"Nng, get off Sorrel, you're all pointy." Amelia groans and tries to disentangle herself from my barely awake form.

"M'm sorry." I must have dropped my shift in my sleep again. Pushing myself up, I change back to human. "I still need to work on keeping my form through the night."

"You don't have to transform just for me." Amelia says when I lie back down next to her. "I kinda like your Plantkin face."

"Mhm, but I don't make a very good pillow that way." I smile over at her.

"Maybe, but don't feel that you have to hide what you are."

"I'm not, I just feel more comfortable looking like this." I lean over and kiss her on the nose. "Where'd the Insatiable One go?"

"Heheh. I think she's feeding a different hunger right now, I can feel that she's eating right now." We had a lot of fun exploring their new bond last night, and I'm glad to see that it hasn't gone away.

"I could eat!" The growl from my stomach puts an exclamation point on my statement.

"Hehe. Clean me up and find my clothes and I'll join you." She sits up and looks for wherever I tossed her pants last night. "Yours is so much better than my little Bath sp... Ack!" At the word 'bath' a torrent of water washes over her body before disappearing just as suddenly as it came.

"What the hells was that?" Apricot comes flying in under the gap at the bottom of the door.

"I think our bond supercharged my magic." A sparkling clean Amelia looks sheepishly at Apricot. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?"

"I'm fine, I just got surprised when I felt the magic flow through me." The pixie lands on Amelia's knee and stares at her like she's seeing something that I can't. "I think your mana pool connected along with everything else, but pixies don't really have a mana pool, we just draw on the natural magic all around us."

"We'll have to test this, after breakfast." I add when my tummy rumbles again. "And, maybe in someplace where we won't get charged for flooding the room."

"Good point, now go get my pants." She points across the room to where they landed on the table. "And put some on yourself, mister nature boy."

"Yeah, yeah." I make sure to point my butt as her while pulling on one of my new outfits. "So, if Amelia is a super mage now, did you get anything Apricot?"

"Huh, what?" The pixie shakes herself out of the stupor caused by staring at my ass.

"You heard me, you little perv." I shake my head at her antics.

"I... don't know." She looks down at her own body like she looked at Amelia. "Hmm? I don't see anything, but I can sorta feel something. Eh, I'll puzzle it out later, my food's getting cold."

"Now, there's a woman with her priorities straight." I lead the way to the dining room with a laugh.

***

"Morning Fred, could we get a couple plates?" I greet the innkeeper. "Hi there, Annie." I beam a smile at and conjure a new bloom for his daughter.

"Morning." He nods to me. "Anything to drink?"

"Tea, with honey if you have any." I answer.

"The tea comes with the meal, but honey will be an extra copper."

"That's fine." I hand over a dozen coppers. "Wait, did Apricot pay?"

"Uh, yeah." This is the first time I've seen the pixie looking sheepish. "I borrowed a few copper from your purse, sorry."

"I was going to treat you anyway, don't worry about it." I wave off her worry. "And, as far as I'm concerned half that reward belongs to you."

"I won't say no to the food, but keep your coin." She copies my waving away motion. "All I did was shout a warning, you're the one that actually stopped those two."

"Fine, but if there's anything you want to buy, just tell me." I tousle her hair with a finger.

"Speaking of buying things, were you able to get everything you wanted yesterday?" Amelia asks while watching in fascination as Apricot devours her meal.

"Mhm, he over-payed for a bow." Apricot mumbles around a mouthful of eggs.

"That I did." I say with a laugh as Fred delivers our meal, little Annie carrying a pot of tea, and a jar of honey. "But, I also got the bowyer to make guitar strings for me in a dozen different sizes, so I'm hoping they'll work."

"You play?" Fred asks curiously.

"I'm out of practice, and lost my guitar." I shrug.

"If you're half as good as the songs that come out of that little box, then I can't wait to hear you play for real." Amelia says while sweetening her tea with a good-sized dollop of honey.

At Fred's puzzled look, I bring the speaker out from storage and play While my Guitar Gently Weeps by the Beatles.

"I didn't know you could do voices and other instruments too." Apricot says somewhat accusingly. "What's he saying? Is that your native language?"

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"Yeah." I answer her last question first. "The lyrics are kinda random, but the song title is 'While my Guitar Gently Weeps'. This was one of the most popular bands where I came from, and they brought in another famous musician to play lead guitar for this one song."

"Ooh, I've got shivers now." Amelia gives her body an exaggerated shake. "That was so... haunting. Are all their songs like that?"

"Oh, no." I shake my head. "They liked to experiment a lot. Here, this is probably their most famous song." I try and tie my Gift-of-Tongues into Hey Jude, and play it for them.

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better..." By the time the song plays out, I've got a wicked headache, but just the smile on her face at those opening lines was worth it.

"Oof, that. That was more difficult than I thought it would be." I rub my temples with one hand while downing my tea with the other. "I'll play you more later, but my eggs are getting cold now." I send her a pained smile.

"Let me." Fred mutters an incantation and our food is suddenly steaming once more.

"That was amazing. How many songs do you have stored up in here?" Apricot flies up and gently pats the top of my head.

"Thousands, tens of thousands." I pick up the speaker. "This is just a conduit for my magic, but enchanted music players were very common where I came from. Almost everyone had one of some sort, and they could store as much music as you could listen to, and then some."

"Any songs about pixies?" She asks while stealing half my sausage.

"Uh, I know one called the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." I start up Lindsey Stirling's rendition. "But, the Fae weren't very common around there." Now, that's an understatement. "Most of our stories tended to mix up pixies and fairies." The fairies of this world look more insectile than the nearly human pixies.

"Those little buttheads always steal the glory." She pouts.

"Mhm. So, how far is Northwood?" I ask Amelia? "Will we be able to reach it in a day?"

"Not riding doubled up, no." She shakes her head. "But there's a protected clearing set halfway in for those on foot, or pulling a wagon. We should easily make it before dark, but we should get going soon." We all tuck into our meals after that, though Apricot got a good third of each of our breakfasts.

"Alright." Amelia gets up after washing down the last bit of toast with the dregs of her tea. "Let's check on Roddy, and then get his horse saddled up. Can you ride?"

"Eh." I waggle my hand. "I've been on a horse before."

"I'll take the reins then, and you can sit behind me." She gives me a flirty wink guides us to her brother's room. "You awake yet brother?" Her light tap is answered by a groan.

"Yeah, just please whisper." He says from under his pillow. "I don't know what was in that tea Maddie gave me, but this headache is worse than when my friends dared me to drink a whole bottle of wine when I was fourteen."

"Sorry." She shrugs even though he can't see her. "Do you remember me telling you about Aunt Carmen last night?"

"Vaguely." His eyes squint as he peers out from under the pillow. "You three going up to heal her? Thank you, and take care of my sister." He gives her un-slept-in bed a pointed look. "Now, go on. I'll probably head for Riverton tomorrow, so you can just catch me up."

"Do you want me to try fixing your headache?" I offer as he hides under the pillow again.

"Nnh, I'd rather remember this headache than how good whatever Maddie gave me made me felt." He waves us off. "Just have Fred send in a pot of tea on your way out."

"Will do, we'll see you next week." Amelia pats him on the arm and leads us out of the room, grabbing her saddlebags on the way out. Closing the door, she breathes out a deep sigh. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought he'd make it awkward. I'm pretty sure he was awake when I cast the contraception spell before coming over last night"

"Damn! I knew I was forgetting something." I shake my head, thinking that of all the spells I could have picked, I somehow missed that one.

"Don't worry." She giggles. "Mom made sure I mastered that one after my first bleed."

"Heh, at least that's not an issue for me." Apricot gives the blonde's belly a pat. "At least, I hope it's not. I mean, I love babies, but I don't want to raise them without my clan."

"Uhh... It shouldn't physically be possible. But you are mostly made of magic, so I'd rather not take the chance." I gulp audibly. "Amelia, would you show her your spell, please?"

"Hahahah. Sure, but uh, let me practice a bit first." I recall her Bath spell when she says that, and quickly nod. "Let's get Storm saddled up first, it's probably safer if I practice outside the walls."

"Yeah, but let me put these in storage for you." I take the saddlebags from her. "No need to make him carry any more weight than necessary."

"Do you think I'll be able to learn it now?" She looks just like a little kid hoping to get a puppy for Christmas.

"I don't know much outside nature magic, but if your problem was lack of mana then it should be possible." I slowly go through the full incantation, and slightly exaggerate the hand motion.

"He may not know much, but he's a natural caster." Apricot alights on my shoulder. "His mana flows are almost perfect, and his little music trick only took him a couple of hours to work out. Yes, you had my help." She cuts me off before I can do more than open my mouth. "But, you still improvised a brand new spell in no time."

"I'm good with plants." I don't know how else to respond. It's not like I can just say a god gifted me the power when he transmigrated me to a new world. That's like, at least, a third date level of confession.

"Argh, I want to try it right now, but what if I disappear Fred's inn?"

"Yeah, please don't do that." The man in question laughs. "Are you off to see your aunt?"

"Yeah." Amelia nods with a sheepish smile. "Roddy's going to rest today, and head for Riverton tomorrow. We'll be back in a few days, and follow after him then."

"Well, stay safe. Leo's been running extra patrols to make sure there are no more bandits, but keep your eyes open okay."

"Thanks, Fred, we will." She pats him on the shoulder and leads us to the stables.

"Hey, horse." I go up and introduce myself to the beast. "If I give you an apple, will you be good for us?" I materialize one and hold it in my outstretched palm, I was happily surprised to find some this time of year, but apparently, they're something of a local oddity. "Who's a good horse? You are, yes you are."

"Wow, he's never that well behaved." Amelia exclaims. "Didn't even give me any trouble when I was cinching up the saddle."

"Well, I'm better with the plant side of things, but animals are part of nature too." It wasn't really a spell, I just sorta sent out some good vibes. "He is a beauty, though." I scratch the chestnut stallion on the neck behind his ears.

"Say, that when he throws you and runs off." Amelia chuckles and guides him over to a mounting block. "You hop up first, and then just lift me into place." I wrap my arms around her and lift us both into place at the same time. "Or, that." She giggles.

"On the road again. I just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is makin' music with my friends. And, I can't wait to get on the road again." I translate the Willie Nelson song as he starts off.

"Heheh, oh that's a good one." Amelia chuckles once it ends. "How's your head?"

"Not as bad." I shrug. "But, mostly because it's a short song with fewer lyrics."

"Can you play more of that one band from earlier?" Apricot begs. "You don't need to translate it."

"More of the Beatles, coming right up." I start playing my Beatles playlist in chronological order. "Yes, that's their name." I laugh at their incredulous looks. "And, if you think that's bad, know that there's a band named the Pixies.

"No!" Apricot scoffs.

"Yes. I'll play you some of their stuff later, it's probably a bit different than what you're used to. These guys are actually a good introduction to popular music where I'm from, they've influenced a lot of artists over the years."

***