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How to Care for Your Human [Gambuiness x Degu]

''I am surely not.'' he said grinning about her remark. Another first time, she called him Matthew. Why did that feel so good?
''But you are right, that all doesn't really make sense, at least when I think back to the stuff I learned at the academy.'' The thoughts that flodded his mind with all the things that would be possible with an nearly infinite amount of magic were endless. But was it infinite or is there a limit?

In addition he although started to ask himself other questions. Up to now, they were only directly touching each other with their hands when they cast a spell. He remembered how the feeling was stronger when he held her pressed against him at the mall. Was that just because it was their first touch or does it get weaker and stronger the closer their bodies were? Does it affect the amount of magic he has available or the power of her spells? Would it be brought to an extreme if they were naked and holding each other?

When the last thought crossed his mind, he felt himself getting red all over his face once again and all of a sudden if telt as if the heat in the room became too much. Inwardly he scold himself for this thought. Why should they be naked together? 'Get your stuff together Matt!!!'

First things first, there is a way to find out if it is endless. ''But we should make use of it as long as it lasts. Where else does it hurt you?''


Leta
Leta didn't had too many spare clothes packed into her bag and surely no, that were made to go to a dinner. But the walk from last night made her current outfit dirty so she washed herself up and put on a new set of clothes. Of course all in black, the only relevant colour if you want to move unnoticed through the night. She was really looking forward to the time with Sophie and to see how she was handling herself here. It was a welcomed distraction until Trevor would finally be back.

As if Sopie knew when Leta was done preparing herself, Leta heard a shy knock on the door, moved to the door and opened it.
 
"Well you're using it, so close enough." Muttering quietly and shaking her head, Serenity relaxed her hand again with a quiet sigh. "You know more than I do, clearly. A week ago I wouldn't have had anyone or anything with magic close to me." Thinking back, she nearly cringed remembering how she'd thrown her shoes at him, and then the reaction from him. It was in the past, of course, but it just showed how drastically things had changed in such a short time. From fury and fear, to a kind of calm and fear of something else, it was a miracle she hadn't gone insane yet.

"Just my ribs and back a little, but it's not terrible. Just hurts from when I got thrown." Probing gently at her sides, she cringed before managing a small smile. "I can still move around fine. Then again, I was moving around mostly fine when I got to you, and the bruises were.. Bad." Bad enough they had wiped Matthew out for the entire day and night.
 
''So you never were in contact with magic or a magician before? That explains a lot. You can ask me anything if you have any questions about it or are just curious.''
For him, magic was a natural part of his life, since his birth he's been raised to become a magician, to think that someone might know nothing about it, except that it exists was something he never even took into consideration. If he would have checked her paperwork, he would have at least known, that she never worked for a magician.

Her remark about the bruises she had when she moved into his house made him realise, that they knew each other for just a little more than a week. ''I can remember those bruises, it still baffles me how you were able to stand, let alone to move with these wounds.'' He felt sorry for her, the things she must have experienced to get such wounds must have been horrible. No wonder her only wish in the beginning was, that no one touches her.
In addition the feeling of guilt grew stronger, since he felt responsible for the things she experienced last night and her new wounds. It happened at his home, and he wasn't there.

''I am really sorry, that I wasn't there earlier last night. What happened to you only happened, because of me. Sorry.'' He tried to bring a smile to his face but couldn't do it and let his head hang down for a moment.

''The least I can do, is take care that you don't suffer any further. So, should we start with the ribs or your back?''


Charles
Hearing voices in front of his door woke him up. He wasn't sure if the voices were really there or if he imagined them. But he could hear them mentioning, that he will be moved during the night. As it became quiet again, Charles once again drifted off into a fevered dream.
 
"No, not that I'm aware of." She shrugged. "The nature of my work didn't call for me to know what people did for jobs, so if I met any, I wouldn't have known without seeing the actual magic." Her eyebrows went up at his reaction to remembering her bruises, a soft laugh leaving her mouth. "Slaves are not usually treated nicely, it wasn't uncommon. When that's your life, you learn to do normal things regardless of your health." Another shrug.

"You don't need to apologize to me for last night." Her expression softened as she rubbed at her face. "It's still better than what would have happened if someone else had bought me." That was an understatement. "It's alright." She patted at his arm awkwardly, looking away and up at the ceiling. "I'm already on my back, so I guess ribs is fine. Just don't overdo it."
 
''Still, I wanted to show you, that nothing happens to you in my house, that you are safe there. And after just one week, you get new wounds.'' Her words encouraged his wish even further, to show her the beautiful side of life. To show her, that she can leave her past behind and look forward into a better future.
One week ago, he although believed that he could show her this future but right now, he no longer was so sure. So much had changed and what laid before them was everything else than a time with no stress. Maybe even wounds if these people find them.

He had hoped, that she still remembered from the last time that he needed to see her wounds to be able to treat them. Right now his shirt, that she was wearing covered the spot up. Hoping that the spot on her ribs wouldn't be too close to her chest, to her breasts, he asked her. ''Would you show me the wound on your ribs? I need to see it to be able to heal it. And don't worry about me, somehow my magic isn't fading as much when we are ... you know, when we are ... when our hands are touching.'' Oh man, just speak it out, there is nothing to it to hold someones hand. Though, if he was honest to himself, for him there was something about it to hold her hand.
 
"You didn't give me the wounds, there's no reason for you to feel bad. You're fixing them, not giving them." Taking her free hand and grabbing where she had knotted his large shirt, she wiggled it up several inches. Hesitating partway through, she forced herself to pull it up until it was tucked securely beneath her chest. There was only light bruising from the impact, nothing broken or severely injured.

"I really don't think it's that bad, just sore." Swallowing the lump that had started to form in her throat, she nodded her head firmly. "Really, it's not that bad. It jolted me more than anything, I think. Even if you didn't do anything to it, it would probably heal within a few days." Squeezing his hand without realizing it, her cheeks went a deep pink as she cleared her throat. "But--Uh--Thank you. For helping. Yeah." Smooth, Ser.
 
''It at least doesn't look as bad as the others but I want to be sure. In addition, I learned last week, that what you describe as feeling sore is a broken bone for others.'' Before she could complain, he placed his hand above the bruise and started to concentrate. Taking care that his hand is far enough away from her chest, he let his magic flow and healed her wound. Just like before, the amount of magic used was way more than necessary and it didn't just healed her, but it did it very carefully. Making sure that the feeling at least doesn't feel uncomfortable. Rather the opposit.

Again, he felt not different than a moment before, when the bruise was still there. Opening his eyes again, he retracted his hand from her ribs. ''Just like with your wrist, I don't feel any difference from the magic inside of me. Even the negative energy I take over is not feeling as bad as it normally did.''

Realising that he couldn't explain this penomenon, he decided to let it rest. Thinking about it too much wouldn't bring him closer to an answer right now. ''So only the bruise on your back remains, shall we do that one too?''
 
"Why would it be different--" She hissed in a breath, surprised at how quickly he began before she could protest anything fully. The hand holding his squeezed again without meaning to, her breathing shaky for a moment as she readjusted to the sudden intrusion of magic. It didn't seem to matter how many times she felt it, it was still strange enough that she wasn't sure how to feel. All she knew for certain was that it was calming. That Matthew's touch was calming. It was almost worrisome how at ease it seemed to put her, but she nodded her head and relaxed her hand once he had finished up.

"Yeah, we can do that." She nodded again, letting go of his hand to slowly and carefully roll onto her stomach. Grunting quietly as she situated herself, her arms went up to prop her head before she sighed. "It's probably not even bruised, maybe just a bit red. You really don't need to do much with it." Her voice was muffled, but the guilt in her tone was clear as she peeked back and then ducked her head down again. "Really, it's not bad."
 
Lifting the shirt up high enough to see the bruise on her back became more of a challenge to Matthew than expected. How could he make sure, that she knows that he isn't doing it just to ogle her?
The bruise was on her left side, right underneath where her ribs are. When he wanted to start to inspect her bruise, he realised that he didn't asked her if it was ok, that he lifts her shirt up. Looking up to where her face was, she still was calm and her head rested on her arms. Maybe it was for her like the visit to a doctor that checked her body with a professional look. Hopefully it was, cause he knew that he didn't looked at her like such a doctor would.

The bruise was more than just a little red mark. A big bruise that was dark blue, nearly black went over her back, it was at least five, maybe even six inches long. Starting to prepare to heal her wound, he wanted to reach for her hand but became aware, that her head rested on her hands. She looked so peacefull and relaxed, that he hesitated to ask her for one of her arms.

Not sure what to do, he placed his own hand under her bruise, trying to give the impression as if he is checking it out. ''You know how it works by now, give me a moment and I will take care of it.''
His magic rushed to his hand and to her bruise. Treating the wound, that went deeper than she probably expected, he took the negative energy over and removed it completely from her. When he was done and took his hand back, he felt the magic inside of him calm down instantly. It became once again the calm sea, that he was used to.

''You were right, just a little red mark.'' he said with a smirk on his face, hoping that she would believe his little lie and not start to worry again, that he would overdo it. As he tugged her shirt back down across her back, he realised that she became very quite and that she had her eyes still closed. The last night was really short and all the things they discovered today were probably a little too much. He also felt, that the same was the case for him, as a silent yawn left his mouth.

''I could really do with a short nap. We already know, that the bed is big enough for both of us. I will lie down there, feel free to join me if you want. We will need some energy later, when we go on our little hunt for clothes. I *yawn* already have an idea where we could get some, but that woul only be possible after the evening.'' He stood up and moved towards the bedroom where he laid down and closed his eyes.


Leta
Though she lived here for three years, she nearly had forgotten how big this areal was. It took nearly thirty minutes until she reached Sophies place, together with Sophie by her side. She felt how Sophie looked to her all the time and that the girl still admired her as much as six years ago. They met a lot of people that Leta knew from her time here and everyone greeted her friendly and she became aware again, that not everything about this place was bad. But the leader of this place would always be enough to make this place not desirable for her.

Entering Sophies home, the girl went quickly to the kitchen, prepared something to drink for both of them and checked the oven. ''Rick is not here yet, he is stil out on a mission.'' She said proudly to Leta. ''But he will be here when lunch is ready.''
Leta went to her side and checked if she could help her preparations but Sophie had everything under control. She couldn't help but feeling proud and happy about the woman Sophie had become. When Sophie was sure, that everything went according to plan, the two woman sat down at the table and talked about the years they were apart from each other.


Charles
Someone kneeled down beside him and checked the state he was in. ''Hey, call the boss. This one won't make it much longer, I am not sure how long I can keep him alive. It feels as if he is burning. He will have to reschedule his plan if he wants this one to have a chance of survival.''
 
Jumping when the large hand settled on her back, Serenity took a calming breath and managed a small nod. Even though she'd had her own hand in his already, it was still startling to feel just how much larger his was on her body. Their size difference was easily noticeable, and she tried to distract herself by instead focusing on the feel of his magic. She hadn't realized how bad the injury seemed to be until she felt the pain leaving, an audible sigh of relief slipping from her lips as he worked the pain from her muscles. It was such a relief that she started to doze, entire body nearly melted in place as she mumbled out incoherently.

"Yeah, sleep." She could hardly open her eyes, let alone get the word out, and forcing herself up was a task in itself. Only the promise of a comfortable bed, with a peaceful presence beside her, was enough for her to follow along and join him. She was far too exhausted to be shy about sharing a bed again, crawling under the sheets gladly and scooting over until she was just barely touching him. Just the small amount of contact was enough to lull her easily into sleep, dragging her down into the depths of a barely memorable dream.

"Mm.." She stirred several hours later, hand grabbing at the material beneath her fingertips. Material--What? Her eyes opened slowly as she realized her head was laid on Matthew's chest, her hand gripping his shirt lightly as she listened to the sound of steady breathing. It took only moments to realize that he was still asleep, and she let out a quiet sigh of relief as she snuggled closer to him. A leg had managed to wind itself between his, her body pressed against his side while her head settled easily against his chest until they were molded together. It was only the sudden change in his breathing, the soft grunts from him, that alerted her he was waking up, her body tensing as she nearly bolted on the spot. Maybe he would go back to sleep if she just laid still, or she could pretend she was still asleep, so it wouldn't be as weird.

What the fuck?

The hand that was gripping his shirt had become much lighter, and as she worked the material gently between her fingers, she realized it was still getting lighter, and lighter, until she couldn't see it at all. There were indents where she was gripping the shirt, she could feel it, but she couldn't see her hand all of a sudden. Was she hallucinating, or was she still sleeping?
 
Before he fell asleep completely, he felt Serenity joining him in bed and lying down by his side. The touch he felt was minimal but very soothing as he fell asleep.

The feeling of someone pulling his shirt let him wake up. He felt Serenity close to him, she must have snuggled up to him during her sleep. As he opened his eyes, he saw her head resting on his chest, her body was pressed against his and his arm rested on her back. One of her legs was even lying beneath his legs. He couldn't remember the last time, he shared a bed with someone so close, it felt good. Really good. The light in the room was darker than before, they must have slept for quite some time.

Trying not to move and just enjoying the feeling of having her so close, he closed his eyes again for a moment. Suddenly the feeling of his magic being pulled over to her surprised him and he opened his eyes again just to see, that she was ... gone. He still felt her close to him but she was no longer there. With his free hand he reached up to his face and rubbed it. Still gone. The whole bed was empty, no sign of Serenity. But he still felt her being close and this wonderful feeling, that filled him up whenever they touched also was still there. But she wasn't.
Is this a dream?

''Serenity?''


Leta
Time flew by when Leta and Sophie brought each other up to date. Two hours already passed by when the alarm clock went on and reminded Sophie, to take the meal out of the oven. ''Excuse me for a moment Leta.'' Leta leand back in her chair and sipped on her glass of water while Sophie went to the oven, took out the meal and started to prepare the dishes. The door to Sophies apartment opened up, a young man entered the room and looked through the apartment until his eyes rested on Leta.

''Hello, I am Rick, you must be Leta. You surely don't remember me.'' he said with a calm tone.
Leta nearly spit the water right back out of her mouth when she saw Rick. He had a trained body, short black hair and was wearing better clothes than one would expect at this place. But it was his face, that surprised Leta. He looked exactly like Trevor did, at least as he probably did when he was younger. The similarity was undeniable.

''You ... you are Rick Swan, Trevors boy.'' Even his smile and his gestures resemble those of his father. As he made a step towards Leta, Sophie came from the kitchen and jumped into his arms. ''You are here, on time. I am so happy that you are back, are you ok?'' asked Sophie while she hugged him closely and covered him in kisses.
He remained calm and greeted Sophie by kissing her back and telling her that everything went fine and that he would be of course on time. He couldn't miss to see his girlfriends idol.

For Letas taste he was way too calm and reserved, just like his dad. She needed the show of affection like Charles always did. Still, seeing them together and especially Sophie being so happy made her miss Charles even more.
 
Oh, he was definitely awake. Even before she heard her name, Serenity knew he was fully up. The way that his body shifted under her, the movement of his hand that wasn't laid against her. The sound of her name solidified it, and she barely restrained the squeak that tried to leave her mouth as she twitched. He couldn't see her either? She was hallucinating, she had to be, but the more she fidgeted with his shirt the more she realized she was fully awake, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"I don't like this, it's creepy." Letting go of her tight hold on his shirt, she flexed her fingers and tried to focus before she panicked. Invisible, she was invisible, but why? How? Taking a deep breath and finally letting go of his shirt fully, she rolled onto her back as she caught the first hint of flesh. Groaning in relief as she flexed her fingers until they cracked quietly, she was able to relax only when the shape of her hands became clear to her eyes again. "Okay, so that just happened." The hands had fully formed, then the wrists, and her slender arms that disappeared under the borrowed shirt before everything else reappeared. "Feel like telling me how that just happened?"
 
Still wondering about, what was going on and why he felt his magic being pulled over, he became aware, that something was pulling on his shirt. When he heard her voice but couldn't see her, his whole body tensed up and he felt his body getting covered in goosebumps. He looked like he just saw a ghost.
His logic told him, that ghosts don't exist but he couldn't help the feeling of frightening crawling up his spine. ''Hello?''

In the next moment he felt another pull on his magic and Serenity became visible again, right next to him. He was so startled, that his instinct kicked in and he jumped half out of the bed. But his legs were still covered by the blanket and didn't follow the rest of his body, so he fell backwards on the floor and landed on his ass.

A moment later, after he freed his legs, he sat back down on the bed and remembered her words while he was on his way to the ground. At first, he had no clue about what just had happened but in the next moment he remembered the prank, some classmates pulled on him at the academy. It was exactly the same as what had happened here right now. Out of reflex he replied, ''Haha, very funny. You scared the shit out of me.''

As he saw her, looking at him with a serious face, he realised that she had no idea what she just did. ''I have no clue about how that happened, but it seems that you are not just capable of shooting lightning bolts. Shit Serenity, who are you?'' Still baffled about, what she just did, he thought about the best way to explain to her, that this was another spell that she just mastered without of ever being trained. This should not be possible.

''I have no idea how you did it, but there is a spell, called camouflage. It is exactly what the name says, you get invisible and on the highest level, no one can hear anything from you except your voice.'' Taking a deep breath, he calmed down a little more. ''Sorry if I was rude, I didn't mean to insult you. You just scared me there for a moment.''
 
Shrieking as Matthew rolled over and out of the bed, her eyes went wide as she sat up abruptly. Chest heaving as a wave of adrenaline washed over her, her hands shot up in the air as she sat there stiffly and stared at him. Only when the initial shock wore off did her hands slowly lower, watching Matthew as he sat back on the bed. She sat some distance away still, regaining her composure as he confirmed that she had frightened him.

"I didn't mean to." She made a face, hands gripping at her shorts as she stared down at the mattress. "I'm just.. Me?" Raising her head to peek at him, she shrugged as her cheeks turned red from the growing embarrassment. What other answer was she supposed to have for him? "I did another spell?" Looking down at her hands and then back to him, Serenity finally forced herself from the bed to start pacing around the room. "I scared myself." Biting into her lip anxiously, she moved around the room as her hands flexed at her sides. "First fire, then lightning, and now I can turn invisible? What am I?" She paused in her pacing, turning to give him a panicked look from across the room. "Matthew, what am I?"
 
This was definetly too much, not just for him but especially for Serenity. He felt her panic growing when she stood up and started moving across the room. Matthew stood up as well and went over to her. She was about to start shaking, her eyes looking into every direction as she started to question everything she took for granted until now, even herself.

When he was standing in front of her, he pulled her in to his arms and held her pressed against his body. The words that followed came out before he really thought them through. ''I also don't understand a thing of what is going on here. But keep in mind, you are not alone in this, we are in this together and together we will find out what is going on here.''

He believed his words and knew, that as soon, as he had Leta and Charles back, he would find out together with her what the meaning of this all was. ''There must be a reason why this all is happening and we will find it. Until then, let us take care that you learn how to control that all, so that you become the one in control. Believe me, together we can make it.''
 
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Nearly taking a step back when Matthew approached her, Serenity stared almost suspiciously at him before she was suddenly enveloped in a hug. The surprise on her face was hidden by it being pressed against his chest, her body stiff for a long moment before she nearly sagged against him. Arms came up hesitantly before wrapping around him, clenching fistfuls of the back of his shirt as she took a shaky breath and nodded.

"I know. I'm glad." Voice muffled against his chest, she drew back to look up at him. "I hope it's soon, or I don't know what I'll do. It's so much to take in." Letting go of his shirt, she stepped back with an embarrassed expression. The moment she remembered she didn't have a bra she went bright red, crossing her arms hastily over her chest and stepping back. "I, uh, coffee. I'm going to make some coffee, and then we can do whatever you had planned!" He'd said something about shopping, right? Scurrying off to the kitchen, she plucked down a mug for each of them and set to distracting herself by making coffee.
 
To Matts relieve, he felt Serenity relaxing in his arms and she even put her own arms around him. As she looked him directly in the eyes, he felt closer to her than before. It felt like her eyes pulled him towards her and he felt the temptation to give in to this feeling but the moment ended before he could do anything. When she stepped back from him, he saw that her eyes were no longer in panic but she still was afraid. To his surprise, she suddenly took another step back and crossed her arms over her chest. Something must have come to her mind because her attitude changed, from being afraid to ... he couldn't describe it, ... being concerned?

He pushed the thought aside when she left the room and went towards the kitchen, as long as she no longer was in panic, he would gladly accept it. Checking the time, he saw that they could go shopping already. They must have slept longer than he thought. Moving towards the kitchen, he saw her preparing some coffee. The smell of coffee powder filled his nose, what he enjoyed a lot. Though he felt quite awake, after the recent actions, he would never decline a coffee.

It really was a lot to take in, all the things that had happened since yesterday, all the stuff he could not explain, it was just too much. Especially when it came to finding out why this all is happenning, he had no idea where to start looking for an explanation. All the libraries he knew couldn't help him, he already knew that something like this has never happened before. So where would be a good point to start?

Lost in thought he felt Serenity looking at him and he stopped thinking about the recent events.
''Let us take one step after another, first we get some new clothes, then we take care, that you will be able to control your magic and we will get Leta and Charles back. Why this all is happening will probably take some time to figure it out. But I promise you, that we will figure it out ... somehow.''

He enjoyed the coffee she had made and when the mugs were empty, he decided that they could go to Miras shop now.
''I thought to bring us to Miras shop and we take from there what we need. The whole mall is closed by now, so we would be alone. But still we should be careful. Better safe than sorry.'' He stood up and wanted to start creating a portal to the shop, when he realised, that he could never cross that distance by a portal with the amount of magic he had available. And the distance from his house to this one was even further.
Remembering that he held her hand yesterday, when they went through the portal, it confirmed his theory, that the amount of magic he has available is somehow connected to Serenity.
''I'm afraid I can only create a portal to Miras shop, with your help. Would you be so kind?'' he held his hand out to her.


Leta
The lunch was good, more than good. Sophie really outdid herself and Leta didn't held back telling it to her while they were clearing the table. During lunch, they talked about the development of the underground during the last six years in general and they even told Leta about their plans for their marriage.
Leta was really happy for Sophie, that she developed so well during the last years and now was looking into a bright future.

As the evening came to an end, she started to prepare herself to go back to her room as Rick started to talk. ''Wouldn't you like to come to breakfast tomorrow too? My dad won't return until afternoon, so you wouldn't miss him and Sophie would surely be happy to have you around a little more.'' Leta didn't expect him to be the one to invite her but he was right, she could sit and wait in her room until Trevor would finally return or she could spend a little more time with her girl.

''Thank you for your offer, then we will see us again tomorrow morning. I think I can find my way to this place then by myself.'' she replied to Rick.
''Alright, then at nine o'clock right here.'' said Rick and Sophie embraced Leta in a long hug before Leta turned around and left their apartment to go back to her own room.
 
Once the coffee had finished up she poured the two cups, handing Matthew his before sipping at hers. The heat alone helped to calm her down, the taste secondary as she sighed into the liquid. Perking up at the mention of clothes, she wasted no time in finishing up her drink and then washing both of their mugs out. Realizing that it was finally time to go, she eagerly moved towards him, more than ready to get some proper clothing, and definitely shoes.

"Oh." She paused before nodding, hesitating before reaching out and laying her hand in his. If that's what she had to do to get new clothing, then that's what she would do. Besides, they'd done enough touching, simply holding hands again wasn't excruciating, and the warmth was welcome. Not that she was going to admit that out loud, of course. Nor would she admit that she was almost growing to crave the contact despite her initial mistrust of him. The feeling had faded, but the instinct to pull away from people and physical contact still lingered in a way she couldn't shake.
 
When she put her hand into his, he smirked a little, when he realised for the first time, how much bigger his hand is compared to hers. The sight of her hand in his felt just right as well as the feeling of her skin on his. He felt the years of hard work on her fingers and at the same time she felt incredibly tender and soft. The question came to his mind, if he would act different, more forward towards her, if she wouldn't have made the past experience that she did.

Concentrating on Miras shop, a circle appeared in front of them that grew larger with each moment. When it was big enough, he opened his eyes and went towards it. ''Let's go, at first we check if someone is there.''
Together they stepped through the portal and reached Miras shop in a second. The lights were all out it was quite, no sign of anyone else near. Only the light from the advertisment in Miras shop and the other near shops brought some light into the room. It would be enough for what they intended to do.
''Okay, you take what you need, I will look if Mira has some paper and a pen at the counter and will leave her a message.'' Her hand slipped out of his when she turned away and went to the shelfs that got her attention.

Yes, he would act differently if the circumstances were different.
 
Reluctant to step through the portal now that she was clear headed and aware of everything around her, Serenity forced herself through without pausing. She was proud of herself for working through her slight fear of it, and the sight of Mira's shop was a relief. The darkness made it a bit eerie, but her focus had quickly turned to the clothes rather than the lack of light or the silence around them.

"Alright." She was already wandering off, bare feet pattering across the floor as she sorted through the different items of clothing. She looked for comfort and logic over anything, not bothering to look at any prices as she picked out a handful of outfits. They could always visit again, of course, but having several changes was smart just in case they were kept indefinitely at their new location. Her trip through the dressing room was brief, mainly used to assure herself that the new bras fit before she had moved onto shoes.

"I'm almost done." A pair of slippers and shoes later she was holding a pile of clothes in her arms, trying to keep a hold on all of them before seeking Matthew back out. "This should be plenty, I assume you either have a laundry room there, or we can always come back."
 
After he wrote a short note to Mira, he found a pair of jeans, two hoodies, a pair of boots and enough underwear for one week. This should be plenty.

Serenity needed a moment longer but was fairly quickly finished when out of nowhere he heard a noise behind him, turned around and saw a portal appearing. Shit, they already found us! Quickly he moved to Serenity and prepared himself to get them out of there. ''Prepare yourself, we are getting visitors.''

But those, who came through the portal were no humans but six of the Santfei. He recognised two of them from his time in the hospital. The big one with the horns, with whom he talked and the small one with the long ears, who healed him.

His body relaxed a little but not enough, to not be prepared to leave the place in an instant. The big one made a step towards them when he saw Serenitys and Matthews look on their faces he stopped. He started to talk with a deep and calm voice. ''We are not here to hurt you. We wanted fulfill our promise and bring you your comrade back. Sadly I have to inform you, that his wounds were too deep and we were not able to keep him alive. But we wanted to at least give him back to you, so that you can give him the last honor.'' He bowed his head with the long horns down and another Santfei from behind him started to move to Matthew and Serenity. This one was nearly as big as Matthew but had a tail, two smaller horns on his head and the legs of an ox.

Matthew couldn't believe what he just heard and he felt tears filling up his eyes. With his hand he reached for Serenitys and grabbed her. His voice started to break when he started to speak. ''Charles is ... gone? That is not possible, not Charles, he was my brother, he can't just be gone.''

The Santfei who carried Charles over his shoulder, kneeled down in front of Matthew and laid the corpse carefully on the ground before he stood up again. ''I am truly sorry for your loss.'' he said, bowed his head down and returned to the big one.

At first Matthew didn't wanted to see Charles this way but he couldn't help and looked down to see ... ... an old man who must be around fifty years old with long grey hair and a grey beard. Wiping the tears from his face he looked once again just to see, that the guy is not Charles!
 
"Visitors?" She stiffened up immediately at the announcement, hands gripping the pile of clothes tightly as she turned. Letting out a shriek at the sight of the creatures, she stumbled back and dropped the clothes before moving to Matthew's side. Nearly jumping out of her skin when he grabbed at her hand, her eyes flickered uncertainly between the new arrivals and him. They could claim they had no intent to harm, but words were just that--Words. Squeezing Matthew's hand as she trembled but stayed silent, her teeth bit harshly into her lower lip as she spotted the tears building up in his eyes. Charles was dead? Her hand left his as she glanced down, brow creasing before her head tilted uncertainly.

"I don't understand." Unless Charles had magically aged during his absence, this was someone else entirely. Too old; too skinny; hair unkempt and long. "Is this a trick, is there something I'm not understanding?" She kept her distance, fingers flexing as she felt the sliver of panic evening out even as her brain screamed to fling every bit of fire she could muster at them.
 
A wave of relief washed over Matt when he realised, that it really wasn't Charles who was lying on the floor. But at the same time the whole situation beacme too much for him and he felt his sadness turn into anger that was building up inside of him. Anger partly towards the Santfei, who couldn't keep their promise and anger towards himself, because he trusted them to have Charles.

''What is this? Are you kidding us? This man is not the guy, who was with me in the car.'' He went towards the big one until he stood right in fromt of him. He had to look up to be able to look him in the eyes. The other Santfei started to move towards Matthew but the big guy raised one hand and the other Santfei immediately stopped.

''Is this some game for you? You better have a damn good explanation for this before I forget myself. And where is Charles?'' The big guy didn't move one inch and remained calm. ''When we arrived at the crash, shortly after it happened, we found that man over there lying next to you. We took him with us and when we came back to get you too, we found out that you were already on the way to the hospital.''

Matthew kept starring into the eyes of the big guy. ''You appear here all of a sudden by a portal and now you expect me to believe, that you first took this guy with you and then needed some time to come back?'' The eyes of the big one became smaller as he replied to Matthew. ''Not all of us were at the place where the crash happened and not all of us can create portals. It was bad luck, believe it or not, your decision.''

Matthew kept his eyes focused on the big guy but he wanted to believe him, cause this meant that Charles might still be alive, somewhere. He took a step back and turned his back to the big guy. ''Could you please get this poor man out of here and give him a proper grave?''

''Of course.'' said the big one and the Santfei, that carried the man to Matthew went over to them, put the old man back on his shoulder and left the shop through a portal.
Matthew became quiet for a moment and thought about this new situation.

He turned to Serenity and went closer to her, shielding her from the Santfei with his body. In a hushed tone he started to talk, ''Are you ok? I would like to use this chance to talk with this Santfei and find out a little bit more about this whole situation. Is that ok for you? I would ask them to trust us and take two of them, who can't use portals with us. They would completely rely on us to bring them back. But we would have to trust them too.''

Before Serenity could answer, Matthew heard something moving behind him and turned around to see the little Santfei, that healed him at the hospital. ''Hello, you were Lu right? I haven't thanked y'' Lu ignored Matthew and only focused on Serenity. His purple eyes seemed to grow wider with each passing moment and he seemed unable to look away. His ears which were standing upwards normally, were laid back and hanging a bit down. When he started to talk, his voice wasn't high or squeaky, what Matthew somehow expected due to the height of Lu. Instead it was very soothing, as if he tried extra hard to put all of his charm into his voice. With his purple eyes he looked up to Serenity. ''You are really beautiful. When you change your clothes and put on these new ones, can I watch?'' he said and pointed with one of his hands towards the pile of her new clothes.

Ragnar appeared behind Lu and pulled him at his ear with him. ''Are you crazy? You can't just ask her such stuff? Give them some room.''
''But why? She is beautiful, maybe she would let me watch. Let me go Ragnar, I warn you, let me go!'' protested Lu towards Ragner who pulled him back to the other Santfei.
 
"That's not Charles." Serenity repeated his words, watching warily as he approached the large creature fearlessly. When the others made to move towards him a sound almost like a growl left her mouth, hand clenching until the lead Santfei seemed to stop the others. "I fall on the not believing it side." She huffed as the men interacted, eyes inspecting each creature in turn to assure herself they weren't moving in to attack. None of them seemed to be, at least not yet.

At least now they were taking the corpse of the old man away, but she huffed irritably as Matthew moved closer to her and began to ask questions. "At this point things are already fucked up enough, why not? Worst case scenario we die, I suppose." Though the Santfei hadn't made a move to hurt them yet, so that was a good sign. Her head turned at the sound of quiet footsteps, inspecting the small creature that had approached them.

"Excuse me?" She blinked, taking a moment to register the words as the other Santfei started pulling back the offending man. "You think I'm beautiful?" Her expression was neutral as she raised a hand, flexing her fingers again as she let the flames begin to lick at her fingers. They danced hypnotically, straining at her fingertips as they hungrily, desperately, tried to move towards Lu. "Will you still think I'm beautiful when I turn your skin black? Touch me and that's exactly what I'll do."
 
Ragnar let Lu down when he saw the flames on Serenitys fingers. Lu looked from behind Ragnars leg. ''Look Ragnar, she is not just beautiful but a magician too. Ragnar, I think I found my soulmate.'' Ragnar was way too impressed by the change of events, when he saw Serenity as that he listened to Lu his words. Threatening someone with such immense power like that of a fireball was no joke and he took a step back.

What the small one said wasn't nice but still just words so Matt was plenty surprised when he saw Serenity reaching her hand out to Lu and small flames started to dance at her fingertips. Thinking about what might have happened if he held her hand right now send a shiver down his spine. But somehow he liked this side of her. It was so different from what they experienced during the last day and he realised, how this time has changed Serenity. Never again would she allow anyone to do whatever he wants with her. She can defend herself now and she knows that. He couldn't help but feeling happy about this change.

But what although caught his attention were Lu's words about finding his soulmate. What did he mean by that?
He stepped between Serenity and the Santfei and looked towards Ragnar. ''Keep your little gnome in check, or he might get burned.'' said Matthew to Ragnar with a way too big smile on his face.
''Allright, so not all of you can use portals am I right?'' Ragnar nod at the words of Matthew.
''Right, me, Lu and Fred over there can't use portals.'' He pointed at Lu and another Santfei that looked a lot like the one who just took care of the corpse.
''How about Fireballs?'' asked Matthew.
''Fred can use them, Lu and me not.''

Matthew turned to Serenity and whispered to her, ''Though the small guy seems to be a little off, I would like to ask the small and the big guy to come with us. The big guy seems to be their leader, he has probably the most informations. And the small one can't escape or become a threat. Are you ok with that?''
 
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