Becoming Monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission.

  This idea comes from Amethyst Dragonfly.

  —

  Chapter 23: A Second Step

  Abbey awoke alone again the next morning, after sleeping the whole night snuggled in her fiance’s arms (objectively the best pce to sleep on Earth). She had a little bit of a headache forming and reflexively checked Status. Mana was still lower than she was comfortable with. Actually, it was lower than it should be by about a percent. It was hard to tell these days thanks to all the drain and the Wish fallout, but still.

  Justin wasn’t in the kitchen, though May was there giving little Alex an early breakfast. “Justin went out to the beach for something, but I’m not sure what. He wasn’t wearing workout clothes.”

  “Thanks, May.” Abbey didn’t pause all that much, heading directly out to a crisp and cloudy morning.

  Justin wasn’t all that hard to find. Even if Abbey hadn’t felt a gentle pull in his direction, he wasn’t hiding. That, and his blue pajamas stood out against the white sand beach. The man was kneeling in the sand, a look of intense concentration on his face. A look that vanished as Abbey walked up. “Good morning, love!”

  “Morning, Justin. What’s got you out here in your pajamas?” She walked up to find two objects sitting on the sand in front of him: one small pane of gss about the size of her hand and one Copper Coin.

  “An idea. I know how this project is going to go from here. Heck, I even reassembled most of the sword, going to have retively little to actually remake when all is said and done. It’s inside, locked in one of the empty rooms. Thing is, I realized that I haven’t ever actually practiced the technique done this way.” He held up the gss pane. “I already created and purified this one, didn’t take much time or effort now that I know what I’m doing on that part.” He suddenly threw it down against a rock, breaking it into several pieces.

  “So now you are going to do that repair you want to do with the sword?”

  “Exactly. I’ll figure out what I’m doing small-scale, so that I don’t have the big one blow up in my face again. And, well, so I figure out how to be efficient about it. I still don’t want to waste mana when we have so little. Invest a little now, save a ton ter.”

  “That makes sense. You don’t have much time on the clock by the feel of it, though.”

  Justin nodded. “You’re absolutely correct.” He grabbed the chunks of gss and reassembled them, fitting mostly back together. Then, out came the phone. Justin set a timer for two minutes. “I’ll do my best within the timer, but that should let me keep from going under five percent.”

  What followed was ninety seconds of frustration. Gss and metal did not want to naturally merge, the surfaces wouldn’t quite mesh up, the magical Coin resisted Justin’s efforts, and more. As he was about to give up, though, he found it. He could weave the surfaces together, much like the gold-ceramic mixture that kintsugi worked on in the first pce, and by the time his timer actually went off he had managed to stitch together a seam an inch or so long between two shards.

  He was breathing hard. “Okay, that wasn’t exactly easy, but I think I can make it work. Slowly.”

  Abbey id a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe take it five or so minutes a day after breakfast? That’ll get it done in time for school.”

  Justin thought hard. “Maybe, but I’ll be out of a job besides the little things at the open tent until I finish this and show it to Quiverbow. Is there anything about how to increase mana regeneration?”

  “You mean besides having two active Wishes siphoning eighty percent of our combined pools?” Abbey’s tone was devastating.

  He hung his head a bit. “Yeah, besides that. I’m trying to make it right, you know?”

  “Take care of yourself, rest, and don’t use your mana unless you have to. Besides that, it’s paying for potions or buffs that we can’t afford until the crisis is done anyway.” Abbey took a deep breath of the morning air. “You’re about to tell me that won’t work, but it’s all I know of.”

  “I’ll certainly do my best on the first couple of points, but I still have to actually get the materials for the project.” He sighed. “I guess I’ll figure it out. Take it slow until then. Do what I can by hand instead of with magic.”

  Abbey reached out her hand, he took the help standing up. Then Justin remembered to gather up the outputs of his experiments and double check for any gss shards he might have missed. Abbey shrugged. “Take it as a learning experience, I guess.”

  His head snapped up. “Oh no, learning experience! I have to MOVE, gonna be te for css!” He might not have gone on a deliberate run for exercise that morning, but the sprint that followed was strong enough to kick up clouds of sand.

  Abbey chuckled. She walked in a much more sedate way into their home. “May, which way did he go?”

  “Into your bedroom at a panicked sprint. Anything I need to worry about?” She was rocking baby Alex in her arms. Alex, in turn, was staring at their bedroom door with a look of fascination on his tiny face.

  Abbey shook her head, turned to the fridge, grabbed a protein shake, counted to five in her head, then gently tossed it in the direction of their door. At the same time, a now-dressed Justin burst out of the door, caught it, and dashed towards the stairs with a receding “thank you, love” hanging in the air.

  She giggled. “Nah, he just kind of got distracted and needs to get to school.”

  May looked off in the direction he ran. “I remember those days. Not done with them, mind, but taking the pace a bit slower now that Alex is in our lives. Yellowstone has an excellent remote and asynchronous learning program, probably from having as many students as they do who either can’t fit in a cssroom or can’t enter one without distracting everyone in it from the lecture.” She looked down at her own mountainous cleavage. “And Todd insists that I’m finishing my degree, and I quote, ‘whether I have to drag you across the stage by the wings or not.’”

  “Sounds like a good man.”

  “Might be why I married him. You need to eat, too, don’t forget.” May was looking back at her.

  “I actually don’t, but thanks for the reminder. Helps the mana when I do, and my body still gets phantom hunger pangs when I accidentally miss a meal.” She pulled out a bagel, put it in the toaster, then dug for things to put on it.

  “Good. And now that I know you’re going to be here for a bit, we need to talk.” May sniffed the air delicately. “About sex.”

  Abbey blushed deep purple. “What… about it?”

  “I’ll go ahead and be blunt. You didn’t strike me as the type to be saving herself for marriage, and I know you’re not a virgin. And yet, I can tell pin as day that you two are both on a dry spell longer than you say your retionship has gone. Not judging, obviously, I wouldn’t have waited even before the Change and circumstances didn’t exactly encourage it either. Am I wrong about any of this? Lord knows my sniffer’s been off for a month or so.”

  Abbey’s purple blush went much deeper. “That’s… ah, not quite it.”

  May’s head quirked to the side. “Is he asexual? Again, not going to judge, I know a couple of people like that back at school. I thought I smelled lust on him, but I could be wrong.”

  Abbey shook her head. “Oh, no, the interest is there. It’s just… um. Kind of hard to expin. We haven’t even really talked about it in reality, but I know him.”

  “If it’s not too much, do tell. And trust me when I say, I’ve likely heard or lived worse than anything you’re about to say. Kind of my thing. I just want to make sure you two are good, you’ve welcomed us into your home, and in return I want to make sure your marriage is off on the right foot. Intimacy issues could be a problem if you two don’t have them straight.” Trust a Succubus to be focused on that part, but she had a point.

  Abbey sighed, putting her bagel on a pte and grabbing some cream cheese. “So, here’s the thing. Justin is very much the kind of person who would not DREAM of doing that kind of thing without consent. Willing, uncoerced consent.”

  “Well I should hope he… oh, the whole Wish thing. I think I get it.” May nodded again. “You can’t really say yes if you can’t say no.”

  “Exactly. As soon as he knew I was his girlfriend because of a magical effect, sex was off the table until we both knew the magic wasn’t forcing it. That was within minutes of him making the Wish, so things didn’t exactly have a chance to happen. We’re a lot more official now, but the reverse is now true. He’s the one who is trying to deal with the fallout of a Wish, so until all of that’s settled neither one of us even wants to ask.” She took a bite, chewing thoughtfully.

  “Makes sense. I assume you two are sleeping in the same bed, given that you’re in the same bedroom.”

  Abbey swallowed her mouthful. “Definitely. I love sleeping in his arms, we shower together, everything. Just not that. Not yet.”

  “Alright. Here I was going to offer to help, but it seems that it isn’t needed.” May stood, lightly bouncing Alex.

  “Help?” Abbey was understandably a bit confused. “I thought you were married?”

  “Todd and I talked about a lot of things before we tied the knot, that being one of them. Neither of us is exclusive. Maybe we would have been if the Status hadn’t had other ideas, but we aren’t exactly unhappy with how it all turned out.” She pondered for a moment. “Then again, if not for the Change, we likely wouldn’t have met.”

  “Same with Justin and I.” Abbey looked at her watch. “Looks like it’s my turn to get running.” The two both moved off to their own rooms. Abbey’s day was on its way, now featuring slightly earlier hours than before. No sense being on the closing team when she wasn’t allowed to lock up, especially when the people she needed to be talking to worked more normal shifts. Showering alone was not nearly as pleasant as being with Justin, but it’s what she had. She, too, soon left for her work day.

  Csses went in a bit of a blur for Justin. It was still a bit of a new experience in reality (if not in his impnted memories) for him to be actively participating and getting good information from them. The professor who he would be turning in his final project to seemed fascinated by his experiment from that morning, and offered a couple of pointers for how to get things to stick better. She just seemed to want to see where the application of Css Abilities on art could lead. Perhaps less enthused about making a weapon, but she understood that it would also be used to apply for an apprenticeship. She wrote that down, otherwise he might have had to surrender it in order to get the grade.

  Two csses, lunch, literature. This time, the book posited what value a gss knife held. A bit on the nose, Justin felt, but it did what good books do. It got him to think. He had one, or would soon. What worth did it hold? Well, as a weapon, probably not much. He didn’t pn to stab people with it, though. Its worth was as a symbol. What it meant, how far he’d come, the fact that he could make it. Justin shook his head. Css was almost over, and though people were noticing his new engagement with the material he had barely heard anything the teacher had said this time. Just enough to be able to write down his homework. Not that it was too bad, all told, at least not now that he was caught up with most everything else and on pace to complete his other projects on time.

  Csses complete, he was all the way back to his dorm room and about to go through the portal home before he remembered. Abbey wasn’t there yet. They were no longer working the same shifts, at least for now. He paused for a sec. Thinking about what he’d be doing for the moment, when his phone pinged. He smiled when he realized it was from Abbey. “Mom and Dad are going to be at our home in about 30 minutes, if css is over can you show them around?”

  Justin nodded, then realized a moment ter that nodding at his phone wasn’t going to let Abbey know anything. He shot off a quick “sure thing” and crossed the threshold to go home. Mister and Missus Williams would theoretically be arriving via the front door, which wasn’t exactly a way he was used to entering and exiting the home. Bit odd to think about it that way, but there you go. Presumably, there would be a road of some kind leading to it. Maybe even a garage or car port. He realized that he legitimately had never looked, and mentally smacked himself for that oversight. Thankfully, his school clothing was at least decent.

  He went downstairs at a trot, waving to Todd and Song on the way, and out the front door. It was with a distinct sense of relief that he noted the road leading to his home, even if it was a bit narrow. It led to a fairly broad turnaround in front of the seaside manor, and a rge car port to one side. Driving wasn’t a priority for them, but either some tiny side portion of his second Wish made it happen or else that part was already there. No way to know which without knowing what the area was like before.

  And face it, the st thing you want to do is tell Agnes the IRS Dragon that you need to pay taxes on a few miles of coastal road along with the magical mansion.

  The sound reached him first in the peaceful salty air, the cttering rumble of a diesel engine with countless miles behind it and countless more ahead. A few moments ter it pulled into sight, bright silver-gray and taking its time. A rge RV, looking for the world like it was personally enjoying the sights. It seemed to stroll on down the road, casually circling the turnaround until it decided to rest in the car port. Justin heard the door open and shut, and the two occupants came around into vision. The matronly woman and crooked-grinned Goblin waved and picked up the pace to get to him. Justin extended a hand. “Gd you made it alright!”

  Daniel the Goblin grabbed the hand and pulled Justin into a hug that was much stronger than it looked like he could at that size. “Ain’t nobody engaged to my daughter gonna settle for a handshake, Justin.” He let go and watched with the same crooked grin as Justin tried to regain his bance. “And since Abbey’s not here right now we can have a couple of those conversations that got skipped.”

  Justin sighed as Mrs. Williams shook her head, a look on her face that said both that she absolutely expected this and was hoping her husband wouldn’t. He gestured back at the home. “Let’s get inside, then, unless you’d rather have the discussion on the beach.”

  Daniel sniffed the air. “Not gonna rain any time soon. I’d like to see that beach if it’s all the same to you.”

  “Quickest way is through the house, then. We have other guests helping us figure out a few things, but that shouldn’t be a problem.” They started walking to the door.

  Mrs. Williams seemed concerned. “You’re not trying to make up the difference by renting rooms out, are you?”

  “No, ma’am, they just needed help and are helping us out while they’re at it.” Their other guests weren’t visible on their walk to the back door. Justin wasn’t sure if he was thankful for this or not, but decided that it at least let him focus on his in-ws. The beach was thankfully also clear, and once out there he let the others lead the way to wherever they wanted to go. Perhaps predictably, both were immediately drawn towards the dock.

  Euphegina Williams looked back at him after breathing in the ocean air. “I assume that this pce is a result of one of those Wishes?”

  “Yes, ma’am. The second one. It’s still kind of deciding how it wants to look, takes a bunch of our mana to do it as we go.” He looked up at the structure. “It’s home, though. A dorm room with Abbey was home, but this pce helps.”

  They were quiet for a moment, listening to the sounds of the waves. Mr. Williams was the one to break the silence. “Now, I’d normally ask what your intentions are for my daughter, but all things considered that seems obvious. You told me you’re trying for an apprenticeship, how’s that going? I do need to make sure she’s going to be treated right, and that includes you being the man of the house and providing.”

  “I’m working on my application project now, but the hard part is getting materials while trying to keep above water. Going to need some good cobalt compounds and four or five Gold Coins if I’m going to do this right. Considering it’s also my Senior Project for college, I’m not doing anything halfway.”

  Daniel nodded, chewing on the information. “So how are you getting the funds for all of that? Abbey told us earlier you got fired.”

  “Bit more complicated than that, but it works. I’m working at Camp. I’m a Shaper, sir, and most Shapers aren’t willing to do things like sharpen weapons. I am, so it’s a decent income. Way better than barista pay, I’ll tell you that, even if slinging coffee let me keep a lid on my student loans.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed. “Thought you said the home’s taking up a lot of your mana. Doesn’t sound like that’s gonna help when your job and your project are both taking a lot of it.”

  “I…” Justin paused. The man was right, of course. His stores were finite and regenerating with painful slowness. Simply put, he wasn’t going to have enough of it for a long time. No way to know if he’d even be able to complete his project before the semester was over, and that was before his income stream started depending on it. He took a deep breath in then let it slowly out. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Honey, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” He looked up at his wife.

  “Of course. I’ll get the good one from the car, the one back home has a lot longer on the clock.” Mrs. Williams didn’t wait for her husband to respond before stepping smartly across the sand.

  Daniel watched her go, but once she was out of sight he turned back to Justin. “Look here.” Justin did. “If what you’re mostly doing is sharpening bdes, you can’t do it with your Css for a bit, and you froze when I asked about it, that means you probably don’t know how to do it the old-fashioned way, do you?”

  “No, sir. Even if I’d thought to do it, we weren’t supposed to do that with our work equipment and none of my art csses used sharp bdes that I needed to maintain.”

  “Good on you being honest. So, here’s the deal. Euphegina is going to come back with an enchanted sharpening block. That enchantment’s going to go stale in a couple of months, but if you can prove to me by the end of the day that you can use it well I’ll let you keep it. Maybe not as fast as your way, but it’ll work even on most magic weapons and some special materials.”

  “Thank you, sir, that means a lot.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You still have to earn it.”

  They were quiet, Justin lost in thought for a bit until Mrs. Williams came back. She was carrying a wood case, perhaps three inches across and nine long, and when she gave it to him to open inside was a block of bck stone filling almost the entire space. It was perforated by regurly-spaced holes, and at one end it was instead cut with a notch across the width. It was heavier than he expected, and the light reacted oddly to its surface. It was like it had a matte finish on steroids, the sunlight not knowing quite what to do once it struck the surface. “Sir?”

  “Yes?” The Goblin’s crooked smile was back.

  “I figure that there are three ways to do it. I could just experiment and try to wing it based on what I know, but that doesn’t sound like it’ll work. If I’m really lucky, I won’t slice my hand open. I could try to look up some videos or text tutorials. That would work, but maybe not in time.”

  The Goblin nodded. “I haven’t heard anything wrong yet. What’s the third way?”

  “I could ask for help from the people here who have actually used it. Tutors work better, and not to put too fine a point on it… or too fine an edge, I guess… you know what Delvers need out of their weapons. Abbey told me you do some monster hunting. So, sir, I would like to ask you to teach me how to use this sharpening block so that I know I’m doing it right.”

  “Good answer, boy. I’ll teach you, long as you promise to never stop asking for the help you need when you need it.”

  “Best deal I’ve ever heard, sir. Uh, I assume we’re going to need knives for me to practice on. Should be a few in the kitchen that could use a good sharpening.”

  “That will work. Long as you’ve never put a razor edge on them yourself, the stores never do. Those will have a lot of potential for better edges. Got any of those pstic water bottles?”

  “Uh…” Justin though for a moment. “I don’t think so, why?”

  “Looks like you’ll be sacrificing arm hair to test them, then. Best do it right so you get an even shave.”

  Before Justin knew it, they were back inside at the kitchen table. Besides the block itself, Daniel made sure a seemingly-random selection of items was there as well. The kitchen knives made sense, but the towel? The bowl of water? A sheet of paper? He had just started expining the first bits when Euphegina interrupted them to set a first aid kit on the table with a very direct look. “We have two med students and their supplies in the house, ma’am.”

  “And I don’t see them here helping you, so let’s not tempt fate.” This st was said as she was staring pointedly at her husband. He, in turn, managed to look sheepish for the first time since Justin had met him. The two of them got back to work on Justin’s continuing practical education shortly thereafter, a matter that both of them soon felt the university should have included somewhere before now.

  When Abbey got home a few hours ter, it was to hear the sound of appuse coming from downstairs. She knew her parents were already home, so a lot of possibilities were on the table, but appuse didn’t seem to sync with any of them. She picked up the pace to get downstairs, but when she arrived the tension left her shoulders… mostly. Her father was shaking Justin’s hand. Justin’s hand and arm seemed to have a lot less hair and a lot more bandaids than she remembered from that morning, but her mother was looking on the proceedings with a smile on her face as Todd, Song, and Ghata stood to the side cpping. May was there, too, though thanks to little Alex being in her arms she wasn’t cpping. On the table was a sharpening block, a first aid kit, and what seemed like all of the knives from the kitchen.

  It took Abbey a moment to soak in the scene. “So… what did I miss?”