I DIDN’T see Ryan again until he was to act as my chaperone three days later.
I was totally okay with that.
Because I had a plan.
Fuck Ryan. I didn’t need him.
“It’ll be the Date to End All Dates,” I told Gary as he nosed his way through my closet. “And yes, before you ask, it is capitalized just like it sounds. Great plans should always be capitalized.”
“Why is that?” Mom asked as she came into the room smelling of earth and lilies and lichen.
“To ensure their success,” I said, posing in front of the mirror.
“I don’t think that’s quite how it works,” Dad said, coming in behind her. They went and fussed over Tiggy, who pulled them into his lap where he sat on the floor. We didn’t know much about where Tiggy had come from before Gary met him, but he’d been touch and attention starved. My parents had unofficially adopted him almost immediately, and he adored them both.
“You just have to believe,” I said as I flexed.
“I believe you should work out more if you’re going to keep doing that,” Gary said. “Because it’s making me feel sad for you.”
“Do we like Todd?” Mom asked.
“We do,” I said.
“Sort of,”
Gary said.
“No. Not sort of. If I have to do this, then he’s good enough. He’s nice. And has these ears.”
“Ringing endorsement,” Dad said.
“I have priorities,” I said.
“As we’ve heard a thousand times,” Mom said as Tiggy brushed a finger through her hair.
“I need to finish the Grimoire,” I said as if she hadn’t spoken at all. “Then I have to find a binding for it. Morgan says that a wizard’s Grimoire needs to be bound with great care, either by the skin of an enemy defeated in battle or a material hard-won in the face of adversity.”
“I think I prefer the material hard-won,” Mom said. “It sounds less… brutal.”
“And that’s why I have priorities,” I said.
“Maybe you should prioritize getting a new wardrobe,” Gary said. “Your clothes remind me of sadness.”
“I’m an adventurer,” I said. “I have no time for fashion.”
“You are a wizard in the King’s Court,” Dad reminded me as Tiggy pressed his big nose into his hair.
“Apprentice,” Gary said. “Just make with the magic and conjure up some clothes.”
I frowned. “That’s frivolous.”
“And?”
“You know how Morgan feels about frivolous magic. Magic is important. It’s not meant to be for something mundane.”
“You tied my mouth shut with shiny rope,” Gary said.
“That was important. I didn’t want you talking anymore. That wasn’t frivolous.”