Bringing the new idea up to Diana.

Even as we watched Red sniff around the living room, ideas about our new work schedule kept creeping into my head. A part of me believed it was just something I’d have to accept. Work is work, after all. What are two nights a week compared to the sacrifice other people have to make? But even so, if I could find a good way to convince Luke to change things for Diana and I, then I wanted to take it. I had to find a good way, first.

“He’s been behaving,” Diana said, eyeing Red. His tail was wagging rapidly and he was looking back at Diana every other moment with eyes wide and ears pointing up, almost as if saying ‘Do you smell this? There’s a cat somewhere around here!’ Still, Red was keeping himself calm. “I thought he’d be more erratic, but… Yeah, I think we can introduce him to Cake.”

“Not the puppies?” I asked her.

“Maybe, but let’s see how things go with Cake, first. Too much stimuli isn’t good for any of them.”

We brought the dog to the door leading to the laundry room, first. He began to sniff the bottom of the door, pushing his nose against the little gap. We saw Cake’s paw trying to sneak out, so she was definitely also sniffing around.

After a while, when we saw Red calming down, Diana took him back to the living room and put the muzzle on him while I got Cake out. When I went in to get her, I saw her with her tail pointing up and very alert eyes. She approached me and began to rub herself on my legs, which I really have no idea what it meant. Good or bad sign, I didn’t know.

I put the harness on her as well. By now she was comfortable enough with it. I apologized to the puppies and took Cake out by herself. I didn’t even need to lead her. She went straight to the living room.

The cat and the dog met for the first time, eyes catching the other with about five meters between them. They both stopped and seized each other up. Cake arched her back ever so slightly but remained quiet.

“Red, lay down,” Diana ordered, patting Red on the side. The dog obeyed, even while keeping his eyes on Cake. He also put his chin on the floor, and I think his relaxed attitude won Cake over. She approached on her own accord, slowly, until she was right up against Red’s face.

They sniffed each other, Cake more wary than Red, but soon Cake sat down in front of him and let Red sniff her more.

“I genuinely didn’t expect it to go this well,” Diana admitted, her hand firmly on Red’s leash.

“I was more afraid of Cake’s reaction than Red’s, but maybe seeing the puppies helped?”

We sat down on the couch and let Cake and Red get to know each other. Once I was sure Cake wasn’t going to go crazy with a dog in the house, I took her harness off of her. With her freedom regained, she moved away, to a corner of the room and watched Red from afar. Red tried to follow, but Diana kept him close. He didn’t fight it except for a very faint whine.

“Let her come when she wants to,” Diana told Red.

The dog was still wagging his tail, but he laid down again and waited patiently. So did we. In the meantime, though, there was something important I needed to bring up to Diana.

“Ah, right. Before I forget… I talked to Frey last night.”

“Oh? Did something happen?”

“Not exactly. She’s pretty happy, actually. It’s just… She has an idea but I need to run it by you first.”

“Me specifically?”

“Yeah. You know I’m working with Luke on that elixir, right? Well, Frey thinks we could have a sort of… budget option if I learn to mix drinks using sexual energy. This would mean cocktails with potent but harmless aphrodisiac effects.”

Diana furrowed her brow in thought and remained quiet for a while, her eyes on her dog yet not really looking at him. After a moment, she nodded. “Not before we can test it properly and confirm it’s safe and the full effects it would have. I like the idea, though.”

I smiled. “Really?”

“Mostly,” Diana added. “Mixing drinks is all about finding a combination of ingredients to explore different flavors and sensations. In that sense, I’m not really opposed to using magic to make a new experience out of it. I’m just… a little worried that the purpose of drinking a cocktail will change.”

“You mean, going from enjoying a good drink to having it as a sort of performance-enhancer?”

Diana slowly nodded. “I know it’s a weird way to see it, but…”

“No, I think I get it. When a single option has better benefits than any of the others, it makes those feel like redundancies.”

Diana smiled. “Something like that, yeah.”

“...” I crossed my arms and looked up. “Is there such a thing as an end-of-the-night cocktail? Something you have as a last drink before you leave?”

Diana stared at me for a moment before smiling, leaning in and giving me a sweet, deep kiss on the lips. When she broke it, she pressed her forehead against mine and chuckled. “I love you so much.”

“W-What did I do?”

“I don’t want to tell you,” she teased.

“Oh, come on. How am I supposed to do it again if you don’t tell me?”

“It’s no good if you **** it.”

I groaned and shook my head.

Diana chuckled and kissed me again. “Relax. It’s just… You’re very considerate. Thank you.”

I sighed and smiled at her, resigned.

Suddenly I felt something on my lap. Cake had come over from the corner of the room to jump on me after seeing Diana kiss me. She meowed up at her, and I was thankful it wasn’t a hiss.

“Sorry, sorry. He’s yours, I know,” Diana told Cake, scratching her around the neck. Cake forgave her and started purring, but Red rose to his feet and went back to sniffing Cake. She hit him once on the nose with her paw to stop him from being so aggressive, but she still didn’t really mind.

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