Tenzing was the first to move, pulling back just enough to wipe at the tears staining Alice's face, the motion so tender she was barely skimming the other girl's cheek with her thumb.

  "...Better?" she asked quietly, watching how Alice's eyes fluttered shut at the touch.

  Alice nodded shakily, unable to trust her voice right now.

  But her fingers did tighten on Tenzing's hand a little more; a silent 'please don't let go' that the other girl caught immediately with a gentle squeeze back.

  Juniper remained silent as well, her arms around Alice like a vice as her body provided that familiar, furnace-like warmth Alice can't get enough of.

  Time seemed to slow as the three stayed that way, just breathing in and out for what could have been hours, or maybe not nearly long enough.

  Alice felt almost drained, like she’d let the tears and the exhaustion carry away every scrap of energy she had left.

  But, in spite of that, there was still a small, stubborn part of her that was too used to being alone to stop the words when they spilled out. "...Can I...ask something stupid?”

  Tenzing almost laughed at Alice's question, knowing all too well that feeling of having an exhausted tongue with no filter and just blurting something out.

  "No questions are stupid; go ahead," she replied.

  Even Juniper chuckled under her breath a little. "Promise we won't think you're an idiot," she teased gently.

  Alice closed her eyes and inhaled, steeling herself for the most ridiculous question she's had to ask in her life. "...Can...I...ask to..."

  She trailed off, the fear of how dumb she probably sounded getting the better of her for a moment.

  Then Tenzing's thumb moved again, her fingers squeezing hers a little, like she was saying 'go ahead. It's okay. It's just us. We won't judge. Go on.'

  Alice exhaled sharply, and finally asked Juniper: "...Can we all sleep together in your bed with me in the middle?”

  Tenzing barely managed to keep a straight face at Alice's question; not because it was dumb or stupid, but because of course the poor young lady was touch-starved and needed cuddles.

  "...Of course," she said—her tone was firm, but the corners of her mouth gave a slight smile. "I think we can arrange that."

  Juniper chuckled this time; the sound coming out a little broken but genuine. "Hell yeah, girl—I'm down," she agreed without missing a beat.

  A mixture of relief and exhaustion fluttered in Alice's chest, like a huge weight had just come off of her chest.

  She was so used to being alone that this—just the thought of being sandwiched between these two like a barrier against the world—made the tears well up again despite her best effort to keep her eyes dry.

  Tenzing seemed to have caught the change in her expression, because in the next breath she was moving to wipe away a tear slipping down the girl's cheek.

  "C'mere," she murmured, "no more crying, sweetie."

  Alice went wide-eyed at being called 'sweetie', making Juniper snicker with a smug grin. "Ohhh, you like that, huh? Welp, now I know exactly whatta say to tease you in the future.”

  Alice's face flushed a little, as it always did when someone used that word with her, even if it was just in jest.

  And Juniper's teasing made it worse because she knew she was right and now Alice would be more of a fumbling mess whenever SHE does it on purpose.

  Tenzing chuckled at how easily flustered the poor girl got, but she was too exhausted to tease as well and so stayed silent on the matter.

  Instead, she said quietly: "...Come on. Let's go to bed.”

  …

  The room itself was big and spacious, almost ridiculously lavish with a huge fluffy bed and more pillows than three people could ever need in a lifetime.

  Tenzing led them over to the bed, gently coaxing Alice onto the middle of the mattress and then crawling in after her.

  Juniper followed closely, and Alice found herself trapped between them once again—not that she minded that, of course.

  While not as warm as Juniper, Tenzing's body could easily be considered a human furnace. The feeling of being between the two made Alice run hot all over and it was perfect, making her melt.

  "I...I hope my hair ain't greasy as hell..."

  Juniper let out a low, amused chuckle at the comment—her fingers immediately moving to brush through Alice's messy black curls with rough but affectionate tugs.

  "Pffft—this?" she scoffed, twisting a lock around her finger like it was some kind of joke. "Nah, this ain't greasy as hell; I've seen worse. You're good."

  Tenzing didn’t even look up from where she was arranging herself comfortably against Alice’s other side before adding dryly: "...Says the one whose hair smells like expired motor oil half the time."

  Juniper gasped in mock offense while Tenzing just smirked and tucked an arm over both girls' waists like an immovable barricade.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Alice could practically feel Juniper grinning when she muttered: "You wish you had my rizz."

  Alice was torn between laughing too hard or just hiding under Tenzing's arm now as Juniper dramatically flopped an elbow onto Tenzing's chest like this was some kind of interrogation.

  "...You tellin' me," Juniper gasped between giggles, "this girl right here—" (she jabbed a thumb toward Tenzing) "don't got more game than both of us combined?! Girl literally wears an ox skull mask like it's designer shit.”

  Tenzing finally lifted her head from Alice's shoulder just to fix Juniper with a deadpan stare.

  "...Excuse me?" she said, voice dangerously flat. "Designer?"

  Juniper had the audacity to look proud of herself, even as Tenzing's eye twitched slightly under the weight of sheer disbelief.

  "Yeah! Designer! Luxury accessory energy!" she declared, gesturing wildly at Tenzing’s skull mask like it was some kind of haute couture piece. "You walk in here lookin' like you aboutta drop a diss track on somebody—don't act brand new!"

  Alice could feel Tenzing vibrating with suppressed irritation against her side while also secretly trying not to laugh too hard at this entire exchange.

  Then—without warning—Tenzing reached up and flicked Juniper right between the eyes.

  "Ow. What was that for?!"

  "...For disrespect," came the utterly unbothered reply as if this were completely normal behavior (which…it might be).

  Juniper just stared at Tenzing, almost as if she was trying to process that someone had just flicked her in the face.

  "Did...did you just—"

  "Yep."

  "You—you flicked me!"

  "Also yes."

  "...You think you're funny…"

  Tenzing's lips tugged up into a sly grin at that, like she knew she was being a brat. "Nope," she said breezily. "Just felt like it.”

  As Alice struggled not to burst out laughing, Juniper glowered at Tenzing for a long moment like she was physically holding herself back from doing something petty.

  "...So help me."

  Tenzing just raised an eyebrow, clearly not threatened in the slightest. "Yeah?" she echoed with a sly grin. "And what are you gonna do, dear Idol? Sing a cringy pop song until I go insane?"

  Juniper's eyes narrowed—a dangerous glint flashing in them as she sat up slightly, her grin turning downright wicked.

  "Ohhhh," she drawled, voice dropping into something low and teasing. "You did NOT just say that."

  Tenzing froze—her smug expression cracking for half a second before she realized her mistake.

  "...Wait."

  Alice had gone completely still between them, sensing the incoming disaster like a storm warning siren.

  Juniper cackled as Tenzing's face paled under the weight of regret: "TOO LATE!" She immediately cleared her throat with exaggerated drama—then launched straight into: ?? "WANNA BE THE ONE TOUCHIN' ME~? (TOUCHIN’ MEEEEE~)" ??

  Her off-key screeching was so loud it probably rattled windows two blocks over.

  Tenzing looked physically pained. Alice wheezed like this was murder by karaoke torture.

  This is war now.

  Alice had managed to pull some self-control together to stop herself from laughing into hysterics, but watching Tenzing's increasingly tortured expression as Juniper sang louder and louder and worse was not helping.

  She buried her face into Tenzing's shoulder in a vain attempt to shut out the screeching, feeling like her brain was short-circuiting.

  Tenzing's face was starting to take on the resemblance of someone who was praying for death—which made Juniper even more enthusiastic in her screeching.

  As the second chorus kicked in and Juniper's screeching became even worse, Alice was pretty sure that everyone within a mile radius knew what the hell was going on right now.

  Tenzing had actually clenched her jaw like she was seriously contemplating how many bones in Juniper's throat could she snap before the damage was permanent.

  Her grip on Alice's hip had also clenched to the point of borderline pain—a desperate attempt at finding something to distract herself from the screeching that seemed to never want to end.

  After the third chorus, Alice's stomach muscles were aching from how hard she was trying to keep the laughs in—but the look on Tenzing's face was worth it.

  Her jaw was clenched so tight that the vein in her temple was popping out now, and her knuckles had turned white over the grip she had on Alice's hip.

  Juniper's screeching had started to sound a bit off-key and hoarse like she was wearing out her voice too, but she was not about to quit until Tenzing begged.

  As the song finally, mercifully, ended with a last high note that Juniper clearly missed, Tenzing took a shaky, ragged breath, trying to regain breath.

  "That..." she gritted out; face twisted like she was trying not to snap and kill something. "...was not. Funny."

  Juniper just cackled again like a hyena in response. "Pfffft-! Bullshit!" she retorted, grinning. "Of course it was funny! You were suffering the entire time!”

  "Yes, I was!" Tenzing snapped, her expression twisting like she wished she could strangle Juniper with her bare hands. "I was suffering because I was being tortured by whatever that screeching was! It sounded like the unholy wailing of a thousand cats in heat!”

  Juniper gasped in mock offense, clutching her chest like she'd been shot. "Excuse you?!" she wheezed between giggles. "That was a masterpiece! A cultural reset! I could've gone platinum with that energy!"

  Tenzing looked seconds away from either combusting or committing homicide…maybe both.

  "You are out of your mind!" she hissed, fingers clenching against Alice's hip again, hard enough to leave marks. "There is no way in hell that was remotely 'platinum' material! It was like a dying cat being dragged across a chalkboard!”

  Juniper just snorted in amused disbelief at the comment, clearly finding Tenzing's suffering way too amusing. "Oh, like you could do better," she retorted, voice oozing with smug sarcasm.

  Alice, wanting to stop additional gasoline from being thrown on the flame, aimed to divert attention by randomly asking: "Juniper...can you actually explain what makes...ahem, 'idol pussy' the best...?”

  Juniper glanced at Alice in surprise—noting the obviously nervous attempt to defuse the situation. "Uh—crazy timing, but...yeah, sure," she said, a bit thrown by the sudden question but deciding to roll with it anyway.

  "Well," she began, leaning back on one elbow like she was holding a press conference or something, "It's actually pretty simple, see. Idol pussy is the best that pussy can possibly get. Firstly, idols have good stamina, so we can last long as hell while the other is huffin' and puffin'. Second, just the thought that you're fuckin' somebody that millions upon millions of peeps simp for...it does somethin' to ya.”

  Alice felt herself flushing a bright red at how forward the answer was, but Tenzing's eyebrows rose up in clear disbelief.

  "...Seriously? That's your explanation?" she echoed, skeptical. "It's just the status of what idols are that makes 'idol pussy' better? That's it? Really?"

  Juniper smirked, utterly unbothered by the critique. "Yup!" she chirped, popping the 'p' with her tongue. "Simple as that! Not my fault y’all ain't built different—some of us just got it, and some of us don't."

  Tenzing looked like she was about to lose it. "That's not a real thing!!"

  Alice buried her face in Tenzing’s shoulder again—this time to muffle an embarrassed squeak at how shamelessly Juniper doubled down on this nonsense. Juniper cackled like this was the funniest thing in existence while Tenzing exhaled through gritted teeth like she needed divine intervention to survive this conversation.

  "...We're going to bed. Don't you have Pride to face off against tomorrow? It's too late for shenanigans."

  Juniper's cackles died down to a chuckle—though she was absolutely beaming with self-satisfaction right now. "You're no fun," she whined, pouting.

  Alice's embarrassed squeak and Tenzing's obvious panic made her want to tease further—but the mention of the coming battle was a sobering reminder that they were supposed to prepare for that.

  Reluctantly, she pushed herself into a sitting position with a sigh.

  "Fiiiine.”

  Tenzing collapsed in relief when Juniper finally agreed to stop torturing them with the whole idol nonsense.

  Alice peeked out from her spot under Tenzing's upper arm, letting out a sigh of relief as the conversation seemed to be finally winding down.

  ...For tonight, at least.