Bet

The resulting message from Arkadi had Riri twisting and turning in her sheets, returning to her own room instead of Mary's for weeks. 

It had Mary believing that the two girls must have been over. Mary obsessed with the idea that she'd been played, had stayed in her room, ignoring her council duties and classes. Locked in her mind and shut out of Riri's life, Mary spun out slowly. 

Yumeko checked on Mary daily, bringing food and clearing away uneaten meals each day. Mary quickly lost weight, her hair started to thin, and the bones under her eyes became more prominent. Yumeko grew increasingly worried for her friend. 

Eventually, Yumeko decided that it had gotten bad enough that she needed to move back into the adjoining room rather than staying with Kira now. 

Kira, on the other hand, hadn't noticed Yumeko's absence, too caught up in Riri's spiralling descent. Truthfully, Riri wasn't doing any better than Mary. Truthfully, Riri was doing worse than Mary was at that moment. The only glaring difference between the girls was how well they could hold up their masks in public. 

Riri still attended classes, but her movements were more robotic than ever before. her eyes passed each person, never actually making contact or even registering their presence in her vision. Her mind was preoccupied with other things. 

When Mary exited her last lesson, she somehow looked even more unstrung than she had at lunch time, and Riri knew she had made a good choice in skipping some of her class that afternoon. 

Silently, Riri whisked Mary off towards her dorm room. Initially, Mary followed quietly, knowing her girlfriend enough by now to understand that Riri had something planned. Or just really wanted her somewhere else. That had also become a standard routine for the two of them now. It didn't take long for Mary to start talking, though. Never one to keep quiet, especially when she was in a bad mood. 

“Where are we going, Riri? Cause like I've got a whole ass essay due tomorrow for my psych class and today has just been shit. And on top of all the bullshit this school heaps on top of us with the ‘high academic expectations, ’ now I've gotta gamble some so I don’t lose my place on student council due to inactivity alone. Chad has overtaken me on the leaderboard! Chad! Did you see that? I can't believe that useless manwhore somehow managed to gamble enough panties off enough women to beat me on the leaderboard.” Mary’s rambling continued, and Riri listened to each word, not commenting, knowing that's not what Mary needed right now. Instead, Riri led Mary back to her dorm, through the winding halls, glaring at anybody who dared to encroach on their space. The girl's hands hung suspended between them. 

When they arrived at Riri’s room, the girl paused to pick up the package of hair before opening the door and pulling Mary in quickly. A soft Woosh of air passed out of Mary’s lips at the sudden movement, cutting off her ranting. Riri smiled slightly before closing the door and shoving Mary against it, pinning her hands above her head with one hand and pulling her mask down her face with the other. 

Mary’s eyes flared at the surprise before realisation settled and a moan slipped out. The noise travelled down Riri’s spine to her centre, and she knew she had to make this a quick kiss or they would be distracted for the rest of the night. 

Pressing her knee between Mary’s legs, Riri planted soft kisses along Mary’s neck. Nibbling and sucking her way up, she heard Mary’s soft pleading moans and felt her begin to rock against Riri’s thigh. Pressed up against the wall, trapped, there wasn't much Mary could do but enjoy the moment. She was soaked already, and Mary no longer cared in that moment about the disaster of a day she had had.

The impromptu makeout session ended much too quickly for either girl, but there were more pressing things to do. Stepping back from Mary, Riri picked up the box she had dropped while kidding Mary and led Mary over to her bed. 

Suddenly nervous, Riri pulled her mask back up her face, covering her mouth and nose again. Mary, knowing Riri’s tells, looks at her questioningly. Riri simply holds the box out towards Mary and pats the bed next to her. 

Crossing the room, Mary takes the offered box and sits down to open it. Lifting the lid, she gasps in shock, glancing up at Riri.

“Whe- Why- I mean- How-“ Mary, for once, struggles wth her words, no biting quip to jab back at the person, no smooth flirty response, no angered ranting, not even her endless list of questions. Inside her heart dissolves at the care and love that's silently communicated in this gift. It was clear Riri had listened and taken her time to source good-quality braiding hair and tools. 

Mary/Riri Fic snippet.

Synopsis: A snippet of fluff and romance around Mary and Riri's 6-month anniversary.

We'd been out all night. It was our 6-month anniversary, Mary had told me, we had to celebrate. So we did, even if I didn't quite know what we were celebrating, or how to celebrate an anniversary. 

Mary had gone to painstaking effort to recreate our first date, everything but the actual gala at least. The same room, a thousand candles, opulent decor and a delicious 3-course meal served for 2. 

I had been mesmerised by how detailed the room was. everything, every painstaking detail had been recreated. The soft aroma from my diffuser, a combination of vanilla and musk that had become my favourite years ago. The delicate table setting and seats. the candles, all unscented, so that the room didn't become overwhelmed. The layering of soft instrumental music over white noise to block out the rest of the school. The strategic placement of the water fountain near the door to stop noise from leaking in. I knew, personally, how hard it had been to reposition that fountain. 

Mary had recreated every detail with painstaking accuracy, except one. This time, instead of just candles creating the ambiance around us, there were now close to 100 vases, each with a careful selection of flowers. 

Red Tulips declared her love for me without the need for words.

Matthiolas drowned my mind in bliss at the thought of Mary seeing my beauty beyond the blood.

The single long-stemmed rose, surrounded by Xeranthemums, silently disclosed her vows to me.

So many other flowers, I spent the entire night cataloguing all of the silent messages Mary was sending me.

Ths single white zinnia by my plate had brought tears to my eyes. I'd glanced at her in disbelief and remained stuck in her gaze for what i wished could have been forever. 

The single spider flower she handed me at the end of the date, perfectly cut and cared for, broke me. Disbelief hit first and was washed away by that stubborn look I'd come to love.