I feel it as Tiana does: a thunderclap of emotion that rattles her nervous system so intensely, I'm not at all surprised when she blinks away a moment later. I don't know if she means to blink inside me again, based on the moment of confusion and disorientation I feel from her, but she does.

Lis gives out a surprised huff. "Well... with the gift of hindsight I think I could've been a bit more tactful."

Inside the void, I gently wrap Tiana up in myself. It feels... wrong to go further, so I settle for just making sure that she's bound and constricted in the ways that relax her.

"Think she'll be okay?" Lis asks.

"Oh. Yeah. She, um..." I squirm a bit, not quite sure how to address this to Lis, given our shared history. I'm here because I want us all to be honest, though, so I settle for honesty. "She's... she teleported inside of me."

Lis blinks once, then laughs.

"Yeah, no that makes sense. Sensory-seeking behavior to break rumination is a classic for a reason," Lis opines.

"So you really think that's it? She's..." I trail off, suddenly feeling bashful.

Lis, though, doesn't feel it. "She's likely got OCD, yeah. And she's been self-medicating with you."

The words are blunt, and hurt to hear. "Oh... so that mean that she's just..."

Lis reaches forward and baps me on the forehead with her paw. "Nope. She's not just using you."

I rub where she bapped me, even though it doesn't sting, and tsk. "But you said it yourself, she's self-medic—"

"If it wasn't you, she'd find other ways to cope, yes, but... she likes you. That part's real. I think you know that, so what's this fear really about?"

I narrow my eyes at Lis. "You were much more fun when we were naked and having sex."

"I get that a lot. Answer the question, Kam."

"Rax was way cooler before you made him all healed and therapised."

"You're stalling," Lis sings.

I relent, knowing that Lis probably already has me figured out. "She's a human who knows magic, and the last time I was around someone like her was Desdemona. And I just... get scared."

Within the void, I pull Tiana just a bit tighter to me. I only realize it after the fact, and release the tension as soon as I do.

"Scared of what, precisely?"

"Lis, c'mon. I didn't want this to turn into a therapy session. Plus, this day wasn't about me, it was about Tiana and you!"

Lis gives a small shrug. "Alright. Bring her out, then."

"No."

"Why?"

"She's still... relaxing."

"And...?"

"And I'm beginning to see why Tiana teleported away from you."

"Kam."

"Lis."

"Tell me why you're scared."

"Because she's gonna find out I'm not good enough for her, Lis!"

I can't help the sadness that threatens to break Tiana's calm, even as she's held tight. "The best I have to offer her is cheap sex and a pittance of the money she gets simply from being her. And now? Even existing means paparazzi chasing us down. How is this ever gonna turn out okay, huh?"

"Kam, you do realize that you're one of the most well-spoken people I've ever met, right? You're attractive, too, and charming. I know why you're so focused on what could go wrong, but I'd invite you to consider what happens if things go right for you. What happens then?"

I draw in a shaky breath.

"Please don't let me consider that."

"Why?"

"'Cause then I'd have to hope, and that..." I think about how excited I was when Rax was being touted as the spokesman for all of monsterkind. How for one moment it looked like things would get better. And how they all forgot. "That would break me."

After a long moment, Lis reclines in her chair. "Okay."

I study her intently, somehow feeling like I'm walking into a trap. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"You're not gonna try to convince me that I'm wrong?"

"Nope," Lis says, a smirk spreading over her face.

"Why?"

"I don't need to."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. Look, let's just move past it."

"Okay!" Lis keeps grinning, and now it's starting to eat at me.

"Okay, clearly you've noticed something and you just don't wanna say it, so..."

"Yep!" Lis gives an exaggerated nod.

"Well, fine. Whatever. I'm over it. I don't wanna know."

"Then I won't tell you."

"Good!"

"Alright."

And just like that, I have to know. "Alright, fine. Just tell me!"

Lis stands. "Nah. I'm gonna get a beer. You want a beer?"

Annoyed, I get up. She tenses, and I can see that she's bracing for a chase. And something in me activates, just as always.

Lis bolts toward her bedroom, and I give chase. I can unpack my moral failures later. Right now, I'm gonna bully the girl who spent the last few minutes antagonizing me for kicks.

And that's okay. Hopefully, Tiana can join us when she's feeling better. And maybe, for one moment, this can be fine.

The door to the interview room swung open, and Lindsey caught the barest glimpse of blonde hair before it vanished in a brilliant burst of Tiana's magic.

So she was here. Or, had been here. No matter. Tiana was a non-factor for Lindsey. All that mattered was the other woman in the room.

"I was in the middle of som... Do I know you?" Desdemona seemed annoyed that she'd been interrupted.

Lindsey suppressed the wince that Desdemona didn't remember her. She'd fought the damn woman. "I'm Officer Lindsey Calligan," she supplied after taking a seat.

"Lindsey... little Lindsey?"

Lindsey gritted her teeth. "Yes, I was younger once."

"I can tell."

"Fuck you."

Desdemona kept her gaze locked on Lindsey as she shouted "Guard!"

"Yeah, that's not gonna work for you," Lindsey said, relishing in the control she'd wrested. "Unscheduled shift change."

"Alright. Talk. Fast."

"How would you like to get out of jail? Guaranteed?"

"You can't. I was alread—"

Lindsey rolled her eyes, and dropped a manila folder on the table. Desdemona's gaze flicked to it, then to Lindsey, and then to the folder. "What's that?"

"Your ticket out."

Desdemona took the folder, and opened it.

"This..." Desdemona's hands shook.

"This means I'd own you," Lindsey said. "You work for me. And you do the only thing I need you to do to get out for good."

"And what's that?"

Lindsey grimaced. "We expose Kam for the monster she is... and return things to the way it should be."