“So,” Dana said, sifting swiftly through a handful of papers to make sure she had everything she needed, “what's this new guy like that I hear is moving in with you two?”
“Very intelligent,” Christian said. “And extremely charming.”
“Being in a new city's kind of rough,” Sara observed.
Sara really did fit well with this group, Mark mused. It had been easy enough to invite her over, have Val present, and greet her as Mark, not Lexa, allowing her to draw her own conclusions; with Val there, said conclusions were foregone, if not quite accurate. Christian clearly liked her, though he made no secret of his curiosity as to why Mark had taken such a fancy to her; Val liked her, and the rest of the group seemed agreeable to her inclusion in the game as of the previous session. Sara, in turn, seemed happy to be here.
He wasn't entirely certain himself why he'd bothered, other than a vague feeling that it was good for Christian to have human friends, and an even more vague instinct about healthy females being a balance against over-hunting. Neither really explained it. It would be comforting to be able to define his own behaviour as simply as he'd once been able to, but he was resigned to the fact that being with Christian so long had changed him.
“It seriously sucks that I'm going to have to quit,” Will sighed. “There's just no way I can keep up with classes and a part-time job and still play, not this year.”
“Gonna miss having you here,” Dana said sympathetically. “Once you get through this year, you can come back, for at least the summer. This seems like a pretty stable group, all things considered.”
“Stable enough to include new players without losing anything,” Val agreed.
“I won't actually invite Eric to join us unless everyone meets him and has no problem with that,” Christian said. “I don't even know if he'll have any interest in it.”
“Won't know 'til we ask,” Val said cheerfully. “Dana, are you going to be okay, playing and going back to school?”
“Should be,” Dana said. “My courses aren't as scary as Will's, and my hours are dropping drastically once school starts. If I start having trouble, I'll take some time off. Hey, every cleric can use some time on a meditation retreat, right? I'll probably have to miss a session or two during exams, but other than that I'm not expecting problems.”
“Sara?”
“First year Human Studies should be okay,” Sara said. “I mean, it's at the college, not the university, and I'm living with my parents still, so it shouldn't be quite as tough.”
“Don't count on it,” Val said dryly. “I've taken some courses there. Some of 'em were plenty hard.”
“Oh well. I'll just have to wait and see, I guess, I don't really have anything to judge by.”
“True. And the rest of us go on with our usual lives, unaffected by the school year—other than its impact on friends, that is. At least, not much. Hours at job number two are going to shift a bit, a couple of people there are going back to school, but I'll deal with it.”
“Been meaning to get over there and try the food,” Will commented. “Home-made soups and sandwiches and stuff would be a nice change from fast food.”
“Are we going to sit around yakking all night?” Isaac asked, “or are we going to get back to trying to figure out how to get this Mirror of the Moon thing?”
“Assuming that we actually are in the right place,” Mark seconded. Honestly, they could chatter away like this all night, if allowed to. Christian had explained it as healthy real-life social interaction; it might be healthy, but it was boring. “The directions we got from that unicorn weren't exactly precise. I'm still not sure whether it said go down the hill and over the river, or over the hill and down the river.”
“Anyone else get the feeling that unicorn has a bad case of Attention Deficit Disorder?” Will wondered out loud.
“Well, decide what you're doing, then,” Christian said. “Need a reminder of where you are?”
“Immediate surroundings, at least, please,” Dana said.
Christian nodded and complied, and they all settled into the game.
* * *
R-ring. R-ring.
Christian dropped everything he was carrying and ran for the phone, on a hunch. “Hello.”
“Hi, Chris.”
“Mom!” He stretched a bit, grabbed a chair, and dragged it closer to the phone so he could straddle it. “How's it going? How are Dad and Grandpa?”
“All well,” Rosa said, with one of her rich laughs; her accent had returned to her quickly, back in her homeland, and he loved hearing it as much as he loved simply hearing his mother's voice, though it tended to slip in and out a bit after two decades in Canada. “How are you?”
“Oh, I'm okay.”
“You've not had any trouble? There are rumours that have reached us here.”
“Oh, those.” He told her about the visit from Fellowship, and the visit to Margaret's house, and his meeting with Dextra.
Rosa sighed. “Bloody hell. I'd hoped they'd let you be. Wishful thinking, I should have known better. D'you need us?”
“Nah, I'm okay. Mark won't let anything happen to me, and Eric's really cool, and Margaret will back us up if we need her.”
Another sigh. “We kept you away from other witches while you were young to protect you, so you could grow and learn your own way. Once you grew a little older, well... I suppose we should have made more of an effort to get into the subject and make sure you met a few of the sort worth the time, which honestly would mean largely Lyndells, but there was always something more urgent to do, and it never got to the top of the list. I'm sorry, Chris, we should have at least given you better warning.”
“It's okay. I got through in one piece, and hopefully they'll stay gone.”
“Never underestimate the power of fear,” Rosa cautioned. “They'll fear you, and so they'll try to act against you. If you're in danger, call, and I'll be on a plane to you in no time. Iambe and Vadin can be there even faster.”
“Don't worry so much, I'll be all right. I have friends to look out for me magically and otherwise. I told you I made friends with a kitsune who taught me some neat things, and I have Lexa and Eric right here... I’m not alone.”
It took him some time to calm her worries; at one point, he thought she intended to pack up herself, her husband, and his father and move them all back to Canada immediately, but he talked her into staying there with her family.
“Call me if you need me,” Rosa insisted, finally.
“I will, I promise.”
“All right. You're not a child anymore, you're an adult, and you can make your own choices. But I am your mother still. Take care of yourself and your friends.”
“I will. I miss you.”
“You're much missed by us all, sweetheart, and much loved.”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
“So,” Dana said, sifting swiftly through a handful of papers to make sure she had everything she needed, “what's this new guy like that I hear is moving in with you two?”
“Very intelligent,” Christian said. “And extremely charming.”
“Being in a new city's kind of rough,” Sara observed.
Sara really did fit well with this group, Mark mused. It had been easy enough to invite her over, have Val present, and greet her as Mark, not Lexa, allowing her to draw her own conclusions; with Val there, said conclusions were foregone, if not quite accurate. Christian clearly liked her, though he made no secret of his curiosity as to why Mark had taken such a fancy to her; Val liked her, and the rest of the group seemed agreeable to her inclusion in the game as of the previous session. Sara, in turn, seemed happy to be here.
He wasn't entirely certain himself why he'd bothered, other than a vague feeling that it was good for Christian to have human friends, and an even more vague instinct about healthy females being a balance against over-hunting. Neither really explained it. It would be comforting to be able to define his own behaviour as simply as he'd once been able to, but he was resigned to the fact that being with Christian so long had changed him.
“It seriously sucks that I'm going to have to quit,” Will sighed. “There's just no way I can keep up with classes and a part-time job and still play, not this year.”
“Gonna miss having you here,” Dana said sympathetically. “Once you get through this year, you can come back, for at least the summer. This seems like a pretty stable group, all things considered.”
“Stable enough to include new players without losing anything,” Val agreed.
“I won't actually invite Eric to join us unless everyone meets him and has no problem with that,” Christian said. “I don't even know if he'll have any interest in it.”
“Won't know 'til we ask,” Val said cheerfully. “Dana, are you going to be okay, playing and going back to school?”
“Should be,” Dana said. “My courses aren't as scary as Will's, and my hours are dropping drastically once school starts. If I start having trouble, I'll take some time off. Hey, every cleric can use some time on a meditation retreat, right? I'll probably have to miss a session or two during exams, but other than that I'm not expecting problems.”
“Sara?”
“First year Human Studies should be okay,” Sara said. “I mean, it's at the college, not the university, and I'm living with my parents still, so it shouldn't be quite as tough.”
“Don't count on it,” Val said dryly. “I've taken some courses there. Some of 'em were plenty hard.”
“Oh well. I'll just have to wait and see, I guess, I don't really have anything to judge by.”
“True. And the rest of us go on with our usual lives, unaffected by the school year—other than its impact on friends, that is. At least, not much. Hours at job number two are going to shift a bit, a couple of people there are going back to school, but I'll deal with it.”
“Been meaning to get over there and try the food,” Will commented. “Home-made soups and sandwiches and stuff would be a nice change from fast food.”
“Are we going to sit around yakking all night?” Isaac asked, “or are we going to get back to trying to figure out how to get this Mirror of the Moon thing?”
“Assuming that we actually are in the right place,” Mark seconded. Honestly, they could chatter away like this all night, if allowed to. Christian had explained it as healthy real-life social interaction; it might be healthy, but it was boring. “The directions we got from that unicorn weren't exactly precise. I'm still not sure whether it said go down the hill and over the river, or over the hill and down the river.”
“Anyone else get the feeling that unicorn has a bad case of Attention Deficit Disorder?” Will wondered out loud.
“Well, decide what you're doing, then,” Christian said. “Need a reminder of where you are?”
“Immediate surroundings, at least, please,” Dana said.
Christian nodded and complied, and they all settled into the game.
* * *
R-ring. R-ring.
Christian dropped everything he was carrying and ran for the phone, on a hunch. “Hello.”
“Hi, Chris.”
“Mom!” He stretched a bit, grabbed a chair, and dragged it closer to the phone so he could straddle it. “How's it going? How are Dad and Grandpa?”
“All well,” Rosa said, with one of her rich laughs; her accent had returned to her quickly, back in her homeland, and he loved hearing it as much as he loved simply hearing his mother's voice, though it tended to slip in and out a bit after two decades in Canada. “How are you?”
“Oh, I'm okay.”
“You've not had any trouble? There are rumours that have reached us here.”
“Oh, those.” He told her about the visit from Fellowship, and the visit to Margaret's house, and his meeting with Dextra.
Rosa sighed. “Bloody hell. I'd hoped they'd let you be. Wishful thinking, I should have known better. D'you need us?”
“Nah, I'm okay. Mark won't let anything happen to me, and Eric's really cool, and Margaret will back us up if we need her.”
Another sigh. “We kept you away from other witches while you were young to protect you, so you could grow and learn your own way. Once you grew a little older, well... I suppose we should have made more of an effort to get into the subject and make sure you met a few of the sort worth the time, which honestly would mean largely Lyndells, but there was always something more urgent to do, and it never got to the top of the list. I'm sorry, Chris, we should have at least given you better warning.”
“It's okay. I got through in one piece, and hopefully they'll stay gone.”
“Never underestimate the power of fear,” Rosa cautioned. “They'll fear you, and so they'll try to act against you. If you're in danger, call, and I'll be on a plane to you in no time. Iambe and Vadin can be there even faster.”
“Don't worry so much, I'll be all right. I have friends to look out for me magically and otherwise. I told you I made friends with a kitsune who taught me some neat things, and I have Lexa and Eric right here... I’m not alone.”
It took him some time to calm her worries; at one point, he thought she intended to pack up herself, her husband, and his father and move them all back to Canada immediately, but he talked her into staying there with her family.
“Call me if you need me,” Rosa insisted, finally.
“I will, I promise.”
“All right. You're not a child anymore, you're an adult, and you can make your own choices. But I am your mother still. Take care of yourself and your friends.”
“I will. I miss you.”
“You're much missed by us all, sweetheart, and much loved.”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
