#magic day

It is very beautiful place! Park. So good to be here. Double strange, that in this day it was a snowfall. So, winter is starting. Snow is white. Leaves are yellow. Grass is green. So, this is a combination of events! So, these things can happen in transition period between different states. Autumn just like these, gives this effect of combination.

"How on earth did I let you talk me into this?!"

"Because you love me and want me to have a nice honeymoon."

Feyre's voice was soft and sweet on the other end of the line. The 'little sister' voice she would put on whenever she was asking for a favor.

"But I also wouldn't mind Rhys having a crappy one…"

"Nesta!"

"Kidding!" Nesta lied. Well, half-lied. She did want Feyre to have a good honeymoon. And she doubted Rhys would be able to have a bad one while Feyre enjoyed herself….unless Feyre finally found a trade-up. But that was wishful thinking. "Just remember that you owe me. Big."

"It's not going to be that bad, Nesta," Feyre sighed.

Rolling her eyes, Nesta replied, "Easy for you to say. You don't have to go spend the night with him, doing this stupid act."

"You mean the act I help out with every other night?"

"Voluntarily. Hence the difference." Nesta stared at herself in the full length mirror in her tiny dressing room, at the tiny, silver sequined dress she was being forced to wear as her sister's cover. It was really more like a leotard with a fringy skirt. An outfit to help with the distraction.

How her sister put up with this every night was beyond her. She hadn't even gotten on stage yet and was already done with it. Thank the Mother it was only one night. After this, the magician was taking off for the rest of the week to keep Feyre from stressing, but he couldn't cancel his Saturday show.

"You still owe me," she said again, just as a stagehand was calling out five minutes to showtime.

"I know. And I promise, I'll make it up to you. Just, be nice to Cassian."

Nesta shook her head softly. "I will if he is."

"He's always nice to you, Nesta," Feyre chuckled. "You just don't want to believe it."

"Bye! Talk to you later!" Nesta called, speaking over Feyre's last words before her sister started in again on how Nesta needed to give Cassian a chance.

She needed to do no such thing. She'd spent more than enough time with Cassian, being Rhysand's brother. It only got worse with all the wedding planning and events. And then Nesta had to spend over three hours with him every day this past week just to prepare for this darn show.

It was a lot more work than Nesta had expected, if she were being honest. And Cassian was a good teacher. Patient and kind, he never once got frustrated with her when she got a trick wrong for the fifth time in a row. A very different side of Cassian than the cocky, exercise guy she knew him as.

She heard a knock at her door. "Nesta, are you ready?"

Think of the devil. She took one last look at her ridiculous outfit, pressing the pins of her braided coronet deeper into her hair, and let out a sigh. "Yes."

Walking to the door, she swung it open to see Cassian standing there, looking as handsome as he did ridiculous.

He really was quite attractive - not that Nesta would ever admit that. And if he were wearing just a tuxedo, he'd look like a wet dream. But that idiotic cape! It was incredibly cliché, black and top and red on the inside, and made him look more like a dorky tween putting on a magic show for his parents than a professional magician. No, wait…illusionist. That was the word he always used to correct her.

It was all part of the gimmick, of course. The theme of his show. Traditional tricks, with a twist. Hence the cape.

Nesta probably should be grateful for it. Otherwise she might be frozen in place, staring at Cassian and looking as dumbfounded as he did looking at her. Nice to know the dress was doing its job.

"Come on, Cassianini, let's get this over with." Shoulders high, Nesta walked past him, hiding the small smirk that surfaced at the feel of his eyes on her.

It took him a moment, but then he was snapping into action and on her heels. The two took their places, Cassian at center stage, Nesta to the side by some big box device. The stage lights shut off, and they were thrust into darkness as they waited for the curtain to open.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please put your hands together for Cassian Warrior-Heart!"

The crowd erupted and the curtain was drawn. The spotlights came on, and Cassian was welcoming the audience to the show.

It wasn't until the curtain closed that Nesta could finally breathe again.

"Finally," she sighed as the stage lights came back on.

"Oh, don't lie, you enjoyed yourself."

Nesta let out a sigh. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but I can say that this has been one of the strangest nights of my life."

"I'll take it," Cassian beamed. "And it's not over, yet!"

Her face fell and her eyes narrowed when Cassian began to chuckle at her expression. "Don't worry, Nes. It's nothing too crazy. Definitely not another show."

She muttered beneath her breath how he better not be trying to get more magic, but still followed him when he asked. Cassian led them to one of the empty dressing rooms and flung the door open.

Nesta was speechless.

A candle-filled room stood before her, with one single table in the center and two chairs. The table was filled with dishes - chicken, salad, potatoes, and various vegetables. There was even a small plate of biscuits she was dying to dig into.

"Cassian…what is this?" she asked breathlessly, walking into the room without thinking.

"Consider it a thank you for stepping in for Feyre."

She looked up at him skeptically. "You did all this…just to say thank you?"

"No, I did this to say thank you," he said, pulling his hand out from his back and handing her a large bouquet of flowers that seemed to appear out of thin air. She knew that wasn't really the case, but there were lilies, roses, and lilacs in the bouquet, so she certainly wasn't going to complain.

Nesta accepted the bouquet and took a sniff. She couldn't help but give him a small smile as she said, "Thank you. You didn't have to. But…what's all this, then?"

"An attempt to take you out on a date?" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I thought I might be able to convince you if you were hungry enough and already at the location."

Something fluttered within her and warmed her cheeks. She and Cassian had always had an amusing relationship, mostly built on a running gag that he was flirting with her. She hadn't realized he may have been serious in his attentions.

Nor had she realized how much she wanted him to be.

"Well, I'd say yes, but there's no chocolate cake. You can't have a date without chocolate cake," Nesta decreed, smirking up at him.

"You always did underestimate me."

Cassian took her hand and led her to the table, pulling out her chair for her. "Did you not notice this completely empty plate right here?" He motioned to a silver platter that stood in the center of the table, on top of a holder so that it towered over the rest of the food.

Picking up his crimson napkin, he shook it out and placed it in front of the plate so Nesta could no longer see it.

"And, because I know it's your favorite Halloween movie…Hocus Pocus." He let go of the napkin and it fell to the table, revealing a large, frosted chocolate cake with truffles lining the edge.

Nesta's mouth fell open and she couldn't stop her hands from clapping together. "How did you do that?!"

"Ah ah ah…a magician never reveals his secrets, Nesta," he teased as he took the seat across from her.

"Illusionist."

Cassian grinned widely, the two laughing together as they dug into their dinner.