Chapter Twenty-Four: Magical Spice
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
One more slow, gentle wake-up in the nylon nest of our tent and sleeping bags. Aiden’s sleepy face buried against my chest to hide from the sunlight. The twittering of the birds outside, their little warbles echoing through the forest on all sides.
I close my eyes and cozy up closer to Aiden. I’m a little sad that our camping trip is already over. But like we told Thorn, we’ll be back.
In the meantime, the prospect of a nap in my actual bed is alluring enough to make me drag myself out of the sleeping bag. Aiden goes on snoozing while I start packing things up. The soft sound of his breathing is peaceful music to my ears.
Eventually I sit back and let my adoring gaze wander all over him. The colorful light, tinted by the walls of our tent, dappled over his powerful, sprawled-out body. The graceful slope of his bicep, his arm flung over his face. The silly mess of his chestnut and copper bedhead. His stubble beard has grown even richer and darker over the last few days, deliciously thick.
It’s ridiculous how he can make me this nervous and shy and self-conscious when he’s asleep. I sternly tell myself to get a grip, then remind myself that it’s not my fault. He’s pure eye candy, this one.
Wake up, I think silently at him, fidgeting with the malachite jar pendant around my neck. Do that thing where you wake up and for a second you look worried, but then you see me and smile.
Aiden stirs in his sleep, his brow scrunching up. He breathes out a sleepy sigh, one that blows a lock of coppery chestnut back from his temple. His eyes blink slowly a few times, lost in a hazy blue daze, then flutter open and swiftly, fretfully glance around.
When they find my face, they fill with relief, and then an intimate smile.
“Hi,” he murmurs drowsily, then huffs out a startled laugh as I fling myself into his arms. “What-?”
“You did it!” I whisper adoringly.
“I - what? What’d I do?”
“You - nothing. Good morning. I love you.”
He’s baffled, but smiling. He folds his arms around me, and I let out a blissful exhale, savoring their sweet, heavy weight on my back.
“Morning, Linden,” rumbles his deep, flustered voice. “I love you, too.”
“Are you ready to go home?”
Aiden falls silent to think through his answer, his nose buried in my hair. The soft sound of the whispering forest seeps through our tent, leaves rustling and birds cheeping. He snuggles deeper into the sleeping bag, keeping me locked in his arms.
“Yeah, think so,” he murmurs eventually. “I like it here, but I miss home.”
“I know what you mean.” I sit up, stretching my arms over my head. “The forest is beautiful, but I really, really want a real shower. And our bed. And snuggles with Luna. And for you to cook me food.”
Aiden sits up and folds his elbows on his knees, then rests his chin on his forearms, watching me. “Nice to hear that last one on the list.”
“Are you serious, dude?” I laugh, neatly folding up a flannel. “I’m hopelessly addicted by now, you should know that! Nobody else’s cooking tastes as good to me.”
Aiden breaks into a startled smile, holds still for a second, then suddenly buries his face in his arms. I turn to look at him inquiringly, but he hastily gets up onto his knees and reaches for his own backpack.
I wait to see if he’s going to say anything else, but he doesn’t, so I unzip the tent and lean outside to look at the half-asleep forest. It’s sparkling with dew, a stiff ocean breeze blowing in from the coastline. The ocean is shining blue today, after the grey of yesterday’s spell of rain. The air and shadows are cool against my skin, the growing sunlight warm when I lift my face to it.
I turn to face Aiden, who’s stopped what he’s doing to watch me.
“Oh, Aiden, come see how nice-” I begin, then cut myself off mid-sentence.
I had lifted up my hands to gesture while I was talking. I do that almost every time I’m about to say something, but - this time their fluttering upwards movement was accompanied by a little burst of golden sparks around my fingers, like miniature fireworks going off. At the same time, there was a bright, sparkling, cheerful little sound, the kind of joyful noise that might play in a cutesy video game if you dug up a piece of treasure.
I stare in bewilderment at my own hands, then look up at Aiden, who’s barely suppressing a grin. The last of the frosty blue magic in his eyes is disappearing hastily, as if hurrying out of sight.
“What-?” I let out a burst of indignant laughter, swatting his arm. “Um! Don’t apply sound and visual effects to me, please! That’s not fair, magic man, I can’t do that to you!”
He breaks into a full-on grin, crinkling up those delicate fine lines at the corners of his eyes.
“Couldn’t help it,” he laughs softly, tweaking one of my red curls. “You’re so cute. Love the way your hands are always movin’.”
I stare blankly at Aiden for a second, then turn away and start stuffing my things into my bag, this time not bothering to fold anything.
“God.” My cheeks are burning wildly, my fingers all clumsy. “You get me so - you’re always - okay, home. I need home, and calm.”
Aiden arches an incredulous eyebrow. “This? This is what makes you say that? After everything that happened on this trip?”
“It’s - cumulative! Shut up!” I groan loudly as Aiden winds his arms around me, half-laughing, kissing my neck. “Oh my god, can we just pack, please?”
“Yeah, Keane, pack,” he yawns, releasing me to finger-comb the soft glossy mess of his hair. “I got a big breakfast planned for you when we get home. Probably gonna make more of those Gruyère croissants you liked.”
Cheesy, flaky, toasty-warm memories drift through my mind. I remember Aiden putting the butter in the freezer for a while before he sliced it and wrapped it in the pastry dough, so that it was all melty goodness even after the croissants were baked and crispy.
I let out a sigh of ecstasy, then eagerly start cramming everything into my backpack. Aiden breathes out a huff of laughter, watching me.
“We’d better get going, meet up with Thorn,” he murmurs.
I nod in agreement, then look down at my hands once Aiden turns away again. Thinking about what he just did, so easily, like it was nothing. It was something small, but - it wasn’t nothing. It was magic, a kind he hasn’t done before. And he did it so naturally, so confidently. He did it for fun.
I smile proudly at my Heliomancer. Then I remember about the breakfast, and I get back to packing.
~~~~
“Oh - Aiden!” I stop where I am, holding up my phone in delight. “We must be getting towards the edge of the forest! I just got reception back to my phone! Wow - we missed a lot in the group chat, even just since this morning.”
Aiden pauses on the winding forest path ahead of me, then swings around, obviously worried. “Is everything okay?”
“Mhm, I think so…” I scroll up through my missed messages. “The first thing from today is a video message from Ripley.”
Aiden comes over to watch over my shoulder as I hit play. The video shows us a sunlit room, and the end of a bare mattress with some blankets heaped on it.
“Guess what?” comes Ripley’s sleepy voice from behind the camera, sounding warm with happiness. “First day waking up in my apartment above the workshop! Um - technically I wasn’t supposed to, so keep it quiet. I’ve gotta sneak back into my bedroom at home before my mom realizes I’m gone, since I promised her I wasn’t moving out just yet, but - still pretty cool, right?”
The camera moves slowly across his half-painted apartment, still full of tarps and tools and other obvious signs of being a work in progress. But it does look bright and airy, beautiful. The oversized, slanted windows let in golden shafts of sunlight, and there’s some gentle noise from the street. The muffled sound of a car rolling past, and the summer breeze blowing lightly against the window panes.
“On the other hand…” Ripley angles the camera so we can see the floor beyond his bed. “Learned not to leave any of the windows open if it’s raining.”
“Oh, no,” I laugh, looking at the pool of rainwater on Ripley’s kitchen floor.
“The workshop level is about to look like that, too,” Ripley goes on, “Because I’m gonna go take what I’m calling a hurricane-shower in the bathroom that Noah, um - fixed.”
Aiden and I grin at each other, struggling not to laugh.
“Anyways, just wanted to show you guys,” Ripley says, switching the camera around to face him. His green curls are all sleep-tousled, his eyes only half awake, but he’s grinning happily. “My place.”
“Aw, Ripples,” Aiden says fondly, smiling down at my phone.
“His place is starting to look so good!” I close the video and start scrolling down. “Oh. Raj sent a video right after Ripley’s, a little later.”
I hit play, then let out a sputter of laughter when I get my first glimpse at the footage. Raj filmed himself way too close up. The video shows mostly his angular jaw and a bit of his cheek, nothing else. He’s clearly walking somewhere, based on the jolty camerawork.
“Ripples!” he says brightly. “The new place looks better every goddamn time I see it, bruh! Remind me to take you to buy some sheets, though, alright? The ladies want you to have sheets. Also, brothers, I love that we’re talking by video on this beautiful morning! That’s fun! Anyone else want to show off their-?”
The video stops there. Aiden and I blink at it, then let out a simultaneous burst of laughter.
I’d say our thoughts are pretty accurately reflected in the storm of texts that immediately followed.
Noah ⚡ 10:10 AM: Holy shit. My mans is SUCH a dad!!
Ripley 🎶 10:10 AM: Omg Raj is showing dad symptoms again
Ralph 🌙 10:10 AM: Angled wrong, zoomed all the way in, cut off the recording halfway through at a particularly awkward moment, then accidentally sent it anyways. Next-level dad stuff right there
Raj 🔨 10:11 AM: Cut me a break boys I’m rushing on my way to fix someone’s water heater!! When is Jamie back from camping? He wouldn’t roast me like this!
Ripley 🎶 10:11 AM: No one said it’s a bad thing dude!
Noah ⚡ 10:11 AM: Yeah, no, Raj, we weren’t!♥️ Hang on I’ll send a good morning vid too!! For the boys!!
After that, there’s a video sent from Noah’s phone. This is troubling, because the thumbnail doesn’t give too much away, but I can see that everyone responded to it with emojis of shock and disbelief.
“I’m afraid,” I laugh, looking up at Aiden, my thumb hovering over the video.
Aiden hits play for me. We both blink in surprise as the video begins, because Ralph is the one recording it. He had been blocking the camera with his thumb as he set it up. I can tell from the couch he’s sitting on that he’s at Noah, Raj, and Mel’s house. Nikita is sitting on his knee, clasped in place with his arm around her little stomach. She gazes up at him with an adoring smile as he begins addressing the camera.
“We’re recording a video per Raj’s request, and at Noah’s insistence. Did you even have something you wanted to say, dude?”
“Nah, not really.” Noah flops down on the couch next to Ralph, his eyes glued to a bundle of papers in his hands. “But if my husband likes that everyone is sending a video, then we’re sending a video. My house, my rules. Aw, shit - hang on, I kicked over the Xbox controller.”
Noah gets up from the couch, and Ralph leans closer to the phone that’s recording, dropping his voice to a covert whisper.
“Noah got a letter from his sister today. He’s really happy about it, but he’s trying to act like it’s not a big deal.”
“It’s not a big deal, dude!” Noah swats at Ralph as drops back down on the couch, hastily reels it back in when he remembers Ralph is holding his baby, then turns to face the phone, making an exasperated noise. “Look, Noelle and I used to send letters to each other when she was in France and I was here, since I’m not too good at staying focused on the phone. She’s back there now, so I tried out sending her a letter, and she wrote me back. Big fuckin’ deal.”
“He got really hype when he saw the letter,” Ralph tells us.
I believe it. I know how close Noah and his sister used to be. They were best buds back in the day, and they’ve been slowly, awkwardly trying to figure out a way to get back to that. Seems like Noah finally found a way to make it work. He’s obviously delighted about it, but also determinedly trying to keep a chill and casual expression on his face. He tends to get uncomfortable when he gets caught caring.
“You’re exaggerating,” he tells Ralph firmly. “Which is very childish of you, by the way.”
“I’m a child?” Ralph opens his eyes very wide. “I literally just watched you eat a piece of oreo cheesecake at 9 AM, dude.”
“Bah,” Noah says dismissively, flapping a tattooed hand at him. “That has nothing to do with anything!”
Ralph breathes out an affectionate laugh, grinning widely at Noah. “Always sounds so French when you say that. Bah. See? I can’t say it like you.”
“Bah!” Niki squeaks.
Ralph drops his gaze to her in surprise. “Oh. Apparently Niki can, though. Aw! She says it just like you, Noosh. Probably ‘cause you’re both babies.”
“Like you didn’t have a bite of my cheesecake, bro.”
“What’d Noelle say?” Ralph asks, blowing right past that, bouncing Nik on his knee as she plays with his wristbands.
Noah shrugs his shoulders, tucking a stray strand of inky hair from his bun behind his ear. “A bunch of it is just her writing back to what I said.”
Based on the number of pages, Noah’s sister must have written him a super long letter. He runs his grey eyes over it, translating as he goes, trying hard to look like he couldn’t give a damn about any of this.
“Let’s see… She wrote a whole lot about what’s going on with her friends in France, which, you know, who cares, I don’t even know those people. All I know is what Noelle told me at the wedding.” Noah rolls his eyes, then pauses, reading the next sentence with obvious disbelief. “Wait a second, Brigitte got fired? That’s fuckin’ crazy, didn’t Noey say that she was basically one step away from a promotion? Wow, that’s gonna make things awkward for Noey, she’s probably gonna get promoted… her or Michelle. But I guess they all three go way back, maybe it’ll be fine.”
Ralph flashes a swift little grin at the camera as Noah tucks that page behind the rest.
“I’ll read that stuff later. Next page, she said… Thank you so much for the candy you sent me with the letter, it made me less homesick - did I send her some candy? Don’t remember that. Must’ve been stoned.” Noah clears his throat, then hurries on. “What else…? It’s sweet that you asked if I’m coming home to Ketterbridge soon, but with my work schedule I’m just not sure yet, so send me more letters - oh. Don’t remember asking her about that, either. I kinda forgot what I put in my letter, I guess.”
Noah blushes, then tosses the letter aside.
“Anyways, forget that. The thing of actual importance is the present.”
“Oh, yes,” Ralph laughs, then fixes the camera with a big grin. “For those not in the know, Noah’s aunt used to send him presents from France about once a year. Very - earnest presents.”
“Oh my god,” Aiden suddenly blurts out.
His deep voice is full of excitement, like he knows exactly what’s going on. He clasps his fingers over his mouth as Noah leans out of frame, then comes back in with a box in his hands.
“She thinks Noah is very, ah… fashion-forward,” Ralph continues, struggling to keep a straight face. “Probably since he’s got all the tattoos and piercings and the long hair.”
“Yeah, so she sends me what she thinks is fashion-forward, with heinous, hideous results.” Noah beams down at the package, eagerly wrenching off the tape. “And for the first time in years she sent one again, had Noelle mail it to me! Guess she didn’t have my address before… Man, I can’t wait to see what kind of unbelievable mistake is in this box.”
“Please,” Ralph says, gesturing to it. “Burn a new, gruesome image into everyone’s eyes. I’m sure that’s what Raj was hoping for when he said it was sweet to start the morning off with nice videos.”
“Hell yeah, man, let’s do it! Here we go! It’s-” Noah stares down into the box, then lets out a gasp. “Oh, it’s a beauty.”
He extracts a hat from the box, and suddenly I understand why there are so many shocked emojis on this video.
Aiden and I both gasp out loud, our eyes widening.
“Oh, no!” I wail, suddenly gasping for breath around the flood of laughter overtaking me. “Aiden! Are you seeing this?”
He’s barely holding it together, and he can’t even answer.
“Oh, what the fuck?” Ralph gasps, pulling Nik away from the hat like it’s an animal that might bite her. “What is that? A live bird?”
“It’s a hat. Oh, it’s a hat.” Noah places it on his head, then leans back on the couch, throws his arms back behind his head like he’s a model posing for the camera. “Well? How do we feel?”
Ralph is struggling to breathe through his laughter, his grey-green eyes horrified.
“Oh, Jesus, dude - no, listen, we need to burn that. That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever - your aunt outdid herself this time, alright? That’s too horrible, it’s - take it off. I’m not joking, I’m gonna put down the baby and take that off of you by force if I have to - Noosh, hold still - dude!”
“I’m never taking it off, you fashion-backwards freak! Let me go - Niki, save me!”
The video cuts off abruptly, with one of Noah’s legs, one of Ralph’s arms, and Nikita’s smiling, puzzled face captured in the shot.
Ripley 🎶 10:14 AM: NOAH OH MY GOD
Ripley 🎶 10:14 AM: HOLY SHIT IT’S WORSE THAN THE SANTA TIE
Raj 🔨 10:14 AM: Noah, you’re my husband, I love you, I would die for you, but omfg
Raj 🔨 10:14 AM: Get that thing off of him, Ralph, it’s marring his cuteness and I won’t stand for that!!
Ralph 🌙 10:17 AM: Trying
Melanie 🌸 10:18 AM: Okay, so I just woke up to hear the group chat going wild with notifications, and before I can read any of them there’s a big crash from downstairs. I think I hear Ralph and Noah both yelling, and my baby laughing?
Ripley 🎶 10:19 AM: Mel do me a favor and go downstairs, have a look at Noah. Don’t read the preceding messages
Ralph 🌙 10:19 AM: Melanie just want you to know that one of the fathers of your baby is not above using her as a human shield
Melanie 🌸 10:20 AM: I thought Raj is out fixing someone’s hot water heater?
Ralph 🌙 10:20 AM: I was talking about Noah, but that made it sound like Raj has done it before, too?
Raj 🔨 10:20 AM: Look there’s no time for this!! Mel please get downstairs and get that hat off of Noah, it’s actually making me mad!! He’s too cute for that shit!! He’s too cute to wear some kind of otherworldly bird horror on his head!!!
Ripley 🎶 10:20 AM: Man this is wild, I almost never see Raj get mad about anything, and THIS turns out to be the exception? This is what gets Raj mad? Something getting in the way of Noah’s cuteness?
Melanie 🌸 10:21 AM: Trust me, nothing gets Raj worked up more quickly! It’s one of the only times he’ll ever start shouting about something, he gets all fiery 🔥
Melanie 🌸 10:21 AM: Noah loooves it, lol
Ralph 🌙 10:21 AM: omfg
Ripley 🎶 10:21 AM: I can’t believe that Aiden and Jamie are missing this conversation
Melanie 🌸 10:21 AM: Okay found a cardigan, I’m going downstairs!
Ripley 🎶 10:22 AM: Oh I’m so excited for this
Melanie 🌸 10:22 AM: Are we doing videos this morning?
There’s a video of Melanie following this, her camera aimed at her half-awake face as she sleepily traipses downstairs.
“Okay, I’m hearing a lot of - that,” she giggles, then holds out her phone so we can hear the muffled noise of Noah and Ralph shouting over each other, Nik’s wild laughter, and the crash of racing footsteps in the living room. “You guys are making me nervous, what am I about to-?”
Melanie cuts herself off mid-sentence, having made it to the bottom step and caught sight of whatever’s going on in the living room. Or maybe she only saw Noah’s new hat. It’s very - attention-grabbing.
Aiden and I both burst out laughing at the expression on Melanie’s face. Her eyes are comically wide, her mouth a perfect little o.
She stares in blank silence for a second, then lets out a burst of gasping laughter.
“Oh, what the fuck?” she sputters, giggling wildly. “Oh, no - Noah, take that off!”
The video ends there, but based on the last part of the footage, Melanie went rushing to join the fray in the living room.
Ripley 🎶 10:25 AM: It looks like if an unhinged Victorian man tried to make himself a hat using instructions from a crafting book written by - bird people? But like, cursed bird people, who do a lot of cocaine and have a lot of nightmares, and think that’s perfectly normal. Does that make sense?
Raj 🔨 10:26 AM: Weirdly that’s EXACTLY what it looks like. Damn, Ripples, spot on
Ripley 🎶 10:28 AM: It activates my fight or flight instinct, for some reason
Ripley 🎶 10:28 AM: I feel like I need to defend myself against it
Raj 🔨 10:29 AM: I need to defend my husband against it!!
Raj 🔨 10:31 AM: No responses from Mel, Noah, or Ralph in a minute, I’m concerned
Raj 🔨 10:31 AM: Spouses? Brother-in-law? Hello? Please check in
Ralph 🌙 10:34 AM: JESUS that was difficult
Raj 🔨 10:34 AM: FINALLY! What happened?
Melanie 🌸 10:34 AM: Noah tried to escape through the front door and ran smack into the mailman, thank god! Ralph took the opportunity to tackle him from behind while he was distracted, hold him down while I got the hat off!
Melanie 🌸 10:35 AM: The mailman is okay, just a little confused I think.😊 All good!
Ralph 🌙 10:36 AM: Mel is locking the hat up in a closet until we can find someone to do an exorcism or - whatever that thing needs
Noah ⚡ 10:36 AM: I’m gonna get it back, and I will replace the knob on that door if I have to!!
Raj 🔨 10:37 AM: How was Noah’s aunt able to cause this much chaos from so far away? It must run in the family, I swear!!
Raj 🔨 10:37 AM: Alright whatever no biggie, I’ll just stop on my way home and buy an apology gift for our mailman. Again.
Noah ⚡ 10:37 AM: Okay it wasn’t my fault last time dude, we’ve discussed this!!
Raj 🔨 10:38 AM: Noah do you look cute again? Send a picture please, Mel or Ralph!
Melanie 🌸 10:38 AM: (Attachment - Image)
Raj 🔨 10:38 AM: Aw!!🥰 He does look cute again, even making the pouty face! Okay I’m happy once more
Ripley 🎶 10:39 AM: Why are you still sitting on him, Ralph?
Ralph 🌙 10:39 AM: Just holding him down so he doesn’t see where Mel is hiding the monstrosity!
Ripley 🎶 10:39 AM: Wow, you know what? We need Jamie and Aiden back! It’s pandemonium without them!!
Melanie 🌸 10:40 AM: I’m pretty sure they would only add to it, but I know what you mean!💗
Ralph 🌙 10:41 AM: I am kinda dying to hear what they think of the world’s worst hat.
Raj 🔨 10:41 AM: Yeah, Aiden, Jamie, we miss you guys! Are you home yet?
Aiden and I reach the end of the messages, then look at each other, matching affectionate grins on our faces. Aiden catches my hand and gives it a tug.
“Let’s get back,” he rumbles, leading me down the forest path. “Now I’m really missing home.”
It’s nice to know that home was missing us, too.
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