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When Ardy returned to her apartment, Elliot was waiting for her at her dining table. Ardy raised an eyebrow, giving Elliot a questioning look while she hung her coat on the coat rack. Elliot looked down at her hands.
Ardy sat down at the table, setting a roughly book-shaped cardboard box down next to her. She shook off her human disguise, smiling just a little as Elliot’s eyes widened. She had noticed that right away, the way Elliot had visibly brightened when she presented as her normal demon self. It was, well, she didn’t have the right words for it yet. Affirming? Whatever it was, the serotonin was flowing because of it.
“Hi,” Elliot said softly.
“Did your friend go home?” Ardy asked.
“Yeah, a little while ago.” Her ears twitched. “Oh, there’s food in the fridge. She left it for you, too.”
“She’s very kind,” Ardy said. She reached across the table and took Elliot’s hand. Elliot’s ears perked, and Ardy could see the gray in her fur get a little pinker. “You look troubled.”
Elliot nodded. “I’ve been troubled. I…” She hesitated, still not looking at Ardy. “I think we need to talk about the future.”
“Indeed?” Ardy said. She didn’t let go of Elliot’s hand, and Elliot didn’t try to pull it away. “Is Meryl stealing you away from me?”
Elliot looked up at Ardy, her eyes wide. “What?? No!”
“You two seem close.” She gave Elliot a knowing smile. Elliot blushed and looked away.
“It’s not like that. She’s nice and she’s been a good friend. Not that I’ve known her that long.”
“You haven’t known me that long, either.”
Elliot frowned. “Okay, but…”
Right Determination squeezed Elliot’s hand. “I’m not mad.”
“I’m not leaving you for her,” the raccoon said, her ears pressing against her head. “You’re making this harder than it should be.”
“I apologize. What is really going on?”
Elliot hugged herself with her free arm, still looking away. “I like you a lot,” she said softly. “I think you’re interesting and I guess you’re also kind of mysterious, but the more I find out about you, the more you’re just kind of this adorable nerd and it’s, I dunno? Nice?”
“Oh, hush,” Ardy said, but she kept smiling, watching Elliot carefully.
“Not taking it back,” Elliot said. “And like, maybe I dove head first into all of this because you flirted with me. That’s not something I’m used to. Maybe I let that drive my reactions. And don’t get me wrong, I really like it.”
“There’s a huge ‘but’ coming here…”
Elliot sighed. “Rory got me thinking about a lot of things. Like, questions I thought I could answer.”
“It’s funny how crash landing on someone’s roof will get the mind going.”
“It woke me up. I’ve been floating for a long time. Like, just… I dunno…”
“Reacting?” Ardy offered, tilting her head a little bit.
“Yeah,” Elliot said, nodding. “Just letting things happen. Rory asked me if I’m happy with how things are going, and I was laying there thinking about broken bones, and that my friend was dead, and maybe I was responsible for it, and running away all the time, for everything. And I really wasn’t. I’m not happy with that. I learned that there are people just like me, who can do magic — there’s actual magic in the world! — And who want me to be around and teach me things and watch movies together and get boba tea and like… Why can’t I just accept that and be happy with that?” She looked down at her hand in Ardy’s. “Oh, and there’s this hot demon lady who’s interested in this absolute train wreck of a person.”
Ardy didn’t say anything, but she kept watching, waiting.
“You have been very kind to me. Everyone has been very kind to me. And you don’t deserve a train wreck.”
“Elliot…”
“Wait,” Elliot said, holding her hand up. “I don’t want us to be done. I’m not done. But you deserve better from me.”
“So what does that mean…?”
“It means that I think I need to take a break for a few weeks. Not to see other people or anything. I need to figure a lot of things out. We’re like, two dates in and I can tell that there’s something. Do you think there’s something?”
“I think so,” Ardy said, her voice dropping, but filled with warmth.
“I’m really glad you agree. But we’re two dates in and I’m not giving you a person you deserve to be with. So here’s my plan: I’m going to go move in with Gimble. She’s promised me, like, a suite in her house, which is I guess a thing she has? I’d have my own space, and she would be able to teach me things and be there when I needed another witch to help me. I’m going to go learn how to control my magic so I don’t accidentally hurt my friends again.” Elliot let her eyes wander down to Ardy’s hand again. “And I’m going to see if I can answer Rory’s question properly. Or at least start to figure it out. And then, I want to meet for coffee and catch up and…” She stopped.
For a moment, Ardy just looked at her, as if she was trying to see through her. Elliot froze, looking small.
“I’m… surprised,” Ardy said.
“I’m sorry,” Elliot said, her voice just over a whisper.
“Don’t be. This, I think, is an incredibly thoughtful plan. And I think it’s the right thing for you to do. And I’m kind of proud of you for not running away from this. It must have been a really scary thing for you to do.”
Elliot looked up into her eyes. “It is and I’ve been trying not to cry this whole time,” she said, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
Ardy stood and rounded the table to be next to Elliot. She hugged the raccoon close, and Elliot hugged her back, her head on the demon’s shoulder.
“Do you promise there’s coffee at the end of all of this?” Ardy asked.
“Yes,” Elliot said.
“Good. Because I don’t want to lose my favorite witch.”
Elliot let out a little laugh. “You’ve seen hundreds of witches.”
“Yes, but they’re not you.”
Elliot blushed again. She laughed nervously. “So, if we’re good, I guess I should go…”
“Not yet.” Ardy retrieved the box she had brought with her. “I made you a promise when we met.” She handed the box to Elliot.
Elliot opened the box. Inside was a neatly bound book, with fine finishes of gold leaf and tooled embellishments on it. A word was written on it in the same script she recognized from the map.
“Lirzanet,” Ardy said. “It means to learn.”
Elliot touched the cover of the book. “It’s a grimoire.”
“Custom made,” Ardy said.
Elliot looked back to Ardy, who watched her contently.
“I don’t-”
“You do,” Ardy said. “You do deserve it. And I expect you to use it.”
Elliot nodded. She threw her arms around Ardy and hugged her close. “Thank you.”
Ardy let the hug go for as long as Elliot wanted it to, drinking in the moment, allowing herself to savor it. When Elliot finally let go, Ardy said, “Do you need me to get you a ride?”
“Uhm… I’ll be okay? I have to go to Z’s first to get my stuff. But thank you.”
“Thank you for talking this out with me. I will be looking forward to hearing about what you’ve learned over coffee.”
“Me too,” Elliot said. She stood in front of Ardy for a moment, clutching the grimoire to her chest uncertainly. Finally, she said, “I’m going to go.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Ardy said. And when they got to Ardy’s front door, she stopped Elliot, taking her hand. “Before you go,” she said. “I’d like to kiss you.”
“Oh,” Elliot said. “Oh! Uhm, yeah, that’s okay.”
Ardy smiled. She pulled Elliot close and carefully kissed her on the cheek.
Elliot blushed, and stifled her smile, though she couldn’t for long.
“After coffee,” Ardy said, “we can figure that out too.”
“Ha,” Elliot said. “Yeah, we should.”
Ardy opened the door, and saw Elliot off. They held hands in the elevator down to the lobby.
In the future, there was coffee.
[g]