Oddly enough, it was Riven who gave me the answers a couple of days later when I showed up at his doorstep with an offering of food. I knew people brought food to those who had sick loved ones, and while Ren wasn’t sick, exactly, they might appreciate having some meals already prepared, right?
Riven seemed surprised to see who was at the door, but let me in and took the food from me when I explained what it was.
“Oh, you didn’t need to – thank you, that was very kind of you.” He started towards the kitchen to the left, glancing back over his shoulder as he went. “Watch out for Sapphire, by the way. She’ll probably charge you once she realizes we have a guest. Do you like dogs? I never know if supernaturals who are related to cats mind dogs that much.”
“I am fine with dogs. I think most of us have nothing particular against dogs, though domestic cat shifters might disagree.” I remembered the pictures of the happy white dog Sorrel had shown me and glanced around curiously.
The house was beautiful. Walking into it felt cozy, somehow like a cabin and a forest at the same time, with all the greenery around. There were also several nature photographs hanging on the walls and everything was done in warm earthtones with wood floors and furniture, making the entire place feel very organic.
“Your house is beautiful,” I informed him.
“Thank you!” Riven absolutely beamed, looking delighted at my approval. “Fairies like plants – though I suppose you know that, since you know a lot about supernaturals?” He tilted his head to one side, curiosity practically brimming from his eyes. “Sorrel said you have done a lot of research and know a lot about supernaturals. I’ve learned a lot from Ren and Adair but I feel like I mostly know about fairies, some about shifters and naga, and even less about familiars, but most of the others…not much. I know what I see, and some basics Ren told me, but that’s about it. I have some books my friends gave me for my birthday, but there’s only so much information in them.”
It was my turn to feel curious. “You didn’t know much about supernaturals before you met them?”
“Mmm, no. I met Ren around the beginning of last school year – until then, I saw things with Vist vision but had no idea what everything meant and it, um, got me into trouble a lot with supernaturals.” He scuffed one foot against the floor awkwardly. “I was, uh, kind of scared of all supernaturals when I met them. Honey worked with me, I’d known her, but I was still scared she would hurt me after she realized I saw things and then Sorrel was hostile and that didn’t exactly help, either.”
“Hostile?” I asked hesitantly. “Or just…not coming across well?”
Riven chuckled a bit. “No, he was genuinely hostile at first, worried I was setting some sort of trap since I’d seen Ren with cursed invisibility and that wasn’t something he thought was possible – he didn’t know about Vist then any more than I did. It took us a while to warm up, but it helped when Ren took me over to his clinic and we hung out one afternoon.”
“Ah. Sorrel mentioned that his family and friends like to introduce him to new people when animals are around.”
Riven look startled. “Oh, he – he realized, huh. It’s not intended to be an insult, it’s just – we know he has a hard exterior but soft center, and sometimes we want to help people see that, you know? When he met Miles, Nathan and I – and Ren, too – were all worried about it and made sure Sorrel met him here, since Sapphire can get him wrapped around her paw in two seconds flat, so we figured it would be safer. It’s kind of funny, because a year ago Ren was trying hard to get me to like Sorrel, and then this year I was doing the same with Miles.”
I felt kind of fond of him just for feeling that way about Sorrel – who was important to me as my first real friend – even if they hadn’t started out well.
Riven tilted his head to one side. “Are you…happy?”
This startled me, and I looked at him for explanation.
He looked slightly embarrassed. “So, uh, Sorrel explained to all of us that you do feel emotions but just don’t express them normally. He said if we paid close enough attention, we could figure it out, it just takes some more time and noticing small things like slight finger movements or changing your position or something. I hope I’m not embarrassing you,” he rushed to add, “it’s just, well, we were just talking about how we wanted people important to us to get along with Sorrel, and he feels the same way about you. He wants all of us to like you and get along. You’re important to Sorrel, you seem like a nice person yourself, you’re pretty interesting, and I really admire how your brain works – oh, um, that sounded weird, didn’t it? I mean, I, uh, it’s just, I have unicorn instincts that just sort of form connections between things I don’t always understand. But you figure out some of those connections without any of that. Just listening to you the other day was really impressive.” He bit his lip, then gave me a cautious smile. “So what I was trying to say is that I am hoping we can be friends, too. And that I can learn how to tell what you’re feeling as well.”
I felt a rush of emotions. I was so impressed that Sorrel had noticed tiny things like that which even I hadn’t even noticed, then touched that he was trying to get his family to understand me, and happy that Riven liked me and wanted to be friends even without understanding me fully yet. All good emotions, a lot of them.
“I would like that,” I said quietly.
He gave me another smile, bigger this time. “I’m glad! You should come over and have dinner with us sometime. Or – if you’re free now, you can stay for a while if you want. Ren is at his parents’ today, they’re running some tests or something, but I had class this morning and I have to go to work in a bit so I couldn’t go with him.” He looked like he wanted to pout. “Ren wasn’t thrilled. Ever since we got back from our honeymoon, we keep having to take separate trips or one of us nearly dies or something, and then he turned dark fae and that’s a lot for him to process, so he’s been extra clingy lately.”
I nodded once. “I can stay until you need to leave, that is fine. I don’t work currently so I have a lot of free time.”
Riven started to lead the way into the living room just as his dog came bounding in, finally realizing I was there, and started investigating me with wagging tail, looking very hopeful for pettings. I obliged her.
“By the way, thank you for keeping the whole thing about Ren turning dark quiet,” Riven seemed uneasy now. “Sorrel said you knew and looked after Claire, too, so thank you. It’s just – I’m scared people might want to kill him just because of what happened, even though I know he’s safe now, but I can’t prove it.” His shoulders sagged a bit. “I don’t even have any magic or anything to protect him. I mean, Adair did, already – all of them, back when the coven was attacking and Ren nearly died the second time – but now there’s the construct and people might separately want to kill Ren and I just wish I could do something.”
“I think you are, already,” I told him as I took a seat. “You’re helping figure out how to fix the construct issue. And you helped him turn back from dark fae, even if that hasn’t been done before, and helping him just by being there. I imagine it’s terrifying to realize that happened to you and could have turned out horrifically, but you prevented that and helped anchor him in the present, in who he really is. That may not be as obvious of protection, but it is a way to help him.”
He nodded, but the tension didn’t fully leave his eyes. “You don’t work anymore,” he changed the subject, “you retired from espionage work, right?”
I nodded, waiting for him to ask the regular questions about whether it was like it was in the movies or whether I killed people.
Instead, he surprised me. “That seems like it would be lonely work,” he murmured. “You couldn’t really get to know people or trust them. I can see why you might want to retired. Do you miss the action, though? Or travel?”
I was kind of pleased he didn’t ask the regular questions that I got tired of answering. Yes, I would answer, but in reality, it wasn’t like I liked talking about people I’d had to kill. “Sometimes. I saw a lot of places, and sometimes there was quite a bit of excitement and entertaining events. But there are also long periods of boredom and eventually you get tired of always living in hotels. I wanted to have a home, a real one, somewhere I could put down roots and not have to hide. I can still afford to travel when I want, but this time for my own reasons, not to briefly talk to one person and then leave.”
“That makes sense.” Riven seemed thoughtful. “I hadn’t traveled much until this year, actually, when we went to visit my dad for the first time, then on our honeymoon and some trips after that for photography or to help figure out about the construct thing. I’ve decided that traveling can be fun – when it doesn’t involve figuring out murders – but I’m always happy to get home. I bet traveling all the time for years would get old fast.”
I found myself talking to him about some of the places I’d visited that I did enjoy and some that were…not as much fun. It was nice to talk to someone about things that normally no one cared about or thought about asking. A different side to my career work, something I didn’t mind talking about.
Eventually, though, Riven had to leave for work, and when I learned he was planning to walk, I offered to give him a ride. I was a little curious about why he was working at a café, given the Woodson family’s financial situation that even I was aware of.
“Oh,” he seemed a little embarrassed when I asked, “it’s just – my mom kicked me out when I turned 18, so I was used to supporting myself for a long time while working on earning my degree. I know technically I don’t have to work anymore, but it’s really Ren’s money, not mine, and I feel like I at least want to see my goal through of earning the money for my degree myself.”
I could actually appreciate that. “I have also been on my own since high school graduation, though I did have a full scholarship to college so I was able to go right away. My parents and I…didn’t get along, so we haven’t seen each other since then.”
He seemed oddly happy to discover this, before it dawned on me why. Most of the people in his life at the moment were the Woodsons – people with a lot of money who weren’t used to the idea of needing to work to survive. Adair and Violet presumably once had, but their children, not so much. They did work, it wasn’t like they were lazy at all, but there was something different between them and someone who’d actually had to work hard for everything they had. On top of that, they were very family-oriented while from what I could gather, he had no family until he’d more recently started reconnecting with his father, aunt, and cousin. I could understand why he might appreciate having someone around who actually understood some of what he’d dealt with.
“This is it,” he told me, interrupting my musings. “Thanks for the ride! I’ll check with Ren and see when we’re free for you to come over. We can invite Sorrel and Claire, too, if you want.”
I nodded once. “Is Devon in today?” Seeing his startled expression, I explained. “He’s my cousin’s son. Sorrel informed me that you’re friends.”
“Oh! You’re his cousin – oooh, okay. I just assumed it was a coincidence that the two familiars I know best are both cat familiars. But yes, he is. He’s usually working in the kitchen so you wouldn’t normally see him, but I can shoo him out.” He gave me a conspiratorial wink. “I’m the assistant manager, he has to do as I say.”
I followed him into the café, a little amused, but also hoping it was okay to just stop by and say hi to Devon out of the blue. I was beginning to second-guess this decision, which had seemed like a good idea since he was right there and all, but now I wasn’t sure.
Before I could change my mind, however, Devon came out of the kitchen, looking a little confused and curious, and came around the counter to me.
“Hey! Riven said I can have five minutes to talk to you – how do you know Riven, even?”
“I’m friends with Sorrel,” I explained. “I didn’t realize there was a connection until a couple of days ago.”
“Oh well, cool. What’s up, anyway? Is something wrong?”
And now I was feeling even more like this was a bad idea. At least an upside to having an inexpressive face was no one could tell when I was embarrassed. “No, I just – since I was dropping Riven off and knew you worked here, I thought I’d say hello.”
Devon actually looked pleased at this, though, so I found my embarrassment fading away. “Oh, that’s – nice. No one ever stops by for me. Dad works on the other side of town, Mom’s always busy during work hours, and Maggie’s usually busy with her friends, so I don’t usually see people I know. I mean, other than coworkers. Um, you want anything?” He motioned towards the menu. “Drinks or pastries or whatever?”
I glanced up at the menu, but was curious about learning some more about him. “What were you making in the kitchen? Can I have one of those?”
He looked just a touch embarrassed but mostly pleased by this suggestion and rushed off, only to return with a freshly baked pecan and cinnamon roll that looked delightful.
He was able to stay long enough to get my stamp of approval on his work – which seemed to make him happy – and then I slowly walked back to my car, enjoying the sugary treat while trying unsuccessfully not to get my fingers too sticky.
It was worth it, I decided. It was worth the embarrassment of not knowing if this random decision to say hi was okay just to see him look happy about it. I made a mental note of where the café was so I could try to stop by again sometime.
It might not have been much of an interaction with him, but still, I was trying. I was trying to make a home and set down roots, like I’d told Riven, and I wanted to make real connections with people. I was actually surprised at how well it was going, really, between Sorrel, Riven, the Woodson family in general, Devon, Virginia, and Maggie. Some of them I was doing better with than others, but…even the fact that I had a few people to talk to who were trying to understand me was nothing short of a miracle.
While outside I might have been as neutral as ever driving home, inside I was happy and content. Retirement was really working out for me.
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