“Juniper?” 

Yuki’s eyes are saucer wide as her friend suddenly steps into view. At Sulochana’s high bench no less, striding among the well-connected or wealthy Nagi who have the best seats with only the barest concern for not blocking their view too long. It’s bold, but then everything about Juniper screams bold at this moment. Except the tail wag, and the glow. That screams happy and it’s that tail wag that sets the mood for Yuki. Because hey, if this was Juniper’s true heart and living every second of being the pet puppy on display for everyone was making her this happy, then it made Yuki happy too. 

She lifts her head up, one pigtail dangling below her, one swing past her ear to floor into her face. She rolls a little, groans when she realizes that her elbow had fallen asleep where she was lying on it, and swings out legs first instead, using her momentum and weight to send herself standing without needing to push with the asleep arm. Then she moves into the hug, ignoring the pins and needles as feeling comes back to her. 

Juniper is…gosh. The furs have the scent of wolves. Yuki doesn’t have a dog at home, and she’s more of a cat person (maybe that’s why she’d been sent to Kel, come to think of it?). But she likes dogs, and Juniper has the right feel. The furs are soft, and the smell on them, it’s powerful, covering her, making her feel like the Serigalamu feel as she envelopes Yuki. She was taller than Yuki before, but as they both grew up, the gap there only widened, and Yuki feels her face close to Juniper’s chest as they embrace close. It’s warm and it’s not just her arm that tingles as her face presses close. 

And then there’s the lick. It’s timed perfectly. She had just shifted herself, started to bring her head up to speak up for when Sulochana had been cut off when the lick pushes past her left pigtail and brushes her cheek. She lets out a distinct [i]meep![/i] and manages not to jump or hit her head on Juniper’s chin.

This wasn’t a Thellamie thing, and sure wasn’t an Earth thing! At least, she didn’t think it was. She’d had one boyfriend (oops) and two girlfriends, only one of whom had kissed her and nobody had every licked her! She blushes, turning her skin dark, and starts to bury her head into Juniper as a hiding reaction before realizing what she’s doing and blushes even hard as she tries to look up without pushing Juniper or doing anything even more awkward. In her head, she’s considering the merits of trying to summon a hole to the Outside to swallow her up right here with how much of an idiot she’s making of herself right now.

But then, a few things start to catch up. The string, meaning Juniper is taken. The maid knight. She had said [i]that[/i] maid knight. Did she mean Eclair, the one from last time? That was The only one they both knew. That maid knight. If she’d blessed this relationship, it was serious and Yuki should support it. But a glance back at Sulochana also showed her a snake girl who was not well-pleased at having her plans disrupted and was wearing a face that said both [i]how dare you[/i] and [i]poor Miette[/i] at the same time. 

“You dummy!” Yuki punches a fist into Junipers side, though not hard, more a play punch than a real one. “You said you couldn’t make it! Or at least I thought you did!” And now she has a glare in her eyes. “Surprises are great, and I am so, so happy to see you, but we could have coordinated on the restaurant instead of both of you trying to make me a local dignitary at two different restaurants at the same time. …Oh my god this is why all the famous people on TV have secretaries isn’t it? Never mind, that’s a rhetorical question.”

“Juni, I will…come by your dinner [i]at some point[/i]. I do want to meet the Baygum. Sulochana is going to be the one to decide [i]when[/i] we go over and if she wants to come. If you want us earlier than whenever that is, you’ll have to come to us.”

She hmmphs like she’s heard her mom do sometimes, a strong exhalation of breath with a finality to it. It’s not something she’s done much herself, high school plans were always so chill and she’s always been careful since starting college not to double book herself. Not a lot of chances with mostly chill friends to hmmph at anyone. But even so, she rather enjoyed it. It felt powerful and a little bit more grown up than she expected and she understood a little why her mom did it when she got exasperated with someone. 

Yuki wasn’t a fool. She understood that telling the Khaganate to come get them wasn’t just a figure of speech and it might happen. But she rather thought that would be fun and a fine enough introduction to the Baygum if that’s what happened. And if not, then Juniper would have to settle and Sulochana would have to be just a little flexible but still in control. It seemed like a good compromise to Yuki.