Galateya raised her rifle.

  "Don't bother," Sage commented. "He's a fake.”

  "What?" Galateya's rifle remained aimed at the figure on the log.

  "Look at his head," Sage pointed with her free hand. "There's a slight shimmer at the edges. Also, the paintballs went right through him. Faaake hologram is fake!”

  Galateya lowered her rifle, squinting. Now that Sage mentioned it, there was something off about the image. A slight off-color translucency. The trees behind Ash were thoroughly painted with Sage’s exploded paintballs.

  The holographic Ash clapped his hands together. "Ten points to House Sanguine!’

  "Where are you?" Galateya demanded, cautiously walking closer to the hologram.

  "Wouldn't you like to know." The projection grinned. "Could be anywhere. Could be watching you right now from behind a tree. Could be halfway to Canada."

  "You're not halfway to Canada," Sage said. "Using vehicles is cheating. The trail’s footprints are heading northeast toward the lake. You're probably wet by now."

  "Am I?" The hologram tilted his head. "Or did I want you to THINK I'm heading to the lake while I'm actually doubling back to the parking lot again? Do I look like I'm underwater?"

  "No. You look like you're enjoying fresh air." Galateya stated dryly.

  "Or maybe I never went anywhere. Did you check the Jeep’s trunk?" Ash asked innocently. "Did you check UNDER the car? Did you check if maybe I programmed it to drive itself to a secondary location?"

  "Can your Jeep drive itself?" Sage asked.

  "No," the hologram admitted. "But now you're going to wonder about it, aren't you? Maybe I asked one of my friends to drive me?”

  Galateya's tail lashed in frustration. "Trickery!"

  "Nah, Teya, it's called having fun!" The hologram spread his arms. "You two have been running around for what, forty minutes now? You must be getting hungry. Thirsty. Maybe a little tired?"

  "I'm a Skinwalker," Sage declared. "I don't GET tired."

  "And I'm a Taniwha," Galateya added. "Stamina is literally part of my physiology."

  "Yes, yes, you're very lovely superhuman critters." The hologram nodded. "But, do you ENJOY being hungry and thirsty? Because I took the liberty of having something delivered for you both."

  "Delivered?" Galateya repeated skeptically, "...to the middle of the forest?"

  "Mhmm. Check behind the log," the hologram suggested, gesturing with his hand. "My treat. Consider it a peace offering. Or a taunt. Whichever motivates you more."

  Sage and Galateya exchanged glances.

  "It's definitely a trap," Galateya said.

  "Oh, one hundred percent a trap," Sage agreed. "But I'm curious now. Like, VERY curious. My foxes are voting ninety-one percent in favor of checking what's behind the log."

  "Your foxes have terrible survival instincts."

  "Curiosity is a valid survival strategy!” Sage defended. “…Sometimes."

  They approached the log carefully, rifles raised. The holographic Ash watched them with an amused expression, the massive gigachad chin making the grin even more tauntingly annoying.

  Behind the log sat an ice box with a small card taped to the top.

  "'To Sage and Teya,'" Galateya read aloud. "'Thought you could use a snack. Enjoy the chase! ~ Ash.'"

  "Aww," Sage cooed, kicking the icebox open with a foot to discover a case of beers and a bento box. "He got us a care package! That's so sweet!”

  “Probably poisoned." Teya muttered.

  "It's not poisoned," the hologram protested. "I would never poison you! That would be unsportsmanlike! Also you're Omnids, our mundane poisons don't work on you. Shady ate pancakes from the 1960s and didn't even flinch."

  "Then what IS it?" Galateya demanded, eyeing the box suspiciously.

  "Sushi!" The hologram beamed. "Fresh from Cascade Sushi Bar. Got you the deluxe bento: california rolls, salmon nigiri, spicy tuna, the works. Also beers!"

  Sage's stomach growled audibly.

  "See?" Ash's hologram pointed at her. "Your belly demands noms!"

  "The noms can wait," Sage muttered, "'dis is mega sus. Why would you feed your hunters?"

  "Because I'm a gentleman?" the hologram suggested. "Who respects worthy opponents? Also, you two should probably eat something before you get hangry and this whole fun activity devolves into actual me-murder?"

  Galateya knelt beside the box, examining it from all angles. "It looks normal."

  "Of course it looks normal!" Sage crouched beside her. "That's what makes it suspicious! If it looked OBVIOUSLY booby-trapped, that would be less concerning!"

  "You two are overthinking this," the hologram said. "It's just food. Nice, delicious, totally not-at-all-suspicious food."

  "The fact that you're emphasizing how not-suspicious it is makes it MORE suspicious," Galateya pointed out.

  "Can't win with you people," Ash's hologram sighed dramatically. "Fine. Don't eat it. Starve. See if I care. I'll just be over here, eating MY own sushi. Alone. Sadly."

  He pulled out a holographic bento box onto his lap and opened it.

  Sage's nose twitched as she leaned closer to the box. "I'm not detecting any obvious chemical agents. No poison smell. No weird magitek signatures. It actually does smell like legitimate sushi."

  "See?" the hologram stated triumphantly. "I told you!"

  "But," Sage continued, "that doesn't mean there's not SOMETHING in there. Could be... What if it's filled with bees?"

  "Why would I fill a sushi box with bees?!" He looked offended. "What kind of monster do you think I am?!"

  "The kind who created nine fake trails and is using a hologram to taunt us!" Galateya shot back.

  "That's just tactical thinking! Bee-bombing is a war crime!"

  "Is it?" Sage tilted her head. "I don't think the Geneva Convention covers forest paintball hunts."

  "It SHOULD!" the hologram insisted.

  Galateya reached for the box. "I'm opening it."

  "Wait!" Sage grabbed her wrist. "Let ME open it. I've got way more souls than you. If something explodes, I can distribute the trauma across my artifacts and fourteen thousand foxes. You'd just have to deal with it solo."

  "That's... considerate," Galateya admitted. "Thank you."

  "Plus," Sage added, "if it IS bees, I can probably eat them. Foxes eat bees sometimes. Not recommended, but doable in an emergency."

  "There are NO BEES!" the hologram laughed. “You would hear them buzzing loudly!”

  "That's EXACTLY what someone who filled a box with bees would say!" Sage countered with a barely concealed grin.

  She released Galateya's wrist and carefully, slowly, reached for the bento box. Her clawed fingers hovered over the lid.

  "Here goes nothing," she muttered.

  "Or everything," Galateya added ominously.

  "You two are SO dramatic," the hologram commented.

  Sage lifted the lid.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  "Huh," Sage said, blinking. "It's actually—"

  The top compartment exploded upward with enough force to send its contents spraying into the air in a magnificent cascading fountain.

  Glitter.

  So much glitter.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Pink glitter. Blue glitter. Gold glitter. Silver glitter. Holographic glitter that caught the dappled forest sunlight and refracted it into a thousand tiny rainbows. The glitter cloud expanded outward like a sparkly supernova, coating everything within a three-foot radius.

  Which included both Sage and Galateya, who were curiously leaning over the box.

  "PFFTTT—" Sage sputtered, trying to spit out glitter. "PFFTTFFTTT—"

  Galateya recoiled with a flail, scales shifting to match the colors of the glitter stuck to her. Her mane erupted with flowers that sparkled with residual glitter dust. She looked like a demented disco ball.

  "WHAT THE FUCK—" she yelped.

  "Such sweary!" the hologram chided. "There might be children in the forest!"

  "THERE ARE NO CHILDREN IN THE FOREST!" Thoroughly bedazzled Galateya roared.

  Sage had gotten the worst of it. Her red fur was absolutely coated. The glitter stuck to every surface—her clothes, face, ears, mane, chest and tail. She looked like someone had dunked a fox in a craft store explosion.

  She tried to shake it off. The glitter didn't budge.

  She tried to brush it off. The glitter spread to her hands.

  She tried to Phase-shift it away. The glitter remained, now appearing on her fleshy-skeletal form.

  "WHY WON'T IT COME OFF?!" Sage shrieked.

  "Craft glitter!" the hologram announced proudly. "Sticks to everything! Absolutely everything! And it's environmentally friendly, so you can't even feel bad about it! Well, you can feel bad about being COVERED in it, but not about harming the forest!"

  Galateya tried to wipe her face. This only succeeded in spreading more glitter across her snout and into her eyes. "You BASTARD!"

  "Aww, come on!" Ash's hologram grinned wider. "You both look ADORABLE! Very sparkly! Like you're ready for a rave!"

  "I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!" Galateya bellowed, raising her paintball rifle.

  She fired.

  The paintball passed straight through the hologram and splattered against a tree behind it.

  "Can't murder a hologram!" the projection sing-songed. "Nice try though!"

  Sage was frantically trying to get glitter out of her ears. "How did you even... when did you... the sushi is REAL! I can smell it! The sushi is actually here!"

  "Oh yeah, the sushi's legit," Ash confirmed. "Totally safe to eat. I really did get you the deluxe bento. The glitter bomb was just in a false compartment on top. Engineering majors, remember? Dax knows how to set this stuff up quickly."

  “Glitter bombs aren't what engineering degrees are for!” Sage hopped around trying and failing to unglitter herself.

  "Sure it is!" the hologram argued. "Engineering is about solving problems! Your problem was that you weren't sparkly enough! I solved it! You're welcome!"

  "I'm going to be finding this shit in my fur for WEEKS." Sage whined.

  "Probably months," the hologram stated. "That's quality glitter. Really gets into everything. Your pillows, your clothes, your hopes, your dreams..."

  “You!” Galateya roared.

  "Me!” Ash laughed. “Okay, you can enjoy your sushi now.”

  Sage sneezed and looked at the bento box. Then at Galateya. Then back at the box.

  "I want the sushi," she admitted.

  “There could be more traps!" Galateya warned.

  "But," Sage whined, "it smells yummy! And I'm already covered in glitter! What's the worst that could happen?!"

  "LITERALLY ANYTHING!" Galateya gestured wildly, sending sparkling bits flying. "He could have rigged it with hot sauce! Or... or... I don't know, tiny firecrackers!"

  "Those all sound way less annoying than glitter," Sage pointed out. "At least hot sauce washes off."

  The hologram watched the exchange with obvious delight. "I promise, the sushi is safe now."

  "Why would we trust you?!" Galateya demanded.

  "Yeah! You just GLITTER BOMBED us!" Sage laughed. “That's like the worst kind of craft crime!”

  "Come on. Part of the fun is watching you struggle with the choice of eating potentially-but-probably-not-booby-trapped sushi,” Ash said.

  Sage and Galateya stared at each other, both absolutely covered in sparkles.

  "The sushi is totally fine," the hologram said. "I swear on my engineering degree. There are no more surprises in that box. Just food. Really good food that I paid eighty-three dollars for because I wanted you two to have a nice lunch. Deluxe bento for a family of four!”

  Sage looked at Galateya. Galateya looked at Sage.

  Then they broke out in laughter.

  Galateya's mane ignited with water, washing the sparkly glitter away.

  “Yass, rinse me too,” Sage stepped forward and hugged Teya. “Mmmm… you're like a personal shower.”

  Galateya blushed at the comment as the fox pawed her all over. A small raincloud formed above the pair, the water drops puttering across their figures.

  Sage giggled and then suddenly leaned in and kissed Galateya.

  For a split second, the dragon considered pulling away, but then melted into the kiss, the rain casting rainbows across the forest clearing.

  “Oh wow,” Ash commented, nearly dropping his Philadelphia roll. “You two are absolutely…”

  Galateya wasn’t listening. She was drowning in the kiss.

  She'd read about kisses. Thousands of them across a multitude of romance novels she'd devoured in her time bubble life. The protagonists always described them with breathless prose: "like fireworks," "like coming home," "like the world stopped spinning."

  But reading about a kiss and experiencing one were completely different things.

  Sage's lips were warm. Soft. They moved against Galateya's with gentle insistence, coaxing softly. The Skinwalker's mouth tasted faintly of fox. No, foxes. So many foxes. Wild wind on fur and earthy grass.

  Galateya's first instinct was to freeze. To analyze. To categorize this new sensory input and file it away in the proper mental compartment. To judge it…

  And yet she responded with a kiss of her own.

  The rain started falling stronger, washing away the glitter. Water droplets caught on her scales, on Sage's fur, creating an unexpected liminal space between them that felt private, homely, unexpected and… infinite.

  Sage's hands were on Galateya's face, colorful claws gently tracing the line of her jaw. Like she was something precious.

  And suddenly, Galateya wasn't merely feeling the physical kiss.

  She was experiencing every wonderful moment of her life simultaneously, falling through herself.

  The day she'd received the Slayer's Sword necklace from her great-grandmother and felt like someone actually gave a damn about her.

  The day she'd emerged from the time bubble, happy to be out of the damned five rooms for the first time in over twenty years.

  The day she’d escaped from the Slayer’s Sword warship and saw the open sky for the first time, felt the wind on her face as she flew on Keiy-glider across the edge of the Pacific Rim, clouds above and mountains below.

  The world had been so much bigger than she'd imagined. So much more colorful. So much more alive.

  That moment felt like drowning in possibility.

  The first time she'd finished a book. She'd devoured it in one sitting, barely breathing, completely absorbed in the story of a human woman and a cursed Skinwalker Lord who couldn't be together but found a way anyway.

  When she'd reached the final page, when the protagonists had finally confessed their love and embraced having overcome all the terrible obstacles, Galateya had cried. Not from sadness. From the sheer relief of knowing that stories could have happy endings. That love could win. That two people could choose each other and find liberty together as one.

  That moment felt like discovering hope existed.

  The kiss felt like that, but more.

  All of these moments, multiplied together. Exponentially amplified. Like someone had taken every good feeling Galateya had ever experienced, compressed them into a single point, and then exploded them outward in a cascade of sensation and emotion that threatened to set her alight.

  Her scales shifted through colors she didn't have names for. Her mane erupted with wild flowers, hybrid blooms that diffused and combined species and textures in unexpected ways.

  Reality wobbled.

  Then violet fireworks exploded in her head, radiating outwards like violet falling stars stretching across infinity.

  What in Slayer’s name? she thought, staring across the suddenly revealed endless constellations. What is… this? Some kind of trickery? Sage’s Skinwalker skill trying to seduce me?!

  Becoming concerned about potential Charmchain manipulation, she swung her metaphysical Truth sword across the endless expanse of violet stars and felt… Serendipity.

  Herself.

  Herself times a hundred, times a thousand, times a billion, times infinity. Nothing but herself. Endless variations of herself reaching out towards each other across the infinite Astral divide with metaphysical hands.

  Then the edge of the Truth sword clipped something much closer than the endless expanse.

  Absolute want.

  Foxness. Fourteen thousand fox souls humming in harmony, all of them contributing to this single moment of connection.

  Then, the human soul at Sage's core… Raelle Knight reaching out with desperate hope that this was real, that Teya was someone who could understand and protect their skulk against the Frontenachii Wendigo monsters who came from the sky to subjugate the Earth.

  And underneath all of that as the sword struck her own soul, Galateya felt a simple, absolute truth: Sage wanted to kiss her.

  Not Knight Galateya. Not the Legate's great-granddaughter. Not a useful political piece. Just... her. The awkward dragon girl who'd spent her entire existence feeling like she was a worthless, unloved waif.

  Sage wanted her.

  Galateya's hands moved of their own accord, wrapping around Sage's waist, pulling the Skinwalker closer. The rain intensified, became warm, forming a curtain around them, and Galateya realized she innately was doing that. Her Phase-shift responding to emotion, creating this private curtain of sparkling water and warmth and safety.

  When they finally pulled apart… seconds later? Minutes? Hours? Time had lost all meaning.

  Galateya was gasping. It wasn't from lack of oxygen. The sensation arose from too much Serendipity compressed into too small a space.

  "Holy shit," Sage breathed, pupils blown wide. "You is doin’ things. Very pretty things. Also you taste like a summer rainstorm and... infinity and… I am so into that."

  Galateya couldn't form words.

  Her brain had short-circuited somewhere between "first kiss" and "every good moment multiplied by itself."

  "T?" Sage's expression shifted to concern. "You good? Did I break you? Please don't be broken. I really like you and I'd feel terrible if I accidentally broke your mind with a kiss.”

  "I… uhhmm…" Galateya mewled. Then stopped. Started again. "That was my first kiss."

  “Heh, firsties…” Sage let out. “M-mine too. Was it good? Please tell me it was good. If I fucked up your first kiss with excessive Skinwalker-ness I will totally shoot myself with my paintball gun and bury me in a shallow grave next to Ash’s hologram."

  "It was…" Galateya struggled to find words that could encompass what she'd just experienced. The romance novels had failed to prepare her for this. All those flowery descriptions, all that breathless prose; none of it came close to capturing the reality of making out with another Omnid.

  She noticed that Sage’s top had become almost transparent from the water and her brain careened into fiery explosions.

  Hot steam blossomed off her in waves, rapidly drying them both.

  “...Everything,” Galateya finally let out, swaying ever so slightly.

  Light and dark textures danced across her scales like stripes, like ocean waves.

  It took her a few seconds to notice that the pine-needle covered ground below them bloomed with colorful wild flowers and pink moss cascading away from them in radial waves.