Staring at Lamp, who was in turn staring at me… I shifted a little on my chair.

I felt uncomfortable, as if I was itchy all over. Yet it wasn’t out of fear but just… concern. Worry.

Yet at the same time… I felt warm. And not just because I had soaked in a hot bath for a good hour with Merit.

Lamp said something, and out of the corner of my eye I watched Merit and Vim stare at her as she spoke.

Merit then responded, and I blinked to look at her. Finding out she spoke their language was a surprise, but somehow the oddest part was the voice she had when she spoke it. She didn’t sound… young, like she did when speaking in the language I knew. The guttural tones of Lamp’s language gave Merit a deeper tone, and thus made her sound older… as if she was a grown woman.

Vim said something in return, which made Lamp smile softly. Then Vim looked at me and nodded.

“She’d like to touch your ears, Renn,” Vim said.

“Oh. Yes. Of course,” I stood from my seat, which made Lamp’s smile grow massively. She leaned forward as I went to kneeling in front of her chair; I decided to just… crouch down onto my knees, since I expected this to take a moment.

Lamp was very, very gentle with me as she touched my right ear. I felt her skinny fingers poke me at first, and then find a little confidence as they begun to brush my ears with a gentle pat. As if I was some kind of cat.

The scarred woman giggled as she touched me, and then said something that made Merit scoff… then she too stepped forward, and suddenly my left ear was being touched too. This time with smaller hands, like a child’s. Her hands were cold which was odd; we had just soaked in a hot bath.

“Merit?” I asked.

“What? If you’ll let some human touch them why can’t I?” she complained.

Well… that was true…

“I’ve never got to touch them like that,” Vim complained.

“You touch her and I’ll shock you so bad that you’ll not be able to touch metal for a week,” Merit said swiftly.

Vim sighed, and I wondered what the heck she meant. Shock?

“You’ve touched my ears before Vim,” I said.

“What?” Merit’s hand left my ear, and between my low hanging hair and bangs I saw her turn on him, as if to yell.

“What?” Vim said back, sounding defiant… as if daring Merit to do something about it.

I giggled as Merit began to mumble about going back to her old ways and…

Then Lamp said something, and pulled her hand back from my head.

“She’s done Renn. She’s flabbergasted, and isn’t sure what to think,” Merit translated for me.

Oh. Looking up, I frowned at Lamp’s expression. It wasn’t… a bad one, but that happy smile was gone now.

Had my ears not been… good enough?

Lamp then turned to Merit and asked something. The question made Merit’s eye twitch, and a tiny little spark of light popped near her forehead.

Vim leaned forward, putting his hand on the back of the chair that Lamp sat upon, and said something gently. Lamp nodded quickly as Vim spoke.

“Hmph,” Merit turned her head, and then stepped away… she stepped over to one of the other chairs and tables, and sat upon it with a huff.

“What’d she ask?” I whispered to Vim.

“She wanted to touch Merit’s hair too,” Vim said.

“Not gonna happen,” Merit complained.

“Didn’t say you had to, Merit,” Vim said to her.

“Renn can touch it, but no one else,” she nodded, making the decision.

“Ah…” I kind of wanted to touch it. It looked like normal hair, but seemed… denser. And her bangs and other parts looked clumped together oddly too. I had also noticed, while in the bath, that her hair hadn’t gotten wet like normal hair did. It was… more like the fur on my ears or tail. It got weird when wet. I bet it felt odd. But it’d be rude to touch it when Lamp wasn’t allowed to. I’d do it later.

Lamp then reached a hand out, smiling gently at me as she said something along with my name. I realized what she was trying to do, and accepted her help. I took her hand and she somewhat pulled me up off the ground, back to my feet.

“Thanks,” I said to her, and then wondered what to say or do now.

“Well Merit?” Vim asked.

“Well what? She’s fine. She’s not scared, nor bothered. That’s a pagan for you,” she said from her seat.

“She might start worshiping us, however,” Vim warned.

Merit shrugged. “Better than the alternative.”

“I’d rather not be worshiped,” I noted.

“Yes… I don’t need you becoming a saint either,” Vim agreed.

“Oh… for once we agree on something,” Merit said.

Lamp smiled as she turned her head, following us and our conversation. She couldn’t understand of course, but it looked like she was trying to.

“Would you ask Lamp how she noticed we weren’t human?” I asked Vim.

“Hm? She noticed my strength at first, Renn. I had hauled up an anchor on the ship, alone. I had not thought any of them were watching, but obviously she had been,” he said to me.

“Then… how’d she notice I wasn’t one?” I asked.

He blinked, and Merit snickered in amusement as Vim sighed and looked at Lamp. He asked her the question, and after a few back-and-forths Vim nodded and looked back at me. “Your eyes. The pupils. She noticed that they’re oddly shaped sometimes,” Vim said.

Oh… That wasn’t good was it? It meant others would notice too if I stuck around a singular place a lot and…

Merit then giggled, and tapped the table with her small hand. It would have sounded like a slap had it been a normal sized hand. “Don’t lie!” she laughed.

“I didn’t,” Vim glared at her.

“Huh? What?” I asked worriedly. Vim had lied? Surely not…

“Lamp saw the way your eyes narrow when you look at Vim. And only him. It’s why she noticed, since she finds you both very attractive,” Merit giggled as she spoke, making her already odd sounding voice even odder.

Wait…

Glancing at Vim, he sighed as he nodded. “You focus a little… when you look at something you find interesting,” he said.

I blushed, and then Lamp and Merit both erupted into laughter.

Vim shook his head, but had a smile all the same.

“Oh? What’s this? Merit laughing, a blushing Renn and… a human? One of the eastern girls?” Lawrence walked into the room, frowning as he took the sight in.

“Don’t lie either! You’ve been standing out there for half an hour!” Merit shouted at him.

“I have not!” Lawrence argued back.

“True. It’s only been about ten minutes,” Vim said.

“Vim!” Lawrence groaned, but smiled gently afterward.

Lamp blinked as she looked around, and I felt a little bad for her. Wish I could speak her language… That was really the only reason Vim and Merit weren’t talking in hers, so that I could understand.

Lawrence then walked up, and frowned as he focused on her. He studied her, and Lamp went absolutely still as she stared back into his eyes.

Then Lawrence said something, in her language. The two talked by themselves for a moment as we all watched them.

Lawrence was staring at her rather closely…

Then Lawrence nodded as he stepped back. “I see. So you plan to grant her asylum,” Lawrence said.

“That’s the plan,” Merit said.

“Asylum?” I asked. Hopefully that wasn’t anything bad.

“He means invite her to the Society, Renn,” Vim told me.

“Oh. Yes. Yes,” I said with a quick nod of the head.

“All of them or just her?” Lawrence asked.

“For now just her. Maybe the others later, after some careful selection,” Vim said.

I wanted to protest, but knew better. I mean… what if some left for home before we gave them the chance? The poor girls would miss out on living with us, and being safe. Yet at the same time, Vim was right. Too many too quickly was dangerous. We needed to make sure we could trust them.

“Well… they’d be better than that foolish pirate of yours, at least. If we can get enough of them, they’d be quite useful in the archives and as auditors,” Lawrence said.

“Wouldn’t do much as guards, but yes… they’d be useful in a few ways,” Merit agreed.

“For even you to agree… What’d Vim do, offer one of his legs?” Lawrence asked.

“Who’d want that?” Merit nearly spat at the thought.

“You could stand on them, you’d become normal height for once,” Vim suggested.

Merit glared at him as Lawrence chuckled, then said something else to Lamp.

Lamp pointed at me, and then the two spoke some more, then laughed at each other.

“Is he teasing me?” I asked.

“Only slightly,” Merit said.

I frowned, but wasn’t too offended. If anything it was a good sign… if Lawrence, who seemed to be an older and more prominent member here was willing to indulge the idea of letting Lamp into the Society then I could accept a little teasing as the price for it.

Lawrence chuckled as he stepped away, and then gestured for Vim to follow him. The two men stepped away, heading for the hallway. Hopefully he wasn’t pulling Vim aside as to tell him he was against it, or worse…

“Don’t worry. He’s just going to ask for permission to go get Gerald and the others,” Merit said.

“Oh… yes… right. They all need to check, huh,” I said.

“Well… kind of,” Merit sighed as she hopped off the chair. It was a real hop, thanks to the height difference between her and the chair.

She walked over to Lamp, and the two went to talking to one another. I watched as Lamp smiled calmly while talking to Merit… it looked almost as if Lamp was doing her best to not get too excited. She seemed to be having a blast. Which was odd… you’d think she’d be worried, or concerned… but maybe she knew Vim, and thus me and the rest, wouldn’t hurt her.

It had been… surprising to have Vim knock on my door, here in the Societies house area, and for Lamp to be standing right next to him. She had waved happily at me, which made me panic at first… I had thought maybe something had happened.

Not just with Lamp and the other girls… but Vim himself.

He had left to track down someone who had been supposedly following me, after all. Someone he thought might have been from the embassy.

I had worried he had found them, and found they had indeed been from the embassy… and had thus brought Lamp to me. I had no idea why he would have done such a thing, but it had been… a shock to say the least.

“Renn, she’s a little thirsty. Would you go get her something to drink for me?” Merit asked.

“Oh? Yeah, sure,” I nodded as I stepped away towards the hallway. The kitchens weren’t far, just a few doors down from here.

As I left, I heard Merit and Lamp go into a rather deep conversation. One that made Lamp’s smile become a more serious expression.

Hopefully Merit wasn’t being too mean.

Hurrying to the kitchen, I paused a moment before another doorway. One that led to another visiting area. With chairs and couches, all near a fireplace. Vim and Lawrence were standing in front of the unlit fireplace, talking quietly.

I decided to let them be as I went back to my task. I hurried, but at the same time intentionally took my time. Merit had probably wanted to ask a few things in private.

These kitchens had frozen rooms. Ice rooms. Large storage places, that were so cold it made me want to run away from them… but it was where all the good stuff was hidden. Behind the wall of ice was tasty drinks and food and…

Daring the frozen door, I flinched upon touching the handle. It was a little hard to open, thanks to how cold the handle was, but I got it open. Quickly entering, I left the door open for just a moment as I went to find the metal cups lining one of the shelves near the door.

Grabbing a few of the cups, I had to kind of pull them off the rack shelves, thanks to them having gotten somewhat frozen to them. They were horribly cold in my hands, and the entire place was freezing too.

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I wasn’t sure how it was so cold, since I hadn’t dared going too deep into the room of ice yet. I feared the door closing behind me somehow, since there was no handle on the inside as to open it. Why they had made it this way was beyond me, but it made me very conscious as I…

Turning around with the cups, I nearly yelped when it went dark. I huffed as I stared at Vim, who was staring at me with a funny face. He was standing in the doorway, blocking most the light. “What scared you?” he asked as he held out his hands.

I gave him the cups, and glared at him. “You. I thought the door closed or something,” I said… then pushed him out of the ice room, and out of my way. So I could get out too.

“Hmph,” Vim stepped aside as I went to closing the door. I once again flinched as I had to turn the frozen handle, to lock it closed.

“Why’s the handle frozen too? And why isn’t there a handle inside? What if someone gets locked in?” I asked.

“There is a handle, Renn. It’s not on the door, but next to it. On the wall, there’s a lever that you pull. It’ll open the door forcefully, even if it gets frozen shut somehow,” he said.

“Oh… why didn’t anyone tell me that?” I asked as I glanced at it. There had been a lever in there? I never noticed.

“Because it’s hard to actually get shut in there in the first place… who would close the door behind them like that? That’s why there’s no handle on the inside, so you don’t do it instinctually. You’d have to shut it with a hard tug, and get your hand free of it before it slammed shut,” Vim said.

“True…” I took one of the cold cups from him, and went to open the other… not as cold, storage chest. It was in the ground, near some shelves.

Opening the floor chest, I reached in to grab the large pitcher of dark liquid. It was a nice tasting wine of some kind. I didn’t really care much for it, but I knew Lamp would like it.

“No. Eastern women don’t drink grape wine Renn,” Vim warned.

“Huh? They don’t?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Oh… so… milk?” she asked.

“That’d be best, yes. Didn’t you get food and drinks for them? Have you been giving them wine?” he asked.

“No. Brandy handled all that for me,” I said.

“Some caretaker you are,” he teased.

“She wouldn’t let me go buy it, Vim… I carried it in for them, from the depot, but that was it,” I argued.

“Hm…” Vim nodded in understanding as I went to filling up the cold cups with the milk.

Once two were full, I glanced at Vim. He held two more, and was smiling oddly at me.

“What did Lawrence want?” I asked. He wasn’t around anymore… was he with Lamp and Merit?

“He told me about the embassy. Said it checks out, that they’re mostly legitimate,” he said.

“Mostly…?” I asked.

Vim shrugged. “No one is completely clean here in Lumen, Renn. He said half their shipments from their eastern associates are smuggled items. Nothing too illegal, or bad, just… stuff they probably stole elsewhere. Or bought from pirates,” Vim said.

“Should I worry for the girls?” I asked.

“No more than you should worry for anyone, for any other reason,” he said.

I sighed as I finished with the milk, and went to put the pitcher back.

Once I was done, Vim and I carried the cold cups back to the room we had left Merit and Lamp in.

Sure enough Lawrence was there. The three of them were now in a deep conversation, and barely did more than nod at me as I handed them all their own cup of cold milk.

Once done, I realized I was one cup short… I had grabbed four. Merit, Lamp, Lawrence and…

Vim smirked at me, and then took a very tiny sip of the only remaining cup.

Frowning at him, I wondered why I hadn’t realized I had miscounted. Now it’d look so weird if I went back to get another and… but before I could give the idea up, Vim went ahead and handed me his.

Smiling at him, I nodded in thanks and took it. Judging by the amount in the cup, he had only sipped a tiny amount. He had probably done it more so to tease me than actually take a drink.

Taking my own drink, I glanced back at the three in their conversation. Lamp had crossed her arms and was tilting her head as she tried to think of something. Then Lawrence said something that made Merit chuckle.

They looked… natural. Calm. And it was amazing, especially when I took into consideration where and what we were doing.

We were in the societies houses. A place that those like myself, the non-humans and other members of the society, could be safe. Where we could walk around without having to worry about hiding our non-human features.

And Lamp, a human, was sitting amongst us and talking calmly. As if she was as much a long time friend as the rest.

“I couldn’t find her, Renn,” Vim then said softly.

Turning, I found Vim had stepped away a few feet. He gestured for me to follow him with a nod of his head.

Glancing back at Lamp, who smiled gently at me and then returned to talking to Merit and Lawrence… I went to follow Vim out of the room once again.

“Should we leave her?” I asked him.

“Why not? She’s joining this location, Renn… not ours,” he said softly.

I gulped a mouth without any milk in it, and felt stupid.

Of course she was.

Yet… for as sad that made me feel, it also made me happy.

Ours?

“Do we have a location, Vim?” I asked him, wondering if he even realized what he had said… or rather, how he had phrased it.

“Our location is where we need to be,” he said.

I nodded. That was his kind of answer. A very Protector type of answer.

Vim led me down the hall, to the same room that Lawrence and he had been in earlier. The one with the unlit fireplace. Vim however decided to change that. While I walked in and chose one of the couches to sit down at, Vim went to lighting the fireplace.

Watching him light the fire, I took a small drink as I relaxed in the couch. Today was… a long day. Even for me.

Going to the embassy. Coming back. Finding out I was being followed and then spending time with Brom and…

The bath with Merit. That had been… well… honestly that was probably why I wasn’t getting teary eyed over what was happening with Lamp.

Merit and I had a very wonderful moment today. I had not expected to become so close to her so quickly. She and I were probably what one would call friends now… at least, so I felt. Hopefully she didn’t think the opposite.

“I think I made a friend today, Vim,” I told him.

“You did. We’ll talk about that later. Right now I want to talk about your stalker,” he said as the fire came alive. He brushed his hands as he stood away from the fire, which grew in strength and quickly began to pop and crackle.

I nodded as I watched him walk over, and actually sit down next to me. On the same couch… even though there were plenty of other places to sit, most of which close enough to have allowed us to still have a very private conversation, rather comfortably.

Going a little still at the sudden closeness, I glanced to my side and stared at the thighs touching my own. I studied the arms and elbow rubbing against my own as he leaned closer to me.

“I’ll find her, but I’ll need to grab her the moment I see her. Not sure how she got away from me… I think she slipped away into a building, somehow,” he said quietly.

I nodded… even though I honestly wasn’t too focused. He hadn’t been this close to me in… well a long time. Which made the fact that I felt so conscious about it all the more weird. After all, on our journey here we had been close many times. Not just when we slept in the same bed too, so why did I suddenly…

“It’s not a good thing, Renn. They might have noticed you’re not human, just as easily as Lamp had,” Vim said with a frown.

Oh woops. I was probably smiling really oddly, thanks to our sudden proximity and… I coughed and quickly took a drink of my cold milk. There wasn’t much left now. I’d not be able to use it to hide my thoughts much longer.

“So… just grab them then? Why’d we need to leave Lamp and the rest for this?” I asked. Not that I should complain. This was nice.

“I was tired of listening to them. Plus I don’t want them to worry,” he said.

Listening to them…? Wonder what they were talking about. “But I can worry?” I asked him.

“It’s our job to worry,” he said, looking away from me and to the fireplace.

Staring at him, and the shadows dancing on his face thanks to the fire he had lit… I suddenly remembered one of my first conversations with him. One of the first real ones.

We had been at the Sleepy Artist, on a balcony. I had walked up to him, and he hadn’t noticed for some reason… and he had a very similar face then… in fact it was probably the same one? I leaned forward a little, and yes. It was. At the time I had seen that expression back then, he had been sitting and I had been standing… so I was now looking from the wrong perspective, but it was definitely the same.

That conversation had been… somewhat similar. We had spoken about myself, but also him. He had told me how he was akin to a king. A man whose job it was to worry. To fret.

He did look troubled.

Which meant I was supposed to be too… since I was supposed to be like him.

Though maybe I’d not be a king, but the queen… if we looked at it that way.

“I’m sorry Vim… but I’m just… happy. I made another friend. A real one. And then you went and invited Lamp into the society and she accepted? And she’s being accepted too? Then of course tomorrow we get to save who knows how many others as well? Vim… I want to jump up and down in joy, I want to run around and hug and kiss everyone… Worrying or being scared right now probably isn’t something I’m even capable of,” I told him.

Vim’s eyes softened as the fire grew even hotter. “I figured… and you should be happy. Lamp isn’t that big a deal, but Merit? You just earned a very powerful ally, Renn. One day maybe she’ll tell you who she really is,” Vim said.

“She said she’s a knife fish,” I said.

He smiled and nodded. “She is. Did… did you take a bath with her?” he asked with an odd look. He didn’t glance at me, but I could tell he wanted to.

“I did. Jealous? It’s your fault… you had your chance,” I teased him.

He smirked and nodded. “Good. I’m glad you two are getting along,” he said.

A little upset he didn’t seem too… bothered by my joke, I decided to take his delight and add it to my own. “Me too,” I said.

“Last time I took a bath with her she electrified me so badly I was peeling for a year,” Vim said with a frown.

“Good you... des…erve…” I stopped talking as I realized what he just said.

Vim nodded as he frowned. “That had been weird,” he said as he remembered it.

My eye twitched, and I wished the milk in my cup hadn’t tasted good. Maybe then I’d be willing to dunk it on his head.

“The rest of the society is going to come and talk to her. After they’re done, take her back to her room. They’ve made it very clear to her to not tell anyone what happened, or why, but there might be a chance she’ll still tell them. If she does, we’ll have to banish her. That’s part of the test, Renn, so don’t get upset if it happens. It happens about half the time,” Vim then said.

I frowned at him, especially since now I disliked him even more. “She won’t do that,” I said confidently.

“We’ll see. I don’t think so either, but you never know,” he said.

“If she doesn’t, you owe me a bath,” I said.

Vim’s jaw tightened, then he glanced at me. His eyes narrowed, and then softened. “You that confident?” he asked.

I nodded.

“What do I get if she fails?” he asked me.

My cup shifted in my hands as I realized that was right. If one was to bet, both parties needed to levy, to risk, something.

“What… what do you want?” I asked, unsure of what else to say. After all anything I’d offer he’d probably just smirk and laugh it off. Like a kiss, or something like it. He’d probably just say that was something I wanted, not something he desired.

“Hm…” Vim frowned as he looked away, and went into thought.

I gulped a dry mouth, and because of it remembered to take a drink. I barely tasted the milk as I drank the rest down.

After a long moment Vim leaned back, to rest against the couch. Although he really hadn’t moved much, he suddenly felt farther away. My shoulder, arm, and side all suddenly became a little colder… a little lonely. We still were touching at the thighs at least.

Vim looked a little silly leaning back and looked… kind of uncomfortable. As if he needed to re-adjust himself. Yet he went still as he thought about something.

Glancing into my cup, I sighed at the lack of anything within it. I wished it had been that wine. I couldn’t get drunk, of course, but it would have tasted better. This moment needed something tasty to go along with the memories we were making together.

“I believe she’ll not reveal anything about us… so that’s not a fair bet. Instead let’s bet on something else,” Vim then said.

“Hm? Changing the rules already?” I asked.

“Just slightly,” he said as he gestured at me. He tapped me lightly on my elbow, as if to get my attention… even though he already had it in full and then some. “Instead of a bet… let’s give and take,” he then decided.

“Give and take…?” I didn’t like the sound of that. What did he want to take from me? I had so very little as it was… surely he knew that.

“You want a bath? I’ll give it… if you’ll do me a favor,” he said.

“Oh?” I nodded. Another favor? Really? Already? I had expected to go months if not more before another was asked of me. He so rarely wanted help, real help, so it was hard to ever do anything like that for him. Small things, sure… like carrying a box, or something, but those weren’t favors. Not in Vim’s eyes, or mine either honestly.

“I’d like to give Reatti that spear, if you’ll allow it. I’d be willing to make you another when we return to the smithy one day, so…” Vim spoke calmly, but his voice slowly got lower and lower until it finally died down and he went quiet.

I shifted, staring at the man who just asked me to give up something precious.

“You treasure it that much Renn?” Vim asked me gently.

I nodded. “I do,” I said truthfully.

“Why? I’ve not even taught you how to wield it yet,” he said.

“Do you have any idea how many times people have given me things in my life?” I asked him.

He frowned softly, but I could tell he had some idea. He still shook his head for me though.

I didn't have it in me to tell him him the truth, since it made me sad. Not because of how few I have gotten, in my long life, but because it made me realize that my long years with those humans had lacked such things. Nory had never given me anything like a present in such a way. And that fact made me want to cry, so I ignored it. Another part of me didn't even want to tell him how precious I found the things he had given me. Since he probably didn't see them as anything special, so it'd just be awkward.

“I got another, earlier. A little cactus. From Gerald,” I told him.

“A cactus?” he asked, his frown deepening. Becoming much more real. He was trying to think of the reason that Gerald would give me such a thing.

“He got it from some merchant. Form the south… he gave to me when he saw how interesting I found it,” I said. At least, I thought that was the reason.

“A southern merchant gave him a cactus…” Vim shook his head at that, and not because he didn’t understand.

“He said it was a declaration of war,” I said.

Vim nodded. “Not a literal one, but one of commerce. Yes.”

So it was true. Interesting.

“That cactus… The clothes Lellip and Nebl made for me… the sword and other weapons you made, my nail file and polishers…” I lifted my hand, studying my nails. It was time I did them again, I think.

I had more than just those of course. I had a hat Vim had bought me back during our beginning in Ruvindale. The painting he had saved for me, of Lomi and the rest.

“You’ll still have the sword and bow, Renn,” Vim said gently.

I nodded. “I… I know… and I suppose it’s my fault. I should not have assumed they were mine to have, you never actually said so after all,” I said.

Vim sighed, and the fire popped a little loudly. A singular black ember flew upward, and landed back into the fireplace after floating for a moment. “Those weapons are special, Renn,” Vim said.

“I know,” I said.

“No. Or well, yes. You do. You know the metal is special. That spear… is special because the material is pure enough to persist for many years. It will last a few decades, as long as one takes care of it. Plus they’re heavy. Heavier than the spears humans make. A normal spear would break or be unable to be used properly by our kind, thanks to them being made out of light wood,” Vim explained.

“Ah… so you mean to give them weapons they can rely on,” I said, understanding.

Vim nodded.

That was true. Brom’s sword had been… dulled, and cracked and notched even before we had started sparring. It had only gotten worse as time went on. In fact, he had replaced his sword a few times.

“You wanted to give them proper tools. That would stand up to their strength and the test of time,” I said, understanding.

“Basically. There are not many members in the Society that are even willing to hold a weapon Renn, so I try to support those who do as much as I can,” Vim said softly.

I sighed as I nodded and twirled the now warm cup in my hands, spinning it by rolling between my palms. “I suppose I can understand that,” I said.

“I’m sorry Renn. If I had known you’d have grown attached to it I would have made an extra. I hadn’t thought you’d actually like it that much,” Vim said.

“You should know better,” I complained.

“I should,” he agreed.

Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I tried to ignore the voices in the hallway. A group was approaching.

“Fine… but you better bathe with me, before we leave,” I said. Who knew how long it’d take for us to find another place with a bath big enough for both of us.

Vim nodded. “Deal. You can give it to her later, if you would,” Vim said.

I held my hand out, and smiled at him. He stared at it for only a moment, and then smiled at me. Taking my hand, we shook hands and made a deal.

“Deal,” I agreed.

A spear for a bath? Might not seem a fair trade to most… but for me it would work. Especially if he was willing to make another for me later.

After all that meant he’d have to let me stick with him until he did so. Which meant a full circle throughout the society. A full circuit. A full journey. Many years. Years together.

And that was a much greater gift than a stick of steel.

Holding Vim’s hand as he held mine, I smiled at the man who didn’t try to pry his hand free… even though it was more than time to for us to let each other go.

“Oh? What’s this? Flirting by the fire?”

I turned, and found Reatti, Brandy and Sofia. They were all smiling at us, and I couldn’t help but smile back at them, especially when Vim pulled his hand free from mine and sighed.

Gifts. Friends. A purpose.

And of course… A Vim.

What more could I ask for?