I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. According to Jane, the short couch Russel currently occupied sat in the green room. Whatever that means. It was within an hour of the plane touching down in Mélisivére that he was led here and told to sit, and wait. Not without a thorough, and thoroughly unexpected kiss from Amara. It was enough to leave him unmoving until well after she had disappeared around the corner with Jane.

Where’s Katana? It was a lazy curiousity, for no other reason than he’d been alone for fifteen minutes. The way Jane had a bag of her food along with a pair of bowls waiting at the airport on the way out, he wasn’t too worried about her well-being. I wonder what she thinks of this situation.

A few minutes later Russel got his feet under him, not really with a destination or even direction in mind but to do something besides sit there. As if on cue, Amara, dressed to go on stage and trailing Jane and a couple of local assistants bounced into the room.

“Hey, sorry for making you wait! Jane,” Amara offered a theatrical glare over her shoulder as she reached his side and took his hand between hers, “wasn’t going to let you in the dressing room. ’Too much too soon,’ or something.”

Is she joking? I honestly cannot tell at this point. The idea was enough to leave his head spinning.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not really. Lousy impression, dumping you on a couch and leaving you.” A loud throat-clearing behind her. “Worse, I have to do it again for an hour and a half while I go do my thing. You’ll see me there,” she flicked her head to the side, refreshed head tails swinging in the direction of a large TV mounted across from his seat. “And I get a break at the halfway mark. Ha,

Speaking of Mark,” she had to turn her head before tipping it this time, indicating the guard in cliche black suit and sunglasses just inside the doorway, “can help see you get some food or anything you need while you wait. I’m sorry again. I guess a world tour isn’t the best time to start dating huh?”

Russel could only nod, wearing a smile he found impossible to keep from his face. Amara’s transformation in the changing room was not just her dress and make-up. She was more alive than he had seen her since jumping from a third story window into her embrace. I think she actually enjoys what she does.

“It’s fine.”

“No,” she shook her head, tails swishing, “but it is what it is. Thanks for being so understanding Russ!”

A kiss on the cheek and squeeze of his hand and she was gone again. Russel sat back, reeling. Wait. We’re dating? He tried to get his brain running again. Or is that just the official excuse for why I’m here? That it was, apparently, to protect him from literal werewolves or something wouldn’t be great press for her tour. How many people know about all the magic stuff anyway? It couldn’t be many. Russel knew as well as anyone that no matter how important a secret, keeping it depended as much on how many people knew about it. That the public didn’t even have a hint of Ayame Sunrise having anything but two normal arms was incredible. And why did she let me see that, right away?