"Time to see your new apartments." I announce to the security team. "Those of you who chose to live here -like a certain stubborn old man- that is." I add with a laugh.

"Do you really think any of them will turn it down once they see the place?" Ro asks with a wry smile. "Even I might have moved in if I didn't know that I could get you to fix up my place for me."

"Oh, I don't know if I can." Gen is the first to speak up. "Mom is going to flip as it is when she sees me walking again; I'm not sure she'll let me move out."

"That's alright; I don't require any of you to live onsite." I respond with a smile. "And, I expect you to have lives outside the job." I add while looking Cyril straight in the eyes.

"Oh, he's got you pegged already, Cy." Stan slaps his friend on the back. "Now, come on, I've been dying to see inside this place."

""Me too!"" Toni and Fawne say at the same time and then start giggling.

"Then let me welcome you to Apricot Industries' world headquarters." I grin and open the doors for them with a flourish. Most of them stop just door to stare, but I can see Cyril and Stan looking everything over with a professional eye. "You all can explore at your leisure later; for now, let's go straight to the apartments."

"Uh..." Hughes hesitates when I gesture for everyone to enter a small room.

"I know it's a bit tight with all eight of us, but we should still all fit into the lift." I move it up and down a few centimeters so they get an idea of what it is for. "I have to control it manually for now, but I hope to have it working properly soon."

"..." He looks between his new prosthetic, the stairs, and the elevator before shrugging and getting onboard. The others soon follow in his wake.

Somehow I restrained myself here and didn't add a single honeycomb to the entire lift. Instead, sticking with the more traditional bold shapes and curvilinear lines of the art deco style.

"Eek." A small squeak escapes from Stan as the Elevator begins to rise.

"Eek?" Gen raises an eyebrow at the older man and I have to bite back my laughter for the look Stan shoots him and everyone else that is now smiling at his little outburst.

"Looks like someone just volunteered to climb some stairs as part of his rehabilitation." Cyril states, but he has the widest grin for his friend's slip up.

"Not a word." Stan warns my head of security.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Cyril's smile grows even wider.

"There you are." Apricot tows me out of the elevator as soon as the doors open. "There are thirteen on this side of the hallway and fifteen on the other." She states with absolute certainty in her eyes, right up until I grin that is.

"At least that many, yes." I laugh and pull the poor little pixie in for a hug. "Do you want a hint?"

"No!" She pauses for half a beat. "Yes... Dammit!"

"Don't worry, Sweetie." I stroke her hair before turning her around to face a section of the wall. "I'm not surprised you missed this one, it was a real pain to make. Now, just stare at this spot and lets your eyes go unfocused."

"What the?" Everyone else has gathered around us, wondering what's up, but Fawne is the first to spot the stereogram. "Is that? Oh, my."

Gen is the next to spot it and he starts blushing furiously. Apricot starts getting red in the face too, but more from the frustration of not being able to see anything.

"What is it? Oh!" Hughes asks before letting out an exclamation and a string of nervous giggles. Stan and Cyril are the next to get it, and Rozelle right after them; all three of them just roll their eyes though.

"I'm sorry, Toni." I apologize when only she, Amelia and Apricot are left puzzling it out. "You won't be able to see this one until after I fix your eye. But, I should be recovered enough to start working on it this afternoon."

"What is it? I can't see anything." My pixie whines.

"Try focusing past the wall." I offer. "Or, just look at one spot and then move closer without changing your focus."

"I got it." Amelia crows and then swats me on the arm for making everyone look at a floating naked woman hidden in plain sight. "Do it like this, sweetie." She transmits something over their bond and a big grin fills Apricot's face a moment later.

"How on earth did you do that?" Gen runs his hand over the wall and then blushes even harder when he realizes what he just did.

"It's an old trick from back home." I explain. "And, let me tell you; it was not easy to recreate without the proper equipment. But, I just had to get one over on little miss magic eyes here."

"I hate you." Apricot says with a grin. "Now, please tell me that there are more of them."

"Hmm? Hard to say." I shrug. "I guess you'll just have to keep looking, now won't you."

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I know what it is." Toni says with a roll of her eyes as Apricot and Gen spread out to check the walls. "But, did you really need to hide a dirty picture on the wall? You're followers of Temmie, aren't you?" She adds when I just grin.

"I suppose that is one way to put it." Apricot and I crack up when the entire group jumps after the Goddess lets out a bark of laughter for my words.

"Weren't you going to show them the apartments, Sorrel?" Amelia says with a tired sigh.

"Yes, dear." I smile at her and open the door of the nearest apartment. "I'm afraid they're a little basic, and nothing but the plumbing is hooked up right now. But, I hope to take care of that this afternoon, and you're welcome to decorate as you please."

"He calls this basic?" Fawne gawps at the sparsely furnished studio apartment. I guess the tall wall of windows does stand out a bit, and the sleeping loft over the entrance is nice. But, honestly, I can't see this as more than an above-average starter apartment. "I was expecting a shared barracks at best, but this..."

"There is a bunk room if you prefer." I tease. "But, I only added that in case someone needed a bed for the night; I don't expect it to get much use."

"Then, you're probably going to have to add another floor of apartments, Babe." Amelia says with a laugh. "I really can't see anyone not wanting to stay here, if given the chance."

"Yeah." Gen nods. "If it were just a little bigger, I could see my mom trying to move the whole family in."

"What do your parents do for a living?" I ask, knowing that we'll need more workers anyways.

"Uh..." He gulps. "M-Mom's a laundress, and Dad's a dock-worker."

"We happen to have positions open for a laundress and a warehouse worker." I say with a smile. "It won't be a problem to add some family-sized apartments to the new floor." The floor that I've already started working on.

"Say yes, Gen." Toni nudges him in the arm.

"Y-y-yes?" He turns it into a question. "I... I need to talk to them. Oh, Mom is going to flip."

"More than she will at seeing you walk again?" Hughes says in a teasing manner.

"We were going to head up to the Baron's for lunch." I announce. "Why don't you go talk to them now and then bring them back after lunch so they can speak with me? The rest of you can pick out whichever apartment you like; they all have the same design. Or, wait until I finish with the next floor to choose one there. Unless, of course, you'd all prefer the bunk room?"

"You heard the man." Hughes laughs and leads the charge to pick out a room, his new prosthetic not slowing him down in the least.

"Do you think two floors of apartments will be enough for now?" I ask Amelia. "And, should I add a daycare center for families with young children? And, why did I ever think that starting a business would make less work for me?"

"Yes to the daycare." Apricot says right away. "I want to play with all the kids."

"Two floors should do for now." Amelia nods with a smile for Apricot's enthusiasm. "But, maybe set aside a couple of nice spots for Melanie and Felicia. And, I'm sure that things will settle down soon. You're having an easier time of it than Daddy did when he opened the warehouse. And, thank you. I know that you're mostly doing all of this just for me."

"Maybe a little." I pull her in for a kiss, ignoring the embarrassed enchanter still in the room with us. "But, a good part of it is just me being lazy. I want access to the rubber, and the silk, and whatnot, but I just don't want to do everything myself."

"Hah!" Rozelle barks out a laugh. "I've read plenty of stories about people changing the world for love. Never for laziness though. And, speaking of. Don't you think it's about time you got started on the math for all of the enchantments you ordered? I want to get them out of the way so I can focus on that gift you volunteered me for."

"What's this?" Amelia asks as I lead the way upstairs to add the finishing touches. "It must not be for one of us, or she wouldn't have said anything."

"Oh, it's just a little idea that came to mind when my shameless master here was trying to wheedle a wrist-mounted clock out of me." I laugh at the embarrassed look that appears on Rozelle's face. "Sinclair was here earlier and I was showing him the watches I want to make for the three of us."

"And, why don't you tell them who it's for, you cheeky apprentice?" Ro growls back at me.

"Oh, just the Queen." I say nonchalantly. "We're heading to the Capital soon, and it's more than likely that we'll get pulled into seeing her. Jewelry is always a good gift, so I told Sinclair to team up with a jeweler for the band while he and my, caring, understanding master work on the internals."

"Is she cute?" Apricot asks the important questions.

"Just the Queen?!?" Amelia smacks me on the arm again. "And, don't make me have to add 'no flirting with royalty' as a rule." She adds for the pixie's sake.

"I think that was a yes." I say in a stage whisper to Apricot. "And, let me see the work; I'm just about done here, so I might as well get started on it."

This floor is almost identical to the last, aside from the floor. Which is another tri-axial weave pattern, this one resembles large cubes with smaller cubes stacked on top of them. The layout of the apartments is different too.

There is no common space on this floor; I used that space for the larger apartments instead. Two extra-large ones for our managers, four family-sized spaces, and the rest are studio apartments like below.

"I'm glad I made some extra glass earlier." I open the door into one of the managerial apartments. It's a two-story space, thanks to the irregular roofline of the building. It's not fully furnished yet, but even the placeholder stuff is a step above what's in the other apartments. "And, that I left plenty of slack in the fiber optic lines."

"Here." Rozelle shoves a stack of papers into my hands. "And, you are definitely working on my place after this."

"As your loyal apprentice, I'd be honored to do anything my master requires of me." I flash a courtly bow in her direction. "And, don't bother hunting for hidden images, Apricot. I'm going to wait until you're distracted to add them to this floor." She's been watching my magic like a hawk as I put this floor together.

"No fair!" She pouts.

***