A week slipped by in the blink of an eye. For one heartbroken jackal, though, she could have been told a year had passed and she would have believed them.
Kaira wasn't sure what it was she wanted. She worked with Emily, Vince, and even Shouri; however there was sothing missing. They were all powerful Maestros in their own right, punching well above where they should have been for their age.
But they weren't Colette.
At the end of the day, she didn't want a new Maestro, she wanted her Maestro. The longer they were apart, the more Kaira deteriorated. Dread replaced excitent. The luster of newness quickly faded away into the sa numb grays as before. Nothing inspired her, sparked her curiosity, or brought her joy. The only thing that made her realize she was even alive was the hole carved in her heart. She was worried. Nina didn't know all the little things about Colette.
They shouldn't have chased her away.
PTRS paid her friendly smiles and open acceptance.
But maybe she didn't want that. Perhaps she was happy with her little quaint life as a shield. They never considered that, did they?
"She jamd the lock with sand," Pacifica reported.
"If it's not one thing, it's another," Shouri groaned.
Pacifica sat on the desk, leaning back on her arms. "From what I could sense, she desperately wants to go back to Colette."
"Despite being a brick wall?" Shouri rolled his eyes while shaking his head.
"It's not really our place to butt in if that's what she wants. Maybe we should instead consider why she fell to feroce in the first place and address that problem," Pacifica suggested.
Shouri opened his arms, reclining in the chair. Pacifica got the hint and swapped to sitting on his lap.
The pair closed their eyes, allowing themselves to sink into à deux.
It was at this point Emily walked into the office to witness the otter girl on her Maestro's lap.
"Uhhh, am I interrupting sothing?" wondered the princess.
"à deux, thinking," said the bonded pair.
"Oh, duh, should I--?"
"You can stay."
"Alright."
And so thirty minutes passed, with Shouri and Pacifica lost in the brain plane, while Emily browsed the web on her tuner.
Finally, the catatonic cuddling couple stirred from their dive to the heart.
"Okay, we didn't handle that right," Shouri and Pacifica spoke.
"What? The à deux?" asked Emily.
"No, Colette."
Pacifica hugged Shouri tighter. "Kaira really loves her," the otter spoke alone. "I'm just…" she trailed off.
"We're not sure if it's right to let her stay in that situation if Colette is going to remain ignorant of her feelings. Yes, it's what Kaira wants, but should we really encourage that?" Shouri picked up where his partner faltered.
"Call her back--let's actually talk to Colette now that we've had ti to chill on it," Emily suggested.
"Probably for the best," Shouri and Pacifica mumbled, tightening their embrace.
"At least I know you're the genuine article," Emily chuckled.
The pair returned her chortle with confusion. "Huh?"
"You're acting like every à deux pair I've ever t. They're always all over each other, and when they need to make big decisions they do it in à deux."
Shouri and Pacifica exchanged a look. "Huh."
Kaira awoke to pounding at the door. Not unusual for her new, Maestroless life. Whatever they were shouting at her wasn't worth her ti.
"Alright, don't say we didn't warn you!"
THUD THUD BANG
The door bursting open was certainly worth her attention.
"Whhhhyyyyy?!" Kaira whined, covering herself with her blanket.
"Colette's on the way, get decent," Albarich said, as Soot repaired the door he just knocked off its hinges.
Suddenly, color returned to the world and her smile was unstoppable. Everything was going to be okay!
The earth elent flew from the bed and locked herself in the bathroom.
"She okay, big guy?" asked Albarich.
Soot bounced two fingers off his palm before he pinched both hands and shook them.
The lunar dragon blinked twice. "Uhhh, I need to learn sign language," he decided.
Shouri was unnerved by the jackal's change in attitude. It was no secret she had wilted after the first night with Emily. She didn't have feroce anymore, but she also didn't have joy.
Except today--hearing Colette was returning completely flipped her attitude. She sat in the office, wearing a small smile while her tail swished gently behind her. She had brushed her hair, tail fur, made sure her clothes were washed to perfection, and even put on a small bit of perfu. Her tuner sat on her lap, hands folded around it.
Pacifica shot Shouri an uneasy glance. The worry on her brows spoke what she didn't voice in the company of the excited canid: Are we sure this is a good idea?
Shouri shook his head.
Kaira was too absorbed in her own little world to notice the ball of concern behind her.
The only thing that kept Shouri from calling this whole thing off was Colette herself. There was sothing he was certain of given all that had happened--and he knew how to fix it.
Finally, she arrived. Or more accurately, they arrived.
Colette and Nina walked into the office. The proud phoenix strolled in as if she expected a celebration, but quickly arrested her enthusiasm when she received no accolades for her entrance.
The Maestro of the pair was her opposite--she held herself, hunched over slightly, as if she was awaiting trial for her cris.
Shouri snorted indignantly, which earned a swift shoulder rub from his otter.
Kaira didn't imdiately jump up, but she did jerk in place as if she had to stop herself from doing so.
"K-Kaira…" Colette mumbled.
"Colette," Kaira replied in kind.
Nina frowned as she looked between the reunited pair.
Emily and Shouri (and Pacifica) waited in the back, simply observing.
"I'm back," offered Colette.
"You are," Kaira stated simply.
Silence.
Colette slowly relaxed. "So uh, can I go back to my room now? I kinda need my laptop. I got a bunch of--"
"Stop," Shouri spoke loud and quick. "You need to talk first." He motioned to the expectant jackal before her.
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"Oh! Uh--" Colette turned her head. "We did so hunts out east?" she guessed. "Nina is really strong. I barely had to do anything," the red-head chuckled, though quietly trailed off.
Kaira wilted, her restrained enthusiasm dying right then and there. She gripped the tuner in her lap tightly, staring at her reflection on the screen. "I see…" was all she had to offer.
And yet, more silence.
Emily coughed and turned her head in Shouri's direction. He was mouthing sothing she couldn't read while looking at his cuticles. "Pacifica," he finally spoke.
The otter was one step ahead of her Maestro. "I'll send her in."
All present watched the water elent leave the room, and with her departure, Shouri addressed the remaining present. "Nina, Emily, leave."
"Huh?" Emily blinked.
"No." Nina ruffled her feathers, glaring down the guildmaster.
"That wasn't a request."
The glare the phoenix received was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It wasn't just the Maestro standing before her; no, she beca acutely aware of the three Resonators that laid claim to him, despite none of them being physically present.
Admittedly the little bird girl was curious now. What type of Maestro had the modern era sired? Truly this world had beco a strange beast in her absence, having given birth to such a presence that even a machine part crafted by Lord Cievo would find herself intimidated by.
"If you hurt her--"
"What's your definition of hurt?"
Nina held her mouth open for a mont, her voice struck down from the continued audacity.
"Leave," Shouri repeated. "You're making this harder than it needs to be."
The Ethereal snorted indignantly. "I'll be right outside, Colette. If anything happens, I'll burn this place to the ground," she threatened.
Shouri said nothing, but she could feel his unflinching glare on the back of her head. So for that, she acquiesced to his demand, and left the room.
In her and Emily's place, Taika walked in and strode past Colette and Kaira, as if they weren't there. Imdiately, she took Shouri's hand up in her own.
The guildmaster let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks love," he whispered.
"Wait until I'm in the room before you try to threaten an Ethereal, mi amor," the vixen giggled.
Kaira shook her head. She was just as shocked as Nina--this re mortal had the gall to talk down to an Ethereal. It worked, but for a mont the jackal feared she'd have to fight an immortal phoenix.
Stepping around his desk, Shouri and Taika hopped up and sat on it. "Colette, have you ever been diagnosed with any rhythm-based conditions?" he began.
"What? No. Of course not," Colette replied, as if that answer should have been obvious.
Shouri chuckled and failed to suppress his smile. "Of course not indeed." He took a breath and looked the other Maestro right in the eyes. "Colette, I'm sorry."
"H-huh?" Both Colette and Kaira uttered their confusion.
"It was wrong of to kick you out like that; I apologize--I should have realized it sooner," he elaborated.
"O-okay… I don't understand…" Colette furrowed her brows.
Shouri didn't get mad, he didn't snap, he just smiled knowingly. "Colette, you're like --you have discordia; your emotion stave is discordant."
"What?" was the first word to slip out of Colette's mouth. She shook her head in disbelief, stepping away from the three by the desk. "No no, that's not right. My scale is normal, I can't have discordia."
"Oh my god…" Kaira mumbled. "I'm an idiot…" The jackal buried her face in her hands.
"Kaira?" Colette stared at the earth elent with confusion. "Why? I don't understand," she repeated.
"Discordia isn't sothing that's easy to diagnose. It took doctors a year to figure out when I was five. From what I read, emotion is the most difficult to diagnose. A lot of people just dismiss it as normal weak staves or at worst tag you as just a plain asshole," Shouri explained.
Colette held herself and trembled, shaking her head in disbelief. "But I can't be! I'm a rhythm studies major! I can't have discordia!" she shrieked.
The door thumped, and the muffled sounds of Nina trying to break in leaked through. Kaira turned her head back to see Taika with a single hand extended towards the door, the faintest glow of rhythm surrounding her extended digits.
Shouri remained calm, his smile tranquil and understanding. "It's okay. Discordia is a simple issue to fix."
The scholar's head snapped up, tears breaking free. "How?!" she demanded, her bewildernt turning to boiling ire directed at her guildmaster.
He lifted Taika's hand in his grasp. "Literally the easiest rhythm-based condition to fix. You gotta get addicted to etude, yes, but I promise it works. I run a whole freaking guild on discordant willpower."
Colette's eyes darted around the room as if she could find the answer scrawled on the walls, but no such panacea could be found. Finally, her gaze landed on Kaira.
"How's it been being apart from her?" asked Shouri.
She grimaced, averting her gaze from the three that took her in. "It sucked," she grumbled. "I need her," ca the admission.
Kaira lit up at that, her tail twitching behind her as her ears perked up.
Shouri released his partner and motioned towards the pair. Taika nodded and hopped off the desk. Without a word, she grabbed Kaira's hand, and pulled her to her feet. Then, she approached Colette and took hold of the other Maestro's hand. Finally, she linked the pair together, folding their digits among one another in a tight grasp.
"Push your emotion onto her. Make her understand through feeling," Taika advised.
Kaira raised a brow at the fox, her wonder implicit through expression alone.
"It's what I have to do with Sho. I'm always pushing myself towards him, and he greedily takes from ," Taika told her fellow Resonator. "And I love it, I give myself entirely to him every hour of the day."
The jackal lowered her head, her face flushed with fluster. That's all she ever wanted with Colette. She knew Shouri and Taika's tempo was strong, but she had no idea it was that intense. It really clicked at that mont how Shouri beca such a powerful rhythm user so quickly. It wasn't just the à deux giving him his insane tempo with his Resonators. His condition fed into it. His body desperately craved rhythm. It needed rhythm to function as a normal human being unlike normal lopomorphs.
A flash of rhythm told Kaira that Colette understood the principle as well.
"Your tempo is laughably weak," Shouri stated.
"But it's okay, it's easy to fix," Taika added.
"We'll help you."
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