We lay in the dappled sunlight beneath an old oak tree, atop a thick blanket spread out upon the grassy hillside. I pillowed my head on the small pack I'd taken to carrying while away from the base, within it a few supplies for emergencies. Valentine lay beside me with her head resting on my shoulder, wearing not her flight suit, but my hoodie, along with a few other clothes she'd claimed from the hotel.

"Tell me truly," Val asked thoughtfully, "Are we out here looking for a special tree, or was all this an excuse to brighten my day?"

"I don't know, has it worked?"

She thumped an open palm against my chest, "Wally," she chastised, "Here I am worried that I'm not contributing enough, and you've got me out here lounging in the sun like a spoiled noblewoman while everyone else works."

"Oh, I don't know how much work is getting done," I chuckled, "When I found Amity and Regina they looked like they were about ready to start tearing each other's clothes off. And Phoebe was asking after Cassius. Actually, now that I think of it, I suppose Regina was already naked."

"They've hardly met!" Val protested.

"Which ones? Cassius and Phoebe, yeah, I don't see things moving too quickly there. But Regina and Amity? Those two have both been through the same hell. I'm glad they've both got someone who understands. I just feel kinda bad for Felicity. She's the odd woman out here."

I gently stroked her back, and she began to settle back down. The stiffness went out of her frame, and she squeezed me tighter.

"What do I do, Wally?" she sighed, her voice half-muffled where her face was pressed against my chest, "It feels as if the longer this goes on, the further it all spirals out of control. Gods, this is nothing like I planned."

"Well, what did you plan?" I prompted.

"I told you some of it, those first few days we were together," she began, "Hire a cadre of elven sellswords, gather supplies, and make for the hotel. Not that I knew what it was at the time. The hotel would serve as my manor, and I would finally be able to relax. Beyond the reach of my enemies, and truly safe for the first time in my life. By night, I would take the captain of the sellswords to my bed, and by day I would venture out, surveying and exploring as I always have."

"Come on. I've got to be better than some elf captain."

I saw a wicked smile spread across her face, "Mmm hmm, you're too gentle for my tastes, but we can work on that. However, you do give amazing hugs. Gods, it's like having afterglow on command."

"I'm just gonna skip over the fact you've managed to make even hugs sexual," I laughed, "and focus on the fact that things are going pretty okay right now. So maybe we don't have a ton of hot elf mercs to guard the place, but we do have me, a freaking sphinx, a four-armed gynoid with claws for hands, and three spellcasters. We will need more," I admitted, "We need quantity as much as quality, but it's an excellent start. You brought the supplies, and we've got access to better food storage than you could have possibly imagined when you first started planning this. And it's just some back of the envelope math, but even without rationing, I think the water in the pool should last us at least a couple hundred days. Cassius and Phoebe are working on a better way up to the base, something we can control better than the storm drain, and once that's done, nothing short of an army will be able to force their way in. And you're right. We do need to get a better idea of the surrounding terrain. The two of us, maybe some of the others as well can go surveying, just like you wanted. Especially since I wasn't making the tree thing up, we need to find something that matches your torch's profile. You're a little rattled from your run-in with Temerity, that's okay," I assured her, "And it's okay to feel like you're not doing enough. Hell, aside from the friends you brought, everyone has been through some shit recently. It's okay to spend some time recovering."

Valentine drummed her fingers on my chest for a moment, thinking, and then began to nod slowly, "I take your point, and I would like to spend some time surveying, it would be nice. But I believe you have skipped something I mentioned," she added airly.

I sighed.

"Fine. If you're a good girl and you behave yourself, I guess I can tie you up or whatever."

Valentine leapt to her feet, arms in the air, and cheered, "Yes!."

I smiled wryly, "I'm glad you're happy."

Val knelt beside me and tucked her legs underneath herself, "Well," she hedged, "It's a start. It is quite vanilla, but we can work up to something more interesting."

I slowly shook my head, grinning, "Will nothing satisfy you?"

"Wally," she smouldered, "Almost anything will satisfy me. The important thing is I always want more once it's over."

I considered her at length. Not there was much to ogle at with my hoodie falling past her knees. I saw the desired response as her face flushed and her breath quickened.

"Yes," she pleaded, her eyes wide.

I yawned and pushed her over onto her back. She howled with laughter, and I rolled over onto my side. I trapped both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them to the blanket above her head. She squirmed and wriggled, fighting with all her might to break free, pointless as the attempt was.

I caught one of her ankles with a free hand and hauled her around roughly to the centre of the blanket. Loosening my grip, I ran the hand slowly up her leg and under the hoodie, stopping only when I heard a soft moan.

I lowered my head until my lips were just brushing against her ear, "Val, are you going to behave?" I murmured.

"Mmm hmm," she whimpered.

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"Good, now you're not to use your pheromones until I give you permission, understand?"

Again, she whimpered in agreement, and I moved to kiss her hungrily. She tried to lift herself from the blanket to meet my kiss, but I held her fast, keeping her from bringing her full passion to bear.

"Do you want to know what will happen next?" I whispered.

There was another answering whimper, and I grinned.

"Well first you'll pack up the blanket, then you'll carry my pack back to the hotel."

"What?" she muttered, her voice drunk with desire.

I pushed myself up, let out a big yawn and stretched, and then began walking back.

There were a few heartbeats of shocked silence, and then, "Oh-ho-ho, you come back here right now."

Now that sounds like the old Valentine.

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I paid no heed to Valentine's red hot fury on the walk back, biting my lip to keep from smiling at her tirade, threatening and begging in equal parts. It wasn't until we made it back into the shadow of the hotel that the blazing fire burnt down to smouldering coals, and she grudgingly took the offered hand when I reached down to pull her up into the storm drain.

I took the lead up the ladder. When I emerged back into the late afternoon sun, and my eyes fell upon the manhole cover, an idea struck me like a bolt of lightning.

I spared a glance for Valentine to gauge her progress, but she was only halfway up the ladder. I chuckled darkly as I kicked the cover back into place, grinding across the asphalt and then clanging into the metal ring.

Would she be able to lift it? I honestly had no idea, but I saw Cassius and Phoebe inspecting what looked to be a giant stone pillar, and that was far more interesting, so I went to check it out.

"Where did you get that?" I called out as I approached.

Over twenty feet long, and with irregular bumps along its length, it lay on the road, not quite straight. Upon drawing nearer, I saw it wasn't the only example, just the largest of their collection.

"Made it," Cassius replied.

"I've been teaching him the specifics of Transmutation magic," Phoebe explained, "He's a quick study."

"I figured it would be better to build in stone, don't want some assholes burning down our way out of here, and this is a lot easier than trying to quarry it. Not that I'd even know where to do that," Cassius added.

"They used to be trees," I realised.

"Yeah, it's not quite so impressive as it looks though," he frowned, "Conservation of mass still applies. Stone's a lot closer to wood than you'd think, or at least some types are, but it's not the same."

"What's the plan then? Build the ramp, or whatever it is you have planned, out of wood, then transmute it?"

"We were just discussing that," Phoebe provided, "What you suggested is one option. Alternatively, we transmute the wood into stone, and then further use Transform to condense the material's structure. Cassius-"

Cassius picked up the explanation, "Yeah, so when you do the transmutation one to one, what you get is stone with the structure of wood. Or really, it's fireproof and waterproof wood that's grey instead of brown. But if you use transform to condense it, sorta turn it into a liquid for a second, so it settles solid, it takes up less volume, bringing the density back up to where it should be. Building it out of wood then transmuting will be a bit of a pain in the ass, but it's straightforward. Condensing it might be a little trickier, but whatever we make out of it would be fuckin' strong."

"You're the engineer," I insisted, "It's your call. But if it were me, I'd probably just go with whichever option makes it easiest to build the final design."

"Man, I was in the robotics program, not engineering. I didn't even finish my third year."

I just shrugged, "Cassius, you are literally- not figuratively, literally -the best-educated engineer on the planet. If you're not sure that your ideas will cut it, then overbuild the fuck out of it. It's hard to screw up one big giant block of stone."

"Alright," Cassius grumbled, throwing up his hands, "I'll figure it out."

He turned back to his task, and Phoebe flashed me a smile and gave me a wink before joining him.

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The manhole cover moved of its own accord as I approached, hovering to the side, only to crash to the asphalt. Val emerged a moment later, and the tiny woman fixed me with her most ferocious glare.

I snapped my fingers, "Damn, should have said no magic as well."

"You," she glowered.

I shook my head, "Honestly Val, I let you borrow my hoodie, and now you've got it all dirty. Go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up, I'll come see you in a bit."

Val's rebuke caught in her throat, and she stood stock-still for a moment, before fleeing towards the hotel at her best speed.

I chuckled to myself as I followed her towards the glass doors.

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Regina and Amity were hard at work following Felicity's example, and I caught the elf's eye as I entered. She came over to join me by the doors, but not before turning to give one last instruction to her couple of students.

"What is it?" Felicity asked, looking from me to the stairwell door, "Something the matter with Val?"

"No," I assured her, then stopped myself, "Well, no, nothing's wrong. She's just excited. But I was wondering if you could give me any guidance on speeding up hair growth?"

"Val's still a little hung up on that, isn't she?"

"A little, yeah."

"Well I gave her a cream, but it doesn't do much. Double sounds like a lot until you understand how long these things take."

"What about a spell? Most healing magic I've heard of so far just speeds up the body's processes and provides some extra energy to make it possible. Couldn't I- or we -make a spell to do the same thing, but with hair? Hair growth is a lot simpler than trying to fix a wound. Or at least I hope it is."

She nodded slowly, "Ointments, creams, less so Fee's candles, they're limited. They lack the structure and control one can put into either spells or enchantments. The candles are awfully close, but I doubt Valentine would appreciate you dripping hot wax on her."

I stifled a laugh, Oh, I don't know about that.

"I've some spells that can change colour," she went on eagerly, "even other traits such as sheen, curl, and so on. But I've never had cause to make such drastic changes in length."

"When you make those changes, are they permanent? If you change the colour, does it grow that way forever?"

"Yes, or at least until the next time it's changed."

The two of us left the students to their lessons. Gradually making our way over to the restaurant to give them some privacy. I found something cool to drink after my walk, and she continued her explanation.

I took my leave, promising to return later, and went to check on Val.

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The situation was somewhat more than I'd expected.

Val was still slightly damp from the shower, and my freshly laundered hoodie lay nearby. Along with the rest of Val's clothes, and several lengths of silk ribbon.

The fey noblewoman sat upon the edge of the bed, one leg crossed over the other, wearing only a diaphanous slip of silk. Nearly transparent, it was crafted for display rather than function and made her usual silken shift look like a potato sack by comparison.

I approached slowly, savouring the naked desire in her eyes. It was good to be wanted. I picked up two of the ribbons, running the cloth through my fingers and considering the bed.

"No using magic," I commanded softly, and she nodded obediently.

I felt my composure begin to slip, and in a single step, crossed to her. I picked her up, my hands entirely circling her narrow waist, and lightly tossed her onto her front before she could see me crack a smile.

She spread her arms without protest, and I tied each wrist to one of the bedposts with a long length of silk.

"Comfortable?"

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded.

I selected two more of the ribbons, fighting to keep the laughter from my voice, "Hungry? Thirsty?"

"Hmm-Mmm," she shook her head.

Her leg twitched when I caught her ankle, and I bound each in turn with a loop of silk.

Val took a deep breath and snuggled down into the bed.

"No magic, no pheromones," I instructed, in a condescending tone, "Understand?"

Her voice quavered as she replied, "I promise."

I picked up my hoodie and pulled it on, "Good," I agreed matter of factly, "I'm gonna go talk to Felicity. See you later."