“Nothing. You’re just taking a lot of time with your appearance for a day of hard work cleaning up the merchant district. I wonder why.” She delivers the last line in a sing-song voice before she skips away. Rolling my eyes, I follow her out of the room.

“She’s right, brother. You’ve got it bad for Laurel,” Fionn remarks with a smirk.

“I do not!” I snap, but that only causes Silene and Fionn to trade a look and burst into laughter. I storm past them and walk out the doors of the apartment. Once I’m in the hallway, I yell back at them. “Let’s go! These buildings aren’t going to clean up themselves.”

We make the trek down into Arberly and to the destroyed merchant district. Now that Abscission is over, Fionn committed all three of us to help with efforts to clean up and repair the destruction from the rebel attack. Not that I mind. Fionn converses with several fae and humans who are in charge of the cleanup. They direct us farther into the district, to a stretch that was completely destroyed and needs to be fully cleared away before rebuilding. We immediately get to work, Fionn hauling giant beams of metal away with his magic while Silene follows behind him to blow away any remaining debris. I stick to physical labor, picking up what I can and carrying it to the giant burn pile that’s carefully maintained.

After several hours of back-breaking work, we’ve cleared our stretch enough for me to wash it down with water. I focus on the aether pulsing strongly around me, and it helps me find the dozens of barrels of water placed throughout the district for this purpose. A tidal wave crashes down over the area, washing away dirt and debris.

“Impressive,” a familiar feminine voice says from behind me. Turning, my eyes instantly find Laurel, surprisingly clad in a modest purple gown. Though I can’t say I dislike the scandalous dresses she likes to wear when she’s playing a scary witch, I like this look on her too.

“I’m glad you’ve finally realized I’m impressive,” I quip back with a wink. She rolls her eyes.

“I’m going to the school today to speak with the students there. I thought you might like to come with me. There are still a few light channelers who would love a few tips from you.” Her open expression makes my heart flip.

“Lead the way,” I say with a grin before yelling back to Fionn and Silene about where I’m going.