[Sig – 13 years]

"One of these days," Mr. Fuller says. "You're going to have a normal hunt."

We're on our way back to Dragon Falls right now, after finishing lunch and sorting through the loot. The stuff I want to keep has been noted and a deposit has been made for the money I earned from the stuff I sold. There was nothing else for us to do there, so we left.

Mr. Fuller's comment makes sense. On my first hunt, it was supposed to be just for an antelope but I spotted some lightstep hares and caught them. On my second, I caught a gemstream buck, then Xander crashed down with a wyvern he was killing. This one, the hare population turned out to be a lot larger, there was a mega snake, and Xander showed up as the reinforcements.

Then went god-mode. I've had time to properly process what he did and… damn. It's hit me now that Xander really is a different league from the rest of us. The way he casually shifted to a winged human, then hovered in the sky as the hares and massive snake were caught by him targeting each and every one of them individually with gravity magic is incredible. And killing them all in such a short window of time, and cleanly? Damn.

Looking back at it, that was just Xander being a god among humans. I knew he was powerful, but it never really sank in until now. Everything else he's done hasn't seemed to be ridiculously powerful. Not even killing a wyvern – I know those are strong, but they just look massive and like you need some extra strength to kill.

Hundreds of beasts floating around someone, then losing their heads, is a much different thing. That really shows the difference, and it's insane. That's probably something I'll never manage even with regular magic versions, like telekinesis or air magic.

Even if I'm able to triple my mana capacity a year until I reach my maximum increase rate, I'll probably never go above 10,000 mana or so. Why? Because there will come a point where the amount of mana I use on the regular plateaus, so the increases will diminish.

To grab hundreds of beasts at once… maybe a thousand or more… that's just insane.

"Maybe," I tell Mr. Fuller. "But I'm not gonna lie, I kind of enjoy the universe's random additions to the hunts. Getting to see Xander just makes them better. And if it gets me some delicious food, then well… it gets me some delicious food! Though I don't want my next hunt to be for hares…"

"Understandable," he chuckles. "You've gotten quite a bit of that."

We talk a little on the way back home, then he hangs out with Aunt Rachel while I secure my archery equipment in the bow cabinet. It has a magic lock on it to increase its security level, as those are more difficult to pick. A magic lock was a requirement by Aunt Rachel for if I'm to have the bow and arrows in the house. That, and the cabinet being in the basement.

With that stuff secured, I take a quick shower to scrub off the camp smell.

"Going somewhere?" Aunt Rachel asks when I come back upstairs.

It's hard not to guess that when I'm dressed and ready to go, my play backpack on my back.

"Was gonna ask if I could go to Xander's," I tell her. "So I can return the bracelet. It was just a loan and I'm a bit worried I'll misplace it if I don't give it back as soon as possible. If that's okay?"

Since we're dating, Xander and I aren't supposed to be alone together, but this should be fine since it's just heading over there to drop something off.

His nap should definitely be over soon, since he sent me a pre-nap picture a little more than an hour and a half ago, and he tries to limit them to an hour to an hour and a half. It's a bit odd he hasn't sent me his "I've woken up" picture, but it's not like he's required to. They're nice and all and I like getting them, but it's okay if he doesn't.

It does make me wonder what disrupted his routine enough that he didn't send it, though. The lack of one really is a bit strange.

"And then see if the others want to meet me at the park," I add. "There are some stalls and stuff set up there, with the holiday almost upon us."

"Why not see about meeting him on the way to the park?" Aunt Rachel suggests.

"Because Xander spent the morning hunting magic beasts," I explain. "He's probably overstimulated and won't want to hang out, or want to do something a bit calmer. If I did that, he'd probably just tell me to keep the bracelet until we see each other again."

Aunt Rachel thinks about it for a few minutes.

"Alright," she says. "But check in once you get there, okay? And let me know once you're going to the park."

"Thanks!" I give her a hug, then grab my stuff for my bike and head out.

When I arrive at the gate to Xander's house, the guard talks with someone on the phone before letting me in. I ride up to the front door and drop my bike down, then pull off my helmet as I approach the door.

"Good afternoon, Sig," Ms. Katie opens the door after I press the button for the bell. "Come on in."

"Hi, Ms. Katie!" I greet her, dropping my helmet on the table for them. "Where's Xander?"

"Still in his room," she answers. "If he hasn't texted you a picture yet, then he's probably still asleep. How'd your hunt go?"

So it's not that his routine was interrupted, but that he might still be asleep.

"Not bad," I check my phone. No picture. "There were a lot more of the hares than expected, at least for the area I was in. The other areas had a higher population as well, just not as extreme as where we were. Some of the other hunters went to go provide backup, but I wasn't needed so I left."

They should be finishing up in the next hour or two, I think? Alec and Ryan said they'd text me to let me know once they finished and I haven't gotten a message from them yet.

"That's good," she says. "Xander mentioned he and his great-grandfather went to deal with the more severe set of them. Did you get hurt?"

"Nope!" I answer. "Though I did catch another five lightstep hares! Spotted 'em while collecting the others I'd caught."

Alec asked if he could buy the bones from me with his own earnings from the hunt. I'm not sure why he wanted the bones, but I didn't have an issue offering them to him. He actually seemed to want to buy a lot of hare bones, from all of the types caught today.

Which is just… odd. I guess he likes collecting magic hare bones?

I did let him buy most of the skeletons, but I'm keeping the skull for the first icicle hare and the first flarepoint hare I killed. Their pelts as well (and a couple of other pelts). He didn't care about not having full skeletons, so it seems he only cares about getting the bones themselves.

"Congrats," she smiles.

"I was going to wake Xander here in a few minutes," Mr. Caldwell says as he joins us. "He has plans for the rest of the afternoon and slept through his alarms. If you'd like, you can head to his room and wake him."

"You're okay with that?"

That seems contradictory to the dating rules.

"What are you represented as when he's having one of his food dreams?" Mr. Caldwell asks.

"Uh… a devil's food cupcake with strawberry frosting and strawberries on top, why?"

"Which means he's not likely to bite you when you try waking him," Mr. Caldwell tells me. "In theory. He doesn't with me, at least, since he doesn't like umeboshi. And he's fine with being woken up if he's slept through his alarms."

"Oh," I say. "Okay! I'll go wake him. I came to return the bracelet he loaned me."

I head up to Xander's room and knock on the door, but there's no response. When I open his door and peek in… all I can see are stuffed animals piled up on his bed. I head over to his bed and try to find Xander, but it's all stuffed animals.

My shoes come off, then I climb onto the bed to look for him, eventually finding him in the middle, his head on his pillows by his headboard. He's got an arm over the blanket, his shoulder visible, but the rest of his body is concealed by the blanket… and stuffed animals.

Stuffed animals are piled on top of him in addition to being around him. Telekinesis had to have been used to move them into that position. Trenton is tucked under his arm, the bear's one eye staring directly into my soul.

"Xander?" I say softly.

"Go away," he mumbles. "You ain't delicious. And no jumping the line."

Yup, he's dreaming about food. I can't help but snicker a little. This dream always seems to be a bunch of food in an orderly line, waiting to be eaten by him.

"Xander, it's me, Sig."

"You're not Sig, you're chocolate pretending to be a cupcake."

"You're dreaming."

"…oh. Right. That's what it always is when there's so many foods lined up for me to eat here. Especially if they talk."

He lets out a sad sigh.

"If only this were real."

"The talking food part?"

"The line of food just waiting to be eaten," he sighs again, then his ears perk up a little and some of the stuffed animals shift, probably from his tail moving. "Though I guess I could make a line of food for me to eat. And if I use enchantments on the tables, they can even more toward me as I finish off the ones before me. That sounds like a good idea, so I'll see if Dad will let me do that."

And this is why Xander does things like create the first fully-functional hoverboard or the best AR tech on the market.

"That does sound like a good idea," I chuckle. "What were you eating before I came?"

"Apple pie with vanilla ice cream and caramel syrup."

"That sounds really good."

"It's delicious," he pauses for a few moments. "Then again, it's dream food that ain't evil or disgusting. Of course it's delicious."

"I came to return the bracelet," I tell him. "Your dad said you slept past your alarms? And that you had plans?"

"I did?" Xander asks. "Oh. That would explain that sound earlier. It did sound like my phone's alarms. I was ignoring it because the food was so good."

Xander consciously chose to stay asleep when he heard his alarm and wow does that sound weird to think. "Consciously chose to stay asleep". I don't think most people can make decisions like that while sleeping. Not in the way Xander can, that is.

Xander's eyes open up and he turns his head a little so he can look at me, then he sits up and covers his mouth as he yawns. For a brief moment, I can see those super-sharp canines of his. They're not any longer than normal, but they're definitely sharper.

I'm glad that I didn't get bitten by them, though I also made sure not to put my hands anywhere near his head. That increases the risk of him grabbing and biting, thinking it's something in his dream.

"Hey, Xander?" I ask once his yawn stops.

"Yes, Sig?"

"How come we're able to chat with you like that while you're dreaming?" I ask. "I've heard of people having short, semi-conversations while asleep, but not ones where it's like they're conscious. With you, it's like you're conscious, and you're able to remember them clearly."

"Oh," his tail swishes behind him, knocking a few of the stuffed animals to the side and causing his pillows to flip a little. "It's because I'm a dreamsage. The world of dreams is our domain… technically. It's more complicated than that, especially when we're more than just dreamsages. But we're fully conscious when we're dreaming in certain states. I can hear anything going on around me if I'm in the right dream type. More skilled dreamsages can observe everything going on around them regardless of their dream type. Well, they're more skilled, so that makes sense. They're also less likely to have random dreams but rather, they can control them really well."

So it's a dreamsage thing, then. That also explains why he gets confused when we try talking with him while he's dreaming about eating food. To him, that world might be just as real as this one.

"No wonder Greyson struggles to differentiate reality from his dreams," Xander says. "Maybe one day, I'll slip into his dreams and try to convince him there that I'm not a god. I really don't understand why he thinks that, and Grandpa Adrian's already confirmed I'm not."

Trying to convince Greyson of that might take a lot more than doing so in a dream.

"Your dad said you had plans for the afternoon?" I ask.

"Oh, yeah," he nods. "When I dropped the invitations off in the Autumn Realm yesterday, Carter asked if I wanted to do a horse riding video with him. He and Tate were going to take Solaris on a longer walk than usual and he wanted to make a video of it and invited me to join him. I told him that Aurum would probably insist on being my mount for that, and he said that Aurum's showed up for all of Solaris's walks, so that doesn't matter. It was actually part of why he asked me if I wanted to come, since Aurum was already going to be there."

Oh, right. Xander can just teleport over to the Autumn Realm whenever he wants, can't he?

"Carter told me I could bring you if I wanted," Xander adds. "But I told him you were hunting and it might last the day. He said that if you're back in time, I can ask you. And you're back in time. Did you want to go?"

"Sure!" I answer. "Oh, but I need to ask Aunt Rachel for permission…"

"Okay."

Xander's tail swishes a little as he waits for me to get permission from Aunt Rachel, and she grants it, but tells me to text her once I'm there. Image required.

"How long until we have to be there?" I ask.

"Um…" Xander summons his phone and looks at it. "A little less than thirty minutes."

"So there's no hurry, then?" I ask.

"No," he answers.

"Alright!" I say. "Can I use your bathroom to change? I don't think sweatpants are good for riding horses, but I've got some jeans in my backpack."

"Sure," Xander says. "Oh. Hold on."

"Yeah?" I ask.

Xander pulls me in for a hug… except it's not a hug. It's a kiss. It's not very long and I barely have time to return it before he separates, his face bright red.

Whoa. Two things which weren't on my bingo card happened today.

Xander seems uncertain of what to do now. It shouldn't be any different than when we hug, right? Or maybe he's just feeling awkward since it's his first time doing that? I don't know how to make him feel better if that's the case, though.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

A hug would probably do that. It would definitely make me feel more normal now. What do I do after a kiss?

"I'm gonna go change now," I give Xander a hug, and he relaxes a little as he hugs me back. "Then let's go ride horses!"

[Xander – 13 years]

"You boys look happy," Dad says, probably because of my tail swishing.

"I forgot to turn it into a hug."

"Turn what?" Sig asks, then realization fills his mind. "Wait! Do you mean all those hugs you give me randomly are you wanting to kiss me?"

"Not all of them," I tell him. "But a lot. I always feel weird when I want to, so I just give you a hug instead because that's okay. The kiss was an accident…"

"That's fine," Dad says. "Just as long as you remember the rules. And don't try to rush things. You've got plenty of time. If you don't want to kiss, just remind yourself that you don't need to."

"I'm trying not to rush," I say. "I don't know why I kissed instead of hugged. I guess I just forgot? If… if I can still go to Carter's, can Sig and I go now?"

"You can," Dad snorts. "Like I said, you're not in trouble. You didn't break any rules and kept it appropriate."

"Kept it appropriate?" Sig asks. "How would you know-"

"Oh!" I exclaim. "Um… sorry, Sig. I didn't mean to interrupt you. We upgraded the house's security system as a test for the rec center's upgrade. That's happening after the dorms are added in. But know how the streamer orbs can observe all around them? That got added to the house's security. So that's why Dad was fine with you coming into my room… he was watching us."

"Even while you changed out of your sleepwear?" Horror fills Sig's mind.

"It would've gone black and let him know I was changing and alone the moment it realized stuff he shouldn't see was going to be visible."

Sig seems to accept that, but now he's feeling uncomfortable.

"I don't think I'd be comfortable having someone able to just look in on me at any time," he says. "I mean, I know that'll be a part of the party, since Aunt Rachel wants to be able to check in on me to make sure I'm okay and behaving, but… all the time?"

"Not all the time," Dad tells him. "Xander's condition for allowing us to use the house as a test was that it can only be used to check in on him if he's not alone or if there's concern for his health or safety. Without one of those two conditions, it won't let me check on him beyond just giving a message that he's alone and fine."

"Yeah," I nod. "I want my privacy. I was surprised Dad agreed to it since kids can't make requests like that, but he did."

"It's not an unreasonable one," Dad says. "There's no reason for me to do that rather than text or call you to see if you're doing alright unless you're with someone else or I think you got hurt."

Which is nice. It was still surprising, but I guess Dad wants me to have privacy. The fact that I can still go to Carter's means we didn't do anything wrong while alone in my room, which is good. I don't know when I'll kiss Sig again, it might be another few months or it could be years, but it means that the next time I'm ready to, it'll be okay.

Knowing myself, I'll keep hugging him for the most part. Kissing him also felt really awkward, so I think it's still too early.

"Okay," I say. "So Sig and I can go now?"

"You can," Dad says. "Have fun, and let me know when you're on your way back."

"Will try to remember," I tell him. "Come on, Sig! Let's go ride a horse and a unicorn!"

Sig snorts, then we make our way to the street so I can teleport us to Carter's. It's okay to teleport straight to the porch for their main office, so I'll do that.

"Hey, Xander?" Sig asks as we reach the street.

"Yes, Sig?"

"I thought it was strange Aunt Rachel was fine with me coming here alone," he tells me. "Not with our friends. She was adamant I'm not allowed to be alone with anyone I'm dating until I'm older… but she accepted it. I thought maybe it was just because it's you and there's no way you'd do anything you're uncomfortable with. Does she know that your dad can monitor everything?"

"Dad said he was going to tell her," I tell him. "She can't access it since it's part of the house's security system, but he said he was going to tell her anyway. It's so that if we want to watch a movie without our friends turning it into a wrestling match, she knows he can check in on us at any time without disturbing us."

If Sig and the others are watching a movie for too long, it often turns into a wrestling match. They like being active and struggle to sit still and quietly for long periods at a time. It's just lots of kid energy they have, since they're healthy and in puberty. They need a way to release it and can't always go to the park.

I don't mind them horsing around with each other if we're just doing a group hangout, but watching a movie with Sig just to watch a movie would be different. We haven't done that yet, but Dad said we might want to in the future, as a date that's not in a public place.

He can apparently get access to movies in theaters for us to watch. Legally. That means that we'd be able to have a movie date night without needing to be in a crowd of people who might be disrespectful of other movie-goers. We would also be able to pause it at any time.

That just seems weird to me, so I don't think we'll ever do it. Why would we just sit and watch a movie with just the two of us? It's more fun to be able to quietly talk about the stuff we're learning with our friends. Or if it's an entertainment movie and not a documentary, to quietly talk about the stuff that's going on. They like doing that so I don't think any of them would like doing it with just them and one other person. It seems better to have multiple people for those discussions.

I also don't really understand regular movies, even if Trenton likes watching them and TV shows.

Sig still seems a little uncomfortable, but I'm not sure why. Instead of asking, I don't. If he wants me to know, he'll tell me.

Once we're at the street, we stop and I stare at a car that's driving down the street. I don't recognize it, but my gut says we should wait.

"What's wrong?" Sig asks.

"Nothing, I think," I answer. "I just think we should wait for that car, for some reason."

"Oh."

The car pulls up to the side of the street and once it's stopped, Nick steps out. So do the man and the woman in the car, though I don't know who they are.

Nick is a year older than me, but he's really nice. He has black hair and green eyes, like Sig, though his build is more lean than toned. I can't see it right now, of course, since he's wearing a maroon hoodie and black jeans. His sneakers are black with red accents.

He really likes black and red and… um… oh. He's a phoenix? But phoenixes aren't humans? Why would he be in a foster home?

"Hey, Xander!" He says. "Was hoping to catch you – Ms. Johnson said you wanted to give me something? We didn't have a chance to do it the last couple of days, but she said you wanted me to get it before the end of today."

"Why are you in a foster home?" I blurt out by accident.

"Xander!" Sig exclaims, horror filling his mind. "Aren't you-"

"It's cool!" Nick laughs. "He must've realized something… can you do a barrier so we can talk just us two?"

"Um… sure," I look at the adults. "Are these your foster parents?"

"Yeah," Nick says. "They're John and Megan, and they're pretty neat. Is it okay if I talk with Xander privately for a minute? Just wanted to tell him something a bit personal."

His foster parents nod and step back a little, and Sig does the same. I create a barrier around us – this one translucent and touched with green, so they can still see us.

"You couldn't have come as a baby phoenix, right?" I ask. "Since you can turn into a person? But you're growing up like a normal person, and Grandpa Blaze said that a phoenix's non-phoenix form doesn't age if they're adult. So that means you've resurrected and purposely took on a kid's form and are purposely aging which is… gross. And creepy."

"It's not quite what you think," he says. "Mentally, I'm only fourteen. I'm also actually a really young phoenix – I'm on my first resurrection, and I didn't even make it to fifty before accidentally drowning myself. That was… rather embarrassing."

His face turns a little red as embarrassment fills his mind.

"And for young phoenixes," he tells me after a few moments of quiet. "We're not able to purposely resurrect back to adulthood. So we resurrect as babies again," he taps the side of his head. "And our minds match our bodies. So because I'm a kid in body, I'm a kid in mind. And we age at the same rate as whatever species we are, which is why I'm aging like a normal human."

So he's not an old man in a kid's body. Now that he's mentioned it, I remember Grandpa Adrian mentioning that minds match the body, not the years. It's because the minds are created by brains, or something like that, so the brain's development is what determines a person's mental age.

"Oh," I say. "How come you didn't turn back to a bird, though?"

"I purposely switched myself to human," he tells me. "Felt it'd be easier to learn about humans this way. They're… rather strange creatures."

"They really are."

We're both quiet for a few moments. I don't know what he's thinking about, but I know what I'm thinking about. Nick is a phoenix in human form so he can learn about humans. He's good enough to conceal his mana capacity, though, like the people in the mage district. I didn't realize until noticing he was a phoenix that he's not just a little stronger than a regular human.

Now that I know what he really is, I've looked deeply and can properly see his mana capacity even with him concealing it a little. It's about 1,300,000. That's less than any of the people I asked to potentially supervise the party and sleepover, though I think there won't be any doing that now. Since none of the girls are coming, there's no reason for me to have in-person supervision there.

"Ms. Johnson told me you refused to get taken in by another family until I was," I tell him. "How come?"

"Didn't know if anyone else would be good as a roommate for you," he tells me. "And knew I could handle your meltdowns and stuff. Then you came back from one of your walks one day and I could smell King Blaze on you. Didn't know why he was interested in you, but it confirmed that I should make sure you were doing okay. Had no clue about what you really were until after I went to live with John and Megan. His Majesty came and thanked me for watching over you."

Grandpa Blaze thanked him for that?

"But how come you cared?"

"I'm a phoenix," he shrugs. "Like all people born of a species which transcended bestial nature rather than evolved normally, we're a bit… different from humans. It's just a difference in our nature. We're less inclined towards conflict and strife and the politics of humans, and more inclined towards just living life. And we tend to be a bit more caring about others.

"Though…" he smiles a little as amusement enters his mind. "Some of us, like phoenixes, do enjoy a little mischief from time to time. But I made sure not to pull any with you, since I knew it'd upset you."

"I can be really petty and hold grudges," I say. "And I'm mostly transcended species."

"Yeah," he shrugs. "But that comes from dragons. And that's not conflict, strife, the politics of humans, and such. Also, we mostly don't involve ourselves with that stuff. We might if it's for the better of the world or society as a whole. Or if it keeps our own kind protected. Well, some of us. I don't really care for that stuff."

"Oh," I say. "Um. Thanks, Nick. For being a nice roommate. So how long until you return to being your real self?"

"Was planning on going through college first," he answers. "So probably another eight years or so. Maybe more. Being a human is weird, but I really do want to learn more about them, since they're so prominent across the world."

"Okay," I say. "Can I get your phone number? If you're okay with staying in touch?"

"Sure!"

Nick and I exchange numbers.

"So what was it you wanted to talk with me about?" He asks. "That had to be today?"

"Oh, right," I say as I cancel the barrier and summon a treat box with two invitation cards on top. "I'm hosting a party on Friday and am inviting a bunch of people. You were always good as a roommate, so I wanted to invite you. And then on the thirty-first and first, I'm hosting a Halloween celebration thing, trick-or-treating included. The party on Friday is to pick pumpkins and carve them, but there's also a sleepover."

I tell him a little more about the party as he accepts the box from me.

"-and I need to know by the end of today since Dad and I are going shopping for the stuff for it tomorrow," I finish. "It's important to have a count of everyone who is planning on attending before getting groceries for it."

Nick looks at his foster-parents, who agree to let him come.

"Great!" I say. "You'll need the invitation card to attend. Just show it to the guard there. It might not be him, he doesn't normally work at that time on Fridays. But there should be a guard in there and if you show them the card, they're supposed to let you in. But only at the time for the party. And the plan is to leave for the farm at quarter-'till-five, so please be here by then."

"Will do!" Nick says. "Thanks for the invite! I'll see you then!"

I think that's him saying he's leaving.

"Bye," I say.

Nick waves to Sig, then he and his foster parents get back into the car and leave.

"He seems nice," Sig tells me. "Is he blessed by the gods, too?"

"No," I answer. "But he's still really nice. Oh."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Um… don't worry about it."

Grandma Lily mentioned that I knew multiple phoenixes when I texted her to ask about her potentially supervising the party. I'd thought maybe she'd just goofed up because the others were plural, but it might not have been. If I know multiple phoenixes and she said that in the context of supervision, then that means I know an adult phoenix other than Grandpa Blaze.

Who?

I don't think I'll figure it out right now, so I let Sig know I'm going to teleport us. Then, I teleport us. Sig sends his aunt a selfie to let her know we've arrived, then we enter the main office, where Carter's waiting for us. Just like me, he's in wolfkin form right now. His mom sits behind the desk, not in wolfkin form.

I don't know if he taught her the spell or not.

"Hey, guys!" Carter offers a fist for a fist bump. "How're y'all doing?"

"Happy," I answer as I perform the first bump before giving his mom a small wave. "You?"

"Doing great!" He answers and offers his fist to Sig. "And you? How's it going?"

"Great," Sig smiles as he performs the first bump, too, but his has a little more energy in it than mine did. "Wasn't expecting to go riding horses today, or again until next year, so this is awesome, too. You still take them on rides after closing rides?"

"We only close rides for the public," Carter says. "It gets too cold so there ain't enough people coming, and a lot just end up complaining about the cold. The flaremanes can keep people warm, but… well, people complain. But the horses still need exercise, so we still take 'em out on the trails."

"Don't you let them out in pastures?" Sig asks. "They need trail rides, too?"

"Different kind of exercise," Sig tells him. "And this lets us keep training them for trail rides during the cooler months, when we ain't got riding customers. This one's going to be Solaris's first trail ride, too. The rest of his walks so far have just been around the pastures and fields. He's got plenty of stamina and energy, so part of the hope is to burn some of that extra energy off on rougher terrain."

"Ah," Sig says. "Xander said Tate was coming?"

"Should be here soon," Carter tells him. "Had to finish up some chores at their ranch first. And to double-check: you're fine with it being recorded for a video?"

"Yup!" Sig answers, then suddenly feels uncomfortable. "Did you make yourself a wolfkin for the hangout?"

"No!" Carter's mom laughs. "He's decided to be a wolfkin all weekend every weekend now. He'll switch back before heading to school on Monday."

"It's good magic practice," Carter says. "The spell's a bit complex, after all. Since it takes me nearly a day to recover the mana spent on it, there's no reason to turn back right away. That'd just waste the mana."

"Oh," Sig now feels awkward rather than uncomfortable. "That makes sense. Do you practice teleporting, too? Though I guess that's also expensive."

"Not for short distances!" Carter grins. "So I can practice it a lot more. It'll be awhile before I'm comfortable teleporting over to Dragon Falls but once I do, that'll make collabs easier."

That makes Sig happy, his awkwardness overwritten by that. I think I can figure out what's making him feel awkward, though.

"Do you want to be a wolfkin, too?" I ask. "Tate likes being one on weekends, too, so you'd be left out. Or a snow leopardkin? I know you liked being that."

Sig feels awkward and uncomfortable again.

"You don't have to do that," he tells me, his voice a little quieter as he averts his gaze. "It's really okay if I'm not."

He didn't lie… but I know how to tell when he's avoiding saying the truth. I think he wants to be transformed, but is uncomfortable with me doing it for some reason. Should I ask again? I'll ask again.

"So?" I ask. "Wanna be a wolfkin or snow leopardkin? It's really no issue for me. And it lets me practice magic which affects others, so it helps me out, too."

"Magic to affect others?" Sig meets my gaze. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I'm still bad at healing magic."

"Ooooh!" He says. "Okay. Yeah. I mean, if you really don't mind casting the spell on me…"

It's about the mana cost again, isn't it?

"It takes me less than a quarter of a minute to recover the amount of mana used for that," I tell him. "So it costs basically nothing to me. And I don't want you to be left out when we're all beastkin. That'd be mean."

That seems to make Sig comfortable, and he asks about being a snow leopardkin again so I change him to that while making sure to use the tailoring magic so his tail is comfortable.

Just as I finish that, Tate arrives.

With all of us here, we head to the stables and Carter sets up his streamer orb. It'll just be recording rather than streaming, and he'll likely shorten the entire thing down into a video around half an hour in length.

Once the recording begins, Carter introduces all of us before explaining what he's doing. Then, he talks about the different steps of grooming and preparing our mounts. That part happens as we groom and prepare our mounts.

"And you'll notice," Carter pats Solaris on the head. "A new addition to the family here! He's actually been around for about two months now – he was born back in August! You'll notice that he's a bit bigger than other two-month-old flaremanes I've shown before… and that his flames are a different color!

"So I've talked on the channel a little about the different flaremane types," he says. "And brought up white-flamed ones last month because of Solaris, though I didn't give full information. I said that it was unknown what caused them to be born, but we know now! As it turns out, they're born when a unicorn mates with a high-breed flaremane. They also grow more quickly, reaching adulthood when they're around a year old, and able to carry riders at that point."

And since he's got sapience, he can actually kind of understand everything going on. Training is a lot easier, especially with Aurum around to supervise fairly often. My uncle isn't here all the time, but enough that Solaris knows everything is fine.

"Since he's a big boy already," Carter says, and Solaris nuzzles his hand a little. "He's ready for his first trail ride! No rider, of course, but we'll be taking him on a trail, and that's why we geared him up as well!"

Now that he's done that part of the recording, he fixes Solaris onto a lead which he attaches to the saddle on his own horse, then we all mount.

Carter tells Sig and me a little about the property as we do the trail ride, mostly about the trail itself. Part of the reason behind the Autumn Realm's name is a little obvious right now, and he tells us a little about it, too.

"As you can see," Carter says. "There are plenty of turned leaves still on the trees despite the amount on the ground. Most leaf-dropping trees in the Autumn Realm quickly grow in leaves after their first drop, these one coming in turned. Once they drop again, they're replaced a second and final time. It makes Autumn feel a little longer around here, and much more scenic."

He's not going to mention the spirit's domain, since that place is sacred to this area and not very many outsiders are permitted entry.

"There's so much plant magic in the trees right now," I say as I look around. "Way more than during the summer. That's probably why they grow like that. But also maybe a little bit of spirit magic? I think Fern's influence on the area affected it. Not significantly, though, just enough to guide the extra life magic, I think."

"Huh," Carter says. "That's neat."

"Makes for some amazing leaf piles for jumping in," Tate says.

"Really?" Sig seems interested.

"Yeah!" Tate grins at him. "There's a massive one in Carter's back yard, and we even set up a jumping platform and everything since it's so big!"

Uh-oh. Sig wants to jump in it now. I'm sure of that.

The trail ride lasts for over an hour, then we take care of our mounts, and Carter does his closing chat for the recording. After that, we head into the nearby office and shower off the horse smell.

"Do y'all wanna stay for dinner?" Carter asks Sig and me after we've finished and are exiting the office. "We can play in the leaf pile while waiting! And Ma said she'll fix up some hot cocoa and mulled cider, too."

"Sure!" Sig answers, then hesitates and looks at me. "Wait…"

"Dad already said I could stay if invited," I tell him. "But you might need to ask your aunt."

Sig gets permission from his aunt, so we get on a pair of side-by-sides to go to the Martinses' house. Mr. Martins declines my offer to help him with dinner, so I drink mulled cider as I watch Sig, Carter, and Tate as they jump and play in the massive leaf piles around the yard.

I'm glad I agreed to everything and got to see Nick again. Today was a very fun day and dinner smells delicious. Mrs. Martins also really knows how to make a good mulled cider.

The only thing which would make today better would be a blueberry cheesecake with a caramel crust.

And now I've got one in front of me!

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