“What’d you get?” I asked, looking at the little bag.

“A surprise,” he said. “I figure it fit the theme.”

“If you’re worried it’s not any good, you don’t have to do more than the card,” I said. “I don’t think her cooking classmates are…”

“No, I think it’s good,” Ian said. “It’s just a surprise.”

“Ian, it’s a college bookstore,” I sad. “They sell pens and paper and tourist mugs and lodestones for the fridge with the school crest on it. They don’t sell good presents.”

“Maybe you don’t know how to spot a good present,” he said.

“Hey, I spotted a great present,” I said.

“In a big chain bookstore in town,” he said. “That’s like finding hay in a haystack. I’m just a tiny bit more ambitious than that.”

He wouldn’t say anything more or let me get a peek in his gift bag, which had wads of green and purple tissue paper sticking out of it. We made it back to the room with barely minutes to spare. There were some more people there, but Hazel was chatting with them so I figured they must have been the guests. Kyle from the food court had showed up, too. I gave him the least weak hello I could muster, since he was standing off by himself, a stranger even to the other humans.

I hurriedly signed the card. Lacking any way to attach it to the gift bag, I simply put it inside its envelope and slipped it into the bag.

I was thankful I’d found a card that summed up what I wanted to say so simply and succinctly. A personal message was personal, but I didn’t know what to say to or about Two that could fit inside a card. She was the best of us, and not just because she was the innocent one. She had come so far since her first days at MU, and whatever of that progress could be said to be because of us, it could not be denied that after the first few hurdles, a lot of it had happened without us… and some, perhaps, had even happened in spite of us.

Amaranth arrived just after that. Her face told the story more completely than Steff’s absence did… they hadn’t been able to find her.

“I’m so worried, baby,” she said, without having to explain what she was worried about. “And even if she’s okay, she’s going to hate herself for missing this… I checked some of the places I thought she might have gone, but if she wandered into the trees or something… I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“What did Viktor say?” I asked.

“He was going to get another student who has a pass to the vaults to go and look for her there,” Amaranth said. “But, if she’d actually gone there like she said she was going to, she would’ve been back, right?”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “She might have gone there… she might even have intended to put the knife back, at least a little… and then got enraptured by it again once she got there.”

I found myself not believing it as I said it… Steff had already been off in her own special place when she’d left, supposedly to return the knife. If she’d decided to go play with it a little more before returning it, I couldn’t see her going to the place where someone might recognize it and ask her what she was doing with it. No, she’d probably go somewhere that she could be alone with no chance of being interrupted. After all, if someone saw her cutting herself again and again, they’d probably do something to stop her.

Unless they were into it, that was.

“Callahan,” I said.

“What?” Amaranth asked.

“She might have gone to Callahan’s office,” I said. “I mean, if Steff’s in a self-injuring mood and she wanted an audience or a partner… she wanted me to try the knife but I wouldn’t. She might have gone to Callahan next.

“Yeah,” Amaranth said. “Hopefully Callahan would recognize the potential for danger and take it away from her, though.”

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“She is a teacher,” Amaranth said. “Oh, they’re here.”

“What?”

“Dee and Two… Dee says they’re almost here,” she said. Louder, to the room, she said, “Everybody get ready.”

“Should we turn out the lights?” one of the cooking class girls asked.

“Um, I think she can see in the dark,” Amaranth said.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Let’s do it anyway,” Hazel said. “Sake of form and all that.”

Amaranth started to reach to do that, but at that moment the door opened and Two walked in.

I froze up completely. It was only after the sound of the others yelling “Surprise!” was fading away that I remembered that this was the thing to do. It was too late to yell it myself, so I just kind of moved my mouth like I might have just said something and was only now closing it.

If I had been momentarily at a loss for what to do, I was in the very best of company… Two stood there in the doorway, just in front of Dee, and looked around from her classmates to her friends, blinking and thinking.

“It’s a surprise party, love,” Hazel said gently. “For you.”

“Oh,” Two said, and then she smiled rigidly. “What do I do?”

“You gasp and you shout how surprised you are,” Hazel said. “And then you enjoy the party.”

“Okay,” Two said. She gasped rather theatrically, and then yelled, “Somewhat!”

Now that she knew what was going on and had played her required role, she visibly relaxed quite a bit and headed for the food. It seemed likely that this was her idea of what a party was about. I knew she’d had class parties in her cooking classes that had probably just involved everybody bringing a dish, and she’d held her own little dinner party before. If she’d had any experience with parties in her former life, I had to imagine it would have involved holding a tray full of tiny foods or something.

“Oh, hold on,” Hazel said, and Two stopped. “Don’t you want to open your presents first?”

“Presents?” Two repeated.

“Yeah, some of us got you presents,” Hazel said. “Like it’s your birthday, you know?”

“But I wasn’t born,” Two said.

“Neither was I, but most people were, and they get birthdays” Amaranth explained. “So we wanted a day to celebrate you.”

“Oh,” Two said. “That’s fair.”

“You can open mine first,” Hazel said, holding up a box that was about a foot and a half across, though it didn’t seem to weigh much.

Two accepted it with a thank you and began carefully unwrapping it, first untying the ribbon and slipping it off and then finding the edge of the paper where it had been taped and undoing that. She got the plain white box uncovered and then opened it.

“Oh,” she said. “A stuffed alligator.”

She pulled it out. It was a very big, very squishy-looking alligator, but an alligator nonetheless.

“Like in the song,” Two said, and then she laughed. “Alligators don’t eat raspberries.”

Two’s laughter was like her singing and her crying: honest and uncontrolled. It was a lot more pleasant to hear, though. I wondered for a moment if we’d done her a terrible disservice by telling her it was okay to cry but not giving her a similar order for laughter, but I decided otherwise, for two reasons. One was that it didn’t seem to be necessary. She thought alligators were funny for some reason, and she laughed. Maybe Hazel had seen the need and taken care of it. Maybe she’d worked it out for herself by analogy to crying.

The other reason was that an order to laugh when things were funny would require Two to figure that out, which could be stressful for her and could also lead to awkwardness if she judged incorrectly.

“Why don‘t you set her down here for now, so you can keep your hands free ,” Hazel said, leading her over to the carom table. “You can put your gifts here as you open them, so they’ll be out of the way.”

“Okay,” Two said.

I wanted to press forward with my present, but Honey was sticking to Hazel’s side like she’d been glued there, and she held up her package, which was a long, flat bundle of paper with gold ribbon. Two opened it and found a pair of pens made from brightly colored feathers with designs painted on them.

“I didn’t know what you would like?” Honey said, her nervousness making it into a question. “But I saw these in a stall in the bazaar and I thought they were pretty?”

“Yes, they are,” Two said. “Thank you, Honey.”

“Oh, you’re quite welcome,” Honey said, and she relaxed, too.

Dee got hers in next, since she was standing right next to Two. It was a slim box wrapped in plain black paper.

“Oh, pretty,” Two said when she saw it. She opened it to find a rack of ten little jars of different kinds of jelly. “Thank you, Dee.”

“You’re very welcome,” Dee said. “I discovered the concept of jellied fruit while researching methods of preservation. I had seen grape and strawberry jelly in the cafeteria, of course, but I did not realize its true nature at the time, nor had I realized that the concept could be applied to other fruits.”

As strange as it was to hear somebody talk about jelly like it was some esoteric alchemical preservation, I could kind of understand her fascination. We all saw grape jelly, but did the average person stop and think about how it had come to be? Hell, there had been a steady trade of jars in and out of my grandmother’s pantry in the nine years I’d lived with her and I probably wouldn’t have been able to name ten different kinds of jelly without thinking about it.

“You don’t have fruit preserves back home, Dee?” Amaranth asked. “Considering how valuable fruit must be…”

“Had there been any sources of fruit in the nomadic ages, I’m sure preservation techniques would have been discovered,” Dee said. “But our magical orchards know no barren season, and the demand is such that there is never any surplus to speak of.”

I took advantage of the conversation to step forward with my gift bag, which I handed to Two. She took it, glanced down, and then looked at me in confusion.

“It’s my present,” I said. “For you. Your present from me.”

“Oh,” she said. “You’re supposed to wrap it, but that’s okay. I’ll take it this time.”

“Yeah, sorry,” I said. Apparently she didn’t know about gift bags. There’d be time to explain that later.

She set the bag down on the table and pulled the books out one after another, reading over the title of each one. She then pulled out the card, opened it, and read it.

“Oh,” she said, and she looked up at me, smiling. “You’re welcome.”

“You mean ’thank you’,” Amaranth said.

“No, I mean ’you’re welcome’,” Two said. “But thank you, Mack. It’s a very pretty card.”

“What about the books?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound like it was all about me or anything, but the lack of reaction was killing me. I thought she’d at least respond to the gnomish cooking book. “Do you like them?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t read them yet,” she said. “I think it would be rude if I did that at my party.”

“Oh,” I said, chuckling a little. It was a very honest answer. “Okay.”

Contrary to my prediction to Ian, her classmates had brought gifts. They included a little beanbag penguin, a set of stirring spoons coated in different flavors of chocolate, a little self-warming teapot, and a bookmark that could pick up the contents of pages it had been put against. Judging from the picture of crossed utensils at the bottom, it was intended for use in cookbooks.

I hadn’t even noticed that Feejee was missing until she came back into the room with a giggling apology. She had a tiny gift bag with a fringe of tissue paper sticking out of it. The bottom was bulging quite badly. I guessed the contents were made of some particularly weighty substance, like metal.

“Sorry, I didn’t even think about a gift before we came over, so I had to run back and then to the store,” she said.

“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Amaranth said. “We only did because we care for Two so very much.”

“But I wanted to,” Feejee said. “I would like to be better friends with everyone. Here,” she said, holding the badly strained little bag to Two.

“Thank you,” Two said, forgetting to lecture Feejee about wrapping as she pulled out the contents. It was a heavy gold medallion on a gold chain. There were gasps and one “holy shit” from the non-Harlowe crowd. Two had gone rigid and pale, and she thrust both her hands, one with the necklace and one with the bag, out towards Feejee.

“I’m sorry, but I am not able to accept gifts of more than five silver pieces in value,” she recited.

“Oh,” Feejee said, looking a little hurt. “Um… is that a lot? I don‘t know what else… I have some pearls, too?”

“I don’t think that’ll make the difference, Feejee,” Amaranth said.

“I’m sorry, but I am not able to accept gifts of more than five silver pieces in value,” Two repeated, her voice rising a little in pitch and volume.

“But it’s not worth that much to me,” Feejee said. “I mean, I got it for free, so if you want to be technical about it, it’s worthless, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, but I am not able to accept gifts of more than five silver pieces in value. Please consider a donation to Hearts of Clay as an alternative,” Two said, her arms beginning to shake. She looked and sounded desperate with the urge to divest herself of the forbidden gift. “Please take them,” she said.

Amaranth stepped forward and grabbed the necklace, putting it out of sight.

“I’ll just hold onto it as a sort of trust until we can talk to these Hearts of Clay people,” she said. “Two’s a free being. She should be able to decide for herself whether or not to accept a gift.”

“Thank you,” Two said to Amaranth. “And thank you for the thought,” she said to Feejee. “It was very nice.”

“Maybe you could sell one of your pieces of jewelry and keep that money aside to buy more reasonable gifts when you want to give somebody something,” I suggested to Feejee.

“Okay, but it’s not really that big a deal,” she said.

There was a soft knock on the door.

“Is this where the party is?” Iona asked.

“Yeah, come on in,” Amaranth replied.

The door opened and Iona and Celia walked in. Iona held up a wire basket with a plastic pouch full of bath products in it.

“Sorry it’s not wrapped,” she said, smiling a big, dazzlingly tooth-filled smile. “I didn’t have time.”

“That’s okay, I forgive you,” Two said, accepting the gift.

“Where’d you find that?” Amaranth asked.

“Oh, I had it on hand,” Iona said. “I’d meant it for somebody else, but I thought it might suit Two just as well.”

“Coconut lime body spray, body wash, lotion, and bath salts,” Two read.

“I love the taste of coconut,” Iona said. “And lime brings out so much taste in meat.”

Yeah, the mermaids’ privacy be damned… we needed to talk to Two. I trusted her more to keep the secret for Feejee’s sake than I trusted Iona. If Feejee ended up being caught in the same net because Iona wouldn’t reform her habits on land… well, that would suck for her, but if she was the worst-hit victim of the incident, it would be a very lucky thing.

Despite the last minute invite, Celia had not turned up empty handed, either. She had a rolled up piece of leather, which, when unfurled, had a scale-like pattern pressed into it. The hexagonal scales were dyed orange and turquoise, and the individual colored scales made a pattern of swirls and lines.

“Thank you,” Two said.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Celia said. “But, you invited me to your chicken thing and you didn’t invite Puddy, and that was kind of awesome. So… well, that piece is from my back. Two summers ago.”

“Wait, it’s what?” I said.

“It’s the skin off my back,” Celia said.

“That thing is you?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Do you shed?” I asked.

“Not naturally,” she said. “It’s a religious thing.”

“You flay yourself, religiously?”

“Every year on my birthday,” she said proudly. “Most girls only do it the first time, when they turn eleven.”

“That’s, er, a good year,” Hazel muttered.

“Auspicious year,” Honey agreed.

“I’m not so sure about the auspices of a year you start by getting skinned alive,” Hazel said. “Though, surviving it’s a good sign.”

“Well, you don’t just take a knife and start cutting yourself,” Celia said. “What kind of an idiot would do that? There’s a shaman on hand and everything.”

“I think as long as you’re being safe, it isn’t anybody’s business,” Amaranth said. “And I’m sure it’s a very personal gift to give.”

“It’s nothing,” Celia said, and she actually blushed. “It’s junk. I’m not happy with the staining. I’d be embarrassed to give it to anybody back home, who knows what a good skin piece is supposed to look like.”

“And speaking of personal gifts,” Amaranth said, beaming, “I think you should open mine next, Two.”

Under the gold wrapping paper, it was obviously a garment box, and I entertained a brief hope that she’d thought better of her initial plan. But the way the box wobbled in transit between them, it was obvious that one end of it was heavier than the other.

Two undid the paper with the same care as she had shown the other packages, and then lifted off the top.

“Oh, pretty!” she exclaimed, and she lifted out a long, glittery icy blue camisole. It seemed pretty voluminous, which meant that somebody had used an awful lot of material to cover up almost nothing, as it was completely see-through except for a pattern of flowers that would vaguely obscure the chest region. She held it up to her, and it became apparent just how roomy it was. I couldn’t see the shoulder straps working on Two’s narrow frame. “Oh, but I am afraid this is not the right size. This is too big for me. I think it would fit you better.”

“What?” Amaranth said. She’d gone very pale, and she grabbed it out of Two’s hand. “L-let me see that, Twoey, please.”

“Hey, my name isn’t Twoey,” Two protested, but Amaranth wasn’t paying attention. She turned away from everybody for a moment, and then turned back, holding out a clearly smaller version of the same garment.

“No, this is the right size,” Amaranth said holding it out. “Check again, I think you’ll find you were mistaken.”

Two did as she was bade, looking at the tag and then holding it up. She shook her head.

“It is my size, but this is a different one,” Two said. “It’s like you bought two of the same thing, only one of them is in my size and the other of them is in yours.”

“What? No,” Amaranth said. She shook her head emphatically. “No, you silly… just no.”

“Okay, but it looks like…”

“It’s probably best if you just drop it,” I said to Two.

“Okay,” she said. “But I don’t think I’m wrong.”

“Oh, and there’s more in there,” Amaranth said.

“No, there isn’t,” Hazel said. I hadn’t even noticed how close she’d come to the table with the box on it.

“What?” Amaranth said.

“I think there was,” Two said. “It was a heavy box.”

“No, that’s all she got you and that’s fine because it’s a very lovely present,” Hazel said. “So much that I think after the party I’m going to have a conversation with her about where she shops for presents for you.”

“Hazel, you’re being ridiculous,” Amaranth said. “Why is everybody trying to blow this out of proportion? It’s just a little…”

“I know little,” Hazel said. “It’s not a little anything. Two, love, Amaranth got you a nice… undergarment, and that’s all she got you.”

“This is a very confusing present,” Two said, looking sideways at the box, her eyelid twitching as she tried to reconcile what she knew with what she was being told.

“Maybe this will be less confusing,” Ian said, stepping forward with his gift bag.

“I hope so,” Two said. “My head is starting to hurt.” She looked at me. “You should pay attention to how Feejee and Ian did it. They know how to wrap presents in bags.”

“Told you,” Ian said. I stuck out my tongue.

She pulled out the tissue paper and inside it was a desktop model of a candy or gumball dispenser, the kind with a penny bank inside, and a little bag of fruit-shaped candies to fill it.

“The only thing I knew you like is candy,” Ian said. “But I didn’t want to get you just candy, so…”

“Oh, thank you!” she said, and the enthusiasm in her voice burned me like petty, petty fire.

“It’s going to be hard to keep the different flavors sorted out inside the globe,” I said.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I can sort them as they come out. Thank you, Ian. That was a very thoughtful present.”

“Try not to let your jealousy get the better of you,” Ian told me.

“I’m not jealous,” I said. “She just hasn’t read the books yet.”

Of course, we were being given a wider berth than usual, what with all the dagger-waving. I asked Steff to put them away before we went inside the union. One tragedy per week was plenty for me. Dee and Amaranth were with me, and she reluctantly complied, though she made up for it by describing a hypothetical battle in even greater detail.

I kind of missed the days when all she talked about was sex. That was easier to tune out.

“Oh, wait,” Amaranth said, holding up a hand to interrupt her when we got to the top of the stairs. She veered off for the food court, making a beeline for the White House counter where Two was working. She was standing absolutely motionless behind the register, smiling placidly and waiting for something to do.

“Amaranth, she doesn’t like when we talk to her at work, remember?” I said, hurrying after her, but she went right up to the counter.

“Hey… Kyle, right?” she said to the guy working back behind the counter. “Could you please tell me what time Two gets off tonight?”

“We’re closing at eight-thirty,” he said.

“Okay, well, could you please tell her that we’re going to the arena at eight, and if she would like to join us she’s welcome to,” Amaranth said.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll, uh, tell her on her break.”

“Thank you so much,” Amaranth said, and she blew him a kiss. “You’re welcome to come, too.”

“Uh, okay,” he said.

“Okay… what in the name of fuck was that about, Amy?” Steff asked when we rejoined her and Dee.

“Two doesn’t approve of on the job chit-chat,” I said.

“Oh,” Steff said, mollified. “Okay.”

“Um, that was a really good idea, Amaranth,” I said. “I mean, in terms of how to get the information to her without upsetting her.”

“Thank you!” Amaranth said, beaming at the compliment. I’d meant it… it was clever… but I was also trying to soften the blow for what I was about to say. Throwing a genuine compliment in before expressing my disagreement was either me being a total pussy again or me learning some communication skills.

“It’s just… what do we do if Ian ends up fighting like fifteen or twenty minutes in?” I said. “We could be gone before she gets there.”

“Oh, honey, you don’t really wanna leave right after we get there?” Steff said. “Well miss the good stuff!”

“Isn’t the whole point of going there to see Ian?” I asked.

“That’s the impetus,” Amaranth said. “The point is to have a good time and do something together.”

“Girls’ night out, remember?” Steff said. “Come on!”

“We can’t watch the fights for fifteen minutes and then go get pedis and facials or something?” I asked.

“Mack, baby… do you even know what a pedi is?” Amaranth asked.

“It’s… something to do with your toenails, isn’t it?” I said. “Like, a manicure for your feet?”

“I’ll give you a facial later, if you’re good,” Steff said. “Anyway, you can always just pretend you’re watching your dolls fighting.”

“Enaction figures!” I corrected her.

“Whatever,” Steff said, pinching me on the side. “Pout more… it’s adorable.”

“I’m not pouting,” I said.

“Perhaps I have been misinformed as to the meaning of that word,” Dee said wryly, and I blushed a hardcore old-school blush. Dee didn’t usually join in on the ribbing… the unexpectedness gave it extra impact.

With that, we went into the dining hall. After we got our food and grabbed a table, Amaranth talked about her day, Steff talked about fighting, and Dee didn’t say much at all. Maybe that undermined the purpose of asking her to be there, but I didn’t have much to contribute to the conversations, either… and there really were two of them. Amaranth and Steff were pretty good at carrying them on by themselves.

“I do hope you’ll try to enjoy the match, baby,” Amaranth said when the meal was almost over. “If you aren’t having a good time just being there with us, we can leave half an hour after Two arrives, if Ian’s already fought, okay? That way she won’t feel like she’s walked over for nothing, and Steff will get her fill.”

“Okay,” I said.

“But I mean it… try to enjoy it,” Amaranth said. “Don’t just count down the minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

Dee… well, I’m not sure exactly what Dee did right then. It was something like clearing her throat, only a lot quieter. I’m pretty sure it was silent, in fact. Regardless of the fact that I couldn’t tell exactly what she did, or even if she had done anything, all of a sudden she had the attention of all three of us.

“I hope you will pardon me,” Dee said.

“What’s on your mind, Dee?” Amaranth asked.

“I understand that you have plans for the evening,” Dee said. “And while the activities you intend to view are not to my taste, I do not begrudge your enjoyment of them…”

“Can you wake me up when this caravan comes around the final bend?” Steff asked me.

“To bring this to a point,” Dee said, “hearing you discuss the evening’s entertainment with so much lightness of spirit leaves me wondering to what extent you have actually felt the impact of your deeds of this Thursday past.”

Nobody said anything at first. The three of us looked around at each other. The guilt was clearly written on our faces… on Amaranth and Steff’s, and I’m sure on mine. If my face looked like my stomach felt, it could have been used as grounds for conviction all on its own. It wouldn’t matter what the crime was. No tribunal would ignore it.

“Well…” Amaranth said, speaking slowly and gathering her words as she went. “I… I try to look at it positively.”

Dee said nothing, but leveled a look at her that was surprisingly neutral, prompting her to go on.

“I don’t mean to excuse or condone the sort of trade, but… slaves can’t have very nice lives, you know,” she said. “And so I try to think that maybe… just possibly… there was some greater good served.”

“You actually believe that to be true?” Dee said.

“No,” Amaranth said, dropping her face down. She took her glasses off and squeezed her eyes shut. “But I try to. I try.” She opened her eyes and squinted across the table at Dee. “I mean, we couldn’t stop it, could we? Once it had begun… so… if there wasn’t some point to it…”

“And if you convince yourself of this reasoning, would you apply it again?” Dee asked.

“Dee… we talked about this,” I said.

“It is not my place to pass judgment upon you…” Dee began.

“Yeah, it really isn’t,” Steff said. “Okay, it was horrible. We know that, Dee… even I know it. Don’t think I didn’t try to make myself enjoy it… I did, and I couldn’t. That’s just how bad it was. Maybe if we had been more careful we could have avoided it… but there’s no way of knowing for sure what could have happened, though, so we’re stuck dealing with what did happen, and that was an accident.”

“An accident which resulted in deaths,” Dee said.

“Still an accident,” Steff said. “Do you think we should suffer our whole lives because of one accident? Would that be fair? With Mack’s blood tainted, I’m sure people would be lining up to lynch her if they knew… meanwhile, freaking Honey is an adorable wee little gnome and her family’s rich, so she gets to kill a dude and her only punishment is getting bundled off to college.”

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“It’s what I heard,” Steff said, shrugging.

“Who from?”

“Some of the little guys,” she said.

“Honey Callaway did not ‘kill a dude’,” Dee said.

“It’s what I heard,” Steff repeated.

“You have heard incorrectly,” Dee said.

“Yes, Steff, I find that hard to believe,” Amaranth said. “Of anybody, but especially Honey.”

“Of course you wouldn’t believe it of anybody, Amy. You’re… Amy,” Steff said. “But there’s sick people in the world, and you can never tell by looking… what I heard was she poured lantern oil all over some homeless guy and…”

“You heard incorrectly,” Dee said, in a tone that could brook no argument.

Except, of course, from Steff.

“Oh? Then why’d she leave Loggingtonhamchestershire to come here?” Steff asked.

“There are, by my count, at least six other gnomes in attendance at the present,” Dee said. “Are we to believe that they all ‘killed a dude’ as well?”

“No, but… they’re poor,” Steff said. “‘Common’. People like Honey don’t up and get an education, because they’re never going to work for a living.”

“Maybe she wants to improve herself?” Amaranth said.

“Trust me, in her circles, education for a woman is not viewed as an improvement,” Steff said.

“Well, hon, some people are driven to exceed the bounds of their upbringing,” Amaranth said.

“Can you honestly tell me that you can look at Honey and see her driven to anything?” Steff asked.

“Not murder,” Amaranth said.

“You know,” I said, remembering something Hazel had said, after my return from the labyrinth. What had it been exactly? “Hazel did say something about Honey knowing how to conduct herself in front of a court, or something like that.”

“There are many reasons one may find oneself in court,” Dee said. “It does not mean that Steff’s story is true.”

“I’m not saying it’s true,” Steff said. “I’m just saying, that’s what I heard.”

“Well, I don’t think that sort of gossiping is very nice,” Amaranth said.

“Yeah, well… she’s kind of a little bitch, anyway,” Steff said. “Even if it isn’t true.”

“This is all beside the point,” Dee said.

“Look… it was horrible, it was stupid, it was not our fault,” Steff said. “Can we not talk about it in public?” Her voice dropped low. “It wasn’t against the law, but if people found out… Mack would be fucked all the same. People can’t do shit to Amy that would stick, I’d have to watch my back, but Mack would be helpless as a semi-invulnerable baby kitten surrounded by wild dogs with magic teeth. Is that what you want, Dee? To see Mack suffer some kind of retribution for what happened? Would that make everything okay?”

“It would not,” Dee said. “But this is my point: there exists no remedy that would make ‘everything okay’, in this circumstance.”

“Yeah,” Steff said. “I agree… which is why we can’t spend every minute dwelling on it. It doesn’t mean we’re ‘over it’. It doesn’t mean we don’t care. But we can’t fix it by dwelling on it.”

“You cannot come to terms with it by ignoring it, either,” Dee said.

“Look, this isn’t something we planned,” Steff said. “Mack’s man is fighting tonight. We can’t ask them to postpone the match until we sort out our angst and our guilt, but we can put that on hold while we go to the match. It’s that simple.”

“How long do you intend to make excuses for avoiding it, though?” Dee asked.

“You know, Dee, I love you like stabbing, but I’m getting sick of your holier-than-thou attitude,” Steff said. “I mean, except for the part where you actually are holier than I am. You act like this whole ‘slavery’ thing is so shocking and horrible to your delicate sensibilities, but your society is just as repressed, as oppressive, as hypocritical, as generally fucked the hell up as anybody else’s. You’re a firstborn noblewoman, and a priestess, and maybe that’s enough to put you on the top of the shitheap, but it’s still a shitheap.”

“You know nothing of my society except the lies your people told you,” Dee said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Newsflash, honey: I don’t have a people!” Steff said. “I’m not human, I’m not elf… I’m not anything. I am Steff, citizen of Steff.”

“I forgive your bitterness,” Dee said. “I know that you are a product of your upbringing, and a society which does not understand you.”

“I don’t need your pardon,” Steff said. “Or society’s understanding.”

“It is tragic that the surface world does not know what to do with you,” Dee said. “Had you been born among the true elves, there would have been a place for you.”

“Oh, praise be to Arakhis and Big Daddy Chthonios!” Steff said, throwing her hands up in the air. She turned to me. “Did you hear that, Mack? A place for me! You’ve got a place for everybody down there, don’t you, Dee?”

“You are twisting my words,” Dee said, very slowly and very quietly. “All I mean is that people such as yourself…”

“‘People such as yourself’,” Steff said. “Throw out the dead weight and you get ‘you people’.”

“Steff, hon, this isn’t helping anything,” Amaranth said.

“Back off,” Steff said. “We’re supposed to be getting to know you, right?” she asked Dee. “And you say I don’t know anything about your culture. So tell me. If I’d been born in your house, what would my place be? Would I get to be a priestess like you?”

“That… obligation… would not fall to you,” Dee said. “Even if you were born into the ruling family.”

“Lucky me,” Steff said. “How about a soldier? You don’t have to be some fancy highborn noble to come up through the ranks in the army, do you?”

“Indeed, you do not,” Dee said. “But in recognition of your unique blessing, you would be exempted from military service.”

“The blessings keep piling up,” Steff said. “So what would I do?”

“You would be valued, honored, and much-beloved member of the household,” Dee said.

“Aww, isn’t that nice?” Steff asked.

“Well, Steff, you have to admit… it is a bit of a step forward, from most cultures,” Amaranth said. “A small one, anyway. It’s better to be cherished than hated, right?”

“I just have one… teensy… weensy… little… question,” Steff said, her voice low and dripping with honeyed venom. I knew how she could use her voice, and even though it wasn’t aimed at me, I could feel the twisting of the knife with every word.

“Don’t,” Dee said, her eyes going wide. “Do not.”

“People such as myself,” Steff said. “In your society…”

“I will not stand to be spoken to in this manner by one who claims to be my friend,” Dee said.

“I’m just getting to know you,” Steff said. “So help me out here, because… as a good friend of mine said… I need clarification. In your society… people like myself… are we freaks, or are we whores?”

Dee’s mostly empty glass collapsed inwards, spraying droplets of milk.

“That’s what I thought,” Steff said, with an air of self-satisfaction. She stabbed a last piece of chicken with her fork and lifted it towards her mouth. The fork was yanked out of her hand and floated in the center of the table.

“Listen to me, Steff Johnson,” Dee said. “I… love… Dehsah.”

“I’m glad for you,” Steff said, grabbing her fork back. “I didn’t know she was ‘like myself’. I didn’t know shit about her except that you had to be crowbarred off her tit at the age of sixteen, but I’m glad. And if you loving her means she wins the dark elf lottery and gets to scramble up to the top of the shitheap with you, then I say tiny scraps of more power to her. But that doesn’t prove that your society is free and equal. It doesn’t mean the system works.”

“I do not have to defend my society to you,” Dee said. “Our customs and institutions served to shepherd us through times more trying than anything our faint cousins on the surface have ever collectively experienced.”

“Sure they did,” Steff said. “That’s what customs and institutions do. And now that you’re sitting pretty on top of your little sunken sea, the institutions which once protected the people get to focus on protecting themselves. They’re entrenched. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. As above… so below.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dee said… muttered, really.

“Guys,” Amaranth said gently, “I think this conversation has gone…”

“What, we’re just friends having a friendly chat,” Steff said.

“She does not know what she’s talking about,” Dee said to me.

“Uh… Steff’s got her opinions,” I said. “You don’t have to agree with them.”

“I will not, because they are incorrect,” Dee said.

“They teach you to close your mind at psychic school?” Steff asked.

“Enough, Steff,” Amaranth said. “Please.”

“If it helps you in the short term to turn your guilt into rage at me, I’ll bear it as best as I can,” Dee said. “I am not trying to anger you, Steff.”

“What are you trying to do?” Steff asked.

“As your friend, I wish to help you,” Dee said. “I wish to help you handle your grief and remorse, and I wish to help you prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.”

“That’s not likely to happen anyway, now that Amy’s taken that damned pitchfork into the lab,” Steff said.

“Pitchfork?” Dee asked, her silvery eyebrows raising.

“Steff, we agreed my pitchfork didn’t have anything to do with it,” I said. “Since it was under the bed all day.”

“The closet,” Steff said. “It was in the closet.”

“Right,” I said.

“The pitchfork you retrieved from the labyrinth?” Dee asked.

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be cursed,” I said. “But I never really saw a concrete sign of that, and anyway, an infernal taint’s not going to affect me.”

“Interesting,” Dee said. “And Amaranth, you did what with it?”

“Um…” Amaranth said, curling her lower lip back over her teeth and tugging at her hair.

“She was going to take it to the diabolism department to get a full run-down,” Steff said. “Right, Amy?”

“That was the plan, yeah,” Amy said. She laughed and tugged at her hair.

“Amaranth?” I said. “What’s wrong?”

“You did take it to the D.D., didn’t you?” Steff asked her.

“Well, obviously I did!” Amaranth said. She put her glasses back on and pushed them up to the top of her nose. “I mean, I don’t have it any more. What else was I going to do with it?” She laughed nervously.

“Amaranth?” Dee said. “Do you remember taking it to the diabolists?”

“Yes,” Amaranth said, very quickly and very crisply. “Yes, I do.”

“The person you gave it to, what did she look like?” Dee asked.

“She was attractive,” Amaranth said. “Very pretty.”

“What about her was attractive to you?”

“Everything,” Amaranth said. “Just… everything.”

Dee looked at me. I nodded, thinking I could see where she was going.

“Um… Amy… is there anybody that doesn’t describe?” Steff asked. She was on the same page.

“I’ve been busy, guys,” Amaranth said, near tears. “I have been really… really… busy, so maybe I don’t remember every little detail of…”

“Frequently, when a mind is missing memories, it fails to recognize the gap or it attempts to bridge it,” Dee said.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize I was missing time from Thursday right away,” I said. “I mean, even when I try to think about it, it’s not like there are big gaping black holes, just… well… stuff I don’t remember.”

“Okay, wait… are you saying I was possessed?” Amaranth said. “I’d think if a demon tried to ride along on my soul, one of us would be destroyed.”

“Demons are not the only entities which can possess,” Dee said. “There are spirits of the dead, and denizens of other realms. Though if it is tied to the pitchfork, and the pitchfork is infernally tainted, then a demon would seem to be the most likely culprit.”

“Can you… check her out?” I asked Dee.

“I would not be able to probe her psyche safely or effectively,” Dee said. “It would be like trying to stare into the sun… and trying to catch hold of its light. I can, however, examine her aura for infernal energy… perhaps Steff could do the same for traces of undead spirits?”

“Um… I haven’t really done any spiritualism,” Steff said. She actually blushed. “My interests in the dead are a lot more, uh, corporeal.”

“Well, we can at least cover the more likely possibility,” Dee said. “Mackenzie, I apologize, but I am going to need to touch your aura in a way that will cause you unimaginable pain.”

“Wait, what?”

“Amaranth’s aura has been entangled with yours for several weeks now,” Dee said. “A single brief possession is not going to drown out the effects of that. I will need to recognize your energy in order to exclude it from my examination.”

“I’m really not sure I can condone that,” Amaranth said. “When you say ‘unimaginable pain’…”

“It would be best to conduct the examination in one of the laboratories,” Dee said. “Or some other place with protective circles available.”

Amaranth bit her lip.

“If you were possessed, too, Amaranth, we have to know,” I said.

“Though, maybe it’s not the pitchfork,” Steff said. “You did say you didn’t feel even a curse on it, when you took it from Mack.”

“I did say that… didn’t I?” Amaranth said doubtfully.

“So… when do we do this?” I said as firmly as I could.

“Baby, no!” Amaranth said.

“It’s my decision,” I said. “Whatever it’s going to do to me, I’ll take it. We have to know what happened, or we’ll never know if it’s going to happen again. When do we do it, Dee? Now? Before the match?”

“If I thought I could do it immediately, I would insist upon it.. this should be your absolute lowest, deepest, blackest priority. But, I have never done anything quite like this,” Dee said. “I will need time to prepare myself, to study, and to pray for strength and guidance.”

“Tomorrow?” Amaranth asked.

“Tomorrow,” Dee said. “At six. We will meet for meditation as we had planned, Mackenzie, and then… when I am at my absolute peak of focus, we will conduct the examination. In the intervening time, I suggest you try to enjoy the evening you have planned and your animated entertainment of the morning. As Steff said, nothing productive will come from dwelling when there is nothing to be done.”

“Yeah,” I said weakly. “Should be fun.”

“Um, listen,” I said to Amaranth when we got to the union doors. “When we get upstairs… you can probably say hi to Two but you shouldn’t try to stand there and talk to her.”

“Well, of course I’m going to talk to Twoey,” Amaranth said. “I mean, if there’s a line or something I can wait. I’m not going to bother her while she’s working.”

“Yeah, but, any talking while she’s working is going to bother her,” I said. “It’s just the way she is.”

“She’s always happy to talk to a friend,” Amaranth said. “I’m not going to embarrass her, if that’s what you’re worried about.

I sighed.

Well, Two could tell her.

“Hi, Twoey!” Amaranth called, waving enthusiastically as we headed into the food court.

Two was standing at attention behind the counter of the White House, her uniform visor up high on her forehead so as not to cover the runes on her forehead which had given her life and her name. The rest of the stands were not so attentively manned at the moment; student workers lounged behind the counters or out of sight

“Hi, Amaranth,” Two called back, returning the wave. “I’m not supposed to chat while I’m working.”

“Oh, I’m not going to take up all day,” Amaranth said. “Say hi to Mack.”

“Hi, Mack,” Two said dutifully. Turning back to Amaranth, she said again, “I’m not supposed to chat.”

“I know, honey,” Amaranth said. “So how’s work been? Are they treating you okay?”

“It’s fine. Yes. I’m not supposed to chat,” Two said. She was starting to tremble.

“Twoey, it’s fine,” Amaranth said. “Come on, talk with us a while.”

This visibly increased Two’s distress level, as she now had an order–from a friend, no less–conflicting with the rules she was supposed to follow at work. Her eyelids twitched and a tic seemed to pull her face to the side.

“Amaranth,” I said. “Look at her.”

“You just hush and let me have a little talk with Twoey,” Amaranth said, putting her finger on my lips. Within the rules that had built up for our relationship, this meant I couldn’t talk.

I only had half a second to mull whether now would be the time to break that rule when Two burst into tears. She was still fairly new to crying openly, and she did it without self-constraint or shame.

However much she might have looked like a waifish young woman who just happened to have runes carved bloodlessly from her forehead, Two was a golem, clay transfigured into living flesh.

She had a mind, and she’d been relieved of her magical compunction to obey her creator by the command which had freed her to do as she wanted… but that same creator had invested her with no other desires than to do what she was told.

Living in a group home set up to help other golems with less crippling personalities hadn’t really helped her adjust to freedom as much as two weeks at university with friends who tried to understand her had.

“Twoey, honey, don’t cry,” Amaranth said, and of course, Two stopped, just like that. Her mouth clamped shut, and she was breathing fast in and out through her nose.

“What the crap’s going on out here?” her co-worker, Kyle, said, coming up front.

“It’s just a little misunderstanding,” Amaranth said.

“What the hell did you do to her?” Kyle demanded, looking at Two, who was standing ramrod straight, jaw locked tight, her bright blue eyes held wide open as she tried her best not to cry.

“I was just trying to talk to my friend,” Amaranth said, a touch of defensive anger in her voice.

“Two, take our order when you’re ready,” I said softly as Kyle responded angrily and Amaranth responded in kind.

They were both still talking loudly over each other when Two swallowed, blinked her eyes, stepped forward, and said, “Welcome to White House. May I take your order?”

“Oh!” Amaranth said, jumping back.

“You good?” Kyle asked Two, who nodded.

“I’m so sorry,” Amaranth said to Two, then caught herself and added, “but I’m going to need a minute to look at the menu.”

“That’s okay,” Two said.

“This place sure doesn’t have a very wide variety of food,” Amaranth said, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the pictures of the little burgers. “You guys should consider stocking some vegetarian alternatives.”

“Okay,” Two said.

“They’ve got fries and stuff,” I said.

“Those have usually got some kind of animal fat in the oil,” Amaranth said.

“Seriously?”

She nodded.

“This was so much easier back home where all the food was locally produced,” Amaranth said. “I always knew exactly what was in anything I ate.”

“Well, one of the other places might have salads,” I said.

“Oh, well… I suppose,” Amaranth said. “I’m sorry, Twoey, I wanted to eat here, but there’s just nothing I can safely eat. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No,” Two said. “I don’t mind. But I’m not…”

“…supposed to chat,” I said, along with her. “It’s okay. When you’re working, interpret any non-business-related things we say to you as purely rhetorical unless it’s an emergency.”

“Okay,” Two said.

I ordered my chicken, some fries, and a drink, paying with one of my meal points, then went with Amaranth over to Burger President.

“Are you for real here?” said the girl behind the counter. Her name tag said she was a Cynthia.

Amaranth looked puzzled, but said, “Well, yes.”

“You’re just going to walk up naked and try to order food after you made that poor feeblemind cry?” she asked.

“Nudity is my natural state,” Amaranth said, giving the girl a patient smile and pointedly ignoring the insult directed at Two. “Yours, too. Anyway, what I’m looking for is something without any meat, bacon, cheese, eggs, or anything else that comes from an animal… and it looks like the only one like that is the garden side salad, which is a little small. So, what I’m wondering is, do the bigger ones come pre-packaged or…”

“We don’t serve naked people,” the girl said. “It’s against the health code.”

“Nymphs are exempt, and naturally clean,” Amaranth said. “Is there somebody else working here I could order from, please?”

“Or what? You’ll sic your pet demon on me?” the counter girl asked, her voice rising. “I have a bottle of holy water under the counter, and I swear to Khersis I’ll use it if that thing comes near me.”

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Hush, baby,” Amaranth said, pulling me back and stepping in front of me. “I just want to get some lunch. If special orders upset you that much, I’ll just have two of the garden salads.”

“What’s going on out here?” a guy in a BP uniform said, coming from around the back of the food prep area.

“Larry, we don’t have to serve to monsters, do we?” the girl whined. “They threatened me.”

“I think you misunderstood,” Amaranth said.

Larry wasn’t listening. He was looking past her at me.

“Fuck off, we’re all out of people burgers,” he said.

“Now that is just uncalled for,” Amaranth said.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll just go wait…”

“You stay right there, missy, or I’m going to swat your little butt so hard when we get back to the dorm,” Amaranth said, making me go red all over. I lowered my head, which probably saved me from further mortification at seeing the BP employees’ reactions. “Look at her,” Amaranth said, grabbing me by the shoulders and manhandling me up to the counter. “Does this look like a dangerous monster?”

“Fine, I’ll get your salad,” Larry grumbled. “You can toss my fucking salad, while you’re at it.”

“I’d be happy to, if you want me to,” Amaranth said. “But, um, two garden salads. They’re a little on the small side. And, any kind of vinaigrette dressing’s fine.”

He went to a little fridge back behind the counter and opened it, pulling out a small container of salad.

“Right, dressing,” Larry said. “I’ll get your dressing.”

He took the salads back around to the storage area or whatever was in back.

“Ring them up, Cynth,” he called. “I’ll bring them out when they’re ready.”

“They’re prepackaged salads,” I said to Amaranth. “What do you think…”

“Hush, baby,” Amaranth said. “Let’s not make a bigger deal out of this than it already is.”

Once Amaranth had paid for her salads and a drink, we headed out of the food court to one of the tables by the railing overlooking the ground floor. I sat there without touching my food, thinking it would be rude to start eating before Amaranth had hers. So, we just sat there sipping our drinks instead.

The chicken smelled so good, though.

Eventually, Hi My Name Is Larry came over bearing a tray with Amaranth’s salads. He slammed it down on the table, causing the rather suspiciously loose lids to rattle.

“Thank you,” Amaranth said, picking up the single pack of salad dressing he’d included. “I was thinking that one dressing packet would be more than enough for two small salads, and you anticipated my wishes.”

“Have a nice day,” Larry huffed, and then stormed away.

I waited while Amaranth had her dressing open and drizzled it over her salad, and then until she had taken her first bite.

Then… I kept waiting, for some reason.

She looked up from her food and saw me sitting there, not touching my own.

“You may eat,” she said. She giggled. “Viktor must have made a big impression on you.”

I blushed. That was it. I’d been waiting for permission.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

“Well, you don’t have to do that when we’re around others,” she said. “But when it’s just you and me… or Steff… I’d like you to wait for permission. It’s kind of cute.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

“So, tell me all about your visit with Viktor,” Amaranth said.

I did, but I started at my encounter with Steff, so she’d get the full story. Amaranth made little noises of concern and pursed her lips as I described Steff’s unease at being on our floor and her jumpy, almost guiltily nervous state.

What really got her attention was something else, though.

“She didn’t want to hear you talk about sex?” Amaranth asked.

“I think she had a bad experience,” I said. “I don’t know if she just did something she regrets, or if she… well…”

“If she what, baby?” Amaranth prompted.

“If she went too far,” I said, feeling guilty for suggesting it even while knowing that it wasn’t totally far-fetched. “If she, you know… hurt somebody, or… took advantage…”

“Oh, Steff wouldn’t,” Amaranth said, shaking her head. “No, never. She’s been through… she wouldn’t. I’m going to forget you said that, baby, and I want you to forget it, too.”

“Okay,” I said. It wasn’t any more than an idea, anyway, and I wasn’t likely to get Steff to open up to me by throwing accusations around.

“Oh, baby, look,” Amaranth said, holding up a large forkful of lettuce with a glob of something that was distinctly not dressing attached to it. “He came on my salad.” She opened her mouth wide and lowered it around the salad, then closed it with obvious relish. “If that’s his idea of being mean, he must not really be trying.”

“You should file a complaint,” I said.

“Nonsense,” she said. “A little extra sauce doesn’t hurt anything. Anyway, go on.”

I told her about Steff’s detours, including her unsuccessful stop at the room of the potion-dealing alchemy major, Finbar. I felt a little guilty, like I was talking behind Steff’s back… but then, our little group had probably had too many secrets lately.

Amaranth made me slow down and go over exactly how I’d been treated by Viktor and how it had made me feel in great detail, purring throatily as I recounted my reactions.

“That was probably Gwynedd,” Amaranth said when I told her about the girl who’d been locked up in the closet. “She’s one of Viktor’s classmates, I think. She’s nice. Well, she seems nice. Since she can’t speak, I’m not sure, but I assume she’s nice.”

“She’s not allowed to talk?” I asked. I hadn’t been allowed to speak in Viktor’s presence without instructions to, but I had thought that was because of my unique status of being at the bottom of a chain of submission. “At all?”

“No, she’s congenitally mute,” Amaranth said. “And I can’t get past the alphabet in the hand cant. Steff’s really good at it, though.”

“Oh,” I said.

“So, anyway, he actually played a song for you?” Amaranth asked.

“I wouldn’t say it was ‘for me’,” I said. “But he did play.”

“What did you think of it?”

“I thought it was really good,” I said. “Have you heard it?”

“He’s never really played for me,” Amaranth said. “He just kind of fiddles around with the keys a little. He does look very serious about it, though. I’m sure he’s quite good.”

“He is,” I said, a little defensively, though I was sure Amaranth meant it… just as she was sure a girl she’d never spoken to was quite nice, and a guy who’d jizzed all over her lunch had nothing but the best of intentions.

I finished the tale without further interruption, ending with Steff taking me out of the room.

“So, if he gives me permission for you to date Steff, and you accept, then you become responsible for her well-being,” Amaranth said. “But it doesn’t sound so bad. I mean, you know you’d never hurt Steff, so that’s not even an issue… and for the rest? We’re here for her, whether you date her or not. Whatever problems she’s having, we can overcome them.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” I said. “That’s why I suggested she try mental healing.”

“So, what are you going to do, baby?” Amaranth asked. “I mean, not to jinx it or anything, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to tell me it’s okay, or else why would he make that speech at all?”

“Well… I love Steff,” I said. “So, I should do my best to keep her safe anyway, right? And if I can make her even a little bit happier, that’s got to help, too, right?”

“So you would say yes,” Amaranth said.

I nodded.

“I think so.”

“And Ian?” Amaranth asked. “Do you know how he feels about this?”

“He doesn’t know how he feels about it,” I said. “I mean, he knows we’re involved already so this dating thing’s not anything new, but he just found about Steff’s… equipment.”

“How did he react?”

“He needs time, he says,” I said. “I don’t know. I like Ian. I love having a boyfriend. I might even kind of love him. But… Steff’s not about to make me choose between her and Ian. It wouldn’t seem fair to turn my back on her because he wants me to.”

“Well… it’s sad, but some people can’t change the way they’re grown,” Amaranth said. “If he’s not able to handle a poly relationship, you may just have to let him go. But, you can still be friends.”

“I don’t want a friend,” I said. “I want a boyfriend.”

“Mack, I know you like Ian very much but you should think about your motives here,” Amaranth said. “I know you don’t like to think of yourself as a lesbian, but that’s probably not the best reason to date somebody.”

“Okay, maybe that’s one of the reasons I like having a boyfriend,” I said. “But it’s not why I like Ian.”

“What do you like about him, baby?” Amaranth asked.

“Um…”

“Don’t think, just answer.”

“His hands,” I said. I shivered, remembering the feeling of them on my body. “They’re… strong.” They were… strong and quick. A musician’s hands. “And his voice.”

I blushed. I actually liked it when he raised it, when he got mad. He was such a dork sometimes, but he had presence beneath it.

“Physical attraction is a wonderful thing,” Amaranth said. “But I think there should probably be more. You don’t love Steff and me just for our bodies.”

“I don’t, either, with Ian,” I said. “We have things in common. Kind of.”

For instance, we read comics, but not the same ones.

There was probably other stuff, too.

If I could only think of it.

“I like you two together,” Amaranth said. “I just want you to… you know, be prepared.”

“You can tell what people are into,” I said. “Can’t you…”

“He’s way into you,” Amaranth said. “But that doesn’t necessarily translate into actions, especially in the long term.” She sighed. “I wish love could be as simple as sex…”

“I don’t know, sex seems pretty complicated to me,” I said.

“Well, you’re still learning,” she said.