Back to the house

“Let’s go back,” you say. Everyone’s tired. If you hit a bar tonight, there’s no way you’ll make it back to CCL House at all. As you think about last night, you can’t help but think that might not be the worst thing, but you can picture everyone regretting it in the morning when they have another hangover and you all still need to get back.

Athena looks relieved, and Yuki doesn’t seem too broken up about it.

It’s a long, dark drive back to Gurlberg. Quiet, too. This is Nancy’s car, but Athena’s driving, so there’s no music. You savor the peace. Part of the reason you chose to take the plunge and try to cut loose with CCL was because you thought of yourself as a quiet, introverted person. Despite everything, you still believe that’s who you are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some partying now and then.

It's nice. CCL originally planned to do one day of the con because Athena wasn’t confident that staying longer would be profitable. It turns out that doing both days probably would’ve been for the best, but it’s too late to get a day two permit now. That’s OK; lesson learned.

You finally reach Gurlberg’s familiar streets, which are relatively empty at this hour.

Back at the house, as you unload the car, Athena appears by your side to help. There’s nothing that you want more than to get out of this costume and have a shower, but you have to do this first.

“You did a good job,” Athena tells you in her warm and affectionate, big sisterly way. “Thanks for your help this weekend.”

“Thanks for bringing me.” You felt honored that they chose to bring you, but Athena likely feels glad that you agreed to play along. “But listen,” you add quietly, not that there’s any need to lower your voice. The two of you are the only ones around. Yuki and Nancy hurried into the house for the restroom. “I think that I have some ideas for, uh… CCL revenue. If you ever want to talk about that.”

“Coming for my job, Meri?” Athena asks playfully, but you see through her. You saw her earlier today with Sal, and you’ve watched her closely ever since you first met her and her every word and action sends a tsunami of onee-sama energy washing straight into your heart.

So you know that Athena doesn’t love being in charge as much as some people might think.

“Not tonight,” you tell her.

Yuki comes back out to help; Nancy doesn’t. You quickly get the stuff inside and put away. It’s late enough that two of the three other girls in the house are already in bed. The third is taking a shower by the sound of things. The wide hallways, creaky floors, and general oldness of the house are comforting after the noise and bustle of the city.

Only when you are back in your room can you truly relax. You love this costume, but you also can’t get it off fast enough. You aren’t usually one to stand around naked, but wearing spandex for what? More than 12 hours… that is truly awful. You turn on your fan and stand in front of it, enjoying the breeze on your body.

Finally, you can try to make sense of the last 24 hours. It’s been a deluge. Not everything worked out the way that you planned, or the way that you wanted. But a lot of amazing things still happened.

You put on a big tee and get your basket of bath stuff. What to do?

Embrace your inner dedicated student and earnest pledge? She would take a hot shower, then find a way to be productive before bedtime.

Or embrace your inner princess and take a decadent bath? It’s already been a full day; why should worry about productivity? It’s a Saturday night, after all.

Normal shower?

Or a lavish bath?