New Friends and Olden Benefits

Steve sighed in his half-sleep as he dreamed of the last year.

A year ago, the "Hexsquad" had returned to join the fight against the Collector after six weeks of disappearance. Rallying behind the charismatic human and her found family — as well as her mother and the basilisk that was her adopted sister — they had gathered an army to fight their way to King the Titan, who had used his awakened powers to banish the Collector to the In-Between from which he'd come.

Or he would have, if his conscience hadn't stopped him. The Collector had begged with all the sorrow of a genuine child to not be sent back to crushing solitude, and a solution had been ironed out. The Collector would leave the Boiling Isles and search for his own people, but would remain in contact with King through the broken mirror he'd emerged from.

Many felt King's decision had been foolhardy, Titan or no. But Steve admired his little friend's choice to spare what was essentially a fellow child.

In the time since, the society of the Boiling Isles had been put through radical reform since the draining spell and the Collector's "game" had broken everything down. As there was no psychotic dictator anymore, the people had elected the heads of the covens to be representatives of the Isles in a council of nine. Hence the new title, "Council of Nine."

The coven system had been decided to be reformed as well instead of abolished. Sigils had been discontinued for obvious reasons, and the restriction upon use of magic had been toned down significantly. Covens now acted as something like trade guilds for magical disciplines, or marks of speciality. And as Belos's regime was being overturned, another facet of magic was returning: wild magic. Up to and including the use of palismen, especially when Dell Clathorne's palistrom groves were matured.

Luz Noceda had actually begun teaching people about her glyphs, with plans to create a whole coven for the practice. The "Glyph Coven," naturally, for weak or powerless witches. Or human witches, if more ever began to arrive.

Along with those reforms was the dissolution of the Emperor's Coven. But as law enforcement was still very much necessary, especially under a new and growing governmental system, a revised organization had been formed to replace it: the Watchman Coven. In many respects, they were similar to their predecessor. They encouraged skill in multiple magic fields, had the utmost standards, and served to enforce the law. In many others they were very different, such as being held to strict procedures and regulations, with strong checks and balances.

Steve had been appointed one of the first captains of the Watchman Coven, a reward for his defiance of the Emperor during the Day of Unity and his efforts to keep things together after the fact alongside the CATs.

Steve groaned and rolled over, splaying his arm out … to find cold sheets. He blinked his eyes open and found an empty space on the other side of the two-person bed. He sighed and brushed away the cobwebs of sleep before throwing off the sheets, wrapping a bathrobe over his nakedness, and crossing from the bedroom to the kitchen of the small apartment where he lived. With his girlfriend, of course.

He found Katya with her glossy black hair already in a high ponytail preparing a breakfast of griffon eggs and schvine bacon, shaking her hips to a tune she was humming and dressed only in one of his own "STEVE" shirts, this one red with yellow print. She turned and smiled warmly at him, her eyes sparkling.

"Morning, Handsome," she said, voice almost dripping with sensuality. Steve had learned after the Collector's defeat that Katya rarely did anything at all without passion, teasing, sensuality, or some combination of the three. And seeing her prop her hip in his shirt that left her long, caramel legs bare definitely carried all three.

"G'morning, my beautiful bard," Steve said back. Katya scooped the cooked food onto two plates before cutting the stove and moving the plates to their small breakfast table. Then she wrapped her arms around Steve's shoulders, giggling as he placed his hands on her hips, and kissed him deeply.

"Sleep well?" she whispered against his lips after they parted with a soft chu.

"After last night," he chuckled, "oh yes." He cupped her backside in his palms and squeezed, making her jump and giggle. "I am sad, though, that I woke up to a cold bed."

"I wanted to surprise you," she said, kissing him again. "I was going to bring it to you in bed for your day off." Another kiss. "But you had to be so thoughtful and considerate as to come to me."

"Would you rather I come for you?" he asked, voice husky. Steve had shed much of his faint shyness in the year he'd been with Katya. After the Collector's "defeat," they had been free to have a more traditional dating life. They'd moved in together mere weeks after the event and were blissfully happy, Steve as a watchman and Katya serving as one of Raine's Whispers's assistants.

"Oh, I like the way you think," Katya purred and gently grasped his wrist. She maneuvered his hand under the hem of her borrowed sleep shirt and ran his fingers up the inside of her thigh. Steve's breathing quickened at the feel of her soft skin under his touch … and then Katya reached her nethers, and the hot, wet, bare slit beneath.

Steve wasn't surprised; Katya rarely wore underwear in their apartment unless they had visitors. Even so, he still shuddered with delight at the warm softness of her womanhood, cupping it in his palm and grinding into it. He kissed her hard as she held his shoulders, his other hand sliding up her bare back under the shirt to hold her close.

Katya mewled against his lips as he pressed two fingers into her, the heel of his hand grinding into her clitoris while his fingers curled into her g-spot. She whimpered and pulled away from his lips to tuck her head between his jaw and shoulder, her rough panting urging him on.

Never one to be outdone, Katya took one hand off his shoulder to undo the belt of his robe and slip her hand inside to grasp his stiff manhood. She placed a searing kiss behind his jaw and began to grope and twist it in her grip …!

But a chittering noise coming from that area stopped them both cold. Katya huffed a breath with good humor and removed her hand from Steve's robe to raise it to eye level, revealing her rhinoceros beetle palisman, Herc, perched on her wrist.

"Good morning, Herc," Katya said warmly. "Are you feeling lonely today?"

"Herc, man," Steve whined goodnaturedly, "why you gotta block a man like that?"

Katya laughed and kissed Steve's cheek, nuzzling against the five o'clock shadow that she always liked him to grow when he could. But Herc chittered again and scuttled up Katya's arm to perch on her shoulder. He fluttered his wings from beneath his beetle shell and looked pointedly at his witch partner.

"You think so?" she asked him.

"Think what?" Steve asked.

Rather than answer immediately, Katya led him by the hand to sit and begin their now-lukewarm breakfast. She fetched a carton of smilk and poured them each a glass before settling herself. Steve lifted an eyebrow at Katya's unusually cagey behavior. As a general rule, she tended to speak her mind.

It was only after Steve had finished his last bite that Katya sighed and scritched Herc's shell. "Herc and I have been talking, and we think …" She looked into his eyes and smiled wanly. "We think it's time you try to adopt a palisman of your own."

Steve flinched and suddenly realized why she'd insisted they eat first.

"What brought this up?" he sighed.

"Well, for one I do think Herc gets lonely when we fool around," she said wryly, and Herc chittered to support that. "For another, I would feel a lot better if you had a staff on patrols and a palisman to watch your back. Severine is a great watchwoman, but three heads are better than two. Four if she also adopted one." She bit her lip.

"But most of all, I think-" She lifted her eyes to meet his, and in them he saw no lust, no smolder, no sensuality. He saw only pure, undisguised love and concern. "You're an amazing person and a great witch." She placed a hand over his heart. "You deserve a companion who is just as amazing."

"Katya, I-" Steve felt the familiar ache rise up, his fingers curling as he tried to ignore it. "I had a palisman."

"I know," Katya said soothingly, placing her other hand on one of his. "Ricard. You had to turn him over to the Emperor's Coven when you joined up. But Steve, I think we both know what happened to him."

Steve grit his teeth at the memory of Belos consuming a palisman.

"But Steve," Katya continued, with nothing but empathy in her voice, "I think Ricard would want you to be safe and happy." He looked at her, and her eyes were slightly downcast and distant, as if seeing something far away. "Please, Steve." She looked up at him again, and he saw tears pooling in her eyes. "Will you at least try? If not for yourself, then for me?"

Steve tried to resist, he really tried. But looking into those beautiful green eyes shining with devotion and love … how could he say no?

"Alright," he decided. "If you talk to Eda to arrange a meeting with the Bat Queen … I'll give it my best try."

"Thank you, Stevey," Katya gasped and planted a hard, wet kiss on his cheek. "I'll get Eda on the crow phone right now." She raced across their small living room fast enough for her sleep shirt to ride up and flash a second of wide cheek, bringing pink to Steve's ears before he brushed it off. He glanced at Herc, who was looking up at him from the table with those adorable beady eyes.

"Between you and me," he said quietly, "there's another reason I'm not so sure about this." Herc tilted his head in obvious interest. "The Bat Queen's been doing adoption for, like, three semesters, right? Even if it's just at Hexside, that's three semesters of kids. Roughly four-hundred students or so." He shrugged.

"How many palismen could she have left?"


"Wow," Steve said blankly, "that's a lot of palismen."

Katya had been good on her word and Eda had arranged for them to meet the Bat Queen that very day. The ancient demon herself sat perched upon a rise in her lair like a noblewoman upon a throne, looking down at the witches with glowing golden eyes as the scores of palismen in the trees did the same in a sea of glowing, golden eyes.

"Honored Bat Queen," Katya said, bowing at the waist with Herc perched on her shoulder, Steve doing the same next to her, "thank you for seeing us."

"Eda speaks highly of you, little bard," the Bat Queen said tonelessly. "And yet she was most silent on your companion. Who is it you bring to request a palisman?"

"This is Steve Malva," Katya said, gesturing to him. Steve waved with a tight smile.

"Why you don't have a palismen of your own, boy?" the Bat Queen asked.

"I was ordered to give it up for 'safekeeping'," he said with bitter air quotes, "when I became a coven scout," Steve said.

"You served the vile Emperor?" the Bat Queen asked, her voice hard and sharp.

"He also defected before the Day of Unity and helped us stop it," Katya said back.

The Bat Queen growled and flew closer, landing just in front of them both. She leaned over them and breathed deeply through her nose, huffing with something like humor. "You have been with this witch," she said. "You know him as a lover."

"I do," Katya said, lacing her fingers with Steve's even as both of them blushed.

"Your vouch is useless," the Bat Queen said. "Could be clouded by affection." She brushed a wing under her chin. "Am needing a more neutral look, hmm?" Her eyes glowed again … as did Herc's. The beetle fluttered his wings and chittered. They communicated for a handful of long moments before both of them stepped back from it.

"This Herc speaks highly of you, horned witch," the Bat Queen mused. "And Eda would not send you if she thought you an enemy. Or a bad person." She nodded her … torso, and stepped back, spreading a wing in a beckoning gesture. "You may attempt to bond with one of mine own. Whether one heeds your call is up to them." With that, she flapped back to her high perch to observe.

"Do you know what to do?" Katya asked him softly.

"Yeah," he whispered back, "the kids have told me the story. You have to state your deepest wish and hope a like-minded palisman bonds to you through shared emotions." He released her hand and stepped forward to address the gathered palismen.

"Hello," he said nervously. As strange as it was, Steve had actually given his deepest wish some serious thought. Part of it was from his therapy sessions, another part his naturally introspective demeanor, and the rest had wondered after that very story about palismen adoption. Luckily for him, it meant he only had to order his thoughts and speak.

"I've worn many masks during my life," he said. "Many faces, you could say. I've been a son, a student, a big brother, a coven scout, a soldier, a friend," he glanced back at Katya, "a lover, and a rebel." He shook his head and focused. "But all I've ever wanted is to be one person. Someone that others can rely on, who can serve his community and the people he cares for in any way that he can. I want to present one face … a face that anyone can trust to help."

The horde of palismen in the trees remained still, as if waiting for one to step forward. Steve's hopes slowly withered and he suddenly felt his eyes stinging in shame and remorse. He sighed and moved to turn and leave … but then he felt a tug on the hem of his pants. He looked down to find a palisman carved in the likeness of a bearded monkey.

A monkey with three faces.

"Hi, there," Steve said, kneeling down to address the palisman. "You, uh … you wanna come home with me?" The palisman grunted and expanded into a staff, his inert form crouched atop it with his chin resting on his folded hands. "Oh, well, I guess that's a yes." Steve's ear twitched and he looked at the Bat Queen. "Right?"

"Yes, Saimian has chosen you," the Bat Queen confirmed. "He is wise and determined, perhaps a reflection of his new partner."

"Oh! Well … thank you, Bat Queen," Steve said bowing. He ran the side of his hand along Saimian's staff before mounting it and, with a final nod to the Bat Queen, he and Katya rose and flew back toward Bonesborough.

"Hey Herc," Steve said after they'd been flying for a few minutes, "thanks. Y'know, for vouching for me."

Herc chittered in reply and Steve looked at Katya for a translation. She just winked and sped up past him.


'So is it always like this?' Saimian grunted.

The palismen were settled on pillows on the kitchen counter, both eating from a bowl of mashed bonenas and smilk. Steve had spent most of the day bonding with Saimian and they had actually learned to communicate less than an hour before. Now was the time for the palismen to find common ground … as they listened to the muffled chorus of pleasured cries and grunts coming from the bedroom.

'Pretty much,' Herc chittered in reply. 'It's basically every night they get up to something. It's been hard to sleep those nights.' Herc chittered a laugh. 'At least now I have a companion to suffer with.'

'Perhaps bonding again was a mistake,' Saimian drolled, taking another pawful of mashed fruit.


Four months later found Steve returning home with Saimian from a long, fruitful, and very exhausting day of watchman duties. He and Severine had been working for weeks to pin down a dealer of dream dust, a hallucinogenic drug outlawed by the Council. They'd finally tracked the perp down and arrested him after a long and brutal chase … with no casualties!

"Good day for Steve," he chuckled as he closed the apartment door behind him and slipped off his boots, Saimian hanging by his feet from his arm.

"Stevey? Is that you?" Katya called from the kitchen, just out of sight thanks to the open icebox.

"I'm home," he replied, pressing his hands to his upper back to bend backward and pop his spine. "Need any help in there?"

"I'm fine," she called. "Take a seat and relax. I wanna hear all about your day."

"Same to you," he said with a smile, easing himself onto the couch. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the coffee table to find a book sitting there, a piece of red satin ribbon acting as a bookmark. He arched an eyebrow and took up the book, finding a library seal at the base of the spine. A peek at the inside page showed it was a reprint of a book that predated Belos's rule.

"Magicks for the Boudoir," he read the title quietly. He pursed his lips and shrugged before turning to the marked page and reading.

In these times, many womanly witches have been said to bond with their palismen during carnal pursuits. In the absence of a lover, a woman might stimulate herself, with the willingness of her palistrom partner, with her staff in the place of a phallus or other woman's touch. Such affairs are said to not only spur great pleasures, but to strengthen the bond between witch and palisman.

And yet, such things are said to not only be solitary. Some pairings are told to have ventured together with both lovers and their palismen. A sign of a most powerful relationship, it breeds not only children, but the tightest union between all who come together …

"Steve!"

Steve jumped and looked up from the book to find Katya staring with her cheeks burning red-hot and her hands over her mouth. "I-" She swallowed and fiddled with her fingers. "It's not-! I just-! I swear it was only for reading!"

"Katya, it's fine," Steve said, putting the book aside and reaching out to take one of her hands in his and draw her down to sit next to him. "It's okay," he said, his tone soothing. "I'm not mad or anything, really." His cheeks pinked and he looked around for Herc. "But, I gotta ask, have you ever-?"

"No," she said tightly, cheeks still burning. "I mean," she rubbed the back of her neck, "I've kind of heard of stuff like that, I guess. It was really pushed down during Belos's time. But no, Herc and I have never, uh, done that."

A sudden image of Katya on her back, thrusting the butt of her staff into herself and moaning with a flushed face, came to Steve's mind and he blushed, too. But try as he might to cast it away, the image kept slipping back to his mind's eye, growing more detailed with every resurgence.

"Uh, would I be a total scumbag if I said it was … suddenly starting to grow on me?" he asked.

Katya blinked, her face expressionless. Then she grinned and looked at him from the side of her eye. "Why, Stevey," she purred. "I didn't realize you had a cuckold fetish."

"Whoa, no!" Steve yelped. "I don't! I swear!" His eyes flicked to the book. "But … the book described it as a bonding experience, and … well, if Saimian's okay with it …"

"So a four-way, then," Katya teased.

"Katya," Steve scolded lightly.

"I'm kidding," she said. "Besides, palismen don't have sex drives." She shrugged. "I've talked with Herc about it, and they don't have reproductive parts, nor the urge to use them. Y'know, since they're carved from trees and all."

"That makes sense," Steve said. He looked around for Saimian and found both of the palismen perched on the table, watching closely. "Herc? Your thoughts?"

Herc chittered and fluttered his wings.

"He'd be fine with trying it out," Katya translated.

"Saimian?" Steve asked hesitantly. "I know we haven't known each other long, so feel free to say no if you're not okay with it."

'It wouldn't be the first time,' Saimian grunted.

"Wait, what?" Steve asked in pure shock.

"I'll go prep the bedroom for tonight," Katya teased, rising and swinging her hips as she walked.


As the moon rose, its proper path long restored by the Collector, the night found Steve and Katya sitting together on the foot of their bed, Steve to Katya's right and Katya to Steve's left, both of them completely naked with their thighs touching. Katya settled her head onto Steve's shoulder and sighed. "Are you sure you want to try this?" she asked.

"We're here," he noted. "It'd be dumb to squirm out now."

"No, it wouldn't," Katya gently argued. "It would be your right." She took his hand and wove their fingers. "We can just fuck each others' brains out like we normally do," she chuckled. "I know that would be fun."

"If I don't do this, the curiosity will eat me alive," Steve said gently with a faint smile, leaning his head onto hers. "We can do this."

"Okay," Katya said. She straightened her head and kissed his cheek, him kissing hers in return. "Mind if I suggest something, though?"

"What's that?"

"We trade palismen for this," she said mischievously.

"Trade?" Steve asked. He blinked and thought about it. "Look, a staff will work for you no matter what, but how can Herc-?" Herc flew down and landed on Steve's knee before scuttling up his leg and over his inner thigh … before moving under his half-hard manhood and attaching to the underside of his testes with his spindly legs. He gripped and fondled the sack, firm but gentle as Katya had described to him on occasion.

"Whoa!" Steve yelped, faint pulses of pleasure emanating from the gentle fondling. "Okay," he said, voice somewhat strained, "I guess that answers that."

Katya laughed and Saimian hopped onto the bed and expanded into his staff, which Katya took in her free hand, the other still laced with Steve's. "Let's lie back," she suggested. He nodded and they settled backward, still holding Katya's hand in his left while his right naturally migrated to his slowly-hardening phallus.

Saimian took the initiative to levitate, his eyes glowing as he did, to ease his weight in Katya's grip. She smiled up at him and shifted her grip to about a foot above the end of the staff before slowly teasing her clitoris with circular motions from the wood. She hummed with delight and put on a little more pressure, biting her lip as she imagined Steve's fingers.

She peeked her eyes open and glanced at Steve, who was steadily and firmly stroking his manhood in his grip, his breathing becoming heavier as Herc wriggled his legs to fondle Steve's testes. Her eyes flashed and her cheeks turned rosy, her grip on their joined hands tightening. Such a sight was arousing in a way she'd hadn't quite felt before …!

Deciding that teasing wasn't good enough anymore, she bit her lip and eased the staff between her nether lips, running it up and down the slit. She began panting as Steve gripped her hand tighter, his heavy breathing speeding up even further. With that wondrous noise egging her on, she slipped an inch of the staff into herself, gasping at the cool wood and the rich grain that ground against her insides.

Steve peeked as well and blushed heavily at the sight of his own palisman staff penetrating the woman he loved as her chest rose and fell with ragged gasps. Some might have been jealous, but Steve found it hot as the Boiling Sea. He tried to reel in his strokes, even though every instinct urged him to grip tighter and speed up. To sprint towards the finish line and climax. Herc wriggling around his gonads made it even more urgent.

But he held back, years of discipline backing his resolve to enjoy the experience like Katya was. And so he only sped up a little bit, a throaty grunt escaping his lips.

That was nothing compared to Katya. She'd started mewling between her ragged breaths as she drove Saimian's staff deeper and deeper into herself, the wood grain creating lovely friction within her. She clutched at Steve's hand in hers and maneuvered for the staff to graze her clitoris with each entry, amplifying the pleasure even further.

Steve grit his teeth as he fought the urge to release, sweat running down his brow as the pleasure built, the pressure growing in his lower belly.

"Ka-Katya-! Can't- keep-!"

"I know!" she moaned. "I'm gonna-! I-!" She was almost shrieking now, riding the staff with reckless abandon. Steve snarled and sped up his strokes in return. Too soon, he climaxed into his hand, groaning with relief as Katya gave a strangled moan, her back arching before she fell back onto the bed.

Steve reached down to the bedside and picked up a towel to wipe his hand off, then gently took Saimian's staff from Katya's grip and cleaned the end of it, too. "Thanks, buddy," he said quietly, and the palisman's three faces all winked at him before he returned to his true shape. Herc released himself from Steve's testes and flew to pick Saimian up for them to perch on the headboard and turn into statuettes in palisman-style slumber.

Steve passed the towel to Katya for her to clean the juices from her thighs, and she smiled at him in thanks. After she was done she dropped it to the side and curled into Steve's chest.

"So, how was it?" she asked huskily.

"It was pretty good," he admitted. "Different, in a few ways."

"But?" she prodded.

"But it wasn't you," he admitted. "Herc tried his best and I respect that, but what turned me on the most was your moaning and your hand in mine."

"You're such a sweet talker," Katya giggled, kissing his cheek. "But I get what you mean. So many witches and demons get hung up on size, but as much as I appreciate Saimian … his long piece of cold wood wasn't the same as you."

They nuzzled into each other and basked in the afterglow, mulling over their feelings on what they had done with their palismen. "I've gotta admit, though," Steve said, "I kinda do feel closer to them."

"They did take a big step just to make us happy," Katya agreed. "Since palismen can't reproduce, this was just a chore for them. Or a kindness."

"We have some pretty great palismen," Steve agreed. Then he cupped the back of Katya's head and tilted it up for a searing kiss. "Wanna fuck each others' brains out?" he whispered heatedly against her lips.

"I thought you'd never ask," she purred back and rolled on top of him to take control. But Steve rolled her back over and gripped her calf, throwing her leg over his shoulder and opening access to her center. "Oh! My, my," she giggled, "feeling dominant, are we?"

"Feeling like I wanna make you scream my name, my beautiful bard," he growled. He rubbed the tip of his hardening manhood along Katya's slit, his lover moaning and throwing her head back at the subtle tingles radiating from her nether lips. He leaned over and grabbed her breast, massaging the nipple in the crook of his thumb and forefinger. When his shaft was hard again, he asked her, "Ready?"

"Do it, Stevey," Katya whined. "Take me!"

Steve plunged himself into Katya, groaning in pleasure far greater than he could ever give himself, and Katya gasped at the familiar feeling. She clutched at her breasts for more stimulation while Steve gripped her hip with one hand while his arm kept her leg pinned and raised, and ran his thumb around her clitoris with the other, timing his thrusts to the motions. Katya grabbed his wrist at her hip and held on, bucking her hips into his thrusts.

Steve was usually gentle in bed, only getting aggressive near the finish when his instincts took over. But now he thrust into her with reckless abandon, his eyes fiery and his abs clenching. It shook Katya to her core and tore pleasured screams from her, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Each fearsome jerk pushed her higher, closer to the edge, and she could tell by his ragged groans that Steve wasn't far behind.

There was no need for words. A year had taught them both that dirty talk was best for before and after. During was only for frenzied cries and kisses.

The spring was coiling tight, the cliff drawing nearer. Kataya's toes curled as Steve reached that special place inside, the tip of himself brushing it and striking sparks within her womanhood. Her cries grew louder and more ragged, his name pouring from her lips before her tongue began lolling like an animal in heat.

"Katya!" Steve cried between haggard pants. "I'm-" He grunted in strain. "I'm-!"

"Yes! Please!" she begged.

And Steve gave a strangled shout as he poured his seed into her, the warmth filling her and pushing her over the edge. Katya arched her back with a wailing cry of her own, waves of bliss radiating from her center and cascading through her body. She moaned and relaxed as the pounding waves slowed into a steady tide and she fell slowly back to earth. She distantly felt Steve let go of her leg and settle her before he drew her to his chest and wrapped her in his strong arms.

"Don't think I'll ever get tired of that," Steve rumbled. "Of you and me, together as one."

"You should join the Poetry Coven," Katya giggled, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

"Nah," he sighed. "I'll save the poetry for the one person I think should hear it." He nuzzled into her neck and Katya giggled, holding him close as she avoided the point of his horn with practiced ease.

"Good night, Steve," she sighed, pleasant exhaustion washing over her.

"Good night, Katya," he replied with a small smile.


The next morning found Steve in his belted robe, chopping fruit as pancakes cooked in the skillet. Luz the human had introduced the dish to them, and by extension to the rest of the Boiling Isles, and they had taken off like a storm. Like hotcakes, as Luz had described them with a joyful laugh, then explained that hotcakes were another term for pancakes, alongside flapjacks.

He flipped the last of the pancakes onto one of two plates and resumed chopping, only pausing at the sound of the bedroom door creaking open. He looked back to find Katya standing against the door, once again dressed in one of his trademark shirts.

"Good morning," he greeted brightly.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be," Katya giggled, dramatically smelling the air.

Steve chortled and moved the pancakes, fruit and glasses of smilk to the table. He kept an eye on Katya as she wandered around him and then embraced him from behind. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked.

"You were an amazing person?" he guessed.

"You're too good to me," Katya replied, letting him go and moving around to face him. "Sometimes I wonder what the catch is."

"Well, since you asked," he said with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"Oh?" Katya said coyly. "What is it?"

"It may not be the most romantic thing," he said, his tone uncharacteristically nervous. "But, it's also kind of 'us,' in a way." He traced a circle — their magic had returned months ago after their bile sacs had recovered from strain, which had cleared up even for the elderly far faster than predicted — and produced a velvet box. He took to one knee … and flipped the box open to reveal a silver ring set with a ruby.

"Katya Serdtse," he asked, "will you marry me?"

Katya's mouth fell open and she placed hand over her heart, her pulse thundering in her ears. Then she bit her lip and took Steve's hands in her own, gripping them tight before sliding the ring onto her finger.

"Yes," she breathed. "Yes, of course I will."

"I'm so happy to hear that," Steve said, his throat tight with emotion as tears rolled down his face. Katya hauled him to his feet, her smile tight as tears streaked her cheeks as well.

She reached up to take his face in her hands and pulled him into a deep, passionate, pure-hearted kiss, lust driven from their minds by love. They drew close before breaking the kiss and simply holding each other, happy to be with each other in this moment.

"I love you, Steve."

"I love you, too, Katya."

In the doorway behind them, their palismen watched with quiet joy as their partners celebrated their love for one another. Their eyes glowed white-gold as they linked their minds.

'About time,' Saimian commented.

'I knew it from the moment they met,' Herc replied smugly.

Third installment between Katya and Steve. I think it's safe to say I've got brain rot for these two.

*The original inspiration for this was the fact that old-school witches used hallucinogenic ointments to feel like they were flying. Accounts indicate that they applied them topically, and the best sites were the armpits and lady parts. Since a broomstick was a good applicator, "riding the broomstick" became an old double entendre. Yep, that's where the spark for this came from ...

*Steve's palisman is the three-faced monkey seen in "Escape of the Palismen." His name, pronounced "sai-mee-an," is meant to be a combination of the name "Simon" and the word "simian" meaning monkey. Kind of like Owlbert. My brother suggested the name "Rafiki" after the Lion King character, but I thought it was a ittle too on the nose.

*Steve's surname in this continuity, Malva, is the Spanish word for the mallow flower, but derives from "color de malva," which is Spanish for mauve - as in the trope mauve shirt, which Steve grew into in-series. I thought that was actually pretty clever.

*Katya's last name means "heart" in Russian. As "Katya" means "pure/perfect," in the same language, her full name roughly translates to "pure of heart." That was also really fun to devise.

*I can honestly say I did not write this with the proposal conclusion. But sometimes the inspiration just grabs you by the throat.

Hope it was a good read!