I wasn't sure of the time, but I woke feeling rested, so I guessed that it had been eight or ten hours. It wasn't enough to banish the chill entirely, but the fire still crackled in the hearth. Amity must have been feeding it while Val and I slept.

Even so, I was comfortable and enjoyed the relaxation that only came after a long sleep. With a mountain of blankets to keep me warm and cosy, and Val's gentle weight pressed against me, I couldn't help but smile.

She had her face buried in my shoulder, and though I thought her asleep, she stirred when I rubbed her back.

"Mmm, finally awake," she yawned.

"Finally? How long have you been up?" I murmured.

"Couple hours," she replied.

"You could have woken me," I pointed out, "I wouldn't have minded."

She smirked, and slipped a hand under my shirt, "Mmm, I had some ideas about that, but I didn't want to surprise you with that sort of thing unless I was sure you were okay with it."

"Uhhh...."

She ran her fingers lightly across my chest and pulled herself up to murmur in my ear, "Do you expect me to beg?"

"No, I-"

"Because I will absolutely beg, grovel even," she met my eyes, and on her face was the most pitiable expression imaginable, "Please, I'll do anything."

I took a deep breath, half expecting to get a lungful of pheromones for my trouble, but the air was clear.

"Val, you're um- it's not that I-"

Her eyes, like two pools of purple ink, gazed into my own. Her expression was plaintive, and her voice wasn't quite a whine, "Please?"

"Oh ho ho, I know what you're doing, don't think I don't," I replied, my voice tight.

A smug grin spread across her face, "One whiff of my pheromones and you'd be on me like an animal," she teased, "I thought maybe you really did want to hear me beg, denying me for so long."

I took her gently by the shoulders and cast a furtive glance at the couch Amity had been resting on, only to find the gynoid absent.

"I asked her to give us some privacy," Val replied, "So you don't need to worry about any interruptions while you're having your way with me."

"Val," I urged as I struggled to clear my thoughts, "I know you're, um, really into the rougher stuff. But I don't want to hurt you. You're already a little messed up," I insisted, and brushed her hair out of the way to reveal the still livid bruise on her brow, "And you're a lot smaller than I am."

Val thumped her tiny fist against my chest, hard enough to bruise, and her expression darkened, "I'm not made of glass dammit, and I think I can decide for myself what is and isn't safe for me," she pulled the blankets tighter around her shoulders and rested her forehead against my chest, "Wally, spending time with you, I've found a sort of closeness I wasn't even sure was possible. But I was rather hoping we'd eventually get around to the sort of closeness that involves both of us naked. If that's not the sort of thing you want from me, or if-"

I sighed, and pulled her close, "Nothing like that," I assured her, "Just the usual fear and self-doubt I have when it comes to relationships."

Then it was her turn to sigh, "You are such an idiot."

"What? Hey!"

"I've been dropping hints from almost the very beginning" she seethed, "I thought I was outrageously lascivious, but somehow that all flew over your enormous thick skull. Good gods man, we even started sharing a bed, by then I figured you'd be all over me within a day or two. Hoped for it even. And here I am, literally begging you to have your way with me, and somehow you're still not sure?" She went on, dropping her voice as deep as it could go, in an exaggerated imitation of me, "Hmmm, now Val might say she'll do anything, but you know, I'm still not sure if she's into me."

"Well when you put it that way, okay yeah, sounds kinda dumb."

"Oh yeah? Does it now?" she asked sarcastically. Val pushed my shirt up the rest of the way, and planted a kiss on my chest, "You're a sweet man, even if you are a big lumbering oaf, and I appreciate you're worried about me. If you're still concerned, then you can give this little noblewoman permission to use her pheromones, and you won't have to worry if you're gentle enough."

I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak, and she smiled a smile of pure glee. Valentine wasted no time in freeing both of us of what little we were still wearing, and I felt my mind beginning to grow a bit fuzzy as the pheromones wafted from her bare skin.

Masked by the arousal pheromones saturating the air around us, I only recognized the smell of the aggression pheromones after it was too late to do anything about it.

I tried to keep myself under control, but Val only bit her lip and let out more pheromones.

Well if that's how she wants it to be.

I pushed her off of me and down onto the couch and pinned her arms to her sides. She struggled and squirmed as I took a kiss from her, but when I drew away, she laughed and the pheromones kept coming.

Val let out a long sigh with the first stroke, laying there with her eyes half-closed and a lazy smirk on her face. I tried not to go too deep, but Val was having none of that. She crossed her legs behind my back and pulled us together. After that, she made little secret of her feelings.

Every stroke drew a cry of 'harder', 'yes', or 'more', and damn was she ever loud. I hoped that Amity had gone off somewhere pretty far. Otherwise, she was likely to hear Valentine's utterly shameless moaning.

I realized, only after the second time she was reduced to a flush-faced quivering mess, that she was playing with her pheromones to keep me going. It hardly seemed fair, but there was little I could do about it. It was only after her whole body flushed purple a third time that her focus slipped. Though pinned down and unable to do much but squirm and beg, Val took great glee in urging and coaxing me onwards. Until finally, it ended.

I lifted myself off her and gazed down at the little fey. She was a mess, with her tangled hair spread everywhere, and matted to her face with sweat. Her chest heaved as she looked up at me, a dangerous twinkle in her eyes.

"Let me rest, damn you," but it was no use, and she laughed gleefully as she filled the air with yet more pheromones.

"More," Valentine begged.

Well if that's what she wants.

I flipped her over onto her stomach, and clenched my fist in her long hair, right at the scalp. I lifted her just slightly, forcing her to arch her back.

"Uh oh," she giggled, "I guess this is what I get for teasing you about Temerity."

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

I stayed in the shower until well after the hot water ran out, leaning my forehead against the tiles, pondering what my next steps might look like.

True, I'd be heading out for the castle, probably once the long night was over, but that wasn't the issue at hand. Fact was, I'd hit a bit of a roadblock when it came to powering the hotel. I could do my battery trick to power things here and there, Amity in particular, but I wasn't going to charge up the whole hotel that way.

But even if I couldn't figure out how to use the lift motors to power the building, there were other ways I could upgrade the hotel. Hot water, for one. Rather than using a bit of brass to warm the entire hot water tank every time one of us wanted a bath or shower, I could take another crack at my original plan.

The Communicate verb allowed a transfer of thermal energy that was far simpler and more compact than anything a technological solution could manage. I was convinced that with the right application of enchantments, we could solve a lot of the problems we'd otherwise need electricity for.

Cooling the fridge and freezer, that was clear enough, as was heating water for at least some of the hotel's floors. The air in the hotel would also need to be heated. Or at least, it needed to be heated now, more broadly I needed a way to control its temperature.

So really what I needed was a bunch of magic thermostats. A sort of network, where each thermostat would be set to a specific temperature. If it was too hot, the thermostat would send the heat into the network, and if it was too cold, it would accept heat from the network until the temperature matched what was desired.

Maybe a big block of copper or aluminium, with some sort of air circulation enchantment? It would need to be a bit different for the water tanks, but the general idea seemed sound.

But there was an obvious problem. What would I do if I had too much, or not enough heat? Too much, well okay, I guess I could have a thermostat outside set to infinity degrees. Though that added complexity, as I'd need some sort of priority system for the thermostats, otherwise heat meant for warm showers might just end up warming the exterior of the building.

As for a source of heat, that was trickier. With the tools I had, getting rid of heat from where it wasn't wanted was a lot easier than trying to generate heat when I did want it.

Suppose I did stick a magic thermostat on the outside wall. Technically there would always be thermal energy to draw in, even in the dead of winter, though I had my doubts about how much I'd be able to tap. Especially since I was also hoping to use the heat network to power the kitchen's electric stove.

I suppose I'd have to rely on the programmer's mantra. Try it and see.

I gave a start as the lukewarm water grew suddenly hot, and fiddled with the tap to make sure I wouldn't get scalded. I'd only just finished setting it just so, when the door to the penthouse's bathroom clicked open.

I sighed, and turned around, "You're supposed to be resting, what the hell are you doing climbing all those stairs?"

Val pulled off her shift and dropped her blankets to the bathroom floor before joining me in the once again steamy shower.

"Oh, this is very convenient, I don't even need to kneel," she chirped, before eagerly setting to her self-appointed task.

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

"Mmm, that does sound promising," Val mused.

The two of us had finally been driven out of the shower by the lack of hot water, and now took refuge by the penthouse's fireplace. Meant more for decoration than actual function it didn't do much to warm the vast open space, but it was warm enough while we were lounging in front of it.

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"It just seems rather simple," she observed, "At least compared to what you usually come up with."

Valentine, not content always being the little spoon, was behind me on the couch with her arms circling my chest. Or at least, mostly circling, as her arms weren't long enough to meet in the middle.

"Sometimes complexity is warranted," I insisted, "But the idea is that I can add stuff as I go. I should only need five thermostats to start. Two for the water tanks on the second floor and penthouse, two for the fridge and freezer, and one for the outside of the building."

"Three," Val countered, nuzzling my ear, "Outside, just one of the water tanks, and either the fridge or freezer. Maybe even just two, if you skip the outside one. No sense in making a full set of five, only to find that it doesn't work."

"Two then," I agreed, "And I'll leave out the air circulation component until I know the heat transfer is working. Sooner I get this going, the easier things will be in the long term."

"Why the hurry?"

"Buildings like this one aren't meant to be left without climate control for long. Even this chill, we're lucky pipes haven't frozen yet," I explained, "And big temperature swings are hard on human structures, damp too. Getting the building's climate under control is going to be a lot easier than fixing burst pipes or dealing with mould and rot. I'd get started now, but I don't think I'm going to get more than a few minutes without you clinging to me."

Val giggled, and drummed her hands on my chest, "I can't help myself. It's just I'm enjoying having so much Wallace all to myself. Besides," she added, in a smouldering whisper, "don't pretend you're not enjoying this. A highborn lady clinging to you, eager to satisfy your every desire. It excites you, doesn't it? The thought of making a noblewoman beg."

"Whoa, okay, let's just calm down," I stammered, "I think we've had plenty of exercise for now. I'm trying to think about magic over here."

"I can't help myself, teasing you is half the fun."

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

It didn't take long for Val to doze off again, and once I was able to extricate myself from her grasp, I went looking for Amity.

I had a plan in mind, and while I could do it without her, the gynoid's assistance would be a big help. Not to mention that someone should probably give her the all-clear.

Thankfully, the gynoid made herself easy to find, as my searching was cut short by the blaring of a car alarm. So after taking a moment to check the state of the lobby- it was fine, Val had cleaned up after us -I pulled on my coat and went out to see what she was up to.

I found her working on a minivan, and while she'd managed to quiet the alarm, from the look of things I wasn't sure she'd accomplished much more than making a big mess.

The hood was up, but the engine bay was half-empty. Which is to say, most of what should be under the hood was instead spread out on the concrete. The dash was in a similar state, with the big piece of moulded plastic sitting off to one side, exposing a mass of wiring.

Amity herself had stripped down to her jeans and a tank top, freeing up her extra set of arms, and sparing the rest of her clothing from the grease that marked her pants, arms, and face.

As for the light, that was supplied by Amity herself, who had a flashlight that popped out of one shoulder, and one of Val's little magic torches. She was rooting around in the engine bay with three of her arms while the other held the manual.

"Should I ask what you're doing?" I called out.

She looked up as I approached and smiled.

"You can ask, but I don't think I have an answer," she replied.

I joined her in peering down at what was left of the engine, "Alright, well what do you think you're doing?"

"Well I thought I was hot-wiring it, just like you did with the truck," she explained eagerly, "But I found that the vehicle's computer was trying to stop me."

"So you decided to disconnect it," I realized.

"Well, yes. Though once I did that, the vehicle still wouldn't start," she cast her gaze across the scattered parts, "My attempts to remedy that have been less than successful."

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"This is what I get for skipping the Car Hacking Village at DEFCON."

"Pardon me?"

I gestured at the van, "So maybe the computer means you can't just twist some wires together and get it going like we can with the truck. But it's a computer, with software from a big company, that has probably never been updated. I bet it's full of holes. I just don't have any way to exploit them. You can't plug in and take it over or something?"

The gynoid raised an eyebrow, "I was designed as a maid, I'm meant to be a pretty toy. I don't have any intrusion software, Wallace. Just because I can plug in a cable, doesn't mean I understand what the vehicle is saying."

I raised my hands, "Alright, Sorry."

"It's nothing to apologize for," she assured me, "I just wish I had a way to fix this. I thought this one might be able to fit you if we rearranged some of the seats in the back, so you wouldn't have to sit out in the rain and snow. But now I think I'm just making a mess of things."

"Short of finding a key, I don't think we'll get any of these going," I admitted, "And I don't think we're going to be so fortunate."

"I tried picking the lock, it worked to open the door, but it didn't start the car. Just turned on some of the lights on the control panel."

"Yeah, each key has a little chip inside that the car reads. Without that, we're not going to be able to do much."

"Couldn't we take everything out and use magic to make it go?"

"Well you're well on your way to that," I chuckled, "There's a lot of moving parts though, power steering, in particular, comes to mind. You or I probably wouldn't have much trouble, assuming I could even fit in the driver's seat, but I don't think Val will be able to drive if there's no power steering."

"Couldn't we magic that too?"

I shrugged, "Probably? If we can come up with a magic spinny thing to slap on the transmission, we can probably figure out some Movement enchantment to replace the hydraulics."

Amity perked up, "Is that what you came out here for? Using movement to spin an alternator or one of the motors?"

"I mean, that's on my list. But actually, I was going to start even simpler. As in, not freezing to death simple."

"Is the plan not to use electricity for that?" Amity frowned.

"We can, but it gives us a step in between that we maybe don't need. And electricity is complicated. So why use mana to generate electricity to make heat, which might not even work, when we can just use mana to make heat? It's even one of the things I've already figured out as a spell. I just need to do it as an enchantment."

"And you need my help?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "I was going to enchant a little block of metal, make it heat up or cool down depending on what we needed, maybe slap a magic fan on it, but that's only going to do so much."

"Why not just enchant the furnace, or whatever it is humans from your world use?"

"That's exactly it," I agreed, "Each room has a little unit below the window. It heats, cools, and is already designed to circulate the air. I want your help pulling one apart. We ditch everything that isn't strictly necessary, strip out any wiring that connects it to the building, and then slap the enchantments on and put it back on the wall."

Amity's arms closed back up, stowing tools in little compartments and returning the gynoid to a more human-like appearance. Albeit one with an extra set of arms.

"Can you, um?" she gestured to her shirt and hoodie with greasy hands.

"Sure," I agreed and took them off the back of the driver's seat.

"I'll get cleaned up, then meet you...?"

"The restaurant, I'll grab one of the units and bring it down to a table so we can work."

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

I ended up grabbing two, and had just finished taking the backplates off when Amity ambled into the restaurant.

I waved her over, and she came to join me at the table. She sat down beside me, but not before stopping for a moment to check under the table, exaggerating every movement as she did.

I furrowed my brows, "What?"

"Just checking for Valentine."

"Yeah yeah, sit down."

She smirked, "So what are we doing here?"

"Everything that's not a fan, heating coil, or cooling fin needs to go. I think I can do some of this myself, but I don't want to mess around with the refrigerant. We're not in California, but it'll probably still give us cancer."

"Um?"

"If you were from my version of Earth, you'd find that joke very funny."

"I'll take your word for it."

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

I got to work on my mini-prototype while Amity started disassembly, using some little bronze earrings taken from our treasure haul. Highly polished, I suspected they were meant to look like gold. For me, it was enough that they contained Metal and Communication mana, as those were the two types I'd need for the full version of the spell.

I picked out two at random, leaving the rest as spares in case I messed up. I left out temperature control, for the time being. Instead, one would try to reach zero degrees, while the other went up to fifty degrees. It was a lot colder in the hotel at the moment, but typical room temperature was about twenty-five. So if this worked, I'd end up with one earring at double room temperature, and one at freezing.

It's hard to describe how spells are cast, the best analogy I can come up with is building a house of cards. Some are simple, just one card leaning against another, and are easy to keep steady with your hands. Some are complicated, with several levels, each relying on those below. You can still try to steady it with your hands, but the adjustments need to be as small as possible, or you'll only make it worse. Some houses might be a little lopsided and need constant attention to stay standing, while still others need little attention once they're assembled. It's the same with spells, though to torture the metaphor a little, running out of mana would be like someone opening a window, allowing a gust of wind to blow away the whole thing.

Enchantment was similar. The window would stay closed, but the house of cards absolutely had to be able to stand on its own. While with a spell you could keep an eye on it and make sure nothing fell apart, with an enchantment you had to back away slowly and hope you'd done it correctly.

This was part of the reason I'd had such a hard time with the paired notebooks I'd made for Val and me. Transfering words, phrases, and lewd drawings from one book to the other was far from simple.

But when I finished the house of cards that was my heat pump enchantment and slowly drew my hands away from it, the enchantment seemed to hold on the first try.

I gingerly picked up the two pieces of jewellery, one in each hand. Though worried at the thought of being frostbitten or burnt, I was eager to make sure it had really worked. And while I was all but certain the hot earring wasn't anywhere near fifty degrees, it was a hell of a lot warmer than it had any right to be, sitting for hours in a chilly hotel.

When I breathed on the other, the condensation from my breath froze to the surface of the bronze. I closed my hand around it tightly, and when I did, there was a noticeable jump in temperature from the hot earring.

The cold side was drawing the heat from my hand and transferring it to the hot side.

"I see that it's working," Amity remarked, noticing my stupid grin.

"And on the first try, again," I exclaimed, "I must be getting kinda okay at this. Here, check it out."

I dumped the earrings into her outstretched hands, and she examined them closely, "How do you control the temperature?"

"Well, with these, you don't. I set it when I made the enchantment. But I know how I'm going to do it with the window units, here, are you done with this one?"

Amity nodded, and I flipped it over so she could see the dial on the front.

"Very simple, analogue, nothing complicated. It even gives the temperature in degrees. Here," I took out a non-magical magic marker, and wrote in more temperature settings, "Disconnected from the hardware, it can rotate all the way around. The idea is straightforward, and we're already going to be using Communicate and Metal, so we don't need to add any more mana types. The enchantment, using Communicate, takes the setting from the dial. This here," I explained, pointing to the highest setting, "Makes it aim for thirty degrees, and here," pointing to where I drew in a bunch of numbers, "Is minus twenty. Which is what the freezer should be set to. Don't worry about the fact I'm just drawing in nonsense, what matters is the position of the dial. The numbers are just for our benefit."

"I hope you're better with enchantment than penmanship."

I spread my hands, "Hey, you try to do any better with hands this size."

She smiled, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Stand ready with the fire extinguisher if something suddenly bursts into flames?"

"I'll be right back," Amity promised, before hopping up and scurrying from the room.

While she was gone, I affixed an earring to each of the units, just inside the plastic cover near the dial that would control the temperature setting. I used a bit of super glue I'd found in the basement, counting on it to hold up regardless of the temperature it was subjected to.

Once she'd returned, fire extinguisher at the ready, I began building my house of cards. Mindful of what I wanted each setting on the dial to mean, I finished the first one, and while nothing happened, that was to be expected. Though I couldn't alter it, I found I could sense the outline of the enchantment. If I hadn't made it myself I likely wouldn't be able to spell out the specifics, but I could see what mana types were involved, and the general idea of what the enchantment was trying to do.

Careful to maintain that near-dreamlike state brought on by meditation, I shifted my attention to the second of the two appliances and moved the second set of cards into place. Once I was sure the enchantment was stable, I drew back, both physically and mentally.

"Done?" Amity asked, brow raised.

"I think so," I muttered.

I turned the pair of dials, setting one low, and one high.

Nothing happened.

"Dammit."

"What's the matter with them?"

I rested my chin on my fist, and thought for a moment before replying, "The only difference between these two and the earrings are the temperature controls. So I screwed that up somehow."

I focused, reaching out for that same state of mind I kept myself in while using magic, and found I could still sense the fuzzy image of the enchantments I'd built. The same was true for the two little earrings, but I'd also made those. Was I sensing completed enchantments or just things I'd personally worked on?

"Hey, can I see that torch?" I murmured dreamily.

I took it slowly, moving as if underwater, and realized two things.

I thumped my head against the table and sighed, "Arrgh, I'm such a dumbass."

"Yes, but why specifically in this case?" Amity asked supportively.

Not taking my head from the table, I waved the torch around, "What does this do?"

"Make light?"

"What's a synonym for make?"

"Oh."

"Yeah. The enchantment on this is Create Light. But whatever, not dealing with that right now," I added, lifting my head from the table, "The point is, I can sense the enchantment active in this torch. I can also sense the enchantment active in these heaters. And if the torch works, which it does, then it stands to reason that the enchantment I laid on the heaters also works."

Amity tilted her head side to side, "I suppose," she said doubtfully.

"Not the most sound logic, I admit. I don't have a failed example here to check, but we'll roll with it for now."

"Roll how? How can we fix it?"

"I built the enchantment to be extensible, like any good programmer," I checked my pockets, "Where did that cup of pearls end up?"

Amity fetched it for me, and I glued a pearl next to each dial, just as I had with the earrings.

"I think what's happening is the enchantment is listening for the dial to tell it what temperature to aim for, and since it's not getting any instructions, it's not doing anything. Communicate is taking the information from the dial, but it's not sensing its position, so it's reporting null."

"So you're going to add Sense mana to address this?"

"Or try to, yeah."

As with the first set of enchantments, nothing happened until both units had received the Sense upgrade, but once they had-

"Feel that?" I asked, holding my hand over the vent, "Warm air."

"It does seem to be working," Amity agreed.

I spread my arms slowly, and drew myself up to my full height, "I am, a genius," I declared, striking a regal pose.

Amity looked up at me with a wry expression, "I'll take your word for it."

"Don't you see?" I urged her, "This is a big fuckin deal. I drove myself crazy trying to get the communication books just right, but this worked on the first try. You know, sort of."

"Sort of," she agreed.

Finding that my theatrics had no effect on Amity, I sat back down.

"It's like programming. With the books, I was trying to write all the code to describe how they should work in one giant block. It was a mess. But with these, I broke each step down into its component enchantment, which made it way easier to keep the thing straight in my head while I cast it."

"Accidentally."

"Pardon?"

"You accidentally broke it down into smaller components."

"Fine, I'm accidentally a genius, now help me get these opened back up so I can get the fans spinning."

Not wanting the fans to melt or seize from friction, I tied the fan speed into the same logic that watched the difference in temperature between current and desired. Which, to my delight, worked just fine. The fans began to whirr, and the two units started spewing warm and cold air everywhere.

I would have used the fan dial instead, but there was no third dial, and I needed something to control the priority of each device. So I marked out the mentions of 'fan' and the various levels of intensity and scribbled in the numbers zero to ten.

With the enchantment laid as easily as those previous, the priority setting would control which units got what they wanted. Any units with higher priorities would receive the heat they requested before any of the others, and if there was more than one on the same priority, they'd split it evenly.

I would mean I'd need a heat vent of some kind. Otherwise, I might get too much heat in the system, and the fridge and freezer would stop cooling, but that was easily done.

Amity and I hung out for the rest of the day, or rather 'day', refurbishing window units and replacing them in the rooms we'd taken them from. Amity even made me something for lunch, and I ate while we worked.

We accomplished much by the time we broke for dinner. We had enough for the first two floors of the hotel, and the penthouse. As well as two that went in the parking garage where they'd be out of the rain and snow. We also applied the same principle to the hot water tank that served the second-floor rooms and planned to do the penthouse's after dinner.

Of the two exterior units, we set one to infinite cold and the other to infinite hot, both at priority zero. It wasn't ideal, as it meant any surplus was being dumped outside rather than stored, but for the time being, it would work.

The fridge and freezer we set to nine and ten respectively, with the second-floor hot water tank at a seven. Just about everything else was set to three, though we could always go through and fiddle with the dials if circumstances changed.

Amity helped me carry the remaining spares up to the penthouse, where we found Valentine stretched out on the couch, busy with a sketch.

The two of us swapped out the heaters for those already mounted under the penthouse windows and left the old units by the door.

"Would you like me to make something for you two?" Amity offered, once we'd unburdened ourselves.

I shook my head, "I've got it, actually, do you eat? Can you eat?"

Amity smiled warmly, "You're very sweet, but no. I would appreciate it if you'd cast your charging spell on one of the power supplies though."

"Sure, whatever you like."

"Thank you. I'll go fetch it."

"If you could also grab some bread, butter, and cheese, that would be great."

Amity nodded agreeably, and I went over to see what I could do about the fridge.

Val and I had already cleaned it out back when we'd gone through all of the rooms taking stock and tidying up, so I wasn't worried about any furry creatures jumping out at me. Getting at the cold side of the fridge's heat pump was a little tricky, but once I found the little plastic caps covering the screw holes, I was able to get the housing pulled apart.

This time I hardly had to think about the enchantments as I cast them. It wasn't the same, the dials were a little different on the fridge, but it hardly mattered. Plenty of practice had made the process almost unconscious, and both the refrigerator and its little drawer freezer were humming along by the time Amity returned.

"Are you certain this is sufficient to prepare a meal fit for a noblewoman?" the gynoid asked sceptically.

"I'm very easy to satisfy," Val piped up, from her spot on the couch.

"That's not true," I muttered.

"Hey, I heard that!"

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

Amity stayed for the meal and helped me do the washing up after, and I caught her lightly by the elbow as she went to leave.

"Hey, you don't have to go," I told her a little sheepishly.

"It's okay Wallace, you don't need to trouble yourself to keep me entertained," she said gently, "I think sometimes you forget I'm a machine, I don't get bored, and if I have nothing to do I can put myself in sleep mode," she reached up and patted my cheek, "You've done enough for me. Go tend to the little fey who can't seem to get enough of you."

"Amity the wingman," I mused, and she gave me a little grin as she was on her way.

I found the little fey back on the couch in front of the fire, though she'd thrown off the blankets. The enchanted heaters having brought the temperature up to something reasonable. She laid on her stomach with the sketch pad in front and wore only a silk shift. It had ridden up above her waist, though whether that was intentional on her part, or she simply didn't care, I couldn't tell.

As for the sketch, well, if I'd thought the last one was lewd, this one was a whole other matter. I'll not go into details, but suffice it to say, it included myself, an ecstatic Valentine, and the penthouse's piano.

"Do you ever draw anything else? Landscapes maybe?"

"Mmm, that's not a bad idea," she agreed, not bothering to look up, "Maybe the two of us, outside, under a tree on a hill."

"Not everything you draw needs to involve naked people," I sighed, and sat down beside her.

She straightened her shift and rolled over to rest her head in my lap.

"Such a dirty mind," she chastised, "I was thinking something sweet and wholesome. Maybe you tinkering with something, reading a book perhaps, with me sitting in your lap."

I stretched one arm over the back of the couch, and looked over at where the piano stood near the floor to ceiling windows, "Why does it seem like you've got a thing for pianos?"

Val took my other hand and held it to her chest, and I looked down to see that her expression had darkened.

"I've told you before that I don't ride, yes?"

I nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"I know how, of course, I learned when I was very young. This was before the cataclysm, back on my homeworld. Even then, I was fond of stories of adventure, always imagining myself there alongside the characters, taking part in the battles, exploring ruins, and sitting around the fire at the end of a long day. It was a childish fantasy," she grimaced, "We had no magic then, and I hadn't spent most of a decade torturing myself to build stamina and endurance. Like most fey, I'd be carried on a palanquin, even if it was just from one end of the house to the other. But I loved riding, absolutely loved it. The horse felt like an extension of me. Rather than relying on others to carry me about, it felt like I had true independence for the first time in my life."

She sat up and draped herself across me. Cheek pressed against my chest, and her hands on my shoulders.

"I was taking a lesson, a few years before the cataclysm, from my riding instructor. I was still quite young, even smaller than I am now, and couldn't quite control the animal. Perhaps if I'd been more skilled, or stronger, it might not have taken itself over to the side of the trail to snack on some long grass. It might not have put its hoof where it did and turned an ankle. The horse went down, and I ended up under it. There were other sprites close by, and they helped my instructor lift the animal off of me, but my hips had been crushed. I'd neither walk nor bear children. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was when my father ordered my riding teacher hung, and I'd been helpless to do anything about it. I begged him to let the sprite live, but my mother insisted I be silent. Told me that it was the business of the men to keep the slaves in line and that it was no business of ours how he meted out discipline. Father, father had said it was as with dogs. If one bit a fey, it had to be destroyed, lest it get the idea that such things were permitted. In his eyes, the riding teacher was the one responsible, as responsible as if he'd been the one to crush my hips. So he had to hang."

Once she'd begun speaking, she seemed unable to stop, and continued to tell her awful tale while I stroked her hair in a useless attempt to comfort her.

"I felt like a broken little doll. I'd still inherit my half of the family's lands, but without children, it would one day end up back with my sister's family. My mother was still adamant I find a husband however, and unable to so much as stand, she saw it as an opportunity to force upon me all those ladylike hobbies I held in such disdain. She was particularly insistent that I learn to sing, to play the harpsichord, and other such nonsense. Nearly every gathering of the families, I was paraded out in front of the guests. 'Look everyone, look how well the cripple can play and sing,'. But the world ended before my mother could get her way. It was Vivian, who funded the early forays into healing magic. She was the one who saw to it that I could while away my life, galavanting about and delving into ruins. That's why I hate horses, the harpsichord, and love my sister."

What was there to say? There were no empty platitudes or sympathetic remarks that would make the hurt go away. So I did what I could, I held her close until she drifted off to sleep, and carried her up to bed.