Pre had never felt her fingertips tremble before, but they did now. Her hand was frozen in the air, unable to do anything except for that miniscule bit of movement.

"Axial," she heard Mirome's voice but couldn't turn her head towards it. "Remember what we discussed."

With a grunt, Axial… released her. There was no other way to explain it. One moment, Pre was a prisoner inside her own body, then all control came flooding back at once.

She turned, wide-eyed, and stared at Axial. They looked nonplussed, as if nothing happened.

"What did you do?" Pre whispered.

"Miss Devisana," Mirome interjected. "We cannot delay any further. Please come with us before we have to resort to more drastic measures."

"Drastic measures? Like controlling my body? How did you do that? What are you?"

Mirome waved a hand, as if erasing her questions. "That is unimportant. What's important is that you don't want that to happen again. Come along now so that we can avoid another… incident with Axial."

Pre choked out a laugh. It was all too much. She had to get out of here, away from these people. Her hand tightened around the coffee mug. Maybe if she threw the hot liquid in Axial's face, she could smash Mirome with the mug and get away before they could do anything.

"Ok," she said, feigning cooperation. "Let's go."

She stepped forward, readying her attack. She figured her best chance of success would be if she was in close proximity, getting both of them on the same swing.

A little more. She clenched the handle, started to pull her elbow back. Axial's eyes darted up to hers, seeing it, but it was too late -

"What's going on here?"

Pre stopped herself just in time as she heard Xinder behind her. Some coffee splashed onto the floor as her arm jerked back.

Xinder was standing in the doorway, holding several boutique shopping bags. He was still wearing makeup from his photoshoot. The dramatic colors carved his furious face into an otherworldly expression, like a god of angry peacocks.

"Xinder," Mirome purred, smoothly making a small gesture with his finger at Axial. Only then did Pre notice that they had somehow taken control of her body again. But Axial saw Mirome's signal and, scowling, let Pre go.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mirome continued, much slicker now that he was addressing a Diamond. "We are representatives of Connext, here to escort Miss Devisana to headquarters. It seems there's a problem with her chip."

"Oh, really?" Xinder asked, dropping his bags on the ground and looking at Pre. "Because I definitely see a problem and it's not with Pre."

Having known him for over twenty years, Pre could tell when Xinder was using his "Diamond voice". And right now, he was laying it on thick.

"If you had asked anybody worth anything, you would know that Pre is my Plus One to Vian's birthday party tonight. You absolutely cannot take her to headquarters for her chip to get messed with." Xinder pouted, then added. "At least, not tonight."

"Tch," Axial snapped from beside Pre. "That won't work on us. Nice try though."

Pre exchanged a look with Xinder. Apparently his Diamond privileges didn't extend to Connext tech support, or whoever these people were.

But Xin was never one to give up easily. "I think it very well does work. You are clearly an important person, well-trusted by Connext, sent to do an important job. But let me remind you that I am one of the only twelve Diamonds in the city. You, and Connext, do not want to be on my bad side. I promised Pre that she would get to go to this party. I am not one to break my promises. So you can stay on my good side and leave her with me for one night, or I can show you exactly how bad of an idea it is to fuck with me."

Silence. Xinder and Axial stared at each other. Mirome glanced between them as if watching a silent, motionless tennis match. Pre was afraid to look anywhere, worried that she might tip the fragile balance.

Something gave way. Axial broke eye contact with a jerk of their head and gave a small, "hmpf!"

Nodding, Mirome started walking towards the door. Axial followed but not before giving Xinder one last poisonous look. Xin returned it openly, the dramatic blue eyeliner emphasizing his glare.

Before leaving, Mirome paused and looked at them. "Enjoy the party tonight," he said in a tone that was much too ominous to fit the statement. "We'll see you there."

He and Axial walked out, softly shutting the door behind them.

Pre let out all her breath in a huge whoosh, half-collapsing against the wall. "What… the… fuck?"

Xinder came over and helped steady her. "Yeah for a romance and dating app, the Connext staff aren't very friendly. Sorry you had to deal with those goons."

"It's fine. But, Xin, something weird happened…"

"Hang on, sit down first. You look like you're about to faint. Here, drink your coffee. Let's forget about them for now. We have more important things to worry about. I want to show you your options for the party tonight!"

And before she knew it, Pre was sitting in an armchair, laughing with Xin, eating eggs benedict, and trying to pare down his outrageous outfit choices. She was still shaken by what happened earlier, but it seemed more and more ridiculous that Axial had been controlling her body. She was stressed out and imagining things. There was no reason to get Xinder all worked up over her paranoid delusions.

A couple hours later, they managed to find something that they both agreed on. Then they parted ways to get ready in their own rooms.

Pre was twisting her hair around a curling iron when there was another knock at the front door. She tensed instinctively, thinking it was Mirome and Axial again, but then Xinder yelled, "that's Jawn! Let him in!"

She went and opened the door. Jawn stood on the other side, looking like a heartthrob from a teen movie. His blond hair was casually flopped away from his face. Black-rimmed glasses framed his smoky hazel eyes. He was dressed in a navy blue sweater and clean khaki dress pants. His diamond bracelet glittered on his wrist, an extravagant contrast to the otherwise simple outfit.

"Still hasn't given you a key, huh?" Pre asked, stepping aside to let him in.

"Nope. But I think I'm starting to wear him down." Jawn gave her a quick half-hug as he stepped inside. "Missed you. It's been a while."

"Yeah I'm starting to think Xinder is keeping us apart for a reason."

"Probably because he knows you would side with me on the whole moving-in-together thing."

By all accounts, Jawn and Xinder were the posterboys for the effectiveness of Connext. Where Xinder was all fire and fantasy, Jawn was grounded and straightforward. They shouldn't have worked as a couple, but they did. Instead of their differences tearing them apart, they used them to grow stronger together, learning from each other and making it work.

Except, it seems, when it came to this.

"I don't get it," Pre said. "I mean, I know he likes his space but," she gestured at the enormous condo, "surely you two could get an even bigger place, live together, and still have your own areas?"

"You're preaching to the choir," Jawn said, but smiling. "I would love to start getting settled. It's been five years, right? We aren't going to find a connection better than ours." Then he shrugged. "But he'll be ready when he's ready. And me nagging him isn't going to make him ready any sooner. I just have to be patient and trust that we will always prioritize each other and our relationship, even if we never live in the same space."

Pre practically swooned. Jawn and Xinder were celebrities, almost everyone in Toran had a crush on one of them or both. But Pre had a crush on their relationship. She couldn't imagine having that much faith in a person, that much love and acceptance. It made her feel both an optimistic yearning, and a terrible emptiness.

Luckily she was saved from all those complicated emotions by Xinder's appearance. He wore a deep v-necked white silk shirt, showing off the intricate tribal tattoos over his pecs and sternum. His pants were navy blue, almost the exact same shade as Jawn's, but skin-tight and leather. His diamond band twinkled around his hand, and he wore matching diamond stud earrings to match.

"Wow Xin," Pre gushed. "I didn't realize you were going to dress so casually for such a high-profile event."

That earned her a glare and a swat. "I'll have you know that the pirate look is very vogue right now." Then with fierce intensity, his gaze focused on her, her half-done hair, her makeupless face, her disheveled clothes. "And why are you sitting around conspiring with my partner and ragging on my outfit when you aren't even dressed yet?!"