The space for the Cani power tests at the government building looked like a small roller rink. Brie and CC's guests were seated in one corner of the rink, the only ones present in the audience. They cheered when Brie stepped out with CC at her side and Camembert leading the two.

"I believe I would have done much more strongly on the written portion if I had the adulation of this crowd," Brie said, gesturing to her new friends.

"You did fine, you passed, didn't you?" Camembert said, sipping from a tumbler that she traded her usual coffee mug for before they left.

Brie scrunched her nose. She passed, sure, but CC got a higher score. And that was incredibly annoying. CC thankfully didn't catch Brie's expression, avoiding giving out another round of smug looks for her victory. Instead, she patted the plasti-glass barrier.

"Better be careful, Brie, these feel a tad flimsy," CC said. "Don't wanna accidentally zap our new pals with your reckless power usage."

"Oh please, even if that barrier wasn't there, I am no threat to Derby of Hope or the of Hopes." Brie said.

"Hey, uh," Sage stood up and called out. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have to ask. What do you...think Derby's last name is?"

"We should probably just get on with the test," Camembert said.

"Yeah, Brie, are you scared of this one, too?" CC asked.

"We both just said earlier we were at least a bit nervous about this, that was agreed upon!" Brie said.

"I dunno, just because we were both gassy doesn't mean we agreed," CC said. "I'm feeling good after the first test, though."

Camembert had Brie and CC stand at a certain spot at the end of the test area. Each had to show off their Cani ability, showing precision and restraint. She took off their big, bulky power blockers, and gave them smaller ones to put on.

"First, just a test that your powers aren't gonna go off in unexpected situations," Camembert said.

"How can you test for unexpected when you just told us it's unexpecte—" Brie said as Camembert tossed a handful of powder that looked like cinnamon in the air. Brie and CC started coughing immediately, but they didn't unwittingly use their powers.

"That substance is totally safe, but it does set off Cani who aren't in control of their powers as well," Camembert said. "Alright, phase one done," Camembert said as Brie and CC kept coughing.

"Next we'll just do a power showcase," Camembert wheeled out some carts that were a bunch of beams on wheels with targets hanging down from them on ropes.

"Surely there's an easier way to give us targets to hit," Brie said.

"Maybe we could get some void monsters? Just a suggestion!" CC said.

"For some reason this is the best we got," Camembert said. "You both have elemental power types, which is pretty easy to test for, it's a pain when it's something less 'can fire a bolt of fire,' this test doesn't work if your Cani ability is like, extra good vision."

"Right, I assume tires with target pages taped to them isn't great for that," CC said.

Camembert got behind the two. "You don't need to aim perfectly, just fire some bolts and see if you can hit the targets."

"Oh, I'm going to aim accurately," Brie said, looking to Derby in the crowd. Derby had moved from her seat to the front, pressed against the glass as she waved cutely. "I'll conquer this test, impress Derby of Hope, and embarrass you, CC."

"Maybe I'll try to impress Derby too, how about that?" CC said.

"Never! Derby would never be won over by your mediocre spellcasting!" Brie said.

As Camembert tried to cool the two off from arguing, Lacy sat in the stands, eyes mostly on Derby. She wasn't sure at all what this was going to be, but it was a lot more dull than she expected. But seeing Derby happy was nice, even if bittersweet. 

Lacy looked at her phone, jotting some notes down about how she could make Derby's next mod really special for her.

Sage was on their phone as well, playing some puzzle game, similarly bored.

"What do you think of all of this?" Lacy asked.

"I think it's great," Sage said.

"Great enough to play Master of Puzzle World Mobile instead of watching?" Lacy asked.

"OK, this part is boring, but like..." Sage nodded at Derby, who started jumping with excitement as Brie fired a bolt of her powers, black and purple flames rocketing toward the target. "Derbs has been in a rut for a while, from just a week or two with Brie she's already opening up a lot more. And now you're back too, so we're in for some fun times."

"That's a good way to put it," Lacy said.

While Brie and CC's powers looked impressive, the two had great control of them and easily proved they had the precise ability to not be a danger. Camembert gave them a speech she read off a notecard about how it was their responsibility to not use these powers, and that if they wanted to they could sign up for a bloodsaber course as well.

"A bloodsaber sounds super badass," CC said. "Do I have one already?"

"Why are you looking at me, how should I know what swords you have?" Brie asked. "Though I do agree, a bloodsaber sounds most terrific."

Camembert left for a few minutes, returning with two freshly printed certificates for the two to sign.

"Alright, you can officially go to the desert now if you want," Camembert said. "I don't know why anyone would want to, but whatever. You have my card, call if you need help with something."

Derby and the others stood up clapping as Brie and CC proudly held up their certificates.

"And make sure you don't forget you got them to rely on, too," Camembert said.

The group celebrated after that, with Dani treating everyone to a well earned meal after that, making sure to bake a cake as an extra welcoming for Brie and CC.

Once the guests had left, and the Ofohps were all thoroughly worn out, Brie returned to her new room, collapsing on the top bunk. She yawned as Derby looked at her.

"I, heh, feel like I should..." Derby trailed off, her voice quiet.

"Sorry, didn't catch that," Brie said.

"I..." Derby coughed, a hacking cough like a cat with a hairball. "Sorry. I um. Feel like I should...reward you too. But I don't have any presents, and I can't bake like my mom does."

Brie smiled softly. "You being there was a reward."

"Heh...but I still want to get you something," Derby said.

Brie wasn't one to hide what she wanted, but she did find getting these particular words out difficult. Something about Derby had that effect on her. "Perhaps...you could repeat what you did at that convention?"

Why do my hands shake so? Brie thought as she brushed her hair aside, making her forehead more visible.

"Oh...you want that? Again?" Derby fidgeted with her hands for a moment. "I guess since I did it once already...but is just the forehead alright?"

Brie just pushed forward slightly in response. Derby let out some more hacking coughs before she worked up the nerve to lean in. Brie shut her eyes, sleepily thinking that she wouldn't mind if Derby missed, her lips meeting somewhere else. But as soon as she felt Derby's soft kiss on her forehead, everything washed away. She managed to dispel the thrall magic back at the convention, but this time the magic was just in the wonderful feeling Brie felt.

"Thank you, Derby of Hope," Brie said, drifting to sleep. "That was lovely."

She didn't hear Derby's exact answer, as Derby shuffled to a corner of her room out of embarrassment, but the kiss was enough.

***

Brie swirled her cup, a heavy thing with claws and glowing eyes, wine jostling within it as she looked upon the similarly accented table, a council of cloaked figures waiting for her command. At least, she imagined she'd brought with her favorite cup from home with for this, pretending a paper cup was the same, though pretending the soda was wine was a harder sell (though this world's beverages were delicious). She also wasn't meeting with the Shadowed Shadowy Council in her lair, it was just a study room at the library, and instead of cloaked figures, it was just the friends she'd met so far and allies she tolerated, Sage, CC, and Lacy.

"Hey, where's Derby?" Sage asked.

"Well...the thing is..." Brie said. "I was thinking of inviting you all to an exclusive club."

"A club that Derby isn't in?" Sage asked.

"I don't really care if Derby is in or not, I'm just here for the free soda," CC said.

"Just don't spill any on the carpet," Brie said. "That is the command dictated to me by the 'front desk' librarian. But no matter! Yes, Derby of Hope is not present. But!" Brie held a single finger up as Lacy got up, maybe to leave. "This meeting is about Derby of Hope, so I hope you will stay to hear it out."

Lacy sat back down. Sage and CC waited for Brie to say what this was before offering any more judgment.

"We are all fans of Derby of Hope, I believe," Brie said. "So I thought it would be a most resplendent if we had a gathering of sorts to discuss our enjoyment of Derby."

"Like a Derby fan club?" Sage said.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of a council ensuring we all have a space to discuss Derby of Hope, and what we like about her!"

"So like a fan club," Lacy said.

"Fine, whatever," Brie said.

"She won't say it, but she doesn't know what a fan club is, that's why she's arguing," CC said.

"Whatever! Anyways, that is my plan." Brie said.

"Well, I do like Derbs," Sage said. "Are we planning surprise parties or anything?"

"Brie has no idea," CC said. "She's just confused about feelings, and whenever she gets confused about her feelings, she yaps to her council or makes a new council. So I guess we're the new council."

"And I should stop inviting you to my councils!" Brie said. "I would have skipped inviting you to this but I didn't want a council with only two other members."

"That's what happened with the fruit punch council," CC said. "Brie got obsessed with fruit punch and didn't have anyone to talk to about it, so she made a council."

"I can eject you from the Derby of Hope Council of Enjoyment at any moment!" Brie said.

"But you won't, because we're kind of besties," CC said.

"I would never call you best at anything related to me!" Brie said.

"You know, the other thing this could be," CC said. "Is if this is like the General Bartlett Council."

"I warned you to never speak of that again!" Brie said.

"Who's General Bartlett?" Lacy asked.

"Someone in the Umpteenth Realm's army. Brie had a huge crush on her so she formed a council to talk about it. But she only picked people she thought also were into Bartlett, as a way to strategize and plan out threats. Now, Bartlett never had any interest in Brie de Meaux romantically, so it was pointless."

Brie crushed her paper cup in her hands. "None of those words were true, by the way!" Sage and Lacy didn't seem to believe that. In fact, Lacy's gaze turned more steely. "I didn't bring you here to plan out threats! I don't think you're threats to my infatuat—...no, my fandom of Derby of Hope! I just wanted to talk about Derby with Derby enthusiasts, is that so much to ask?"

Now the whole room was quiet save for Brie's pleas. The dark lord sighed, looking to the white board where she had crudely drawn like Derby.

"So, is this it then?" Brie asked, only slightly turning back to her guests. "Are we all to be enemies from here in pursuit of the same goal?"

"I dunno what you mean, but..." Sage said. "A club can be for more than one thing, right?"

"Explain." Derby said.

"You think we're all fighting for the same thing, and maybe we all are, and maybe you are using that to your advantage. But we could do if that's the case. And we could still talk about stuff we like about Derby."

"Hm..." Brie said. "I suppose. But I genuinely don't see you as romantic rivals!"

"Romantic, huh?" Sage said.

"No, no! That isn't what I meant!" Brie looked back to her drawing of Derby as if that would help her. "I just...I meant to say aromatic. As in Derby's pleasant aroma."

"She's smelled like that ever since high school," Lacy said. "I've always wanted to find out what perfume she uses."

"You know, I don't think she's ever told me, either," Sage said.

"Here's what we do then, it's so obvious," CC said. "We smell Derby, then go to the nearest perfume store, and smell all the perfume! Easy peasy."

And so, the first meeting of the Derby of Hope Council of Enjoyment continued on, from there primarily focusing on Derby's scent. The group didn't accomplishing much else, but they became closer friends somehow from this.