Alyssa rushed into the kitchen to get some drinks and snacks organized while Morrigan loudly sighed, collapsing on the couch. She held a relatively large tote bag that rested lazily over her shoulder.

“What did you bring back with you?” Alyssa asked, glasses clinking between her fingers as she put them on the counter.

“Elizabeth and I were just doing some housekeeping. Picking up some stuff we might need for the fundraiser tomorrow night.” Morrigan replied, sitting up now and walking over to the kitchen island.

“Oh, if you need anything for tomorrow feel free to use anything here. I have enough outfits for all of us,” Alyssa reassured her, smiling. She tried to take a peek into the tote bag but realized that Elizabeth had already taken it and left.

Morrigan sloshed the drink in her glass before taking a sip, her face twisting in surprise. “Sparkling water? That’s the worst kind.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Alyssa quickly replied, grabbing some regular bottled water.

Morrigan quickly shook her head, “No, it’s fine, I was just kidding! Sparkling water is perfect, thank you.”

“I’ll drink it instead. Let me pour you some still bottled water,” Alyssa insisted, already reaching for Morrigan’s glass.

Morrigan pulled it back quickly to her chest as if she was protecting it. “I love my sparkling water,” she whispered insistently.

Before the two of them could continue bickering, Juro flung open the front door, a large box in his hands while Bruno tried to support the sides. “We saw you guys walking ahead, but we couldn’t catch up,” Juro said, breathless.

Alyssa ran up to help them lower the box, seeming to lower it to the ground with ease. “I feel bad,” she exclaimed, looking at the overflowing package. “I didn’t bring anything for the rest of you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Alyssa. You’ve already done enough for us,” Juro said, brushing his hands off against his pants. “Where’s Elizabeth? I need to show you guys what I brought.”

Morrigan shouted for Elizabeth before turning back to Juro. She brought a hand up to her mouth as if to whisper a secret. “She likes doing things her own way,” she murmured for seemingly no rational reason.

While Elizabeth ran down the stairs, Juro tried to pull the living room table back to create room for all of them to sit on the rug. Embarrassed by his inability to pull it back himself, Alyssa shifted it for him. “Long story short, I picked up some technology devices or whatever that we can use for tomorrow and in the future.” He sifted through the box and pulled out what appeared to be five watches.

“Where did you even get this from?” Alyssa asked, surprised by the technology. She knew of these watches but never got any for herself, as they were expensive even for her.

“I met up with Josephine today and, using my incredible charisma, got these from her,” he said jokingly. Alyssa’s serious expression led Juro to drop his shoulders and sigh. “I’ll explain how I actually got them later. Let me just get through this first.”

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He gave each of them a watch, and they all hooked it onto their own wrists. “This is a Ticking Tryst. It basically looks like a watch and operates like one, but it does something else, too.”

Murmuring quickly broke out among all of them after Morrigan jumped in surprise. “Accept conversation request?” she exclaimed.

Juro quickly made a chat for all of them.

Juro: Are all of you getting this?

Alyssa: Yes.

Elizabeth: What the hell??? How does this even work? It’s like it’s in my head.

Bruno: Accept conversation request.

Morrigan: Bruno, you’re in the conversation.

“You can end the conversation, too. If you do, the chat history is lost and you’ll need to reopen it in the future,” Juro said out loud while the rest of them continued to play around with the Ticking Tryst. His expression suddenly hardened, his eyes darkening. “You can never lose this. Whoever finds it will have access to all open conversations.”

“Well, that's a pretty awful flaw. Couldn’t you have brought back something better?” Elizabeth retorted, crossing her arms.

Juro ignored her, grabbing something else out of the box. His face lit up when he finally found it, throwing it back and forth in his hands. “This doesn’t really matter as much, but I bought a camera! I’ve always wanted one.”

Morrigan burst out into a cheery laugh at his reaction. “Let’s all take some pictures tomorrow before we head out. It would be nice if we could all have a copy.”

Grabbing the box, Juro dumped out the remaining contents. Bruno and Alyssa quickly jumped back, hitting the table behind them as they tried to get away. Alyssa let out a small scream before covering her mouth, Bruno putting an arm out in front of her. Remembering her mauled fingers, she quickly lowered them behind her once again.

“You can’t bring that into my house, Juro.” Her voice was thick and demanding, sending shivers down Juro’s arms. He’d never heard her use such a threatening tone.

“It’s okay, they’re not dangerous. They’re not real guns,” he assured her, gently lifting the weapon and emptying the barrel. Instead of ammunition, all that came out were small pins. “These are paralysis guns. These needles contain neurotoxins that paralyze whoever is hit for no longer than thirty minutes, although it depends on the person.”

Elizabeth reached out a grabbed one, fiddling with the position of the gun in her hand. “Lethal?”

“Not at all. These are just a safety precaution if things go south.” Juro looked up at Alyssa, his green eyes trying to reassure her. “I don’t plan on anything going wrong.”

Alyssa nervously nodded, trying to calm her nerves. “Can we just put them away for now, please?”

Bruno was one step ahead of her, already beginning to pack up the paralysis guns. Elizabeth reluctantly gave up hers, tossing it into the box with a relaxed flick of her wrist. Hoping to break up the sudden tension between them, Morrigan clapped her hands and jumped up. “Well, it’s getting pretty late. Tomorrow we have a big day, so let’s get some good rest. We can talk about logistics and our plans when we wake up.”

“Same rooms?” Elizabeth asked, also standing up.

Morrigan’s face awkwardly twisted. It looked like she was trying to hide an embarrassed smile as her lips squeezed together, the edges tilted downward like a frown. “Actually, can I sleep on the couch today? You… kind of snore really loudly.”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open in shock as the two of them began bickering while everyone else said goodnight and slowly slipped out of the room.

When Alyssa shut the bedroom door, she finally felt okay. She felt okay, because she had felt enough for a day and all that was left was for her to feel okay. So, as she looked out the window, she hoped tomorrow would snow, too.