Gemma handed her card to the lady at the counter, and she pushed it into a slot.

“Thank you,” Gemma said. She hung the take out food onto the handles of Nellie’s stroller and then left the shop.

She headed back towards Jacquelines. She was halfway down the street when the door to the store opened and Skyler came out, his midnight blue hair almost black under the dimming sky.

“Hey,” Gemma waved, “We’re over here!”

Skyler ran over and handed Gemma a purple phone, not her original.

“I had them transfer everything in your old phone to this one,” Skyler said, “It’s the latest model, and is System integrated, so you can pull up your status without staring into the distance and blocking your whole view.”

“Nice,” Gemma said, “I’ll transfer you the money.”

Skyler waved a hand, “No need. I’m pretty sure our media from Earth is going to be a hit here, so I’m not worried.”

“Thanks then,” Gemma pointed to the take out bags, “I got food.”

“Awesome!”

They headed back to the hotel and decided to eat in Gemma’s room. Gemma took Nellie out of the stroller.

“What...is this?” Skyler said when he opened the first box.

“Salamander liver,” Gemma said.

Skyler turned a bit green, “Uh...what else do we have?”

Gemma laughed, “You aren’t excited to eat the unique cuisine here?”

“I was more of a pizza and hamburger guy on Earth.”

“No escargot for you?”

Skyler shook his head with vigor.

“There’s a pasta type dish here, try that.” Gemma handed the box over to Skyler.

Skyler took the container and scooped some onto his plate. When all the containers were open (and all the food was warm and fresh, courtesy of the chef’s magical Skills) Gemma put Nellie on her lap, Whenever anything seemed safe for Nellie to chew, and Nellie wanted to eat it, Gemma let her have some. Gemma’s clothes got spattered and her lap covered in food, but she didn’t care.

“This is really good,” Skyler said after his first few bites, and he passed the container of pasta to Gemma, “You should try some too.”

They were almost finished eating when Gemma cut a slice of the salamander liver at a moment when Skyler wasn’t paying attention. She dipped it in sauce to disguise it further.

“Taste this,” she handed him the fork.

Skyler ate the bite and chewed for a moment, “Whoa, what is that?”

“Salamander liver,” Gemma said, “And before you freak out, that pasta that you like so much? It’s made with monster slime.”

Skyler froze, “Uh…”

“I think you are an escargot kind of guy,” Gemma said with cheer.

Skyler’s expression morphed between greenness and something else for a moment.

Then he smiled, deciding not to freak out over it, “I guess you're right,” and speared the liver to have some more, a slight challenge in his eyes.

“I may have to pay you back for this at some point,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to that,” Gemma said, “If it’ll be as tasty as these dishes are.”

Skyler’s eyes narrowed, “You know, I think you’ve won this time no matter how this pans out.”

Gemma smiled, and then shrieked, “Nellie! No!” as the baby grabbed her fork out of her hand and proceeded to get a forkful of sauce and food into Gemma’s hair.

“Eww,” Gemma wrinkled her nose as she loosened Nellie’s grip on the utensil. The fork was caught in her hair, and it spun once, tugging painfully.

“I guess Nellie’s got your back,” Gemma said, as she untangled it from her hair, grimacing. “Gross,” she said as she tried to wipe as much as possible out of her strands.

“Thanks, Nellie,” Skyler said, handing another napkin to Gemma, “but maybe next time go a little easier on Gemma.”

“Babaaa!” Nellie said, and reached for another bite off of Gemma’s plate.

Skyler gave her a thumbs up.

They cleaned up and Gemma held Nellie and walked Skyler out of the room.

“Good night,” she said.

“I was thinking tomorrow we should start figuring out how the System operates. The lady at Jacqueline's recommended we head to a library or bookstore to get some serious resources.”

Gemma nodded, “How about we split up? I’ll go house hunting and you read up on that stuff.”

“Fine with me.”

Gemma went over their current budget, and hoped they would receive a windfall from the Earth media they had distributed. She wasn’t sure that even if they pooled thier funds together, the two of them could afford to rent anything bigger than a cracker box.

And Gemma didn’t want to live with Skyler. She could handle being his neighbor but she’d rather not have a roommate if possible, especially a boy. That type of thing had gotten too messy too often for several of her friends.

“Good night,” she called out one more time, once they had finished talking, and she shut the door.

“Let’s see if they have a bath for you, young lady,” Gemma smiled at Nellie.

Nellie burbled somethng adorable in response, and then yawned hugely.

“It was a long day, wasn’t it?”