A relaxing hour in the hot tub, then the couple moved to bed to fall asleep in each other’s arms. An actual night of sleep together, instead of the tiny naps or long sleepless nights of the last week.

Trisha was especially lazy the next morning. There were sleepy cuddles with Casey when they woke up, followed by lounging for a while even after he got up. Eventually she dragged herself out of bed to shower and shuffle downstairs to nibble on some fruit for breakfast.

She would’ve quite happily spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch, but Casey was excited to go out- and she was easily swept up in that. She’d said the night before that she wanted to go with him today, after all. At least for one ride to see if she liked it. She wanted to be with him more than she wanted to be lazy. Really, she only wanted to be lazy with him. They’d be able to do that later she imagined.

But it left her with the problem of figuring out what to wear. She’d packed a lot, being especially prepared for the cold weather. But wouldn’t it be even colder on a high speed snowmobile? The icy wind hitting her directly? Or would it be warmer because they were going so fast?

No, it’d probably be even colder.

She rummaged about in her suitcase, swapping her jeans for cargo pants over tights. She really needed to invest in thermals if they moved to this area… But for now extra normal layers would have to do. A wool jumper, then a hooded sweater… Her hair was pulled into a braid so there wouldn’t be a risk of it getting in Casey’s way. A wool hat and scarf should

Would just one jacket be enough?

“Cassseeey, do you have a jacket I could borrow?”

Casey had only just come back in from outside, having made sure that a path for the sled was opened so that it could get out of it’s little shed. He had to make sure it worked as well, starting it up and grabbing a few sets of spare spark plugs in case something went awry. Fresh and rested, he had intentions to enchant it in a few ways that he could. It felt great to channel a bit of Lux after a nice rest, and he’d already passively restarted the typical baseline enchantments he’d use on himself in this kind of cold.

Mostly insulation and moisture retention. Manipulation of the properties of his clothing fibres allowed an inner and outer layer to develop naturally, making sure any errant sweat got brought up to the surface and keeping the part meant to be warm dry as well. He’d already kicked off his feet on the magically heated deck, letting the snow melt off easily as he made his way back inside.

”No, Baby Bee, I don’t! Not that would fit you and be safe. Just put your gloves on and come down; I’ll make sure you get insulated. Oh, and check in my rucksack on the right hand side, there should be a few dozen rip and stick body warmers, and pouch hand warmers too. Just stick ‘em in your pockets.” he called up the stairs.

Just one jacket would have to do then… Trisha shuffled around to find his rucksack, pulling out the pouch hand warmers and shoving them into her coat pockets. She considered the rip and stick ones for a moment, before deciding the effort of taking clothes back off to put them on would be too much.

“Why wouldn’t it be safe?” She asked as she made her way down, once again looking incredibly bundled up and cozy. Her top half looked especially round with the two jumpers and down jacket with a scarf tucked into it. She was a bit too warm while inside, but it wasn’t that bad yet.

She shuffled towards him, reaching out with gloved hands.
“Cause it could get trapped in something? I guess I can survive with just one jacket.”

He took her hands back playfully, showing her how warm his gloves were in spite of being outside for almost an hour now. Those same hands then crawled up just slightly to take her arms in them. The wafting scent of iron and honey drifted across the room, causing Casey to smile as the static sensation of enchantment fuzzed across Trisha’s body. Suddenly, the jacket wasn’t just sitting on her. It was beating alongside her heart, ever tuning itself until it disappeared into the natural sensation of bump, bump, bump...

And then, it was warm. The kind of warm that would actually compel someone out toward the frozen tundra beyond the threshold of the door.

”You already had some food, right my little Bee? Nectar to sustain you?” he asked playfully, pinching her cheek as he finished enchanting her coat.
”And tell me if it gets too hot. Remember, you’re gonna have a heavy helmet on your head.”

“You couldn’t have done that before I got all these layers on?” Trisha puffed her cheeks out and playfully pouted at him. She’d once again not even thought about magic helping out here. She was just too used to living mundanely. The extra magical warmth was nice, and she let out a soft sigh.

“Oh, right, I forgot about the helmet! I guess I don’t need this then.” She reached up to pull off her hat, twisting slightly to toss it back up the stairs.
“I ate. Plenty, since I don’t have to fight any bees for the fruit. I checked up on them while you were outside through Princess… They seem to all be getting along happily, which is good. Business as usual in the bee world.”

She smiled, nose wrinkling a bit as the scent of his casting fully disappeared.
“It doesn’t smell as sweet anymore… I kind of like it more now. It’s like… Both of our magic intermingling, sort of. The iron smell suits yours, I mean.”

Casey grinned.

”Y’know it’s technically a flaw?” he asked her, opening the door to let her step outside into the cold before following.

”Nana’s enchantments have a certain charge. Everything she makes. Some People call her ‘Lady Midas’. Essentially, the charge she has is so specially developed to high purity materials, that if she works with crappy materials, or in this case, the enchanted item comes into contact with crappy materials, it stinks like Hell. Specifically here, iron, since both the tags and the chain are crappy steel and coal has no scent. It’ll actually probably corrode everything if I don’t get it all swapped to something nicer eventually.” he explained casually as the duo descended down the stairs.

Casey had shoveled a path with the help of his magic, so there was at least a clear path down to where they were headed. He let her walk ahead, though stayed close behind her in case there was a rogue patch of ice. He’d catch her easily, especially now that he had all his faculties. The shed itself was similar in construction to the house, except it was about a quarter the size, with a nice dropshudder door that was already pulled open slightly. The warm air blowing out from underneath kept any errant snow from drifting into the shop floor.

Moving to the side with the normal person door, Casey swung it open for her. Not only was this place a small shop meant to house the snowmobiles or whatever vehicular toys one requested from the resort, but on the other side, it was something of a lounge with a bar, a pool table, arcade machines and plenty of comfortable loungers to sit in.

Trisha didn’t expect the shed to be more than just a shed. The cabin was already luxurious enough, but there was a whole bar room in here too. She stared at it for a moment, before pointing at the pool table.

“Want to repeat our first date later?” She looked at it with a wide smile, which then turned into something smaller and softer.

“Will you be alright swapping your tags? I didn’t realise that would happen when I got it made to slot between them. I assume those ones are… Sentimental? I wouldn’t want them destroyed by it.” She wasn’t overly anxious about it, since he talked about it so calmly. She couldn’t read much into it for once, but she still couldn’t help but check.

She cared about him, after all. She’d gotten it designed to slot between the tags because she knew what they meant to him.

”Oh, I’ve got a guy I know who would be more than happy to turn them into a different metal. A few of the other guys have gotten it done, obviously in gold so they last forever.” he said casually, patting the side of the pool table as they passed it.

”And yes. I’d love to spend some time playing pool with my fiance.” he smiled and moved to kiss her before passing her on and snagging the smaller helmet off the rack nearby.

”Try this one on. Have you worn a helmet like this before? Any boyfriends with bikes?” he asked casually, genuine interest filling him as he wondered how she’d do in such a claustrophobic circumstance.

Trisha pulled it on, shaking her head from side to side as she did. She wasn’t an immediate fan of it, grimacing a bit. It felt restrictive, like her head was being pressed from all sides. But it wasn’t horrendous and it would keep her safe. She was pretty sure she’d get used to it after a while anyway.

“Not that I’d get on a bike with. Some had them, but most of them were reckless. I was kind of reckless for dating them, but not that reckless.” She answered, voice muffled by the helmet. She reached up to pull it off, shaking her head again. While what they were about to do was a bit scary, being on a motorbike seemed worse to her. Because those were ridden all around cities, where there were plenty of cars to hit and kill you. Especially if you were stupid about riding it, like those exes had been.

“Does it feel less stuffy after a while? It’s fine, it’ll just take some getting used to. It’s somehow worse than having hundreds of bees covering my face.”

Casey shook his head.
”No, they pretty much feel that way. If you can get your head through the bottom while feeling like you shouldn’t, I’m told it’s best. I don’t usually ride things like this either, so-” he reached up for the biggest one and stuck it onto his head.

Feeling like it wasn’t snug enough, the next size down felt very secure. His ungloved hands swept up under Trisha’s chin, buckling the strap as he channeled an enchantment into the helmet. While it didn’t feel any less stuck to her face, Trisha would easily be able to notice the weight of the thing creeping off her neck until it felt like she wasn’t wearing anything but a scratchy facemask.

Then, his finger came under the rim of the helmet, pressing a button somewhere in the fluff.

”-Hear me okay?”
His voice echoed from inside the helmet.
”These are close channeled, so we don’t need to worry about tuning. A little better now that it’s lighter?” he asked, voice feeling like they were sharing a room comfortably.

“Much better. My neck isn’t straining at all, so I’ll easily be able to tuck my head into my chest in fear.” She joked lightly, twisting her head as she tried to adjust to the new feeling. Weightless but still tight and stuffy… It was strange, but definitely better.

“I’ll try not to scream too loud since the helmet won’t muffle it- Sorry, I shouldn’t joke so much about being scared. I actually don’t feel that bad. Just a little nervous.” She swung her body around to take a proper look at the vehicle, hands clasped together in front of her.

“What’s the plan? Just a joyride, or do you have a destination in mind?”

”I guess the trails are clearly marked out here, so I was just gonna do what the map says is the ‘golden loop’. It’s like a big roundabout in the middle of all the trails they have going on. Should be like three or four miles round trip. Ten minutes tops. And if you like it, we can just keep going round and round. Maybe we’ll jump onto one of the other trails if you like it a lot.”

He moved expressionlessly toward the machine itself, patting on the frontal part of the seat.
”Hop on, get comfy. Nice position, make sure your legs aren’t too crushed up against the front. They’ll fall asleep probably, so you want to maximize wiggle room.” he instructed as he stepped forward to raise the shutter door up.

Trisha nodded, making her way over and climbing on. It wasn’t intuitive to her how she should sit, spending a bit wriggling back and forth until she found a position where her legs didn’t seem too crushed without moving too far back. She could move them a bit at least.

It wasn’t the most comfortable, and she felt a bit more anxious now that she was actually sitting on it. She knew enough about momentum to realise any fears about falling off to the side were ridiculous, but it still seemed incredibly precarious. If Casey wasn’t there, couldn’t she just slip back? What if she accidentally leaned and tumbled off.

It was unlikely, but she still reactively stiffened and squeezed her thighs against the seat.

“Starting with a nice, simple circle sounds perfect. Are the other routes all to go places, or are some of them purely to ride on? Like you get mountain biking trails, or different levels of ski slopes?” She asked, curious even if she was tense. It was strange, because even though her anxiety had increased she was also more excited about it.

”How I’m told, they all go somewhere. But, some places aren’t really destinations. Like, there’s a much bigger loop that acts like a tramway, I guess that a lot of locals use in the winter. The people running this place do a good service for people around here in the cold seasons.” Casey explained in return.

Moving up to the machine, Casey fluidly swung his leg over the rear and slotted in behind Trisha. Intentionally or not, Casey wound up pinning her forward slightly more than either intended. He was simply that large. But, he also knew she’d be a lot safer with them riding like this. Maybe, if she got comfortable with it, he’d let her ride in the back hugging around him. They’d have to on a racebike, but these were a few feet longer than one of those. Enough length that one could sit in this configuration and not totally ruin the experience.

”Ready, Freddy?” he asked, nodding his head forward and knocking against the back of Trisha’s intentionally.
”How’s that feel, does it hurt when that happens? We may bump up and down quite a bit in some spots, so I don’t want you feeling pain every time it happens. Because that’ll get agonizing quickly.”

Trisha’s head jerked forward, like she’d been hit with an extra firm pillow. The hard exterior of her helmet being hit caused her ears to ring uncomfortably for a moment, but it didn’t hurt. All of the padding dampened it enough.

“It’s uncomfortable but it doesn’t hurt. I can deal with it happening pretty easily, I think.” She replied as she shifted a bit to get comfortable again, having been pushed forward by Casey. Not that she’d really been comfortable, but she had to adjust her legs. If she was honest, she’d rather have less space around her… It meant less room for her to be moved by external forces, even if it led to leg discomfort.

“Where can I put my hands? There isn’t really anything for me to hold onto, and I don’t want to get in your way. I guess I can just put them in my lap.” Which was more gripping onto her pants, but it was fine.
“Otherwise, I’m ready!”

Casey threw one arm over her to grab the handlebar, then used his free hand to slide her hand up to grab around the arm like she’d do with the handle in a car. With his other hand moving toward the same direction, he figured she’d instinctively do it. Moving that free arm to flick the ignition, Casey’s hand moved up to the throttle and gave it a twist to let the whole machine roar to life beneath them.

Thankfully, inside the helmet, it wasn’t loud. Nothing was loud, actually. Just Casey’s voice, which was clear without the overwhelming noise around them. But it did vibrate like one would expect, and as he gently applied a twist to the throttle in order to slide them out onto the snow, it rumbled a bit more before coming to a stop.

”Gotta close that door.”

He pulled away from his seat just a moment, leaving Trisha totally alone on this rumbling contraption that was very slowly sliding away from where Casey parked it. Not enough to get out of hand; probably not even a couple of inches. But just enough to be noticed by a rider who didn’t weigh enough to anchor the thing on the slight slope it was on.
But, as quickly as he left, he was back and covering Trisha once more. His arms returned to position, and without much fanfare, Casey began to take them out toward the driveway, then curved off into a very intentional clear corridor among the trees.

Before she had a chance to scream about anything, they were puttering along at an easy pace not dissimilar to a car on a backroad. Trisha could look down and read roughly fifty miles an hour. Though, it almost certainly seemed like a lot more in such an open vehicle. Cars gave a grand illusion of stability even at the worst of times, serving as such a wide, steady platform that the brain couldn’t help but be lulled into a false sense of security over. Yet, this snowy corridor seemed practically plowed, or compacted to a certain degree, so that it acted just like a road would, only made specifically for this track and ski machine, rather than a four-wheeled vehicle.

”There’s supposedly a lake in the middle of the golden loop too… But, I’m not allowed to take this baby out onto it, or you bet we’d do it. Open lakes are great on these, because even if you hit a soft spot in the ice, you can push it fast enough to hydroplane to safety.” he explained casually, as if that didn’t sound utterly insane.

“That sounds crazy! You’re not getting me on water on one of these.” Trisha responded, sounding a bit breathless.

It hadn’t been the best start, mainly because she’d panicked when Casey jumped away and the machine started to slide. Not very far, but any sliding was enough to hit her with a jolt of fear. It meant she was scared before it started, and just as scared when they did move. She gripped onto Casey’s arms tightly, while trying to be mindful about not pulling or squeezing too hard.

It was so much easier to feel the speed they were going at here. The chill of wind made by their movement was blocked by all her layers, but she could still feel its strength. If she hadn’t tied her hair back and tucked it into the helmet, it’d be flying all over the place right now. Fifty miles an hour never seemed that fast in a car, but in this? It was a lot.

But the ride was smooth, allowing her to get used to the speed they were moving at. She didn’t fall off, and she could feel Casey at her back. It was comforting. She relaxed slightly, her grip on his arms loosening. She lifted her head up to start looking in front of them rather than staring at the speedometer. It was white as far as the eye could see, with the dark green of evergreen trees peaking out. It was pretty.

It was actually pretty fun.

“This- This isn’t as scary as I thought it’d be! I don’t feel like I’m going to fall off or anything.” She said, managing to relax more into it. There was no screaming, either out of fear or joy. Muted enjoyment, really.

“Is it cold enough for the lake to be frozen over, then? It’s gotta be under a certain size for that to happen, right?”

”Oh, I’m not sure honestly… It’s either not frozen enough to be on, or in the deeper winter, maybe there’s people who stay on it, and we’re not allowed to mess with the acoustics.” Casey suggested in return, acknowledging her bravery by giving the throttle a good cranking.

They were in a straightaway that Casey had a long sightline for, and White Lux allowed him to feel ahead for any potential hazards on or in the snow. They did such a wonderful job manicuring these trails that he was questioning whether or not he’d consider even getting actual cars if they settled down on Blue Rock. Of course he’d have to… But, romantically, it didn’t seem like he needed to. He’d easily keep his own trails cleaned, and probably remotely clean thousands more trails if he wanted to. The entire mountainside would wind up looking like a spiderweb.

”Since, y’know, people go ice fishing and stuff. People actually camp out there on the ice, it’s neat. And if there’s Adepts doing it, you bet your ass there are some sweet fishing houses out there.” he laughed.

“Of course there are. It sounds kind of crazy to me… But I guess they know the ice isn’t going to break when it’s this cold. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it.” Trisha admitted. She was too used to St Portwell, with its minimal snowfall and never freezing water. The ocean didn’t exactly freeze over, after all.

She carefully shifted herself a bit, moving her legs back a little bit to a more comfortable position. She was still squeezing them into the seat, but not to the point where she felt like it was going to cut off her circulation. She was getting more and more comfortable with the whole thing the longer they went without anything going wrong. She was able to enjoy the sights more, carefully twisting her head from side to side. Even the feeling of it… And she could talk to Casey. She was worried she’d be too terrified to do anything but cling.

“Have you ever gone ice skating on a frozen lake? That’s one thing I’ve always wanted to do.”

”I haven’t! We’ll have to set that up at some point, whether we live on a property with one or not!” he replied simply.

Hand still firmly grasped on the throttle, Casey let one hand drop away from the bars to wrap around Trisha’s belly. He held her firmly without it seeming like something to panic about, squeezing gently and letting a playful grunt come through the headset.

”We should be coming to the turnoff soon. Map said we’d see it co-”

Ahead of them were the peaks of some incredibly fancy and ornate fishing huts. As they crested the small hill blocking their view of the lake, the line of sight opened up into a wide white vista hosting a bevy of different dots up close and afar. There had to be hundreds of plots where tents or vehicles sat in makeshift wagon circles around fires. Fires… atop the ice. It seemed silly, but if it was thick enough, it made sense.
The snow had compacted whatever lakeside foliage existed, though there were some sections cleared away to let trucks or other traveling vehicles onto the lake with their fishing gear. These too were devoid of any kind of foliage, and the landscape was vast if not bleak otherwise with only the wide ring around the lake and the many tracks leading away.

Though they couldn’t quite hear everything around them, the echoes of other sleds filled the air nearby, marking other people taking the same traveling routes. Casey made passage onto the main track of the loop and found it was packed like concrete. Easily the nicest bit of surface yet, he decided he’d take it easy for the first passaround.

”This is it, Babe! The Golden Loop… Kind of maybe more impressive in the summer? Maybe not, I can’t imagine the mosquitos this lake must harbor.” he commented slyly.

While bleak, Trisha still looked across the lake with interest. At first sight it was beautiful. White as far as the eye could see… She definitely preferred the greens of spring and summer, and she imagined this much snow would get boring after a while, but it was still nice. And it was interesting seeing all the people dotted about it. They had fires in the ice. It was such a jarring image to her, even though they clearly weren't strong enough to melt through the ice. Two opposites coexisting.

“Ewgh, I hate mosquitos. Would it really be that bad around here?" Trisha frowned at the thought of a lake teeming with mosquitos. While she didn't exactly have a problem with insects, having her own constantly crawling on her, she wasn't a fan of any that bit. Especially mosquitos.

“If we end up with a lake on our property, I'm going to become a mosquito slapping expert. That or I'll wear one of the bee suits anytime we go near it in summer." She giggled slightly at that image. Lounging on a lake in the middle of summer in a full bee suit… She'd be more likely to just avoid the lake to not get bitten.
“This is why spring's the nicest season. Nature starts to bounce back and you get all the colours, but much less of the blood sucking insects. It does look nice right now, but I think the pure white will get boring after a while. When that happens I'll just close my eyes and try enjoy how this all feels… Especially you hugging me."

She leaned back just slightly against Casey, one hand moving to rest on his around her. She was feeling safe enough that him suddenly holding her hadn't caused any panic, nor was she freaking out that he wasn't controlling the vehicle with both hands. At this speed, on this neatly compacted trail, it was smooth enough that her anxiety had really dropped down. She even felt like she could probably handle it if they went faster later- though she was much more uncertain about dealing with any bumpy trails or sharper turns. She'd probably go right back to panicking about falling off there.

”Well, who really knows? It's a magically manicured swath of forest. The bugs could be informed that humans are off limits. They may even be trained to follow instructions like that.” Casey laughed, presuming that there were magical plans for every mundane problem.

Barreling across the track before them, Casey was having a fantastic time riding this machine which he hadn’t connected with in so long. He’d been a teenager the last time they snowmobiled; a family trip just up North into Washington, on the Idaho side. Straddling the Canadian border, he was certain they’d crossed over and trespassed several times.

”Oh, Babe… This is awesome! You should see what it's like riding through an ungroomed place! Snow up to your chest, trying not to bury the ski? It’s so much more work if you're doing it unassisted. This is super preferable.” he commented, picking up the throttle a little bit despite being in a constant lazy left hand turn.

“I’m alright to not see what that's like. I imagine it's much bumpier too… I'm alright with this, but something like that? No way." Trisha laughed a bit, glancing back down at the speedometer.

Even as it ticked up a bit, she didn't feel worried. She trusted him. If he was going faster it was because he was sure it was safe. Hopefully. At least when she was on it with him!

“This is pretty fun! I thought it'd be more… Well closer to what you described, wild tracks and loads of bumping about and worrying I was going to fall off constantly." She smiled, though there was no way for anyone to see it through the helmet.
“I still wouldn't want to drive one myself… I'm happy with this. You know what you're doing, and I trust you!"

She trusted him, she was enjoying herself, but she was still cautious- holding onto him and gripping with her legs more than she probably had to. There wouldn't be any hands thrown in the air or anything like that from her.

“Have you rode one often on worse tracks?"

”Not often, no! But, I guess relatively, it’s the only kind I’ve done. So, I guess yeah? Last time I went was like that. We were trying to do a no-magic endurance cross. Something like twelve hours, no trail except a rough path that Leon’s bot plowed ahead of us. It was mostly moving trees and big rocks so we didn’t get creamed, but it was a spider, so it wasn’t exactly disturbing most of the snow to pack it down.”

Casey went to go make a hand motion, but hadn’t enchanted the sled to give it any self-actualization. So, rather than lose control, he caught himself and let his free hand crawl across her, fingers tamping down like it was a big spider crawling on her.

”Leon obviously won. It was prime Leon, after all. I think it was a couple of years before you guys fought the Stygian Snake. Dude was clearing the path at the same time he was racing it, of course he was gonna win.” he added, harkening back to those days.
”I got stuck with Junior, rather than Furio taking him. Because he wanted to actually compete. And him and Leon were basically a half a mile ahead of us while I got trusted to take care of this scared ass kid. He’d cry every time I tried opening it up, and we’d end up getting snowed down in places where you needed speed to cross. Plus, it was a junior sled… They’re not half the size of this, but they’re definitely not this big.”

There was a much thicker section of forest coming up on their left, now obscuring the lake from view again as the snow piled high against the trunks of trees and froze over to form massive berm walls. It almost felt like they were in a tube now, until one looked right and saw the ever-spidering web of trails snaking outward toward destinations unknown.

“So your adult Uncle and near adult brother left you, a thirteen year old? With a kid barely in the double digits?" Trisha frowned. She couldn't help but hone in on and dwell on the negative there, even though he didn't seem to be talking about the whole thing like it was a horrible experience. He clearly enjoyed using a snowmobile enough to want to go on one again.

“That’s… Well I guess it doesn't surprise me." There'd been plenty of discussions about how shitty the people surrounding him had been. Clarissa and Furio both seemed to be more hands on and less emotionally manipulative than Lynette herself, but there were still plenty of issues.

“You should've got to enjoy it too! But, I guess, at least you get to now. Even if it's not the same cause it's nice smooth trails, it's still fun, right? And I bet if you raced Leon nowadays you'd win. Even if you had to take me along. I'd let you go as fast as you needed… I guess winning isn't the point, enjoying it is."

”Well if I was with you, we wouldn’t be racing. But, yeah. I’d definitely try. I think he could pull off some crazy shit now that he couldn’t then. I don’t think he dealt much in weight manipulation back then, but now I’m pretty sure he could just lift this thing and start running if the situation called for it.” Casey laughed with a silly tone, shaking his head and gently thumping Trisha’s helmet with his chin.

”But… Don’t get me wrong! I enjoyed it enough to want to try again on a better footing. And I’ve ridden bikes. I have my license, even! I just don’t own one, because being on one for a long time is uncomfortable for me. This is a lot more sturdy! I think I’ll probably look into quadbikes too. For the warm weather, and a friend of mine says they’re great for small maintenance carts. You can get a tow-behind for them!”

It would seem from an outside perspective that the problems of the outside world had washed away for Casey. That nothing else mattered but what he was doing now, and what he’d be doing in the future. A future with Trisha, in a place where he needed all terrain vehicles to get anything done. He even wondered quietly to himself about just how magical the land would be.
Orange and Green were tough to commingle, but he knew for certain he wanted to invite the Deer into his domain. Especially if Cass was going to be in their lives forever in some capacity. Even if her and Leon didn’t end up together long term, she was definitely a lifelong friend for Trisha. And he hoped that, in spite of all the wrong she’d seen him do so far, he’d be able to continue his own personal friendship with Cass.

Because, and wouldn’t it be just like Trisha to keep such company; Cass was awesome. And he hoped that they’d all be able to take an interest in the land surrounding them as four guardians of balance in all things. That was a creed he hoped to follow, and a value to instill in future generations.

”Makes me excited just thinking about it! Y’know who’ll love that shit? Cass! And then we’re all gonna be able to tease you by forcing you into scary situations that make you uncomfortable because your reaction is socute!” he finished, squeezing Trisha tight to him and wriggling as he slowed down slightly in anticipation of oncoming traffic. But, the group turned onto a trailhead, and he opened up again in ernest.

Trisha squirmed slightly in protest, tiny movements that Casey would only feel because he held her so tight to him. She didn't want to make any big movements on this- though her head jerked from side to side where her body couldn't.

“No way! You'll have to drag me kicking and screaming to be near any kind of crazy snow mobiling or quad biking when Cass is involved! She's terrifyingly reckless." Trisha protested.

“She’d be insane on one of these things. You… You'd go crazy with it too, wouldn't you? All three of you would, oh my God, I'm doomed. All because I'm so cute." She continued, tone turning more playful as she giggled. While she definitely didn't want to ever be on anything like this close enough to Cass that she'd be in the blast radius of her antics, it was a nice future to imagine. The four of them- their recently formed coven- having fun together. Still being around each other in the future.

The kind of community she'd always wanted, but struggled to find. Even if there were still difficulties for her with Leon, they were working through it.

“I’m pretty sure Cass'll be jealous that we did this. It is right up her alley… Though she'd definitely want to do the crazy cross country stuff more. She probably wouldn't even want the rocks cleared out of the way. I honestly feel sorry for Leon sometimes, even though he chose to be with her and can be pretty wild himself but… She's just a new level of insane. Like, I can see her purposefully driving into a tree insane."

”She’d live! The only time she wouldn’t live is if she wasn’t feeling well. And then she’d not be doing that at all, would she? That girl’s about as magical as an Apparition at this point. Being able to stretch all those magical muscles has done her a world of good. You too! You know as well as I do that it brings a certain confidence where you wouldn’t have it otherwise!” he patted her belly in confirmation, sliding the hand away finally.

It climbed up as he channeled a White spell to get a good long look ahead of them. He knew from the map that the back straight was a solid two miles of linear trail carved wide enough that there were multiple lanes of practical use pack. A magical highway across the snow, groomed by autonomous Orange sleds that plowed and packed all at once… And wide open it seemed.

”I’m gonna pick up the speed, okay? Don’t look at the meter, just look ahead! Grab on as tight as you want, but, please don’t flail!”

“O-Okay." Trisha reached out to properly grip onto both of Casey's arms. She wasn't sure how much faster that meant, so she held on tightly. At least flailing wasn't a risk, because she was much too cautious to move much at all.

Casey’s other hand finally reached the other side of the handlebar, and his hand slammed back on the throttle. The machine didn’t hop; it leapt to life.Suddenly, everything that was around them was passing by faster and faster than Trisha had ever been. The engine beneath them was screaming. Its cadence that of a howling animal, the vibration was enough to begin rattling their helmets together as the rear end began to skip and hop before biting back into the snow and ripping them forward again. It was wild. It was thrilling. Maybe, even a little horrifying.

For Casey, it was wonderful. Everything he wanted from the bike without any of the madness of it coming out from under him. It was invigorating.

Trisha's breath caught in her throat, her body reactively tensing. She clutched into Casey's arms with a tight grip, her legs stiffening and squeezing inwards. It wasn't just a small speed increase, but a massive jump. And even on the smooth surface the machine vibrated and jumped.

Though he told her to look ahead, Trisha's eyes reactively squeezed shut. But that made it scarier, because she was just feeling the speed, and every little motion felt like a bump that might knock her off. Even though she was gripping onto Casey like her life depended on it.

She trusted him. It was safe. She forced herself to open her eyes, the blinding white blur in front of them coming into view. They were moving so quickly, but with her eyes open it was easier to realise they weren't about to crash.

It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying to her. The panic didn't go away, but the coldness in her chest didn't take away from the thrill of it all. If anything it coexisted. She was scared, but she was also enjoying it… Though she wasn't going to loosen her grip on Casey anytime soon.

“Th-This is really fucking fast!"

He was impressed that her reaction wasn’t ultimately a complaint. Just an observation, simple and clean, which caught him off guard and brought him back to reality in a warm way. It was adorably straight-laced. She’d be able to feel the entire machine relax into a calm rumble as they pressed onward at a descending rate of speed.

”Yeah it was! You didn’t scream! I’m proud of you, you didn’t look at the speedometer, did you?” Casey asked playfully, arm coming back down to wrap around her and keep her safe again.

“No, but I closed my eyes… That made it scarier.” Trisha admitted. As they began to slow down, the quick beating of her heart was more audible in her ears. The adrenaline and fear was still there, both hands moving to clutch the arm around her rather than relaxing again.

Even if she hated it, she liked to think she wouldn’t scream. Not actually. She hadn’t on the rollercoaster, after all. Just terrified squeaks, going completely stiff and a lot of clinging to Casey. Screams were reserved for truly terrifying occasions- real death. Like the Stygian Snake, or fighting for her life. Otherwise she tried to keep her fear more muted.

“I definitely couldn’t deal with that speed the whole time. It’s… alright in short bursts, I think. Scary, but not so bad. Not like proper panic attack terrifying. At least that wasn’t, but I really don’t like how it shook.” She continued evenly.

“But of course I didn’t scream. I didn’t want to hurt your ears.” She added, with sweet playfulness.

Casey felt her arms still clutching around him, and he made a shallow turn to the right toward a notch cut in the snow. From there, he cut the engine off and let his other arm come down to squeeze her tightly as they glided to a stop.

”We’ll take a break for a sec. Go ahead, stand on solid ground and stuff, so you’re feeling connected again.”

He pulled his helmet off, hand reaching into his pocket and pulling out a couple granola bars.
”I still brought snacks… In case you didn’t like it, and had me bring you home early. Now, I just know that I can’t go above liiiiiike eighty.” he joked with her, making sure to talk into the helmet so she could still hear him.

“You cannnn, just not for too long. And maybe save the fastest speeds for when I'm not on it with you… But eighty's already pretty fast!" She shot back, reaching up to fumble with her own helmet and pull it off. It came off to reveal her smiling at him playfully, eyes creased gently.

She slipped off the snowmobile, boots hitting the thick snow. She wobbled for a moment, legs feeling a bit like jelly from how tense they'd been. She'd been squeezing them into the seat the whole time, with them stuck in one position, so the sudden weight on them and movement had pins and needles prickling her legs.

But she was glad to be on solid ground for a moment, and that Casey had pulled over without making a big deal of it. Just because he cared enough about her and wanted her to be comfortable…

“Why the snacks for if I wanted to go home early? There's plenty of food at home… Or is it cause you'd go on a sad long ride yourself, and eat granola bars looking out from a cliff crying about how I didn't like it?" She joked, reaching out for one of the granola bars. She fumbled to open it, not wanting to take off her gloves.
“Or was it a peace offering if I was upset."

”It’s purely because I know I’ll ride this thing until they turn the fuel pumps at the station up ahead off. One of the trails is called the ‘Highway to Wherever’, and I guess it’s just a magically manicured straight line for something like twenty miles. There’s another little pump station at the end, for however many times you wanna scram down and back up. I guess there’s a hotdog stand there. Its a little bit of a ride, but if you wanted to do the first pass up and down with me, I’d keep it under ninety. Twenty miles at a good click isn’t long at all.”

He already knew he wanted to push it, and as an Orange Adept, he’d been given permission to play around with it as much as he liked. Vehicles as a whole were difficult to enchant, but if each piece was enchanted per section, it became a lot easier. At that point, it was just a matter of taking it apart and putting it back together: A process he relished in with magic.

”I’d say, it’d be an hour out of your day tops. And maybe after that, the only time I’d ask to be alone. I’d have you with me if you were good with the speed, but-” he trailed off, allowing her the chance to express her feelings over the sentiment.

Trisha slowly nodded, pausing nibbling on her granola bar to reply.
“I’d like to come with you for the first pass if you'd have me. I don't want to hold you back beyond that if you're wanting to go do it faster and crazier. I wouldn't enjoy it enough."

She could make herself tolerate it, but she knew that Casey would be able to tell if she got scared. Then he wouldn't enjoy himself as much as he would without her. She knew he'd need his alone time on this holiday anyway, and she was willing to give it to him, even if she'd rather spend the whole day together. But they were going to tomorrow.

“How long do you think you'd be going for? I'd like to have dinner together at least, but I also don't mind if you think you'll be going until bedtime. We've got those plans tomorrow, so I'm happy to just read and chill inside."

She still smiled at him, though she obviously wasn't delighted about it. But they'd promised they'd be honest to each other, so she didn't try to hide it. She'd asked him to accept and understand that she'd be alright with him having that alone time. She was, even though the thought of being alone in the cabin made her anxious. Of course it did, because the progress she'd made had been wiped out. She was worried he'd decide he'd rather just go off into the wilderness. But it was a silly thought. And things had been so good between them since they'd left. It felt so much more comfortable again, and she could hold onto that.

“But I want to go up with you first. It isn't taking any time out of my day, because spending time with you is the main thing I want to do. But I'm really alright with you taking some alone time after to go do some crazy driving up and down that highway."

”Y’know what’s funny about that, Sweetheart… I’m gonna have to come clean. I already booked dinner for us tonight at the top of the mountain. And they’re going to come get us! And, and? It’s an actual sleigh ride. With hot chocolate before dinner if you’d have a cup.”

Casey’s face read incredibly excited. It wasn’t booked until around eight, so they had plenty of time to just be. And he had plenty of time to get bored of riding the same flat trail at nearly two hundred.

”I’ll probably go until I know exactly what I want to change. Then, tomorrow or whenever, I’ll do the tweaking, and I’ll take it out for a spin across the lake while you chill in the tent and watch me be crazy for twenty minutes. I think you’ll be able to handle it at that point. Because, y’know, we’ll still be together basically. I’ll be a ham just for you. Hell, I’ll even take my shirt off for you. Just like how Leon and Cass show their affection.” he laughed aloud, pulling Trisha into a hug.

Trisha giggled, cuddling into him. The anxiety melted away a little when he revealed they had dinner plans. A really fancy sounding dinner with a sleigh ride to get there. She didn't even realise those happened in reality.

“As much as I love you shirtless, I'd be too worried about you freezing." She tilted her head back to smile warmly up at him.
“I think I'll enjoy watching you, though, even if I wouldn't enjoy doing it. I enjoy watching you enjoy yourself. It's cute."

She wriggled her arms away from around him, reaching up to rub her gloved fingers against his cheeks.
“I’m happy for you to go however long you want to knowing we have dinner plans… Cause I know you won't miss them. I still want to come up the first time, because it does seem fun. Then I can relax and spend hours getting ready for our dinner date. That sounds really nice."

Her smile bloomed into something even more joyful, and filled with love.
“You’re really spoiling me already, and it isn't even my birthday yet."

”I’m not saying I’m trying to make up for being a jerk or anything… But, y’know, this shouldn’t be an uncommon thing. The others, carnality is equal to romance. For me, it’s everything else. The thoughtfulness, the expression: You’re my person. I want you to feel like you are, rather than I just tell you. To me, you deserve the best. That’s why I hate when I’m not my best. And it makes me say things like, oh… ‘You deserve better’ or something. Not true in your perspective, and that’s the only one that matters.”

Thankfully, after that wonderful rest they’d had, his brain took the chance to purge itself of the stacked up memories before regathering them into a more organized fashion, where they would actually hold tightly. A file in a drawer, as opposed to thumbtacked to a board. He felt lucid… Practically good again, were it not for the nagging feeling to not want to actually see anyone else today. At least she felt like an exception. She was, after all, exceptional.

”But, selfishly? I love making plans. Reminds me of my later days in the Army, during the cleanup stuff.” he grinned.
”Though, this is a lot less dire. Your feelings, while precious, aren’t as tragic as a bunch of pe- Well… You can imagine.” he cut himself off, not wanting to make her feel sad for the people he’d seen dead.

Trisha nodded, leaning up to give him a brief kiss.
“Well then it works for both of us. You love making plans, and I enjoy things being planned. Knowing that we're doing something set in stone helps with my anxiety a bit, because it makes things less uncertain. That's one of the big things that makes it hard."

She smiled up at him, managing to not dwell on the thought of what he might've seen then. He didn't, so she wouldn't. She didn't want to make him think about it more either.

“I like doing things for each other. Whenever you organise things for me, it makes me feel loved, and I love doing things for you. Even if sometimes it's making up for something. I also know it isn't just that… It's because you love me. And it still makes me feel spoiled. I'm just not used to it." She giggled softly, hugging him tighter. There was a giddy feeling overcoming her slowly. Like the feeling of a first relationship, a first love… He made her feel like that more often than she ever had before.

“You definitely are the best to me. I wouldn't want anyone else… Honestly, if you were perfect, I don't think I'd be able to cope. I'd turn into a sappy puddle or something. Though… you're perfect to me anyway."

Casey made sure to look into her eyes too, and grasp her genuine affection from them before leaning in to kiss her a little more intimately. Pulling away, he smiled.
”You’re perfect for me too, Trishabee. My favorite person ever. Now, get your stretches in. Next stop’s the hot dog stand in the middle of Nowhere.” he giggled to himself.

---

After their trip to the hot dog stand in the middle of Nowhere, Casey took Trisha back home to drop her off before going on his crazy ride.

She was still anxious to see it go, but it was manageable. They had a date later. He’d be back for that.

There was enough time for her to chill with a book, curled up on the couch reading in quiet comfort. But knowing they were going out somewhere meant she wanted to dress up, and had to give herself enough time to get ready. It didn’t matter that she knew Casey would be happy for her to wear anything- she still wanted to put on something nice and do her makeup. She liked making herself look pretty and putting on the fancier clothes she’d brought along. Dresses and skirts that weren’t practical for their daytime activities.

When she was with other people, she dressed up to impress them- or attract them. But with Casey, it was for herself first. Because he loved her no matter what she looked like.

She was still getting ready when Casey came home, standing in their bathroom doing her makeup. She’d timed it perfectly- too perfectly, maybe, as she wasn’t ready until just before they were meant to be picked up.

“Sorry, I should’ve started getting ready earlier… Then I could’ve been ready when you got back.” Trisha called out as she finally came back downstairs. They’d seen each other when Casey came home, of course, but there hadn’t been any relaxing together since she was still getting ready.

She’d swapped her more practical sweater and cargo pants for a dress that absolutely wasn’t made for staying outside for long periods. Navy blue in colour, its bodice cut a low V without being too revealing while the sleeves went slightly down her shoulder. It clung tight to her upper body, before loosening at the hips with the skirt that fell midway down her calf. Her makeup was still subtly, with some smoky pinks around her eyes and her lips done a darker shade of dusky pink. Her hair was mostly left loose, aside from the front sections that had been waterfall braided back, looking like sections of her hairs were cascading through the braid. It kept her hair off her face completely too.

As she came down the stairs she was pulling on a cream coloured sweater, her warm down jacket left downstairs hung up. At least she knew now that Casey could heat it up enough she didn’t have to worry about dressing lighter for the journey from here to where they were eating.

“I know you’d be happy however I looked, but I wanted to dress up.”

Casey had quite the time after everything was said and done. He’d nearly wiped out, buried the thing twice, and worked up such a sweat that at this point he wasn’t going anywhere without a shower and a hair dryer. But, he was home safe, and he figured there was probably enough time for him to do what he needed to do. As she got finished, he was practically just getting his hair dried, still standing around the bathroom in a towel. Being prompted, he came around the threshold of the door and looked over at Trisha with a huge smile.

”One of my favorite parts about you is that you know you’re beautiful. You dress to accentuate all the glowing parts of yourself. And your hair! Y’know? D’you think you could tie mine? Nothing complicated… Braids can be manly depending on what kind they are, right?” he asked casually, having only ever seen men with braided beards.

“Of course I can. It’ll be easier than doing my own.” Trisha smiled sweetly at him, light blush dusting her cheeks. She didn’t do it for the compliments, but getting them was nice. Especially with how Casey complimented her. It always made it so obvious that he liked all of her, not just how she looked.

She shuffled towards him, looking at his almost dry hair rather than into his eyes. Obviously she’d seen it and felt it plenty, but thinking about braiding it was different. But it should be easier than hers, considering it was straight.
“Anything can be manly if you want it to be. If you feel like you are with it, then it is. I don’t really think it matters what is and isn’t ‘manly’ anyway as long as you're comfortable.”

It was what she believed even though she generally dressed quite femininely herself. Maybe less so when it came to casual outfits or practical wear, but she liked her dresses and skirts. And sure, she was often performative with her own dressing, but that was out of anxiety rather than belief. She’d never felt that, say, Cass shouldn’t be how she was, pushing against the gender expectations that still existed. She certainly didn’t expect Casey to perform the perfect ‘manly’ man. Other people had assumed that was what she wanted, but she just wanted someone genuine.

Casey himself, really.

“What do you want? Do you want me to braid all of it, or do some small braids through it, or do it sort of like mine and braid it back off your face?”

Casey looked thoughtful for a moment as he brushed out the last of the hair and stared for a moment.
”I always feel like there’s too much volume. So, maybe just braiding some of it throughout? Like a viking?” he asked simply, looking down at her with a nervous expression.

”I guess I should get my clothes first… One second, I’ll grab ‘em and get dressed down here. I asked for help picking this one out, so I hope you like it. It is a fancy restaurant, so… You did a good job dressing up.” he nodded, leaning down to kiss her before bounding up the stairs. A couple minutes later, he was back down in boxers and socks holding a bunch of other clothes.

”Got the jacket and everything. Anti-wrinkle enchantment, so they’re still nice and crispy!” he sat down on the couch, leaving his head accessible to be tugged at while they wait.

”There’s a bit of time left. Don’t rush, and whatever you don’t get done is fine. It’s spur of the moment, after all. Thank you! I love you!” he smiled back with great affection as he did his best to stay fully in the moment without running back out to work on the snowmobile.

“I love you too… And you don’t have to worry, I’m a fast braider. It’s the thing that I’m always fastest with, once I’ve decided what I’m doing.” Trisha said, happily following him over to the couch and getting behind him.

She was curious about what he was going to wear, especially if someone helped him pick it out. From what she could see in the neat bundle, it looked smarter than what he normally wore. It made sense if it was a fancy restaurant they were going to. Probably some kind of suit… She was excited to see it on him.

Smiling a bit wider, she got to work. It took a moment to think of what to do- or where to put the braids. He said it was fine whatever she got done, but she wanted it to look nice and even. She started at the front, braiding slightly back a section over his ear before letting the braid fall down just behind it. It meant he also didn’t have to worry so much about his hair getting in his face. Then, she just went for relatively simple braids evenly spaced apart. It was easy and relaxing for her to do, deftly twisting the hair together.

“How was the crazy driving? I didn’t get a chance to ask when you came back, since I was trying to finish my makeup so you could shower.” She said almost apologetically, as if he hadn’t seen exactly why she didn’t pause to ask him loads of questions then. She didn’t realise it was a possible dangerous question, seeing as he was trying not to run out and get to work on it- or maybe it would be the opposite.

“You looked like you had a lot of fun… And ran around rather than driving a snowmobile.”

”Oh, Baby… I’m a speed freak. Honestly, it’s so much fun. Y’know that kind of bumpy section near the middle of the trail we were on? How you started laughing, because our helmets were mashing together? Well, if you hit that spot fast enough, it becomes smooth again! Because the skis on the front of the machine don’t have the same chance to get caught by the little divots in the snow!”

He was untucking pants; Navy blue slacks that he stuck his socked feet through the legholes of before unfurling a light grey button up. He didn’t particularly like button ups, finding them to be a little restrictive to form. But, these had been made for him recently enough that he had faith in the measurements. But first, he waited for her to finish the braid she was on before pulling away with a tap on her hand.

He slid his undershirt on, a thermal with his moisture wicking enchantment that clung tightly to him, before pulling all of his hair out of the neck.

”Belt, or suspenders? Or, both?” he asked for a moment, pausing before looking at her squarely.
”And… Well, did your relaxing go well? Are the bees okay?” he asked innocently.

“Just a belt? Unless you think you need both.” Trisha responded with a slight shrug. She wasn’t so fond of how suspenders looked, but it wasn’t a strong enough preference that she felt it really mattered.

“It went well. Far less excited than going fast enough that bumps don’t matter. We were already going pretty fast.” She shook her head with a soft laugh. She glanced over at where Princess lay nearby, at her original size. Trisha would shrink her back down to bring her along in her handbag tonight, just in case. She liked always having some connection with the bees.

“The bees are fine too. I called a small group through, just to keep them happy. I’m glad it’s a two way portal, even if sending them back is a bit more finicky, because they tend to protest.” She wrinkled her nose, gaze turning back to him.
“It makes my life so much easier. Before, taking a holiday was so difficult… I either had to leave them the whole time, or figure a way to bring them along. That meant either letting them treat me like both their Queen and their hive, or bringing a mini hive box with me. Now I don’t have to worry about that. Especially with how cold it is outside. They’re hardier than normal bees, but they’d still normally spend most of their time inside or in my clothes during winter.”

Casey nodded quietly.
She never got to pet them.

”Ginny really loved those bees. Said she wanted a place where they’d always be safe and happy for you. Like a bee bank. Deposit, withdraw, but it’s always secure. I… Really don’t know why she latched onto you so tightly. I think maybe Hari was right. She said something about Gin being the other little sister, and that just like Mia, she’s attached to me. Rather than get jealous of a new person in my life, she just… I guess she knew without knowing that you’d accept her. And, obviously we’ve got Mia’s whole problem…-”

Pausing, he mulled over the entire situation with a morbid laugh before shaking his head.

”-You’ve got some fucked up admirers. Go figure, huh?”

“You’ve got to be fucked up to admire me.” She intoned, in a way that could’ve been sarcastic humour, but probably wasn’t when it was her.

She shook her head, trying to not let herself get trapped in the mire that was thinking like that. Especially not when Casey had brought up Gin. If he was thinking about her- and talking about her- there was always a risk of a mood drop. Of course there was, after what had happened. And of course he was going to think about her all the time. Trisha just didn’t want to add to any creeping negative feelings by letting her shitty self confidence come through.

Especially when she’d been doing fine. Feeling confident, even, though that was more in how she looked than anything else. It often was.

“It makes sense if it’s because of an attachment to you. Mia has all of the dreams about me too, but Gin didn’t. So… It probably is what Hari said. Though I don’t really know if I accepted her.” She frowned, hands carefully returning to his hair to continue braiding. It was helpful.

“That sounds bad. I mean enough. I probably could’ve done more. Like Cass did. For Mia too. I’m trying to improve there too.” She continued, quieter.
“I know it isn’t entirely secure yet, but the Greenhouse connected with Princess is sort of like a bee bank. So Gin managed to achieve what she wanted, even if it could’ve been something crazier. To me it’s exactly what I need.”

Casey looked down at Trisha for a moment before leaning in and kissing her on the head. He’d been sliding a belt into his pants before tucking his shirt fully and cinching it all together. He didn’t let the momentary grief surface, and so it sunk back down into the tar of his mind as he tried to keep it trapped. She didn’t need him doing that right now…

”Well… As long as we’re smart enough, she left us the blueprints for something better. When we settle down, we’ll move everything. Integrate it with the land. See if we can cohabitate comfortably with the local wild bees, or if it’d be more beneficial using that integration technique buried in those pheromone signals of yours. Bring all the local wild bees to heel… So cool.”

He was looking sharp now that everything was buttoned, zipped and locked. The grey shirt already had a pair of smokey quartz cufflinks, and all that was left was the tie, a jacket, and a pair of shoes that Greyson had told him to get. He looked at them for a moment, and couldn’t help but laugh that he was holding yet another dead person’s memory.

”D’you ever… Feel like you’re surrounded by ghosts? I don’t mean like a Black Adept, I just mean…-”
He held the shoes in his hand a second more before huffing.
”-Nevermind. Don’t worry about answering that, it’s not a good question for right now. I don’t even know why Greyson gets a sad thought in my head, these fucking shoes…” he grumbled, deciding to rip the bandage off and slip them on one after the other.

“Greyson definitely doesn’t deserve it.” Trisha commented, glancing down at the shoes then back up at Casey. They were nice shoes… And she assumed they were recommended by Greyson. It made sense. While Greyson was a massive asshole, he was a fashionable asshole.

“Lean back a bit so I can finish the braids.” She asked gently after he’d slipped on his shoes, hands slipping back into his hair now that he wasn’t leaning over to get them on.
“I only have a few left to do.”

She really was fast about it, with the first two taking a little longer because of the way she did them over the ears. The rest were basic braids interspersed in his hair, working from outside to the inside in case she ran out of time. It was simple, but it looked nice in her opinion.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to cohabitate the bees, as long as there are enough resources. A variety of wild bee species co-exist already in peace. The only ones that don’t do it peacefully are cuckoo bees… But integration would be interesting. It could lead to efficient resource management and plant pollination. I’d definitely need to delegate some of my work to other, smarter bees, though.” She went back to the previous topic, seeing as Casey asked her not to answer his question. She didn’t know how to anyway… Not without making it sad.

She did feel surrounded by ghosts, but for her it was as much ghosts of expectations and judgments as it was people. She didn’t have as many deaths haunting her… but there were still some.

“At least the majority won’t produce honey I need to collect. Wild honey bees are rare, and other bees don’t produce it in quantities that can be harvested. I’ll be able to keep the honey bees to a level that’s manageable while making my business profitable- There, all done.” She smiled, letting go of the end of the last, central braid she’d done.

She’d made it a bit wider than the others, with the two over his ears also being the same width. They were all relatively thin, though- with the majority being wide enough to stand out without being too obvious. She’d done nine braids in the end, blending them nicely with the loose hair around them.

“I think they look nice. I think you look very nice.”

He didn’t look at them at all before thanking her and complimenting her. Casey knew full well that whatever Trisha did would be perfect, and he didn’t have to see for himself to know. He intended to, of course, standing slowly and pushing himself up to his full height before spinning and bending down to kiss her over the couch.

”You’re a lifesaver. Getting to grow it out so long again, I wanted to actually do things with it. But, I figured out that I didn’t really have the patience. So, it was equally hard to automate something with magic that would do it for me… Because, y’know, it doesn’t hold my attention well.” he admitted lifting a hand up to feel the little braids tied into his mane of black hair.

As a child, Clarissa had fussed over anyone who would let her. She loved hair: Apparently that’s what she wanted to do as a child. Though, he found out that she’d never felt fulfilled until Ivetta’s hair started coming in, and she realized the Caribbean curls had met Furio’s European straights. Ivetta’s wavy, almost untamable mop of hair became a lifelong challenge for her. Thus, the Richoux children were no longer subject to her whims.

Then it all went away when he signed on to the Legion. He didn’t get it back until standards started to drop during long operations in Africa. Once that was done, he barely had a boss, as the Warrantry were basically a clade of self-sufficient experts and specialists available to the wider Armed Forces. If Casey showed up somewhere with a mop of hair and the CO didn’t like it, it was easier to just send for an alternative than it was to tell him to go freshen up.

Self admittedly, he’d always felt satisfied being fussed over. Maybe it was the middle child syndrome, moments of attention that he couldn’t help but wish he got. It wasn’t in him to act up… He never wanted to force anyone to pay attention to him. He just wanted it to happen. Now, he approached the mirror and ran his hand down the back of his hair. Tugging it all forward so he could look at the individual strands hiding among the forest, he smiled and then looked back at her.

”I knew it’d be perfect. You’re perfect.” he grinned, finally moving toward her again fully and offering the opening for her to slide into by his side.
”Let me get your coat warmed up.”

“Yes please. This dress isn’t as warm as my other clothes.” Trisha smiled back at him, immediately slotting in his side. She fit so perfectly there, just like he was made for her. Maybe they were made for each other… Though she didn’t really believe in fate or a higher power, it was nice to think something like that sometimes.

“Now you can always get your hair done, even without having any patience for it. I’m happy to do it anytime you want me to. It’s relaxing for me, honestly.” She offered easily. She enjoyed doing her own hair, and it was nice to do Casey’s too. She’d happily teach him how to do it if that’s what he wanted, but if he didn’t have the patience to then she would just do it for him.

She twisted towards him, one hand coming up to rest on his chest as she looked up at him.
“You look very handsome dressed like this. You always look handsome, but I really like the suit on you. And-” She pointed to his slacks and jacket, then her dress. Both navy blue.
“I know it’s a common colour, but we’re accidentally matching. We’re just on the same wavelength even without discussing it.”

Casey nodded calmly as honey wafted up into the air. Trisha would be able to feel herself being enveloped in warmth with the enchantment’s effects returning in a more evenly distributed manner than previously. It was like a big hug, which only felt more real when Casey squeezed her tightly.

”Maybe we both picked it for the same reasons! I didn’t want to dress too dark, but I still wanted color that wasn’t too flashy. I thought about going with Christmas colors, like a really dark green and red, with, like, grey slacks and stuff… But, I figured maybe that would have a higher chance of embarrassing us both in a way I didn’t want. This feels refined. Like I’m a big ass Elf.” he giggled.

Then there was a chime that rang around them. Directed through the home entertainment system wired into the walls, the noise felt like it was a cloud of fog rolling through the room. Casey looked a little surprised, but made the short logical leap of assumption necessary to begin moving them toward the door.

”You have everything you need? We’re not driving ourselves up, remember.” he asked calmly, making sure to adjust his tie a little bit as they walked.

“Ah, I need to get my bag and Princess.” Trisha replied, squeezing his hand before darting back over to the couch. Princess was collected and shrunk down to a tiny size, before being put in Trisha’s small handbag. There were no pockets in her dress, so anything she needed had to go there. But with Princess inside, along with her money, lipstick and phone, she was good to go, moving back towards Casey.

Stepping outside, the two were met with an elegant sight. Leashed behind a duo of massive reindeer was a large, black sleigh parked just at the end of the driveway. Needing the snow pack to comfortably glide, the roadways outside remained undisturbed of snow, with nobody having come up or gone down the mountain in wheeled vehicles in several hours. While there was nobody to control the vehicle visually, there seemed to be some kind of automated crop awaiting their entrance.

Upon clamboring up after he’d helped Trisha, Casey sat himself down and closed the door of the sleigh. After a calm moment, the crop tapped one of the beasts, and the two of them began tugging along merrily as they started to head toward the mountain’s ascent. From this side, it was a three mile winding climb up slowly crawling bends that were once a mountain pass. On the other side, however, was a fully functioning railcar that took people staying at the ski resort over there up to the same mountaintop chalet.

As they settled in, there was a shifting in the bench seat in front of them as it turned into an actual bench, equipped with many different coolers and heaters for different beverages, as well as little snack cookies and other things one would nibble on if they weren’t having dinner. It was a whole tea party…

”Look at this, now! Jesus Christ on a spoon, even I’m starting to feel pampered, and it's not even my birthday weekend!” Casey joked, leaning down and kissing Trisha’s head again.
”What do you think? I think this kettle’s magic. If I-”

He took one of the tea cups and immediately saw the enchantment was masterfully translated into a physical switch similar to any other electronic. Except, this gave you drink choices. Flicking the switch to one side, he poured himself a piping hot and lusciously thick glass of hot cocoa.

”-Yep! Straight up hot chocolate. But, there’s an option for coffee, and tea… And then two other knobs. I think one’s for what kind of tea, then the others for the darkness of coffee roast!” he exclaimed, taking up his glass and taking a sip.
”And it’s fucking good!”

“Wow.” Trisha breathed out. It was a reaction to the sleigh itself, the changing bench, and then the magical kettle. She moved forward to look at the kettle with a smile. Having a switch that let you switch between different hot drinks… She didn’t know how it worked, but it seemed like it was impressive. Was it some kind of Purple-Orange like Cass’ new printer, that was connected to an endless supply of the drinks elsewhere.

“Magic really makes everything easy. We don’t have to interact with someone on the way up, nor do we have to try to make hot chocolate on a sleigh.” She laughed, leaning further forward to pick up a cup. She carefully poured some hot chocolate into it too, leaving a good amount of room at the top so there was no risk of spilling it.

She shuffled back properly onto their bench seat, turning slightly so her back leaned into Casey’s side lightly. It let her look out at the view down the mountain. For now, it was similar to what they got from the cabin, but she imagined it would only get more beautiful. The higher up they got, the more they’d be able to see. It was already pretty stunning.

“If it really is that nice, you might have to make us one.” She lightly teased, blowing on the hot liquid before taking a sip. It was fucking good. Really fucking good.
“Mmmm... It’s really good, you’re right. How is it made? The kettle itself, not the hot chocolate. I may be awful at cooking, but I know how that’s made.”

She twisted her head to look up at him, genuinely curious. It mingled with her excitement over the whole thing- this ride in something that felt like it had come right out of a winter fantasy.

It was a lot easier to miss the subtle honey scent as Casey examined the little contraption with magic.

”Oh, it’s a bit of a jumbled up mess. Or, an artistic expression… Lots of artifacts and enchanted items are like paintings, where you kind of get a main picture from one color while the details are supported by others. Here, its basically what I would call an ‘undying vessel’ that just makes it fuckin’-”

He smacked the kettle off the side rail of the sleigh, doing absolutely nothing to it.

”-y’know, its a brick shithouse. Assumedly, it’s fully non-stick, self cleaning, but the weird parts come in the details. Like the active organic ingredient provider that’s totally Green. Or, the hot water source, which is a Red apparatus… I can understand the green, but there’s an enchantment that can replicate liquid in a vessel, so if you filled it with hot water once, it’d have it forever.”

He could see why the person who made it that way did so. It all worked in tandem with decent efficiency, and didn’t seem to be wavering in any way with regards to its stability. All spells involved, and their connection to the Orange binding system, were in perfect working order. So, he didn’t want to put it down… But, his mind was almost always consumed by efficiency.

”But, I bet we could make one with Cass. It’d be easy enough. And, the bigger the machine, the more complicated we can make it. Material replication through Green-Orange joint casting is a fundamental part of magical industrialization, after all.” he grinned, tapping his glass against Trisha’s.

”Cheers to you, Birthday Girl.” he grinned.

“Cheers.” Trisha echoed with a wide smile before taking another sip.
“It’s already been the nicest birthday weekend I’ve had… And it’s three days away. It’ll only be even better after tomorrow too.”

It was a sad admittance, but Casey knew how bad her previous birthdays had been. Maybe the comparison was unnecessary, but she wanted him to know how much more loved he made her feel. It wasn’t just a small amount. She wasn’t enjoying scraps thinking they were a luxury meal because she’d been starved all her life.

“It’s the best by miles and miles. That gap will only keep increasing. I already feel… very loved. Thank you, Casey.” She leaned up to kiss him tenderly, slow and lingering. As she pulled back, her eyes scrunched playfully.
“And when we get back, you and Cass can make me the perfect late birthday present of an infinite hot drinks kettle!”

She was joking about that, as much as it would be a good thing to have in the future. The type of magical automation she was alright with, without feeling it was detracting from real life. Cass had already gotten her a present, and she assumed Casey had too… Unless everything he’d organised was the gift. That would be fine too.

“It’s nice not having to worry about Christmas at all. I know we already did something… But just knowing it’s going to be a normal day feels kind of relieving. Us going away already got rid of any worry I’d be dragged into some family event by Tansy, but it’s still nice to not even think about it… Though I guess if future Christmases are like what we did a couple of nights ago, I wouldn’t mind it. It felt like what I always imagined a family event should.”

She wasn’t trying to make the conversation sad, but rather feeling thankful. Thankful that she’d met Casey, and that he’d do all these things for her, and he’d introduced her to his family.

”Well, we’re gonna be in charge, right? Of our own lives, of the things around us: We can dedicate ourselves now, to making sure that we never have to deal with crappy holidays again. I know you want that peace just like I do. And we’ll make it happen.” Casey asserted before pulling his drink up to his lips.

”And, our kitchen? It’s gonna be so automated, you will be able to cook without trouble. I’ve already got so many ideas, Babe… For all the stuff that isn’t super intrusive, but enhances the quality of our lives! Not just a kettle that pours whatever, I’m talking like… A whole bunch of shit!”

He seemed excited about the prospect of making her the kettle. He was. It would be a cool project, and to see how efficient he could really get it would be great fun. The whole process would be fun… Building a home for Trisha and their children to feel safe and loved in. Building a home. Making it feel warm and inviting, while still being quirky in all the ways he wanted, wasn’t a concept Casey thought would be difficult either. Whimsy, after all, is the father of all warmth.

”I’m guessin’ you’d prefer the main house to be above ground, huh?” he asked playfully.

“Uh, yeah, I would. I’m an above ground person… Maybe it’s because of the bees. They’re always flying about, and making hives up trees. So above ground is the compromise between bunker and treehouse.” She leaned in to bump one shoulder into Casey with a teasing smile.

“Really, something underground feels like it’d be stifling. Though I’m sure you’d make something that isn’t like that! I just like being able to look out a window and see the outdoors.”

Though she was sure Casey could build them any house, and she’d end up liking it. Who was in it was more important than anything, as long as she could get outside and to her bees. If they were going to live in the middle of nowhere like this, there wouldn’t be any worry about being too far away from nature.

“And I’m definitely not going to say no to an automated kitchen… I don’t want to be too reliant on magic in the future, but stuff like that is fine. Like you said, enhances the quality of our lives. It’d mean I could cook, rather than you having to do it all! Which would be a pretty big win considering how bad I am at it.” She giggled, taking another sip off her hot chocolate.

She was sure with enough practice she could end up passable at cooking, but it was a lot of effort. When she struggled to make anything edible, it felt pointless to keep going until it eventually became alright to eat.

“I like your cooking, though, so it may be hard to want to eat my own.”

”What if we made the house into one big, giant hive?” he asked with a grin.
”Obviously not living right next to us, but why not let them live in the walls behind a facade, and make it all intelligent so we can harvest it without it being this incredibly annoying chore!” Casey added, the question filling his mind with problems and solutions in equal measure.

Trisha shook her head after a moment of thought.
“I wouldn’t mind putting bee routes in the house, so they can get in or to me through them… But I’d rather not have them in the walls like that. The separation we have right now is good. They can visit as they please, I can call them as I please, but they’re not as clingy. Also when we have children… I don’t know how the bees will be.”

She paused, smiling up at him. She didn’t want him to think she was entirely dismissing the idea. It was a good idea, just not for her.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but it’s just not really what I want. I’d like to encourage them to live more naturally when we move, since we’ll have the land. So I will need… Something to help with harvesting honey if they go make hives in random trees. I know it’s way more impractical, and I’d definitely like a house designed with the bees in mind… Just if they live in the walls, they’ll start crawling into bed with us.”

Casey had a rather immediate internal struggle over whether or not to press the point. His primary Richoux attitude wanted to explain the thousand different ways he could prevent all the issues that she may have in her head. But, it was his time outside of that cycle that always helped him not choose that option. It wasn’t to avoid a fight so much as it was to avoid the wasted breath. If she didn’t want things close and convenient, so be it. He’d make everything as convenient as she wanted. And no further.

After all, it was ultimately her responsibility. As much as she wanted him included, and would definitely accept his suggestions about most things, he knew she was ultimately in charge of all decisions regarding them. It was a royal thing. And that helped him out tremendously in terms of attitude shifting. She wanted what was best for her loyal and adoring subjects. She was a benevolent keeper, and a guardian of their best interests…

”We’ll teach the trees to lean down for you. Funny creatures, trees. Y’know they can relax? They just don’t, they’re nervous and tense all the time.”

He didn’t say that like it was a joke in spite of it being one. Green Lux could grow trees that bent. Or, some trees from different planes of existence could shift and move with crude musculature… But, trees here? They had to be enchanted to do anything close to that. He could only start laughing before she had a chance to acknowledge the joke as one. With his smile beaming, he shook his head.

”In all seriousness, we’ll work it out for you. Platform shoes or something…” he added, thinking about the platform enchantment that let people stand still on any surface comfortably, rather than a plain pair of platform pumps.

Trisha hadn’t been sure if he was making a joke about the trees before he laughed- he’d said it so seriously, and with magic anything was possible. Though the bit about them relaxing had seemed off… So she giggled a bit as she realised it was a joke. It was ridiculous to think that the trees standing so tall and straight was because they were tense.

“Mhm, that sounds good. We’ll have time to figure it out, too. I’d give them hive boxes when we first move anyway- or the greenhouse if we move it. Then I’d just encourage them slowly to move. I want my business established enough before I have to go climbing trees for all the honey. With the prices Andrade was paying, it’s a luxury honey rather than bulk made… So if it’s popular enough, I won’t have to constantly harvest and sell.”

Casey nodded in turn.
”You could always withhold stock, vintage it, like how wine companies do? They make a fuck ton of wine, then just let it sit in warehouses… Artificial demand? Or something? Obviously if you were selling medicine to poor people, we’d be passing it out as fast as possible. But, if we’re selling magical honey to rich people…” his voice trailed off, looking at her with a wink.

”Actually… Do you have any!? We should pitch it to the chef up here too!” he asked, suddenly very excited for commerce.
”Imagine? We don’t need Andrade if we muscle our way into every Roclette Star restaurant in the country!” he added.

Trisha shook her head, pouting a little bit. It was a great idea… If only she had any honey on her. She had brought some on holiday with them, but she’d opened that jar this morning. They were running painfully low too, though she knew there’d be plenty for her to harvest when they got home.

“Not on me. I have a mostly full jar back at the cabin, but I don’t think this can turn around. Maybe we can go up again… Or try another time?” She let out a quiet, but playful, huff.
“I knew I should carry a little jar around with me everywhere. You never know when it’ll be needed… I’ll have to start from now on.”

She was half joking, little pout turning into a smile up at him.
“It’s a great idea… If it really is as good as he says, other chefs are sure to like it. Though I’m not sure how we pitch it. ‘Hi we’re here to eat, but would you also like to try some of my honey? I swear it’s very nice and not some weird pyramid scheme.’”

Casey shook his head.
”Kind of, but more like… ‘We happen to own and operate a honey farm, our product is extremely high quality, and we’d be honored if you gave it a try and sent us feedback.’ We give them a jar, and a card, all after we’ve eaten our meal. So there’s no sense of it being an ambush, or anything dumb.” he grinned.

”And, I mean… If it’s good enough, we’ll almost definitely come back on Christmas.” he nodded and grinned.
”And if it isn’t? We just won’t sell our honey here.”

It was easy enough for him to do that kind of thing. He knew how to be impactful without being so ‘in your face’ that he’d turn off potential buyers. He’d seen people do just this to Andrade, who was always looking for something new and interesting to cook with. He could only hope that other chefs held the same voracious appetite for new ingredients.

”Kind of makes me feel like a talent manager. I’m out here promoting bees, for Christ’s sake…” he laughed loudly, arm squeezing Trisha tightly as he thought about his situation. It was certainly worth laughing and smiling over in this regard.

“The bees need promotion more than people do, since they can’t talk for themselves. You’re doing important work.” Trisha joked, laughing along with him. She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek with a smile.

“Thank you. I wouldn’t know how to do it myself.”

---

Arriving at the restaurant was a breathtaking kind of sight. There were scant few vehicles up here near the apex of this particular peak, though the parking lot looked like it could maintain quite a few arrivals. Everything here was magically maintained, with the lot completely clear of snow and steaming gently with radiant warmth. The Pinnacle... There weren’t any signs indicating the name of the place, but one could easily tell that it was certainly the tops. Warm wood, huge glass windows giving every single dining area a full view off the mountain and into the inky black of the world below, or the bright swaths of burning stars above.

The sleigh brought them right to the door, where their waiter was already expecting them and immediately took some simple drink orders as he led them into the main area. Meant for galas, balls and other events with a lot of rich people, the main dining room was a massive space currently full of people eating. Of course, most people were getting here from the Ski lift on the other side, which meant they were either coming right off the slopes, or had to trudge in their nice clothing from the bottom lot, up to the station, then down the small road to get here…

But, at least it wasn’t empty. Casey felt like it may’ve been uncanny if the place had been emptied out for just them. It was much better, at that point, to be taken to the luxury dining area. And that place was far more quiet and empty. Not devoid, as there were still several other parties dressed immaculately and chatting amongst themselves about this or that, but far more managed and intimate. The area itself was full of warm wood tones and brass accents, like any skiing or hunting lodge should be. It felt like an old timey saloon, but with way more class.

Their personal attendant led them to a couple’s table, with candles and bright green plants adorning the center in a beautiful piece. As they were seated, and the attendant left for the drinks, Casey grinned widely and looked around the place.

”It’s exactly what I was hoping it would be.” he smiled.

Trisha nodded without saying anything immediately, too busy looking around her and taking in everything. It was clearly luxurious, but in a way that felt comfortable and warm rather than cold and unfeeling. She was far too used to luxury without personality. Not gaudy, as truly rich people didn’t need to show off tons of gold when they knew the value of other materials, but it was rarely warm.

Even the one ‘western’ themed gala Tansy had hosted was nothing like this. The venue had been gaudy, though for once she couldn’t blame her horrible older sister for that. It was a rare time when she was too busy running other events to be overbearing, and the hired team made most of the decisions without checking with her. As much as Trisha hated her, she did have to give her some credit for being good at her ‘job.’

“It’s surprisingly cozy. I really like it.” Trisha turned her attention back to Casey with a smile. Of course it wasn’t the luxury she commented on, but the nice atmosphere of the place.

“This is the kind of rich person place I actually like. It feels like it was designed for people, rather than appearances.” She continued, her face softened by the gentle glow of the candles between them. When it hit her eyes they looked almost amber, rather than the dark brown then tended to be without enough light to highlight the true hazel colour.

“Hopefully the food’s as good as the place looks. And it’s filling. You know how in some fancy restaurants they do more courses but they're all tiny? Even I come away from that kind of meal feeling unsatisfied and I don’t eat much.”

”I’m pretty sure they’re a steak house.” he replied simply, awkwardly shuffling the table behind theirs to give himself a bit more room before sitting down.

Classically speaking, that form of restaurant was always portion and quality first. The food wasn’t fancy, but it was good, and it was expensive to source. Exotic meats and vegetables, the best spices…

”After those sandwiches yesterday, I’m thinking about having an actual steak. Or, y’know, some big hunk of meat on my plate. But, I’m… Kind of worried. Like, I don’t want to get sick or get that cold feeling I get if I cut into it and can’t deal with it… Maybe they’ve got some kind of sauce or something, it’ll cover up the way the meat looks.” he commented as he took the free water on his side and absolutely downed it.

”Sometimes, I wish I did get a more comprehensive Pink treatment. At least for shit like this, stuff that doesn’t matter… But, I feel like it wouldn’t be worth it if I didn’t work through it on my own.”

Trisha understood when it came to Pink treatment. She’d never wanted someone to mess with her mind like that, even now that she’d accepted she probably had depression and some form of PTSD. Though for her it was more from her dislike of someone getting in her head, rather than feeling the improvement was more worth it without magical intervention.

“I sort of understand. At least, I understand preferring to work through it yourself even if it affects your life. Maybe it doesn’t matter… And if you really ended up wanting something done in the future, I wouldn’t discourage it, but… Well it’s part of you. Getting something erased feels weird.” She bit her lip, shrugging.
“Not in the romantic way, of trauma making you a better person or being necessary. Just that if it’s erased with Pink Lux, what else might go with it?”

That was probably just her healthy paranoia and less healthy anxiety over Pink Adepts and other mind adjusting magic coming through, though.
“Is it easier if it’s fully cooked, or is it difficult no matter how red or not red it is inside?”

”The more obscured, the easier. Fried shit’s easy, it all looks the same. But yeah, if it’s cooked completely through, I have an easier time looking at it. Not eating it though. Because then it’s really gross, like overcooked beef is the worst. Plus, I can’t be one of those people who gets a steak well done: What’ll they think in the kitchen? They buy these meats, work hard learning how to cook ‘em… Nah. I’ll figure something out.”

At that moment, drinks, bread, menus, and a special guest all arrived at once. The private dining room got just a little quieter as a man in a deep red Chef’s jacket approached their table alongside the server.

“Mr. and Mrs. Richoux, I presume?” he asked politely.

Casey beamed widely, shooting the glance at Trisha. That is what he’d put on the reservation, after all.

”That would be us, yes. What can I do for you?” Casey asked calmly.

The man in the coat, his face aged and weathered, smiled down at the two of them with bright and twinkling eyes.

“Not quite the two people I expected to see… Though, I assume after all these years, your Father wouldn’t just walk into my restaurant without coming to see me. You’re… Casey? My my, how you’ve grown.”

Casey didn’t know this man… But, he knew Gravity, which was common enough around St. Portwell that he knew how to deal with the moment in good grace.

”I can only presume Mom and Dad were frequent visitors?” he asked politely.

The man, the Chef, nodded.

“I used to have a place in Denver. Matisse?”

Casey immediately stood up.

”Oh, my God! Chef Dubois! Sir, I’m so sorry, I-”

“We’ve both gotten older, haven’t we!?”

The older man laughed, and though dwarfed by Casey, they both embraced tightly before slightly pulling away.

“Come, come… You and your beautiful wife, we bring you out back. Chef’s table! Please, I must cook for you.” he insisted, opening himself up to Trisha as well.
“I am Patrick Dubois, young Lady… Chef Proprietor of this beautiful establishment for over a decade now.” he stuck his hand out, not to shake, but to graciously help her stand from the table.

Casey looked down with slight surprise, not having expected this. He really wasn’t sure if Trisha was going to be alright either, but it seemed rude to drag her away from the relative intimacy they had in that moment.

Trisha had been watching with a polite smile, eyes widened slightly in surprise. She’d almost made a comment earlier to Casey about how they wouldn’t run into anyone they knew here, so far away from St Portwell… But it had happened anyway.

There was a light blush on her cheeks from the word wife being thrown around, and the fact it had clearly been booked that way. It caused butterflies in her stomach, and a light, giddy feeling she assumed would eventually go away sometime after they were actually married. She’d have to get used to it, after all. She was already so happy to be engaged to Casey, nevermind what came after.

It meant she was slightly swept up in everything that was happening, taking Chef Dubois’ hand and letting him help her up.

“Trisha-” She cut herself off before continuing with her surname, more than happy to play along there.
“Nice to meet you.”

Though she took a moment to actually think about what was being offered. A chef’s table… What exactly was a chef’s table? Something in the kitchen? Would it be more private, or much less private? She wasn’t sure, because she’d never actually had something like this happen. Plenty of people knew the Vanburen family, but not to the point of inviting them into a kitchen.

“Sorry to ask, but what exactly does a ‘chef’s table’ entail? I’ve never experienced something like that, and I like to know what to expect before doing something.” She said, overly polite. Chef Dubois clearly wasn’t someone Casey knew well, but between the calling him Sir and the hugging there must be some amount of respect there. She didn’t want to upset him.

It would be difficult to tell, even for Casey, how she felt about being dragged away from their current table to another. She didn’t actually know what it would be like, so she didn’t even know how to feel about it. She liked their current table well enough- it was nice and intimate, for just the two of them. But maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, and she’d feel really bad turning it down just out of fussiness.

“As long as it’s not less private or comfortable than we currently have I won’t complain, though.” She added, a bit quieter, glancing up at Casey.

Casey had only ever been to a chef’s table in Andrade’s restaurants, but at least that helped him understand what the experience could be like. Though he too wanted to be polite to this old man, whom he did recall a warm memory of. One Andrade was tangentially a part of, but so were a few other people. Notorious people at that…

”I have to agree with my wife, Chef… Enlighten us?” he offered politely, in hopes that this old French dandy would have a half way decent explanation.

His eyes lit up in turn.
“Beautiful and prosperous as you two are, you’ve not visited a Chef’s table? Not even your dear friend, eh… Salamente, de-”

Casey scoffed.

”Oh, Andrade’s restaurants are always booked up. Occasionally Mom would eat in at one, but frankly I’ve been in the Service! I haven't had the chance to enjoy myself until recently.”

Maybe it was scary, or in some way unsettling, to hear how easily Casey managed to lie through his teeth. He didn’t skip a beat in referring to Trisha with a title she didn’t quite have yet, and at the same time, he was implying through omission that they had possibly been together for some time. There was no way the old man was going to know otherwise without actually pressing Casey, which he didn’t seem worried about when he had his own affairs to gush about.

It was starting to seem like all these chef types were the same… Just a little egotistical.

“Oh, my! Please, it is romance itself. You come, the booth is plush, extra comfortable. Wood and cloth hug you both, bring you in close. The noise is dulled, but the sights are yours from behind the observation veil. Candles hang from the ceiling, everburning without wax, and illuminate the food in such a way that you will see every molecule of fat glisten a thousand colors… You will sip wine sourced from a common friend, and his magical vineyard beneath the rolling California wine country fields… Undergrape.”

The man ended in hushed, reverent tones as the idea of the undergrape hung in Casey’s mind. He knew of Marco D’cigglio, but Leon was the one who actually knew the guy.

”Oh! Y’know, Marco was at a party recently which we attended… I didn’t speak to him, unfortunately… Still, that does sound nice. Maybe a little extravagant, but I think it would be a wonderful thing to have for her birthday weekend.” Casey commented gently, looking down at Trisha again.

Chef Dubois’ eyes actually caught alight, blazing up into a flame as he was unable to hide his magical excitement.

“Madame, your birthday!? I was uninformed by booking… They’ll have my voice in their head a fortnite! Non, there’s no way I can let either of you escape now… You will be bathed in luxury! Come!”

Chef Dubois' excitement was a little much for Trisha, her head swimming at the description of the table. It didn't so much sound extravagant as it sounded unrealistic. Booths so comfortable even the wood hugged them? Candle light that made fat glistening a rainbow? If she wasn't so good at keeping up the polite mask, she would've laughed. It did make her want to see it for herself. The wine sounded nice at least, even though she didn't remember who Marco was. A party… Someone at Cass' birthday?

The mention of her birthday and the attention focusing on her intently made her blush a bit more. Though, maybe that was from the literal flame eyes. She didn't even need to ask if he had magic, did she? She was going to assume he did anyway, since anyone who was friendly with Casey's parents seemed to be.

“My birthday's not for a few days, so maybe it wasn't on the booking. It's not a big deal." Trisha played it down, glancing up at Casey with slightly raised eyebrows. The excitement and celebration for her was nice, but she wouldn't be able to handle it all evening.

“But I'm not going to protest, because that sounds very nice." If kind of insane as a description of a dining place.
“Especially if my husband thinks it would be a ‘wonderful thing'. I can't argue against him wanting to spoil me."

As she spoke she carefully bent down to pick up her handbag. Though they'd offered to put it in a safe cloakroom along with their coats, she'd insisted on keeping a hold of it. They'd be fine, and Casey was there, but she never felt comfortable without some connection to her bees. Normally it was a small group with her, but right now that was through Princess.

She reached out to take Casey's hand, smiling up at him. If the other table was still private and intimate, she didn't have a problem with it.
“Let’s go see this extra romantic table."

Wordlessly, Chef Dubois clapped his hands and sent them both forward.

“I will only ask if you have any dietary restrictions? You Richoux are big eaters, so I expect you to eat what I send you!” he yapped from behind them, scuttling forward to meet their strides as they made it into the main dining room.

Casey shook his head, starting to laugh loudly.
”Chef! You’re spoiling us, please! Eh… I don’t think there’s anything in the way of allergies, but I think, if you could do a guy a personal favor?” Casey asked eludingly.

“What’s that, Monsieur?” he asked in reply, smiling widely.

”I have… A little bit of a problem. The war, you see: Red meat? It-”

The Chef skirted to a stop, pivoting on his heels like a ballerina and grabbing hold of Casey by the gut to stop him as well. He did so in great surprise, body turning fully to look down at the grey haired, stone faced man in the red jacket.

“-My Son… He deals with the same issue, Mr. Richoux. May I ask where you served?” he asked empathetically, the flame in his eyes simmering down to a deceptively calm pure white flame.

”-Oh, a little bit of everywhere, Sir… Uh… I se-”

Dubois stuck his hand up, finger pressing against Casey’s lips.

“Non! No pain… I apologize deeply. I will do for you what I do for my boy! You’ll eat your meat: Order what you wish, and you will be satisfied with the other things I make for you in turn. Be still!”

Casey could only start laughing, actually getting a little hysteric as he turned back to Trisha. The Chef was already rushing toward the kitchen when he spoke.

”I don’t fucking remember this guy being like this… Holy shit, he put his finger on my lips!” he cracked up.

Trisha looked wide eyed at the Chef’s already disappearing back, before looking up at Casey, shaking her head in disbelief.

“He asked and then he put a finger on his lips to stop you answering.” She said quietly, still looking a bit shocked, before letting out a small laugh.
“Maybe you don’t remember because he was less eccentric compared to everyone else you were surrounded by?”

”Yeah, I guess that’s what I get for being born into the Jaackson Family.” he shook his head in return, the waiter actually guiding them through to where the Chef was waiting.

Next to him, there was a big dark wood booth slotted into the wall that looked out at the absolute madness of this kitchen. It, like Andrade’s had been, was loud, full of people talking and the sound of things searing and frying in pans, grills, the clanking of pots and spoons, voices asking for this and that… They’d both been led down, and Casey held Trisha’s hand as she stepped up into the booth to slide around. Casey followed her in, slotting into the center.

Chef Dubois stood proud as a peacock while glasses were brought, as well as settings for two. It was then that the two would be able to feel the velvety richness of the booth’s cloth seats and backing. The cushions themselves weren’t unsupportive, but remained pliable and luxurious in a truly well built fashion. Above them was the most amazing chandelier, miniaturized with what had to be a thousand little candles all flickering away like gems in the air. The different colored waxes only gave that impression further, making the reflections of color into the hanging rhinestones look like the projections of sapphires, rubies, emeralds and a thousand other gemstones that they ultimately weren’t.

They didn’t have to be. It was a beautiful piece. Chef stood in front of the table as they settled in, grinning from ear to ear.

“I have a little uh… Speech I do. If you would please-”
He cleared his throat.
“My name is Chef Patrick Dubois, again, and formally I would like to welcome you to the mountaintop restaurant Le Summum... The Pinnacle! Where once was a small dining hall for intrepid climbers is now a place of culinary delight, where we specialize in classic American steakhouse fare prepared with classic French technique and fresh, all natural ingredients found both here and abroad. It’s my pleasure to invite you to my table, which I have built with my own two hands and placed here for the enjoyment of my most esteemed guests.”

He smiled and nodded at both of them, leaning in slightly.
“This is usually when I say something nice about you, my guests. A memory, or a reason why we’re friends! But, tonight, I must rely on my memories of your Father, and hope that I may graciously honor your family in turn. Maxwell was a good man. It was a shame I wasn’t able to feed him again. So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw your name on the ticket list. I’m honored to see you both, and to meet a fine young man and woman like yourselves.”

By the time he got to this point, two glasses of an incredibly blue-hued wine had been poured into their glasses, and bread had hit the table in a warm puff of doughy steam.

“So, without further adieu, please: Enjoy, and I’ll be back with some snacks for you to enjoy soon enough.”

They were left with menus, their original drinks, and now as nobody was in front of them, the gentle shimmer of some kind of magical veil that fell across the opening of the booth. At the same time, with nobody to potentially let in, the booth began to relax itself, curling inward so that both Trisha and Casey were just the perfect distance from the table. And it really did feel like a hug.

”Oh, holy shit…” Casey nearly faceplanted the table, still laughing.
”What is it with the craziness around us? Is that ever gonna end as a trend?” he asked her with great humor in his voice as he started to roll his sleeves up.

“If we ban Leon and Cass from the ranch, it might.” Trisha responded, completely deadpan.

She wasn’t serious, obviously. Between them and the girls, there was bound to still be plenty of craziness. But especially from Cass. At least Leon was the one who got the worst of it, with her weird body transformations.

“I thought he was exaggerating. But the booth really did hug us. Now I just need to see a bit of fat to see if it glistens with a thousand colours.” She shook her head. Though when she’d been so doubtful she hadn’t known for sure Chef Dubois had magic. It still seemed a bit crazy. But the booth was comfortable, and she quite liked sitting next to Casey. Sure, it meant she had to twist around a bit to look into his eyes, but it also brought them closer to each other.

She reached forward for her glass of wine, eyeing it with a hint of suspicion before bringing it closer to smell it.

“Why is it so blue? Is it- Wait!” She interrupted herself, eyes widening slightly.
“He thinks I’m a Richoux! I didn’t think about it at the time because of how it was said… You Richoux are big eaters. Is he going to bring loads of extra plates and expect me to eat them?”

”Well… Maybe? I’ll let him know after the first one. Maybe… I wanna see what he brings! I’ll eat it, fuck it.” he laughed loudly.

Casey jostled around in his seat a little, trying to find a good place to settle in before really looking around.
”So… This guy? I’m guessing… Red, orange, and green. The culprit who made our favorite sleigh kettle. Which means that the booth is probably living wood, enchanted with a set of motions-to-poses. Quirky ass magic.” he commented sideways.

“All three?” Trisha looked surprised. From what she knew, having three or more Lux types was rare. It weakened them too, or something like that. That’s why she assumed there was strange Luxal colour purity in some Adeptal families.

“That is quirky. The booth is nice, but it seems a bit over the top… Maybe it's a red, orange and green thing? Being quirky I mean. I knew someone with that combination before, and she was… Interesting. Her main spell that combined all three was transforming into a magical girl.” She laughed slightly at the memory. It had always been extra ridiculous when surrounded by the Stygian Snake’s monsters.

“I guess that makes the living wood booth seem a bit less eccentric.”

Casey looked at her with a great deal of admiration as he giggled at the idea of someone using their magic to transform them into that. He understood something to intimidate, or to actually help in a fight. But, just…

”Wait, wait… I know that one I think. Ella? Or something? Just you watch, I bet he’ll come back here with a fucking sailor outfit on and a skirt.” he cackled again, finally picking up the menu to start perusing.

”One of the guys in my squad when I was in Italy really loved those kinds of anime. Said he couldn’t wait until the war was over so they could get back into production, which…” Casey shrugged, not exactly knowing how far along the entertainment sect was from recovering for them.

”D’you remember any other interesting combinations from those days? Anyone else with cool magic that sticks out to you?” he asked casually, striking the conversation up as he took a sip of the deep blue wine.
”Also, uh… Don’t worry. It’s a funky grape, it grows underground, but it’s not dangerous. Enjoy the tartness.”

Trisha had been letting the scent of the wine waft into her nose like you were supposed to- or at least, she was pretending to, when in reality she was suspiciously sniffing it. But Casey had taken a sip and he said it was safe. It just looked incredibly strange. She finally raised the glass to her mouth, taking a small sip before putting it down.

“Oh, that’s quite nice.” She was a bit surprised, since it was quite tart and she didn’t tend to go for drinks like that. But it was nice.

“As for magic, there were quite a few interesting combinations. I guess it’s what happens when you get a massive group of magical teenagers around. Ella was probably one of the most unique ones, though, because she was so crazily into that and would go around yelling out her spells names in a sailor dress, but was also actually very good in a fight.” Trisha said. While she’d never been close to Ella, there hadn’t been any bad blood between them.

“We had two Adepts with four lux types too. I’ve mentioned Anya before.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Not sure I’d call hers cool though. She messed with dreams. Actually went into them, or something. Then Sage too. They were Red, Green, Yellow and Gold. They could do a bit of everything, rather than really specialising… But theirs was cool because they would think of unique ways to make it useful. They were a good person.”

Her smile wavered for a moment, but she pushed through that. She didn’t want to linger on any sadness over their death right now. But they’d been the one who treated her best of her ‘friends.’ The rich clique who never made the effort to keep in touch with her.

“Oh, there was Jasper, who could pull constructs out of paintings. They weren’t always the strongest, but it was cool. Unique too, using his Lux types and his love of painting.”

Casey nodded, considering such a disparate group of Lux types coming together into a single person. It’d have to be two dual lineages at least… That was the kind of dilution that actual magical families strove to keep away from. Sticking to a core Lux meant that families could develop training methods that worked for them, and could share spells back and forth across the line so that every individual in turn made the group stronger. Safer. He was amazed at how few people he’d met who surpassed three Luxal influences until a commanding officer had explained it to him.

”They say it’s a miracle for people like that to Kindle at all. So many strong emotions all at once is a state that nobody really assumes someone will hit until they do. The more colors, the more of a lottery it becomes.” he shrugged slightly.

”That’s why hearing about what Adepts in that situation do with their magic is fascinating. It’s a whole bag of tricks…”

He paused for a moment, thinking about what she’d said exactly before continuing on.
”Also, Sycamites don’t usually get that distinction from you, Trisha. Whoever Sage was, they really deserve the praise.”

Trisha inclined her head, smiling slightly. It was true. She didn’t normally talk that positively of Sycamites, bar Martin. At most, it ended up neutral. And most she had neutral feelings towards died to the Snake.

“Sage Pimm.” She said quietly, like saying their surname would explain everything rather than being more likely to do the opposite.
“They were part of my main friend group- y’know, the rich clique. They were illegitimate, though, so they didn’t really grow up rich. Which was probably why they were nicer than everyone else… They also stuck around right until the end. We weren’t in touch as much after I went to University, but they never acted like they didn’t want to be around me like the rest sometimes would.”

It was a bit strange that she considered a group of people her friends while also admitting they didn’t seem to want her around. But they did sometimes. They hadn’t treated her any differently after what happened with Martin either. Probably not because they believed her, but more that most of them didn’t care.

“So yeah, I have a pretty good opinion of them. I saw them as a friend.” Though she couldn’t say it was entirely mutual, considering she knew that group all met up and kept ‘forgetting’ to invite her. Before, she’d get upset then brush it off because she didn’t really have many friends. But the more she built her confidence, the more she realised there hadn’t been that much there in the first place.

It didn’t really matter now, anyway.

“Plus, they never acted like an asshole. That was pretty rare in Sycamore.”

”Well… Maybe someone else to find and say hello to one day. When you’re on top of the world, y’know?”

Casey’s smile was genuinely warm, and he let his hand reach out to hers to hold it gently. He giggled.
”Either way, we’re here now… In spite of crappy friends and all.” he nodded.

---

The following dinner was a lavish experience indeed for what either person initially imagined would be a steakhouse dinner. Casey expected thick cut fries and slabs of meat, but what they got were elegant, decadent meals made with tender love and care by a man who, like Andrade, was passionate about his craft in ways that were beyond admirable. Every dish Casey ordered, which were numerous, had smaller morsels woven in between with stories about things like “The Old Country”, and the Chef’s life as he’d experienced it. Plenty of anecdotes about Casey’s family, and knowing Big Max as well as Gravity.

He gushed at points, though never so long that it felt like he was intruding; a concept they’d both commented on several times as impressive. And when it was time to go, Casey even managed to mention the honey. Dubois was receptive, and so a consultancy was set up for a few days later just to test the quality of the product. After a few more pleasantries, the duo made their way toward the coat room, then onward toward their waiting sleigh.

Only… Now, there was an obstacle. Something that, in happier times, would’ve thrilled Casey. Equal confusion would’ve existed, sure… But, having the joy of the meeting decapitated by everything that had happened in the last few weeks made it all tense and, quite frankly, a little scary.
Standing on either side of the sleigh door, both dressed in black, were Furio and Clarissa. The former’s body was covered by a naval greatcoat, its buttons covered by a flap over them that allowed the silhouette to remain unbroken, and he held one hand in the other, clasped together in tightly bound leather gloves. His hair was slicked back tight to his head, and he wore what could only be considered a calm stare.

Clarissa, sporting her hair tied down into tight cornrow braids, wore tall boots with military soles, and a bodysuit beneath an otherwise unassuming petticoat with a belt tied around the front. Her hands were in her pockets, which was as ominous as the outline of her channeler therein. Yet, she was smiling softly. The light from inside shone out onto both of them, illuminating them enough that Casey didn’t have to squint to get details.

He didn’t just tense up: Casey immediately planted himself in front of Trisha with an iron grip around one of her arms to make sure she was exactly where he wanted her.

”Oh, Casey, don’t fuckin’ insult us… If we came in anything besides peace, do you really think we would’a waited for a peaceful time to hang around?” Furio chided, breaking up the quiet tension.

But even a second of hesitation could mean Trisha gets hurt. He wouldn’t let them do that. He wouldn’t ever have that regret.

”Unfortunately, things are how they are. Nothing’s as it ever seems.” Casey replied curtly, heart beating a little faster already.

”Casey… God, I wish I could take that back, sweetheart, I really do… You’re such a sweetheart. You don’t deserve all this. I know. We’ve been cruel, maybe. A little too proactive.-” Clarissa’s voice cooed out toward Casey, only to be interrupted.

”-I don’t even have words for you. And I’m only distressed by the fact that you’re here. In a place I had no reason to believe you’d come.” Casey growled.

Furio shook his head, giggling a little.
”And miss Pat’s food? We had our twenty-fifth anniversary here. Stayed a few cabins down from yous.” his accent popped through for once, catching Casey off guard. It wasn’t a facade that he usually let fall…

”And yeah… We know where you’re stayin’. So, why dont’cha save us havin’ to meet you down there, and climb in the sleigh. We’ve got good news for once.”

Casey reeled slightly before closing his eyes in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to just say okay. But, how could he possibly go along with it in any practical way? So, there could only be an insurance policy that would get him anywhere near that thing. One Clarissa knew she’d have to give him if she actually wanted to save any kind of face. In the moment, she did…
One hand slowly slid from her jacket pocket, holding up the flashing glint of steel. Bending down, she placed the pistol on the ground, then slid it across the ground with a hard boot. It slid directly in front of Casey’s feet, but he just kept staring upward at them. His foot slipped out, stepping down on the gun and sliding it behind him to Trisha.

”Honey? Pick it up.” Casey said without moving his head or blinking his eyes.
After all, Furio was just as dangerous as a gun. Moreso. He couldn’t afford to slip now, and held one hand out behind himself to prompt her to put it in his hand.

Trisha was as tense as Casey, the jolt of panic at the sight of them before he stepped in front of her intermingling with a preparation to fight. Her hand slipped into her bag, quietly activating Princess. She silently called through her bees- enough to cling to the entire surface of her bag but no more. They remained silent too at her surprisingly calm orders. A precaution.

Why were they here? They said it was in peace, and that they had good news. Trisha didn't believe it. They'd ambushed them. Furio was subtly threatening them by saying he knew where they were staying. Maybe they weren't here to kill them- though Trisha didn't trust that- but that didn't mean they were here for something actually good. Their opinion of good was skewed anyway.

They were already ruining what had been a perfect evening with their presence. Though Trisha hadn't ordered anywhere near as much as Casey, what she had ordered had been delicious. She'd eaten little bits off his plates too, enjoying it all. They'd gotten special treatment from the Chef without constant intrusion that ruined the intimacy of their evening. It had been the perfect balance. A wonderful evening together, ended with a possible business prospect for her.

And Casey was able to eat everything he'd ordered. Trisha appreciated that more than she did the flavour of the food in a way. She enjoyed the meal, but food was never that important to her. But watching him dig into everything without fear and enjoy made her feel incredibly happy and warm inside.

That warmth still remained as he stayed in front of her protectively, but the joy was all gone.

Even if Clarissa passed over her gun, Trisha didn't trust them. Casey clearly didn't either. She was relieved he didn't back down in front of two people he still loved, with Clarissa acting like she'd regretted what she said. But it had still been said. They planned to kill Casey and her if he didn't start oppressing and killing people. They made him feel hated when he was already suffering.

She silently crouched down to pick up the pistol, placing it in Casey's hand.

There was an urge to stick her head out around him just to glare at them. She wanted them to know that she wasn't going to back down, no matter what kind of nice words they tried to say. Even if Casey forgave them, she wouldn't. There was no going back. But she couldn't do that when Casey was so adamant about staying in front of her.

So she could only speak up from behind him.
“If you've got good news, why not just say it here? The only good news I can't think of from you two is that you'll leave us alone. That doesn't take a whole ride to say. You've already said plenty to Casey otherwise."

Furio looked to his wife with the same kind of deferral Casey gave Trisha commonly. The look of “How do we feel about this?” was an unmistakable gesture and expression that was timeless in its application. Casey, meanwhile, felt the weight of the gun in his hand. It was full of blanks. He could tell the weight difference once the gun was missing six balls of lead, and this one was missing six balls of lead.

It was just for casting spells… She would’ve had ammo if they intended to do anything. His magic radiated, and he did his best to peer into her coat to find any other hidden weapons, which weren't there as far as Casey could tell.

”Oh, for the love of God and all the Ancients beneath Him… Lynette told us to make things up to you. That the best gift Furio and I could give everyone this year is the gift of understanding and forgiveness, which starts with you kids. The ones who will be most affected by her passing.” Clarissa did her best to explain openly.

”After you called me a ‘worthless, selfish ingrate’ who will rot in the Pit for my crimes?” Casey asked simply, voice not wavering.

”You’re takin’ shit out of context, Casey. I’m pretty sure the crux of that feeling-”
Clarissa threw her hand up, practically slapping Furio in the face as he tried to get his semantic point across.

”Shut up… You’re right, Casey. I did. And I can’t take that back. I said what I said in the heat of the moment, and I have no other excuse. But we’re coming to you now with the assertion that we’ve been wrong about this. About everything.” Clarissa pleaded, her face twisted into a mournful frown.

Casey frowned back. One thing neither of these people ever did was admit fault. Either it was the worst trap ever, or something had happened.

”I want a Recollection. Of what the conversation that led to this entailed, preferably… Because this is unbelievable, and I’m aghast. You two probably understand how you’ve hurt me, but I don't know if you fully grasp the depth of it. So, cough up the memories.”

Trisha frowned, one hand clenching into a fist. She didn’t trust it, though she could guess who the conversation was with. There was only one person that would push them this way. Lynette. And Trisha didn’t trust that either. Because Lynette hadn’t wanted them dead the whole time, yet Clarissa and Furio had.

Both individuals had closed their eyes in preparation for what was next: The remote viewing. A White Adept’s ability to observe Recollections in greater detail than their counterparts meant being able to see the environment around the observer, and to travel about the area in that moment. Yet, Casey didn’t need those functions. Casey only needed to observe the couple’s last conversation with his mother.

And it was a doozy. There was screaming and crying. Fighting, loud declarations of passion and love… Two people pleading with a friend. A lover. A goddess: That this divinity not withdraw its physical form from the comfort of their lives. Begging for another option. Another way.

Lynette only asked them to stay. To wait patiently, and to trust her return would come. Until finally, they accepted outwardly. They accepted, and then discussed how they should begin to fix things… And here they were. It was uneasy, but they were fanatics… Hopefully, that sensation was unkillable.

For Trisha, the moment presented itself with great subtlety… Yet, this was a brief moment where, if she wanted, she could have easily killed the two relatively defenceless Adepts in front of them. They were locked into the Recollection, after all… Even if one died, the other wouldn’t just come out of it.

It’d be as easy as bees in the lungs…

It was tempting. The thought of killing them when they couldn’t defend themselves was scarily tempting. The bees buzzed in tandem with her thoughts, crawling out of her bag and up her arm. Then they wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

But would Casey forgive her for that if they were truly trying to make amends? Amends that she would never trust… But they weren’t the people who’d helped raise her. They were for Casey. She wasn’t going to just let them into their life and future, but she couldn’t really stop Casey if he decided to trust them.

If what he saw satisfied him.

So instead of going for the kill, she went for a warning instead. A precaution that could turn into a kill if Casey wanted it to.

The bees were split, one group going to land on Furio while the other went to Clarissa. They placed themselves in vulnerable locations. Some brandished stings at their necks, while others crawled inside their clothing to get to their arms and abdomen. In the end, there were at least a hundred on each of them. Not enough to kill them in one sting, but ten? That would do it. It would be difficult to get rid of all of them before they got stung at least a thousand times.

Then she waited silently for them to come out of the recollection. And when they did, there wasn’t any panic. Rather, the two immediately exchanged calm glances before a smile split Furio’s lips.

”Checkmate goes to Trisha, I guess.”
”Don’t condescend… Trisha? Good idea, Hon. Y’know I’m terribly allergic? Don’t even carry an epipen.”

For the first time, Casey let his head turn to look at Trisha. He nodded, then leaned down to kiss her gently.

”It's alright for now. I believe we’re okay.” Casey spoke calmly, keeping the gun in his hand gripped tightly.

Trisha frowned up at him, eyes narrowed slightly. She was searching for any hint that he didn’t really believe that. But she knew that when it came to her he wouldn’t just throw away their safety for others… She trusted him. Though she was still cautious.

Slowly, the bees were pulled back from the other couple. They landed on Trisha, crawling inside her jacket and clinging to her hair. She wasn’t going to send them back until it was just the two of them again.

“Alright. I trust you.” She said quietly once they were all back on her. There was a temptation to keep just one on each of them as a safeguard… But that would look like she didn’t trust Casey.

She looked past Casey, expression cold.
“Good to know that you’re allergic, Clarissa. I’ll try not to accidentally slip. I suppose you really aren’t here to kill us, if you told me that.”

Clarissa only laughed in response before the two of them stepped forward a little. Casey didn’t want them thinking that things were okay… After all, they were still following a plan that included things he didn’t like. Like they were just gonna slide in now, and wait for someone to give birth to the new Lynette? No chance. He gave them both a glance, and they stopped moving forward with friendly intent.

”Casey…” Furio chided with a fatherly tone, as if goading Casey into dropping some kind of act.

”No, no… I know this’ll probably make me sound like more of an ingrate to you people, but believe me when I say that I don’t want hugs. I don’t want anything from either of you right now. It’s cold. Either leave, and let us get on in peace, or bother us when we get back down the mountain. Come on, Babe.”

Casey clung tight to Trisha, now slipping her in front of him so he could body block before he pushed right between the two of them and made way for the sleigh. At the step, he helped Trisha up while tossing Clarissa’s gun back to her.

”You shouldn’t let it go this way, Casey… We’ve never stopped loving you.” Clarissa spoke with a motherly tone.
”I said that to you… On the day you became the Blade? I said ‘You’re like our son too.’ You. Not Leon, not Max… You.”

Casey didn’t pause, stepping up into the cart. Trisha would be able to see the subtle sadness in his face this close.

”I’m not going to let your guilt ruin our night. You did wrong, and continue to do wrong now. You both know coming here, doing this to us, is wrong. If you were telling the truth completely, you’d have just waited until we got home, and showed us that you really are ready to let go of all this shit. You didn’t. You came here, a place I never imagined you’d be able to get to, and you’ve played a shitty hand. I remain wounded.”

He spoke like a disappointed parent, or a teacher who caught you cheating on an important test but only after the grades were finalized.

Frowning, the couple looked up as Casey closed the sleigh door and fully sat down next to Trisha, arm coming around her. He shot a manual orange signal up to the crop, causing it to usher the reindeer along and back toward the road they’d come up from. Trisha wouldn’t have been able to hear them, but Casey was listening magically.

”Well… Let’s go get food.”
”Yessssss, we’ll get a cheesecake slice for Ivy too. She’ll be thrilled in the morning.”

Hearing such a domestic thing come out of them after that made him feel terribly guilty. Like they really meant everything they said, and he was being the unreasonable one. A single tear became a small stream that fell from Casey’s eyes as he sniffled and cleared his throat.

”I’m really proud. Of you.” he spoke softly.

Trisha looked a bit shocked at that. She didn’t think she was the one that had done anything difficult. He was.

“Thank you. I’m proud of you too.” She replied quietly, reaching up to try and wipe away his tears. It wasn’t really possible, so she just gently cradled his face with her hands.

“You did the right thing. They came here to alleviate their guilt and put it all on us. Them loving you doesn’t make it alright that they hurt you.” She continued.
“They don’t get to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. They didn’t even really apologise.”

She didn’t want to go on and on about how she felt about it, mostly trying to validate how he’d acted. It was so easy for her to read into their words because of her anxiety, even when it wasn’t directed at her. They came to offer forgiveness because Lynette wanted them to make up with her children. It wasn’t for Casey. And in her mind, he didn’t have anything to be forgiven for.

It irritated her that they expected to just be welcomed back with open arms after proving they’d changed their minds about killing them.

If she’d had the chance, she would’ve had plenty of choice words of her own. It was probably good she hadn’t had that chance.

“I’m glad you didn’t let them back in. That must’ve been hard.” She said softly, rubbing her thumbs against his face. She knew how hard it was. It was ironic how happy she was that he was keeping them at a distance, when if her Mom said anything similar to her she’d forgive her immediately. But Maria hadn’t threatened to kill them.

“I thought about killing them while you were in the Recollection. I didn’t because I knew you wouldn’t want that depending on what you saw. But for a moment I really considered it.” She admitted.

Casey nodded along with what she was saying. It was hard when he was the child in the scenario. For so long, those two faces had been adults. Authority figures in his life, who protected him and cared for him. Who sometimes even put themselves between him and the worst of what the others got.

”You’ll do great things when you find your gift. I know you will.”
”Don’t sell yourself short, Prince Charming. The ugly duckling was a swan, after all!”
”Just because he’s not here doesn’t mean I’m not. You need a Dad? I’m still here, Casey… I love you.”
”Oh, there’s not a thing I wouldn’t do to see that smile, Moodybear!”

”That would’ve sucked. I don’t think I would’ve blamed you, but… Yeah, I guess that probably wouldn’t have been great. I’m… Still worried about Ivetta. About what her life turns into if those two are gone. Say anything you want, but they love that girl. I can’t imagine what them being gone would do to her.” he frowned openly, adjusting until he was low enough to lay his head and upper torso across Trisha’s lap.

”I… Really have no words, at this point. I don’t even really know what to feel.” he lied.

After all, it was easy to know what to feel. The hard part was choosing one of a thousand microemotions to expand into the crux. There was so much packed into the sentiment that he actually just felt overwhelmed.

“It’s alright. You don’t need to talk about anything if you can’t.” Trisha said softly, one arm hugging over his torso. Her other hand gently ran through his hair.

She just wanted to be there for him, putting aside her own feelings of anger and anxiety over the situation. They wouldn’t help right now. Hopefully Clarissa and Furio really had changed how they felt, and she wouldn’t have to channel them later. Though she wouldn’t let herself feel relief over it until Lynette was gone, and they returned home. Just in case.

“Hopefully you won’t have to worry about Ivetta. If they’ve chosen to ‘forgive and understand’, that means they won’t come for us afterwards. We won’t have to kill them, and hopefully they’ll live for her. I… Wouldn’t really kill people who were important to you like that. Only to defend us. I can’t pretend I want them to live, but I know they have a daughter… She doesn’t deserve it.” Trisha half defended herself, before frowning.

It wasn’t really helpful right now, was it? She hadn’t killed them. But she would if they changed their mind again.

“You can feel as conflicted about it as you want. I’m not going to judge you… I understand.” It must be harder when it was people who actually loved him.
“I’m here for you.”

Casey could only take comfort in her. There was nothing else to do, besides maybe feel bad that his life had crept into their private time again. It was frustrating at the very surface, never mind as things got deeper and he was forced to introspect over a life spent idolizing those two. He nodded along instead, just listening to Trisha’s voice and trying to follow it back to a comfortable place.

”Are you okay? It wasn’t exactly fair of them to invade our space, but I’m more worried about your time. Your experience. I’d… I don’t know how I’d be able to make it up to you if that… Ruined it…” he frowned.

“You wouldn’t have to, because you wouldn’t have been the one that ruined it.” Trisha said with a small frown of her own. If it had ruined the whole night for her, she wouldn’t have blamed him. He’d been hurt more than she had by them turning up. She didn’t like it, but her emotions had settled down into anger more than anything.

“I’m okay. It would take a lot more to ruin such a great day with my fiance.” She leaned forward to kiss his cheek. As she did, a few honey bees tumbled out of her coat and onto Casey. They wiggled their little butts, crawling onto his shoulders and settling there comfortably.

“Oh look, they wanted to join in.” Trisha commented, looking down at him with a slight smile. There were no signs that she was lying in her gaze, or that she was trying to downplay her own feelings for him. She continued talking after briefly being distracted by her bees.

“I’m anxious that they know where we’re staying. That makes me uncomfortable more than anything. But more than that, right now I’m pissed off at them for doing that. I might need to throw a few pillows at a wall when we get back… But I’m really fine.”

It would’ve been more difficult if they’d lingered. If there’d been more of a conversation, and she’d had to listen to Furio and Clarissa talk about how they felt now. If they’d all ended up in the sleigh together. But it was brief. Frustrating, but brief. Soon they’d be away from all of this. There’d be no more people trying to intrude on their lives that they didn’t want there in the first place.

She didn’t want to let her frustration and petty feelings ruin all the good things she’d felt that day. So more than being okay, she was making an active effort to hold onto that. To not react badly even though the targets of her annoyance weren’t there for her to get it out on. Letting herself get dragged down by it meant more of their night could be ruined.

”You really are awesome.” he said calmly, not looking up from his comfortable position.

She was successfully comforting him, which was a fantastic change of pace from what he was used to. He only ever got this feeling from a few other people in his life, and there’d be one less in the world soon. Casey felt a strong sense of needing to cling to the moment. Honey wafted up from him, causing the bees to begin waddling in a circular pattern around where they’d gathered.

A strong moment of Faith, in spite of adversity. Surroundings collapse, but the core remains warm and radiant. Pink, Blue, Green, Red, Yellow… Orange.

His signal to the bees directed them off his back, so that he could return to an upright position. They managed to make for his shoulder, twisting into a small knot together before he fully shifted and straightened out to a new platform for them.

”Alright… If you’re not down, I’m not gonna be either. You still owe me a game of pool. We’ll smack the balls around; pretend they’re stupid people.” he finally managed to grin.

After all, what was there to be sad about? If they were telling the truth, that meant less people had to die. Even if they weren’t great people morally, it still meant less blood on his hands. And a young girl keeps her family. Even if they were bad at it, this was good news.

“Technically I asked you to play pool later. So you owe me a game of pool. Don’t twist it around like that.” Trisha teased lightly, smiling back at him. She leaned in to playfully bump him with her shoulder, before relaxing against him.

“That sounds nice. We can relax and get some of our frustration out together. I like the sound of that.”

The next morning was an earlier start for Trisha, even though they’d stayed up late into the night. Pool together for a few hours, then further relaxing in each other's company. In the end, she’d actually drifted off lying in his arms as they watched something on the television. She’d only have woken up when Casey carried her up to bed, drifting right back off when she was put down and bundled up in blankets.

It was nice, to actually sleep two nights in a row. Though the problem had been that Casey wasn’t there with her, so she struggled to sleep. Now that she was getting all of this time with him, it was getting difficult to stay up really late if they were cuddling. It was like all the missed sleep was really catching up on her.

But they had big plans today, which meant getting up early. They couldn’t leave too late if they wanted to make the most of it, with the days being as short as they were. Though it still took her a while to actually get up after Casey gently woke her up in the morning. Thirty minutes spent trying to stop herself from falling back asleep, before finally dragging herself out.

A shower, and then some time spent picking out what to wear. Nowhere near the effort of the night before, but it was still a date. She could look nice while still wearing practical clothes. In the end she settled for a black high necked wool sweater that hugged her upper body tightly and was tucked into green corduroy pants. The pants were thicker than most of her others, which made the outfit cozy while still looking nice.

Her hair was still damp, so she left it for just now as she made her way downstairs. There was no sign of Casey… But she wasn’t particularly surprised, even though there was that reactive spark of anxiety in her chest. She’d taken a while to get ready, so there was no way he’d just lounge about. She could easily guess exactly where he was.

She grabbed her coat to bundle up, slipping out the back door. Just like she’d expected, the shed’s dropshudder door was slightly open and she could see movement underneath it.

“Babe, have you had breakfast yet? Want me to get you something?” She called out as she very slowly shuffled her way across towards the shed, careful of any ice.

Casey had been mostly ready a few hours ago, but his bleary rush to work and busy himself had dirtied him again in some ways. He’d brought his work jumper, and had worn it over his nicer clothing with the intention of wearing it during their trip as well. But, as opposed to not taking apart a vehicle engine apart and putting it back together, Casey had done just that and covered the thing in oil several times over. It was necessary, as certain pieces needed to be enchanted in ways that he didn’t always have the accompanying ingredients to. Other spells had to be used in place, creating tenuous links that he could at least easily repair on the fly if need rose. There was just the matter of getting the individual parts enchanted in the first place. A much easier prospect when they were in his hands.

He heard Trisha’s voice as he was testing that everything was working, and half of her question was washed out in the noise.

Breakfast? I haven’t even had sleep.

While Trisha found it much easier to actually get to sleep, last night was difficult for Casey. Every time he closed his eyes for a little while, they flashed into his mind again. Again. Again. Was it a conspiracy? A move to put him over the edge like this? To have him off guard when they finally came back? How could he sleep knowing there was such a nightmare lurking out there now? They could just change their minds again!
He knew he’d feel better once they were out of range of the resort. Unlike the back seat of a particular car, Clarissa had a much harder time marking topless and single-seat vehicles as locations to teleport to, so even if they had been to the cabin Casey and Trisha were staying in, she most likely wouldn’t be able to follow them using the sled as an anchor.

Not that Casey felt safe enough to refrain from checking… It’d come out clean, so Casey was frankly more anxious to get gone.

”I should probably come in and eat something, yeah… You’re right.”

As she walked into the shop fully, she’d be able to see him in his work jumpsuit… However that would make her feel, he expected a mixed bag. But, expecting anything at all was better than getting caught without a plan. He was ready to assuage in case she had a cross word.

”Goodmorning, beautiful lady… The chariot’s all set for a comfy four hour ride. You’re gonna love it.” he grinned widely.

“Morning, my love… Mmm, what did you do to it?” Trisha asked, shuffling towards him. Even though she’d spent plenty of time getting ready, sleepiness was still lingering. It was the irritating crash after weeks of minimal sleep. It always happened when she stayed up cramming for exams. After they were done, she’d spend days just sleeping.

At least the ride would fully wake her up. And it worked in Casey’s favour, her bleary eyes barely registering the jumpsuit. At least not enough to think beyond it being practical for working on the snowmobile. Which he’d wanted to do since getting back yesterday.

There weren't any suspicions, even though she had her own worries. It was safer to say her anxiety hadn’t really reduced after Furio and Clarissa’s visit the night before. She didn’t trust them, so she didn’t feel any more or less safe than she had before.

“Did you make it a bed? Wait, no, that’d be bad, I need the ride to wake me up.” She stopped just short of Casey, thinking the better of hugging him as she spotted various oil stains. That would be a pain to get out of her white jacket.

“All those sleepless weeks are catching up to me. I woke up in the middle of the night and got set off a bit by the dark, but soon as I unlocked my phone screen for some light I fell back asleep.”

Casey playfully patted the seat of the snowmobile, happy to have the adorably sleepy early morning Trisha variant grace his presence. He was thrilled that she slept at all, especially considering how early he’d actually crawled out of the bed and down the stairs. He had the whole cabin rigged with listeners and magic detectors, so nothing was going to slip by him at least…

”Well you come here and rest your weary buns. Saddle up, and I encourage you to try and fall off the seat.” he proudly declared, looking at her with bright eyes.

“Are you saying my ass looks tired? Where’re you looking this early… That’s rude.” She playfully whined, sounded extra pathetic and cute at the same time with how sleepy she was. She reached up to rub her eyes, blinking the bleariness away as best as she could.

She was curious what he’d done, so she clambered up onto the seat. But she was still too cautious to just try fall off. Even if Casey would catch her, she couldn’t bring herself to lean that far. But she did lean to the side, enough that if the snowmobile was somehow jostled she’d probably fall off.

While she was able to get on the seat just fine, jostling herself and leaning caused an incredibly persistent unseen force to slowly push back against Trisha. It wasn’t violent, but it was incredibly insistent that she exist somewhere within the boundaries of the seat. It was hard to imagine what it would do if she somehow managed to scramble off the seat.
It probably had something to do with the fact that her feet had been sucked tight to the floor… Trisha would be able to shift them forward and backward, even lift them up within the confines of the now expanded portion of space between her legs and the front of the machine…

”Lovey, as long as your ass is on that seat? You’re stuck until I tell it to let you go.”

Casey approached the side of the sled and bent down. Trisha would be able to feel the rippling response of magic blast through her legs without affecting her. Without warning, Casey bent down and placed both hands on the sled before tilting it effortlessly with Trisha on it. And, horrifying as it may’ve been, he was right! As he tilted it fully, it just felt like she was laying on a flat glass surface. It cradled her slightly, almost netlike if it didn’t feel so solid…

“W-What the fuck, Casey?!” Even though she didn’t actually fall, the reactive panic still had her heart thudding in her chest. She hadn’t expected him to just tilt it! And of course she panicked. It was a pretty rational reaction, because the result wasn’t based in reality! Magic was crazy for all the things it could do. Though the panic now meant she wouldn’t panic as much later if the snowmobile really swung about.

“Warn me next time, please?” She took a deep breath, managing to relax the longer the strange, solid surface kept her up. At least it had really woken her up…

“It’s really impressive, Casey. Can I get off myself? Like, if I stand up straight, rather than from side to side? Or am I trapped on it until you decide to let me go.” She asked, tone turning a bit more teasing towards the end.

Casey couldn’t help but giggle in a mischievous way on seeing her reaction to the fact that some magical apparatus was keeping her locked in. Her nervous flail was enough to get him laughing with the knowledge that she was totally safe inside it.

”There’s a safeword. More like a passphrase. ‘I’m alright, Casey.’ Preferably with your most chipper and enthusiastic tone.” he grinned.

“Safeword makes it sound like something kinky." Trisha intoned, before taking another deep breath. It took her a moment to gather out enough energy to say, cheerfully,
“I’m alright, Casey."

Upon the utterance as required, the subtle feeling of her legs being held faded, and Trisha would find herself of free movement and locomotion once again. Still grinning ear to ear, Casey patted on the machine happily.

”I may just buy this out from under them, honestly. Sure, I’ve got nowhere to put it right now, but all that effort! I’m proud! Way more proud than I feel like I should be, maybe.”

Shrugging, he slipped around it and made way for a small bucket on the floor. Holding his arm down toward it, the fabric of the jumpsuit began to ruffle before the oil stains and splotches started to crawl themselves down toward the wrist to ultimately leak out. Whatever Casey was doing to the clothes, it was causing the oil to literally gather up, only to be massaged out of the fabric and into the bucket with gentle dripping noises.

”Also, if you wanted to pack a bunch of bees to bring, we can. Or, maybe let the ones you have here out into the cabin? So that they defend it? We’ll be far enough that my monitoring spells won't be working properly here.” he added calmly, hoping to keep her in the loop without freaking her out.

Trisha frowned, brow furrowing. Did he expect something to happen? When did he set up all the monitoring spells? Clearly, yesterday's talk with Clarissa and Furio hadn't put him at ease at all. He didn't trust them either… Which was a good thing, but his preparations also made her anxious.

“Do you think something might happen?" She asked quietly, slipping off the snowmobile and shuffling towards him.
“I was going to bring Princess anyway… I don't think I can communicate with them at such a long distance either, so I won't know what happens. If I wake up some of the soldier bees I hibernated, they're more likely to know what to do without me, but I won't know anything's happened until one of them dies."

Casey shrugged his shoulders. Anything was possible as far as Furio and Clarissa were concerned, and they’d spent the last two months basically calling him a lazy good-for-nothing. If they were going to continue, the least he could do was prove them wrong in a very dire way.

”Maybe we can coax them into some sort of ambush position? We can only hope they didn’t break into the cabin when they were here, so Clarissa can’t get directly inside. Meaning, they’d probably use a door if they wanted to this time. If we line the doors with territorial bees led by a few warriors, Clarissa won’t have time to react. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t lying about being allergic to bees…” he asserted, assuming they could probably do anything they set their minds to. They were a team after all, and a damn good one too.

”It’s just peace of mind for me. If anything happens to her, the bees that are there will probably bite the dust. Hell, they may have even brought a goddamn epipen, but what’s it gonna do against a few hundred stings? Is that, like, even possible to tank with a little epinephrine? Fuck, whose to say there’s not some magical epipen. Hell, the green probably works- Fuck! I didn’t bring any key lime filling because I didn’t think anyone would get to us here!” he openly worried now, approaching the cusp of panic.

Trisha frowned, closing the remaining gap between them and taking his hands. It was difficult not to reactively panic. She’d assumed Casey had been paranoid enough to bring some of the key lime just in case… But they’d packed in such a whirlwind when plans changed. But if he was worrying about it, she couldn’t help but worry. He just knew the situation better. He’d experienced more magical war than she had, and knew what Clarissa and Furio were capable of. So that made her anxious, even if she was trying not to freak out about it.

“Maybe- Maybe we can contact Leon or someone, get them to send some. Or- There must be healers in the main resort? If it’s a magical community?” Trisha said, doing her best to try and find solutions rather than add to his panic. Though the hands clutching his trembled slightly, before gripping onto him tightly.

“And if we have access to medical supplies, I think we both have enough experience to keep each other alive until we get magical healing. I’m rusty but, I- I’ve even had to help manually sew up wounds when we didn’t have enough healers.” She continued, biting her lip. There had been certain battles against the Stygian Snake where the aftermath had been all hands on deck. If you weren’t actively dying, you had to help.

“Maybe the key lime will help against any reaction to their stings, but I think enough bee stings will overwhelm it anyway. Especially the Soldiers and the Bombers. They aren’t just normal bees… But I can set a group of them up on the door. I’ll bring through some of my more aggressive honey bees, and wake up some of the soldiers that I brought with me. Maybe some of the bombers too. They’ll happily lounge by the door if I give them a wool jumper or two… Or do you think I should just wake up all the ones I brought with me, and place them around the cabin?”

The thought of using her bees without being there to command them, and possibly losing them, was difficult. But she knew the new Soldier bees were able to lead the others enough in a situation like that… They’d get the job done, even if they all perished in the process. She could give different groups different instructions. Maybe instruct some to hide until she came back. Hopefully it wouldn’t be necessary. Casey said it was just peace of mind for him. But she felt he was right to be paranoid, even if it made her anxious too.

“Or maybe I just wake up enough to help guard the doors, and the rest if I need to. I don’t want to lose all of my Soldiers and Bombers right away.” She said quietly, furrowing her brow slightly. She squeezed Casey’s hands again.
“But they can do it. Even if it isn’t an ideal warning, I’ll know if anyone gets in and kills them.”

Casey nodded in turn, doing his best to calmly guide himself and Trisha back up to the Cabin so that they could both finish getting ready for the day’s activity. He didn’t want Trisha feeling like doom was an imminent thing, because he knew as well as she did that the situation didn’t have to be something dire. If they took Clarissa and Furio at face value, it was actually fine! Everything should’ve been good, because they said so. It was only Casey’s rampant paranoia, fueled by knowledge of tangentially related precedence, that gave him reason to fear what was coming. Both individuals were utter loose cannons who, without the direct guidance of their ultimate leash holder, became ravenous and hungry for violence in order to quell all the worst parts of themselves.

It wasn’t wonderful to imagine the unhinged behavior that could stem from any kind of residual nerves they may have regarding the situation involving Lynette. There was nothing saying they wouldn’t wait until dear old Mom was six feet in the dirt before they decided to get a little hands-on with their feelings. He could only be cautious about every little thing now, because they’d shown that they could be there. There were no ifs about that… And they knew which cabin to crack open in case of nostalgic motives to kill.

It was eerie at the least. Dangerous enough that he felt they should be prepared. So… Not wanting to scare her, but erring on the side of caution nonetheless, Casey thought about what the best configuration for bees would be.

”Keep a quarter of what you have reserved. Keep them tucked in your luggage, and before we leave, I’ll stash it somewhere they won’t find it. Hopefully. And it’ll be not here in case something happens, and either you need to make an escape without me, or preferably we just need reinforcements. I can’t stress enough that if anything happens to me, you need to be able to get as far away as-”

He stopped himself. They’d been through this before.

”-well… If we knew someone was here, we’d just pick it up. You and I aren’t going anywhere without knowing the other’s safe, are we? To the end, and meet again?” he asked her sincerely, if a little sternly.

It was a big kind of emotion to shift to… The idea that he didn’t have to protect her by keeping her away from things. He and Leon had just the same discussion the other night about Cass… If love abides, then they must remain. Casey knew that, crazy as it sounded, Trisha wouldn’t really want to live without him. And he didn’t want her to have to. So, if that meant ride or die until the very end? He figured that’s what made Clarissa and Furio strong. That they were both so fixated only on their own intentions in the moment of combat that their intentions never became clouded by the fear of losing the other one.

Only the fear of living without them.

“To the end and meet again." Trisha echoed, nodding. Her lips pulled up into a small smile.
“I wouldn't want to go anywhere without you. I don't want you to go anywhere without me either, even if it's selfish to feel that way."

Even if it meant following each other to death.

She really wouldn't be able to leave him behind if something happened. She'd rather die trying to keep him alive than run knowing it would mean he was gone. And if she couldn't save him, at least she could go trying to get revenge. Maybe it wasn't healthy… But he wasn't only the love of her life, he was her future. All of the plans and hope she had didn't exist without him.

So even if he was insistent she get away, she wouldn't have been able to do it. She was glad he'd accepted that she wouldn't go anywhere. She'd trained so hard so that she could fight by his side, even if she'd only dipped into the shallows of her newly unlocked Apparitional magic. If he'd continued with his initial thought it might've ended up as more of a fight… No, she wouldn't want to fight him today.

“We can protect each other. But having some of the bees in a different location is still sensible. I have Princess, but only so many can get through her at a time. I brought and froze so many to avoid that gridlock." She continued, beginning to drift towards her bee filled suitcase now that they were inside the cabin.

But she paused, turning towards Casey and shuffling back over to him. She leaned up to softly kiss him, hovering on her tiptoes with her face close to his as she spoke quietly.
“I love you. Thank you for accepting I'll be with you until the end."

The question that followed as she lowered herself was much more mundane.
“Can you get out some fruit for the bees? They might need it to fully wake up, and it's a good bribe."

Without having skipped a single beat, save to accept Trisha’s affection, Casey was already rummaging around for food. Fruit was the easiest, and he pulled the plastic tray covered in cling film out of the fridge before unwrapping it and setting upon it himself.

”Clear on fruit. I’m gonna wash my hands and get dressed. I’m not sure if you want to dress comfortably, or nicely…” he asked without asking, voice trailing off in wait for the presumptive response.

“I can do both… but mostly comfortably." Trisha replied, gesturing down to her comfy wool sweater and thick corduroy pants combo.

”Alright, sounds fine then.”

Stepping closer, he slotted up against her and tilted his head downward to give Trisha a big kiss. She had acknowledged his feelings already, and had even praised him for accepting her own position. It was hard as someone who felt themselves to be a protector. How could he accept they may both die? The goal wasn’t for more people than necessary to buy the farm upstate, it was to prevent more violence by being proactive in planning… It was incredibly difficult for Casey to accept that, without him, Trisha didn’t want plans. At least, not for the foreseeable future. Long enough that life itself may become a pointless affair.

He couldn’t feel guilty about her dying if he was dead too… Hopefully, maybe selfishly, they’d kill him first… Because he wasn’t sure his life would just stop without her. It wasn’t quite the same. He had guilt now, because he’d seen a hundred other people die with hope and dreams still intact, yet he was here. With relatively little emotional stock in himself, it became far easier for Casey to accept he didn’t deserve to be alive. It was easy to accept, even.

But if her life really started and ended with his? If she couldn’t imagine feeling enough desire to keep going without him? Why even conflict her internally?

”Babe, uh… You… You wouldn’t kill yourself if you managed to be the last Paranormal standing, would you? I… Don’t love thinking about this stuff, but I feel like I need to know for my peace of mind! I’d really rather if that wound up happening, well, maybe you’d think about this moment and remember when I said that I still would want you to live, even if it was just to spite the Ancients, and Fate. My angry Queen, too hateful to die… I’d almost want you to turn into a villain… Maybe not, but that sentiment is what I’m trying to get across.”

Trisha frowned a little, hugging into him as she actually thought about it. Would she?

It was difficult to imagine wanting to live without him. Maybe tens of years down the line, if the ensuing loneliness didn't get too much. She knew she wouldn't be entirely alone. There'd be Cass, and with her Leon, and the girls. Assuming they could tolerate her without Casey around. Especially when she undoubtedly became an awful person in the aftermath, or fell into a deep depression.

“I wouldn't." Trisha said quietly, tilting her head up to look at him.
“Kill myself, I mean. I don't know what I'd do. Maybe I would become a villain… Or I just won't be able to do much at all. I don't know, it's not nice to think about. But I wouldn't kill myself… I'm not brave enough to do that. But I don't think I'd take care of myself either. I might wither away… I wouldn't feel like there was much point to living, even if I wasn't brave enough to do something so drastic."

She was trying her best to be honest. Maybe it was an odd way to look at it, but she really wouldn't be able to go through with something like that. Even at her most depressed or loneliest… Even as a teenager who'd lost a boyfriend who treated her well and was blamed by all her peers for it. Casey was different, but she still wouldn't be able to. Especially if she knew it wasn't what he'd have wanted. No matter how painful living would be.

“I’d probably take revenge on anyone I thought played a part in it, and be reckless about it… Maybe I'd push away all the other people who care just now. I don't know. I really hope it doesn't happen."

Casey nodded, head tilting down to kiss Trisha comfortingly as both hands rubbed her up and down with the same intention. Holding tightly to her, he tried to imagine a world where she was happy without him. How could he blame her for not wanting to interact with life if something so tragic took place? He couldn't. He knew what that feeling was already. The kind of feeling that kept one in the same clothes for weeks, or abandoning friendships over the agony of goodness without joy.

”It won’t happen, Honey… We’re gonna be fine. It’ll all be fine. Say Clarissa and Furio were telling the truth? Then, y’know, we enjoy our weekend and head home… And spend the next however many years of our life preparing to fight a couple of people who may never wind up hurting us… But, God forbid they ever try: We’ll be ready for it. Us. Both. Together.” he asserted, wanting to instill confidence in her.

”You’re so special to me… Even when the world turns gray, you’re still colored in. I won’t let anyone take me away from that. Not myself, not Clarissa and Furio, not Father Time itself. We’re here together…”

Besides, they wouldn’t kill her. Hell, maybe they wouldn’t kill either of them. Maybe they’d just bide their time. Casey imagined a world then, with an infant daughter and a prophetic resurrection completed, where two fanatics waited across a span of years for their Lady in Black to be born once more. Clarissa and Furio finally descend, and demand the child or fight to the death for her then…

He could only hope they’d see the foolishness in hurting them now. Give them time… Just a few years to guarantee that they were just as cohesive a team as Clarissa and Furio.

”Now, forget it… I’m sorry I even brought it up. Today’s for smiles.” he nodded, squeezing her tightly and shaking her around a bit.
”You wanna come with me while I get dressed? Would it make you feel better being close?” he asked at the same time.

Trisha nodded, managing a smile. It was difficult to drag herself out from those thoughts- the what ifs that plagued someone with severe anxiety all too easily. She didn’t want to let it get to her… Which meant keeping her mind from dwelling and spiralling. Like Casey said, it wouldn’t happen. They’d be fine. They’d survive whatever happened.

“If that’s alright? I don’t want to smother you… Since you’ll already have me clinging to you most of the day. Though a good chunk of that’ll be on the snowmobile, which means it's clinging for safety.” She answered, hugging back into him before wriggling an arm out to snatch a piece of melon. She nibbled on it, tension seeming to ease as she looked up at him.

She was still cautious when it came to being too clingy. While Casey had been much better since they left the city, she didn’t want to push it. It was better to be careful until his mood was completely improved. Rejection would be worse… Though in this case, she was probably being way too anxious. He’d asked her if she wanted to come up with him.

“Plus, I like a good show in the morning.” She joked, raising her eyebrows a few times and smiling playfully up at him.
“I know I said to dress comfily, but maybe I’ve changed my mind so I can fussily make you change your outfit multiple times just to see you strip again.”

She was obviously joking, doing her best to lighten both of their moods while also turning attention away from her anxious little question. Sure, she did enjoy seeing Casey without his clothes on, but getting changed wasn’t actually all that sexy. She wasn’t some horny beast like Cass.

”You can just ask… I don’t mind getting naked for you.” he laughed, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs.

---

A little while later, and the two were ready to set off on their adventure. Both bundled up as much as was necessary, Trisha would find the seat of the snowmobile to be far more accommodating to her after Casey fussed with it. Where her knees sat, it tapered off so she didn’t have to spread her legs so awkwardly wide. And Casey had even adjusted where things were in the front, giving them both the ability to stretch their legs fully into the fuselage of the machine. Though, if Casey stretched out, chances were that he’d also force her to do the same by the position.

Having closed the garage and made it onto the trail, he tested the theory by letting both legs slide forward. Since he was behind Trisha, both legs came up underneath hers, lifting them up and resting them on his shins as four feet tucked into toasty warm pockets at the sides of the front. Casey was going a little faster than he’d done initially, finding his work on the suspension to have done wonders for the ride quality. Seventy miles per hour practically felt like they were sitting still, were it not for the wind blowing all around them.

At least the helmets and magically warmed clothing kept the elements from being too biting. They were a moment or two away from jumping into the loop around the lake when Casey spoke.
”I’m honestly sold. I know, winter is terrible and getting snowed in forever sucks, but with Magic, we can make all the shitty mundane parts of winter disappear. So… I think I’m gonna settle on moving down here. Or, up, I guess…”

Trisha still felt a bit nervous on the snowmobile, even though there wasn’t anything to be nervous about anymore. She’d seen what would happen if they turned over, and it didn’t even feel like that was possible. It was incredibly smooth and much more comfortable than it had been yesterday. But anxiety just didn’t follow logic, so it was present for now. Not so badly that it was really noticeable anyway.

“So I don’t get a say, huh?” She teased. She would be happy to move here… It had never been about the specific location for her. Just getting out of the big cities to somewhere peaceful with him. As long as she had all the comforts she was used to, it really wasn’t a problem.

“I’m kidding… I like it here too. I don’t even mind the weather, though it’d take some getting used to. But there’s something romantic about getting snowed in for so long… Maybe because I don’t mind not being able to leave the house for a time.” If she was in the right mood, that was. There were times she got more stir crazy- or rather, her anxiety pushed her to go out. Like the time she’d gone on a run and gotten attacked by Lila… it felt so long ago. She liked runs and walks to keep herself level headed, but was normally just as happy to curl up with a book for a similar effect.

“And it makes it more difficult for people to get to us. Not quite complete isolation, especially if Cass and Leon or the girls join us eventually, but it would cut us off enough. I like the idea of that. We can be social if we want in the summer, and use all of winter to recover.”

”Yep! And it keeps people from sticking around, especially if we uh… lie. Y’know, like telling people how hard it is to deal with the snow in the winter. We can tell them that we bought on a Layline, so Lux just doesn’t work properly on our land. When they ask why, then we hit them with the truth: So we don’t have to see your stupid face more than once a year!” he laughed, getting ready to make the turn to the right and out onto the loop.

Having enhanced the machine with more than just comfort, quality of life factors included built-in White Lux sensors, which connected to Casey directly and ran a constant three-sixty radar scan within the surrounding few hundred yards. Picking up lifesigns was difficult, but picking up audio that was as distinct as a screaming two-stroke engine rattling out from under the machine’s plastic facade, was a lot easier. He knew a few people would be flying by any second now given their speed, so he slowed down just enough to watch as a few sleds roared past before wrenching the handlebars and smacking the throttle to sweep right onto the proper direction.

”Soak in the scene, Babe. It’s the last we’ll see of the resort for quite a few hours. We’re looking at three hours one way? It should be shorter on the way back, since we’ll have a set path to take back, rather than trying to figure out how we connect from the resort to the state park, then the ranch.” he said warmly, letting the machine pick up a bit of speed to see how Trisha reacted as they reached the hundred mile an hour mark.

“Three hours is a long time.” She responded quietly, not immediately noticing how fast they’d gotten until she looked to the side and saw the trees going past. She stiffened up a little, glancing down at the speedometer.

One hundred miles. There was an involuntary jolt of panic and sharp intake of breath, even though it hardly felt faster than when they’d been at seventy. But she took a deep breath, settling the fluttering in her chest until it was at a minimal level. She could never quite get rid of the fluttery panicking, but at least in this situation she was able to breathe it out to just an annoying niggle.

It was stupid she even felt that, knowing how safe it was now. But it just didn’t work like that. Not for her, at least.

“But it’s three hours on a luxury snowmobile. You’ve made it really nice… I don’t think my legs are going to hurt like they did yesterday. I was squeezing the seat constantly, and I can’t even do that if I want to now.” She giggled, glancing down at her legs propped up on his. She didn’t mind… It was comfortable. She didn’t feel like she needed to grip on like she did yesterday.

“You’ve really improved it. I was honestly a bit worried about the journey… Not because I hate being on it, just it really wasn’t comfortable for me after a while. I don’t have super long legs to spread across the seat so… Thanks for adjusting it so much.”

”I’d bend the whole world into new shapes and sizes if it made you more comfortable. But, I’m also glad to have some immediate success with this. Frankly, I was a little worried too, because as much fun as I was having, splaying my legs like this hurts my bad hip. Makes it ache. So, I had to get the legs forward… And then at dinner, I was thinking more about it, so I kind of did something really sly. You nipped at me for it; remember when I was moving your knee around and you told me to stop? You were laughing, ‘cuz I smiled at you and stuck my tongue out I’m pretty sure… But I didn’t really explain I was trying to get a measurement of how far you could get the leg out. Thus, I tightened it up to where I thought it’d be comfortable.”

And all thanks to the gift and curse of his life. It was such an incredible thing, being able to remember having adult thoughts, feelings and experiences without the convenience of his own accessible magic. He’d known a world full of magic regardless, as Opening wasn’t nearly as difficult as Kindling: Everyone theoretically could open their Third Eye, and be a witness to the world beneath the veil. It only took a powerful firsthand experience to unlock the brain’s natural perceptual senses, as the human body still contained those primordial survival instincts which came naturally to them across all iterations of Earth.

Humans were born of Lux, as was everything else… To recognize one’s parents does not mean that one carries all of their traits, after all. Still, Casey lingered on the thought of not being able to do this kind of thing. She’d still love him… But would he be the same man? Would he be who he is now if he hadn’t had such a powerful crutch to lean on? He knew his own conditions didn’t even hold a candle to some of the frontline forces who saw man-to-man combat. Especially in the East. The enemy had been on the front foot when he’d been there; no need for all the horrifying desperation that came much later on.

He dealt with Nazi monstrosities, both in Africa and Europe. Tanks who fed on sand, and used magical incantations to dig between hardpoints like beetles living transient lives. Trees whose boughs each acted as their own body to translate Lux through, forming a grove of magic so thick that walking in without protection meant wholesale evaporation in body, mind and soul.
And the Blood of Hymea… Probably where the meat aversion really started. He remembered having flashbacks of that horrible week every time he found a new body in some rubble during the cleanups when the war had ended. A gynaecological nightmare, and one of the absolute most sickening things he’d ever had the displeasure of dealing with. If they’d not been so ready and prepared for the worst beforehand, he probably wouldn’t have made it home…

”Is it bad that I think a lot about all the shit that could’ve kept me from meeting you? It doesn’t make me anxious… But, I really don’t know what it makes me. Grateful, sure, but also still that weird… Like, anxious like it’s still possible. Even though it’s not! And, I mean, pretty soon there won’t be anything to take me from you but whimsy and want! Y’know, I want to do something you don’t, so we just don’t hang out for that small period I mean… Not, like, y’know, cheating or something stupid like that. What’s the point of living in the woods, then going and cheating on your spouse? With who? Your only neighbor in thirty miles? What dumb fuck would do that?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood before Trisha had the chance to linger on anything too dire.

Trisha did start giggling, unable to help it when he devolved into ranting about the ridiculousness of cheating in their situation. It was comforting, even though she absolutely wasn’t worried about him cheating. Leaving her and then finding someone else, maybe, but she knew Casey was too good of a person to cheat.

“Someone really stupid who doesn’t know how good they have it.” She shrugged slightly.
“I’m more worried you’ll find a really exciting hole to dig for days in the future than I am you cheating. Not that having the time apart’s a problem… So long as I know. But cheating in any situation is stupid, that one's just especially stupid. You’re practically begging to be caught.”

She tilted her head, mind drifting back to what he said before. At least he’d alleviated any anxiety she’d started feeling by explaining what he meant. Overexplaining, maybe, but she liked that.

“I don’t think it’s bad that you think about that. It’s not like you’re wishing that was the case or anything… I’ve thought about it too. Not a lot, but a few times. Mostly about how lucky I am to have met you. A lot of people never find their person. But we found each other, and we’re not going to willingly leave each other now. Relationship wise, I mean, not that we’ll be physically stuck together. Nothing tearing us apart, no cheating, only fun solo excursions.”

”Oh, so… No Deer Marriage for us?” he asked playfully.

They’d gotten on this subject before, but there was plenty of angles to bring it back at her that she may not know or realize was a thing. Though, in this situation, it was purely semantic. The Green Lux process of merging two beings together into some facsimile of new life was well known as part of Alchemy’s most divine processes: The Rebis. Whether it was through Fusion, or Deer Marriage; some cheekily called it an Atomic Wedding.

”You’re telling me you don’t want to feel our skin melding together, our organs joining like we’re an un-splitting amoeba?” he stuck his tongue out in the helmet playfully, though Trisha wouldn’t have been able to see.

“Noooo, I don’t want to become one in that way.” Trisha laughed back. Having someone who physically couldn’t leave was outweighed by no longer being distinct people. Nevermind that the thought of their skin melding and organs joining just made her feel a bit squeamish.

“We wouldn’t be able to cuddle each other anymore, because that would just be like hugging ourselves. That’d be weird! I like my nice and distinct fiance Casey, even if I get anxious that he isn’t physically melded to me. But can you imagine how annoying it could be- Oh, would we be a tall un-splitting amoeba? Maybe I can be convinced.” She joked.

”From what I’ve seen, it’s dependent on the practitioner. Sometimes the fusion’s even temporary… Like, I bet Cass will be able to fuse with another Adept as part of a Joint-Cast. She’s got plenty of Lux to spare, and she is the Green Adept, so her conscience will always be dominant. Meaning she’ll be in charge of keeping the two halves perfectly balanced, and that sounds more like an excuse for Cass to start absorbing people…” he giggled.

Thinking about Cass more made him worry about Leon. He’d lost the leash, and all the good sense that remained in his body seemed to flood out with it. As soon as you left him “in charge” of something, he immediately tried to devour his own foot. He wanted to get rid of Cass… Not in some brutal fashion, and in no way permanently, but he’d done everything except openly say he didn’t want her around.
It wasn’t until Casey pushed that he told him the truth. He was horrified of the idea of Cass dying, and Trisha blaming him for everything. Leon was scared of how Trisha would react… Why? He hadn’t spilled those beans. But Casey had a few good guesses.

”Speaking of Cass? What would you do if… Like, if something happened to her while we’re gone? Or, in the next few months as things get hairy? Obviously, you’re not dating her or in love with her romantically, but… She’s been with you for a significant period of your life at this point, right? Would you be okay? I like to have a plan, y’see…” he confided in her, hoping she’d accept that and not think that there was a chance of anything actually happening.

Because, hopefully there wasn’t. Cass was a brutal beast who had more Lux command in a squeeze of her finger than a lot of Adepts did in their entire body. You didn’t need to know a lot of magic to be effective: You just had to be able to do a lot of magic. Source, Channel, Cast. The very basic building blocks of a Luxal spell, which were all tied together by the inherent process of the basic Lux wave. Having consistent, powerful command of pure Lux meant that one’s Source was amplified by magnitudes, and as long as one had an efficient or powerful enough Channeler to handle the flow, the spells they cast would be similar in consistency and power.

Cass’ whole skeleton was her Channeler… She didn’t have much of a bottleneck in that department. And because the Channeler was so big, there was a heavy draw of waves to her. She was a walking magical Tesla coil, and Casey hadn’t worried a single bit about her since Leon and she began training privately. If there was one thing Leon could do, it was train someone magically. Even without Lux of his own to replicate, he was still such a master of the fundamental basics that he could easily talk an Orange Adept through basic formulae that lay far beyond his reach.

Trisha frowned, tensing up a bit at the question. She hadn’t thought about it. Not beyond the freak out she had at Thanksgiving- and so much of that had been because Cass got hurt protecting her. She hadn’t even considered the chance of something happening to her. It was Cass… She’d always been strong even before her magic. Even though she hadn’t been through any magical warfare like they had, she’d taken to the combat like a fish in the water when they cleaned up Dollhouse.

So it was hard to imagine something like that happening. It probably wouldn’t, right? It was just a hypothetical, wasn’t it?

“I don’t know.” She answered honestly.
“It depends what you mean by okay. I’d survive and keep doing what I had to until we were safe, but I’d probably be really miserable after. I- I don’t know, Casey, it would be difficult, because she’s the one other person I can almost imagine being there forever. I’d really struggle, but that’s what happens when you grieve someone you really care about… I’d probably end up depressed like I was just after Thanksgiving, but worse.”

She bit her lip, trying not to worry about the possibility too much. It was a risk… But just as much as it was a risk Casey would die, or she’d die, or any of the girls would die.

“You don’t think it’s likely, do you? More likely than us dying, that is? Because I know Cass hasn’t experienced anything like this before, but if I can survive the Stygian Snake, she can survive this. She’s way stronger than I’ve ever been. Right?”

”She’s survived. She knows what it's like to be in danger. To live in it. Spent years that way. The War was on for five years before we joined as a nation, remember? Who was the bastion of Freedom remaining? Jolly ol’ England and her little brothers. So, no. I don’t think it's likely at all. Frankly, I think she’s an asset to us as a family, and we shouldn’t be afraid to let her be as involved as she wants to be. She’s a joy to have around, and I don’t see her going anywhere.” Casey asserted, knowing that he only felt one way about this.

It wasn’t something he was torn about. Wars occurred, and even if they never experienced it, he intended for his own children to understand what it takes to survive, and to come out on top of things. Trisha would learn too.

”Honestly, I think it’s time we took the gloves off with everyone! You and I have done good so far, but Leon and Cass have been in the shit a few times together now! I don’t want to fall behind!”

“What do you mean?" Trisha had a hard time following that… Been in the shit could mean so many things. Did he mean fighting together? Contextually that made most sense.

She was relieved at least that Casey didn't seem to think Cass was at any more risk than they were. That was fine. It was just a fact any of them could die in the next couple of months… One that she perhaps had less difficulty stomaching than she should have. She had spent a whole summer at fourteen watching so many people die day on day. None of them had known if they'd survive. It was a similar feeling… Though she'd struggle if Casey or Cass didn't make it, she'd still be able to see things through to the end before falling over.

“Falling behind on… Fighting together? Is that what you mean? Because they fought against Dollhouse together?"

”More than once! So, the assassin gets canceled out, right?” he asked playfully, hoping she could hear his sarcasm in the speakers of her helmet.

“Oh, so you're actually dead then?" Trisha replied with calm sarcasm.

She didn't really feel that it mattered… Cass was a fighting freak, she just loved getting into them. Trisha would fight if she had to, but it wasn't something she sought out. During the Dollhouse raid Casey had taken her to the van anyway to make sure she was out of the way… So he hadn't even wanted her to fight then.

“You’re ruining my dreams of lounging in bed for the next few months." She continued, still as obviously sarcastic as she could be. It cleared up as she spoke a bit more seriously.

“But of course they've done it more than us. I only just really unlocked enough of my magic to not just be a dead weight… And you didn't really want me on the front lines with you until now, did you?" She asked, trying her best not to sound accusatory. That wasn't how she was trying to be, after all. Just honest.
“It might be hard to catch up. Neither of them need to sleep often."

Casey let go of one side of the bar, coming down to pat Trisha on the belly.
”I still don’t want you on the front now Honey… I’m joking. We’ll work as hard as we need to ensure our safety, but we’ve fought our wars already. Both of us.”

---

The ride out to Blue Rock Ranch was, in fact, amazing. They made highway speeds the first hour and a half straight, with the curated trail they were on leading down the mountain in some fairly hairy turning situations that required a little more attention than other sections. But the entire way, the trail kept opening up into the yawning vista of the Rocky Mountains’ view of Colorado that stretched far off into the infinite point of the horizon.

The trail dumped them off in a town that was supposed to be “nearby” the ranch, but it took another twenty minutes of petering around the local untamed woodlands before Casey decided directions were probably necessary. So, they hit the only convenience store anywhere nearby, and thankfully a couple passing customers knew where the trailhead was to get to the ranch itself.

And the last leg, while not as exciting visually, became the classic slog that Casey never had much experience with. The rough terrain, unhewn snow often obscuring their path until they were so far into those woods that it felt completely wild. Fallen trees hid just under the snowtop, as did young saplings and untamed shrubbery, and all hunted for the snowmobile’s front skis in unintentional attempts to destroy their forward momentum.

But when the vista finally opened up to reveal a clear, wide open lake frozen in time by the Lord of Winter, Casey knew they’d arrived. It wasn’t massive like some of the other lakes they passed by, but had just enough breadth to its shallows that the lonely tent sitting out in the middle of the ice looked so isolated… And the forest around them was so thick that any sense of privacy lost by such an open position could easily make itself up by way of sheer overwhelming plant coverage. It almost felt like the trees in the area were even conspiring to keep their watering hole a secret.

Casey wanted to take a speedy victory lap around the lake, but didn’t want Trisha to experience the reveal of the amenities they were privy to today alone. Assuming an equal sentiment, he far more politely pulled up next to the other sleds that were there. Two, with one having a whole trailer that got tugged behind it on little skis. Rather than forcing Trisha to use her safety word to be released from the machine, he subtly lifted the spell and crawled off the seat with a groan.

”Jesus Christ… You could get a blood clot riding that thing too long. Note to self, a new seat is mandatory for all parties involved.” he said while trying to stretch out and pull his helmet off all at once.

Trisha just nodded her agreement as she slid off, feet hitting the snow covered ground with a soft grunt. She leaned against the snowmobile as regained feeling in her legs. It hadn't been as bad as before Casey adjusted it, but it still wasn't exactly comfortable for such a long ride. She pulled off her helmet, undoing the right bun she'd put her hair in under it and shaking the thick waves out.

The last leg really hadn't been enjoyable, even with all the modifications. Each time they hit something she'd get a little jolt of fear, although it eased the more they hit without turning over. It just made it slow. Thank God she wasn't the one driving.

“Definitely… It was fine for maybe an hour or two, but started to get pretty uncomfortable after that. And I don't have all sorts of lingering aches." She admitted, stomping from foot to foot to get the lingering numbness out of them. So long stuck in one position just wasn't nice… More than just her legs, her ass felt numb from all that time on the seat. At least in a car you could wiggle a bit.

As the aches faded from being at the forefront of her mind, she was able to actually look around. Taking in the beautiful but almost lonely feeling frozen lake, she smiled. Even if the overwhelming white wasn't as appealing as the colours of spring, it was still pleasing to the eye. She pointed with one gloved hand towards the tent.

“Is that where we're going?"

Not thinking, Casey grinned and shook his head.
”Nah, just a random tent out here in the middle of bumfuck.”

Still, he reached out and took her gloved hand in his.
”Of course this is our stop. Come on. There's a member of staff from the resort, and I believe the owner of the ranch is here just to meet us and say hello… I think he wants to show the property, but I’ll just tell him that we plan on buying. I guess he’s older, wants to get into the city for health stuff. So, y’know, it doesn't really matter when we move onto the property so much as getting him squared away matters to me.”

From what Casey knew, the old fella was already staying in the nearest urban center to have medical facilities, and had made the arduous trip up here as a way to sell the potential buyer on the property. At first, Casey figured it may be a good activity back in St. Portwell, but now it was just unnecessary. The landscape had sold itself. So what did they tell the guy?

Getting close enough that the people inside heard the crunching of boots, the zipper door of the tent peeled back to reveal a gentle looking young woman with rosy blonde hair and an apron covering her resort uniform.

“Mister and Missus Richoux! Welcome, welcome! Mister Cabbot and I have been expecting you both for a little while now!”

Casey smiled and laughed, surprised at the person they sent out to set all of this up. But she oozed Orange Lux, which Casey quickly picked up on as they entered the tent to find something a little different. To start, the wooden floor contrasted the expanded interior walls of cloth which loomed out further than physics dictated it should’ve. There was, on one side, a small fire pit with an exhaust port that allowed the smoke to flow out and prevented the place from filling up. Around it was a set of loungers which looked supremely comfortable.

On one was the figure of a white-haired old man, sat with his cowboy hat on and his thick jacket hung to dry nearby. And he turned to look at the arrivals before getting up with a grunt of his own. Before he made it to them, the two would be able to finish scanning the magically enchanted tent-cabin. On the side opposite the lounging space was an intimate dining table for two, complete with romantic candle fixtures and fine glassware, as well as a little zipper door to what was probably an attached bathroom.

“My guests, my guests! Look at that… Two beautiful young people.” The old man started up as he half-shuffled up to them.
“Miss Jasmine?”

The young woman waved him forward, grinning widely before turning to what looked like some kind of fancy stove. With her blessing to jabber, the old man put both his hands out to Trisha and Casey.

“My name’s Arthur Cabbot. You both call me Art, or Turd, n’y’like, so long’s were not callin’ me late fer dinner.”

Casey laughed and nodded, shaking Art’s hand firmly.
”Art, it’s fantastic to meet you. I think we clicked while talking on the phone, but it's good to meet you in person, Sir.”

Art clicked his tongue between his teeth.
“An I told y’on the phone, now; don’t none of that sir crap with me. Been too long since I helt a rifle for my country t’go usin’ slurs like that.”

Casey laughed again. Typical old guard. As soon as you tried showing them any lick of curated respect, they turned all coy.

”You guys paved the way, Art. We never would’ve run if it weren’t for guys like you walking in front of us.”

Art waved Casey off with a “pshaw” before focusing his attention.
“And you, young lady! Where’d this dog-faced brute find such a lovely bride? He’dn’t steal you from your family in the East, did’e?”

Trisha let out an awkward laugh, reaching out to shake his hand now that her gloves were off. She wasn't entirely sure how to react to that. Just brush it off, probably. She hadn't really dealt with that many old people like this. She was going to be polite, at least. Tansy's weird microagressions had at least trained her moments like this, even though she always got pissed off at Tansy over it.

“Are we looking at the same face?" She laughed lightly, looking up at Casey with a smile. He was the furthest thing from dog-faced. There weren't many who were as handsome as him, at least to her.

“There was no stealing… We grew up in the same city, so we just met sort of coincidentally, sort of through his brother. If anyone was doing the stealing it was me, right, Casey?" She gently leaned her shoulder into him, looking back towards Art.
“I’m not sure if Casey mentioned it, but I'm Trisha. Nice to meet you, Art."

“Ahhhh it's good t’meet you too sweetheart. Y'know I’m just fibbin ‘round anywho. They stopped lettin’ soldiers bring ladies home years ago.”
The old man hooted with laughter as Casey did his best to keep a straight face.

One had to with old timers like this. If you gave them too much of a response, they got all cute and usually took it too far. So, Casey just cleared his throat.
”I did, for the record…”

“Oh, he did! Said him’n the wife, Trisha, ‘s gonna be comin up to take a look at the property. Mentioned gettin’ a picnic goin, and I had to grapple with all that n’til I found’n y’all’s magic and such. Made a lot more sense once I figured the resort on the mountain’s involved and such.”

The two men nodded, and Casey grinned.
”Speaking of which, Art… I don’t think we’ll need to do any recon, my friend. Even just the ride in here, I mean… Y’know I’m not super interested in the house already, so-”

Art looked a little hurt.

“Well damn, ‘n I came up for this… Well, can’t win ‘em all, I suppose, but you’re absolutely su-”

Casey stuck his hand up.

”Art, Art… I’m sold, Man. I want to buy Blue Rock from you.”

The elderly face twisted into a ball of confusion.

“But… Y’don’t-”

”-Don’t… What?” Casey asked, finally backing the fella off enough that he and Trisha were able to comfortably start pulling their winterized coats and upper layers off.

“Well, just, y’know, the property’s big, ‘n you don’t know where nothin’ is!”

Casey laughed aloud in turn.

”So when the Summer comes, and we move onto the property, you can show me. But, right now? Spare us both the trouble. Are you headed home after this?”

Suddenly, Art looked calm and collected. Happy even.

“Well, no, my Daughter and I are stayin’ here tonight. Miss Jasmine’s even been so kind as to offer to fix us dinner once y’all are happy and sorted down here!”

The woman, Jasmine, turned her head.
“Least I can do for the help, Mister Cabbot. Speaking of, can I get you two drinks?”

”Rum and double cola on the rocks, please.”

Trisha had to think for a moment. She wasn't sure what kind of meal they were having, so she couldn't figure out if it was a wine or beer occasion. Better to go for neither until she was sure, then.
“I’ll have a rum and lemonade, please."

She'd otherwise been silently listening, slotting right back into Casey's side when her thick outer layers were removed and put aside. She was more than happy to just hug into him without interjecting. He'd told her he was sold on the place, after all, and she was fine with that. It was nice. She imagined the thick forest would be great for the bees come summer.

Casey rubbed Trisha’s back as she clung tightly to him. He was trying to devise a polite way of telling the old man to go home.

“Y’drink any whiskey while you were in Europe?”

Old people questions… He was curious. Maybe he felt obligated to play host…

“Oh, Mr. Cabbot? They do only have so much time booked.” Jasmine interjected with legitimacy.

Art looked thoughtful for a moment before looking up at Casey with expectation in his eyes.
“You’re really tied and fit to buy my land? And you’re just gonna… Homestead on it?”

Casey nodded.
”On my time as a Marine, and a Soldier. So, you get home and give my number a call. You, or your daughter, or whoever, and just leave the information of whoever I’m supposed to get in touch with to put the offer in. When we get home next week, I can guarantee you that your land will no longer be for sale.”

Casey stuck his hand out again, and the old man shook it tightly before wrapping his arms around the young couple.

“You’re doing an old man a real honor, y’is. I won’t get all sentimental now, but… well, Son, I love this land. I love it like it's another child o’mine. It was my Daddy’s, and his before.”

Clearing his throat, Art pulled away and made for his coat.

“Well… Figurin’ I’ll see y’all again ‘fore I’m dead meat, I’ll keep it short. You doves have a lovely evenin’, and Miss Jasmine? I’ll see you in a lil’ while sweetheart, and we’ll get y’back to the resort by road when y’er done.”

She nodded in return, openly chopping veggies and prepping food.

Casey nodded, seeing the old man off before finally turning his head down to Trisha. Biting his lip, he closed his eyes and shook his head before starting to laugh.

”Stole you? That was rich.” he commented, even causing Jasmine to laugh from the corner before she actually bothered starting to make their drinks.

“I really wasn't sure what to say." Trisha replied, shaking her head half in disbelief. Sure, she'd managed to say something, but it felt like it had completely missed the mark, and his response had kind of baffled her.

“That’s why I have you to do all the talking for me." She added sweetly, reaching up to teasingly poke Casey's shoulder with a smile. Then she laughed softly.

“I still think I'm the one that stole you… I know it was a joke, but could that really happen? Surely you didn't have enough time to even think about dating? Nevermind marrying and sending someone back home."

Casey grimaced. There was a reality a lot of people didn’t realize from the Red War, and the first World War: That they were dirty too, but had all the extra trappings of a time before the internet. Before things leaked into the public by way of rapid online social sharing.

”There were some men who found comfort where they landed in spite of everything else around them. Even in my day, there are people like that. One of the guys I served in Africa with met this local. Totally converted to Islam, moved down there and everything. Back in the day, it was… Different. More exploitation, less love.”

Jasmine, their attendant, finally handed them both their drinks, smiling.

“You guys can be wherever you want, by the way. Take it easy, relax, if you want snacks let me know. I got a special request for a lot of fruit, so-”

”Oh, please, that would be great.”

“You got it.”

Casey was given the fruit platter that was pulled from the big cooler, and then casually began to lead Trisha over to the loungers.

”But, yeah… A lot of guys back in the day would do these crazy shotgun marriages, because they’d be in the rear, and they’d get intimate with a local, but Lord knows there’s no protection because the government expects you to be fighting and not fucking. So, they’d get a woman pregnant, and if they had any heart at all, they’d get hitched and bring the wife and baby over here. War’s sick… Always sick.” he finished, sitting down and stretching out his legs in front of the fire.

Trisha nodded, sitting down beside him. Since it was cozy enough in here, she slipped off her boots to pull her feet up onto the lounger. Curled up like that she leaned into Casey.

“I assumed they'd be more likely to… Just abandon them." She admitted, having thought of something more bleak. Though she was still surprised soldiers had the time in the first place. It was human nature, she supposed.
“I know how the other side treated women across Asia. I understand how sick it can be… So I'm more surprised anyone like us could come out of it."

She trailed off, before reaching out to properly hug into him.
“But that's not really a fun topic for a nice date, is it? This is really nice. You did well organising it and… I guess we're going to be land owners soon. Well you. But also us. Since it'll be our future home… To have kids then grow old together in."

She blushed slightly at that, lips pulling up into a warm smile as she took a sip of her drink.

Casey didn’t hesitate.
”Us. Your name too. I’m not waiting for actual marriage to forcibly smash our scattered assets together. We come in equal, and if we never leave, it never matters.” he grinned back down at Trisha, taking a strawberry from the plate and holding it up for her to bite.

He’d kicked his boots off nearby, and felt the warmth of the enchanted wood floor. Chances were the stove forced its exhaust underneath the structure, letting it get nice and toasty until it practically sank into the ground from the damp snow beneath it. He figured he could do this better, but the chances were high that they needed it not just portable, but storable. The storable part was always difficult for these kinds of substructures utilizing magic to interfere with physics. It was like slapping two places in time and space onto the exact same relative position and expecting there to not be any problems; it just didn’t happen. Folding the entire world within to fit into a tent bag did wild things to reality, meaning certain concessions had to be made…

At least, for less capable Orange Adepts…
Casey looked around a little absently before turning back to Trisha, his soft smile still warm and present on his face.

”Did Cass get the picture of the wolves?” he asked, as the two of them had seen a running pack of wolves through a clearing some distance off. Trisha had managed to get the snapshot, as Casey had left his actual phone sitting on the bed in the cabin.

Trisha nodded, wriggling around to pull her phone back out of her pocket.
“I sent it but didn't wait around for a reply- Oh, look, she's spammed me since."

She wrinkled her nose in amusement, waving her phone towards Casey so he could see the masses of messages from Cass. She turned it back towards herself to do a quick skim read for what was important.

“It's like me, Leon and Lelou are there in spirit! That's dead sound! Can you bring me one home?! Obviously not." Trisha snickered.
“She also said she hoped you did some crazy tricks on the snowmobile… And then she's sent me some completely unrelated memes."

She shook her head, locking her phone without replying and looking up at Casey with a warm smile.
“She was already jealous of the snowmobile, so I bet it's even worse now I've sent those wolves. It does make me worried she'll throw away her roadtripping plans and move over right away."

Casey laughed, shaking his head. He wondered for a moment if Cass sent it to Leon… He’d do so later when they got back to the cabin, but he liked to imagine both of them got a smile out of it without being together in that moment. He also briefly considered what their status was overall… If Leon had convinced Cass to stay in Europe, or if she’d blown through his passive aggressive defenses. It was the exact same fight he wanted to have with Trisha. Thankfully, he’d done a bit of sifting over it. It was strange to have her encourage his selfishness:

After all, he didn’t really want her to live without him. Imagine another man? Impossible. She’d waste away, and what kind of life was that? Not one he’d want her to have. Not unless he really believed that she’d heal, but he couldn’t know for certain. She may very well disengage from the world entirely out of spite if he was no longer there.
But, Leon and Cass? Cass was a firecracker. Fierce, full of life, she simply wouldn’t let Leon’s death imprison her in grief. And Leon wouldn’t either. He knew that if Cass was gone, Leon would just continue onward for God knows how long considering the unnatural lifespan he was carrying around.

”We both know she’d be super bored without Leon. And with Lelou more taken care of, there’s a chance he can go back to actual Blind boxing. Meaning, lots of touring, lots of traveling, and lots of stuff to do. I’m certain that if they’re still together by the time we get back, there’ll be a lot more appealing shit than some snowmobiles heading her way.”

He didn’t love talking in probability. Chances were high that they’d be fine, and that nobody would have anything to say once Casey and Trisha got home. She’d most likely be there holding his hand to greet them back to the Cannery upon arrival. Casey had intentionally left his phone due to the fact that it was constantly vibrating with updates and status checks for group messages that he wasn’t actually a part of. The only thing he cared about was the family group text, but with everyone busy and in general proximity, there was nothing happening.

There wasn’t even a guarantee that the damn thing was safe considering what Junior said and did when they went to visit Lynette as a group. Such dangerous magic…

”I mean… They’ll be fine. It’s a little thing. Maybe not little, but I feel like it's something Cass can push through. I’m honestly a lot more worried about Leon…” he admitted in the end, wondering if Trisha would humor his musing.

Trisha looked up at Casey, brow furrowing with slight confusion. What did he mean by a little thing? Or being certain they'd still be together when they got back? She hadn't heard anything from Cass to point to there being problems between the two. Then again, she hadn't heard much from Cass at all.

Was it because she didn't trust Trisha? No, no, probably because they were both away… And she was with her brothers too. She had other support.

“What’s wrong with Leon?" She asked, tilting her head. She was comfortable enough right now to ask about it rather than being annoyed they were talking about another couple’s problems. She was curious, and happily content cuddling up to Casey right now. On their lovely date with nothing going wrong between them.

“Or between them, I guess? Cass hasn't told me anything, or messaged me much since she left. I assume she's quite busy with her family." She continued.
“But she can push through almost anything. I don't think I've seen anything get her down for more than a few days. She tends to be a problem solver… Even if she solves them by force."

”I’m worried about that part. I guess, with everything happening, Leon’s nervous about Cass being around. Wanted to spare her the trouble, but you, me and God all know that girl sticks to trouble like seaweed on rice. So, I’m just hoping he doesn’t push too hard and piss her off to the point she leaves him. It’d kind of suck to come home to that and the other stuff.” Casey responded plainly, the matter-of-factness covering the little white lie.

It’d only make her mad or sad that the sentiment was related to her… Though, it could fix things outright. A simple phone call may clear Leon’s anxieties. But, ultimately, he’d leave that up to the two of them, and keep the incident mostly out of their holiday. After all, if they worked it out on their end before it ever became an issue, then who would ever care?

”Sorry! Sorry… I should really try and leave home at home… I used to actually do that. The first few years of service. Most of them, honestly. I didn’t even give a fuck if I made it back to St. Portwell when I was in France with the FFL. Before the occupation and all… Crazy to think about. Angry ass kid, barely an adult… And I didn’t care if I made it back home. Hard for me to imagine now. Not waking up to your face.” he grinned, winking at her.

Trisha let out a soft laugh, stretching up to press a light kiss to his cheek for his flattery. And just because she wanted to… She could understand with the situation he’d been in then. She’d never felt it so strongly that she didn’t care if she lived or died, but she’d rarely wanted to go home. Not that it had felt like much of a home for her.

“Mhm, you should always want to come home to me.” She responded teasingly.
“Though I hope when we move here we won’t have many nights apart. Only when you want to do some crazy hiking and camping that I know I won’t be able to handle. Hopefully no more wars. You won’t have to go through something like that again.”

The fact that she could talk about him going away so easily was an improvement, even though it made her anxious. If he turned around right now and said he wanted to spend nights away camping, she’d panic. But she could see the future when they were settled in their home together and she didn’t worry when he wanted to go away for a little while.

“And you don’t have to be sorry. I did ask.” She continued. She was glad to know what was going on, so she could prepare for the worst. The aftermath wouldn’t be pretty, even if Cass didn’t hold grudges like she did. And she’d still be there even if she broke up with Leon… Because she’d stubbornly want to help anyway. It wouldn’t be fun for any of them. Cass wouldn’t put it on them, but she wasn’t sure she could deal with a post breakup Leon.

“But you’re right we should leave it in St Portwell… We’ll deal with whatever happens when we get back. Cass hasn’t even talked to me about it, so I shouldn’t think about it. Instead I’ll just think about you.” She smiled cutely up at him.
“Though I’m always thinking about you.”

”That’s crazy… Sometimes I dedicate a sub-brain to you. When I’m working real hard.”
He didn’t know if she’d even come close to getting the joke, and could only hope that his smile and laughter would keep her from thinking too hard about it.

”Kidding… You’re always on my mind too. Sometimes literally, when I lay down on the couch and you flop on top of me. I love smelling your clothes, because your detergent rocks. And then you always wear nice, soft stuff. You’ve met my Nana several times now; you know that woman doesn’t wear soft. Not in like a wool sense, or something. She wears silks, and fine fabrics with thousands of thread counts. Rich people clothes. And Mom wears all this gaudy stuff, half the time it’s made of such stiff fabric that I can’t imagine actually being comfortable in it. The other half is, again, fucking rich people clothing. Christ, can we maybe wear something that doesn’t make you slip off of a leather seat?”

Casey was ranting along a bit as Jasmine brought the two of them a small tray of deviled eggs with an especially red filling. Without wanting to interrupt Casey, she simply set it down, but that got him to stop wholesale.

”Oh, mother of God… I’m beyond intrigued…”

“Just a bit of red bell pepper and cayenne in the mix.” she replied, laughing as she made her way back to her station.

Casey looked at Trisha with a bombastic side eye, practically begging for her opinion as he reached out to one.
”I don’t like that laugh one bit. Too devious. Should we split it, Trisha?”

Trisha smiled and giggled a bit as he ranted, still smiling when he side eyed her. While she wasn’t much of an eater, she also wasn’t really fussy about what she did eat. So whether it was just bell pepper and cayenne, or something hotter, she was happy to give it a try.

“Sure… I’ll taste test it for you, Babe, don’t worry.” Smile turning teasing, she leaned forward to take a big bite out of the one Casey was holding. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she chewed it.

It was hot. Really hot. The kind of food she wouldn’t have the tolerance for if she hadn’t grown up in a strange household where the chefs tried to facilitate the multi cultural backgrounds of James’ many children, along with being taken on a crazy food tour the one time she went to the Philippines.

It reminded her of something. It took her a moment of thinking and chewing to figure it out. It was exactly like this type of ramen Cass had loved during University. Trisha had ended up eating it a lot because she couldn’t cook, until she offered to pay for the meals as long as Cass did the cooking. It was called… Fuegollo? Or something. It was crazy they got the flavour into a devilled egg.

She grinned at Casey, not reacting much as she waited for him to try his bit. As far as she was aware, he had a decent spice tolerance, but they hadn’t had anything insanely hot together. She was interested to see how he’d handle it.
“You should eat it… It’s good.”

Her nose scrunched up cutely, watching him even as she kept talking.
“And I just prefer more comfortable clothes. I have plenty of fancier, rich people clothes for special occasions, silk dresses and the like. But why would I suffer when I can make myself look good with simpler stuff? Plenty of my wool jumpers are expensive too… Because the proper stuff that lasts a long time is pricey. But I buy for quality more than anything, and half of my stuff is thrifted anyway.”

Casey had taken up an egg half, staring at the fire engine red filling within like it couldn’t possibly be spicy. He wasn’t worried per se, as there was little it could do to the half-dead nerve endings in his tongue. He’d get most of the flavor out of it, while the capsaicin desperately clung to the surface of his tongue and mouth on the hunt for something to bind to. Oblivium created something of a locked membrane, and the deepest recesses of the tongue’s many nerves were trapped.

But he didn’t bother even popping it in his mouth until he’d fully acknowledged Trisha.

”Exactly my point. Y’want good shit, not just expensive shit. And the expensive stuff ain’t always good! Now, I may be a little biased, but I do think you look good in everything short of a turtle shell, so… I guess it's not something you need to think about around me.”

Finishing his statement with a nod and a smile, Casey popped the egg into his mouth and gave the most skeptical expression he could muster.
”Oh its fucking spicy ramyun… Oooooooough!” Casey squirmed in an unpleasant fashion.

Trisha started giggling at his reaction, eyes scrunching up playfully. It was just entertainingly over the top, and he didn't seem to be in actual pain or anything. But even as she giggled away she leaned into him and comfortingly patted his arm.

“You don't like it? I think it's pretty nice… Reminds me of university. Cass'd love it. I don't think I can have too many before I'd get sick of it, though." Leaning forward, she picked up another one and started to nibble at it. She probably wouldn't have any more than this one anyway, because she wanted to be able to eat their actual meal.

She paused for a moment, looking up at him with cutely creased eyes.
“And I think I could pull off a turtle shell if I tried hard enough. It'd be a bit of a crazy look, but I'd find a way." She joked.

It was nice to hear that he thought she looked good no matter what she was wearing. While she had quickly grown comfortable enough to dress down around him- taking off her makeup and wearing sweats- hearing that he really did find her attractive no matter what brought her comfort. She could probably stop making the effort around him and he wouldn't care. Her looks were the one thing she'd always been confident in and known how to enhance, so she'd always be scared to peel away the extra protective layers she'd had over them. It had been easier with Casey, but there was still a bit of it there. A part of her that still felt the need to dress up out of fear, rather than to look good for herself and for him.

Though she was mostly there. Putting in the effort because she wanted to, not because she had to.

Jasmine had, from behind them, started cracking up at Casey’s reaction. Unlike Andrade who may’ve launched into a long explanation of how he managed to get the flavor into the filling, she just kept her head down and got to work on the next masterpiece. Casey wasn’t so used to that kind of attitude, but it was nice that she wasn’t stuffing herself into the middle of them over a ganache.

”We’ll both get turtle shells; it’ll be like that kung fu anime everyone likes.”
He also went in for another egg, finding that the flavor was at least intense enough that he had a craving for another after finishing the first.

”God, I hate these…-” he joked, shoveling it into his mouth.
”-What an evil fucking snack.”

Sitting back, relaxing further, Casey found he didn’t have a whole lot to say in excitement. He was content to sit there with her, looking down to see that feline expression of satisfaction splitting across her face. He loved that look. Smug happiness, that her situation was actually worth smiling about… That made things worth it in a visceral way. Every garbage circumstance they had to fight through was alleviated in that calm, affectionate quiet.

He started to hum a song. One of Leon’s. It was a melodic kind of song, that had plenty of sweeping chords, but within the chorus lay a specific lyric that he was clinging to in the moment.
Looking back on ancient feelings: Who beside me remains kneeling? The world’s collapsing all around us, so grab ahold of me.

”We’re gonna make sure our kids know they can do anything they put their minds to. But… What do you hope for? Once those days come, I mean…” he asked faintly, almost like he wasn’t sure of the question himself.

Trisha furrowed her brow slightly as she thought about it in the warm comfort of them. She’d put down her drink for now so she could fully cuddle into him, head resting against his chest comfortably. His question threw her off slightly, but not enough to dislodge the comfort. She just had to think about it.

What did she hope for, for their future children?

“I hope they find something that makes them happy. Something fulfilling.” She responded softly, tilting her head up to look up at him with a gentle smile.

“I’d support them no matter what, but it would be difficult if they didn’t want to do anything. That just seems so… Depressing. Even if they wanted to stay at home and help out with whatever you’re doing, or with my honey- just doing something they want to. I hope they’re smart too, but I don’t… Want to hope for something specific, like going to university or some career path. That’s what my mum did with me, and we know how that turned out.”

Casey nodded, understanding her trauma about it. It was like how he first felt toward sex. The fear of not knowing if he’d end up like the promiscuous people who raised him…

”I’d feel remiss if I didn’t… Kind of talk about positive realignment? Like you taught me; we’re not our folks. Not everything they did is what we’ll do, so… I think you can daydream. Like, it’s not crazy for me to hope that one of them gets into space and wants to become an astronaut, is it? So long as I’m not shoehorning them toward that possibility, it’s fine!” he explained, hoping to help her recontextualize.

Trisha pursed her lips, silently processing what he said. She supposed he was right… It was the actions that had caused her harm, rather than Maria’s hopes for her. They hadn’t even just been hopes. They’d been requirements. As soon as Trisha stopped meeting them, she stopped caring about her.

She wouldn’t do that to her own children. She wouldn’t let herself, no matter how difficult they may end up being. Especially not over something like a hope of what they’d become.

Her expression eased again, and she nodded to him.
“You’re right… It’s fine as long as I don’t force them into anything, or act differently if they don’t end up interested in it.”

She let out a soft sigh, cuddling into him more before continuing.
“I’d like it if one of them was into computers too. Then I could teach them as they grew up, and it’d give us something to bond over. But I also… Kind of hope one of them wants to become an engineer. Not because it’s what my Mom really wanted me to do, but it just seems cool. Like an astronaut is cool. Well, maybe less cool than an astronaut.” She giggled gently.
“Though selfishly I don’t want them to get a job that has crazy hours or takes them out of the country for long periods… Because then we’d see them less.”

Casey nodded calmly, not so much in agreement as acceptance. He had no intention of ever pushing his kids toward what he wanted out of them, but the premise itself gave rise to a lot of questions. How does one know what their kid’s forever interest would be? How does one healthily encourage exploration without cutting the child off from their closer comfort interests? Is there a world where all of that is balanced in line with what the two of them generally want for their kids as a matter of course? It was a lot to speculate. Worth bringing up now, especially when he remembered asking Lynette what they both wanted out of him.

”It’s never really come up, but Lynette said she always imagined me being a charity worker or something. She said I loved helping out at the food banks and stuff when I was a kid, but we both knew that was a lie. That is the kind of thing I’d like to avoid most for our kids; the idea that they’ll never get a straight answer, or if they do, they’ll always be questioning the validity… That they can ask us a question, and know we’re telling them the truth. I don’t even think I want them to grow up believing in Santa.” he firmly finished the thought with an incredibly odd statement that Trisha probably would have to dig a little bit to fully connect.

Trisha tilted her head, looking up at him with a bit of confusion. She wasn’t really attached to something like Santa- his existence growing up entirely hinged on the older children pretending he was real, and Tansy would never let anyone else take credit for her ‘generosity’. James himself was always home for Christmas, but he wasn’t exactly hand picking out gifts that were specifically from him, never mind bothering to pretend Santa was real.

“But there’s a difference between playing make believe and lying, isn’t there?” She asked, trying to at least understand.
“Pretending with our young children that someone like Santa is real is different from lying to their face when they ask. I don’t want to lie to our children either, but I don’t think something like that’s the same? Plenty of children grow up believing in Santa and trust their parents.”

Maybe she was focusing a bit too much on the Santa thing, but it felt out of place compared to the simple ask a question and get an honest answer part.

”Well, it’s just like… Silly! Y’know, the spirit of Christmas and all that. There’s no spirit of Haunukkah, is there? Do we ever hear about the spirit of Ramadan? So, suddenly, Kris Kringle gets his own rent-free spot in our kids’ lives because we’re not capable of providing joy and good tidings without the fuckin’ Krampus’ naughty and nice list making sure our kids stay tame through the year?”

At least Casey was laughing. It was a lot easier to tell that he wasn’t angry or anything because his expression was wide, and his laugh was breathy. It was only when he started to giggle really tightly, almost fakely, that one could tell he was no longer having fun. It was a whimsical topic, and he knew he’d probably lose out on what little argument there was to make for his stance… Social pressure was a bitch, after all, and he knew for a fact that Leon didn’t feel nearly the same as him. They’d screamed at one another drunkenly over this topic last Christmas.

”And then we’ve gotta reinforce it for their snotty school friends… Which means we kind of are lying in a wild, societal fashion that ensures that not only are the older kids socially expected to keep a lid on it, but a tradition that has adults just as ballgripped. It displays the capacity for societal conspiracy… Incredibly slimy behavior.”

“Holy! Divorce, divorce, divorce! Santa hater!” Jasmine called from her spot, shaking her head and laughing as she listened for Trisha’s response.

“I’m not going to- Over Santa.” Trisha laughed lightly, not even saying the word just in case the rings overheard and misunderstood her tone. Though they weren’t even married yet, so there couldn’t technically be a divorce… Semantics. And almost everyone here seemed to be under the impression they were already married anyway.

“I thought we were going to homeschool them? So the only ‘school friends’ we’d be worrying about are Cass and Leon’s- and you’re not winning that fight. You don’t want ours to be the ones trying to rain on their parade by saying he isn’t real anyway. Not when they’re also young.” She shook her head with a smile. She had a fairly distinctive memory for getting into trouble for that in school… She must’ve been around seven or eight at the time.

“I think it’s whimsical rather than slimy… It’s not like we’d use him as a threat. It’s just a fun excuse to give them more presents, and play a little make believe with them. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking about something I never got to experience. But I do think you’re thinking way too much about it. Like pretending to believe in Santa leads to conspiracy theorists.” She reached up to squeeze his cheek with a teasing smile.

Casey sat for a moment as he did his best to figure out what the deal was. Trisha was right about Leon’s kids: He’d accepted that as fact and knew there wasn’t much he’d be able to do about it. But, it wasn’t like Trisha was doing the usual Santa lover spiel about how important the memories were…

”I guess Vanburen Christmases didn’t have a lot of Santa… You’re not defending the practice like someone who is part of the conspiracy. You’re advocating for it… Like you wish it’d been there for you. So, I’ll have to get over my anti-Santa bias…”

He curled her a little closer, kissing the top of her head gently. He wanted deeply to give her everything she’d never had before… Love, family, community… Even the magic of Christmas.

”And I’d love to homeschool them… But I also worry about being capable of doing it right.” he added.

“Well, we have time to figure that out." Trisha replied softly. For that and the Santa thing.

Like he said, she wasn't part of the so called Santa conspiracy (which was a ridiculous thing to call it, honestly). She didn't have strong feelings towards it in that not growing up believing had been one of the more major childhood traumas. But there were parts she didn't want for her children. Still half believing and thinking she was just a bad kid, realising it was really that her dad didn't love them enough… Getting in trouble for resentfully trying to ruin it for other kids too. It was just a small part of the neglectful parenting, but it was one she knew they could easily avoid for their kids.

“It’s not like we're going to have them within the year. We have time to research homeschooling and local schools… Though we're moving somewhere that forces them into a long commute no matter what- Oh, or not so long with magic, I guess." She giggled softly.
“We’ll decide what's best for them. I don't even know how homeschooling works properly, honestly, so I'll have to do a lot of research to have a proper opinion. And I feel like it'll depend on who we have around us too."

And who was willing to teach. She was curious what Cass would want to do with her future children, assuming she had them- and had them with Leon so they were around. She knew she'd had plenty of problems with normal schools because of how she learnt, and she was smart enough to teach a lot of subjects.

“But you're right, I do wish Santa had been there. Maybe he was for the older kids when they were too young to know differently, but most of them were happy to tell us he wasn't real… Which, honestly, was better than thinking he was and we were just all so bad he didn't get us presents." She said lightly, shrugging.
“In the grand scheme of things, there was a lot worse… But I know how I felt not experiencing it. I want to shower our kids with that love."

Casey hadn’t even considered the idea of her not minding… She did mind, but the fact that there was an even worse outcome out there where she still believed, and was let down every single year then-on… It did contribute to his idea of ol’ James being from a different plane of existence, however… One where they just didn’t have Santa Claus. After all, what rich asshole didn’t have a servant that made sure Christmas wound up with a fucking present from Santa?

Unless he also had some reason to push against the Christmas conspiracy…

Shaking the thought off, he had to agree.
”Love’s best. And obviously, if the intention for love’s there, then it is what it is… But, I just remember turning to Leon and being like… You know!? And I remember the feeling of my heart sinking. Because rather than say yes, he acted like he didn’t know too! It sucked. Because then I didn’t know what to believe. It’s dumb… So, obviously they’ll get Christmas like everyone else.”

Jasmine was making her way back to them with a couple small trays. A bowl was set on each, with rolling hills of green leaves dotted among red rings that sat in consecutive circles within one another throughout the dish.

“This is my take on Ratattoile. It’s done as a cold salad with a savory vinaigrette. No funny business this time.”

As she placed them down, she picked the eggs up.

“And I’ll package everything real well, so you can go back for more whenever you feel like it in case you don’t finish.”

Trisha managed to tear her gaze away from Casey to look at Jasmine with a smile.
“Thank you, I appreciate that. Casey will probably finish anything I don’t, but it’s nice to know it won’t be wasted if not.” She nudged Casey with a teasing smile.
“It looks really nice.”

Then she turned back to Casey, drifting back to the previous conversation for just a final addition. Or at least, it felt like a final addition, even if it was delivered somewhat jokingly.
“And we’ll just need to make sure none of our kids turn out like Leon. No proper older sibling bullying or pretending they don’t know something they do.”

Nodding and smiling, Casey tucked into his salad confident that they would figure everything out eventually. Until then, it was just about being together for one another like they needed to be… Strength between them was paramount.

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A long, warm, gentle evening was spent with the two of them slowly plodding through a curated course meal, with Casey never even winding up heading out to ride the snowmobile around the lake like he mentioned he may. They were treated to some genuine peace after Jasmine was done cooking, and the daylight faded over the horizon of the trees to fade beneath the mountain in a slow dive toward the West Coast.

They talked about things they always talked about, hardly registering the time passing in one another’s tender, loving embrace. Though, Casey did manage to show off in a way that he consistently did: His willingness and ability to help others, even if it wasn’t something either of them planned on having to wait for. But, just to make sure that things went smoothly, he capped their night by showing Trisha what a real Orange Lux enchantment looked like on a larger scale.

After an extra hour of setting things up around the tent, Casey had successfully bound the entirety of the internal structure into some kind of umbrella pattern. In theory, it could fold the entire tent in a single motion before unreally locking and cinching it into itself section by section.
When Jasmine returned with intent to put everything up, Casey showed her how the function worked, which thrilled her and ol’ Mr. Cabbot since everything was now so compact and easily manageable. Weight reduction had been easy, and everything else was so simple that he actually put it back up for her before taking it back down just to show it off.

With their good deed having been handled for the night, the couple were able to make haste back to their resort cabin as the snow was beginning to fall around them. They were warned that it was coming in from the North-West, meaning they’d be riding directly into it the further they got. Thankfully, it wasn’t a problem for someone who could ignore things like that by censoring falling snow out of his vision. And so Trisha wouldn’t be so terrified thinking they were driving back in pitch darkness like Casey could, he enchanted the entire machine sans the seats to glow, with the lightbulbs being enhanced to something like floodlights.

Though, they mostly bounced back and illuminated them further as the snow got heavier and heavier. There was a patch nearing the entrance to the resort trail where the path was entirely buried by snow, and it probably looked a little miraculous that Casey was managing to fjord them through such a mounding pile of snow. But, he’d marked out everything on the trail earlier in a very passive way, and knew dead on where the trail was packed down beneath them. This significantly reduced the amount of loose snow they had to blast through, and safely led them back onto the magically curated snow highway that the resort tended to day and night.

Coming up from there, they even passed a pack of the automated plow machines that did the work. Their tank tread bodies locked together in a long line with snow blowing augurs that dug and ripped at the snow, melting and packing everything they ran over before blasting cold, below freezing air from their backs to freeze the pack over. Conveniently, they were built for the trail specifically, as they were perfectly shaped for another treaded vehicle to drive right over the line without trouble. Which, of course Casey did with speed, and sent them for their final surprise of that evening as they cleared a good fifteen feet over the snow before speeding along.

Not long after, they were back at the cabin’s external building. Casey was opening the door inside the garage section, and Trisha got to gently throttle it back inside into position which was pretty much all Casey could coax her into doing. With it off, and them feet from the house, Casey closed the garage door tight and locked it up before smiling at Trisha.

”Well, we may not be in high school, but I got you back before midnight.” he grinned, looking down at his watch to catch it at eleven fifty-eight.

Trisha laughed at that, grinning back up at him.
“Oh good, I dunno how the bees would react if I was back late.”

She began to hurriedly shuffle her way towards the back door- an almost entertaining movement where she was reluctant to pull her feet up off the ground much in case she fell, but wanted to be as fast as possible. The snow was falling heavily now, already settled thick on the path between the garage and the cabin.

“I definitely wasn’t home by midnight during high school, so we’re being much better behaved than I was then.” She continued to joke, fumbling to open the back door and let out a burst of pheromones at the same time to let the bees guarding it know that it was her. Not that they’d get far when it came to attacking, but it was better to be safe.

Casey snagged one of the liquor bottles from the bar before making his way after Trisha. After all, he was feeling fine. Why not have a drink or two? Drinking done in sadness was the problem, but he figured a moderated beverage may make whatever else they had planned a bit more silly. Not that they’d talked about plans besides getting out of their heavier clothes, wet as they managed to get in the snow. They even stopped half-way to let Casey enchant their outer coats so they were more waterproof.

”Well, we’ve simply come to understand the value of responsibility as adults…” he said, as if he wasn’t in bed by ten every night from the time he was twelve until he wound up in the military and found out just how long a human being could survive without passing out from exhaustion.

Stepping in behind her, he too let his pheromones leak out to where he knew Trisha had posted the clusters. Assuming they were still there, he was all smiles up and down, even in bee-nese.

”Oh, it smells kinda ripe in here. That’s what we get for leaving that much fruit out all day.” he laughed, happy there at least weren’t any fruit flies.

”Actually, that’s a good question… Do the bees keep fruit flies away?”

Trisha shook her head, wrinkling her nose a little. At least it had only been a day, and the bees had eaten enough of it. After making sure the bees recognised them both, she let them relax from the posts they’d mostly all kept to. A few of the bombers had strayed, but they’d otherwise be good.

She’d probably set them up again before they went to sleep, but for now it should be fine.

“Only if they eat all of the fruit, I imagine. Bees aren’t exactly predators, so fruit flies don’t have anything to fear from them.” She said, even though she hadn’t left fruit out for long periods to test that. She pulled off her boots and thick coat, grimacing a little now that she could feel her sodden pants clinging to her legs. Casey’s enchantment had helped, but by the time it had been cast they’d already suffered enough snow. And corduroy wasn’t exactly waterproof on its own.

“They’d probably eat it all before we got any fruit flies- I wouldn’t want to test it during summer, though!” She smiled brightly at him, shuffling a bit more into the cabin before deciding she really didn’t need to suffer like this all the way upstairs. With some difficulty with how they were clinging to her legs now, she pulled off her pants and dumped them to the side before making her way towards the stairs.

“You need a change of clothes too, or are you going to magic the water out of yours?”

Casey was shamelessly naked before he even got close to the stairs, waddling bare-assed into the bathroom and kicking on the shower at full blast with his cold wet clothing still in his hands.

”Nah, Baby, I’m doin’ neither. I put the tequila in the freezer, and I’m gonna jump in this hot fuckin’ shower. You’re cordially invited, and as your physician, I actually recommend it. Medically.” he said, looking up at her with a dead serious expression before a smile cracked across his lips.

“When you put it like that, how can I resist?” Trisha laughed, sticking her tongue out at him and turning to follow him into the bathroom.
“But since when were you my physician?”

A hot shower had crossed her mind as something incredibly appealing before being discarded because she didn’t want that time away from Casey right now. She was far too used to their small bathroom at home, where trying to fit one Casey in the shower could be enough of a struggle never mind her getting in with him. But this one was massive! So she really could get the best of both worlds- hot water and him, followed by wrapping up in one of the overly plush towels they’d been provided with.

“Isn’t it better to slowly get warmer rather than jumping right into something hot? So shouldn’t we have a lukewarm shower first?” She joked, beginning to pull off the rest of her clothes. At least the underlayers had been somewhat protected, but everything above that was gross and wet. With it discarded, she was already drifting towards the quickly heating up stream of water.

”Hey now, with both of us in the shower, it’s already piping hot. No sense going slow with it.” he laughed, sliding the glass door open and letting her step in before entering after her and immediately swapping the hot water to cold while he stood in front of the door to get out.

”Oh, no, I’m such a clutz!” he giggled furiously.

“Casey!” Trisha let out a high pitched squeal as the lovely hot water suddenly turned cold. She couldn’t get out past him, she couldn’t reach the controls past him either, so her only option was to press herself against the wall as small as possible to avoid what spray she could.

Not without getting her revenge where she could, of course, sacrificing her hands to splash cold water into his face.

“Turn it back.” She whined, pouting at him.

He did without much begging. He wasn’t exactly fond of cold water either, but the moment was too good to miss. As the water got very hot again, he opened his arms wide and stepped forward before wrapping around her.

”I love you so much… You’re such a good prankee. You never hit, or do anything super crazy… Just pout! It’s so fucking cute!”

“Shuuusshh, it’s not that cute. I could be scary.” Trisha jokingly protested, still playfully pouting at him. She let out a long sigh as the hot water really started to cut through the cold, practically going boneless against him. It was so nice.

“I’d never lash out over a prank… Not unless you managed to trigger a panic attack, and then it wouldn’t be on purpose. I know you wouldn’t do that anyway.” She continued honestly. It was lucky, probably, that she hadn’t been traumatised by some awful prank as a child with the amount of siblings she had. There’d been pranking, of course, but not to the level of siblings that were actually close.

“I’ll get you back one day, though. Outprank the prankmaster, or something like that.”

”Some days, I feel like you’re pranking me when I know you’re not.” he replied, playfully spinning them both around under the torrential water.
”Like when you stepped onto the couch at home and you tripped because your foot slid into the gap between the big cushion and the side one…” he giggled, tilting his head back and letting the water spray across his face. It cascaded through his hair, the deep recesses warming while the outer layers cooled almost instantly and left him feeling half-in.

”Maybe we should’ve kicked the hot tub on, but this is better. I get to squeeze your cheeks.” he grinned before lifting both hands up to grab her facial cheeks and gently squeeze them like he was honking two clown noses.

“You’re gonna make them saggy.” Trisha playfully protested, words coming out a bit funny sounding as she had to move her mouth around the squeezing. She didn’t mind- she liked messing around with Casey, even though it was normally just her following along with his goofiness.

“Then you’ll have to look at me and my saggy cheeks everyday knowing it’s your fault!” She couldn’t keep a straight face even if she wanted to with the clown honking cheek squeezing, but she did break down into giggles about half way through her sentence. The water was slowly soaking into her thick hair, making it cling to her face, with some annoyingly over her eyes after being spun.

She reached up to push it all back as best she could, hand continuing up to poke at his chin.
“You’ll never have to worry about that with your killer jawline.”

Casey could only laugh in turn, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing again before getting on with washing the sweat and outside moisture off the both of them. Twenty minutes later, they were both out and drying off. The cabin was nice and warm thankfully, with the fireplace having come on once they arrived outside as an automatic response to people arriving. It was awesome, and just another piece of domestic magic Casey wanted to try and replicate back home. Stepping outside for a moment, Casey moved to grab his backpack and bring it in, given that it had all their leftovers from Jasmine’s meal.

Fridging it all, still wrapped in a towel, Casey hunted for one of the chocolate bars he’d gotten on the drive out here. He promptly cracked it open and started in upon the melty goodness before offering it over to Trisha.

”You probably aren’t hungry, but maybe you want a treat? Also, after everything’s said and done, what’s the verdict on being out in something like that tent we were in? Y’think you can live in something like that for a couple weeks? A couple months maybe? I promise it’ll have internet…” he giggled.

“A couple of months? Soon you’ll say you want to live in one.” Trisha stuck out her tongue at him, before taking just a little bit of the chocolate bar.

Unlike him, she’d pretty quickly dried off her body to pull on a large sweater that had once been his but was now definitely hers along with some sweatpants. She loved how soft the towels were, but moving about with one wrapped around her was just a pain. But she had bundled up her hair in a smaller one, like a towel shawl, so she didn’t have to think about drying it yet. Otherwise it would be dripping everywhere.

“It was nice. I’m sure I could stay a couple of weeks in a tent like that- with internet and a shower. It doesn’t even need the internet if you let me bring along enough books. It could be nice to properly disconnect for a week or so… No longer, though. Definitely not months without that. But it was basically like a studio apartment.”

Casey nodded.
”I’m just not sure if I want to keep old man Cabbot’s house and live in that while we work the property or not. The pictures I saw made it seem… Rustic, but poorly maintained. In a battle of clean versus convenient, I’d probably choose the former.” he admitted.

It would probably be much better. He had to build the outer structure first, but rather than do that, he figured he’d order it ahead of time. Someone upstate from St. Portwell that he knew would be more than capable of laying down a foundationless frame that Casey could miniaturize and set up inside a tent like a ship in a bottle.
But, that gave him an idea too. Maximizing smaller components never really went well, since it always felt like you were in a jumbo world when it was blown up to normal size… But what if he just miniaturized a mass quantity of materials and built the structure like a little desk model?

It’d theoretically be thirty times as much effort, seeing as how each individual board and pipe had to be enchanted. Any component had to be before installation, and as they all had to be done individually, it was a lot of magic to go through.
But couldn’t he just do that with a house of their own?

”Well… Maybe not. I just kinda had this crazy brain blast; maybe this whole house thing ain’t gonna be so bad. I’m not really sure how I’m gonna pull it off, but we’ll see. We may end up in the fucking construction business, Babe, I’m not even gonna lie to you.” he grinned widely, entirely impressed with himself over his own conceptuality.

Trisha had no idea what he was actually thinking, but she could only assume it was some crazy magic for building a house. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask, because she probably wouldn’t understand half of it… But if he was that enthusiastic, she’d enjoy him getting excited more than she’d be annoyed she didn’t quite get it.

“Oh? Then we can call our future conglomerate ’Bees and Buildings’, or something.” She smiled back.
“What kind of crazy idea did you have that makes you think we should go into construction?”

”If I can automate a high tier artifact to consistently miniaturize housing materials, we’d be able to assemble them like matchstick houses and deliver them for pennies. Get a staging area where we make it look like we’re producing high volume structures, but we’re basically a dollhouse factory using quality grade construction materials. Then we buy up an area for development, and we magically slap down three dozen houses overnight. Sell ‘em for cheap, fuck it. Give some to charities…”

He was even thinking of self-setting foundational systems, where the concrete would potentially bust open and fill in a pre-fabricated mold to create a sturdy, long lasting foundation instantly alongside the house being placed down. It was more work to set up and maintain as a company that could service Blinds than it was actually getting the infrastructure set up.

”And I really liked building shit. I still like building shit, but small stuff. Like my guns, or working on the sled… Small bits and bobs are really my thing.” he continued to explain, hoping she’d see something of his vision.

Trisha nodded slowly, though she wasn’t sure how on earth tiny matchstick houses could become good quality houses. Did the size expansion retain the material quality? But it wouldn’t be the same, would it? It made her head spin a little bit thinking about it.

“I know you like building stuff… I can tell because you get so into something like the sled, and you get excited talking about what we’re going to do on our property.” She said with a smile. She was sure in the future when they had more time, Casey and Cass would undoubtedly sit down with each other for days and create some crazy things together.

“If you’re taking tiny matchstick houses and making them bigger… Will it be stable? How do you deal with the wiring, do you do mini wires in the mini houses?” She asked curiously, trying to figure out how it all worked and getting stuck on a few things. Not that she needed to know, but she couldn’t help but think about the little details.

Casey shook his head, giggling happily as he made way for the stairs to find some clothing finally. As much as Trisha probably liked looking, he was fond of pants. Just pants for tonight. He figured spending as much time shirtless as he could would be like a private gift, as self-aggrandizing as that sounded.

”Oh, no… You misunderstand. What I meant about the artifact? The idea would be it would take real true-size supplies. Real lumber, real timber, I mean, we’d probably create all the fixtures and line ‘em up true to size, but then for assembly, we’d be able to shrink it all down to a point where we can basically assemble the houses by hand. Again, they’d all be real materials, just… Shrunk down by what would essentially be a magical machine. We call ‘em Miracles, when they do something automatically without input.” he explained, having had to give his perspective on the difference between said contraptions and standard artifacts multiple times.

As he spoke, his voice got louder and louder to ensure Trisha could hear him down the stairs, not sure of whether or not she bothered following him up.

Trisha did end up instinctively trailing after him, like a little duckling. They were in the middle of a conversation, after all, so she wasn’t really inclined to go get comfy on the couch alone.

“Ohhhh, I see. I figured you’d be building little houses out of little materials then blowing it all up to proper house size. It makes more sense that its proper supplies shrunk to put it together… Would it really save that much time? Since you’ll have to do so much work when it’s at full size. I guess it means you can build it wherever you want and move it to where you want to put it down.” She rubbed the back of her neck. Even though she was learning more the longer she was with Casey, it was still the kind of magic she struggled to understand. It was so different from her own, and she couldn’t easily translate it to mundane concepts.

“That does sound handy. Would there also be a Miracle to unshrink the house when it’s put together, or would that need to be done manually?”

”Uhhh… That could take some refinement. Chances are it’d be a fairly violent reaction. Which, theoretically, could be utilized to do a whole bunch of useful stuff? But, the idea would be that there’d be a curse or something else built into the structure that would release the spell itself and grow everything back up to size. But it’s all… Theoretical. My little buddy isn’t around to blast ideas at anymore, so I’ve kinda gotta do it by trial and error unless I get real good at Super-Hypothetical physics. It’s like physics, but breakable…”

And Gin’s specialty. Her ability to know what magic was going to do intrinsically was what made her an incredible physicist. Basic principles were out the window for a mind like hers, and it made her hungry for alternatives. She could easily observe the patterns of Lux, and seemed to have a preternatural sense of what kinds of things would force Lux to build up, rather than flowing and distributing normally. And never mind actually putting those consequences to good use…

”I’ve got her voice in my head telling me I should figure out how to pre-install the foundations for them too, so all the company has to do after transporting is activate them in the holes…” he laughed, pulling his underwear up before moving for a pair of socks.

”Y’know… You do make me feel special. Listening to me talk about shit like this, I mean. Because you ask about it after… Uhh… I guess I can usually tell when people don’t really care. It bothers me.” he explained, not entirely implying that there was a person in mind for his ire.

Trisha nodded in understanding. While she’d gotten good at pretending to be who she thought past friends and partners wanted, which meant never straying into talking about stuff they wouldn’t like, she’d experienced the lack of interest too. Mostly from family, but sometimes when she’d made the mistake of opening up and talking about some book or her bees.

“It’s interesting and I don’t really understand it, so I ask so I can understand more.” She responded simply.
“I’d still enjoy listening even if I didn’t find it so interesting anyway, because you get so enthusiastic about it. That’s pretty infectious… So I’ll always care, because it’s something you want to talk about, which means it’s something I want to listen to.”

Most of the time, at least, unless she was in a particularly poor mood. But then listening to anything was difficult… And that wasn’t what he meant here anyway. It was people who didn’t try to care, right? They just listened because they felt they had to, rather than being honest or trying to engage. Not that she could ever tell someone she found what they were saying boring.

“You are special to me, because I love you, and you talk about things in a way that makes them seem so interesting even if I barely get what you’re trying to say.” She laughed slightly, smiling at him. She couldn’t understand like Gin had… While she was pretty good at Maths, and thus that part of Physics wasn’t too bad, she always struggled with the rest of it.

“You are lucky that I like learning so much, and I didn’t lose that completely over years of studying.”

Casey nodded as he did so often: With a smile filling his face. He was, in fact, very lucky. Because what he’d really wanted all his life was someone who listened. And not just listened, but really gave a shit. Lynette always listened… It was her best quality. She knew when you wanted or needed something. Affection, a pat on the back, some encouragement…

But she knew how to manipulate it too. To withhold, or only string along with the least amount of thread… If she needed you buttered up, she was happy to dangle the meat closer to your mouth. It was all about figuring out how to best get what she wanted. So, she listened to everything. But they all learned to only tell her what they didn’t fear losing.

With Trisha, it was genuine adult interest… And an interest for the relatively unknown, which was always exciting. Foreign frontiers. The Age of Exploration had ended with a whimper in the back yard of the Industrial Revolution… Any joy one could possibly squeeze out of learning something new on the planet was a feeling Casey wanted to protect. He was nostalgic over learning himself, after all…

”We’re both lucky as shit. I’m just thrilled that it gets to be us. Even with all the awful things that we’ve been dealing with, I can’t imagine where I’d be right now if I wasn’t doing this with you.” he said, finally sliding his sweatpants on before stepping closer and leaning down to plant a deep, loving kiss on Trisha’s lips.

Trisha happily leaned into her, arms wrapping around him. She smiled warmly at him as they parted, her eyes creased contentedly. They really were lucky. She could imagine where she’d be… Even if she wouldn’t be dealing with all the shit surrounding them, she’d be stuck and alone with no hope for the future. But she’d found her person, and would hopefully never go back to that.

“I can imagine… And it only makes dealing with all of those things so I can be with you worth it.” She said softly, leaning up to rub her nose against his.

Then, she let out a quiet giggle.
“You know… I’m getting pretty used to being called Mrs Richoux. Maybe we should just elope.”

It was mostly a joke, of course. The security marriage brought was dampened by her experience of constant divorce, and there was still the lingering fear that Casey would try to leave her that made her want to wait that year like they said. As if it would make it any easier if things did fall apart… But she was happy to be engaged, and it had only been a month. But she did like it when she was referred to as his wife, even if it wasn’t quite true yet.

Casey looked down at her with the warmest, most gooey eyes he could possibly muster.
”Oh, Honey Bee… Don’t make me wait! Marry me, please! I beg you!”

He was giggling, but if she came to him tomorrow and said it again, he’d not think twice. He was already used to calling her that; there was practically no lag time. He loved it. And he’d love her too… Forever and ever.