Becoming Monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission.
This idea comes from Amethyst Dragonfly.
—
Chapter 22: Simplicity Itself
The next day dawned bright and clear. Abbey opened her eyes and savored a bit, the sheets comfortable, the bed soft, the memories of the day at the Guild Hall bright and clear. Slowly, she realized that something was off. A feeling she hadn't had in almost a month. She had woken up alone.
One sniff told her why. Coffee was brewing, and that meant Justin was up and at it. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Still early enough that she did not need to rush. Plenty of time to wonder about where the clock on the wall had come from, since she most certainly hadn't put it there and there hadn't been one when they went to sleep the previous evening. Eventually, something else unexpected came to her. The smell of eggs cooking. Justin did a lot, but on the culinary side he usually stuck to drinks. His solid food work at his workplace was usually limited to a microwave. It did smell good, though, and since the beep she soon heard usually indicated that the coffee was ready she decided to get to the rise and shine part of the morning.
The kitchen held a few more surprises. The first was that Justin was not wearing pajamas, but athletic clothes. He looked a bit sweaty, and some sand was sticking to his legs in places. Put it all together and he looked like he'd already gone for a run on the beach this morning. Which didn't make any sense at all, since he hated running in sand, he'd also made breakfast, and even after he finished that it was still a bit earlier than he usually liked to get up. Justin looked up at the bedroom door as she emerged. "Hey love, perfect timing. Your coffee is on the table, I'm just finishing this up."
Her first sip was another shock. The coffee was about a step less sweet than he usually made, right on target for her favorite. He normally added a bit too much cream and sugar by reflex given what concoctions flew from his hands. She still liked it, so she didn't say anything, but this time around she could see that there was an open sugar packet on the counter he'd used half of. "Oh, Justin, this is
perfect
!"
He froze for a second. "Hold on. I thought I was putting too little... you like it better like this? And you never said anything?"
"We've only been together a month, Justin, no matter how eventful it's been. You were still dialing it in."
He tapped his forehead before turning back around to flip the eggs in the pan. "Maybe in real time, but I still have a couple of years worth of dates and talks up here the first w... huh, I'm allowed to say it now, aren't I? That the first Wish gave me. Even in those I can't remember you mentioning it."
"Caught me blue-handed. I didn't mind, so I didn't complain." Abbey sat herself down in the seat, pondering this new change.
"You could have, you know. I'd have fixed it, both at the shop and at home. Now let me also guess something. You like your eggs scrambled, cooked crispy, with herbs, served on toast open-face with a slice of pepper jack?"
Abbey took another sip of her
remarkably
good coffee. "That is incredibly specific, and also a hundred and ten percent accurate. How did you guess?"
He slid the eggs out of the pan and onto a plate, turned and set it in front of her. "Because that's what I reflexively made for you this morning, when the last time I tried to cook an egg on a stovetop I had to use the lid to put out the fire."
It was also delicious, and by the time Justin finished making his own Abbey was looking apologetic with a nearly empty plate. He had made himself something almost identical, and started digging in. Abbey took another sip of coffee, swallowed, then thought to ask something that had been on her mind in the night. "How is your Status doing? I checked mine, and though my Ten aren't degraded I'm still at 2% Mana. I'm afraid we're going to be cleaning things by hand for a while."
Justin's eyes got that slightly glassy look of someone checking their own screen. "Actually... exactly the same here. I'm at exactly two percent mana, and my Ten are all normal. Even being blanked yesterday, that's really slow. Mind if I chug the second mana potion Ghata gave me? Not for nothing, I'd rather have some buffer."
"Good idea. From what I've heard, you're going to want to wash it down with the coffee afterwards to get the taste out."
Justin's face screwed up a bit. Drinking the last one what felt like a lifetime ago numbered among the worst things he had ever tasted. "Ugh, I was trying to forget that. Alright, be right back." He went off to their bedroom to retrieve the vial, and by the time he got back out he found Todd pouring some coffee for himself as Abbey explained what was going on to both him and May. The Succubus, in turn, had her wings folded forward over her as a privacy cover, and under it Justin could hear little Alex enjoying a breakfast of his own.
Todd saw him emerge and set down his coffee, pulled out a notebook, then got writing. "Alright, time to put my math major to use. Do you remember how much the last one gave you? They came from the same batch, so it'll give us a decent baseline."
"Uh... not exactly. I drank it about ten minutes before I put myself in the hospital."
Todd's eyes flicked over the tracery of incredibly fine scars still visible on Justin's skin. They were hard to notice unless an observer paid attention, but knowing what put them there made the Bard shudder. "Okay, good point. I'd probably forget specifics under those circumstances, too, and I'm the one with Bardic Knowledge. Got a ballpark, at least?"
Justin scratched his head. "Probably fifty-ish percent? It was pretty strong."
Todd chuckled. "Yeah... say what you will about the taste, and I've said a lot, but the Alchemist May orders those from knows his stuff. Drink it whenever you're ready."
"That would be never, but here goes nothing." Justin popped the top, closed his eyes, and tossed it back like he was drinking to forget. His face afterwards looked like what he wanted to forget was ever having drank it. Abbey was standing, rubbing his back as he leaned on the thankfully-sturdy table and violently coughed.
