“Iris, wait!” Lisha panted, trying to fly faster to catch up.

“C’mon Lisha, you can’t expect me to slow down when I’m about to win!” she laughed back. “I wanna make it on time for lunch!”

“We’ll make it, Iris. Take some time!”

Iris kept laughing and flew even faster. She had always been the more athletic sister, taking pride in flying fast and lightly while honing her magic too. She took particular pride in the amount of spells she made up. Trick magic was Iris’ specialty and she made sure she did it well.

“Come on Iris,” complained Lisha. “I don’t need this to be a workout-”

“Fine, fine,” Iris sighed, falling behind to match her sister’s pace. “You know, Max has been saying I should dye my hair. She said a new style can be refreshing.”

“I like your black though. Especially long, it looks pretty.”

“Yeah, but maybe I should just try it,” she shrugged. “Maybe blonde would look good on me. What do you think?”

“Doesn’t seem like your color,” Lisha said. “Maybe purple?”

“Wonder what would make you say that,” Iris smirked, flipping up Lisha’s hair.

Iris and Lisha continued to banter and chat as they flew to a restaurant in Heaven. The two of them looked after Heaven and Hell together, switching off every week. Their general job was to make sure everything was running smoothly and nothing was getting out of hand in either afterlife. There was a third one between Heaven and Hell, but… they didn’t bother with there anymore.

Technically their job was also to protect Heaven and Hell, but it’s not like there was anyone to pose a threat to them, so they mostly just had pencil-pushing deskwork. Lisha was content enough with it and did it without too much complaint, even if she did it wrong so often that it took her twice as long because she had to to refile it all. But for Iris the work was absolutely mind-numbing. She’d rather be out flying or getting a meal or doing anything else. Occasionally she found herself accidentally bringing the paperwork to life to dance around.

Today, the two of them were on their way to eat lunch with their girlfriends. They hadn’t initially planned it as a double date, but they had shrugged and asked why not. They were both dating members of that council in The Afterlife between Heaven and Hell. Their girlfriends were actually sisters-in-law to each other. Beatrice and Max Hawthorne.

“Finally,” Iris said with anticipation as they walked up to the restaurant. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Good thing we could get into a nice place,” Lisha said.

“How were they going to say no? We keep the place running.”

“Well, they could say no. They do have other customers.”

“Bah, they couldn’t say no to us,” Iris dismissed. “We’re like celebrities.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Iris and Lisha walked inside, asked about a reservation, and found out that Beatrice and Max had already arrived and taken seats. The two carvations moved on and took their seats across from their dates.

“Hey Maxie,” Iris winked, making Max laugh.

“Hey, Iris,” she said back, making a kissy face. Iris loved when her and Max did stupid stuff like that. It made her feel warm inside.

“What’s up, babe?” Beatrice asked Lisha, who was looking at her phone.

“I think I filed my Heaven paperwork last week wrong again,” she groaned.

“Hey, no work at lunch,” Iris elbowed. Lisha rolled her eyes. 

“Fine, fine.”

“So what’re you guys ordering?” Max asked, looking at the menu. “Some of these options are kinda weird. I don’t really want to order something I can’t pronounce.”

“Well, the Lecacule'er is really nice,” Iris said. “Really hits the spot.”

“I think a good burger would be nice, but it all sounds so delicious… Maybe I’ll take a sandwich home to Aven.”

“I don’t know what I want,” Lisha shrugged, looking at Beatrice. “Are you ok? You’re shaking.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice,” Beatrice said, staring at her hands. “I’ve been working out, so it might be that.”

“Why’ve you been working out?” Lisha laughed.

“Because I gotta build up some muscle to appeal to more people in modeling,” she explained. “My manager and I talked about it.”

“I’ve seen you ‘exercise’ around the house,” Max smirked. “I think you’re building up less muscle and more broken gym equipment.”

“Oh shut up!” Beatrice fussed, punching her in the arm.

“Eh, maybe you’re growing something there after all,” she teased. “I could almost feel it that time.”

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes with a smirk and went back to the menu. “Maybe I’ll eat some carrot sticks.”

“That’s an appetizer,” Lisha said.

“Fine, how about some… mozzarella sticks?”

“That’s still an appetizer.”

“Falafel.”

“Let me help you,” said Lisha, flipping the menu page. “There, the entrée section.”

Beatrice scanned the menu.

“You know what, I just remembered I already ate,” she said sarcastically. 

Everyone laughed and went back to their menus. Eventually, Iris found what she wanted and got bored of waiting for the server. She flicked some wind magic and made Max’s hair blow into her face.

“Stop it,” Max smiled, using a hair clip to hold her hair down.

“Make me.”

“I’ll make you-”

“Guys, not in the restaurant,” Lisha sighed. “Last time you started, Max ended up wrestling the waiter.”

“He wanted it,” Max claimed.

“Mhm, I’m sure he did,” Beatrice rolled her eyes. “How’s work been for you two?”

“Not as bad as usual,” Lisha shrugged. “But still, a lot of people die every day.”

“We get through it though,” Iris shrugged. “How about you two?”

“Worked to the bone,” Beatrice complained. “Lucas is just unforgiving in falling behind on our paperwork.”

“Don’t you make your reps do half your paperwork?” smirked Max.

“I pay them for a reason.”

“Ugh, I haven’t even started my work for today yet,” groaned Iris. “It’s gonna be hell.”

“You’re Heaven this week,” Lisha corrected. “I’m Hell this week.”

“Yeah yeah.” Iris tried to find some kind of waiter and raised her voice. “Can we get service?! I want to get some falafel to start!”