do not let the world make you hard

Date: week of October 11-17

Time: early evening

Status: open

He got his food and saw that the place was over half-full. Now Nolyn had gotten a to-go entree for himself--Rod was making dinner for Eden and Mal was working late--so it was either suffer his brother’s cooking or go out. So he’d done what any brother with self respect would do: gone out.

Upon the inspection of the bustling place, he saw someone sitting alone. He chewed his lip for a moment and decided what the hell, he was always complaining about not having enough friends his age. Hell, his closest non-familial friend was Emmett who worked alongside kids all day. God, he needed some grown-up talk, even if it was just about work. He himself taught college students who were barely legal adults but definitely not wired as ones. 

Nolyn walked up to this alone person and gestured to the seat. Before they could even look up he was sitting to their left, pulling his chopsticks apart. “I know this isn’t high school or anything, where sitting alone is a bad sign, but I wanted you to know you’re not alone!” He grinned. “Okay, bad pickup line. It’s just really busy and I didn’t want to go sit in that corner with the really loud group of eight.” Of course he had the option to go home, as his styrofoam box suggested, but he didn’t verbalize that just yet. 

Javier gave him a small smile and shook his head. “No, Brynn and I have not been together for thirty years. It happens. I wanted marraige, she did not, we couldn’t agree and decided we’d be better off as parents and friends.” He smiled at the child at Nolyn’s leg and knelt on his knee easily, holding out his hand and shaking her small one. “Hello, young lady. My name is Javier.  You can call me Javi, if you’d like. My son is Kane, do you know him?” After she answered, he watched her leave and chuckled a little as he stood. “She is adorable. And it does. It just… It changes. But it’s always parenting.”

He smiled at the man as he spoke, glad to hear that the family was reunited. “Do you mind if I ask if you’re… making it work? Clearly, I am not at all bothered if families chose not to take that approach. My family would disown me, most likely, for the life I have now. But I feel no shame in it. But I’m happy to hear that Eden has her mother back.” He looked after the child again and thought about family, thought about Brynn and the close call she had had. “Actually, do you know anyone who knows self-defense? Kane’s mother is very interested in brushing up and getting back into it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, man. Yeah I recognize Kane, not many people use that name although I’ve been told it isn’t the same spelling as Cain and Abel,” he chuckled. Javi probably got that a lot. And Kane as well. Oh well. “Thank you. It’s hard, teaching them everything. Things you take for granted, like ‘why don’t you know this? Oh, I haven’t taught you, that’s on me.’” He shrugged nonchalantly, though it was a very big deal for him, being a father. “Yes, we picked right back up where we left off. All those years couldn’t pull us apart. I’m... sorry it isn’t the same for you and Brynn. I don’t have any advice for you, except for maybe honesty. And my partner, Mallory... she is one hell of a fighter. I can give you her information and you can share that with your ex. If she’s too busy I’m sure she knows some people who can help Brynn.”

Mal laughed. “Baby, I eat at work all the time. I don’t care if you eat before I get home.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek before glancing at him and handing him her rag before going to grab another one. “Sure baby. Thank you.” The truth was this part of the job was almost muscle memory. She’d done this as a teacher as well, at the end of each day. “How was your day? How was Eden?” She could never get tired of listening to things about Eden, about her day and her everyday things. Things some people might find repetitive or boring. But she had never been able to be a part of them before.

“Day was good,” he said over his shoulder as he got to work on one of the last tables. “Graded lots of papers, no one came in for office hours, and then Eden earned two gold stars at preschool. I’d say it was a slam dunk. And with dinner at home waiting for you? Ah, I’d say its one for the books--absolutely stunner.” He grinned at his woman and sauntered to her with the dirty rag. “Can we please go home now?” he asked, leaning down to kiss her tenderly. It was nice to call it home, not ‘his place’ vs ‘her place.’ She had most of her things moved into his bedroom and Eden was already upstairs like a big girl. It was wonderful.

“For my own good, huh? How selfless of you, Mr. Barrett.” Hugh jokes dryly, returning a crooked smirk at his old acquaintance– old boss, whatever is the label there. “What can I say, I’m a great student.” He adds with his chin lifted high with a feigned haughtiness. “We mostly vote on important matters,” he explains “– and I wouldn’t call it a crackdown. Just a necessary precaution.” Despite his advocacy for more structured, functional system, Hugh does not oppose the idea of receiving new blood in Lethe. He simply wants the system to be fair and non-discriminatory, while simultaneously protecting the town. “I was born here, yeah, but left for a college and law school.” He answers plainly. “We have a liaison at the office whose job is taking care of matters like that. I believe we do have a location for a cover-up like a small town, or assign people to a bigger cities” he forgot that Nolyn asks a lot of questions– always needed details and preparation. He steals a glance at the fae time to time, somewhat delighted to know that somethings just don’t change. 

“Well, I’ve seen some immortals find their old friends in town. It’s a small world after all, I guess.” Hugh nods with his eyes stuck to the paperwork. He wonders why Nolyn specifically mentioned one Mallory Castella specifically, but doesn’t inquire further. “And your daughter? That seems like a big life change.” He knows how parents love to talk about their children, so he moves onto that topic– is he supposed to say ‘congratulation’? “When I can, yeah.” He opts to a vague answer, although it is quite clear that he is not sleeping much from the shadows under his eyes. “But insomnia is nothing new for me, so.” He pauses for a second at the name ‘Javi’, though. “You mean Javier Morales?” There is another brief pause. Sure, Councilman Morales is definitely a great co-worker, a good man– but something about him makes Hugh uncomfortable. When he talks to Javier it feels like talking to a priest. “Anyway, no healing needed. Health-wise I am a-okay, believe it or not.” His doctors are mostly concerned about his workaholic tendency and sleep deprivation, but Hugh is surprisingly healthy. There are the migraine and some fucked-up repetitive nightmares, but he is not going to talk about it with Nolyn. “It’s fine. But thank you for the offer.”

Nolyn nodded in confirmation. Good to know, good to know. “Yes, Eden is loving being back in school, she’s thriving on the sociability and Emmett Kenton is really helping her assimilate. We don’t know if she’s a hybrid or what, but she’s still young. After all, we don’t want her triggering the werewolf gene, y’know?” His eyes bugged lightly, and then he nodded at Javi’s full name. “That’s great news, I’m glad your health is good. I just know that I owe you a lot and if there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. The paperwork’s got my contact information. Can you take care of it or should I turn it in in the morning?” 

Mack grinned an shook her head, knowing it was plenty true. She definitely had brought it on herself. She glanced between his smile and over at Mallory in the kitchen, slowly turning her gaze back to him. Part of her hoped she could experience that before she died, that she would know what it was like to love someone that much. The looks between the two alone spoke of years of love and friendship, it spoke of something deep. But the truth was that she wasn’t sure it would be fair to who she left behind. She was already leaving Maya behind, wasn’t that enough? And honestly, it would make it harder to die. “You guys love each other a lot huh? You have a kid, right?”

She grinned and shook her head before doing as he had instructed and asking the blonde for a mudslide. “You’re already ditching the healthy tea and now you want booze and chocolate?” asked the older woman with a wide smile and affectionate roll of her eyes. “Coming right up you two. And will you tell him that if he tells more people about that discount he’s not getting it because he won’t be fucking the boss?” It was a clear joke but Mack was grinning even wider when she looked back at the man. “You got in trouble,” she said in a sing-song tone, entirely joking because she knew that Mal hadn’t meant it in the least.

“Eden is our daughter, named after the Garden of Eden. Aka Paradise. Aka, Garden of God. She’s our everything.” He shifted in his seat to get his wallet from his back pocket and procured a photograph of them together. “This was taken shortly after her surgery, when she was on recovery. We went to the beach to celebrate. She’d never been, surprisingly. Especially after living in the Bay Area for years... the ocean right next door. It was a good day.” Even if Mal wasn’t there, he almost said. He felt bad that he had all these memories of their daughter and she did not. Not yet, at least. He always felt like when he talked about the past, he was rubbing Mal’s face in the fact that she couldn’t watch her daughter grow up. She didn’t see her first step, or hear her first words. She had a long way to grow between now and adulthood, but Mal missed so much of Eden’s life. He felt bad for both his girls: Mal not seeing her daughter, and Eden not having a mother. 

“Hey hey hey. Booze? How old’re you?” he asked incredulously. His eyes met Mal’s and he gave a cheeky grin. “Ouch. Babe. Come on,” he said exaggeratedly. After the werewolf walked to the back, he elbowed the girl next to him. “Well a discount’s a discount. People in the education system don’t make a whole lotta money, ya know. I’m a teacher at the college.” 

“Well, I wasn’t even born in fifteen-hundreds, but now I can presume that you looked exactly the same back then.” Hugh jokes dryly. He isn’t exactly big on history so he can’t imagine 1500s, so all he can think of is a pale approximation of some medieval setting movies. “I see that your habit of working me outside of office hours haven’t changed either.” He remarks as he opens up the envelopes and goes through them. “It wasn’t, but we had some… unsavory entries and security incidents last year. I wouldn’t say it was my doing– the Council had the final say.” He replies flatly as he sets aside the paper he checked. “Actually, I came back to Lethe last year or so, started to work for processing entries. And then my predecessor disappeared so… I was kind of forced into the seat.” He explains as he goes through the paperwork like a machine, occasionally sipping the coffee. “How have you been? Staying out of trouble, I hope?” 

Nolyn couldn’t help but smile at the ignoring office hours comment. “Hey man, getting you ready for the real world. Capitalism’s a bitch that has no rest. I see you caught on quickly though,” he said with a flick of the wrist, a gesture towards the table in front of them. “Ah, so the council decided together--unanimously or not--that you had to crack down on new arrivals?” Nolyn asked for confirmation. Again, he didn’t want to give his daughter false information. Nolyn waved off the waitress, he didn’t think he’d be here long at all because Hugh was such a get-down-to-business person. “Oh cool, another new arrival. But this was your hometown, right? I don’t remember, on your application to my office, did you put down ‘Lethe’ or a neighboring town that is basically the cover-up of Lethe? I figure people might ask where you’re from, but since I’m a fae we could speak in confidence.” 

Nolyn watched as the man did his work diligently, and thrummed his fingers on the table for a few seconds before suspecting it was getting annoying and abruptly stopped. This prompted the councilman to ask a question that almost surprised Nolyn because of the mundanity of it. “It would look like it. I found an old friend in town, Mallory Castella. A werewolf. I met her after you and I parted ways.” He paused for a moment, considering if he should confess she was in fact the mother to his daughter. He decided he wouldn’t push further unless Hugh inquired, because they never had that sort of relationship anyways. “Are you sleeping, Hugh?” he asked, concerned. “If you ever need me to heal you, I know there’s plenty of fae in town and Javi is a good guy but... don’t hesitate to call, alright?” They had history, he couldn’t help but feel a little protective over the man who saved his butt when it was lit afire. 

“I could,” Delia said consideringly. “But I do remember someone always telling me not to be a hothead. And I have to wonder who that was…. Oh, wait, I think it was you.” She took a sip of her goddaughter’s lemonade, giving a small nod and a soft smile. “Tell her that it’s absolutely wonderful and I’ll be over every day for more until she’s sick of me. Ah, fuck it. I’ll tell her myself.” God she loved that kid, but everyone seemed to love that kid. She was just a genuinely good child. She bit down on her lip and shook her head slowly. “It isn’t your brother I distrust here,” she told him, looking at him with a wry expression on her face.

She followed his gaze into the window, a smile pulling over her face. “God, she’s a beautiful little girl, Nolyn. She really is.” She took a drink from her own lemonade as she watched the small girl look at her father in shock. “How dare you ruin her lemonade? You have no morals, zip, nada, none.” She glanced inside again to make sure the girl wasn’t looking before lowering her glass out of sight and following suit quickly. “Yeah, no, you’re right.” She hummed lightly as she took another drink, this one rich with the bitter taste of alcohol melted with sugar. “He’s still job hunting. I’m hoping something will open up for him in his field but one thing at a time.”

Nolyn Barrett scoffed. “You’re still a fucking hothead,” he canted back. He smiled when Delia stated she’d be over every day forever just to spend time with Eden, and his grin faltered slightly when he pondered if Eden would get confused about who her mother was and who was her godmother/auntie. So much change at once, it was good to an extent, but how much was too much? “What? I told you, Arnold Palmer! Half iced tea half lemonade. In this case, tea equals beer. So what?” He waved at Eden who gave a weak reply before going up the stairs. She wasn’t as bummed as she made herself seem, he knew. But Delia didn’t know Eden well enough to know she was a trickster just like her pesky uncle. “That’s good. Job hunting is a career in and of itself, though I dunno about in a town this small. We lucked out because Rod did all the negotiation for the land, the livestock, everything. After Eden’s surgery, he gave us a few weeks to recuperate alone and he made us a home, then invited us to join him.” Nolyn smiled at the thought of his brother. “Well I know your son is an introvert but I’d love for him to meet Eden, his godsister, if I said that correctly. God...step-sister? I have no fucking clue,” he exhaled, shaking his head. “Point is, I’d love to see him all grown up and whatnot. I think he could be a good uncle or what-have-you to Eden.”

Avery smiled at the girls before turning her attention to Eden’s dad - Nolyn. “Yes, please. That would be awesome. Our family are skilled at finding trouble and uh… Yeah, that would be really great, thank you.” She had always thought the Novak-Frost-Kline clan would be better off if they were fae. 

She glanced over at the kids, watching as they went running through the house. “I’m really glad she has a friend,” she admitted. “I worry about her a lot. New town, new school, new friends, an aunt she hasn’t seen much since she was three. Don’t suppose you have advice?”

“Okay, good. I just don’t want to... you know, grab a kid’s arm unless I have permission, you know?” he asked with quite pensiveness. “Yeah, I... I worry about Eden, too. But they’re two peas in a pod, aren’t they? Holding hands, playing with each other’s hair. I promise you, they’re going to practice makeup on each other,” he grinned, already seeing the future laid out for them. Yes, he had made a home here with Eden and Rod and Mal, and now Terra and Avery were part of that little circle. “Ah, is advice what you want? Hah, do you have anywhere to be in the next six hours?” he gestured towards the stairs. He left Eden alone upstairs all the time, so they made their way downstairs and to the kitchen. “Have a lot of apple juice or chocolate syrup. Or plain milk. Or water. I think we have a couple sodas or beers but again, I don’t know what your plans are,” he chuckled relentlessly. He took two glasses from the shelf and, from the freezer, dropped some ice cubes into his own glass before chasing it with water again dispensed from the freezer’s contraption built into the door. He brought the cup to his lips and moved to sit at the counter on a barstool. “I guess, what exactly are you worried about? Her or you?” he asked rather bluntly, watching her with a close eye. 

She had already closed up for the night; really she was just doing the nightly clean up now. The closed sign was up, the lights mostly off, so when the bell went off, she couldn’t help but smile. She knew who it was, the only one who would still come in the door. Mal turned towards him as he approached, her eyes closing as his arms wrapped around her. “Five or ten minutes,” she said softly, tilting her head automatically as he kissed her neck.

She watched him perch on a tabletop, a smile quirking her lips as she went back to work on the one she had been doing, finishing by putting the chairs up. She paused, however, at his words, looking up at him with a small crease at her brow. She legitimately couldn’t remember the last actual meal that anyone had made her. Her parents certainly hadn’t, not even when she lived at home. She moved closer to him, gently putting a hand to his jaw and tilting his face to her so that she could kiss him for a moment. It was only the desire to get home (well, maybe a little bit of knowing how they were and not wanting to mess up their tables, mostly because Vik would kill her) that made her pull away, brushing her lips over his forehead before whispering, “Five minutes. Promise.” She let her hand go to his to squeeze it lightly before moving to finish.

“Anything I could do to make it faster, or do you only trust me with, well, one thing?” he chuckled against her skin, finally pulling away to look up at her. “I um, may have split a chicken breast with Rod. I mean, it was a dud, and I wanted a taste, and his fork was already in it and you know how us brothers can be--” he cut himself off, smiling at her. “I’m not in trouble, am I?” he asked innocently, batting his big blue eyes. Nolyn hopped off the table and pointed to one section of tables and chairs. “Can I do these?” he asked. 

Emmett shook his head easily. “Nah, man, she’s fine. I really do have older kids in my program. We go all the way to twelve, so. But really, she’s a joy to have.”  He chuckled slightly as he shook his head. No, Eden was far from the kind of kid who would bully and everyone seemed to love her. “She’s actually taken this five-year-old I have under her wing. She’s a really good kid. And, actually, I was going to ask you. She was just something else today, super excited, super happy, said her mommy came by yesterday? Judging by how she was today, that seems like a good thing but thought you’d know best. Good or bad, though, anything I can do, lemme know. I know you’re still new and another transition or adjustment could bring stuff up.”

“Ah yeah, guess I assumed they were split into age groups, but what would be the fun in that?” he contemplated aloud, grinning. Apparently Nolyn didn’t know just how similar Eden was to her parents; she really was a match made in heaven, a perfect mini-me of both of them combined. It was great, and even with a little bit of Rod sprinkled in, including her own pizzazz. God, he loved his daughter. “Oh, Mal stopped by? That’s fine, yeah, whatever paperwork I have to do, joint custody, give her all privileges... Mallory Castella is her mother. So the three of us have custody now, including Rod my brother,” he emphasized. “She’s... taken by her. And Mal by Eden,” he mused quietly. He felt awful splitting up mother and daughter, but now they had each other and could have sleepovers and they were in the process of making a bedroom upstairs for Eden. 

“I um... it’s good, yeah it’s good at home. Thanks. The transition... that’s why I wanted to make sure, y’know? I can’t have her lashing out around other kids when she’s a doll at home. She’s had health problems, and hereditary-wise I don’t know what to expect, if truth be told.” Mal’s parents had abused her, so they couldn’t exactly go and ask for a detailed family history. As for his own, back in the day people didn’t think about genetics and what could be passed down. He had been alive longer than half of science today, or maybe even more (he couldn’t keep track, damnit). “I really appreciate you keeping an eye on her. I know you have a lot of kids here, and I just...” It killed him that he couldn’t spend every waking moment with his daughter, not when they’d had so many scares so many times, afraid of losing her to the grim reaper. He was glad he had someone he could trust to take care of her when he and Rodrik were working. 

Maybe he should be bothered by the noise. After all, some of the library patrons have been very vocal about their disdain for story time. But those are the people who grew used to the median age in Lethe being well over two hundred, and the times are changing. The cacophony of chatter from the carpet before him shows that, all produced by Lethe residents under the age of ten. It’s enough to bring a smile to his face. Sure, it’s loud for an hour and a half each Thursday, but it’s almost nice to have a disruption of the constant quiet. Well, a disruption other than Adam Mallory, though he’s welcome, too. Oliver’s smile has changed with that thought in mind and he tries to shake it off, getting back to cleaning just in time for the man nearest him to pipe up. “Me?” Incredulity flashes over his face, but he’s quick to hide it. After all, this man doesn’t know anything about him. Fatherhood, though, is not an idea he’s ever seriously contemplated. He likely wouldn’t be very good at it – God, Abby would’ve had a field day with that mental image. “Uh, no. None are mine.” Oliver finally laughs, a hand rubbing the back of his neck, the other holding the pile of books. “I mean. I guess this is mine.” A gesture up and around to the library is cut off as he corrects himself. “Not that I own it, but, um, I’m head librarian. So I will keep your requests in mind. I try to outsource readers, though, and they usually choose. I’m not a very entertaining storyteller. But I’ll slip in some more diverse recommendations about what could be read.” His gaze turns back to the children on the carpet as hand puppets are unveiled to a raucous reaction from the crowd. Hey, whatever works. “I’m assuming one of them is yours?”

“Oh, cool, you’re in charge. You’re doing a swell job. I didn’t mean to complain, I just... a change of scenery is nice, you know? I teach my daughter to beat to the sound of her own drum,” he grinned gently at the stranger. “Hey, I could read. Eden will... well, she might get a kick out of seeing me read to a bunch of kids her age. She’s the one in the polka dotted dress,” he finished, pointing her out. Nolyn grinned in gratitude at the person entertaining the children, and he was glad his daughter was distracted for now. “How long you been the librarian? Y’know where I can find some cookbooks?” he asked, turning towards the stranger. “By the way, I’ve never been in such an intimate town like this before. Usually metropolitan areas, to be honest. So, I dunno, my name’s Nolyn Barrett.” 

Hugh looks up from his laptop to be greeted by a familiar face. It takes him a few dumbfounded seconds to recognize Nolyn– it’s different, to see a picture and read a file of someone you knew a long time ago, and then to meet them again in person. “Mr. Mayor?” the title slips out of him, followed by a weak chortle, “excuse me, Mr. Barrett now, huh. I’ve read your file too, when you came here.” He grabs the hand and shakes it lightly. He laughs at his old boss’ reaction, not sure what Nolyn means by ‘still… you’. Hugh cannot be so sure about that. “Speak for yourself. You haven’t aged a day since… early 2000s, was it? Unlike you, I grow old.” He shrugs, has a subtle tug of his lips but also shadows under his eyes. The last time he saw Nolyn, it was more than a decade ago, and Hugh was just an intern at the mayor’s office… until someone discovered an old photograph of Nolyn from several decades ago. Hugh pulled some strings to help Nolyn disappear. “I have a full schedule all day, Mr. Barrett. This works better.” He gestures at the empty seat across his table and proceeds to make room for Nolyn’s briefcase. “What did you want to discuss?” He goes right to the business. Sentimentality and reminiscence are not his thing. 

“Well technically the fifteen-hundreds, but yeah, 2000s works, too.” Nolyn offered a gracious grin at the other, sitting down comfortably. “Well I did the paperwork,” he said as he put his briefcase in front of him, well, in the corner of the table, near the window. “Just need you to double check it and make sure everything is in order so I don’t have to, like, make an appointment. Best do it all here today, and have your assistant file it in the morning. Something tells me the background check wasn’t always this extensive, though. I hear it was your doing, or at least some of yours?” he smiled, rummaging through the near-empty briefcase to pull out the packet of paper-clipped files. They were tucked neatly into a manila envelope that he put aside and offered to the councilman. “So have you always been a councilman, or always done this job, or always done both together?” Nolyn and his brother were new to town, and he didn’t know everybody’s roles, so he had to ask. If his daughter asked him questions, he was inclined to tell the truth, so he had to know himself. She was curious, and therefore he was, too. 

Rod groaned, tilting his head back as he shuffled his feet towards the boxes. “Your big brother bossiness is stifling me,” he complained loudly, even as a grin found its way onto his face. He grabbed another box of books and rolled his eyes affectionately as he teased, “Uh, excuse you. Nobody says ‘dames’ anymore. Your age is showing.” It wasn’t true, of course, he had heard plenty of people still use the term and Rod knew many girls who liked the sound of it still. “Also, don’t slut-shame me, you big prude.” He followed Nolyn into the house and set the boxes in the den. He turned easily and went back into the truck, grabbing a box and passing it to his brother before picking another one up for himself. “But no, actually. Not yet. Been focused on getting us all moving, I guess. And also, not just dames, you know. I am an equal opportunities lover, I don’t go in boxes like all of this stuff.” Sometimes he had to wonder if Nolyn ever got tired of his constant banter, constant smart-ass responses. But he had to assume that his brother was used to it.

“‘Bossy.’ Never heard that one before,” Nol deadpanned to his baby brother. He scoffed at the age comment, wanting to bark back that Rod was barely any younger, but held his tongue with a grin on his face that insinuated he knew more than he let on. 

His little brother was eccentric, but Nolyn had learned to forgive or forget half of what Rod said, for he didn’t mean it. Slut shame? Prude? Those were examples. So Nol just shook his head as he followed Rod into the house, placing the books near the bookcase to be unpacked at a later time. “Don’t refer to yourself as a ‘lover,’ please. That’s where I draw the line. Good god, man.” He shook his head, chuckling softly. “I know you don’t, man,” he said more endearing than he had meant, but he went with the flow and nodded his head, putting a hand on his brother’s elbow before dropping it back to his side. Their eyes had locked for a moment, and that was one of the ways Nolyn told his brother that he loved him. He accepted him wholeheartedly, always had, and always would. He got a fucking house with this man, raised his daughter with his brother, of course he loved him! 

The first week of school, Nolyn had come to pick up Eden but she was holding a little girl’s hand. Apparently this girl, Terra, was fairly new just like Eden, and was adjusting to the town as well. They ultimately hit it off. Nolyn, being the extrovert that he was, had got talking to the girl’s guardian, an aunt named Avery who was really rather young, but she had a smart head atop her shoulders. To give the youngster some time to spend with people her own age, Nolyn had offered to watch the girls at his house since there was so much space, multiple adult supervision, lots of animals to play with, and a literal playroom. 

As Avery walked up to the door of the home, Eden jumped up and down, singing some gibberish song of excitement. When the two came over for the first time, Nolyn opened the door and showed the house, showing the rooms and answering any questions Avery had about safety concerns. “Rod is just upstairs in his room practicing some show right now, and I mean... we’re fae, so we can always heal Terra at the worst-case scenario? Would you want that or no?”