Rising Shards

Diast sat me down at the kitchen table. She pulled her chair out, then didn’t sit, going back to pacing like she did before we left. I was shaking, and her body language wasn’t helping me calm down at all.

"Before you say this," I said. I clenched my fists as my tail flicked around unwittingly. "I just want to say, I don't really like this whole secret thing. I know Stella's big on secrets so I'm used to it, but it's not a good used to it, it's a bad used to it, so having one more thing she's keeping from me sucks, especially now if you're part of it too."

Diast looked like I'd just slapped her. It didn't make me feel great, but I already wasn't feeling good.

"I'm really sorry," Diast said. "I didn't want to hurt you in any way, obviously."

I sighed, a trembling, exasperated sigh. "I know, it's probably some dumb thing she told you to keep from me. But still..."

“Alright, fine. I’ll rip the bandage off.” Dr. Diast said.

“It’s a rare Cani disease, I knew it! It’s in the tail, right?” I said.

“No, buddy. I’m just gonna say it.”

I braced myself for the rare Cani disease that would surely ravage me and require significant time on 3WMB just to begin to understand it.

“It’s really hard to say, sorry.” Diast said.

“Just…say it.” I said. I set the magic marble down on the table that Diast called a “hidmarble.” I didn’t think she’d try to lie to me, but I wanted to see its glow fade.

“Your sister might not want—”

“I can deal with Stella! Just tell me, please, I can’t take it…” I said.

“Right. OK.” Diast took a deep breath and finally sat down. She had her head low. If she was being this serious, it had to be something really bad.

I shut my eyes, trying to somehow enjoy the last moment before knowing whatever it was she was about to tell me.

“Your sister and I are…” Diast started.

“Huh?” I said, opening my eyes.

“Well, is dating the right word?” Diast said. She started gesturing with her hands a lot, something I only saw her do when she was trying to explain something really complicated in class. "I guess I'm just not sure if it's like imminently official?"

“Huh? Wait.” I said, blinking rapidly in a vain attempt for my brain to try and get on the track Diast was on. “Wait, huh? Wait, wait. Huh? Huh?”

“We’re not like a thing. Yet.” Diast said.

That didn’t sound like a rare Cani disease that I had. That didn’t even sound like it was about me. The words she said spun around in my mind, but they were all jumbled as I tried to process.

“Wait.” I said, bracing myself on the table as if I were about to fall over. I wasn’t, but I felt like I had to.

“But we’re probably gonna be a thing,” Dr. Diast continued. “And we’re pretty much a thing. Because I feel a lot of things about her that I’d only feel if it was a thing. That I hope she is also feeling! And I know I can’t hide that from you if you’re living here, and it’s not fair to hide it from you.”

“…wait.”

“And I know it’s super weird for you, and it’s probably gonna be really super weird for a freaking long time, and probably for me too,” Diast said, taking a break from practically flailing her arms around to rub her forehead. “But part of being with Stella means taking care of you, and I want you to know that I—I want to do that! I don’t want to let her down, and I don’t want to let you down either.”

I leaned back in my chair as Diast waited anxiously for my response. I looked at the little marble Razmus gave me, and its energy faded.

“So that’s…” I said. “...wow.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Are you…good? Stel talked about us throwing a lot at you and I know this just adds to it, but—”

“Today makes a lot more sense now.” I said. “A lot makes a lot more sense now.”

I thought about all the times I’d seen Stella and Dr. Diast together, or how they talked about each other. That they even talked about each other at all as much as they did in front of me probably should have been a tip off a long time ago. In hindsight, it was so obvious I felt kinda stupid for not catching it.

"Again, I'm really sorry I hurt you. I know Stella's said she doesn't tell you a lot, and I really hate that whatever's going on with your family hurt her to the point that she keeps it so locked up, but...we really should've just told you about us right away. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," I said. I don't know why I said thank you. I didn't want to just jump in with 'All is forgiven!' or something like that, because my mental train was leaving the angry/scared station and heading into a nicer one, but said train hadn't fully braked in the nicer station yet.

"If you gotta just vent that out to me, I can take it." Diast said. "I've had students yell plenty at me. Teachers too, ugh. I maybe bring this on myself sometimes. But not the random people on the street, I will not take responsibility for when they yell at me."

"I don't know, I'm not really mad at you, I'm just...thinking this all out." I said.

"Take your time." Diast said. "Do you need a pop or anything?"

"Um, maybe," I said. 

Diast took her time getting the soda from the fridge so I could think. I was coming down from being mad. If it was just Stella in the room, I might've blown up more, but Diast wasn't a prime secret keeper from me so it was easier to get over it. And with me getting over it, it really let the news start to hit me.

Stella and Dr. Diast are...dating? Or like about to date? Pretty much dating?

I sipped my pop. Diet Mountaintop Bliss wasn't the best soda to contemplate things while drinking, but it was tasty. Living with a teacher as a roommate is one thing, but having my sister date them as well? I did really like Dr. Diast as a teacher, but her dating Stella...it was weird, but also...kinda nice? If I had to pick any adult I knew to date Stella, I genuinely would probably suggest Diast. She was really caring, and smart, and funny. And she was less of a stick in the mud than Stella could be sometimes. Plus, Stella always sounded happy talking to her.

“You do talk in that couple-y way.” I said, thinking all the way back to the first time I met Dr. Diast when my fangs came in. “Like, from the moment you met.”

"You think?" Diast asked.

That they were roommates at all should have tipped me off too, but I was apparently too busy being in a state of selfish fear about myself to notice until Diast said it. I suddenly got really embarrassed that I asked Stella to 'use her charming ways on Dr. Diast' when Oka, Kalei, and I forgot to do our Fang Fair presentation.

“When did this happen?” I asked.

“Gradually over the last few months. Then the whole living situation fell together and...so did we.” Diast said.

“You have to be nice to her, alright?” I said. “She’s been through a lot. And she pushes herself really hard.”

“I’m trying, I wanna do right by her.” Diast said.

“Aw.” I said. What I thought was Diast’s anxiousness about hiding my rare Cani disease was actually her just being anxious about Stella. Which was really really sweet. “So will you get in trouble if they find out about you guys at school?”

“I won’t, but Stella will probably get some judgment about it since she’s new. So…if you could…”

“I’ll keep it secret, don’t worry.” I said. If I told anyone, it’d be Oka, but I knew she could keep it secret. I wasn’t sure if I should let Diast know I’d probably tell Oka right then.

“How are you feeling?” Diast asked.

“It’s…a lot. But not a bad a lot?” I said. “I think Stella needs someone like you.”

“Yeah…” Diast said, her voice distant.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Today’s been a lot,” Diast said. “Potentially being your actual canon parent is a lot scarier than I thought.”

“I think you’ll do great,” I said. “You were already kinda were doing that, let’s be real. Look how quickly those Shafey’s people bought it! You’re already a great guardian.”

“Thanks, Zeta,” Diast said. “You’re a great canon daughter.”

Diast grabbed the hidmarble. “I can’t believe Marne gave you one of these, though. Can I chuck this?”

“Sure,” I said. “Is it a one use dealie? It might come in handy if we need to catch someone else hiding stuff.”

“One use dealie, yeah,” Diast said. “I also don’t want anything Marne touched in my home.”

Diast actually brought it to the garbage outside to throw it out. When she got back, I was giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Diast asked.

“We should trick Stella when she gets back!” I said.

“What do you mean?” Diast asked, her familiar smirk returning.

“Maybe like tell her I found out about you guys,” I said. “Then say I ran away because I got upset or something.”

“That might…make her pretty devastated, bud.”

“Right! It’d be so funny.” I said.

“We could also surprise her with some Ultra Taco?” Diast suggested. “That might be a bit less traumatic for her.”

“That works too.”