Ashley Price, Concerned Caller

An accord may have been reached, and your enemies temporarily dealt with, but that isn't the end of your current troubles. Namely, there's the matter of the spectacularly wrecked Vargas-Holt house to deal with. Which, odd as it may seem, is actually something of a comfort? You've been dealing with life and **** supernatural issues for like a month now, so having a problem that is less a bit less horror movie and a bit more sitcom is a goddamn relief.

Fortunately, the schedules Isabelle's parents keep mean they won't be home for several hours, and Gal didn't manage to get much further than the living room and the kitchen. Having multiple sets of extra hands goes a long way, too; the Woo Girls may be silly things, but they are helpful and enthusiastic when a friend's in need. They merrily flit about, mopping up spills and retrieving Kokopellis while Jenny focuses on using her magic to repair shattered glasses and picture frames. It must be quite a strain for her, judging by her sweaty forehead, and eventually Ringlets has to be put on permanent mana refill duty. Before long the work is mostly done, Ringlets refilling a pitcher from her overproductive udders to give Jenny the last bit of magic to repair the cracked headboard in the master bedroom. The girls are starting to wander back to the barn; you better take this opportunity to get in touch with Isabelle.

You wander out into the orange and pink of the setting sun, cracking out a text to your girlfriend. -Hey, is David okay?-

It doesn't take long for her to respond. -He should be? I'm pretty sure I was able to heal him most of the way before I pooped out-

-Pooped out? Are you alright?-

-Oh yeah definitely <3 Just tired. Did you guys catch Gal?!-

You start to respond, only to gasp as something catches your eye. You quickly open up a video message with Isabelle, her concerned face appearing a moment later. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes yes; you have to see this!"

With that you flip your phone around, pointing it towards where Buzz has walked her self-declared boyfriend back to his car. Oh my god, they're shuffling around and awkwardly smiling and unable to make eye contact; this is the fucking cutest thing ever. Buzz eventually gives him a little wave goodbye, turning to leave, only for the boy to haltingly clear his throat. "Hey, um...d-do you want to maybe, uh...do something? Sometime? With me? Sometime?"

Buzz tilts her head to one side, thinking through that. Then her eyebrows shoot up. "Are you asking me out?"

"I, um....yes, I am. Doing that."

The Woo Girl's cheeks slowly flush as she twists a foot into the ground, clutching her arms before her to squish her big boobs together. "I'd, um, really like that. Yes, please."

The delivery guy, who's name you guess you should probably learn, gives a nervous laugh. "Okay! Great! Um, Friday?"

Buzz grins happily, then suddenly straightens as her expression turns serious. "Um, you should know, though: I don't do it on the first date. I'm not that sort of girl."

Delivery Guy all but falls over himself to reassure her. "Oh, uh, that's cool! I don't mind; I just think you're awesome? And super nice and sweet, and I want to get to know you better?" The Woo Girl gives him a little smile of pleased approval, and he lets out a relieved breath. "So I'll pick you up at seven, maybe?"

"Come by at six, so we can fuck first." She points a reproachful finger his way. "But only before! I'm a good girl."

With that, she leans in to give her apparently now actual boyfriend a rather chaste kiss, the boy dazedly slipping into his car as she scampers back to the barn in a state of giddy bliss. One that you and Isabelle share, judging by the high pitched noise of glee blasting out of your phone. You pull the device back around, Isabelle grinning at you in sheer delight. "Omigod, Ash, that was the best!"

"Right?!"

"They are so cute; it's almost too much!"

"Your house got destroyed."

"What?!"

It takes a while, but eventually you're able to get Isabelle up to speed. The girl is understandably flustered by it all, but is clearly doing her best to take everything in stride. "Wow. So Thursday, then?"

You nod. "Yeah. The contract we made should keep everything quiet until then? But I have zero confidence that they're coming to the table in good faith. We have to be prepared for anything they have cooked up moment the bindings drop."

"And do some cooking of our own. We have to be proactive about dealing with these people; the last couple days proved that."

She's definitely right. "Did you have anything in mind?"

Isabelle considers it. "Well...no, not off hand. I mean, I bet I can find something of use in the Book?" She lets out a sigh of annoyance. "What I really wish is that we'd figured out a way to fix the Great Mother already. I'd bet you anything that she could help us out of this."

"We'll keep working on it. I'd be surprised if we can fix her before the summit, but she could be our ace in the hole for later."

"What about you? Any ideas?"

You had been trying to decide how best to broach this very issue. "Well....yes. There's always The List."

Isabelle lightly frowns at that. "I thought we agreed not to use that."

"Point of correction, we agreed to only consider using it in dire circumstances. I don't think it's a stretch to describe this situations as at least dire-ish." You shrug. "We could definitely use the power boost. It's just an option."

Isabelle considers what you're saying, though she's clearly ****. "Well...what did Jenny say?"

"I haven't mentioned it to Jenny."

"Why not?"

"Because she'd absolutely say yes? And if both of us were pushing for it, you'd agree even if you didn't want to. If you aren't comfortable with it, then The List is off the table."

Isabelle gives you a grateful smile. "I really appreciate that. Like, a lot. Well, why don't we put a pin in The List until after the summit? It it turns out the situation is only dire-esque rather than dire-ish, I think we'd regret going for that option so quickly. Right?"

You nod. "Right." Now that that's all taken care of...you can't resist asking. "So hey, um, when you were at the Infirmary with David, did you meet someone? A girl?"

Isabelle furrows her brow for a moment, then brightens up. "Oh! Aisha?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Yeah totally; is she a new student or something? She's fun!"

"She's the other witch."

Isabelle blinks. "She's...oh." Your girlfriend trails off, a far-off look in her eyes as she considers something. "...Oh."

You swallow dryly. "Is...everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah! It's just...hm." Isabelle frowns for a long moment, then quickly shakes her head and gives you a smile. "It's nothing; don't worry about it. So hey, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"I mean, I could just hang out here and wait for you?"

Isabelle shakes her head. "Don't; I've gotta rush to the grocery store and buy stuff to replace what that slutty raccoon apparently dumped. You've had a really long day already; just go home and rest up, okay?"

"Um, sure. See you tomorrow, then?" Isabelle gives you a cheery farewell, her picture vanishing from your phone. You feel very...troubled. Ugh, why didn't you just come right out and talk to Isabelle about Aisha's whole magical seduction bullshit?! You can't call her back now; that would be the behavior of a crazy person. And if you did bring it up, would she take that as you accusing her of getting seduced? Or more accurately, of you trying to deflect to how goddamn close you were slash are to being seduced? Fuck. You don't want to think about this right now. You've got a face off with a mysterious and deadly threat to plan and like four chapters of Heart of Darkness to read tonight. Maybe you'll have a better idea on how to deal with this mess in the morning.

You might be the first person to say it, but relationships are fucking complicated.