? I didn't know you could curl eighty pounds like that."

Xilimyth was not actually paying attention to all the gushing praise. Something about her burst of exercise had rocked her sports bra entirely out of sync. No amount of shifting, stretching, or pushing seemed to get the cups perfectly rested back over her chest either. Her poor babies were getting pushed a little too tight. They almost gave a brief illusion of having cleavage again.

"Uh, y-yeah. Hey, we should go change into our flight suits. Maybe we can get done early there too."

"Wha?" Janus had been distracted looking Xilimyth over for signs of her sudden burst of strength. He certainly did not find her as 'curvy impaired' as the cheetah liked to often mope about in this state. This was probably the third time he had to avoid a direct stare at her attempt to dig that stubborn spandex crease out of her butt. Luckily he had already thought of a topic when she seemed to notice his blush. "It'd be great if Darius could be that generous too. Now that our confinement's lifted, what say I take you out to dinner?"

"Nya?" Xilimyth paused with her hands still tugging the back of her shorts to stare up at Janus. Something felt a bit off in that he no longer seemed to have that looming presence like most people she had been interacting with this past week. But that curiosity was quickly crushed under the growing realization she had just been asked out on a date.

"I-I mean, just as friends, er, partners. You know what I'm saying, right?" Janus must have read her mind with how frantic he tried to expand on his ideas. His blush was starting to rival hers in color depth. "Don't think I haven't noticed how everyone's been acting around you since that attack. Let's get all fancy over a nice meal and dancing without being ridiculed for a few hours. It'll be fun!"

Xilimyth blinked very slowly before straightening up. Hands continued to remain hidden behind her hips somehow looking professional and sheepish at the same time.

"You can dance?"

Janus' mouth opened but seemed unable to form a response for several seconds. "Can you?"

For the first time in days, a genuine smile crossed Xilimyth's muzzle. "Touche. But I suppose getting my toes stepped on by you is better than Wanda whipping our rears."

"Great! I honestly spent most of my recreational allowance on bribing some staff at The SuperNova to give us a good table."

Xilimyth blinked unsure if she had correctly heard Janus mention the restaurant specifically lorded over by Macross Fifty-Two's rich bastards. But the wolf was already retreating down the halls before she could offer a response.

"Don't forget to be fancy!"

"Uh...kaaay...."

She stood dumbfounded only managing to give a weak wave. And Xilimyth was still waving at nothing for some time before a rabbit rounded the corner nearly walking over her.

"Whoa! Hey, tiny cat! You okay down there?"

That quickly broke Xilimyth's stupor to shoot them a warning glare. Tiffany happened to share the top bunk with her, so they were on general polite terms. Still made Xilimyth's spots ruffle to be called 'tiny' by someone only a few inches taller.

Wait, taking a second look Xilimyth tilted her head. Not counting the ears they were not that far different in size or shape. Which is funny, since Tiffany at least had enough of a rack to bounce when she walked.

Although...

"Yeah, I'm great Tiff." Xilimyth's hands ceased ghost measuring their busts when Tiffany actually looked in her direction. "Say...don't suppose you have a dress I can borrow?"

After a promise of future favors, Xilimyth was off for a shower followed by a quick change. The acquired dress had already been laid out on her bunk upon returning fresh as a daisy. But that was for later. Xilimyth instead knelt to open the combination on her footlocker. Inside was a mix of many things that had never seen use in her years of service; a sidearm, rations, fatigues. All general stuff she never liked to stay small enough to actually need on missions.

Consequently, that meant her standard flight suit was slightly dusty with an odor that made Xilimyth's nose wrinkle. This might very well be the first time it would ever be worn.

And even then, the sleeves hung off her wrists like an oversized sleeper. Having to roll them up into dense bunches at the elbow was a depressing reminder of what a speck that machine made of her.

Combined with the absolute torture that is flight training killed Xilimyth's sense of satisfaction for showing up Wanda rather quick. It was run by a lemur named Darius, who's skinny body could actually make Xilimyth feel buff by comparison. Especially with how small he felt today laying back in a hammock staring blankly into a tablet screen.

"Y-yeah, just go through autopilot basics, or whatever!" had been his official orders before Xilimyth had climbed the dummy VR used for today's practice. And they liked to call footsoldiers like her 'useless'...

Janus had already made himself comfortable in the cockpit when she had climbed in. Unlike their supposed commanding officer, he was all too happy to explain every switch or button in a systematic textbook-like fashion. Not that Xilimyth minded long streams of technical terms. Their mutual love for machines was a key component to their friendship.

It was also cute watching those wolf ears flap around in excitement at getting to explain such things in detail. A rare treat for a nerd.

"So did you actually get any of that?"

"Uh huh!" Xilimyth said in an automated response to having her thoughts disrupted.

"...you were staring at my ears again, weren't you?"

A hint of pink began to brighten up the fur between Xilimyth's spots. "N-nooo..."

Janus twitched his ears a few times watching her eyes still follow them. "Okay, well then, go ahead and do the start-up sequence we just walked through. If you're really such an expert as us tiny mortals."

Pink turned into a flaming red across Xilimyths face. She did not hesitate to stride forward within reach of the controls.

"I'll have you know just cause we're like this doesn't make things more complicated. It's just like moving my mech suit."

One switch flick proved it was not like moving in a mech suit. Today's flight training ended very early thanks to their dummies spontaneous transformation from GERWALK to fighter mode. Thankfully Darius had stepped out of his office to check on their progress before it got crushed.

"Fourteen demerits in one day. I think that's a new record for us."

"It's a bit unsettling how proud you sound of that," Tiffany said while she brushed mascara on Xilimyth's eyelashes. Although it was difficult for her to show anything other than amusement at rehearing the days antics. Such stories were worth letting her bunkmate bum off a bit of make-up.

Xilimyth had literally never needed such things while being small before. But something about going to a fancy place full of elegant people made her want to at least try. She was still a perfect blend of Terran and Zentradi, and everyone needed a reminder of that.

Heck, it surprised both girls that Tiffany's dress did not need that much padding to fit her slender form. They rarely interacted so they might have overestimated their difference in build. Tiffany tended to work guard detail for the colonist homes, so never saw space combat.

"That should do it." Tiffany closed her makeup kit before handing Xilimyth a vanity mirror. "How are the heels?"

"Unexpectedly snug, I must say."

Xilimyth fiddled with her borrowed shoes hoping to at least get out the room without tripping over them. It was either high heels or going barefoot, and both girls were relatively confident one option went beneath the dress code.

She straightened to examine herself in the tiny mirror. The cheetah reflected back flashed her dazzling fangs back in a broad smile. There had only been a slight relenting when Tiffany had insisted applying makeup for her 'friend date.' Yet the results of light mascara, blush, and lipstick application made her face shine in the light was amazingly satisfying.

If only there were some boobs to go along with it. A set of those would really make heads turn.

"How do I look?" Xilimyth turned her smile to Tiffany. Self-confidence issues were not about to ruin her first decent night in weeks.

"Like a child playing in grandma's closet."

"I hate you too, Tiff! Thanks so much!"

Xilimyth held her tail high while nearly skipping to the door. That stopped after she slipped on a heel and crashed into the door frame. Still, her mood never faltered. The little journey through Macross Fifty-two allowed her to get better accustomed to walking on such silly things. Having a bit of extra height never hurt either. No one was calling her tiny or giving snarky grins in passing. In fact, a few heads had actually done double takes to watch her stroll down the street. A feeling of attraction Xilimyth never thought possible while micronized.

By the time she had entered the Super Nova Xilimyth was glowing from more than just makeup. The entrance room held a stunning array of decorations from an ice sculpture fountain to six small chandeliers. She actually did not feel overdressed for something, another rarity in a combat pilots line of work.

"And that's why you don't use GERWALK in caves. You never know when those tunnels suddenly start getting narrow on you. Especially the 46B models. Their backsides are even bigger than...oh! Hey, Xilly!"

Janus waved cheerfully over from the host podium. His appearance nearly caused Xilimyth to crash into a chair from staring. It was hard to tell his level of the dress code at a glance. Especially considering the mystery of how one finds a purple tuxedo.

Behind it stood a very exasperated lemur girl with her face half buried in her hands. She looked just as excited to see Xilimyth as Janus. If only to have an excuse to end the conversation they were having.

"You were right, she is a lovely young lady indeed. You'll grow up into that dress amazingly well in a few years. Right, this way please."

"Thank you," Xilimyth said after giving Janus a hug. She was not about to correct the hostess with her real age. That was a surprise for the bartender planning to card her for a good cocktail.

They were lead through a short hallway into a very spacious, two floored, dining area. The lower area was set with big tables to accommodate dinner parties among higher officers and wealthy class citizens. The upper level was serving a different layout, with a dance area taking up most of the space with sets of couches and smaller tables for smaller parties. Beats of music thumped across glass walls to the rhythm of their hearts.

It certainly got Xilimyth's blood hot before they were even seated on one couch upstairs. Much like the hostess, who seemed super excited to bid them a final goodbye before almost running back to her post.

A strong fox man came by moments later to collect their drink orders. To his credit, only his ears perked at checking Xilimyth's ID before taking her request for a long-island tea. Tarren's had weird customs, but they knew how to make great drinks.

"So..." Janus grinned, only to get his attempt at a conversation cut off before the first syllable. No sooner had their waiter left for drinks than Xilimyth was back on her feet yanking him along by one arm.

"W-what?" Janus looked surprised but allowed Xilimyth to drag them onto the dance floor. He was more than willing to endure a bit of social embarrassment if it helped cheer up such a caring wing woman. "You do know I can't dance, right?"

"Me neither!" Xilimyth kicked off her heels, wasting no time starting to wag her tail to the music. "But don't tell me you can't resist cutting loose after weeks of gray corridors."

She had him there. Janus hesitated a bit too look around. Everyone seemed more interested in their own good time than laughing at them, so he soon began bobbing to the groove. Seconds later his tail waved to the beat just as heartily as Xilimyth.

The only thing more surprising than their uncharacteristic lack of inhibition was how few times they ended up crushing each other's feet. After about two songs of straight dancing Xilimyth finally felt drained enough for a break at their couch. Drinks were waiting for them on the glass table, rich in chilled condensation.

"Whoa! hey, don't get too wild!" Janus said upon seeing Xilimyth chug over half her long island in one go. "We haven't even ordered dinner yet. Besides, I don't think they'll let me hold your hair in the bathroom."

"I'll be okay, silly. HIC!" Xilimyth's hand cupped her lip at the sudden motor reflex, only to laugh off Janus' raised eyebrow. "We just got here. I'm not going to get wasted."

"You sure you're okay? Last time you were this energetic was when we discovered those catnip imports."

"I said I'm fi-ooonnngh!" Xilimyth leaned forward with both hands clasping her stomach. Any attempt to look offended got undermined by her insides sudden desire to do a cartwheel.

"Fiongh?" Janus gave a nervous chuckle taking a sip of his grape juice. "You look more like a 'yarrg' to me. Maybe we should go someplace a bit more relaxed."

"No way! We're not wasting all your efforts to get in here." Xilimyth's protest ended punctuated with another roaring hiccup. The mere thought of her friend's stubborn concern possibly being justified was embarrassing enough. However, she was starting to feel hot for other reasons. Eyes blinked a few times out of sync, doing little to make the dance floor appear less fuzzy. "O-okay, maybe I drank a bit too fast. G-going to take a breather in the bathroom. Order me something Italian, would you sweetie?"

"Hey now..."

But Xilimyth was already up and leaving Janus in her high-heeled dust. Something felt off ever since they got inside but Janus could not put his finger on it. Maybe his friend was right about being paranoid. The elation at having some genuine fun might be overwhelming for couped up dorks such as themselves.

"E-excuse me?" Turning to a waiter passing by, Janus softly waved him down to order some appetizers. After dinner, he figured they could hit up that laser tag arena down the street.

Odds were he would still lose with Xilimyth's handicap of wearing a dress.