Annoying People Pt. 2

"You clumsy…" Cress cursed under her breath, rubbing her nose.

"Croissant! My adorable little roll, you." Kirian latched onto Cress's waist and squeezed her until Cress managed to push her away. Kirian had come up with the nickname "Croissant" after she learned Cress's full name was Crescent and she worked at a cafe. It was dumb, yet somehow had stuck so well that even Cress's mom sometimes called her the name.

"Just get in here so I can close the door. And I have a guest, so don't be obnoxious."

"Since when am I obnoxious?" Kirian flipped her lengthy straight black hair behind her dramatically and gave a devious smile. "And since when have you ever had guests who weren't me or Vianna?"

"Just don't embarrass me," Cress hissed, shoving the girl inside and locking the door behind her. "She's… New to the country and I don't want her to get any bad impressions."

Kirian's brow cocked and she straightened her black skirt and apple-red cold shoulder top. Her lipstick matched the color of her top, complimenting her flawless fair skin, and, as usual, her eyeliner and mascara were flawless.

"Have you claimed her?"

"Claim- What the hell Kirian! You haven't even seen or met her yet and you're already planning on hitting on her?"

Kirian shrugged and followed closely behind Cress to the living room. Illia had moved to the balcony but turned to greet the pair when they got close.

"Kirian, this is Quelurillian. Illia, Kirian."

"A pleasure," Illia said with a subtle bow. "Feel free to call me Illia as well."

"Tall, gorgeous, and polite? The pleasure is all mine," Kirian cooed in response, earning her a scathing glare from Cress. She ignored it, grinning. "It's rare for Cress to have strangers over, especially someone as breathtaking as you."

Illia's head tilted to the side, her jade eyes narrowing and widening like a camera lens adjusting focus. "You are quite the flatterer, Miss Kirian. I must confess it's caught me quite off guard."

"She's… Like that," Cress said. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers and sat on the couch. "It's best to just ignore her when she's like this."

"You're so mean to me!" Kirian exclaimed, sliding onto the couch next to Cress. She wrapped her arms around Cress and rested her head on her shoulder with a pout. "Is it wrong for me to want love? Would you rather I die alone?"

Cress rolled her eyes. "Why are you here, Kirian? I text you that I was fine."

Kirian's tone hardened, her black eyes looking Illia up and down. "So you said, a full day after you disappeared and now I find you with a strange woman in your house. And…" Kirian's eyes glanced at Illia's sword on the coffee table. "I just thought I needed to make sure my cute little Croissant was telling the truth! She likes to lie when something is wrong."

"Shit! I forgot all about the sword. Why didn't Illia put it back wherever she was hiding it before? What if Kirian picks it up? The thing is sharper than a razor and I wouldn't be surprised if Illia flew off the handle like warriors in anime do."

Sure enough, Kirian's hand drifted towards the hilt of Illia's sword, but a slender sun-tanned hand caught her by the wrist.

"Apologies Miss Kirian, but that is a family heirloom I was showing Cress. It is quite sharp and I could never forgive myself if you were injured by it."

"O-Of course," Kirian stuttered, staring up at Illia, her black fox eyes widened in surprise. Cress could feel the heat pulsing against her side and she rolled her eyes. She defended Kirian against her mother, but there was validity to calling Kirian promiscuous. She was a serial romantic who fell in and out of love with the weather. That said, she was completely sincere and loyal to her lovers. It always bothered Cress that all of Kirian's lovers took advantage of it.

"I appreciate your understanding," Illia said with a closed lip smile that hid her pointed teeth. "Perhaps an opportunity will arise in the future."

Kirian nodded absently, her eyelashes fluttering. Her cheeks were flushed and Cress could feel her heart pounding beside her. She was smitten. More surprisingly, she was quiet.

"Anyways, as you can see, I'm doing fine, so if there's nothing else…"

An awkward silence hung in the room as Kirian stared dumbfounded at Illia until she suddenly blinked her way back from whatever fantasies she was imagining. "There's not," she mumbled. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"I am, so you can go home now," Cress said, pushing the vivacious woman off of her to stand up. "We can plan to hang out soon and you two can talk more. Right now I just want to sleep."

"Oh. Then why don't I go home, I mean walk, Illia home?"

"Actually…" Cress bit the corner of her bottom lip and glanced from Kirian to Illia. "Illia is staying with me for a while."

"WHAT?!" Kirian jumped up, knocking her knee against the coffee table. Illia's sword shifted on its hilt and to Cress's horror the blade spun on the table towards their legs.

"Ah!" Cress clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut. She was trapped between the table and the couch with no way to avoid the inevitable loss of her legs.

But it never came. She opened her eyes enough to squint and see Illia had caught the blade between her fingers. She let out a sigh of relief that lasted less than a second until she saw black blood dripping from Illia's hand. In a flash, the sword was back in its sheath clenched tightly between the fingers of Illia's injured hand.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I'm a bit clumsy. Are you alright?"

"Fret not. It is just a graze. I'll tend to it once you depart."

"Which means it's time to go," Cress growled through gritted teeth. "I'll text you later, Kirian."

"Fine, fine. But you better not forget! If you do, I'll come back and steal Illia from you."

It took several more minutes for Cress to push Kirian out the door and she wondered why everyone she knew was so chatty. She swore both Kirian and her mother loved to hear themselves talk more than anything and it was exhausting.

"Are you alright?" she asked Illia when she returned to the living room.

"Of course," the woman replied, holding up her palms for Cress to see. "As I said to Miss Kirian, it merely grazed me. Nothing I could not rectify with a simple healing spell."

"Thank God. And thank you. I was certain I was about to lose a leg."

"We were fortunate. I can heal small wounds, but an amputated appendage would be impossible for me in this world."

"Good to know. Not that I planned on losing one anyways… And I'm really sorry about Kirian. I know she can be a lot."

"She was delightful," Illia said, smiling. "Her talkative, energetic nature was quite amusing."

A twisting feeling clenched the center of Cress's chest, pulling her heart into her stomach. Her throat felt dry and for some reason, she suddenly wanted to cry.

Illia's wide-set green eyes stared into Cress as the rangy woman examined her face. Her head was in its familiar tilted position and a sense of spine shivering vulnerability squeezed Cress until she felt ready to burst.

"I-I'm glad you liked her. Anyway, would you mind if I headed to bed a bit early? I haven't had much rest the past couple of days."

"Of course," Illia said, blinking, her closed eyelids shifting subtly. "I will retire as well. Before you go, do you have any restrictions for my quarters?"

"Like things you can't do?"

Illia nodded.

"What does that…" A sinking sensation formed in Cress's stomach. "Maybe it's best if I don't know."

"No, you can use it however you want as long as you don't damage anything. Just…" She tried to find the right words.

"So long as you give me notice before entering my quarters, you will have nothing to worry about. You have my word."

Though the promise did little to settle Cress's nerves, she accepted the answer. The extra room was Illia's now.