By the time they made it back to The Hive, at Kori's, the day had chewed through their legs and left the wrappers.
Raizen got the door first. The apartment smelled like clean tea and old books. Jackets went onto chair backs in a trail that would shame them tomorrow. Even Arashi didn't bother to set it nicely on the coat hanger. Keahi collapsed onto the couch face first. Arashi claimed the armchair like a throne that had disappointed him. Hikari sat on the floor with her back to the wall and let her head rest against it like she could borrow its spine.
"My legs now hate me" Keahi said into a cushion.
"They have excellent taste" Arashi tried to tease. "You are a tyrant."
Hikari laughed under her breath. Raizen let the laugh work on his bones a second before it kind of died.
Kori wasn't home.
The room noticed it together. No clipped steps. No key in the lock. No voice that could fill a space without getting louder. And no Pastry bags.
