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Nephrite leaned into Nell's embrace. She wasn't sure her friend was aware of it, but she always smelled nice. Hints of jasmine, sandalwood, bergamot, lily of the valley . . .

'I hope so,' Nephrite said, toying with one of Nell's bangles. It probably was a boon in this case that she still mostly looked the child she really wasn't anymore.

She idly glanced up at the ceiling. She had taken a peek into the attic already during one of her previous visits—it was dusty and dirty and all sorts of disgusting up there. And full of spiderwebs and bugs. She shuddered.

'Lets head to the bathroom,' she said.

***

Amon breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he observed Trivii's shocked reaction. So she did believe him now. "Athan has already given her Hell about it and scared the living daylights out of her, so I think killing people is off the table for the time being. But still . . . I would like to not have to be super paranoid about eating any food in this house when I visit? Because, your cooking really is excellent." He beamed at his host, hoping the matter was settled.

Nephrite shuddered slightly when they passed the cold spot. She harbored an intense dislike for the frost fairies. 'Go and bother someone else,' she hissed in the direction from where she'd thought she'd heard the chatter.

In the bath she set down her little basket on the counter and retrieved some items from it. A hand made incense cone was first, which she set on a fireproof surface and lit with one of Amon's lighters. The scent, she hoped, would keep the fairies out—she was still experimenting and trying to figure out what was working on them and what not. They were completely different from the ones that had infested Amon's house.

Also in that basket were several little cone bags with the mehndi paste she had prepared and whatever else she'd thought might be useful.

***

"I don't mind eating in here, but either way is fine with me really." He said, though he actually did prefer the kitchen for its warmth. "That looks and smells delicious."

"Seriously though," he quickly got back on topic, only temporarily having been distracted by the food. "After what I've told you, you are still considering to let her move in?" He spread out his hands, momentarily at a loss for words.

Given, currently Trivii was as safe from Nephrite's antics as she possibly could be, he figured. At least for as long and Neph and Nell remained BFFs. Carnelian needed her guardian, and Nephrite probably wouldn't do anything to harm her. But should the two of them ever have a falling-out . . . "It really is a very bad idea," he insisted.

'Nope~!' Nephrite replied cheerfully. She fanned at the rising wisps of smoke with her hand so the scent would spread. Hopefully this would keep the annoying pixies at bay, because there were few things worse in her mind then to have an icicle slipped into the back of your towel when you'd just gotten all warm and comfy. Just like her guardian she intensely hated the cold.

'But I've been to spas and the ḥammām in the bazaar quarters with Amon many times,' she explained. 'And I asked the lady on the spice market how to best prepare the henna paste for mehndi. It has lime juice added for the acid to intensify the colors, essential oils to make the smell a little less bad, and sugar so it'll stick to the skin better and not crumble right off as it dries,' she counted the instructions off her fingers.

***

Amon laughed. "I'd be so down for testing your recipes, absolutely. Just . . . ignore my opinion whenever I rate something as 'too bland'." He gave a boyish grin and winked. It was a well known fact he liked his food on the spicy end of the spectrum. Molten lava kind of spicy.

"Well, that's something at least." Amon made an unhappy face, disappointed he hadn't been able to talk the catkin completely out of this madness. But at least she seemed to have taken his warning to heart and was wary now. This was probably as good as this was going to get. "And I have to admit, you brought up a pretty valid point—she really shouldn't be alone."

He reached to tie back his hair into a messy bun at the nape of his neck before he got comfortable in his seat. "Seriously, if you suspect she's up to anything, don't hesitate to call me. I know how to get a hold of Athan should things get bad with her. And I highly recommend you get someone to ward your pantry so she can't tamper with the food in there. Wish I could do this for you, but . . . eh. Haven't had a chance yet to properly learn that spell. I promise it's right on top of my priorities list though."

Apart from a pair of golden earrings and a carved jade pendant Nephrite did not wear as much jewelry. But her hair ornaments made up for it. It was as if she was discarding a mini-arsenal of ornate daggers as she pulled combs and needles from her hair to undo her elaborated bun. Cling! Cling! Cling! they went as she dropped them into the bowl one by one. A few of the hairsticks looked suspiciously sharp and sturdy. She'd kept wearing those ever since her encounter with Ezra, and they were laced with poison now.

Undone, her hair was almost as long as her entire body—the tail included—and wafted weightlessly through the air, almost as if it had a life of its own.

After a moment's hesitation, Nephrite then loosened her sash and shrugged out of her layered robes. She did, however, keep the simple innermost garment on, so that her stone and her scarred chest remained covered.

'Those annoying pixies,' she said grumpily. 'I hope it will repel them and keep them out. You know, just how citronella helps against mosquitos?'

***

"Thank you," Amon beamed. He'd gotten into homecooking fairly late in his life, so compliments about his skills were more than appreciated. Plus, she was right—there was more to a good sambal than just chillies.

He helped himself to some of the pita and hummus. "I agree, keeping her busy might be a good plan. It's probably better when she's not bored. And I'm not really sure whether Nell will be a good influence on her, or if it's going to end up the other way around." He sincerely hoped that wouldn't be the case.

"Seriously. I keep wondering if there's anything I could have done to not have her turn out like . . . like that." He looked haunted for a moment, and worried, and tired. The sight of Amaranthe's lifeless pale figure on the floor of his living room was still etched in his memory, and it was not something he was going to forget or forgive anytime soon.

"Keep an eye on your credit card," he remembered. "And make sure she isn't around when you do online banking. She has ordered and will order online," he warned. "As for plants and seeds and drugs. . . she seems to have her sources," he added a little helplessly. He felt really bad for Triv to have to deal with this little monster, but to let her move back in with him was completely out of question.

Nephrite shrugged. 'I don't. I wasn't really able to find anything on what would repel pixies. And the ones here are way different of those that hang out at Amon's house—so I went with what's supposed to keep ice creatures at bay.' Secretly she was hoping she'd find the annoying sprites retching and heaving in a corner. Or maybe they'd just flee downwards and bother Amon and Trivii instead.

She ran her fingers through her hair, the silken strands temporarily wrapping around her fingers like vines before they let go again. 'Thank you,' she said, with her glance cast down. It wasn't often people got to see her with her hair let down. Hawk had been one of the chosen few. She found herself wishing he was here to join them. He'd enjoy this, she felt.

'So, what do you want to start with?' she asked. 'Maybe the scrub first, and then the mehndi? Because it'll take time to stain properly.'

***

"You do realize a regular old safe wont really work to keep a living shadow out?" Really, he had cursed Neph's ability to phase through solid matter so. many. times. The one boon was that they typically couldn't take anything with them. But if they were smart—and Nephrite unfortunately was—they could still memorize a credit card number. The one thing he wasn't sure about was, if the fiends would actually be able to solidify in a space this small. Food for thought.

Triv comforting him came as a bit of a surprise. "You are right of course," he admitted, "but I still wonder." On the other hand it was a bit of a relief apparently not even Athan had seen this coming, and he had taken care of Nephrite quite often.

"So you've noticed about Nell." Amon quirked a brow. "I wasn't certain if it was just me being paranoid . . . She does have, at the very least, excellent control over her body language," he pointed out. "But you are in luck. Neph does sleep. Quite a lot even. She's like a cat, taking naps all the time."

He gave Triv a thumbs up for her soup once he'd had a first sip of it—it was excellent, though he wondered if she'd had thrown in some extra ginger just for him.

"People actually pay for it?" Amon paused and blinked. But it made sense. Given how Athan had ranted about how many charlatans were out there with their parlour tricks, those who knew what they were doing and were good at it were probably sought after and well paid, not unlike in his own line of work. Huh.

"My house is actually warded against Nephrite in particular," he said, twirling the spoon between his fingers. "She can't even find it now, and if she did, she wouldn't be able to get in. Athan and I did it together. Like, I'd cast the base circle—" he motioned with his left "—and he'd do all the complex rune-sy stuff for the actual spell. It was fun," he added with a smile. That was a huge statement, coming from him. Most everyone knew how—mildly put—skittish and paranoid he was when it came to magic.

"So I guess, under normal circumstances you could always ask Athan, except . . . now is probably not a good time." He quietly finished up the rest of his soup, thinking. "I guess the Madame might do it, if I ask her very, very nicely. From what I know her element is light, and she never could stand Nephrite—so she might actually do it for free and without asking for favors."

'Sounds good to me. Though then we should not draw any patterns on the hands, it'll only end up smeared or wiped off.' Which was actually fine by her. If Nell ended up messing up whatever she was going to draw she could at least cover it up with her sleeves.

'You probably should change, unless you don't mind stains.' She sure as hell did, and she had a whole set of clothes and what were basically aprons-with-sleeves for when she did her gardening or worked with ingredients she knew would stain.

***

"Huh." Amon arched a brow, as always a little surprised to hear just how different the fiends were from one another. And it seemed like he'd have to be wary of Nell. Not yet, probably, but definitely once she grew up some. What Trivii described to him did sound like exactly the sort of trap he fell for. All the time.

"You're in luck. From what I've heard from Rainbow Bri— from Miranda, Rutie doesn't even rest. He's, like. Wide awake. All the time." He paused. "Nell wouldn't be the first fiend to suffer from bad dreams. Smokey has them too."

He happily went for the chicken as he listened to what his host had to say. It was rare for him to have meat these days—there'd been no particular reason for him to go vegetarian, it had just sort of naturally happened what with how much his garden had to offer—so he really enjoyed it. However, when Trivii told him just how much those wards had cost her, his eyes widened slightly and he stopped chewing. Lucky him for being on good terms with Athan!

"Dude," he said and swallowed. "That is a lot. I had no idea." Then again people shelled out similar amounts for his company. Professionals had their price. But still!

"Yeah I know, he can be quite intimidating. It's those creepy black robes. And the magic. And those spooky green-glowy eyes." He smirked a little. "Used to creep me out by a lot. But once you get to know him, a little, he's actually a really nice and kind person." Out of the guardians he probably knew Athan best, but he was well aware he'd barely scratched the surface. He still hadn't gotten over the fact the man knew how to wield a sword. He liked to tease the man about being a hippie, but in between the two of them, he might actually be the one who better fit that stereotype.

"Just, as I said, now may not be the best time to ask him for anything. But Bree would do it, I'm certain. And any favors she might ask would probably be on me anyway." As if he didn't owe her enough already. Ah well.

Nephrite gave a barely noticeable nod. The garment she wore wasn't one of her favorites, but she'd rather not stain it if she could avoid it. She had no problem staining someone else's robe.

When Nell returned after a short while, Nephrite had just tied the knot and tugged the robe in place so it would fully cover her scar.

***

"Some may have deserved it though," Amon said dryly. That was a little detail about the fiends both Athan and Reyna rarely cared to mention, unless one specifically asked about it: Not all of the imprisoned souls had been innocents. Amon knew without fail, should Athan ever figure out a way to undo the bond between him and Nephrite without causing damage to their souls, he'd go for it in an instant.

"You know," he said, after he'd thought over Trivii's proposition for a bit, "I actually might get back to you on the favor thing. And Bree will probably just make the time."