Dinner passed by in a flash, and the less said about it, the better. Addie spent most of dinner trying to avoid the probing questions she kept getting from her Aunt and Nettal. Nettal was especially annoying since she kept trying to get Addie to spill all of the secrets about her new powers.

Mostly though, Addie just wanted to be difficult. She was feeling especially irritated that she still hadn’t gotten even a single apology from Nettal regarding the frog incident. To make matters worse, Addie’s Aunt hadn’t ever scolded Nettal about the incident. Instead, it was Addie who had to listen to a lecture about being more careful in the swamp.

Her grudges didn’t stop either her aunt or her cousin from being cheerful, though. Addie found herself slowly warming up to them, especially after seeing Nettal being so sweet to Squishy. He had spent most of dinner practically flopped out in Nettal’s lap. Now and again, Addie felt a pulse of satisfaction ebb through him as Nettal fed him scraps of meat. His general contentment bled through their bond to the point Addie found herself smiling more often than not by the end of dinner.

By the time night came around, Auntie ushered Addie and Nettal into their room for the night. Addie heard they would be sharing a large room with bunk beds. What hadn’t been said though, was that the bunk beds didn’t yet exist.

Addie got to watch the top bunk get built in real time, as Nettal’s normal bed frame started growing upwards. The four bedpost corners expanded thicker, then grew taller, eventually flattening off after about three feet. The tendrils started twisting in midair, and each branch wove itself into a sturdy flat structure above Nettal’s primary bed. They crisscrossed, then tightened until there were no gaps at all. After that, Auntie Lomain came back to the room carrying a large cotton mattress which floated itself up onto the new bunk-bed frame. Sheets and a pillow grew out of the mattress, and then it was ready for Addie to hop right into bed.

Instead of climbing up the still-growing ladder, Addie entered Realmspace, jumped, and altered her momentum further upwards. She then popped back into reality perfectly above the bed. She might have wanted to show off her powers to Nettal, a bit. Now, they were both lying in their respective beds, with the candles already extinguished.

“I’m glad,” Nettal spoke from her bed underneath Addie’s.

“Glad about what?” Though Nettal couldn’t see it, Addie made a confused face.

Nettal thought in silence for a moment or two, and then she clarified, “I was so worried when you first got here. I thought maybe I did something to annoy you because you seemed so angry with me when you first got here.”

Addie felt a pang of guilt for a moment, as she reflected on her earlier behavior.

A crack of light entered their room from the hallway, and the door creaked open. Then, using her spatial sense, Addie noticed Squishy enter the room.

“I don’t know what I would have done if we weren’t able to make you feel better at dinner.” Addie couldn’t see Nettal’s face, but she knew her cousin was being genuine.

Squishy jumped up onto Addie’s bed and lay down on top of the covers near her feet. She was a bit impressed he jumped all the way up.

“When Mom said you were coming to visit us soon, I got so excited. I remembered how we used to play together when we were littler. I felt like an adventurer when we went out into the swamp together.

“It’s been so long, and you haven’t visited in years, so I worried we would stop being friends,” Nettal said, somberly. Using her spatial sense, Addie could see Nettal fidgeting in her bed below.

“I’m sorry,” Addie mumbled. She never realized Nettal cherished her so much. A pang of hurt went through Addie now that she realized she had been pushing the girl away.

“I had fun playing in the swamp with you, too,” Addie adjusted her position slightly in the bed causing it to creak and sway, “I was just upset at you. But, I still want to be friends, too.”

Nettal’s voice sounded surprised, “You were upset with me? Why?”

“Do you remember the Super Frogs?” Addie asked hesitatingly.

Suddenly, Nettal burst out laughing as she remembered. A bit of Addie’s annoyance came back due to Nettal’s reaction.

“You were so hilarious! Covered in slime like that. I thought for sure your glare alone was going to kill those things.” She laughed for a moment more, then tapered off after Addie continued to be silent.

Then, Nettal continued in a more serious tone, “I guess that’s why you were mad, huh? All this time, you haven’t visited because you were afraid of the frogs?” Nettal sounded a bit hurt.

“It wasn’t the Frogs, stupid.”

Addie heard Nettal inhale, ready to possibly shout something at Addie.

“Ok, I’m sorry for calling you stupid,” Addie hurriedly corrected herself and interrupted before Nettal could react, “But it wasn’t the frogs. I’m upset because you’ve always made fun of me for that, and you never said sorry. I’m upset because you made me explore the dangerous part of the swamp and then laughed at me when I cried.” For some reason, Addie felt more vulnerable telling this to Nettal than she felt in the forest those weeks ago.

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“Oh.” Nettal stayed quiet for a while after that.

The bed was really comfortable, but Addie was feeling antsy, so she turned onto her side with her back facing the wall.

Things stayed like that for a while. The awkward silence between the two started to disappear into the air as Addie began to drift off to sleep— the outskirts of her mind started to turn off until she was but a step away from slumber.

“I’m sorry,” Nettal sniffed. The apology was fairly loud in the cramped room.

That jolted Addie back into full awareness. Nettal must have been crying. Addie could still hear her sniffing slightly, and she could sense Nettal wiping her face with her sleeves.

“It’s ok,” replied Addie.

“Can we still be friends?” Nettal’s voice sounded hopeful.

“Ok.”

“I won’t let you get eaten by the Super Frogs again. I promise.”

That made Addie feel better, “I believe you,” Addie thought to herself for a moment, “I won’t let one eat you either.”

Nettal snorted.

“If it sticks out that long disgusting tongue, I’ll whack it off. Or, since I don’t want to touch it, I’ll make Squishy whack it off.” Addie promised.

“If that must be my duty.”

Both girls laughed.

“Goodnight, Nettal.”

“Goodnight, Addie. Let’s play a lot tomorrow.”

“Ok.”

“Girls! Come down for breakfast!” Addie had still been dozing on and off until late this morning, but Auntie’s shout finished waking her up completely.

If the rustling was anything to go by, Nettal was already getting out of bed. Addie took a moment to activate her spatial sense, and sure enough, Nettal had already thrown the sheets off and was rapidly running to the bathroom.

Last night, Addie discovered that the bathroom in Auntie’s house was similar to her dad’s in the fact that the plants seemed to automatically take care of all the waste for them, but it was weird to see the swamp mushrooms in the toilet pit so enthusiastically and rapidly moving onto and throughout Addie’s business after she went.

Addie repressed a shiver at the thought. The toilets at the manor had some kind of ferns living at the bottom of the pit, and Addie had never noticed them doing anything obvious. Though, in both places, the bathroom never so much as had a hint of smell. That was nice. A lot nicer than having to go in the wild.

“Girls! Did you hear me?” Auntie was shouting again.

Repressing a sigh, Addie threw her blankets off, jumped off the bed, and entered into Realmspace. She used her exit from Realmspace to cushion her landing on the floor next to the entrance to the bathroom.

“Gah! It’s so weird seeing you do that!” Nettal had a hand over her chest in surprise, but she also smiled.

She couldn’t help herself, Addie smiled, too. She may have reappeared right in front of Nettal on purpose to scare her.

“I’ll race you down the stairs!” Addie had already broken out into a run before she even finished the sentence.

“Hey! I wasn’t ready! And I have to go to the bathroom!” Despite her protests, Nettal’s footsteps pounded on the hardwood as she followed behind Addie.

When Addie reached the kitchen, she nearly crashed directly into her aunt.

“I win!”

A crash sounded behind Addie, and she dared not glance with her spatial sense. She didn’t want to know.

“Addie! You’ve ruined the milk!” Addie winced at the scolding.

She turned around slowly and came face to face with the disaster she had caused. She could sense Nettal behind her, trying to act innocently. In front of her, the floor was covered in milk and there was an empty flagon on its side. The living floorboards seemed to appreciate it just fine, as the wood started slowly absorbing the milk, effectively eliminating the mess.

Auntie sighed, “I guess we won’t be having any milk this morning. Addie, you’re going to have to go to Mr. Owlcharge’s Area later to pick me up new milk. You have no idea how much of a hassle it is to walk all the way over there and barter with his villagers for things.

“And you, Nettal! Don’t encourage her! No running in the house.”

“Yes, Mom,” Nettal replied demurely.

“I’m sorry,” Addie felt like she had done a lot of apologizing these last two days.

Aunt Lomain sighed again, but this time it was out of acceptance rather than frustration. “Alright, that’s fine. You two go sit at the table. Christena and her father will be here shortly to join us for breakfast. I heard they’re bringing someone with them, but I won’t spoil the surprise.”

“Do we need to wait for them or can we start eating now?” Nettal couldn’t help but ask.

“You can be patient for two minutes while they arrive. I can feel them walking on the path up here already, that’s why I called you two down for breakfast. Just go sit down and I’ll start bringing the food over.”

True to her prediction, it didn’t take long for the Owlcharges to arrive. Christena opened the door for her father, who came in behind her. Since Addie was still sitting in her chair in the kitchen, she only sensed this by extending her spatial sense past the walls.

To her surprise, the additional guest was shorter than she expected. Much shorter. The tiny little girl must have been no older than four or five.

When they turned the corner from the main entryway of the house and entered the kitchen, Addie twisted in her seat to get a good look at them.

Christena wasn’t wearing her normal maid outfit, and it was discordant to see her in such casual wear. She sported a simple but elegant blue skirt that went past her knees, with a simple but pristine and unwrinkled long-sleeved shirt.

Her father, much like yesterday, wore a dapper suit. This time, he had on an orange Ascot tie, which appeared to be accented with tiny white stars.

Most adorably, a little girl was hiding behind her father’s leg as they walked into the kitchen. Mr. Owlcharge’s height became apparent with his tiny little daughter hiding behind him. Her little hand held tightly onto his pant leg at knee height. Her head didn’t go up much higher than that, either. She looked much like Christena, with perfectly brushed long black hair; however, unlike Christena, she had her hair down at her shoulders instead of in a neat bun.

“Who’s this!” Addie had to jump down from her seat to get a closer look. She was just like a miniature Christena!

As she approached, the little girl shied away from Addie. Addie tried to walk around Mr. Owlcharge’s leg, but that just caused the skittish girl to scoot herself opposite of Addie all over again, her father’s leg again acting as a barrier between the two.

“Aw, don’t be shy! My name is Addie.” She stopped trying to get closer to the girl and instead stood confidently with a smile on her face.

The little girl mumbled something, but Addie couldn’t hear.

Addie spoke in a soft tone, “What did you say?”

“I’m Lily,” her voice only came across since Addie had paid special attention to listening.

“It’s very nice to meet you.”

Mr. Owlcharge spoke up, “I decided to bring Lily here along with me to give her a break from the house. My twin boys are teenagers now, and they’ve been causing quite the ruckus lately. Lily doesn’t do so well in such a loud environment, so I was hoping this might be a good break for her.”

That was all he got to say as Christena spoke up, “Ms. Lomain, thank you for having us for Breakfast. Addie, please return to your seat. My sister can be shy around strangers.”

Only now did Addie remember Nettal. She was still sitting in her seat, not nearly as distracted by the new face as Addie had been, though she was looking on at the commotion in curiosity.

That caused Addie to blush in embarrassment. She walked back to her seat.