Chapter 45: Time Has Passed You By

Forgiven, Within Temptation

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With so many of them living in Spire now, and the weird tension between Morgyn and Caleb anymore, it was much easier to focus on schoolwork anywhere but at home. That was how Morgyn had ended up sitting at a table in Laurel Library, trying to focus on science but mostly thinking unwillingly about Caleb.

Things weren’t too strained between them yet. Morgyn had thus far had decent success pretending there was nothing wrong, and Caleb seemed to have decided to follow suit. Truth be told, Morgyn wasn’t sure if that was what the blond wanted, but it wasn’t like Morgyn had any idea what to tell him, maybe any more than he knew what to say either.

Avoiding it wasn’t going to solve anything, of course. But it was nice, for things to be okay just a little longer. It did beg the question, at least internally, of whether or not it was a good thing in the longer run. Morgyn didn’t know what was right, here. Caleb was the first person Morgyn had ever really dated, and given Caleb had known about Morgyn being a whore for literally ever, it was hard to imagine this, of all the things, was going to turn out to be their undoing.

Why did he even start this if he was just going to change his mind later? Maybe that was the most confusing, and hurtful, part. Morgyn didn’t get it. Maybe the blond wasn’t supposed to.

Eventually, Morgyn slid down against the table, twisting a pencil against the notebook idly, and thinking probably way too much about what to do with Caleb. Morgyn probably should’ve dated a little before Caleb, so that maybe the blond would know what to do here, but of course, there was always the risk of getting someone that wasn’t interested in the dating part, just the free sex part.

What did those types think, anyway, Morgyn was born yesterday? Sheesh. Being pretty didn’t automatically mean you were stupid. But of course, the Embers liked to break stereotypes. Morgyn was pretty and intelligent, and Ezio had brains and brawn.

The chair beside the blond pulled out, and Liberty sat down in it. Morgyn’s head raised to look at her, smile slightly, and then flop back down onto the blond’s arm.

Liberty loosed an amused sound. “Thinking too hard?” she asked.

“Kind of yes,” Morgyn said, “and kind of no. Boyfriend troubles mostly.”

Liberty smiled. “Yeah, I didn’t think you were single,” she said. “Anything I can help with?”

“Probably not,” Morgyn answered. “But thanks for asking. I have a term paper to write anyway and I live with way too many people, so it’s easier to think over here. Or it’s supposed to be.”

“I don’t know,” Liberty said, “looks like you’re having plenty of luck doing the thinking thing, just, maybe not about what you intended is all.”

“Yeah,” Morgyn said. “It’s something like that. What are you up to?”

Liberty shrugged. “I was going to go home, just got my presentation done, but I saw you and thought I’d come say hi. You either need a hug or a fifth of vodka, and I’m not sure which one it is.”

“Both, I think,” Morgyn answered.

“Well, I can help with one of those,” Liberty said, sitting up and holding her arms out.

The thing that struck Morgyn the most wasn’t the offer itself. It was that she didn’t just hug the blond, despite being in range of it. It was strange. One of the few people that didn’t just take liberties with Morgyn’s body was named Liberty.

Morgyn smiled slightly, and sat up enough to fall onto her.

“Oof,” Liberty said. “You like food, don’t you?”

“Are you calling me fat?” Morgyn asked.

“Nope,” Liberty answered. “I’m just saying you seem to like food. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I do have a weird love affair with cheesecake and ice cream,” Morgyn said, sitting up onto the blond’s chair properly again.

“Oh, I love cheesecake,” Liberty said. “Specifically, cherry. Strawberry isn’t bad but it’s not my favourite. And I love chocolate, even though it tends to make me break out.”

“It’s probably the sugar,” Morgyn said. “Should try darker chocolate with a lower sugar content. It’s a little bitter, but good dark chocolate is amazing. Ever tried a French silk pie?”

Liberty shook her head.

“Oh, boy,” Morgyn said. “Someday, I’ll have to get you one. It’s a chocolate lover’s heaven, Oreo crust with chocolate filling, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.”

“Oh wow I think I got turned on a little,” Liberty said.

Morgyn laughed. “I wasn’t even trying that time,” Morgyn said.

Liberty raised an eyebrow. “You’ve tried before?” she asked.

“No,” Morgyn said. “Not with you anyway.” Well, it was looking like Morgyn was about to be pretty single, so maybe someday that’d change. But every time Morgyn and Liberty talked like this, the blond couldn’t help but remember that once, Caleb was this easy to talk to.

But sometimes, things changed.

Liberty shook her head, glancing down at the table. As she moved closer to the lamp sitting on the wood, it suddenly shot electrical sparks and Liberty jumped back away from it with a yelp, only to crash to the floor.

Morgyn startled, sliding off the blond’s chair and onto the floor. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Liberty answered, sitting up. “Just being my usual clumsy self, you know.”

Morgyn wasn’t so sure about that. The blond glanced up at the lamp. The bulb had gone out, and that was either a really freak electrical problem, or maybe, Liberty had just done magic.

Liberty sat up on the floor, and shook her head. “I’m getting used to this,” she said.

Morgyn looked back at her, and raised an eyebrow. “Used to this?” the blond repeated. “This happens a lot?”

Liberty nodded. “Yeah, happens at home all the time,” she said. “Something’s up with our wiring, the electrical stuff’s always going out, bulbs constantly burning out early, the circuit breaker keeps tripping, it’s really weird.”

Yeah, she was doing magic. Morgyn frowned for a moment, thinking.

“What school are you in, anyway, chinko?” one of the students at the other table asked.

“Yeah,” another said, “this is the Britechester side.”

Morgyn sighed, standing and gathering up the blond’s books. “She goes to the Academy of Minding Your Own Business, you may want to look into enrolment yourself,” Morgyn said, taking the blond’s books, reaching down and pulling Liberty to her feet, and heading towards the door.

“Lobster lover!” one of them called after them.

Morgyn made a face, turning to the side slightly as they headed out the door and jerking a hand to one side.

That particular student suddenly lost his balance somehow and fell out of his chair. The others howled with laughter, and Morgyn pulled Liberty out the door.

“What was that about?” Liberty asked.

Morgyn shrugged. “The Foxbury students and the UBrite students have separated Laurel Library in two,” the blond said. “One side is ‘lobster’ side, and the other is ‘dragon’ side. It’s stupid. You were on dragon side.”

“Oh,” Liberty answered. “I’m… never going to remember that.”

“Frankly, I barely do,” Morgyn said. “I’ve ended up on lobster side a few times on accident already.” Morgyn was perfectly capable of managing it, though. After a few years on the street, school rivalries were like walks in the park at sunset, and of course, Morgyn had a few years racked up altogether by now.

Ezio’s were more persistent and consistent, but Morgyn wasn’t a stranger to them either. Or sin. Sin was a very common friend too.

Morgyn was a terrible Christian.

“Strange question I guess,” Morgyn said, looking over at Liberty, “but who are your parents?”

Liberty blinked, and shrugged. “Trinity and Zane,” she said. “The Lee comes from my mother, her parents were Guiren and Hualan.”

Morgyn breathed out. She wasn’t as blooded out as Morgyn had been hoping, for her own sake, but it could be worked around. Li Guiren. He was the one that was the head of the family, when magic realm was built, and was a lot older than Liberty probably thought he was.

“Another strange question,” Morgyn said, “when did the electrical issues start?”

Liberty raised an eyebrow, and then looked thoughtful. “Well, I think the first one was about two days after yeye’s funeral.”

So Guiren bound her magic, and now that he was gone, it was coming undone. Morgyn debated telling her. But as the blond looked over at her, saw the soft little smile on her face, watched her different coloured eyes turn up towards the clouds, Morgyn didn’t know if the blond could ruin that moment.

Later. Morgyn would tell her later.

* * *

“We have a problem,” Morgyn said, scurrying into the living room at Spire and dropping the blond’s book bag onto the floor.

Ezio looked up from the couch, lying in Cassandra’s lap and reading a book. “What problem?” he asked.

Cassandra looked interested, but she stayed quiet, drawing the skyline in her sketchbook against the couch arm.

“Hi Cassie,” Morgyn said, and then picked up Ezio’s legs, sat down on the couch, and dropped his legs onto Morgyn’s. “Well, I have a new friend.”

“Congratulations?” Ezio said. “Not sure how that’s a problem.”

“No,” Morgyn said, “the problem isn’t the friend herself, the problem is, she is one of the five families.”

“Like me?” Cassandra asked.

“Yep,” Morgyn said. “And also not, because you have blood from like three of the five families and she only has blood from one I think, but anyway. Now we have two of you. … four, I guess, you both have siblings.”

“So what’s the problem?” Ezio asked.

“Oh, right, I think there’s someone out there doing something they shouldn’t be,” Morgyn said. “You know between the vampire messing with your head, and then attacking us that one day and all. Those of the five families are stronger than even I can be.”

Ezio raised an eyebrow.

“… okay maybe not stronger than you, but at any rate, her magic was bound by her grandfather, Li Guiren, and now he’s dead, and I can’t stop it from unbinding,” Morgyn said.

Ezio glanced up at Cassandra. Then, looked back at Morgyn. “And so we have a fledgling spellcaster that is probably stronger than she knows what to do with that is also kind of a walking giant target.”

“Exactly,” Morgyn said. “We have a problem.” Because, of course, the normal problems they had just by being alive and living, those problems weren’t enough. They also needed unravelling magical bindings and psychotic vampires!

There was a reason Morgyn had left magic realm, good fucking god. Maybe Morgyn needed to go pray or something, fuck.

“What are we going to do about it?” Ezio asked.

Morgyn released a breath. “I’d like to just rebind her magic,” Morgyn said. “I don’t think right now is a good time for one of the five families to be known about suddenly, especially if our little vampire friend is after the All like we think.”

Ezio shook his head. “You can’t make that decision for her.”

“I know I can’t,” Morgyn said. “Or at least I shouldn’t. Which brings me to the only other thing I can possibly do, which is take out this vampire before goes after her. With one of the five families, the All’s barrier will easily fall, and we don’t want that. At least if she tries to break it herself she’ll just fizzle out and die on it.”

Ezio looked up at the ceiling. “Well, theoretically,” he said. “We don’t actually know what’ll happen because no one’s ever gotten that far.”

Morgyn loosed a grunt. “I guess that’s true enough.”

“She does seem to have some interest in you,” Ezio said. “I think maybe the only thing we can do in this situation short of turning into vampire hunters or binding this girl’s magic again without her permission is to hope that you remain so interesting she doesn’t notice this girl.”

Morgyn didn’t like that. There was absolutely no guarantee this vampire wasn’t going to sense this, because it was entirely possible that she was waiting for something like this, one of the five families to suddenly end up on her radar. A sage was a lot less interesting than a five families member, and Morgyn knew it.

“Unless,” Ezio said, “of course, you wanted to start teaching her magic. You’d have to try and make it quick, but you could probably get her decently skilled at it. At least, enough that she can fight this vampire off long enough for one of us to intervene. But the sooner you start, the better.”

The blond released a breath. “Inevitably, I’d have to flip her world upside down,” Morgyn said.

“Yep,” Ezio said. “And I suggest it be soon.”

Morgyn didn’t really like that either. People reacted to having something like magic in many different ways. Some were excited about it, some were angry, some were in a state of disbelieving shock, others started out one way and then went another later.

Liberty could hate the blond for this. There’d be a lot of risk that went into this, but neither could Morgyn leave her completely defenceless.

“You’re probably right,” Morgyn said, sighing again.

“You sound sad about it,” Cassandra said, sounding confused.

Ezio looked up at her. “Sometimes, people don’t take the magic thing very well.”

“Oh,” Cassandra said, glancing down at the floor. “I think it’ll be okay.”

Morgyn snorted. “You’re more optimistic than I am,” he said. “This one wants to be a fucking astronaut.”

Of course, magic had a science, and science was magic in a sense. Maybe all Morgyn had to do was present it the right way, and she’d take it better than most. So far, at least, Liberty had been fairly easy-going about most things.

Morgyn could only hope this turned out to be one of those things.

Ezio cleared his throat. “Have you spoken to Caleb recently?” he asked.

Morgyn looked up at him, and then back down at the floor. “No,” the blond answered.

Ezio tilted his head. “He’s on the lower floor,” he said.

For a moment, Morgyn stared at the floor, and then looked out the window.

“Go talk to him,” Ezio said. “Nothing’s going to get solved if you don’t do anything, Morgyn.”

Morgyn knew that. And also knew that, as long as Morgyn didn’t make any moves, and neither did Caleb, nothing would get worse, either.

* * *

The music was audible not even partway down the stairs. Morgyn paused, about halfway down them, listening. Caleb was strangely touchy about his music, and generally speaking, wouldn’t play if he knew there were others close by that might hear.

Morgyn loved his music. There were times when it hurt to listen to, but there were times when Caleb hurt, too, and by now, Morgyn considered the two related, and inevitable. As the blond listened, it picked up speed, and pretty soon, Morgyn was relatively sure Caleb was going to break the piano.

Then, it stopped, and slowed down again. Morgyn shuffled down the stairs the rest of the way. Standing here listening to him play, while enjoyable, wasn’t going to get this conversation going, though Morgyn still didn’t really want to have it. Maybe things were better off left the way they were. They were still talking. Everything was fine.

Morgyn didn’t want to lose him. Maybe only Ezio meant more to the blond than Caleb did. Maybe they meant so much to each other, they were making all the wrong decisions.

Quietly, not that the blond needed to be quiet with how loudly Caleb was banging the keys, Morgyn shuffled just slightly into the small music room they had at the lower floor by the stairs. As he played, Morgyn just stood there, listening, hoping that he wouldn’t notice Morgyn was there and stop.

Only moments after Morgyn thought that, Caleb abruptly took his hands off the piano.

“Don’t stop,” Morgyn said. “Please.”

“It’s not good enough to listen to yet,” Caleb said quietly.

Morgyn frowned. “Caleb, it was beautiful.” The blond wasn’t just saying that. This was another of his insecurity issues, Morgyn was sure. Caleb sure had a lot of those, a lot of self-doubts and worries, anxiety that didn’t make any sense.

The blond wasn’t stupid enough to think that somehow, Morgyn could make all that go away. It’d always be there, maybe, as long as Caleb lived. But Morgyn had always hoped that someday, Caleb would be okay bringing those anxieties and insecurities to Morgyn.

Now they were here, instead.

“It’s not good enough,” Caleb repeated.

Morgyn’s eyes narrowed in sadness, but the blond didn’t argue again. Instead, Morgyn shuffled over to the piano, sitting down at the bench beside Caleb. Caleb almost immediately scooted away from Morgyn a little. The blond tried not to let the hurt show.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Morgyn asked.

“I don’t know what to say,” Caleb said. “You’re not really into music anyway.”

Morgyn blinked, and then the blond’s head shook. “No, I meant, about us.”

Caleb released a breath. “I don’t know what to say about that, either,” he said.

“Just start somewhere,” Morgyn said. “Caleb, I don’t want to lose you. But if you’re not happy with me, then I don’t want you to be miserable, either.”

“It’s not like I’m unhappy,” Caleb said.

“Isn’t it?” Morgyn asked. “You just scooted away from me.”

“No, I didn’t,” Caleb said.

Morgyn frowned. “Okay,” the blond said. “No you didn’t.” Denying it didn’t make it so that it didn’t happen, but if it made Caleb feel better to pretend otherwise, Morgyn supposed there was no real harm in it. “There’s still a lot to suggest that you’re unhappy.” He hadn’t even asked Morgyn out in a while. Granted, they’d all been busy with the move.

“I’m just, trying to understand,” Caleb said.

“Understand what?” Morgyn asked.

“Why you still do the work you do,” Caleb answered.

Morgyn breathed out. It wasn’t like Morgyn went out every night and fucked somebody, so it wasn’t even as frequent as Caleb seemed to think it was. Most people had that misconception, but it started to hurt after a while. Never mind Morgyn shouldn’t be that drunk that frequently.

Anymore, Morgyn was always high as a kite or drunk as hell, because Morgyn couldn’t do it any other way.

“University isn’t cheap,” Morgyn said. “I had to buy the textbooks, too, because I don’t know enough of the material. A lot of what I think I know is wrong, so I’m going into this worse than blind. I still needed to eat and sleep somewhere. Even if I tried to live on potions, I’d still need the ingredients for it, and eventually you crash from those.

“I have no marketable skills, I don’t have the time to learn any, Ezio didn’t have the financial capability of supporting me and I wasn’t going to ask. He’d have done it if I did, but that’s not the point. What else was I supposed to do? Now we live in a seven thousand a week apartment and more than half of us are in university. But the nice thing about the menfolk, they like pretty things, and I do happen to be one of those.”

And, to make matters worse, perhaps, this particular degree, Morgyn wasn’t pursuing it for the sake of a job. The hope of saving Ezio’s life probably wasn’t going to pay the bills, and Morgyn had little interest in becoming a doctor. Unless Morgyn suddenly managed to score a modelling career practically overnight, the whore was staying a whore.

“I’ve always heard it was a terrible thing to get stuck doing,” Caleb said. “You just don’t seem bothered by it.”

Morgyn’s expression flattened. “Do you really want me to be a complete wreck constantly?” the blond asked. “Because that seems like a bit too much for you to handle.”

Caleb thought about it. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said. “It’s really that terrible?”

“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t have chosen this,” Morgyn said. “But I didn’t.”

“How long have you been at this?” Caleb asked.

“Since the 1800’s, at least,” Morgyn said. “I’ve probably been doing this longer than I’ve known you.”

“You were in magic realm back then,” Caleb said. “It can’t have been that bad.”

Morgyn’s head shook, the blond turning down to face the piano keys. “It was complicated,” Morgyn said. “Ezio had just developed his heart condition. It was milder then, but he was in no condition to be doing anything particularly strenuous, and the only real jobs back then were manual labour. Scholarly pursuits were out, too, because he wasn’t very well educated either.

“Drake could handle manual labour fine enough, but he wasn’t yet immune to sunlight. The sun in magic realm didn’t hurt him. He started writing books, but it was difficult back then because he had to be careful when he went out of magic realm and it took some time before he got any sort of name to speak of.” It was a bit more complicated than it sounded.

Caleb frowned. “Aine had a decent bit of money,” he said. “She didn’t help?”

Morgyn glanced up at Caleb, and then looked back down at the keys. “She had other things to worry about.” Despite saying that, Morgyn occasionally wondered. The blond was afraid of wondering too hard. Morgyn still wanted to believe the best in her.

She was gone, anyway. She probably didn’t even have anything to do with this, it was probably simply that Morgyn really wanted her to be involved, just to have some kind of closure.

“Are you going to stop?” Caleb asked.

Morgyn looked up at him. “I’m trying,” Morgyn said. “It’s just not as easy as deciding I’m going to stop, and doing it. I could. But then someone else would have to get me through university, and I’m not even after this degree to find a job, I’m only doing it because it may help me save Ezio. And even that’s not a guarantee, so it could just be a huge waste of time and I’m not asking someone else to pay for that.”

The blond’s head shook. “It’s not so simple as just wanting to quit.” No matter how much Morgyn may want it to be that simple, it just… wasn’t.

Caleb released a breath, from his nose, and looked up at the ceiling. “I think I just need to think for a while,” he said.

Morgyn deflated, somewhat. “Okay,” the blond said, standing up. “I’ll leave you alone to think, then.” Morgyn went around the piano, headed for the stairs.

“Morgyn,” Caleb said. “I’m sorry.”

Morgyn paused in the doorway, looking at him over one shoulder, and smiled sadly. “So am I.”

* * *

It was nice under here. Morgyn had to wonder why the blond hadn’t thought of this before. Probably because Morgyn hadn’t had a reason to just yet.

They’d only lived here for, what, like five days? And already, here Morgyn was, under one of the computer desks, on the second bottle of wine. At least this was very good wine. Morgyn could be glad for that much.

Alcohol was at least very honest in its interest in fucking you up.

And then there was movement to one side of the blond, and Morgyn looked over to find Ezio sitting down on the floor, not under the desk as well, and that was just as well because Morgyn didn’t think there was enough room down here for the both of them.

“So,” Ezio started, “why are you getting drunk under the desk?”

Morgyn snorted. “Because alcohol is honest in its intentions,” the blond answered, words slurring just slightly. “And nobody was down here.”

Ezio sighed. “What I meant was, what happened?” he asked.

Morgyn looked straight ahead, at the side of the desk, eyes following the grain patterns. And then the blond snorted, somewhat derisively. “Caleb needs to think,” Morgyn said venomously. “So, I’m gettin’ drunk while he thinks.”

“Oh, honey…” Ezio said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

Morgyn shrugged. “He can hate this if he wants to,” the blond said, pausing to drink some of the wine. “I haven’t even gotten paid in a few weeks cause I been too busy going out with him and doing university, so you know what, now I’m gettin’ drunk so I can go get paid.”

Ezio just gave the blond a saddened look.

Morgyn snorted. “Don’t lookit me with that tone of voice,” the blond said. “I’m fine.”

Ezio didn’t say anything at first. “It’s okay to be upset,” he said. “But don’t do this while you’re hurting this much, Morgyn. It’ll only make it worse.”

As much as Morgyn didn’t want to admit it, he was right, and the blond knew it. This kind of thing, right now, it would only serve to compound the pain and make it all worse, and Morgyn knew that too. That was all it’d ever done.

But it wasn’t like Morgyn knew what else to do.

Morgyn stared at the wood grains again. “It sounds like we broke up,” the blond whispered. And without any warning, the floodgates unleashed, and the blond started crying.

Ezio reached over, taking the bottle of wine and setting it on top of the desk. “Come here,” he said, holding his arms out.

And Morgyn shuffled around under the desk, enough to crawl over to Ezio and fall into his arms.

“He’s just confused, Morgyn,” Ezio said. “Needing time to think doesn’t mean he doesn’t want you anymore.”

Wasn’t that exactly what that meant? That was what it felt like it meant. Morgyn didn’t say anything, just hiccuped and cried some more.

Ezio sighed. “I know it hurts now,” he said. “But eventually he’ll come around, you two will work this out, and everything’ll be fine. So don’t go doing or saying anything you’ll regret.”

Morgyn hiccuped again. “Making bad decisions comes more naturally,” the blond said.

Ezio snorted again. “I know,” he said. “That’s why I said not to do that.”

They went quiet, for a moment, the only sound being Morgyn’s drunken, depressed hiccups and grumbles. After a while, Ezio looked down at the blond.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you to bed. You can sleep this off. Tomorrow’s another day.”

“Another day for everything to suck,” Morgyn said.

“Come on, it won’t be that bad,” Ezio said, standing up, and picking Morgyn up off the floor.

Morgyn grumbled, moving around slightly to cling to Ezio. But it wasn’t like Ezio had ever dropped the blond before, Morgyn didn’t figure he would now, either. Morgyn just wanted to cling to someone.

“I don’t want to be alone,” Morgyn said.

“I’ll stay,” Ezio said. “At least until you fall asleep.”

“I don’t wanna wake up alone, either,” Morgyn said, and yes, the blond was whining a little bit.

Ezio sighed. “Okay,” he said. “Fine. What are you, ten?”

“Probably,” Morgyn answered. “But I miss you too.”

“Morgyn, we share a room,” he said. “And we live together again besides.”

“Sometimes, feelings don’t makes sense,” Morgyn said. For whatever reason, Morgyn just missed Ezio. It felt like they didn’t spend enough time together. Maybe the blond should fix that.

And maybe Morgyn would forget that in the morning.

“We should do stuff together again,” Morgyn said. “I miss you, and I don’t want to be alone for a while.”

“Probably a good idea,” Ezio said. “Or I’ll have to try too hard not to murder Caleb.”

“Don’t kill’im,” Morgyn said. “He’s just confused.”

“I know he is,” Ezio said. “But you’re drunk and crying on my shoulder. I murder people for that.”

Morgyn went quiet, watching the blur of the staircase railing go by. Then, the blond spluttered and cried harder. “Why’s it hurt so much?”

Ezio released a breath, reaching the staircase landing, and heading for their room. “Because Caleb’s the only one you’ve ever loved besides me.”

And he was right. All the same, if Caleb turned around tomorrow and said he was sorry, and he wanted things to go back to how they were, Morgyn would be elated and go along with it.

Because even when Caleb shoved knives in it, he still had Morgyn’s heart. And Morgyn wouldn’t want it any other way.

* * *

Morgyn had an unbelievable migraine the next morning. The blond had no one else to blame, and Morgyn didn’t try to, just got up, came downstairs to drink a glass or two of water, and then eat whatever Ezio had made for breakfast, and then gather up the blond’s papers and books and head to school.

The sun was too bright, the birds were too loud, the sky was too blue, the wind was too windy, the flowers were too colourful, and the other students were too cheerful.

Morgyn would get over it sooner or later.

As Morgyn trudged along the pathway to the science building, someone skipped up beside the blond and matched their speeds. Morgyn glanced over to find Liberty over there smiling, but her expression fell when Morgyn’s eyes met hers.

Morgyn looked away.

“What’s wrong?” Liberty asked.

Morgyn shrugged. “Stupid romance crap, that’s all.”

Liberty frowned. “You and your boyfriend?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Morgyn said. “It didn’t quite work out the way I was hoping it would, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Liberty said. “If you need anything, like if I can help or anything, just ask.”

Morgyn looked up at her and smiled slightly. “Thanks,” the blond said. “It’s just… I’m um. I’m kind of a hooker.”

Liberty blinked. “Oh,” she said. “And he’s having trouble with that?”

“Yeah, seems that way,” Morgyn said. “He said he needed time to think, so, I think we’re kind of on ice, at least for now.”

“He’ll come around,” Liberty said. “If he really cares. Sometimes people really do just need to think about stuff. Is that why you’re in university? You want out of it?”

“Yeah,” Morgyn said. “Well, no. I’m in university because I want to save Ezio, but I don’t even know if I can and I’m not interested in being a doctor. So I’m in a degree programme that’s ultimately just a waste of time, but I really don’t want to do this for the rest of my life.”

“You’re in biology, right?” Liberty asked.

“Yeah,” Morgyn said.

“There’s also botany and marine biology,” Liberty said. “And knowing some science will give you a leg up on other science degrees, so it’s not a total waste of time.”

Botany and marine biology… those sounded interesting. Morgyn might look into them later.

“Hey,” Liberty said, “there’s time. It won’t happen overnight, but you’ll get there. In the meantime, you might be able to get on assistance, maybe earn a few scholarships to help pay tuition.”

Morgyn sighed. “I don’t know that I qualify for assistance anymore,” the blond said. “We just moved into a §200,000 apartment.”

“Oh wow,” Liberty said. “Okay. Well, if you want, I know of a lot of older people that could use some help around their houses, you know, cleaning and helping put away groceries and things. It’s hard work, but it’s not that. Actually, if you’re interested in cleaning, my mother’s friends with someone that owns a cleaner business. I think you can ask to be sent to the same house all the time if you prefer familiarity. You’re charismatic enough, I think you’d be really liked.”

Morgyn slowed down to a stop, turning slightly to stare at Liberty. She looked a little uncomfortable, and then Morgyn’s vision blurred and the blond hiccuped and started crying.

“Oh,” Liberty said, “I’m so sorry, did I say something? I mean I just figured you could use some help, was that rude?”

“It’s fine,” Morgyn said, half whined. “I’m sorry, I just…”

She’d just done what Morgyn kept hoping Caleb would do.

“No, you’re fine, I just wasn’t expecting it. What’d I say?” Liberty asked.

Morgyn’s head shook. “Can I hug you?” the blond asked.

Liberty blinked, and then held her arms out.

Morgyn sniffled, shuffled a little closer, and kind of fell into her arms again, arms gently wrapping around her waist. She wasn’t a super tiny person, Morgyn could tell she had muscle under a few layers of fat (maybe it was the chocolate and cheesecake), but she was still a bit smaller than she looked like.

“Sorry I’m so emotional,” Morgyn said.

Liberty released a puff of air. “It’s okay,” she said. “My sister’s got depression, I’m used to this.” As she spoke, one hand started rubbing Morgyn’s back lightly.

And for a long moment, Morgyn simply rested against Liberty, and cried. And when the tears were finally gone again, Morgyn sat up, drying the tear tracks.

“I think I’d be interested in both of those,” Morgyn said. “Odd jobs and cleaning both sound much more tolerable.”

“Were you looking into modelling?” Liberty asked.

“I started to,” Morgyn said. “But I think it’ll take some time to get anywhere.”

“It usually does,” Liberty said. “Hey, we’ll get you doing something else eventually. If nothing else, Summer works at a restaurant that could use another waiter. You’re pretty good with people, it shouldn’t be anything for you.”

“Thank you,” Morgyn said, almost starting to cry again.

“Hey, we’re friends right?” Liberty asked. “Friends help their friends, that’s all. You’ll hear about it when I need your help talking to a cute someone.”

Morgyn snorted softly. “I might have to quality screen them first.”

Liberty smiled. “I’d totally let you.”

Her eyes were so kind. Maybe that was what made her so easy to talk to. Morgyn wouldn’t know for sure, but what the sage did know was, Morgyn could pay her back by making sure if anyone sensed her magic awakening, she could defend herself from it.

The best way to protect someone was to teach them to protect themselves.

“Liberty,” Morgyn started, “hypothetically, what would you do if I told you magic is real?”

Liberty blinked, and then giggled. “Oh come on,” she said. “Magic isn’t… … you’re serious.”

Morgyn nodded.

“Morgyn, you’re a bit quirky, and a little eccentric,” she said, “and I accepted those things, and also accepted there are things about you that I’m never going to get. But that’s a bit of a something to claim. I want to believe you, it’s just… magic?”

Morgyn breathed out, and then held one hand out for her. She never really touched the blond without permission, and Morgyn wasn’t going to drag her off without asking first.

Liberty raised an eyebrow, but she took the offered hand, and Morgyn led her off around the side of the building. Then, Morgyn let her hand go, held it out, and created a small flicker of Inferniate above the skin.

Liberty squeaked, sucked in a breath, and then leaned over to look at it closer. “Whoa…” she said. She leaned over to the side, making sure there wasn’t anything under Morgyn’s hand, straightened back out. “What the fuck?”

Morgyn snorted.

“This makes no logical sense at all,” Liberty said. “Is it hot?”

“Yes,” Morgyn said.

“I can’t touch it?” she asked.

“You could,” Morgyn answered. “But please don’t, you could seriously burn yourself.”

Liberty licked her finger, and then flicked it into the fire for a moment. “Whoa…”

“It burns off the wick of my magical energy,” Morgyn said, pausing a moment to wipe away the last of the tear tracks. “It sort of operates like metaphysical propane I guess. The exact details of this one aren’t very well known, but it has a science to it. Magic is science. Science is magic.”

Liberty straightened up, and tilted her head. “So, why are you telling me this exactly?” she asked.

“Well,” Morgyn said, idly playing with the flames with the other hand, “for one thing, I think I like you, and I want you to stay around. Magic is part of me, has been all my life. I was born this way. And for another… I think it’s also a part of you.”

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