“So? What do you think?”

Mizzel had been smothering me all morning, but not in a way that it wasn't appreciated. The brush was possibly the highlight, scrubbing at parts of the horns I didn’t even know could even feel anything, let alone pleasant. It was a change of pace that was welcome, listening to her recount stories about her grandmother, about cooking, trying out different recipes, or even hearing about her visits to Francia.

“You’re like a cat, Kiyomi, in one ear and out the other.”

“Hmm? Why?”

I raised my head, Mizzel allowing me to rise.

“It’s in time for us to be finished too, I asked what you thought of your friends? What got you all together?”

What do I think of them?

“Hmmm.”

Careful, with the memories, careful. Your thoughts, not hers.

“I’d say, I like them because I see something in them. People I’ve known, and to a smaller degree, myself, at different points of my life. Vaughn, he loves to build, it’s cool of him, and no matter what people ask of him he still finds a way to only get better.”

I perked up, caught in my own excitement.

“When we were younger, we’d just move lumber around to make crude things. A fire pit, a fort, or even just doing some minor restoration to an old abandoned temple. Oh gods, friggin, we’ve been rebuilding the place for about two years now, redoing the flooring, the roof. The floors look just pristine, you could fuckin-“

I held my hands out, like describing the divinity of a single moment.

“You could just eat off of’em if it weren’t for the fact I have a pet slime rolling around picking up anything that touches the floor. He’s, he’s just— hmm.”

I rested my arms on the small table ahead of me.

Careful, don’t mistake feelings not your own.

“He’s a good guy, doing what makes him happy, and a decent fighter to boot. He’s cool, a good friend, and I think if anyone’s got it set for them in life, it’d probably be Vaughn. His head’s screwed on tight if he doesn’t seem just a bit dull in the socializing department…”

I felt odd, not going further into it. I was afraid of the same emotional changes that were taking hold.

“Is that all?”

Mizzel asked as she hummed.

“Kooo, not exactly. I don’t know how to describe past that what I really feel. I mean, what else could I say? He’s nice? He’s growing pretty quick, and I never thought I’d be seeing him as a man before. I kind of always imagined him as the same friend I made back then.”

Mizzel took my hair in hand now, leaning herself into the couches back.

“And the Lamia?”

“Beryl? Gods, a smart ass if I’d ever know one besides myself.”

I nearly chuckled, finding myself beating back a smirk.

“She usually doesn’t swear by the way. Seeing her yelling at Sabine was a first for me. She usually chastises me for talking like, well, how I talk.”

“Been meaning to ask about that but it felt rude, you’re talking different than when we met.”

“I am?”

I couldn’t rightly see Mizzel, but I could well enough imagine her nodding to the side right now.

If Sabine could notice, so could the others. I wonder if I’ll have to explain this to Mama?

“Aye.”

“I was just out of it before, believe me.”

I’ll lay the excuse of my old accent being out of the norm. I can use that excuse here, and two weeks or more is plenty of time to find one for Mama.

“Where were we, Beryl?”

“Yes.”

“Shit, that Lamia.”

I tilted my head.

“I’d say at first I may have looked at her as just a friend. Hell, I related to Vaughn much more for the longest time, but Beryl?”

With a sigh, I slouched.

“I used to look at her as a sister, and now? Big sister, if that weren't still somehow inaccurate. She's pretty set in her ways, same as me and Vaughn. Knows what she wants to do, and damn sure she'll work at it until she's gotten the results she wants. She’s got the workings of a spectacular mage, at least in my opinion, and her parents’. She’s stitched me up plenty, and I've seen plenty of examples of what lighting will do to a monster ‘cause of her. It would never really reveal the more quiet side to her. She likes to garden, she’s sisterly, the collected type, when she wants to be at least.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“That so? I did seem to get that she was the eldest of your party, with how she negotiated your stay.”

“Not even that… Years ago, near Brenton's pass? I decided, like a dumbass, to go fetch a very seasonal flower for her. She seemed in a slump with her training, and with letting something go, I think. I felt she needed it, and against my better judgment, snuck out of Brenton.”

“That sounds stupid, what happened then?”

“Got us endangered, cornered by some monsters and nearly got us all killed.”

“Us?”

I turned to look at Mizzel over my shoulder.

“They snuck out and followed me, saved my skin at least. Then I gave her the flower and it's seeds.”

I looked back forward, posting my chin on my elbows as she continued to brush through my hair.

“Well, from how you say you all get along, it sounded worthwhile. What was it?”

“What was what?”

“The flower.”

“Ah, an azure lace.”

“Ah.”

Ah?

The response was odd.

“You do know what azure lace means, don't you?”

For fucks sake, this one again.

I rolled my eyes, blushing as I turned once more.

“I know, I'd like not to have my feelings twisted around, thank you.”

Where did that bite in my voice come from? That was… weird.

Mizzel seemed surprised, the clear line set by my tone giving her some supposed hint she was searching for. Her expression of sprite shifted, and was overtaken by silent mischief.

“Ko, I didn't believe that would strike closer than my teasing with Vaughn.”

I frowned, turning back to lower my chin to the table.

“As I said, I'd appreciate the respect of not being toyed with like some schoolgirl.”

“May I borrow this then?”

Mizzel picked at the scrunchy around my wrist. Raising my hand, I tilted the wrist back for her to grab at it.

“I will be quiet on the subject, I don't mean to offend if I did.”

She grabbed the scrunchy.

“It's all good, I'm just– there's a lot on my mind right now, and I would rather distract myself than process it for the next week. Not when I can’t leave the gates to hunt.”

I felt my hair being pulled, twisted, and manipulated as she ran it through the scrunchy, though the hair just above my ears still lay against my back. My bangs were left untouched for the most part, only being swept back to point towards the back of my jaw.

“If you need, part of our jobs is to entertain you. Helping with these beauties–”

She tapped the tips of each of my horns.

“Doing your hair, or even–”

Something I did not appreciate in the slightest was a finger brushing against the underside of my tail. I nearly lept from the couch, sending the foldable table clattering to the rug as I did.

Bad touch! Not a painful touch, but still a bad touch.

“Do I look like a fuckin push over, Mizzel? What is with that– that–”

I raised my tail, a sense of embarrassment making me grab at the appendage and hold it to my chest. Mizzel, though, just kept smiling.

“Not in the slightest. Again, sorry for the teasing. But, uh, well it's kind of pudgy.”

“It's what?”

She pointed to it. Letting it free, I whipped it about to get the feeling of weirdness out of it. Ever have that weird feeling that makes you grit your teeth when scraping your nails against something plush? That was the feeling. But as I whipped it about, I noticed. I only ever cared for the thing as far as it was concerned to maintain cleanliness or to keep it from being torn from me. But it was, well, pudgy.

“What are you trying to get at?”

I asked, legitimately confused more than I was aggravated. She shrugged, standing, then swinging her own through the air.

“Want a distraction? Watch this.”

Mizzel was smug, walking past me as she picked up the pot of water we used. She did so, not with her hands, but with her tail, the appendage just strong enough to wrap its end around the handle and drag it across the floor. With one of her hands, she grabbed the opposite handle and raised the pot to the kitchen counter while not once spilling a drop.

“How did you?”

“Practice, wanna learn?”

“I thought these were just, I dunno, for balance?”

Mizzel laughed, leaning forward onto the kitchen counter

“Kooo, you can use it for a lot more than that. Trust me.”

----------------------------------------

“Like this?”

I wasn't struggling with it, my strength was more than enough, but the more I worked with it the more the actual motion seemed to become second nature.

“That’s it, just hold onto the cup.”

Leaning against the counter, I rested with my hands clasped together like I was trying to plank. It was the closest thing I could think of to help hold the exercise.

“It’s odd as all hell, hah.”

The cup shook in my tail grip, the feeling of water spilling onto my tail's skin.

“How long does that make?”

Mizzel looked to a clock in the corner of the kitchen.

“Roughly an hour, are you sure you don’t need to stop? This took me years.”

I shook my head.

“Nah, nah, I’m good.”

“We’re home!”

The front door creaked open, Vaughn’s voice booming through the entrance as he entered. It was startling enough, given my prior focus. I dropped the cup, water coating my pant legs as it dropped to the ground.

“Ah, fuck, sorry–”

“No no, I’ve got it–”

“Fuck!”

“Shit”

We both moved to pick up the cup or to place a towel over the spill, knocking our horns together and flooring ourselves. Mizzel simply fell on her butt, as for myself.

“Holy shit! Why does this fuckin–”

I was holding my horns like my elbow with a charlie horse.

Shit feels like I took a hammer to my teeth. Shit, is she okay?

“You good?”

I asked, Mizzel rubbing at her horn in a circular pattern.

“I’m good.”

Vaughn leaned against the center table in the kitchen, Beryl squeezing just next to him as they looked at us in confusion.

“Hey, you two.”

I dropped back my head falling to the hardwood.

“Hey, staying out of trouble?”

Vaughn asked, reaching down to offer me a hand while Beryl helped Mizzel.

“As much as I can, having a fun banter here and there. Mizzel was teaching me something neat.”

I sighed, looking over my soaked pants.

“That’s great, my only clean pair. Damn.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“I take it that's why you're soaked in water? At least, I hope that is water.”

“It’s water, I just dropped the cup it was in when ya’ll walked in.”

Vaughn pulled a rag from his belt, offering it regardless if it would have achieved anything or not. I responded in kind, but showing how exactly I dropped the cup. My tail reached out, sore, but still usable as it twisted around the rag in his grip. Bringing it to my hand, I nodded, then let it whip about as usual.

“Something to occupy myself, trying to avoid things as they are. That and Mizzel says my ass is fat.”

She rolled her eyes, kneeling once more to clean up the spill.

“Just your tail, Ko, unless you’re looking for attention?”

“I am not but I guess I had that one coming, left that opportunity wide open. So, what’s the news? We’ve been here alone pretty much all day, Evelyn, Jagoda, Marek, and whoever else up and left after you two left me alone with my partner in crime.”

“Maybe handle that first?”

Vaughn motioned to my pants, forcing me to feel a slight hint of embarrassment. I leaned back against the counter, crossing my arms.

“I swear it was water.”

Beryl threw her hands over her head, slithering past towards the study.

“For Myr's sake, we didn't say you pissed yourself!”