Decorum

Thu had him in her sights, some psycho holding a restaurant hostage. She chose not to wonder why his hostages were almost entirely bunny girls. The whys and wherefores would only distract her, she knew, especially here. Extremist sentiment against AWIO and monster girls in general flared up from time to time. It was one of the many things made her doubt the sponsorship would work. Focus, for fuck's sake. This guy didn't seem concerned about snipers, standing in full view as he screamed into the phone the police had slipped him. One of the hostages, the only human, an older man with silver hair, was bleeding from the head. Whenever one of the bunny girls tried to comfort him, the maniac would become irate and chase them off.

The deciding factor came when one of the girls appeared to suffer a heart attack. A few words were exchanged on that phone in the following seconds but it was obvious the freakshow wasn't going to let anyone in or out. The signal came. Focus. Don't breathe. Then it was done and he was dead, shot straight through the head.

Unusually, once the ambulance crews had been given access, Thu was called down to the scene. It wasn't a cop that wanted to talk to her, however, but one of the hostages.

The old man, now with his head wound bandaged, was making a fuss. Presumably, he was rich or famous or well-connected but she certainly couldn't place him. 'They saved her!' he exclaimed, his tone almost hysterical, 'they saved my poor girl. And you, you saved all of us! I'm so grateful! What's your name, young lady?'

What's my name?

The rest of the day passed by in a flash and, soon enough, she was shutting her locker. She smiled at the nameplate and the photo of her father. Her heart dropped, however, when she phoned home and received no answer. A dozen thoughts crashed through her mind, each more terrifying than the last. Without taking a moment to think more rationally, she dialled her brother. 'Lucy's not home,' she said, on the verge of tears, as soon as she heard him pick up.

'No, she's with me.'

Oh. 'Oh.'

'Why don't you swing by? It'll give us a chance to go over the plan for tomorrow.

'Oh. 'Yeah, sure.' Why is Lucy with him?

She rode to Caleb's obscenely large house as quickly as she could manage, to find Lucy waiting for her. Her partner was barely dressed, despite the cool weather, and Thu couldn't keep herself from smiling when she saw that tail wagging. The dog girl bounded right up to her, with a wide grin on her face. 'I missed you,' she said, wrapping her arms around her waist and nuzzling her chest.

'I love you,' she replied, without thinking. She remained in Lucy's embrace for a while, before Caleb ushered them inside.

He wasted no time diving into the plans for Thanksgiving, as if they were a military operation. 'Right,' he said, 'the seating arrangements were changed last night. Mom and dad are at opposite ends,' she tried not to cringe, 'and you're going to be next to mom, with Dorian opposite you.' Thu rolled her eyes at that, having to not only be so close to her mother but having to make eye contact with one of her step-brothers. 'Lucy will be sitting next to you, with Helen between me and her. Then, on dad's said, there's Julian and Olivia,' that bitch, 'and Dorian's wife.' She'd barely even begun to imagine how her family would react to Lucy and she didn't dare to. 'Now, the big thing is, from what people are saying, Olivia's husband has, like, fully dipped out, and they're going to get divorced.'

'But she's pregnant,' Thu said, reflexively.

'Right, and that's where things get really touchy. Dad was close with the guy and he's pretty much in denial so I think the plan is for everyone to just avoid the subject.' So, I'll get to play the villain. Great.

After that, he went over a few minor details and she let herself relax, as much as she could, letting Lucy decide when they should head back. Her usual feelings of jealously were suppressed somewhat. She attributed it to the shooting. It put things into perspective, reminded her what was important. Before she knew it, they were back at her apartment, hot and heavy. Her blood was up and she took the initiative, dragging her to the bedroom and lifting up her top.

Thu kissed her navel a few times but she had no patience for drawing things out. A moment later, she pulled down Lucy's skirt and began to tongue her. The pair quickly slipped into a love-drunk delirium, with sex eventually giving way to sleep. When morning came, Thu felt content. For the first time in a long time she felt entirely at peace, as she instinctively drew Lucy's body close to her and woke her up with ticklish kisses. She expected the feeling to fade but it never did. Through breakfast and even the ride to her step-dad's house, anxiety didn't come to claim her. With Lucy's hand in hers, she strode confidently inside, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Her mom tried to hug her and ... she let her. She didn't return the affection but neither did she recoil or cringe. Lucy beamed at the woman and introduced herself, as Thu filtered through the crowded rooms, filled with her step-dad's relatives. Peter didn't stand up to greet her, simply shooting her with the same, 'hey, kiddo,' he'd offered her hundreds of times before. She didn't even roll her eyes, and said, 'hi,' as she settled in.

A flicker of heat went through her when she saw Olivia, the girl - woman, now - who'd been so cruel to her, but even that faded quickly. Her step-sister was heavily pregnant and her eyes were reddened, likely from crying. There was a lot of tension in the air but she didn't let it get to her. The two monster girls at the table were either oblivious to it or sufficiently distracted playing footsie. The food was fine and the conversation was easy to breeze through, until an off-hand comment from Peter caused things to unravel.

'You know? I think it's gone well. I mean, obviously, I'd have liked to see Robert,' he laughed as the room went quite. Robert was Olivia's husband, the who'd ran off, or something like that.

'We're separated,' Olivia blurted out, and her father's eyes went wide.

'What?!' he ignored his wife's raised hand, subtly warning him to reign it in. 'You've got a baby on the way, for Christ's sakes'

Olivia was silent for a while, tonguing her lower lip, likely wondering how to respond. 'It's not his.'

Peter appeared ready to explode with rage and, for the first time in her life, Thu felt compelled to help her step-sister. 'I changed my name back to Nguyen,' she announced, as though she'd been prompted.

Her step-dad shot her with a look of bewilderment but her words still had their intended affect, subverting his rage and transforming it into uneasy humour. 'Does anyone else have a bombshell to drop!?' he asked, dramatically.

'I voted for Obama,' Dorian chimed in, 'twice.' Thu shot him a quizzical look, wondering whether he was trying to rescue Olivia as much as she was. 'Oh, don't give me that look, you Marvin bootlicker.'

That caught her off-hand, 'I didn't fucking say anything!

'Her mother interjected, immediately, seemingly on the verge of tears. 'Thu, watch your language! Peter, dear, can you help get things under control?'

'Uh, okay, Dorian, don't call your step-sister a Marvin. Thu, don't swear at the dinner table. Uh, Olivia, don't cheat on your husband.'

'Peter!'

'What?'

'Things are obviously very complicated for Olivia. You know, having a husband who's not around, it takes a toll. We have to lean on people.'

'This isn't ... Marie, things with us, that was totally different.' Jesus Christ.

Her mother looked at her and began to speak.

Thu chose to be the bigger person. 'It's fine, I kind of already figured that out.'

Decorum was restored, with difficulty, some time after that, and everyone pretended to part on good terms. Curiously, Peter's ex-wife, a woman Thu had met perhaps once before in her whole life, emerged from crowded backyard, filled with screaming hellions, and gave her a wordless hug and a knowing look. It was strange but she leaned into the embrace before Lucy dragged her away. 'I guess I understand you're mommy issues, now,' the girl said, once they were well away from the house.

Thu would've snapped at that, any other day. Instead, she just laughed and got on her bike. When they arrived back at her apartment, she called her grandmother and asked if she could swing by. It seemed unfair that so many people from the other side of her family had got to see her but not her father's parents. She got the go-ahead and wasted no time. Their apartment was cramped and cosy and Lucy felt at home right away, playing with their dog. Her grandfather was beside himself with laughter in no time, likely seeing a monster girl in the flesh for the first time.

'It's so good to see you,' her grandmother said, 'this girl, is she?'

'She's my girlfriend, yeah.' Strangely, the few seconds of silence that followed, as she waited for a response, was the only time Thu had felt anxious the whole day.'

Well, she seems lovely,' her grandmother finally said, 'I always worry about you, living on your own.'

They whiled away the evening hours with food and light-hearted conversation. Her grandfather even interjected from time to time, with the bits and pieces of English he'd picked up over the decades. Once they were back in their own apartment, they crashed blissfully into their bed, half-clothed. Confessions of love and affection, and a few eager kisses, then soothed them both to sleep.