Gavin, too, knew the importance of keeping food away from any workspace that involved volatile and delicate processes, though he was also sorely tempted to dash back to the dining hall to at least taste the food. [i]Work first.[/i] As soon as Ruli and Daryll were ready, Gavin nodded, and they began putting their heads together for the job. Though, like with Narda, Gavin  was wary of other outbursts, it seemed for the most part Daryll was alright with working in close quarters with him. [i]Was he just testing me, then?[/i] he thought, eyeing the Wyvern scholar now and then in between tasks. Thankfully, the alchemy chamber and their work absorbed his attention too much to be overly bothered by this thought. And while he always enjoyed the lessons he had from Envy and Ruli, actually working on a project like this invigorated him in a way he hadn’t felt before. Not since…[i]no.[/i] While there had been some excitement when Ikegai had first taken him in, the fear, guilt, and disgust for himself and the tasks he was coerced to do had wrung out whatever budding interest in magic he had had while under his unwilling tutelage. 
	Everything seemed to go well. He didn’t particularly mind the hiss that went with the flash when they tested it, or maybe he was just too excited that they were testing something out at all for him to really find it detrimental. And as they pointed out, battle was loud. They went back inside for a break, and while Ruli had coffee, Gavin decided to be a bit more adventurous and tried out what Daryll called hot chocolate. “Holy shit. You should have this stuff,” he said, looking down at his mug like it contained the elixir of life. He quickly drained it and filled it back up with another full mug before they went back to work. 
	“We could have someone wear an enchanted piece of jewelry?” Gavin asked, as the discussion moved to how to keep Kire away from, or safe within, the warded zones. 
	“Mm. Like the flashes, that would have a momentary effect, though eventually they would figure out the subterfuge,” Daryll replied. “Unless the visual illusion is accompanied by another that would mask her.”
	Gavin chewed his lip, tapping the now-empty mug as he thought it over. “Like—someone else’s aura, right?” he asked. 
	Daryll looked at him. “There had been some discussion before about making people untraceable.” He looked at Ruli, wondering if the matter of using Gemini blood had been brought up in front of Gavin before. 

--
“Slow down, you two!” Kire called after the girls, laughing as Etta and Precy practically ran downstairs. She had stayed with them in their room for a while, hearing them gossip, and affirming that, indeed, they had bothered Daryll about the details of what they had talked about. Kire was thankful that, though her scholarly cousin was terrible at keeping secrets, he had enough sensibility to spare the girls from the more unsavory details. After a while, though, the girls requested to go outside, especially after hearing that she had brought another friend from the other world back with her.
They found Ysaryn soon enough, and Kire wasn’t at all surprised that the elf had been occupying herself with drills using the new sabers. “Can’t wait to use them, can you?” she called out, grinning as she stood in the snow, while the girls looked on, eyes wide. Kire looked down at them, amused. “Etta and Precy, this is my good friend Ysaryn. These are my cousins. Precy is Daryll’s younger sister.
Etta gasped, already enraptured. “Your [i]hair![/i] It’s [i]beautiful![/i]” she exclaimed, gawking, looking like she was biting back a request to touch it. Pres elbowed her, but was obviously similarly enthralled. Etta blushed, and both girls curtsied in greeting.