I woke up to the strange feeling of my world being dull and blurry. For a moment, I felt panicky, thinking something was wrong with my eyes, sitting up in bed, but then it clicked into place. Right. I’d shared my senses with Cass yesterday. Of course.

So this must have been her shutting them off when she woke up, waking me in the process. I smiled a little at that.

“Morning, Cass,” I whispered, my own voice sounding quiet, subdued, and hollow in my ears.

[Hey Fio…] Cass replied, somehow managing the mental version of rubbing at her eyes. [What time is it?]

I giggled a little. “Aren’t you supposed to know that, silly?”

Cass pouted at me. [You got a phone, come on, just tell me the time!]

“Fine, fine,” I conceded with a smile at her antics. “There. 10:34 a.m. Happy?”

[Oh, that’s quite late, isn’t it?]

A small laugh bubbled from my lips. “Haha, no, no. It’s totally fine. We stayed out late, we sleep in late. In fact, I bet Matt is still asleep. What do you think we kick him outta bed?”

[You can’t do that Fio!] Cass giggled. [Let him sleep.]

“Fine, fine,” I said, leaning back into bed and taking a deep breath. I smiled. No, that’s the wrong word. I grinned, wide and happy. There was a flutter of pink and orange in my field of view, my flag, and seeing it made me even happier. I spread my arms out wide on the bed and let out a contented sigh.

“I have great friends.”

The words hung in the air for a bit, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the quiet in my room.

A minute or five ticked by. I enjoyed the long moment. Eventually, though, I felt my stomach grumble a little. With a smile, I jumped up from bed, landing on my feet, and strolled to the kitchen.

I could make porridge again, but I didn’t really feel it. Hm. I was really feeling bread for a second. With some veggies and salt.

There weren’t enough veggies in the fridge, so I headed out for half an hour, doing a quick grocery trip to buy some tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, as well as some black bread and breadrolls.

By the time I came back, I heard the water in the bathroom running; Matt taking a shower, probably. While my best swordsman bud decided he needed a little cleaning, I set about preparing something to eat.

Vegetables and bread were sliced into nice bits. I took plant-based butter out of the fridge, to let it warm up on the table so it would be easier to cut. I made sure the heating was running, since it was quite cold outside, close to freezing if I had to guess.

By the time Matt came out of the shower, with damp hair that dripped a couple droplets onto a new white shirt of his, this one with a winking cat on it, I had already prepared my first slice of bread.

Just a breadroll with some butter, then garlic powder and salt, topped with cucumber slices. It was good, and I loved it. Matt eyed the table a little with suspicion.

“You got any jam?” he asked.

“In the fridge, on the left!” I pointed at it for emphasis.

“Thanks!”

“The other left, Matt,” I said, giving a small chuckle at him.

I could tell he rolled his eyes at me without even looking. “It’s fine, I would’ve found it eventually.”

“You would, sure, but when do you wanna have breakfast? Now, or in half an hour?” I teased.

He gave me a mock-frown, then stuck out his tongue at me. “Pfft. I would’ve found it within a second, I bet.”

“Sure, Rabbit.” I smiled.

As I took another bite, Matt took his seat at the kitchen table, adding some butter, then some jam to a sliced breadroll.

“Yesterday was awesome,” he said, three bites into the meal.

“For sure,” I agreed.

He looked at me for a second, seeing my wide smile. He grinned. “Oh, I see. You’re thinking of Ann right now, aren’t you?”

I paused, then stared at him for a moment. Then my surprise vanished. “Am I that much of an open book?” I asked, a little exasperated but not unkindly.

Matt grinned, leaned back and draped an arm over the back of the chair in his best ‘cool boy’ pose. “Well, you know, when you’re as skilled at reading people as me…” he said, specifically lowering his voice and putting on a smug smirk.

“Pffft,” I huffed. “You’re missing the sunglasses for that, Rabbit.”

“Dang, knew I should’ve taken them. I really thought I wouldn’t need them with it being this late in the year.”

I shrugged. “Well. Sky’s always overcast anyway.”

“True that, I guess,” he said and went quiet.

We chewed on our bread during the lull in the conversation. A few minutes ticked by, the silence going from uncomfortable, to comfortable.

“So. When’ll we be heading back to Eden?” Matt asked.

I shrugged, again. “Soon-ish. I want to see Ann, still. Then need to message my parents about it. My mom wants to go on a cruise in the summer. Maybe I can be back by then, take care of Beth for a week or two.”

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“Gotcha, makes sense. So, when is Ann coming?” he asked.

“Don’t quite know,” I said, truthfully. “She said as soon as she could. Today, for sure. Just wants to show up at my door, which is honestly kinda adorable.”

Matt nodded sagely. “Hope she shows up soon, then. Do you need some space, like, should I go out and see if I wanna buy some souvenirs or something?”

I smiled at him. “Maybe later. I’ll let you know if so, but my bedroom is plenty private for cuddles. I’ll give you a spare key to the flat, so you can leave if you ever get overwhelmed?”

He looked at me for a moment with a slightly blank expression, then his lips turned upwards. There was honesty in his smile, an incredible amount. “I’d love that, Fio. Thank you. I really appreciate you being considerate.”

I reached forward and tapped his nose. “Don’t worry about it, Rabbit. I’ll go grab it real quick.”

A few minutes later, Matt held a key, and both of us had devoured some more bread. I’d have to cook for lunch or dinner or something, but that could wait for just a smidge longer. I did already buy the ingredients while shopping for breakfast, so that was no trouble at least.

It was stew day, today.

Bit by bit, time drifted by. Neither Matt nor I had any big plans, so we set about doing things to keep ourselves busy. We played a local co-op game on my laptop, sparred a little more, did some exercising with the pull up bar, seeing who could do more muscle-ups, then I read a bit while he watched some videos on his phone.

There was enough to keep us busy, all the way until there was a knock on the door.

I darted towards it a second later, quickly looking through the peephole, and seeing exactly who I expected to see. Ann, in the flesh.

My breath caught in my lungs as I opened the door.

For a fraction of a second - it felt entirely too long, but that is how long it took - I stood and stared at her. A half-long brown leather jacket over a pinkish-purple shirt with tiny, white-blue stars on there. She wore a black skirt and black leggins with it, and looked gorgeous.

Then, for another fraction of a second, something seemed off. About her eyes, especially, but also her hair. The fire red of it all seemed a little too bright, a little too intense. For a moment, I almost lost myself in her eyes, those deep, vibrant pits of red. It lasted less than a moment, then that thought broke away.

I almost started crying right then and there, because I loved her, and I was so happy to see her. Without wasting another millisecond, I threw myself at her, wrapping her in a hug, and she had her arms around me at the same time. Her head rested on my shoulder, and I ran my fingers through her scarlet curls.

Her hair felt faintly warm, like the kind embers of a fire on a cold night. It felt so right to hold her like that. We stood in that hug for an amount of time longer than what one might usually be comfortable with, yet I enjoyed every moment I spent wrapped in her arms.

Eventually, though, Ann gave a tiny giggle, and tapped my back. “Come on, love, I’m just as happy to see you, but you gotta let me get inside, at least. It’s cold out!”

I smiled, took another deep breath, smelling her perfume and everything else I loved about her, then let go. Ah. My cheek was a little wet. I quickly wiped away the happy tears, then stepped aside.

“Come in, come in, you’re right. I missed you a lot, you know?” I said, my voice almost breaking.

“I missed you too, love,” she said, smiling. She stepped in, slipping out of her shoes.

While she did so, I looked at her. The way the light of my lamps played off her hair, the way it caught her eyes. She hummed a tiny tune to herself as she took off the jacket. It looked a little out of place among the winter coats it hung aside, the long sleeves draping quite far past the main body of the jacket, which only reached Ann’s tummy.

I smiled, and she smiled back. “Happy staring, Fio?” she teased, humming the words without any hostility.

“Not my fault you look so good,” I replied.

She giggled at that. “You compliment me too much.”

“Nope, I only speak the truth!” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

She regarded me for a moment, then gave me a quick kiss. I looked at her, kinda stunned. She giggled again. “Not my fault you look so good!”

With a quick turn that sent her skirt spinning, Ann strutted off into the flat. I followed her, of course, as she made her way. She gave me a look like she was asking if she could explore ahead, and I gave her a quick nod.

Ann smiled at me, nodded back as a sign she’d got the message, and started exploring my flat. She soon found the kitchen, breakfast well and stored away. I hadn’t yet started cooking, since it was that awkward space where I’d known there would be a visitor and I didn’t wanna be busy when Ann came even though I was starting to get a little hungry again.

She moved on to the bathroom and the toilet. Jokingly, she checked the top of a cupboard for dust, acting as though she was doing a real estate survey. I chuckled at her antics.

“You’re silly,” I said.

“And you’re cute,” Ann countered, already moving on with her exploration.

She soon found the living room, where Matt laid on the couch. He stuck up a hand and gave us a lazy wave, his feet dangling over the armrest.

“Heya Matt,” Ann greeted chipperly.

“Heya Ann,” Matt replied.

“Hast thou declared this couch to officially be thine domain?” Ann asked, teasing, walking closer.

Matt smiled, he swung his legs off the armrest, sitting up on the couch gracefully. His hair flipped through the air for a moment, landing to perfectly frame his face. The bastard. “No, no. My skill with the sword is far too poor to form a domain,” he explained.

Ann rolled her eyes. “Gosh Matt, you could at least play along.”

“My parents told me to never engage mages in trickery.” His face remained tauntingly stoic as he spoke.

“Oh reaaaaally now?” Ann asked, smiling, taking a seat on the armrest of the couch, now. She leaned back until she was at eye level with Matt again, using her feet and arms to balance out. There was a funny contrast between her teasing grin and Matt’s stoic expression.

“Yes, really.” He nodded.

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

“Certainly?”

“Most certainly, in fact.”

“I see how it is.”

“Do you now?”

“Certainly. Boop.” At the end of their quick exchange, Ann reached out and tapped Matt’s nose.

He smiled. “You know, Fio did that too.”

“Really now?” Ann sat back up straight, giving me a curious look, then a grin. “Well, I’m glad to know my girlfriend knows what a boopable nose looks like.”

“Mhm,” Matt said. “You should be careful, you know? This rabbit bites, sometimes~” he hummed.

“Really now?”

“Yep.”

“Truly?”

“Yep.”

“Certainly?”

“Yep.”

“...”

There was a brief silence as Ann simply looked at Matt. He looked back at her. She reached out to boop his nose. He, unsurprisingly, bit her finger.

In faux pain, because I knew Matt wouldn’t have hurt her, Ann quietly yowled, dramatically flinging herself off the armrest and rolling on the floor.

“Oh woe is me!” she cried. “This evil rabbit has harmed me! If only there was someone to save me from this evil!” She gave me a look that was somehow pleading, mischievous, and flirty at the same time.

I blushed for a moment, then cleared my throat, when Matt burst out into laughter first. Ann and I quickly followed, and the three of us laughed heartily for a few moments.

The moment passed, and when laughs turned to giggles, I did walk over and scooped Ann up from the floor in a princess carry. She first gave a small yelp as I picked her up, then blushed and wrapped her arms around my neck. I quickly deposited her next to Matt on the couch before she got a chance to bite my neck.

I saw the mischief in her eyes, but put a stop to it for now. Matt pulled her into a hug, which she returned. “It’s good to see you, Ann,” he said.

Our mage smiled. “It’s good to see you too, Matt.”

They gave each other another squeeze, then let go as I joined them on the couch. “Anyone hungry? Or feeling a movie first?”

“”Movie,”” both of them said immediately.

I smiled and gave a small shrug. “Alright. Let’s see what we can find.”