Sweet Deeds And Spicy Wakes
If one thing in and about life is predictable … it is that life is unpredictable.
If you had told Viney Rahel when she was still in the Detention track at Hexside that she would be able to pursue her dream of her own veterinary practice utterly unopposed by the coven system, she might have actually laughed in your face. It would have been tricky as the Owl Lady herself to get a business going that required at least two major forms of magic while being bound to only one by the law of the land.
If you had told her that she would be running her own practice unopposed while also working for Alador Blight to remove coven sigils, she'd have thought you were on some kind of illicit substance and advised you to stay away from the Night Market.
If you had told her that she would be in a long term and very happy relationship with Edric Blight, one of the foremost heartthrobs at Hexside, she might have punched you for lying to her face. And from Viney Rahel, who regularly wrestled her adolescent griffin Puddles when the beast was being unruly, even one punch could be nothing short of devastating.
And yet, four years after the Day of Unity, the Fall of Belos, and the Collector's reign … here she was, experiencing exactly all of these things.
At least in a broad sense. At this particular moment in time, Viney was checking almost frantically through the cabinets over the clinic's supply room for any vials of anesthetic potions. A monokeros was being prepared for surgery and they would need as much as they could safely use on her, not just for the sake of the beast but for the safety of her and her assistant surgeon. Monokeros kicks were brutal, as were gorings from their twisted and often serrated single horns.
"Phoebe!" Viney called. "Any luck?!"
"Actually, there might be," her first of two assistants called, something odd in her tone. Was that laughter she was trying to hide?
Viney strode out of the room to find Phoebe, a strawberry-blonde witch with her hair in a bun, silvery eyes, skin so pale her veins could be seen crisscrossing her skin while somehow complimenting her light-blue scrubs, and a pleasant face with a slim build, almost smirking as she crossed her arms under her petite bust and knocked her hip against a large package on the front desk.
"What is that?" Viney asked, brushing her hands on her identical light-blue scrubs. Phoebe Febris was a lighthearted woman, but not prone to teasing during crises. If she had been, she would have been fired long ago.
"Something from your darling Edric," Phoebe said, eyes sparkling … and faintly glowing with violet magic. "You may want to open it."
Viney narrowed her eyes in suspicion. After the Fall of Belos, other magic schools had begun to follow Hexside's trend of multi-tracking. Phoebe had majored in the Healing track at St. Epiderm, but had also studied Oracle magic. What was she playing at, here?
Viney opened the box to find a tray of one-hundred vials of pale pink potion. She gasped and took one from the tray to examine the label, which read "anesthetic serum" in Edric's familiar scrawl. A note from inside the box read that Ed had been practicing his potion brewing and decided to brew a cauldron of painkiller, deciding Viney could always use more at work for the beasts she treated. An anatomically-correct heart ended the note, an in-joke between them.
"That wonderful man," Viney whispered, her eyes burning with held-back tears. Just before surgery was not the time to break down.
"Viney?" called a masculine voice, and her other assistant walked in, Galen Wrath. He was a broad-shouldered Torquent demon — a cousin of Braxas Wrath, Viney's mentee in Hexside's new multitrack mentorship program — with navy-blue flesh that always seemed to strain his own light-blue scrubs, tiny white eyes like his uncle former-warden Wrath, and even-length fangs in his lipless mouth like Braxas. He'd attended Glandus and graduated from the Healing track, learning Beastkeeping in secret as he had graduated from school the year after Belos had been defeated and now taking supplementary courses from the university.
"We've got painkillers," Viney announced, taking a few vials and gesturing at Phoebe to store the rest. "Let's get this done."
"I'm guessing Edric came through again?" Galen asked rhetorically, his baritone voice smiling where his lips could not.
"He did," Viney agreed, snapping on white leather gloves of a healer. "Let's do this."
All through the surgery, Viney had a tiny part of her mind far in the back wondering what she could do to thank Edric for bailing her and her employees out of trouble today.
A few thoughts made her blush and smirk behind her healer's facemask, but she decided she'd figure out some else. Well, something else, too.
If you had told Edric Blight when he was still at Hexside that he would have pursued not one, not two, but three separate fields of study in magic, he would have laughed in your face. For one, multi-tracking was forbidden. For another, Illusion magic was so easy that it was boring, and it seemed infinitely more fun to skip classes and pull pranks. Adding more boring school work would have seemed heartbreaking.
As it turned out, it wasn't. Quite the opposite, as it reignited his passion for learning. To the point that he was now teaching for a living.
If you had told him that he would have any form of supportive parent figures, he would have glared at you so hard you would have felt burns and then turned on his heel and walked away. After all, that wasn't a funny joke. But as it turned out, after severing ties with Odalia — whom he, Emira, and Amity had collectively decided no longer warranted the title "Mom" — he had grown closer with his dad and found another mother-like figure in Eda the Owl Lady, his mentor in the ways of wild magic.
Had you told him back then that he had found a supportive, fun, and responsible person to trust with his heart, he would have emotionally shut down, slipping on a mask of haughty indifference to mask the pain it would no doubt cause. After all, he was a ditzy goofball behind his fragile cool and collected facade, and no doubt anyone would think twice about being with him if he let that slip. It was why dating was so stressful that he never let it get far, which led to his reputation as something of a heartbreaker.
But here he was in the present with the fun, kind, kickass — and drop-dead gorgeous — Viney Rahel as his girlfriend. And perhaps, someday, more-than-girlfriend.
He blinked behind his square glasses and refocused on the papers he was grading. Technically he was an adjunct professor given his age, brought on in part because of his years of apprenticeship under Eda and recommendations from his father and several respected witches such as former-principal Bump, Raine Whispers, Eberwolf, and Darius Deamonne.
But youth or no, adjunct position or no, he had come to realize that he loved teaching. Even with all of the headaches of grades and lesson planning, he fully intended to keep up his good work and to take a full professorship when the earliest chance arose.
Finally, with the last paper on the uses of potion brewing in the Healing branch of magic and why they were so closely related, Edric clipped the papers together. He'd input his grades later; the sun was setting and so he was ready to go home, Titan dammit. He slid the papers into his briefcase and clicked it shut before summoning his staff capped by Copper, his palisman shaped like a pig with spider legs and a coin in his mouth.
"Hey, pal. You ready to go?"
'Very much so,' Copper replied, his snorts and grunts sounding to Edric like a cultured and refined accent. And so Edric made his way down the staircases and bridges that lined and linked the massive trees that formed the university, waving to other faculty who had stayed late.
When he had first started after graduating from Hexside, Edric had been unpopular with a sizable portion of the faculty for his youth and ideas of elite favoritism, even though several of the faculty were only a few years older. Of course, when Eda had found out that she of all people was being accused of elitism, she'd had … words … to say about it and the dissenters had shut up. In the years since, Edric's genuine knowledge and passion had shown through, as had his tendency to have fun and not take himself too seriously. In all, he had ended up quite a popular figure among the faculty.
He mounted his staff as he made it past the gates and flew off toward Bonesborough, thoughts wandering over what he could cook up for himself and his roomate tonight for dinner.
Something equally quick, he thought. It had been a long day. And given Jerbo, said roommate, worked crazy hours with Edric's dad's research team — that Viney also took part in on a more part-time basis — he had no doubt the guy was just as tired as Edric if not more so.
So yeah, quick it would be.
To say Edric was surprised by a savory smell coming from the apartment when he opened the door would be putting it lightly. He stepped through and stopped in his tracks as he registered the smell of roasted meat and vegetables. For a moment he winced — Jerbo had never been more than a passable cook — but the smells were so good that he kept on and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, Jerbo," Edric called into the kitchen, Copper shrinking from his staff to perch on his shoulder as he put his briefcase down. "I hope you made enough for two."
"Well, someone did," a familiar voice that was certainly not Jerbo's answered. Edric looked up in surprise to find Viney standing in the small living room, dressed not in her usual orange healer's shawl over a maroon runic and tan slacks, but in a short, loose, off-the-shoulder dress of emerald green that showed off her muscled legs, her long hair bound at the small of her back. "Welcome home, Eddy," she giggled, hands behind her back in a flirty pose.
"Vi!" Edric gasped with joy, almost running to wrap her in his arms. "You're here," he whispered into her hair.
"I'm here," she agreed, kissing the corner of his mouth. "I thought you deserved something special after saving my business today."
"Saving your wha-?" Edric asked, stepping back a bit to look into her eyes.
"We were out of painkiller potions when you sent those today," Viney explained fondly, shifting her arms to drape over his shoulders. "Your gift saved us precious time for the surgery."
"Oh, good," Edric sighed, hands sliding down her back to settle on her hips. "I'm glad I could help."
"You certainly did that," Viney giggled, kissing the other corner of his mouth before stepping away and gesturing to his dining table covered with Illtalian foods — lasagnaw, ravenousolli, and gelatoes for dessert. Not to mention the bottle of goreberry wine resting in a pitcher of ice.
"Is this from Salvatorn's?" Edric asked in wonder. It was his favorite place to eat in Bonesborough, but was pricey enough that even when his family was wealthy they could seldom bring themselves to eat there more than for special occasions.
"It's worth it," Viney said. "Besides, you know how I am in the kitchen." She blushed with embarrassment. "Food poisoning would not be a great thank you."
That wasn't entirely fair. Viney was a decent cook, but her repertoire was rather limited. Her attempts over the years to try more complex dishes had been … very mixed. As it turned out, Edric had actually become a fairly skilled cook, likening it to brewing potions and using that mindset to experiment with consistent success. He was by no means a master chef, and never would be, but he had earned some respectable skills.
Ever a gentleman, Edric pulled Viney's chair out for her before seating himself and they dug in, exchanging conversation and banter as they did. Edric spoke of some antics that had happened in class, when one student had tried experimenting with potions to pacify spirits and had nearly opened a rift to the netherworld. Viney replied with the story of the monokeros's operation, which had gotten complicated when they found out firsthand that it was a twitcher in the back leg. Luckily it was the durable and regenerative Galen who had been clipped by the beast's hoof, and he had doggedly finished up before laying down to heal.
"So how is Galen, anyway?" Edric asked, eyes glittering behind his glasses. "Still pining away?"
"Nah, he has a partner now," Viney giggled, swirling her second glass of wine. It had been no secret even to the often oblivious Edric that Galen had harbored a crush on Viney after he'd been hired. It had lasted some time before he realized that dating his boss was a bad idea all around — and that Edric was a permanent fixture in Viney's life. But the process had been as close to painless as possible and Galen was now a trusted friend as well as colleague.
"Good for him," Edric said genuinely. "The guy works so hard he deserves a chance at love." He smirked at the hint at Viney's work-stories often involving Galen doing something over-the-top to get them out of a jam. He had a feeling she tended to downplay her own role, but let her tell the stories her own way.
They kept talking as they ate, and drank, and soon both were red-faced and giggling. The palismen traded a glance and watched closely from their padded perches on a chest of drawers between the living and dining rooms, waiting for their partners to finally be together.
Soon after, Edric stood and started collecting dishes, Viney rising to start running the sink full of suds and hot water. Viney scrubbed the dishes, while Edric rinsed, dried, and stacked. They stole glances at each other, their hands and hips bumping often and drawing besotted giggles. When the dishes were cleaned and the sink drained, they turned and gently held each other, Viney's hands on Edric shoulders and Edric's hands on Viney's hips. She pressed her cheek to Edric's throat, an unconscious direwolf gesture, and Edric settled his chin against her hair in reciprocation.
"I've missed you," Edric sighed.
"I've missed you, too," Viney whispered.
They both felt the double-meaning of these words. With their jobs — between Viney's vet practice, work for Alador, and mentorship with Braxas paired against Edric's classes and university student mentorships — it was sometimes tricky to arrange dates. Which also meant that it had been a while since they could sleep together, no matter how much their Beastkeeper instincts urged them both. Moving past adolescence had helped with the sheer ferocity of those instincts, but they were still young and in love.
"Come here," Viney whispered and shifted to kiss him. They held each other close as they both savored the romantic contact … and Viney's eyes fluttered open as Edric began to snore. She grunted as he began to fall against her, then straightened with a jerk.
"I'm awake!" he said, eyes wide as he blinked hard several times.
"Edric," Viney said, palming his cheek. She looked at him and saw the faint circles under his eyes. Edric brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek and she knew he was doing the same to her.
Dammit, Edric was twenty and Viney was nineteen! How had they become a couple that were too exhausted to enjoy themselves?!
(The hard truth was that over three years of rebuilding the Isles, helping to found the University of Wild Magic, finishing their time at Hexside and becoming established at the university, and countless other small things had simply worn them out. Now that the manticore's share of the rebuilding was done, they may have some time to recuperate. Everyone, not just them.)
"You need some rest, Viney," Edric sighed.
"So do you," she replied.
"I'll set up the couch," Edric groaned. "You can take my bed."
'Edric, my boy,' Copper said in his stately, cultured voice in his head, 'are you really an utter imbecile?'
"Hey!" Edric snapped reflexively.
'You could share Edric's bed,' Percy noted with a raised eyebrow. The duh went graciously unspoken.
The couple looked at each other and began laughing. "Go take a shower, Eddy," Viney sighed. "I'll get ready."
Soon enough, they were both clean, in their pajamas — Viney's a thigh-length green camisole, Edric's grey sleep pants, and both commando — and wrapped around each other under Edric's covers. They'd barely had the chance to say goodnight and snuggle close before the long day and the wine caught up to them and they were sleeping soundly against one another.
'What would they do without us?' Copper asked from his web-themed hammock.
'Crash and burn,' Percy commented from a bundle of old, soft shirts he would be sleeping on. 'Maybe they'll have some sense when they get some rest.'
'We can only hope,' Copper snorted.
It really is amazing what a good night's sleep can do for someone.
A fine rest can make seemingly insurmountable problems seem small, can settle aches and pains into nothing, and calm the mind of the most agitated of peoples. A fine rest with someone you love with all your heart can do even more …
Viney stirred with a satisfied sigh as her childhood and adolescence raised on a farm showed itself. Her eyelids fluttered open and dimly noticed the faint light of dawn coming through the windows. Windows that were not from the apartment she shared with Bo Bochurn, the sweet girl who was a fellow Hexside graduate from the Healing track and now often worked with Viney under Alador in addition to her nursing job. The windows were just as familiar, though, and Viney's smile grew a bit when it clicked that they were her beloved boyfriend's. The boyfriend who was wrapped in her arms as his were wrapped around her waist, his cheek pillowed on her breasts.
Her smile may also have been from registering said boyfriend's morning wood pressed against her thigh.
Edric snorted in his sleep and held her closer, nuzzling more firmly into her breasts as faint snores rumbled in his chest. Viney's breathing hitched as his faint stubble ground against her nipples even through her thin camisole, the sensation cascading straight between her legs. Her breasts had always been sensitive, and that plus a good night's sleep was waking the rut.
Viney regulated her breathing and began playing with the hairs at the nape of Edric's neck, content to let him sleep. Unlike her, Edric had grown up wealthy and prone to sleeping in on non-school days. Much like her, these tendencies had endured. And she was happy to cuddle for a little while longer.
Sooner than she had expected, Edric groaned and shifted, breathing deeply as he pried his eyes open and smacked his lips. He blinked against the morning light before smiling up at Viney. "Better than any pillow ever," he murmured, settling back against her bust. Viney chuckled at the words he often spoke when they cuddled. She ran her hands through his mussed hair, idly thinking how insane her own waist-length tresses must be. It had been a real turning point in her friendship with Emira when she had given Viney a ton of advice on managing her growing locks.
"Morning, Fairy Pie," Viney purred. It was the first thing Ed had ever cooked for her, and ever since her pet name for him solely in the bedroom.
"G'morning," Edric sighed contentedly. "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a dream," Viney whispered, trailing her nails lightly down Edric's bare back and making him almost purr. "You?"
"Just great," Edric said, a grin in his voice. "Had a dream." He looked up through his lashes at her. "One about you."
"I could tell," Viney commented lightly, shifting her thigh to press meaningfully into his manhood.
"We're both off this morning, right?" he asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Viney knew better.
"It's Saturday, so you are," Viney replied, slowly tightening her thighs around him. "And I don't have to be in at the clinic until after lunch." They were silent for a few very long moments, simply holding each others' gazes.
Then Edric launched himself forward and they crashed their lips together, weeks of pent-up desire welling up like a geyser and both rested enough to ride the torrent with abandon. Hands roamed and hips rolled as they kissed and giggled with relief at being so close again.
Then Viney yelped in surprise as her hair was caught under one of their limbs and yanked hard. Edric froze then drew away, squinting to try and see what had happened without his glasses. Viney usually had her hair in a bun during their copulation just for this reason. She bit her lip, sudden doubt creeping in. Did she just ruin the mood?
Edric hummed and carefully shifted to reach for his bedside table, rifling through the drawer until he removed a decorative hairstick, glossy and brown and engraved with the initials V+E. "Hold on," he said warmly, settling back onto his calves. He took Viney by the lower back and, with the lean muscle he had cultivated over the years, lifted her into his lap with ease. He began running his fingers through her long tresses, straightening them a bit. Viney sighed at the feeling, her earlier doubt relaxing while the sexual tension simmered. Edric took the ends of her hair and began rolling it around one hand into a messy bun, then slipped the hairstick into it to keep it all in place.
"There we go," he said, brushing her cheek with his thumb. "I like your long hair, but a lot of times I really miss your messy bun." He snorted a laugh. "It had that hot librarian vibe that reminded me your mind is as hot as your body." He leaned in, close to her ear. "And that, love, is saying a lot."
Why was Edric such a sweet talker?
Who cared? She adored it!
Viney grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him hard, pouring her love for him into the contact. He responded with delight, his hands sliding down to cup her backside and savor the firm muscle. He smiled into their kisses at the thought that "firm muscle" could apply to all of Viney, and he very much appreciated that. Then he slid his grasping hands up her sides, bunching her camisole up until he punished it over her breasts, palming them and making Viney groan against his lips.
Breathing grew heavier, kisses sloppier, touches harder until Viney pulled her lips away with a wet smack and put her hands on Edric's chest to push him onto his back, straddling him on her knees. With smooth, practiced motions, she removed her camisole to leave herself fully naked above her lover, then took the waistline of his sleep pants and slipped them off with ease. She panted over her hanging tongue, kneading the skin of his chest like a feline. Then she traced her nails over and down one of his arms to take his hand in hers and guide it inexorably toward her sex. With her other hand, she took hold of his erection and stroked him.
When they had first started sleeping together, they had been teenagers. Inexperienced, unsure, and wary of the beast instincts their magic fostered. But that had been years ago. They were adults, they were experienced with each other, and they had long figured out those instincts, embraced them, and made them their own.
Viney and Edric made love because it was what they felt, not just what their urges commanded. Though these selfsame bestial instincts certainly hurt to make it hotter.
"Go on, Fairy Pie," she said huskily, rolling her hips against his fingers she pressed between her thighs.
Edric did just that, pressing the pads of his fingers to her folds and stroking up and down. He groaned at the sound of Viney sighing at his touch, and even more as she gripped him harder and slid her hand up and down his shaft. His breathing was growing jerky as she continued to slowly up the speed and pressure. It had been too long since they had been together and he was certain he wouldn't last long. So he pressed his middle fingers into Viney's core, drawing a surprised cry from her, and curled his fingers inward. At the same time, he circled his thumb over the nub above her lower lips, stimulating her clitoris, too.
Viney's grip on him tightened with sheer pleasure, and Edric groaned with pleasure as she sped up her own ministrations. They locked eyes, both panting like beasts. Viney placed her hand on Edric's chest for balance and to feel his firm chest, while he held her waist with his free hand, offering support and anchoring himself at the same time.
Pleasures rose like a building fire, like a fuse growing closer to a cluster of fireworks, and too soon it all erupted into an explosion of searing ecstasy. Viney screamed as Edric cried out, and she fell on top of Edric for them to hold each other and slowly fall from that high.
"Wow, that was quick," Ed panted with a laugh in the words. Viney giggled and kissed his cheek.
"We've been too pent-up," she replied, naturally falling into her nurturing medic side as she cuddled and enjoyed the afterglow. "Next time," she said, grinning against his chest, "we'll last longer."
"Next time?" Edric asked, excited at the prospect.
"We've still got time before breakfast," Viney noted casually.
Edric kissed her, and she kissed back, curling into him and laughing. They traded pecks and longer kisses until Viney groaned with delight feeling Edric once more hard against her. She giggled and drew away to shift onto her hands and knees, presenting her backside to him and looking over her shoulder.
"Come on, Edric," she sighed, rolling her hips. "Don't keep me waiting."
Ed stumbled to his knees and took hold of Viney's hips, his breathing quick with anticipation. But before he started, he ran his hands up the slope of her back and then under her arms to hold her breasts. He gently tugged to pull her back to his front, resting his chin on her shoulder and kissing the corner of her jaw.
"I love you, Viney," he sighed against her skin.
"I love you, too, Edric," she whispered softly.
Then he entered her kneeling and Viney yelped in pleasant surprise. Edric gripped Viney's breasts and tried to keep control of himself, pulling out his manhood until only the tip remained and then pushing back in. Viney gave a throaty yell as the feeling of Edric entering her and clutching her breasts met and merged in her, lifting her spirits higher. She held one of his hands in her own, reaching with her other to find his hip to grip and add her own strength to the thrusts in a mindless urge to support him.
Edric did nothing to hold back his own pleasured groans as he sped his pace, speech a distant memory as he felt his instincts rise up to pleasure his mate. He smiled at the familiar loss of civility, drowning in the simple, pure feeling of carnal love for Viney.
Shouts and moans and screams echoed off the soundproofed walls as the couple continued their rutting. Both felt the swell of rapture rising up inside, like the swelling of a balloon. Viney dug her fingers into her hold on Edric as he bit her shoulder hard enough to bruise. The balloon kept swelling, the heat rising, the pressure building until it all came to a head and snapped.
They screamed together at another orgasm, the strength leaving them as they balanced against one another to once again savor their touches and simple presence.
"So," Edric bit out between heavy breaths, "breakfast?"
Viney's laugh was high and clear as a bell.
A half hour later, both of them were showered and wrapped in bathrobes as they had griffin eggs and schvine bacon. Their palismen sat cuddled in the center of the table, watching their partners lean against each other in their chairs as they ate.
All the while, while Viney seemed utterly at peace with the world, Edric seemed nervous. He kept glancing at Viney and biting his lip, fiddling with his utensils and brushing his food around his plate before taking bites. Finally, when he seemed certain that Viney was finished, he wordlessly took her hand, drew her to her feet and led her to sit on his couch.
"Eddy? What's wrong?" Viney asked, eyes wide and surprised.
"Nothing's wrong," Edric replied with a smile brimming with nerves. "I just have to ask you something."
Viney opened her mouth to ask what, but her voice died when Edric settled on one knee. From the pocket of his robe, he removed a small box and opened it to reveal a silver engagement ring nestled with a blue gem.
"Yes," Viney said, smiling widely.
"I didn't even ask yet," Edric protested, though he was grinning widely. "I might be asking for your soul."
"You are," Viney said with a breathless laugh. "And you can have it." She cupped his face in her hands. "But only if I have yours in return."
"It's yours," Edric breathed.
"And mine is yours," Viney said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
As the newly-engaged couple celebrated with tearful hugs and kisses, the palismen pounced upon them and nuzzled them with their own congratulations.
Perfection may not be real, but some times can seem to come close … and that morning was one of those times.
This idea has been bouncing around in my head and I was finally able to write it out. I particularly like the framing story and the worldbuilding woven within, but the spicy stuff was fun, too.
*Monokeros is the much older Greek term for unicorn. I like using it for Boiling Isles unicorns because it lacks the "cutesy" connotation of "unicorn." Also, fun fact, unicorns were originally believed to be brutal and terrifying creatures, wild and untamable. The modern "sugar bowl" creature probably came from their association with virgins or "maidens" who were the only ones who could approach them somewhat safely.
*The name Phoebe means "bright" or "radiant," which helped inspire this OC's look. But it came originally from Febris of Roman myth, the goddess and embodiment of fevers who protected from fever and malaria and healed people, or caused them pain and death. I ended up making that her last name for some alliterative appeal.
*Galen is a name meaning "calm" - a marked contrast to his uncle's name "Wrath." I like the idea of Torquent demons - here named for the Latin word for "twisted" - being partial to Healing with Wrath's job and Braxas apparently multi-tracking in Healing and Beastkeeping in the epilogue.
*Edric's thoughts on the tedium of paperwork while still loving the job are based on my own experiences as an elementary school teacher.}{Edric's palisman, Copper, is (one of my favorite) the headcanon palisman that I have used for him in every story I've written with Edric having a palisman, alongside Emira's Liberty, the goose with a bell in her beak.
*I had fun coming up with Boiling Isles equivalents to lasagna, ravioli, and gelato. The restaurant is named after a common Italian name, Salvator.
*Bo's surname is a mixup of Bosook "Bo" Coburn's surname, the storyboarder/director who worked on TOH and inspired Bo's look. I thought about straight-up using Coburn, but thought it was too similar to "Cutburn," as in Head Healer Hettie Cutburn.
*I thought Fairy Pie was just too cute a nickname, and then realized it was what Amity baked for Luz before they were even out with their feelings. Guess it's a Blight family tradition, now.
As always, I hope this was a fun read. Leave a review if you like! And may your own works be fun to read and to write!