"Are you finally going to tell us why you're so happy about your new tree? I mean besides you just being you." We're back home and Apricot is questioning me about the mini-forest I've got growing up in the backyard. "Mittens don't poop in there, you stupid kitty."

"Ha-ha." I laugh at her trying to chastise a cat. "Don't worry it's just fertilizer. Decompose! See? I think he's just mad we left him alone at home for so long. Did you miss us you silly little floof?"

"That wasn't you answering my question." She lands on the kitten and starts scratching behind his ears.

"Because with this I can finally make a lot of stuff I've been wanting to make. Plantshaping can make up for a lot, but sometimes you just need a good rubber." I start extracting sap from the trees. "You can get the same stuff from Dandelions, but why waste my time with them when I've got these babies."

"So is this your new cotton?" Amelia jokes.

"Maybe." I shrug. "And, the rubber trees might be why I'm in a good mood, but the rubber isn't the main reason." They look confused at that statement. "Can you honestly tell me when my mood was last this good?"

"It has been a bit. Hmm, dinner at Abby's was an uptick, but other than that? Not really since before we reached the city." She thinks it over. "Yeah, probably when we were on the road before hitting the Capital. But with everything that's been going on, it's understandable."

"That's what I thought too, but that's not the real reason. Or, at least the whole reason. Care to guess as to what else has been affecting me? I'll even give you a hint." I smile at her and lift all four arms high. "What am I? And don't say a dumbass." I cut her off as soon as she opens her mouth. "Or a jackass."

"You're Sorrel, our husband, a new Count, a pain in 'my' ass." She starts ticking things off on her fingers. But she's not even close, so I give her another hint and wave my vines about.  Apricot gets it right away after that, but I tell her with my eyes to let Amelia figure it out.

"Hey, you're the one who's always begging for anal."  I laugh and have to dodger her blows.  "No hitting, please. Hahaha."

"You might as well just shift." Apricot huffs. "She's not going to get it otherwise."

"Shift? Huh?" She cocks her head for a minute, and then it's like I can practically see the light bulb turning on above her head. "You're Plantkin... And, you've been in the middle of a bloody city." She slaps her forehead.

"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner." I pick her up and twirl her around. "No Plantkin would ever leave the forest, so there was no way to know before that a lack of plants makes their... our mood deteriorate. The city is far from barren, thankfully. But, Marta's home was still practically an oasis for me."

"So does this mean no more moody, Serious Sorrel." Apricot asks as she flies up to eye level.

"I wish." I take a deep breath. "I've still got some serious issues to deal with, that aren't just going to go away. But, this should help even out my mood while I do deal with them. Thank you both so much for standing by me, and thank you for pushing me to relax today. Who knows how long it would've taken me to realize this if you hadn't."

"Babe..." Amelia's eyes tear up. "Get over here." She pulls me into a tight bear hug.

"Me too!" Apricot joins in.

"I love you, more than words can express." I tell both of them. "Now, let's do something fun... Not that you pervert pixie." I laugh and dance away from her grabbing hands.

"Spoilsport." She huffs, causing Amelia to ruffle her mass of orange hair.

"We can do that later. I meant this." I quickly make three bicycles from my modified cherry wood, and mix a bit of sulfur into the latex to vulcanize some rubber. Plantshaping it into tires. I then hop on and ride out to the street and back. "Hop on, I'll race you to the stables."

"How are you not falling over?" Amelia tilts her head to the side again. "There's only two wheels. Are you cheating with magic again?"

"Guess you've never seen a bicycle before." I hop off and walk over to her. "Apricot, it's not going to bite you. Look, I'll teach you two how to ride. Just sit on the seat, and I'll use air magic to hold you upright until you get used to it."

"This better not be another prank." She grumps, but still mounts the bike.

"No joke, no prank, just a fun way to get around." I take her hands and steady them on the handlebar. "Just keep the wheel straight to go straight, and lean a bit to turn. With your stats you two should pick this up by the time you hit the street. Now put your feet on the pedals." I put my hand under the seat and walk her forward.

"Ack! the pedals are moving." She squeaks as the fixed gear moves in time with the tire.

"You're good." I start moving faster and take my hand off the seat. "See, you stay upright just by moving." We hit the street and I show her how to turn. "Isn't this a lot easier that driving the car."

"It's a bit like flying." She starts to laugh. "Okay try letting go now."

"I already did." My hand has just been hovering over the bar since she came out of the turn. "Try turning around, I'll catch you if you fall."

"Please, I got this." She starts slaloming back and forth down the street. "You go help Amelia."

"No need." She already turned onto the street and is racing to catch up to Apricot. "See you at the stables, loser." The blonde taunts, blowing past me.

"Oh, it's on!" I summon my bike and Mittens, chasing after her with him on my shoulder. "Come on Apricot, we got an uppity Water Mage to put in her place."

We quickly gain on her; Apricot using her natural flight instincts to duck low and reduce her drag, while I just sit up straight and power through.

"What's the matter Amelia?" I take my hands off the bars to taunt her. "I thought you were going to meet us at the stables." Mittens paws at the Air bubble I've got protecting him, like he wants to jump over to her.

"Hey, no cheating." She spits.

"I'm not, ask Apricot. She would see it if I were using magic."

"He really isn't." She pulls alongside and copies my move. "See, no magic involved. Hahaha, this really is as close to flying as you can get while still on the ground." She laughs before crouching down and blasting forward again.

"See you at the finish line, babe." I don't even bother taking the bar again, just use a bit more of my over powered stats to swiftly catch up to the pixie. Mittens turns to follow Amelia and the way he's pawing at the bubble makes it looks like he's waving to her.

"Argh! Quit cheating you two!" She growls in frustration as our lead widens.

***

"Come here baby." Amelia snatches the kitten from my shoulder once we get back to the house. "Momma will protect you from those filthy cheaters." She holds him to her chest.

"Oh, really?" I raise an eyebrow. "Who was the one that used a steam blast to propel herself forwards?"

"And still lost." Apricot adds.

"..." Her cheeks turn red but she doesn't say anything, just keeps on petting Mittens.

"Aww, is somebody a sore loser?" Apricot pull her into a hug from behind. Laying her head on Amelia's shoulder, one hand wraps about her waist while the other scratches Mittens on the head. "It's alright babe, we still love you."

"Yeah, I'll even add a motor to your bike once I get them working properly." I sneak in a kiss while she's distracted by Apricot.

"Fine, but it better go faster than you, and you've got to show me that no hands trick." She demands.

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"Yes, Ma'am. Sorry. Yes, Countess." I laugh and give her another kiss as she blushes again. "it may take me a few tries though; I was studying to be a botanist, not a machinist, after all."

"Excuses, excuses." She rolls her eyes melodramatically.

"Wish I had taken a few more chemistry classes though, I can make bio-*diesel* since it's not much different than making soap. But, I don't even know where to start when it comes to *gasoline*... might be able to make do with pure ethanol... and then, there's electric motors..." I trail off as my mind wanders.

"You're mumbling again, babe." She laughs and breaks me out of my own head with a kiss. "Why don't you finish that steam engine first, and then you can explain what those new words mean."

"Sorry" I blush this time. "They're just different names of fuels, the last one is just another word for alcohol. I don't plan to use them in the final design, but figuring out how they work will help me make a pure Magic engine that will work better than me just pushing the wheels forward like I was in the car."

"Well, put up a Soundproofing before you do, I surprised the neighbors didn't complain earlier." She rubs me on the head before going back to the book she was reading before our eventful trip to Smith Street.

I quickly finalize the steam engine, and even build a model train for it to fit in. Two runes make it nearly self sustaining as it follows an oval track in the archway under our bedroom. One to heat the boiler, and another to condense the steam from the air to refill it. I added a couple flat cars for it to pull, and Apricot somehow got Mittens to ride on one of them.

He's now snoozing away happily. She tried to join him, but complained that she was starting to get dizzy, and flew over to bug me instead. "So, how's this one work?" She asks from my shoulder.

"Do you really want to know, or are you hoping the explanation will bore you to sleep?" Amelia barks out a laugh as I tease the pixie. "Okay, okay. Quit hitting me. This is an internal combustion engine. I spray in a mist of alcohol and use a tiny spark to make it explode, that explosion moves the piston which will then provide force to the wheels just like the steam train."

"Hmm, yes. Fascinating." She nods her head while rubbing her chin.

"You just want me to put on a movie, don't you?" I jerk my shoulder up, tossing her into the air.

"Oh, yes please." Amelia slams her book closed. "None of these books on Water Magic have anything I haven't already figured out for myself." Her mood turns serious. "I hate to bring back "Serious Sorrel" but, you mentioned some war movies. You always glossed over that topic when we talked about Dirt." She smiles at my nickname for my old world.

I let out a big sigh. "Okay, I'll put on Iron Man. Just try to remember that it's just a movie, no one was actually hurt. That, and it gets pretty fantastical in some parts."

AC/DC's "Back in Black" plays as the convoy travels down a lone desert road. I walk over to sit next to Amelia, and Apricot shifts to human size to cuddle up next to me. Amelia smiles, and Apricot laughs at Stark's banter with the soldiers. Until...

"Fuck!" - "Oh, gods!" They both jump.

"It's okay." I hug them with my vines and pet their heads. "It's just a movie, see the scary part is already over."

"What the fuck was that?" Apricot spits out.

"That was a glimpse of war." I squeeze them tight and pause the movie. "It gets a bit lighter next, but then deals with some serious stuff again. Are you sure you want to continue?"

"The whole movie's not like that is it?" Amelia breathes out, hardly louder than a whisper.

"No. But, there are a few more scenes that are even worse. I can put on some cartoons instead. Apricot still hasn't watched all the Tinkerbell stuff."

"No." She takes a deep, steadying breath. "I need to know this."

"And you, Apricot? I should be able to manage a replay of another movie while she's watching this, if you want."

"Just play the movie, you lunker." She says with a pale face and no heat to her words.

I give them a sad smile and resume the flashback. They calm down, and even start to laugh again at some of Stark's antics. Then he demonstrates "The Jericho", and they shrink down beside me. "Please tell me that was one of those fantastical parts you were talking about." Amelia practically begs, but I can only shake my head.

"Just remember, I can stop this any time either of you want me to." Before being presented with the prospect of having to participate in an actual war, I never realized quite how scary a movie this was. "A really bad scene is coming up, I'll you know when it's about to start."

"Okay." Amelia whispers, while Apricot clings to me as tight as she can. I look at her, but she just nods.

There's a few gasps at his treatment in the cave, but they get through it. And, I come up with what is either a really good idea, or a REALLY, REALLY, bad idea when he starts working on the Arc Reactor.

"This is where it gets bad again." I warn. Apricot closes her eyes and turns her head into my shoulder. I feel her jump when the door explodes, and block the sound from reaching her ears. "It's okay." I stroke her hair. "I'll let you know when it's safe to look again." She nods into me.

Meanwhile Amelia is leaning forward with a sick look on her face. Like she wants to look away, but is forcing herself to experience everything. Once Tony takes off into the air, I pause it and she flops back into her seat like a puppet with its strings cut. I pat Apricot to let her know it's safe now.

"It's more light-hearted for a good section now, but we can always switch to something else."

"I'm okay, just let me know when it gets like that again." Apricot looks at the screen and motions for me to continue.

They get back into the movie after that; getting grossed out when pepper has to reach her hand into his chest. Laughing at his first attempts and by-play with Dummy and the fire extinguisher. They gasp at his first flight. "This is where it gets fantastical." I tell them.

The dance with Pepper gets some sweet smiles, but the revelation of Obediah's betrayal has both of them gasping and booing the man. "It's gonna get a little bad again." I warn.

Apricot shakes during the whole Gulmira scene, but doesn't look away again. She even let's a out a rough. "Hah! That's what you fuckers get for holding hostages. Cowardly little shits." I just keep my arms, all four of them, around both my girls.

Their reactions at the rest of the movie were fun to watch. Mostly gasps and 'awws', and Apricot heckling Obediah every time he was on screen. The pivotal fight scene has both of them at the edges of their seats and Apricot screaming invectives.

"Icing problem? Hahaha." Apricot mimics Obediah after the movie ends, and breaks into laughter. "Oh, that was fun; I didn't think a mask could look confused. Thank you for the movie, even if it was scary at times." She gives me a peck on the cheek.

"I think I understand why you don't want to make weapons now." Amelia hugs me. "I know I'm not going to like the answer. But, how much of that was real?"

"The story is complete fiction, as are the Arc Reactor and the suits." I let her fill in the blanks.

"That means everything else... Even those 'jet' things are real? And, those weapons everyone was using?"

"*Guns.*" I supply. "The closest translation would be an old foreign word for war. They're basically 'magic' crossbows that can fire dozens of 'bolts' at a time."

"I don't think I like your world very much." She shudders.

***