The story below takes place briefly after the events of Feathertouch Impact and features AFTER.ALL, an all-female idol group and the book's guest stars. (Also posted on AO3.)
Four of the six members of AFTER.ALL were sitting on the floor as their training CD played in the background. They held their water bottles loosely between their hands and talked about their dreams or the events of the previous day. The remaining two members, Arke and Astra, were still running through the routine, trying to nail their timing and transitions. Arke raised her hand in the air to signal her singing part as she and Astra traded places with clever footwork.
When she brought her hand down again, the two women fell into a rhythm. Their synchronicity during the chorus was seamless, and they lip-synced to the words as they focused on their reflections in the mirror. But as they transitioned into the second hook, Astra lost her place, and she frowned. Noticing this, Arke broke away and ran over to the boombox. She clapped tiredly as she walked back over.
“Let’s take a break, okay?”
Pandora reached behind her to grab a seafoam green bottle, which she outstretched to Arke. “Good choice. Great work, both of you.”
