#goldfinchfreehold

"Hey, CJ's getting bigger like crazy. I swear he grew since we left for college."

"Right?"

"Seems like he was a baby only yesterday."

"Now he's got opinions."

"OH yes."

A grin. "Have you told him about college?"

"He knows I'm going to school/"

"I'm not sure how much that means to him, y'know?"

"Sure, but he'll remember. And it's something he'll have in mind when he's older. Like, big sis did this, so I can, too."

"Oh, no doubt!"

She lies back on the pillows and looks up at the glow from the lantern. "I guess you're right, though. We should get back soon. Lots of work to do."

Sigh. Resigned. "Yeah."

She looks over. "It's hard now, right? But I don't think it stays hard."

"I don't know why it's so hard." Mumbled.

"Well, partially because we're lower on glamour than we're used to, both of us. And it's a lot of changes, all at once."

She lazily stretches her arms up towards the fire glow. "Maybe...we should be getting out of our heads a bit. I mean...we're fae. Maybe we should be acting more like it. That campus could use more fae influence, don't you think?"

"Some days I don't feel like Dagmar at all."

"Just... Sam, and alone."

A pause. "I get that. You know you're not alone. But it still feels it sometimes."

"But we can't let that happen. We can't let that take hold. None of us." A pause. "Is Symon feeling that way, too? I kind of got the impression that he's doing great with all the gross medical stuff."

"I'm not sure."

"Symon seems okay being alone?"

"Seems it, yeah."

"We should check in on him, though."

"True."

After a moment, "Plus, y'know, Samhain. It's beginning to tug."

NOD.

"Yeah. Um. You know how I get, right?"

"Yeaaahhhh."

She pauses. "If I get to be, like, too much? Let me know." A grin. "Can't say I'll stop, but I'll find a different venue."

"Point you at a sorority?"

"Or a fraternity."

"Fair."

A sigh and she flops her arms down again.

"I think it kind of sucks that Samhain happens so close to the start of the school year. Like, trying to figure out who I am this year, and then who I am takes a left turn right in the middle of all that."

"Yeah. Though that part s always there a little bit... so convinced somebody is gonna take something..."

She looks over. "Like somebody maybe taking May?"

Harrumph.

A pause. "Don't let 'em."

"She's in California."

"Ppfft. We survived distance learning. You can wrangle distance musing."

Lip-bite.

"She's your dreamer."

"I mean, some fae mused by being pen pals, back in the day. It's do-able."

"...I can try it."

She nods. "Okay. Ready to head out? We should see if Symon's ready."

"Yeah, I am."

"Kay." She rolls to her feet and shutters the balefire a bit, whispering, "See you soon," to it.

And the flame seems to send a bit of extra light in farewell

as the bird tweets eye of the tiger