--- Lily ---
Lily blinked the light from her eyes and instantly relaxed. It didn't consciously register as to WHY she'd relaxed so much for half a second before she found a familiar pair of lips glued to her own. Lily breathed in deeply as her nose was covered by Kat's scent. The demon wrapped her up in a massive hug and Lily appreciated it greatly.
She was being lifted slightly from the ground to compensate for the height difference and it was just... perfect.
The taste of Kat's lips. The feeling of Kat's chest pressing into her. The fact Kat had her tail wrapped around her body to pull her in tightly. This was pure bliss. As Lily felt their connection expand back into it's rightful place she felt nothing but pride and love from Kat and it was intoxicating. She would happily die like this.
Not anytime soon, but if anyone asked? This was exactly how she wanted to go out.
Lily tried her best to radiate a reciprocal amount of happiness but she was certain she failed. Kat was... everything, and the overwhelming waves of those emotions crashing into her after such a lull was something Lily struggled to even properly described. Being held like this, to her, was easily the best feeling in the world.
There was nothing it could compare to, and Lily had no idea how she'd return this sort of gift.
Then she started to feel a touch light headed... but ignored it. Whatever the reason couldn't be as important as the kiss right? Just as Lily was pushing the feel down Kat pushed her away, and Lily couldn't help but feel her heart break a tad. "Why?" Lily asked softly, trying to fight back tears.
Kat blushed and tried to come up with an answer when Green jumped in and said, "Because you were pushing a good two minutes on that kiss there and Thyme's removed the choker that lets you breathe underwater. You were suffocating and Kat didn't notice because SHE isn't suffocating, and you were refusing to notice.
Heck, I didn't notice until Nixilei pointed it out to me, she was just too chicken to do anything about it,"
And like that all of Lily's sadness was swept away by an overwhelming feeling of mortification. *Oh god... I nearly kissed Kat so long I passed out. I mean... that sounds like fun and we should totally try that at some point... maybe with Nira nearby just in case it isn't safe? That was a ridiculously good feeling and Kat was so proud of me. Though... everyone was probably watching.
Oh god, did we just put on a show?*
"Look maybe it's just that I'm hyper focused on our link now that it's been reestablished... but I can tell at least this much. Besides, it is pretty funny to look at. It makes me wonder what that would feel like? I mean for Marigold that is. I might not want to go around naked but being so large that I could just... put you on my chest? That seems amusing for an afternoon or something," said Kat.
That was when Thyme clapped their hands together to get everyone's attention. "I'm glad you're all having a good time even if you didn't win... alas I have realised an issue. Depending on how I do my accounting in regards to the treasures I am unsure who should be getting second place.
"There was a rule put in place for if everyone got eliminated at the end, where you'd be judged based on how many treasures you had before you got knocked out. Now, we also have rules about treasures not being counted twice, nominally for if they were split apart... but that's not what the rule SAYS.
"What this means in practice is that because Marigold picked up Blue's treasures because they were inside the net... but NOT March's treasures because picking them up would mean that she'd be outside of the net... it is somewhat unclear who gets the runner up place. If we take the rules to me 'whoever had the most at time of elimination' then Blue wins because of her vast cloud of wealth...
"But if we then take into account 'no doubled up points' then March should win because Marigold picked up most of Blue's collection, certainly enough to tip the scales and declare March the winner... but I am unsure if Marigold's collecting of those treasures should matter or not for second place.
Marigold turned around to say something when suddenly smoke exploded around her and she returned to normal size and her team mostly ended up in a pile beside her. Burnice had enough wherewithal to land on her feet. When the smoke cleared Marigold asked, "So who exactly is going to decide that... and when will it be decided?"
Thyme shrugged and answered with, "I'm honestly not sure. I could send a letter to the rulers," pointedly ignoring Ulf wasn't the ruler of the human nation anymore "and get them to decide on who should win in the end. I could also send for the committee who runs these things to assign a representative and I can have them teleported over tomorrow... but I'm not sure how unbiased they'd actually be.
It wouldn't be my problem... but I'm not sure if I like the idea.
"I suppose I could allow second place to be shared, either by offering five treasures for each of them, or offering three for one and two for another. I am... not sure how I feel about those options. Stretching the winners to include three people seems a touch unfair to the other two teams... but with one of those being the winner of this round of the tournament, they are entitled to a prize anyway.
It would just leave the one team high and dry though. Then again, that would still be an issue if I split the reward,"
Thyme let out a long sigh. "I think I'll need to consult with a few people first. Marigold would you and your team like to pick out your prizes now or later?"
"Later please, I also have some things to discuss..." answered Marigold.