A cabin in the middle of nowhere.
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.”
Atrophy
Evil Ghost Note
Neziul
DrDistasteful
Simply Not Real
Ohm
VenusSundew
