“Where the hells have you been?” Azarus snarked at me over the top of the crate he was carrying. “Haven’t seen ya in days.”

I shrugged at the dwarf who was currently helping to load up our wagon. I had just wandered up to join my usual travel group to find that they were in the process of packing up. All of the usual suspects were in attendance. Azarus and Renauld were helping to load the last few remaining crates of gear and supplies we needed to get underway, while Grey was tending to the horses. Honoka and Sylvia were sitting up on the driver’s bench, seemingly studying a scroll.

It was early morning, and all around us, the Army of the Uprising was getting ready to roll out. It was time to begin the campaign to take Elderwyck. I’d been busy with the Nocturne division, so I’d missed most of the build-up over the last few days. There were only last-minute checks and loading to be done at this point, and it looked like most of the Army was just waiting on the word to move out. Once again, our personal wagon was smack dab in the middle of the Order forces.

As I was making my way here, I had expected the Army to be smaller than it had been on the drive to Helstein. My understanding was that there was going to be a force left behind by the Uprising in order to hold it against possible attacks. However, I was surprised to see that the gathered forces were larger.

Much larger.

It looked to me like we had absorbed nearly the majority opposing force that had greeted us. I guess the integration of them into our own forces had been why we’d stalled in Helstein for two weeks. If so, I hadn’t been there for those discussions.

I caught Sylvia’s eye when she looked up, causing us to exchange a knowing glance. She and Grey, at least, knew what I had been up to. I cleared my throat. “Well, Grey assigned me some work within the Order finally,” I said, setting up the cover that Hook had arranged for me. “With Honoka, actually.”

Grey and Honoka both looked away from their tasks at that. Grey had a small smile on his face, while Honoka just rolled her eyes at me.

You know, now that I thought of it, the only people here who weren’t in on the secret were Azarus and Renauld. Were they really so untrustworthy that I couldn’t tell them? Still, I had my orders. Grey had apparently even approved my new cover.

It was time to start building it.

Sorry, guys.

Azarus sat his crate on the lip of the wagon and then wiped his brow of sweat, all the while shooting me an incredulous look. “The hells could ya be doing with her?”

“Watch your tone, you bearded oaf,” Honoka said warningly. “If you must know, I have the boy running errands for the Healing Corp.”

Renauld poked his head out of the covered wagon at that, his ears upright in attention. “What? I haven’t seen you around, Nate.”

I shrugged, but Honoka answered for me. She rounded in her seat to fix the Gnoll with an evil eye, causing him to cringe back. “Oh, been slacking enough that you can keep an eye on every errand boy I have running about, eh?” She asked menacingly. “Sounds like someone needs to spend more time cleaning the tents and wagons.”

Renauld wilted, but nodded his head defeatedly. Poor guy. There was just no arguing with Honoka sometimes. I felt a little bad for the Healing Corp, with a harpy like that running them.

Wait.

I was going to be joining the Healing Corp soon. Well, at the very least 'working' for them. Soon, I’d probably be the victim of Honoka’s incredibly short fuse. I may not have actually been running around on Honoka’s orders, but the cover that had been decided on for me was intended to be real. Honoka had agreed through messages with Hook to take me on as a provisional Healer’s assistant, both to give me some practical medical knowledge and to test out the full capabilities of Aetherial Melding when it came to first aid.

Hook had been very, very interested when I had described the impromptu, half-panicked surgery that I had done to save Walter’s life, back in Addersfield.

You know, that had probably led to this cover.

I actually didn’t mind it. Way back when I was still scrambling to acquire the other Professions, I had chosen Surgery as my Fleshcrafting option for a reason that still held true today. I had always fantasized about magically willing away all of the injuries and disabilities that car crash had left my dad with. Aetherial Surgery may not be full on Healing, but it was at least something.

While my core ring was woolgathering, I just shrugged at Azarus and summed it all up in a few sentences. “You remember how I wanted Surgery back in the day. This is just the chance to do a little of that.”

Realization stole across Azarus’s broad features, causing him to nod at me. “Guess we’re both goin’ to be pretty busy from now on.”

He was right. I’d be busy with both the Healer’s Corp, and the Nocturne Division. While he had been taking on plenty of work with the smiths of the Army.

Honoka snorted, standing up from the driver’s bench after exchanging a quick hug with Sylvia. “Speaking of being busy, I need to go back to the Healer’s section. C’mon, you lazy sod.” She said to Renauld, who just sighed but nodded resignedly.

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My eyebrows rose at that. “Wait, you two aren’t going to be traveling with us anymore?”

Honoka hopped down from the driver's seat. “No, now that I’ve taken up the reigns of the Healing Corp officially, I need to stick with them to make sure it doesn’t all fall apart. Gods know those idiots couldn’t tell their ass from a hole in the ground sometimes.” She grumbled, before fixing me with a look. “Come find me when the host stops for the night. We need to talk about a few things.”

As Honoka stalked away, Renauld gave me a quick, apologetic smile. “She’s right. We’re surprisingly busy for not having fought yet. I’ll still bed down with you guys, but for now, I need to stick with the other Healers. I’ll see you later, okay?”

As Renauld scurried to catch up with Honoka, I felt a surprising wave of sadness roll through me. It felt like most of us were being pulled in different directions by the demands of the war. Venix was still comatose, Azarus was busy helping arm the Uprising, Honoka and Renauld needed to keep the Army alive, and Grey was busy helping lead it. I didn’t even know if I was going to be seeing much of Sylvia soon. We may have both been apparent Nocturne Agents, but from what Hook had said, she had some kind of long-term assignment.

We were drifting apart.

That was life, I suppose. Even here in magical fantasy land.

I wasn’t the center of the universe, after all.

…………………………………………

It wasn’t long before the horn sounded to signal for the host to move out. All around us the Army of the Uprising got underway with shouts, snaps of reigns, and the marching of boots. Unexpectedly, it was just Sylvia, Azarus, and I here at our usual wagon. Grey had needed to leave as well, citing a desire from the leadership to be at the front of the host with the Prince as they departed Helstein.

Azarus was in the back, audibly snoring away, while Sylvia and I sat on the driver's bench in a mirror from our departure from Silvercrest. Once again, Fade was resting in between us, this time napping as well. The young wolf had been run harder than I think he’d ever been in his life, over the last few days. I didn’t blame him for being exhausted.

However, with it only being Sylvia and I at the wagon, that gave us a convenient excuse for that conversation she’d promised. I felt a sudden sense of embarrassment roll over me, remembering Fade’s translated words from the other day, but I stomped down hard on it before my cheeks grew red.

Instead, I cleared my throat to catch her attention. “So…”

“Yes?” Sylvia said, lifting her head from the scroll that Honoka had left me. The Sculpted woman raised a single silvery eyebrow my way.

“How long have you been, you know,” I made a gesture covering my entire face with an open palm. “With them?”

“Ah,” Sylvia said, rolling her scroll up and setting it aside. “I’ve been a member for some time now. I had been working with them since before Father was captured. In fact,” She said, smiling at me. “Do you know, my mission to find him was assigned to me by Hook?”

I hummed. “Is that so? Then what you’re saying is,” I returned her smile, taking a risk as I did so. I lay my free hand over her own and squeezed. Sylvia’s smile softened as I did so, her hand returning the hold. “That we owe him our…unique meeting.”

“You could say so,” Sylvia said softly.

We were silent for a moment. I let my hand drift down to our clutched hands and decided to take a bigger risk. If a damned wolf was exasperated by our dancing around each other, then I can’t imagine how our other companions felt. “You know,” I started slowly. “I don’t have much experience with…this.” I squeezed her hand again.

Sylvia’s own gaze drifted down to rest on our linked hands. Her silvery Mithril fingers ghosted over my own golden ones. “Neither do I,” She said quietly. Her gaze rose to meet mine. “Nathan…I…,” Sylvia visibly looked like she was struggling for words, growing more frustrated by the second.

Time to be blunt.

“Sylvia, I care about you,” I said directly, my emerald green eyes on her own sapphire blue. “I would say that I care about you a great deal. I don’t know if I can say that it’s love,” Sylvia was visibly shocked at the word, while my heart started beating faster at my own forwardness. I could have slowed it manually, but I didn’t want to. “But what I do know is that I care about you more than a mere friend should.”

“I…,” Sylvia trailed off once again, looking lost and overwhelmed. We had been dancing around each other on this subject for weeks now. I think that whatever was growing between had reached a tipping point after I had saved her at Caer Drarrow. Since that time, we’d been growing bolder in baby steps, trying to communicate how we felt in small gestures.

But the time for that was past.

Sylvia must have felt the same, because I could visibly see her will firm on her face. She let go of my hand, causing my heart to momentarily drop. However, it soared once again when said hand drifted up to cup my cheek delicately. Sylvia smiled at me fondly. “I, too, feel the same way. I simply…I don’t know how to properly communicate that. By now we’ve been through enough that I believe I understand you, Nathan. And from that understanding has come affection.” She giggled, in a manner I had never heard from her before. “I-I don’t know what to do now, Nathan.” In her nervousness, she looked at me in almost desperation.

I reached up to clasp her hand in mine once more. I smiled broadly at her, feeling bolder than ever. “I think I do,” I said, more confident than I’d been in some time. I used our clasped hands to pull her closer to me, making my intentions clear from my stare. Sylvia’s eyes widened momentarily in panic, before resolve filled them. Her eyes fluttered closed as the distance between us lessened.

I let mine drift shut.

Our lips met.

Hers were pleasantly cool against my own. In the back of my mind, I was incredibly relieved at how lifelike they felt. I couldn’t deny that I’d thought of kissing Sylvia before, and had feared that I would hate it. But no, they weren’t the stiff and unmoving metallic fabrications that I had dreaded they’d be. Instead, they were nearly indistinguishable from the human lips I’d felt in the past. Hers had just the right amount of softness, give, and flexibility to make kissing Sylvia a pleasant prospect. The only way I could distinguish them from a normal human woman was the coolness and lack of moisture.

God bless magic.

We separated, both of our eyes drifting open. The two of us alternatively chuckled or giggled at the high that it seemed we were both feeling. Sylvia sighed, and scooted closer to me, sandwiching Fade even closer between our two bodies. She lay her head on my shoulder and relaxed. I snaked a hand around her shoulders, enjoying the contact.

“We’re busy people,” I said, breaking the silence. “And we’re in the middle of something pretty important. I don’t know how much time we’re going to have to ourselves, until the war is over. But…” I smiled down at Sylvia fondly. “I think we’ll have enough time to explore this at our own pace.”

“I would like that, Nathan,” Sylvia said softly, meeting my eyes once more. She returned my smile. “I would like that very much.”

From in between our thighs, I heard a surprisingly awake Fade let out a particularly self-satisfied sounding chuff.

Alright, I can let you have this one.

Good boy.