--- Lily ---
Gramps and Kat had finished cleaning a while ago and it was now closing in on five am when Lily finally woke up and let out a yawn. Kat was, at that point politely shooed out of the room and told to stop working on breakfast. Lily couldn’t help but feel more and more nervous as it was happening. "You do realise we have a ntal connection and can just keep in touch when I leave right?" asked Kat.
"That is that, and this is this," stated Gramps firmly. "I can only have one first conversation with your girlfriend and I’m taking it. If you want to stay in close ntal contact I’m not going to stop you. Think of this as purely indulging in an old man’s whimsy,"
Lily looked around nervously for a bit before agreeing. "I’ll be fine Kat,"
Kat rolled her eyes not really believing Lily thought that even if it was probably true. "Alright then I’ll go water the garden for you. Maybe do a bit of weeding or sothing. Let know when you’re done with… whatever this is ant to be."
As soon as Kat left the room Gramps turned to Lily causing the young woman to gulp. "I haven’t even said anything and you’re already worried," sighed Gramps. "Why?"
"What do you an why?" hissed Lily. "You’re the closest thing Kat has to a father and you practically raised her! Your opinion is super important to her,"
"And?" asked Gramps.
"What do you an and? That’s my whole point!" retorted Lily.
"Yes I suspected as much… but Lily, we’ve known each other for years and Kat honestly raised herself for the most part. Especially once she got thrust into the big sister role for the whole orphanage. I’m not here eting so new young punk that’s been putting moves on Kat.
"I’m here talking to her best friend. Old best friend? Did we ever agree on if you both still count as best friends when you’re as good as married?" Lily winced. "Hey, I do have so concerns about the fact you both sort of rushed into that… but it’ll prevent a lot of problems in the short and long term and really. It wasn’t that rushed from your much younger perspectives," said Gramps.
"But… but I an… I’m basically eting her parents! Alone! Parent I guess. Um… I an there’s Vivian and Callisto but it’s just not the sa you know?" returned Lily.
"Right but you still haven’t told why you’re worried," said Gramps.
"I… I don’t know…" admitted Lily.
Gramps let out a low chuckle "That’s what I’m saying. You’re sitting there, still on the floor mind you, and you’re making it seem like I’m about to give you a particularly intense shovel speech,"
Lily fidgeted as she glanced around. She… hadn’t really thought about the fact she was still on the ground. She’d been spending so much ti as a mphis that having to look up at the person she was talking to didn’t seem that weird. At least, that was the excuse she was going to use if anyone asked.
Brushing herself off Lily moved to the nearby stool and plopped herself down. She took a few more monts to adjust and get comfortable but it didn’t really work. "Sorry," mumbled Lily. Read new chapters at .Côm
Gramps let out a long sigh but decided not to poke that particular problem directly. Kat was already aware of it. "I wanted to ask about how you think your relationship with Kat is going. Just because you can listen to each other’s thoughts doesn’t an you understand what they an.
"Plus, if you were really so connected I feel as if you would be gradually becoming more like each other. Which I suppose is still happening, but certainly no more so then I’d expect from a normal relationship. So I’m just here to help you both along. Anything you want to ntion?" asked Gramps.
"Hmmm… um…" Lily thought about it for a few monts. "I guess for … being with Kat is still the best decision I ever made. It’s proved so many of my old fears invalid and it’s just… just so wonderful being with her. Even if Kat doesn’t have the sa… interest in certain activities just being around her is great and well…" Lily blushed. "It’s not like I’m ready for them either… but one day…"
Lily paused as with dawning horror she realised who she just admitted that to. Carefully raising her head she was shocked to see a smile on Gramps face. "What? Did you think I’d be mad at that admission or sothing? Lily that’s not how I want this conversation to work. Seriously, stop being so scared I’m going to attack you for loving Kat. You’re right. She’s the closest thing I have to a daughter and she clearly enjoys being with you.
"Though I will say… for all that your perspective of the relationship seems to burn ’hotter’ I suspect that you also see it as more unstable considering your… past attempts. For Kat, I think she’s almost slipped into the more… mature perhaps? Phase of the relationship. In her mind I can guess that she already sees you as married and together forever. But despite what you might say I’m not sure you REALLY believe that just yet,"
Lily flinched back but nodded slowly. "I… yeah I guess. Even with this link. This permanent link it’s still a worry sotis. That I won’t be good enough for her. She’s just… she’s just so great and I… I’m getting better but I an… I do feel like I’m not up to her level a lot of the ti…"
Gramps shrugged, "I wouldn’t worry about sothing like that. Kat’s never going to let you go I’m sure of it. Besides, would she really be happy to hear you talking about yourself like that?"
Lily shook her head. "No… she wouldn’t… but that’s because-"
Gramps cut in. "No Lily. Do not try to say that the only reason Kat would stop you putting yourself down is because of how great SHE is. Kat loves you, and seeing you put yourself down is never sothing she’ll be fond of. Let’s move on a bit though. I don’t want to cause you any undue anxiety and it’s clear this line of questioning hasn’t helped as much as I hoped it would. So… what are your plans? For the future?"
Gramps was hoping Lily had so. Kat was a bit too ’go with the flow’ at tis. This also would tell him if Lily, despite her words and worries, truly believed they could be together forever. Or at least for a few decades, and that was enough for now.
"Um… well… I an…" Lily fidgeted for a bit before answering. "It’s not the best plan but I sort of just hope we keep doing what we’re doing. I want to be useful. I want to go on more adventures. I want to learn all there is to learn about magic, not just in one dinsion but in ALL of them. I an… I haven’t even looked into proper enchanting and I barely understand how I can modify spells.
"There’s so much to learn, to see, to explore and if we’re getting paid for it? Well that’s good too I suppose. We really should offer so paynt to Callisto and Vivian at so point… and maybe my parents as well but for now it’s fine. But… yeah I guess I just want to keep going with things. Maybe take a break to research a bunch at so point…
"But from what we know Kat and I have to stay in the sa dinsion because of the link and I don’t really see Kat sitting down to partake in a long research study consisting of years of work where only small changes get examined and compared to each other. I also wouldn’t want to force her into it you know? Just… yeah maybe when we’re a bunch older Kat might be willing, or we might find a way for to do my research and only sort of co along? Like a really big pocket dinsion Kat could carry around. Though that would be expensive and perhaps skew the results,"
Gramps smiled. Apparently asking about the future was a much easier for Lily then it was to speak of the present. Gramps did wonder why that was but he was happy enough with the answers he was given and didn’t really want to push further. He considered calling Kat back in already, having learnt a decent amount about Lily and gotten her to calm down… at the sa ti perhaps it would be fine for them to chat a bit more? There was no real rush after all. What’s sothing that won’t cause any anxiety? "So have you had any thoughts about if you want a wedding or not?"
The atomic blush and slight mortification on Lily’s face was a great response. Didn’t exactly tell him much, but Gramps was happy with it. Though… perhaps best not to ntion his suspected ti limit. Wouldn’t do for them to rush into even more things with minimal prompting…
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