Magical Spice - Part Seven
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.
“Where were we?” Noah asks, passing the joint back to me as our game loads up.
“Well, let’s see.” I drop to sit beside him on the couch, moving his jacket out of the way. “You just managed to lose our entire inventory in one go, somehow even the armor we were wearing and all of the gold we had. Right before we were about to reach the next boss, too. I don’t even understand how you did it. Pretty sure you broke everything by cliff-diving into that clearly off-limits area, for reasons unknown.”
“No big deal,” Noah says briskly, loading up his character. “It’s just a bug. That stuff will be back, now that we’ve reloaded the game.”
“Oh, yeah? Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, dude, relax. It’ll fix itself, and we’ll have all our-” Noah breaks off as the game loads up to show our extremely empty inventory, and our armor-free characters, who look unbelievably helpless and naked in the rags they were wearing in the tutorial level. Noah blinks a few times, then slowly bites his pierced lip. “Oh.”
“Oh my god, Noah!” I throw him a despairing glance, then scowl indignantly when it makes him start laughing. “Even our swords are gone, you dumb bastard! How is this even possible? We have to restart. There’s no chance we’re gonna get past the next boss - oh, and here he is. We’re fucked, we have no way to defeat him!”
“No, I will defeat him!” Noah suddenly shouts, at a volume that makes me jump a little. “I’ve got this! Going in with my bare fists, fuckers! The old-fashioned way!”
“No, Noah! You have nothing to throw at him, you lost all your harpoons-”
“If you can’t pass, you can rush, baby! SUPER SUNDAY! LET’S GO! LET’S GOOO!”
I press my fingers over my mouth as I watch Noah’s bare, tiny little character sprint empty-handed, with arms flailing, at the enormous mountain troll boss. I haven’t pressed any buttons, so my character stands there and watches stupidly as Noah leaps in for a punch, then takes a single, shattering blow to the face. He sails backwards, tumbling brokenly through the air for a second or two before his character vanishes in an explosion of blood.
Noah and I watch in amazed, open-mouthed silence. Then we burst out laughing, so loudly that Luna hops down from the armchair and streaks under the couch.
“Holy shit, dude!” I pause the game to get my breath back, gasping with laughter. “You took a one-hit kill at level twenty-five! They should put a new achievement in this game just for you and call it Wow, Really?”
“At least I went out in a blaze of scantily-clad glory, just like I always hoped,” Noah laughs, tossing the controller aside. He looks into Jumble’s box, pointing a tattooed finger at the TV. “You see that shit, bird? I was flying, just like you.”
Jumble is hiding shyly behind his food dish, but he peeps loudly at Noah, which makes both of us let out a wave of surprised, stoned laughter.
“Well, that playthrough is fucked,” I groan, handing Noah the joint back. “Should we play something else?”
He tucks the joint into the corner of his mouth so he can quickly start typing with his controller. “I got somethin’ for us. Hang on, let me download it.”
I take a sip from my beer, then nearly choke on it when Noah pulls up the store page for the game he wants to play.
“Oh, are we wrestling some alligators?” I laugh, dragging the sleeve of my flannel over my mouth.
“Yeah, but in this game one of us is the gator, and one of us is the wrestler.”
“That sounds extremely dumb.”
“It is,” Noah agrees enthusiastically, hitting the download button. “I played it once with Ralph in high school, I think.”
“You think?”
“I was drinking sidewalk slammers on the night in question-”
“Oh, no.”
“-so I’m not one hundred percent sure of anything that went down. Just that there were gators involved, and wrasslin’.”
I let out a helpless laugh. “Alright. Then let’s get to wrasslin’.”
“Wrasslin’,” Noah repeats happily.
“Wrasslin’.”
“Wrasslin’.”
“Wrasslin’.” I stop and look down at the joint in my hand. “Hm. Y’know what? We should maybe take a break on this. I think we might… be getting… stupid…?”
“Fair enough.” Noah moves the ashtray over to me so I can put it out. “We need all of our focus anyways, for the wrasslin’.”
“Don’t say it again!” I groan, swatting his shoulder. “You’ll restart the cycle, the, um - the - oh, god. It’s good we didn’t smoke anymore.”
Noah laughs, and then we both laugh as the game loads up with a series of crazed animations of people wrestling alligators as if they’re competing in the WWE. The laughter persists through the tutorial level, gets louder as we play our first fight, then lapses into silence as we both try to concentrate and win.
“Hey,” Noah murmurs, after we’ve played a few matches. “D’you mean what you said earlier? About Melanie looking happy every time you see her?”
I glance over at him, surprised by the question. “Yeah. Definitely.”
All the qualities about Melanie that are growing more obvious, more permanent - they give me the sense that she’s reached a new level of contentment with her life. The happiness I’ve seen in her eyes seems deeper and richer every day.
My mind goes to a moment at the wedding, slightly blurry in my memory due to the number of drinks I’d had by that point.
“You know, before all three of us got together,” Mel told me, tipsily balancing herself with the help of my arm, “When I was dying of guilt because of how I felt about Noah, and trying to talk myself out of feeling the way I felt about him, and crying a lot in secret-”
“Aw, Mel, no!”
“-I was constantly thinking - one of the worst things about this is that Raj is a bad dancer.”
I remember glancing out at the dance floor, where Raj was hopping jerkily around Noah, his hands fluttering wildly around above his head. He looked like a little kid rapidly losing his balance on the whirl spinner at the playground, an effect which paired comically with the excited, beaming grin on his face.
“Oh, no, he’s not bad at it, he’s just, um…” I began, then swiftly gave up. “But why would that be one of the worst-?”
“Because, Jamie! Noah can dance like that!” Mel pointed at Noah, who was smoothly, effortlessly dancing it out in a swift circle around Raj. “It was like I found the one thing Raj couldn’t do perfectly, that he can’t do no matter how hard he tries, and I went off and found it in someone else. The thought of that just killed me with guilt. Especially because I love the way that Raj dances. I’ve always loved it, I don’t care if it’s bad...”
Mel trailed off, then sighed happily, leaning her head on my shoulder as she watched her husbands on the dancefloor.
“You have no idea how good it feels to watch them dancing together at our wedding,” she giggled, her eyes equally as full of adoration for Noah’s graceful moves and Raj’s disjointed hopping around. “This is the best.”
That expression on Mel’s face, her wedding day expression, hasn’t really completely gone away since. Just like the silver hasn’t gone out of Noah’s eyes, and that relaxed set to Raj’s shoulders hasn’t changed. I can trace it exactly to when Mel and Noah began wearing the wooden pendants Raj gave them on their wedding day, and to the appearance of the vows inked into Noah’s wrist.
“Mel looks happier than I’ve ever seen her, dude. I’m serious.”
Noah nods slowly, keeping his eyes on the game. “Raj, too?”
“Raj looks like a man who wouldn’t change a single thing about his life.”
Noah absorbs that in silence, turning it over in his mind.
“I’m surprised you even had to ask,” I tell him, trying to peek around his long hair for a clear look at his expression. “Don’t you already know that?”
“Yeah, but - good to get an outside perspective. Every now and then. Make sure.” Noah bites the inside of his cheek, one hand briefly lifting to fidget with his lip piercing. “If I’m being honest, I was happy to hear you say that in the car.”
I narrow my eyes at Noah, studying the determinedly neutral expression in his grey gaze. “Why are you worried about this, all of a sudden?”
“I’m not, man,” Noah says, all casual. “I can’t ask a question? Relax.”
Silence falls, and I let it go on, waiting patiently until Noah finally adds -
“S’just that me and Melanie got in a lil’ bit of an argument this morning. We were both kinda mad at each other.”
“Really?” My eyes flit to him, blinking fast in surprise. “But she looked perfectly happy when I picked you up from the show! Did you two already make up?”
“She had to leave to work the show before we could sort it out. I was pretty worried about it, but I talked to Raj, and he said it sounded like something small and fixable, if I just made to fix it. That’s why I didn’t tell Mel that I got the tickets for the gig. Went as a surprise. Found her taking a break to dance in the crowd when I got there, so I snuck up behind her and started dancing with her.”
“Aw, Noah!” I flash him a very fast grin before I get my eyes back on our wrestling match. “That’s sweet. Lucky thing you’re such a good dancer, huh?”
“Hey, I’ve got no idea why it worked. But it made her laugh, and she turned around and kissed me.” Noah shoots me a relieved smile. “I don’t care how I got there, so long as I did.”
“What was the argument even about?”
“Nothing, man! That’s the dumb thing, it was so small that we didn’t even bother to talk it out, we just let it go!” Noah winces with his whole face, letting out an agonized sigh. “Shouldn’t have let it turn into a problem at all. I’m fuckin’ mad at myself. The fewer fights on the board the better. That’s one more for no reason.”
“Aw, I wouldn’t worry - ouch - no, get off of me, you alligator fuck!”
“Snappy snap, dude!”
“Shit! Come on, I was distracted! Yeah, load up the rematch, please.” I throw an elbow at Noah, and he lets out a snicker of laughter as he easily dodges out of the way. “As I was saying! I wouldn’t worry too much about it, man. I know you and Raj want everything to be perfect for Melanie all the time, but - it’s only natural. I’ve had little fights like that with Aiden. I think that’s one of those things you only have to worry about if it starts happening often, or all the time.”
“Like acid flashbacks.”
“Um… yeah, okay. Like that.”
“This is the only little squabble me and Mel have had like that in a good long time. Actually, part of why it was upsetting was ‘cause that type of thing doesn’t usually happen.”
“Then I think Raj is right,” I answer gently. “Everything is okay.”
Noah contemplates that for a moment, then lets out a slow, relieved breath.
“Should’ve known, if Raj thought so,” he murmurs, not looking at me. “Things have just been so good, man. Any sign of trouble makes me worry. But if Raj and Mel both seem happy to you, and so does Niki-”
“Yes.”
“-then I’m good. I just don't want to give any of them a single reason to regret making me part of this. Ever.”
I look at Noah with sympathetic, affectionate eyes, recognizing these symptoms from Aiden. Things are so good that he’s starting to get nervous.
“It would take a lot more than that, Noah. I can’t even think what it would take.” I nudge his inky arm with my elbow, catching his eye. “Seriously. Sounds like everything is great with you and your Companion Plants. Your - oh, your Companion Plant polyculture!”
I beam at Noah, then let out a pained sigh when he stares at me blankly.
“I make amazing science jokes, and no one ever understands them.”
“No worries, Keane, I can help you with that. Next time you’re about to make a joke, ask yourself: what if the person I’m talking to isn’t some little nerd, like me?”
I scowl at Noah, who laughs the instant he catches sight of it.
“I’m gonna destroy your alligator ass for that one.”
“Man, this game is the best,” Noah sighs happily, loading up the next round. “I wish I could wrestle an alligator in real life, don’t you?”
“No. What? No.” I twist to stare at him in disbelief. “You want to do this in real life? For what reason, exactly?”
“Hm. I don’t remember the reason. I decided I wanted to when I was like, twelve.” Noah’s brow furrows, then clears as he gives his shoulders a shrug. “You can’t expect me to remember everything from back then. That was a long time ago, dude, be reasonable.”
“Be reasonable,” I repeat faintly, staring at Noah in amazement. “Man. I can only imagine what kind of thoughts were roaming around in twelve-year-old Noah’s head.”
“You don’t have to imagine, man. I can tell you. It was pretty straightforward. Fast cars. Soccer. Thundercats. Pokémon. Mortal Kombat. How do I communicate to the pretty neighbor girl that I am brave and she is always safe because I will protect her from anything? Will mom let me get some nunchucks if I use my allowance? Why am I in trouble again? Who’s the better warrior, Sub-Zero or Kano?”
“I always kinda wanted to see those two make out,” I admit, flashing Noah a sidelong grin. “Maybe with Scorpion in the mix, too.”
Noah lets out a sharp, startled laugh that disrupts the sip of beer he was just trying to take. He coughs and sits up, dragging the back of his hand over his mouth.
“Damn, Keane!” he sputters, grinning widely at me. “Guess we know what twelve-year-old Jamie was thinking about. I’m telling Aiden.”
“Oh, he knows. I told him. His exact answer was: who?”
Noah breathes out a laugh, a fond look coming over his silvery grey eyes. “Always forget that my boy doesn’t know about anything video game related. He was always more into real-life sports. And I guess he didn’t really have time for games on the road, huh?”
“I asked him about that, and he told me he kept a deck of cards on him.”
Noah laughs softly again. “Yep. Sounds like Aiden.”
I hesitate, stealing a fast, searching glance at Noah. “Hey, speaking of Aiden… I wanted to ask you-”
“Oh, this better not be a question about high school,” Noah interrupts, an imploring tone coming into his voice. “You know Aiden’s not gonna like it if I talk, and I hate having to tell you no. Especially when you’re making those huge damn puppy dog eyes at me.”
“I’m not-”
“Yes you are. Those things are as big ‘n luminous as headlights. Aim them somewhere else.”
“It’s not even about high school, I promise!” I send my alligator chasing Noah’s little human to the far side of the screen, prompting a quiet stream of curses from him. “I just wanted to ask your opinion on what I should do about something, since you’ve known Aiden for so long.”
“Oh.” Noah stops in surprise, then glances over at me with obvious concern. “Everything alright?”
I take a second to choose my words, relieved that I don’t have to navigate at all around bringing up Guardian magic. It’s nice.
“Yeah, everything is great,” I tell him earnestly. “Nothing is wrong. Just… there are some things that Aiden still hasn’t talked to me about yet. And that’s okay, since I know it’s not easy, but - but one thing he still hasn’t told me is why he left Ketterbridge in the first place. I know what he was looking for, just not his motivation for trying to find it.”
Noah sits back, caught by surprise. “He still hasn’t told you?”
“No. But lately I get the feeling that he’s working his way up to talking to me about it.” I nibble my lip, reaching out to gently stroke Luna with my foot when she settles down on the rug in front of me. “So I’m wondering if it’s time for me to give him a little push. Ask him about it, and - see if that helps him get there?”
Noah lapses into thoughtful silence, his dark eyebrows drawn down and together.
“Hm,” he finally murmurs. “I… I actually don’t know about that, Keane. Aiden kinda says everything in his own time, whether he means to or not. Trying to make him do it faster doesn’t usually work. Just stresses him out.”
“That’s… true,” I admit slowly.
Noah catches the regretful look in my eyes. “You were hoping I’d tell you to do it, weren’t you?”
“I…”
“Yeah, okay. Then I think you’re just getting antsy, dude, because you can sense that you’re awful close to the finish line.” Noah gives my shoulder a reassuring slap. “Wait a little longer, yeah? He’ll talk soon. You know he will.”
I let out a pained breath. “Why is it this hard for him to tell me, though? Aiden knows he can tell me anything. He knows that. Doesn’t he?”
Noah lets out a soft snort of laughter.
“Yeah, and I know that I can tell Raj and Mel anything. You think that means I told them everything, upfront, right away? No, man. I still haven’t told them everything. I care too much what those two think about me to go doin’ that.” Noah pauses the game and presses two fingertips to the center of my forehead, adopting a very solemn expression. “Listen up. I’m about to deliver some knowledge right into your sweet, empty red head.”
“For fuck’s sake, man-”
“Aiden’s got a fucked up past, just like me,” Noah goes on steadily, “And your opinion of him is the one that matters to him the most. He hasn’t said too much about that time because he doesn’t want to fuck up the way you see him. ‘Cause how you see him is, like - probably one of the most important things in the world to him.”
I open my mouth to answer, then stop and fall silent, remembering the pure horror in Aiden’s blue eyes when he realized I’d gone back in time and seen him in the past, right around when he turned twenty-five.
I think about it a little more, lapsing into silence.
“If anything, take it as a crazy compliment that Aiden is getting ready to talk to you about it,” Noah adds, reaching for his beer. “Seriously. Shit must be really hard for him to do, if it’s taking him this long. But he’s gonna do it. For you.”
“I said I feel like he’s going to do it. I don’t know for sure.”
“Bah. No difference.” Noah shrugs his shoulders dismissively, unconcerned. “If you feel it, I assume it’s right. You’re sorta like Raj. I dunno.”
I let out a burst of curses as Noah unpauses the game before I can pick my controller back up. I grab it and rush after Noah’s character, then let out a gasp when I realize that we’ve swapped controllers, and he’s the alligator now. Noah grins widely as he makes the same realization, and I make a panicked sound, then aim a real-life kick at him for laughing at it.
But I’m feeling deeply grateful for him.
“I think it’s really sweet that you went to the concert Mel planned,” I tell him, when the chaos on the screen has smoothed out somewhat.
“I try to go to any events she plans that aren’t closed to the public. Gotta make sure the creeps keep off of her.”
“What are you, her personal bouncer?” I laugh.
“I’m her husband, so.” Noah widens his eyes at me, like this answer should be incredibly obvious. “Yes.”
I breathe out another laugh, feeling better, full of warm fondness for Noah.
“Should we smoke the rest of that?” he asks, with a nod at the joint. And then, when I lean past him to reach for it - “The tattoo I did on you took real well, Jamie.”
I give him a bright smile as I sit back and hand him the joint. “I love it, man. Definitely one of the best presents I’ve ever gotten.”
Noah blinks at me, then quickly turns his gaze back to the lighter in his hand. He focuses on getting the jay lit back up, but I can see a silvery smile revealing itself just a tiny bit in his eyes.
“You’re gonna do a tattoo for Ripples, too, right? Is that what you guys were talking about at the gig?”
“Nah, we were talking about the practice brawl he and I had earlier.”
“Oh, of course. One of those.” I shake my head helplessly. “How many times do I have to walk into that workshop and find you two swinging at each other? Have you been practicing with him more often lately, or is that my imagination?”
“A little more often, yeah. Some guy Ripples graduated from school with has been bothering him. Saying he’s gonna fuck Ripley up, now that they’re out of high school and it won’t get him expelled. Guess they’re longtime enemies, or something?” Noah catches a glimpse of my extremely alarmed expression, then hastily adds, “Take it easy, Keane. It doesn’t sound like he’s serious. Ripley doesn’t even seem worried about it. And he’s been training in my dojo, remember.”
“Your doj-? Oh, my god. Are you sure he’ll be fine?”
“Yes, alright? Wipe that worried look off your face. Ripley’s a fast learner. He’s already a good man in a brawl, I can tell. Anyone steps in on him, he’ll know what to do. Don’t let the fact that he can’t land a punch on me make you think otherwise. That’s an irrelevancy. Guy’s got a bruising right. He doesn’t know it, ‘cause he hasn’t had the chance to actually land one yet, but he sure as hell has it. You don’t see an arm like that too often.”
Noah says this last part with a touch of obvious pride.
I wince anxiously at Noah. “But - shouldn’t we-?”
“Nuh-uh, we shouldn’t anything. Ripley’s a grown man now, dude, and this ain’t his first dance with a loudmouth idiot who doesn’t know when to shut up. Let him handle it himself.” Noah gives me a meaningful look, then adds, in a warning growl, “It’ll go very badly for anyone who tries to interfere. I’ll see to that.”
“No, no.” I put up my hands in surrender, letting Noah see in my eyes that I mean it. “I only try to help if I think my help is needed. If you’re not worried about this, I’m not, either. I trust you. That’s why I’m taking your Aiden advice, even though I really don’t want to.”
Noah draws back, obviously a little startled. His grey eyes grow warm after a moment, a smile moving his mouth and making his piercing twinkle.
“You’re gonna wait, then?”
“Yeah… I think you’re right.” I nod determinedly, handing him back the smoldering joint. “Aiden’s probably gonna tell me soon. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a little longer. I guess - stumbling on the finish line would really suck.” I cast Noah a grateful look, unable to stop myself. “Thank you, dude. I appreciate the smart things you say.”
Noah’s eyebrows fly up. He stares hard at me, then slowly drops his gaze to the joint in his fingers.
“Man,” he murmurs, sounding a little lost. “People sure are saying things to me that I never thought I’d hear from anyone, these days. Not like I was sitting around hoping somebody would. More like it - never crossed my mind anybody would? But now it’s like everyone’s done it to me at least once. More than once, most people. Raj’s are my favorites, I think… and Mel’s, too. They’re all kinda favorites. That one from Raj, though, day after the wedding - although that was more about what went down after, not really what he said.”
“What?” I laugh slowly, struggling to pull my stoned thoughts together. “What are you talking about?”
“Hm? Oh - nothing. Forget it. I’m real high. Ignore me.” Noah turns the joint slowly between his inky fingers, his grey eyes flitting up to mine. “Hey, has Aiden said anything about talking to Mel and Raj? Telling them the truth about what he is, what he can do?”
“Yeah, actually. We were talking about it this afternoon. We were saying maybe they should be up next, since - oh, man, I didn’t even tell you. Gabby figured out about Aiden, pretty much all on her own.”
“No, shit? Really?” Noah lets out a low whistle, clearly impressed. “Girls are scary smart, huh? Fuckin’ wild. Guessing we’re all good there, though?”
“We are,” I tell him, full of residual relief. “She’s on our side. I’m really happy about it, now that the initial stress is over.”
“You and me both, man. That’s a good get for the team.” Noah takes a long, thoughtful pull on the joint, then blows out a few smoke rings as he hands it back to me. “I’m glad that brought us closer to Raj and Mel comin’ into the circle. I don’t want to say anything to pressure Aiden, but… I really don’t want to keep anything from them. Not for longer than I have to.”
I give Noah an understanding nod, waving my own smoke away from my face. “We’re on it, I promise. I have a feeling that Aiden is thinking about the right way to approach it with them.”
Noah breathes out a laugh as he takes the joint back from me.
“Good.” He gives me a relieved, silver-eyed smile, leaning back against the couch to take his hit. “If you’ve got a feeling, I’m not worried about it.”
That felt like a compliment, so I smile at Noah, then glance at him curiously as he knocks a fist against his temple like he just remembered something.
“This reminds me - Raj wanted me to ask you about something. He was dumpster diving behind the home goods outlet store off the freeway-”
I let out a laugh, full of affection for Raj. “Yep, mhm. Of course he was. Did he salvage anything good?”
“He and Mel both came home with a ton of stuff. She was across the parking lot raiding the five-dollar clearance mystery boxes at the craft store, for party planning purposes. She and Raj called me when they got home like - meet us at the car. We have so much to bring inside.”
I bite back a laugh. “This is all sounding right to me.”
Noah breathes out an adoring laugh. “You know, considering they’re literally two pieces of treasure, and also two of the three most precious things in the world to me - they both spend a lot of time digging around in the trash. I’m not hating, though. Ralph and I used to drive out to the nearest university around the start of summer break and raid the dumpsters behind the dorms, get all the good stuff the kids didn’t want to drag home. There was always so much! There’s a name for it, what did Ralph say it’s called…? Oh yeah - dirty kid Christmas.”
I drop my head, a helpless little laugh escaping me. “Glad you found yourself two other dirty kids to love, dude. But what do I have to do with this? Did Raj find something for me in the trash?”
“Actually, yeah. One of the things he brought home is a little, um - baby tree?”
“A sapling?”
“Yeah, science boy, thanks, a sapling. Remind me why I hang with you?”
“Because of my mad - alligator - skills-”
“No, get away, dude, fuck! No fair, I’m trying to play and remember about the dying tree at the same time!”
I pause the video game, twisting to look at Noah in alarm. “It’s dying?”
“It’s definitely not in great shape. The people at the home goods store saw fit to toss it. But Raj had a feeling that you could still save it. If you don’t mind taking in another stray?”
“No, of course not!” I break into a smile as something occurs to me. “Aw! Kent just told me he’s got an injured sapling I can take home from the shop, too. Now they can be together while they heal up.”
I was already pretty excited about the sapling Kent is giving me from the shop, since it just so happens to be a sugar maple. I’ve been excited to surprise Aiden with it after I pick it up, because what are the odds of that? Of all the plants Kent could’ve given me to keep, a sugar maple. It was enough of a coincidence that I wondered if it was some kind of Guardian magic that brought it my way. Some tiny, subtle turn of Fate that Aiden caused without realizing it.
“Sounds good, plant man,” Noah answers, breathing out a stream of smoke through his nose as he hands the jay back. “I’ll get it to you tomorrow.”
“Sweet. Any word on what kind of sapling it is, by the way? Just so I can get the right soil for the pot.”
“Yeah, it said on the price tag. Raj texted it to me, hang on, it’s…” Noah snags his phone from the end of the couch, scrolls up a little through his messages. “A little-leaf linden.”
I stop with the joint halfway lifted to my mouth, then sit back against the couch and close my eyes helplessly.
“What?” Noah asks, sounding puzzled. “Is that a tree you don’t want, or something?”
“No, no,” I answer dazedly, trying to pull myself back together. “It’s a beautiful, sweet-smelling kind of fruiting linden, with heart-shaped leaves. Native to a wide terrain, from Europe all the way to Iran, I think...”
I trail off, then breathe out a soft laugh.
Yeah, we’re going to need to tell Raj and Mel the truth. Sooner or later they’re going to notice the magic all around them. Quietly, subtly, inevitably weaving itself into their lives.
Besides, I’m holding onto the secret hope that one day, Ketterbridge’s newest little Guardian can count their little one as a friend.
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