Li continued observing the heiress's life in silence, somberly taking the details in as if they required a certain level of respect. She didn't move about or interact as she had before. Instead, she had become a truly integrated peice of the background.

  Currently, she was watching Ivy's childhood retionship with her sister, as the two bonded over their bratty outbursts and mutual disdain for their father. The taller girl resembled a mesh between the young heiress and her mother in both figure and hair length. Without a doubt, Ivy was the cutest, even after maturing.

  She always did give off a feminine sense of innocence.

  "It'll be about you, eventually." Ivy mused, her tired voice mere inches away.

  "Wah!" Li jumped, turning to see the heiress standing to her left.

  Their current appearance remained as an accurate projection of the real world, merely observing the mindscape as an outsider. Li knew this to be the case due to Ivy's wounded features and drooping eyes. Moreover, her voice carried a sense of understanding, as she had already experienced their bond.

  Li stammered with a blush, rubbing the back of her head. "You're...here?"

  Ivy remained eerily composed, ignoring the state of her body in the waking world. Li found it hard to imagine that just moments ago, she was a nervous, frantic wreck caught in a sensual position. But given how that moment was not frozen in time, it was simpler to swallow.

  "I am." Ivy nodded. "We're bonded now."

  "So like...we got Lunae powers now?" Li shrugged.

  "It's more...implicit. She puts effort into projecting her mindscape and passing information. We now possess something simir due to our...natural bridges."

  "Ya figured that all out?"

  The heiress formed a subtle smile as two shallow dimples formed around her cheeks. "I'm a good observer. Part of my design."

  "Oh yea...shit you can mimic stuff huh." Li beamed with excitement. "And all that time...you had like...robot powers!"

  "We're all rather idiotic for not having figured it out sooner." Ivy chuckled.

  "I don't know girl...Rena can turn into a ball. Weird powers don't stand out that much these days."

  "I guess not..."

  Ivy sighed, turning to face the world behind her as it began projecting a fragment of Li's past. She was a teen, sitting around on her 'bean bag' ogling at pictures of women in lingerie. Those with white hair always caught her eye, causing the young Earthling to stare with widened eyes.

  "Pff." Ivy rolled her eyes. "Pervert."

  Li turned around and almost gasped.

  "Oh shit. Ivy there's like...gonna be a lot of me looking at lewd stuff."

  "I know what porn is Li..."

  "No like...I was a complete loser. You may see some things that are...not an accurate reflection of who I am today."

  Ivy looked over her shoulder with a sly grin. "No... It's who you are...even today. And I fell for that...as pathetic as it sounds. It made me happy to learn you had an...interest in royal brats with unnatural features."

  Li gave a toothy smile, trying not to cringe. "Okay yea you're my fantasy type but like...can we change the subject?!"

  "But I do hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Li." Ivy continued, ignoring her partner's remarks. "Behind this...appealing flesh-."

  "It's hot. Next topic."

  "What?" Ivy cocked her head to the side.

  "You being a robot is the exact opposite of a turn-off. You're in my head. You know this. Now moving on-." Li cringed.

  "You are such a freak."

  Ivy raised her hands in the air, as if facing a camera. "Hey, I'm not the one who got off to Lunae throat gagging me with her tounge."

  "That was practice!" Ivy scoffed. "For you! And hey-don't pretend you didn't enjoy Sonera putting her fingers all over you!"

  Li's response was almost comedically tame.

  "Aight ya got me."

  We have...interesting friends." Ivy sighed, pcing her mechanical hand on her brow. "Don't we, Li?"

  "I know Lunae's the only alien but like...Sonera..."

  "They're both hot. We can admit it." Ivy spoke pinly, getting the fact off her chest.

  "Yuppie." Li nodded with a ugh.

  The two drifted closer, leaning on each other as they watched the memories go by. It felt relieving to trade one embarrassing revetion for the next, as if every secret was another chance to bond. Yet whenever an image of a naked figure appeared, both Li and Ivy looked away, silently preserving that experience for each other.

  "Huh-." Ivy huffed, taking notice of Li's behavior. "You'll stare at Lunae's tits but not mine."

  "Whoa there-." Li paused. "Not very dylike of you to say that."

  "I'm not a dy." The heiress pouted. "Remember?"

  "Okay fine...not very spooky robot mimic of a dy-of you to...do that. Besides, you aren't throwing them at my face."

  "Ugh." Ivy smiled. "Lunae is such a slut."

  "You like her." Li whispered with a sly undertone. "She's your tyypee."

  "She's my guilty pleasure. Loser primitive neanderthals are my type." Ivy spoke in a haughty tone. "Besides, I haven't done anything with Sonera yet. You are giving Lunae a run for her money."

  Li wheezed. "Oh, that won't st. Sonera's gone crazy feral on us with the whole found family thing. She'll be all over you soon enough."

  "Good! Make you feel jealous!"

  "I mean...I kinda just wanna watch. Would be hot."

  Ivy reeled back with a mocking voice. "What would Yrix think?"

  "She'd think we're a bunch of freaks who are way too comfortable around each other...despite not being comfortable around each other half the time." Li shrugged.

  The two ughed togethor for some time.

  "Do people usually get into these sorts of ordeals where you live?" The heiress groaned.

  The Earthing expined carefully. "Only if they understand each other. Ivy goes with Li. Lunae goes with Sonera. All that in between is...an accepted boundary of total uh..."

  "You can stop pretending you're smart now."

  "Ah, you get what I mean!"

  "I...yes, I do. It's an odd thing to be comfortable with but...I like it."

  "Really? Can we be freaky togethor?" Li pleaded with wide, anticipatory eyes.

  "Yes. I'm going to grab some tips for Lunae first...because she's hot." Ivy huffed. "And because I pn to devour you."

  "Oh." Li blushed. "Shit."

  Honesty goes a long way.

  The two continued on for some time, remaining respectfully distant despite their crude words. It was a good time. Though they both knew it wouldn't st forever.

  "So..." Li spoke with a queasy voice as her surroundings began to shift.

  Her words were cut short as reality came crashing in, enveloping Li's body with the same bruised pain she had been feeling just moments ago. She opened her eyes to find the heiress still resting against her forehead, still as the cold air around them. A bit of panic entered Li's chest, only to wash away as the memories of resolution settled in.

  "Ah..." Li mouthed, so as not to stir the heiress. "Ivy..."

  When Ivy finally came too, she pushed the Earthling back with a gentle hand, resting next to Li as the pair kept their backs against the wall. Her legs were still quivering from the tension just moments before. And her face, still awash with red, tried not to convey the excitement she felt when pinned with her soft legs in the air.

  The heiress gred at the floor, her mind racing for reasons Li couldn't quite interpret. Whatever she was pnning, it was kept a deliberate secret using her Psionic powers. And once Li attempted to stand, the whole scene came crashing into pce.

  "I uh...-Ah!" Li yelped as the heiress turned to face her, spping her across the face with her fleshy hand.

  Yet a mere milesecond after she was struck, Ivy pulled her in, blessing the Earthling with a deep, passionate kiss as she cradled her face. Unlike with their date, this was no simple, surface-level peck. Ivy made sure her mouth pressed against her partner's for a long, deep experience, charging forward with her tounge as it pushed Li's back into the recesses of her throat.

  "Mmmh!" Li's eyes widened, and her arms froze in pce, dangling in the air.

  Eventually, Ivy pulled back, opening her eyes before giving Li another firm sp. The interaction sted only mere seconds, yet felt like eons for the two. When all was said and done, Li understood what it meant.

  Ivy was furious.

  Livid even.

  She needed to tell Li how she felt, once and for all.

  "There." Ivy huffed before storming off. "Stupid primitive. I hate you."

  Li stumbled over her words, raising a hand to her own bruised cheeks. "Uhh..t-thanks...?"

  The first sp was for having the audacity to court Ivy in the first pce.

  The kiss was a result of her efforts.

  And the second sp was punishment for succeeding so narrowly.

  Throughout it all, Li couldn't help but notice the shade of her partner's eyes.

  A bit of soft cyan mixed in with the crimson red.