6.44 – Doorways

6.44 – Doorways

When Zoey returned to her room, Delta was waiting inside, sprawled out on her bed, shirt riding up to reveal a hint of her stomach. At the sound of Zoey's arrival, she sat up, fox ears pointing upward and twitching in a display Zoey had learned meant excitement—though she could have read that on her face without the help.

She waved a slip of paper at her even as she finished closing the door. "You better appreciate how much restraint it took."

"Huh?"

"You got a gift from our favorite princess."

Blinking, Zoey walked forward and took the note from Delta. It read, in Rosalie's handwriting, Closet, underneath the blanket. You'll see it.

"What's this?"

"That's what I've been dying to find out. But it's a gift for you, or something like that, so I wasn't gonna barge in and find out myself." She wrinkled her nose and jabbed a finger at her. "But only because I like you. It took a lot of restraint."

"I like you too," Zoey said, amused. "And thanks. But, a gift? From Rosalie?"

Zoey was already walking toward the closet, and Delta jumped up to join her. When Zoey opened one of the large double doors to the walk-in room, Delta slipped in first. She bee-lined for the obvious stand-out: the blanket-covered object—piece of furniture?—tucked out of the way, which had definitely not been there earlier.

It was tall, thin, and rectangular, at least by how the fabric was draped across it. Definitely not a typical 'gift', but then again, Zoey hadn't expected it to be. Honestly, she didn't know what to expect, with Rosalie having, with no explanation, deposited some piece of furniture into her closet.

"Can I?" Delta asked, her hand already gripping the cover blanket.

"Go ahead."

Without fanfare, the palpably curious foxgirl yanked the covering away, revealing the object underneath.

It was ... a door?

A wooden door that could be found just about anywhere, distinctly not ornate or grand like the ones in the d'Celestin manor. It was fixed inside a doorframe, not standalone, which made it an even odder sight.

"Huh?" Delta said. "The heck is this?"

"Open it."

She didn't need to be told twice. She gripped the knob, turned, and pulled the door open.

Zoey had already had a suspicion of what it would be, so she was only half surprised to see a shimmering black portal appear, as they would find at a shard entrance.

"Woah," Delta said. "I'm going in."

"We should—"

"I didn't deliver it to you already invisible so you could actually find the thing," Rosalie said. "But you'll want to keep it hidden, in case someone searches your room." She pursed her lips. "But to be honest, if my father is following us or otherwise spying, then he'll find out sooner rather than later—and probably not through us having linked doorways. There's not much we can do to stop a man of his means."

"And you don't think that'll be a problem?" Delta asked.

"Whatever reservations you have about him, we trust each other," she said. "I'm poised to inherit his empire, so it would be rather strange if he didn't. So no. I don't think he's spying on me, as it would be a violation of that trust. Or even any of my allies, though I'm ... less sure about that. If still mostly sure." She glanced at the now invisible door. "None of that is to say we shouldn't take obvious precautions. Being accidentally discovered is more than possible."

"Huh," Zoey said.

Delta had started walking around Rosalie's room, peering at the living space. "Anyway," she said, turning around. "It's kinda funny how quickly you figured out how to smuggle us in. Do I get a door too?"

"You can use Zoey's."

"But then I'll be seen sneaking away into her room every night. There'll be rumors."

Rosalie arched an eyebrow. "He's aware you two have a relationship, just not ..." she paused. "Us three."

"Us four," Delta corrected. "Or are we ignoring how happily you had your face between Maddy's legs, yesterday? Is that something you do with all your friends?"

Rosalie's cheeks colored. "That was a matter of shard exploration and team dynamics."

Delta gave her an impressed look, and Zoey laughed.

"The walls are soundproofed as well," Rosalie said, choosing to keep talking to move past the rather ridiculous thing she had said. "So we should be ... fine. For, you know, whatever."

That was the wrong thing to follow up with, because Delta only grinned wider.

"Worried we might be getting loud, huh?" She fluttered her eyelashes. "Doing what, pray tell? I thought you just wanted some nighttime cuddles. You aren't expecting more, are you?"

Rosalie ignored her. She faced Zoey. "So yes, everything should be sorted. How was your talk with Aria?"

"Ah," Zoey said.

She'd been casually checking out the room, but now she went and sat on Rosalie's bed. The blonde joined her; Delta plopped down next, to the other side of Zoey.

"Interesting," Zoey said after a few moments.

Something in Zoey's tone gave away that they'd discussed more than just her holy energy skill and the temple business, because Rosalie tilted her head. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Honestly, yes. Not just because the whole 'breeding' thing had been on her mind for personal reasons, but because it was something that her girlfriends ought to have some input on too.

The question was, how did she segue into that conversation?