Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

“I heard my name.” From the door at the far side, Sora walked through, a bag over his shoulder. He had the same pleased, glowing aura Ravi did. The honeymoon radiance was apparently very mutual.

Ravi bounced over to him like Tigger, planting a sound kiss on Sora’s mouth. “Darling, how did you know I was pining for you?”

“Well, it’s been at least an hour since I’ve seen you,” Sora deadpanned. His eyes danced, though, so he was laughing on an internal level. “I figured I had to keep you from wasting away.”

“You’re so kind,” Ravi crooned.

Tori just sighed and assured Nikki in a commiserating tone, “It does wear off. The whole sickening sweetness. A little. Like, ten percent. You just have to give it a few years. Sora, stop smooching your boo and come over here. I think Nikki should be properly looked at.”

Nikki warded this off with both hands. They didn’t blatantly turn for the door, but their feet may have inched that direction. “No, really, I’m fine.”

“I’m inclined to agree with Tori”—Sora quickly kissed Ravi once more before heading toward them—“seeing how I’ve had to treat some of your friends already after what the Jaeggi did. You’re the only one I haven’t properly looked at.”

And Nikki was absolutely fine with that. Yup, just fine. “But you can see I’m good, right? Magical core’s fine.”

“Lisette actually mentioned a few concerns to me, so I’d really rather take a look.”

Nikki had two options: make a scene and escape, or suffer through this. They didn’t know which way their nerves would choose, really. The idea of a mage pointing any spell toward them made Nikki’s throat close in panic.

On the other hand, this wasn’t just any mage. This was Ravi’s mage, and that put an entirely different spin on things. Nikki trusted Ravi absolutely. And Ravi trusted Sora completely.

Was this the opposite of that saying? Instead of the enemy of my enemy being my friend, maybe it was the friend of my friend is my friend? Or something.

While Nikki mentally dithered, Sora approached and pulled out a few ingredients from his bag without really looking, as if he had done this so many times he could do it in his sleep. “A simple diagnostic won’t take but a minute. Nikki, can you sit for me there? On that bench.”

Nikki eyed the bench.

The bench eyed them back.

How about not sitting on the bench? Not sitting on the bench sounded good.

As if sensing their nerves, Sora gave a charming smile. “You won’t feel a thing. It’s not painful or invasive.”

“Here, cast it on me first,” Ravi volunteered. “They’ll feel better about it if they can see the whole process. And Nikki’s probably never seen any medical magic before, am I right?”

Nikki gave a hesitant nod. “Right. That’s not…something the Jaeggi know how to do.”

Sora’s eyes sharpened with keen interest. “Is that right? Then again, this clan had lost much of its medical knowledge as well, before I came along. We’re training people up even now. Well, no wonder you’re nervous if you’ve never seen medical magic performed.”

Absolutely the problem. Uh-huh. Too much sarcasm?

Nikki wasn’t about to correct him.

Sora was good natured about it all, at least. He turned and readily bespelled his own husband with a diagnostic spell that traced itself in red lines all over Ravi’s being. Then with a soft, gentle voice, he explained precisely what all those numbers and squiggles meant to Nikki.

At some point in this impromptu lesson, Nikki forgot their nerves. It was just too interesting, what Sora had to say, and Ravi kept wriggling on purpose as a distraction, prompting Sora to smack him once on the ass. And of course Ravi capitalized by asking for “more spankings, Daddy, please.”

Nikki laughed. Who could take these two seriously? Especially with Tori’s sarcastic commentary chiming in at all the right moments.

When Sora finally released the spell and turned toward Nikki, they didn’t hesitate to sit on the bench, sitting still as Sora cast the spell once more.

Sora’s lips pursed a little as they looked Nikki over. “I would say…generally, you’re fine. You’re in good health, all things considered. Some malnourishment there, but I think that’s easily corrected. Your magical core is a bit tattered around the edges, but it’s not as bad as the others. I would say the past two weeks of you not using magic has helped it to recover. That said, I’d like to give you a treatment plan to help that recovery along. That alright?”

Nikki was as surprised as anyone as the words left their mouth. “Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks.”

Sora gave a sweet smile. “Excellent. Some of what I’ll need to give you is right here in the greenhouse, so let’s ask Tori to give us a tour. That way you can harvest it fresh. Always best, when the elements are fresh.”