Félix was pacing back and forth in the hallway while Mélusine stood in the kitchen with inexplicable giddiness and prepared a meal.

While his home was relatively safe from the Court, he had no idea how to heal broken bones. Bringing Marinette to Mélusine had therefore been his only option. He also wasn't sure that there wasn't a loophole in his mother's bargains that would allow the Court entry after all in this situation.

Going to their halfling acquaintance, who had several safe places within easy reach and who also had experience in the medical field (among other things) had been the best thing he could have done. That, however, didn't mean that he trusted Mélusine. The entire time he was wary of her questioning, especially after Adrien had stumbled into her shop, looking much different than the last time she had seen him, and sporting a broken foreleg. There was no doubt in Félix's mind that she would demand an explanation for all this sooner or later and he didn't trust in his glibness enough to lie to her.

Then there was everything else to worry about, namely the ring on his finger and the kwami upstairs in the bedroom who would return to his pocket eventually. This was an issue for another day though.

According to Plagg, the only one who would have been able to get through Tikki's wards, take the earrings and steal Marinette was a changeling. Therefore, the likelihood that they were replacing Marinette as well was high. Unfortunately, that meant that he'd have to interact with them in a friendly manner to not blow their cover, and by Danu, that would be a challenge.

That didn't even touch upon the people in Marinette's life who were unusually perceptive, especially Sabine and Nino. They'd no doubt become suspicious sooner or later and Félix would have to deal with that on top of Alya's persistent naggings. And for how long? There wasn't really any telling if Marinette's legs would heal at a normal person's pace or if her nature as a chime's child would help her out and speed up the process. Either way, Félix was looking at a good month or two of fighting off any and all suspicions from the people around him and keeping Marinette and Adrien company as often as he was able to manage.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Mélusine asked.

She suddenly stood in the doorway of the kitchen and was grinning at him. He was tempted to shake his head, but she might be able to answer a few of his questions. The less he had to worry about, the better.

"Why this house in the middle of nowhere?"

Mélusine snorted.

"Rude. It's only ten minutes by car to the nearest city, so it's not that far out. However, it's secluded enough that you'd not attract unwanted attention."

Félix frowned as he gave himself a moment to think about that logic, but couldn't for the life of him find what laws of logic Mélusine was working from.

"I'm afraid you'll need to explain that to me in a little more detail."

A grin crossed her face. "This village is populated mostly by elderly people, which means they're unlikely to recognize the model of a famous Parisian fashion line. If that happens here at all. I mean, we are in the north of Germany and from my experience fashion experts up here are a much smaller niche than they are in Paris. And even if you get recognized, I doubt that they'd be interested enough to take a paparazzi picture and share it on the internet, thus you're safer here than in a bigger city."

Alright, he had to admit that that added up.

"Besides, the air up here is perfectly fresh and healthy, very good for healing."

"And what about the fae in the area? Won't they tell the Parisian Court?"

Mélusine shook her head. "I made a bargain with them two centuries ago that forbids them from bringing harm and a few other gruesome things to those I claim as my children. And by the terms of that bargain, you three count as my children and letting even the smallest piece of information about your whereabouts slip into Court gossip would break that bargain. They don't have any halflings in their Court, which means they can't lie and are bound to keep those promises they made. Even if they wanted to, they're unable to sell you out to the Parisian Court."

That was a huge relief and proved once more that Mélusine hadn't picked the door randomly after all. It seemed perfect, which made his suspicion grow.

"Alright, then what's the catch?"

"You offend me, kitten," Mélusine said and sent him a reprehensive look. She then motioned him to follow her back into the kitchen so she could keep tending to the food on the stove.

"Can you blame me for asking?" Félix asked as he sat down on one of the chairs.

"No, I really cannot. You've been through too much these past few days to take kindness for granted, I suppose. Either way, you don't have to worry about repaying me. After all, what kind of mother would treat her children's injuries and then expect payment from them? Just…no. The thought alone is revolting! I might be a lot of things, but a bad mother isn't one of them."

"I wasn't aware you adopted us," Félix deadpanned and leaned his head on the backrest of the chair.

Mélusine giggled. "I thought I made that quite clear in the past years? Then again, you're kittens and sometimes a little oblivious to my ways. Your mother told me to take care of you if something would ever happen to her and while I could find my way out of that, I'm not someone who weasels out of a bargain, especially not when helpless children are involved."

Félix muttered helpless children under his breath, not sure what to think about that description. They weren't completely helpless, were they?

"Either way, that is that. You still have something else you wanted to ask me, so go ahead, kitten."

He needed a moment to re-collect his previous thoughts before he remembered his other pressing question.

"I have to go back to Paris and sort things out there and you have your shop to run, so who's going to take care of them?"

He nodded upstairs, though there was no doubt in his mind that Mélusine already knew who he was talking about. She smiled.

"I was thinking about asking Sabrina. She's acquainted with all of you and has a human father, which gives her an understanding of Marinette's fragile state. It wouldn't be much of a bother for her I imagine."

Félix nodded. It was a reasonable idea.

"As for my shop, I was planning to close it this week around Beltane anyways—too many annoying customers asking for rowan sprigs—so you're in luck, kitten. The first few days are often the hardest when it comes to injuries, especially broken bones, so I'm glad I can keep an eye on those two personally. I won't be able to do anything afterwards without arousing suspicion though, so you'll have to sort it out yourself."

Mélusine flipped the steak in the pan and then turned to look at him with an expectant grin. She did that often, as if she already knew what he'd ask next, and it never stopped to be disconcerting.

"If you don't want to be involved further than this week, then how am I going to visit them? I'm sure the Court would notice if I'd go to your shop every day, especially now when they're probably keeping an eye on me."

Her grin widened.

"How would you like a portal to this place in your house then? I could set one up later this week in one of those guest rooms you never use."

He honestly was surprised that he hadn't thought of that himself. Then again, he was sleep-deprived and had about a hundred other very urgent worries. But then he was reminded of just who he was talking to and sighed. Bringing Marinette and Adrien here and healing them was one thing, but offering a portal built into his house—a challenging and never cheap task—was probably not part of that kindness. It was a thing of practicality that would spare him of the struggle to go to her shop undetected and decrease the risk of the Court finding out where Marinette and Adrien were.

"What do you want for it?"

"Well," she said, a cheerful tone in her voice as she turned around to the stove once more. "I owe your mother a few favours and she told me to use them for you in her absence. There are five left and if I use one of them as repayment for a portal it would be four. You can pay me, of course, and keep those five favours for dire situations in the future, or you could use one of them now. Your choice, kitten."

"I'll take a favour," he said without hesitation.

With everything that was on his shoulders now, he couldn't worry about repaying his debt for such a thing on top of things, thus the favour was like a heavenly gift. As selfish as it might be, he knew that they all needed each other. Adrien needed him, he needed Adrien, and Marinette needed both of them once she woke up. How much she'd need or even want them close would show, but she at the very least would need news from home and affirmations that her friends and family were alright and well. She wasn't like them after all. She couldn't just be cut off from her parents for months without batting an eye.

"Splendid!" Mélusine exclaimed, bringing Félix out of his thoughts. "I'll set it up for you once I bring Sabrina here to look after things."

Félix was about to thank her, but then bit his tongue before the words could slip out. No thanking a fair one, not even Mélusine. It was alarming just how out of practice he seemed to be when it came to fey manners.

The last time he had actively cultivated them came to mind and he couldn't suppress a shudder. Though if unrooting himself again was what would keep him and everyone else safe in these dire times, then that was what he was going to do.