No. We run into Nick first.

Pendant paid, we step back out on the street, Madame Mesmeric's words still in our ears. Magic is real, but even worse, the spell that made us the way we are is a mess. Such a mess that even a professional like her can't even make sense of it. Good bye, hope for a quick fix, we hardly knew ye. Then again, a quick fix would probably mean making Joy disappear, and besides the whole ethical conundrum, I don't want Joy to disappear. Ideally, we find a way to separate into two people. But if my choices end up being 'keep things as they are' and 'never see Joy again'... Well, that's not a choice at all.

"Hey, Earth to Matt... whatcha thinking?"

"Huh?" Joy's question breaks the spiral of my thoughts - and my brain doesn't supply a coherent answer. "Buh."

"Very elo--wait! We need to go to a pharmacy, get some Plan B!" Slapping her forehead, Joy looks up at me. "I mean, better safe than pregnant, right?"

"Yep, sounds good. Carrying around one extra person is already **** on my back and legs."

That earns me an elbow in the ribs, and deservedly so, even though Joy can't help but giggle. Bickering good-naturedly, we make our way to the nearest purveyor of legal ****, only to find ourselves face to face with none other than Nick right as we answer. Who stares at us like a deer in the headlights. And Joy and I respond by doing the same. It takes the more or less polite cough from a middle-aged gentleman that we're holding up to break us from our mental bluescreens, and we hurry to get out of the way, ending up a few steps to the side, in front of the big shop window of a place that sells custom-made cakes of all things. Only to continue the awkward silence for a bit.

"Listen, man, I..." Nick is the first to break it. Haltingly, but still. "Guys, I'm sorry. I was... What I did wasn't cool, no... no matter how freaked out I was. I mean. Uh, I figure you two were even more freaked out?"

"Ha!" The barking laugh surprises me most of all. But thinking back to that first morning... 'freaked out' is definitely right. "I... uhm, sorry 'bout that. First of all, apology accepted, and man, you wouldn't believe how freaked out we were."

"You were," Joy interjects, and I can hear the smugness in her voice. "I was just happy to see the world."

"Joy, I distinctly remember you freaking out in the shower--"

"Shush, you!" Joy twists around to look up at me, blowing up one cheek in mock anger. "I was, like, not even one day old at the time!"

"Oh, right." Nick looks rather pale, leaning his back against the shop window as he swallows hard. "Sorry, I'm trying to be cool about it, but... it's all a bit much, magic is real, and my best friend has a--"

"Shush!" This time, I join Joy in shushing - what good is my con-strap-tion if Nick just goes and gives everything away? "Listen, we're not keen on everyone knowing. But... thanks for at least trying to be cool about it, yeah?"

"Yeah... man, I... you know why I was at the pharmacy? Got some over the counter stuff to calm my nerves. I..." Poor Nick. He's really taking this kinda hard... I'd never have thought he'd be this shaken be the realization that magic is real. "Listen, I'll go home, take some of my fancy new pills and lie down. You... you two feel like gaming tonight? I'm gonna need something to take my mind off stuff."

"Of course, man!" And why wouldn't I? My best buddy is doing his best to support us, so gaming with him to support him is the least I can do. "Anytime. And if there's anything else I can do for you..."

"Or I!" Joy interjects, crossing her arms and nodding decisively. "You're being real cool about this, about us, so if there's anything we can do..."

"M-maybe there--no. No, I'll be good, once I lay down a bit." Shaking his head, Nick gives me a fistbump and, after a splitsecond of deliberation, also one to Joy before setting off towards the campus, leaving us behind.

"Phew, he's shaken." Pouting as she looks after Nick, Joy puts a hand on her cheek as I scratch the back of my neck. "But he's trying."

"He really is. Wonder why he's taking it this hard?"

"He'll tell us once he's ready, I guess. Now, we better get some Plan B, yeah?" Twisting until she can give me a peck on the cheek, Joy grins impishly. "Don't want you to have to carry two people, after all."

"Smartass."

With Plan B in the bag, we finally begin Plan "Use a necklace as a pendulum to find who wrought the spell that created Joy". Yes, I suck at naming things. Sue me. The problem is... Apparently our campus actually belongs to the American School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The necklace that was supposed to lead us straight to the culprit keeps freaking out, every place we try swinging it showing at least three distinct directions. And following them at random sends us on a merry chase all over campus, to secluded spots between buildings, in the shrubbery between the bundles of trees that have been placed for human enrichment... If I apply my copious amounts of fantasy gaming knowledge, the campus must be a conflux of ley lines or whatever.

"Well. That got us nowhere fast!" Joy sounds just as grumpy as I am when we finally return to my room, carrying our dinner for today, bought at the campus shop. Which, by the way, also hat five directions the pendulum pointed us towards. The clerk barely even lifted a brow as we used the necklace. "The entire day, and nothing to show for it."

"Yeah. What the hell is going on in this place?" Kicking the door closed behind us, I walk over to the table as Joy opens the con-strap-tion and throws it to the ground. The flaccid dick still lying on the table gives us pause for all of a second. Our life is weird! "Is everyone and their mother casting spells?"

"Apparently... Okay, food first, then we think, and then we game with Nick." Hands at her hips - or rather the spot where they disappear into mine - Joy reasserts that bubbly personality that is never subdued for long, pulling out a chair for us so I can flop down. "There has to be a solu--we're such dumbasses."

"Why, what do you mean?" As I open our sandwiches, Joy pulls the necklace over her head and let's it swing free. And I immediately see what she means. "Oh god, we are!"

Starting at the place where Joy came into being, the necklace shows two directions - one pointing straight at my bed and the other out into the campus somewhere. Palm, meet face. Why didn't we think about this before wasting the entire day?!

"Well, nothing to it. We screwed that one up, but tomorrow is another day." Well, look who's characteristically optimistic! "Now we're gonna eat, then we play some games with Nick!"

"And tomorrow, we'll find whoever is behind this shit!"