Arrowan

Safiya called Luin the next morning and set the dinner for three in the afternoon. He was laughing as he hung up. "At least we might end up eating at a normal time," he said.

"I'm surprised she didn't change our dinner plans to breakfast," I said, laughing too. If Safiya was really so eager to have her bond awakened, I had to wonder what made her wait until three.

"It's hard for them to close the shop on such short notice," Luin explained. "Afternoons tend to be a little slower than the morning. Besides, they know I don't like making plans before ten."

Luin and I made a fruit salad and a charcuterie tray for our "dinner" – we didn't want to cook anything elaborate when we wouldn't be eating for hours. Better to have lighter foods to keep us from going hungry while Safiya was off chasing her bond. We teleported into their house a little ahead of Fen, and it was funny seeing the impatience on Safiya's face when we showed up without him. The instant he appeared, she flung her arms around him.

"Fen! It's so good to see you!"

"Well, I'm happy you're here," I whispered in Luin's ear. He looked like he tried to bite back a laugh and couldn't manage it.

Glenna came in and hugged Luin, then me. She waved at Fen, who had already been dragged to the couch by Safiya.

"So, how does this work?" Safiya asked him. Luin and I settled down on a little couch with a loud print and lion feet while Glenna sat in a chair, looking anxious.

"It's easy. Your bond already exists, I'll just feed magic into it so you can feel it," Fen explained.

"Is it permanent?"

"It is if you want it to be," Fen said. He watched her, and I thought I could see Safiya's apprehension leaking into Fen. His posture grew stiffer and he clenched his hands into fists, tucking them away on his lap. Was it a Seelie thing, being so empathetic? Luin was the same way. "Are you ready?" Fen asked after a long silence.

"I'm ready," Safiya said, and her glowing smile was enough to outshine any of her nerves. It seemed to soothe Fen, who nodded.

I watched him carefully. It was always fascinating to see a kind of magic I hadn't seen before, and I knew this would be no exception. His skin started to glow brighter and his eyes, normally a golden color that wasn't nearly as striking or bright as Luin's eyes, lit up like beacons. The golden strands in his hair shimmered and flared brighter, too. After a few seconds of this, Safiya gasped.

Gradually, Fen dimmed back to his usual coloring. He looked lackluster now that I had seen his true potential. Was he paler than before? How much magic had that just expended?

"I feel it!" Safiya said. Then her excitement fell. "I feel that a bond is there, but it's not tugging in any particular direction. Fen!" She whined his name, but I could see real panic escalating.

"It's okay," Fen said. "You might not be able to follow your bond, but I can. Do you want to go now?"

Safiya launched herself at him again, hugging him hard and squealing. "You're my favorite of Luin's friends!"

It was a strange thing to say, when her own sister and cousin were also Luin's friends, but when I glanced at Glenna, she looked completely unphased. She caught me looking at smiled, shrugging lightly. "Safiya's excitable. Her favorite person is always the one she's talking to. If you want to be the favorite next time, just bring her a cinnamon roll or something."

I laughed and Luin swatted at me. "Be nice!" he whispered. It seemed like that might be a frequent complaint from him.

I looked back to the couch where Fen had been sitting, and it was empty. He and Safiya had both disappeared while we were talking. "I hope this goes well," I said.

"She'll be okay. Safiya might not seem it, but she's tough," Glenna said. "Now, would either of you like something to drink? We might have a bit of a wait before dinner."

--

Fen returned not even an hour later. Safiya wasn't with him, which almost sent Luin into a tizzy until Fen smiled tiredly and said, "She's fine. They're having coffee."

There was a sadness in his eyes that I knew Luin picked up on, too. Luin squeezed my hand and went to talk to his friend. To give them some privacy, I turned to Glenna and said, "Would you show me around your magic shop? It's fascinating."

She nodded and led me into the next room, which had to have been either specially built onto the house or made out of several rooms with the walls knocked out from in between them. It was simply too big for the rest of the house, which was a modest ranch. There were stores of ingredients and a full setup for potion-making. There were displays with ready-made charms, each with its own neat label explaining what it did, how long it lasted, and any potential side-effects.

Most intriguingly, there was a massive bulletin board taking up most of one long wall with advertisements and various "help wanted" type flyers. I took my time reading through them. Some were looking for roommates of a certain species or looking for tutoring in certain magical arts. Others described jobs that needed done.

Glenna had been tidying up her potion station and I was so wrapped up in reading through the bulletin board that I didn't notice she had come up behind me until she spoke. "That's how Luin used to make his money," she said.

"Really?" With a renewed interest, I looked over the jobs again. There were some that played into his magic, I noted. Lots of them wanted help tracking down a person or object. And that gave me an idea. I was living off of Luin's money right now and it really didn't sit right. It didn't seem like such a bad idea to do some freelance work and help out a bit.

I turned back to Glenna. "Would you help me?"

"What do you need?" she asked, her eyes immediately filling with concern. Glenna was maybe the nicest person I knew, other than Luin, of course. She was definitely the better sister to discuss this with.

"I could use some money. Do you think I might be able to offer healing services here? I can't leave warded areas and it would stupid to bring strangers into the house we're staying in."

Glenna's whole countenance brightened. "Of course! That's a great idea. I don't know of many people with healing magic, and most of them charge outrageous rates. Cruel rates. It would be great to give people another option. And as you see, we have the space."

My heart raced with excitement. I bet I could make a decent amount doing this, even without charging more than Glenna approved of. "Would you be able to help me put together a flyer like these ones?"

Glenna bit her lip. "I'm not very good at that sort of thing. You should talk to Lachlan. He builds websites for a living, including doing the graphic design. I bet he could put something together, no problem. He and Magnus should be here soon, actually. I told them five o'clock for dinner."

And just like that, I had real job prospects. Sure, it wasn't what I loved – it wasn't sculpting – but maybe this way I could pay to put together my new studio. Just wait until Luin heard.

--

Fen was out again, mooning after his bond mate from afar. He still refused to approach the man and every day that he came back from his vigil, he looked glummer. Luin was worried about him, and it was getting harder to distract Luin from his worry. If Fen didn't shape up soon, I'd have to step in and give him a push.

Not today. Today, I would have no trouble distracting Luin – see, I had a surprise for him. I'd gotten a special order of groceries delivered that Luin knew nothing about since I had paid for them with the money I made on my healing jobs. Glenna had lent me what I needed to dress up the kitchen, making it look like one of those nice restaurants Luin liked so much. I had gotten dimmable lights so we could set low lighting, candle sticks, and thick, lovely white tablecloths.

Glenna had distracted Luin for the afternoon, saying she needed someone to help her mind the shop while Safiya was out with her soul mate. Unfortunately, that was the truth. Safiya was having a hard time focusing on her friends and family, and especially on her work, now that her bond had been activated. But Luin would be back soon, and I would be ready for him.

There was freshly-baked bread in a basket on the table, I had salads ready in the fridge, and I had spent the afternoon making homemade ravioli, which was currently keeping warm in the oven. It would be like the first time he took me to a restaurant, which had been Italian. Back when we went, I didn't know enough about human food culture to label it, but I knew now.

In the past week, since I started working and Luin started helping out in the magic shop more, our bond had stagnated. Oh, it was still healthy and vibrant, but it wasn't growing. I was getting impatient letting things happen naturally. Tonight, I was going to romance Luin. I was hoping our bond would grow enough to give us better senses of each other. Feeling strong emotions from the other, maybe, or reading each other's thoughts. Eventually, all of that would be automatic and natural. We would be connected in every possible way. Tonight would be a stepping stone to that place.

I heard movement from the living room and stepped out to see Luin running a hand through his hair, which looked unusually unkempt. When he saw me, he hugged me tightly. "Today was crazy," he mumbled against my chest.

"You look stressed," I said, second-guessing surprising him with a nice dinner after a hectic day of work. He looked like he could use a nap, not romance.

He pulled away enough to smile tiredly up at me. "I'm better now," he said, and my chest warmed. I could almost hear the unspoken words: he was better now that he was here with me. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

I was about to send Luin off for a long bath or a nap – our dinner could wait – when he stepped back and frowned at my outfit. It was hard not to shuffle awkwardly or pick at the clothes that didn't feel quite right. These were too formal, too nice. And I'd probably gotten the tie wrong, even though I watched a video on how to tie one over and over until it looked decent.

"You look nice," Luin said, sounding confused.

"Thanks. Do you want to lie down for a bit?"

He tucked his hair behind his ears and stood up straighter, giving me an imperious look. "I'm fine. What's going on?"

My heart beat faster and my hands grew clammy while I debated. He really did seem tired. This was a bad idea.

"Arrowan," Luin said, his tone warning.

"Okay, okay. If you're feeling up to it, would you change?" I swallowed nervously and tried to come up with some kind of explanation to give Luin when he inevitably asked why. Only... he didn't.

"Sure. I'll be right back," Luin said. He rose up on his toes and gave me a quick peck on the lips, then headed down the hall to our room.

I leaned against the wall behind me and let out a relieved huff. Who knew this would be so stressful? It had seemed simple when I first thought of it. It probably wasn't fair to Luin for me to ever think of our mating as simple, anyway. It seemed too much like taking him for granted. I should be nervous, because this mattered.

Luin only took a few minutes to get ready, but he looked like he could have spent all afternoon. His hair was tidied and pulled neatly back and he had on a particularly well-fitted pair of pants with a button up shirt and waistcoat that would have looked stiff and uncomfortable on me. On him, the outfit looked irresistible.

Luin smiled a little uncertainly at me and held his arms out to the sides. "Will this do?"

I licked at my lips, which suddenly felt dry. "Yeah. You look great." Since I really couldn't resist, I took Luin's hand and pulled him against me, then lifted his chin for a kiss. He kissed me back for only a few seconds before pulling away.

"Arrowan, what are we doing?"

I hooked my hand around Luin's waist and gently guided him forward. "Come with me."

When he saw the candles, the tablecloth, and the dim lighting, he stepped back. His eyes were wide as they took in the room, and when they landed back on me, they glowed with emotion. "Arrowan, this is so nice."

I pulled out one of the chairs so he could sit, and Luin blushed when I pushed his chair in. There had been a napkin draped over the bread to keep it warm, and Luin pulled it off, his eyes closing in appreciation as he smelled it. Luin had a soft spot for freshly-made bread.  I got our salads and sat down across from Luin, who smiled when he saw them.

"What's the occasion?" he asked.

"I just wanted to have a nice evening with you," I said, and his whole expression melted with affection.

He set his salad fork down and reached across the table to squeeze my hand. "Thank you, Arrowan."

I smiled back. "You're welcome."