Cami glared up at Trintio. "What's this about, exactly?"

“Welllllll,” Trintio dragged the word out as he moved across the room, leaning against the door. “I’ve been told that you met… a frenemy of ours.”

Oh, shit. Cami’s hands clasped together, and all of a sudden she couldn’t meet the fey’s eyes. “If this is about Rainbow, I don’t think they mean any harm.”

“Neither do I,” Trintio said, “but I feel it needs to be addressed. I need to make sure you aren't…” He paused, groping around for the right word. “Jumping ship. That said, I might be getting ahead of myself. What, exactly, did they tell you?”

Cami hesitated. She didn’t want to lie to Trintio, not by any means, but Rainbow had made sense. And they’d actually been nice to her.

Pretty soon, I won’t be able to lie at all, she reminded herself. Better get good at half-truths.

She spoke slowly and carefully: “They raised questions about what we’re doing. Told me to think for myself.”

“What questions?” Trintio asked. He relaxed a bit, that jovial grin returning. “You deserve all the honesty I can offer. Consider me an open book.”

And Cami considered him. Trintio was a lot of things, but she’d never exactly considered him an open book. It was one thing that he couldn’t lie, but another to get him to actually tell the truth. She’d have to be even more direct than usual.

“Well,” she began, “I guess the first question is this: you guys aren’t after like, world domination or anything, are you?”

Trintio mulled over this, twirling the tip of his braid around one long finger. “That’s a rather intense phrase, don’t you think?”

“Yes or no?” Cami pressed. She’d expected him to beat around the bush, but god, it never quit being insufferable.

“We obviously have the best interests of humanity at mind,” he said, “and most of our work is just around Walder, anyway. At least for now. And if we could get back our presence, it’d benefit everybody. It’s not like we want domination. We just want our services to be a natural part of life. We want a world where someone gets help from fey as often as they do, say, repairmen. It’s… a symbiotic relationship, you know?”

That, wonderfully, made sense. “Like those fish that eat dirt on other fish, right?”

“Uh, sure.” He stood up straighter. Not fully, being tall as he was, but straighter.

“Is it the same for vampires, then?” Cami asked. “Because, like, they don’t go to humans for contracts and favours and stuff. They like… you know. The blood.”

“The blood,” Trintio confirmed, nodding. “That’s their deal, yes. And truthfully, I’m not sure what their end goal is, but if they try world domination, we’ll… probably do something.”

Cami’s heart sank. “You aren’t sure?”

“I try to have faith in people.” He rested a placating hand on her shoulder. “We’ll make things work, to the best of our ability. I for one want nothing more than for this whole thing to be over.” He chuckled. “Any other questions?”

“Yeah, actually.” Cami drew back, letting Trintio’s hand drop. “Can I take my Fey Vow?”

“Ah, this again.” Trintio scoffed, but he turned away, studying the floor. “I told you, Cami, a full moon would--”

“How much of a difference does it actually make?”

And that stopped him.

“You’ve learned to ask the right questions, huh?” he murmured.

“Tell me the truth,” Cami pressed. The fey practically shrank under her stare. “How much of a difference would it actually make?”

Trintio’s hand crawled up to his throat, two fingers resting on the skin. Like he was checking his pulse.

“The difference,” he said slowly, “really is the talk of scholars. Of magical theory. You know, they have whole studies about it. Whole studies.”

Cami didn’t budge. She’d been told he’d do this. “And how much of a difference is it, Trintio?”

“Really, you ought to read the studies.”

“What do the studies say?”

“I can recommend a few.”

“Trintio, please.”

“I think you’d make a great scholar of magical theory, Cami. I think--”

“What’s the difference?”

“Virtually nothing!” Trintio snapped. “The full moon might marginally increase the chances of it being a smoother process, but even that is negligible in the grand scheme of things.” He threw his hands up. “Happy?”

The door flew open again. This time, Rachel led the charge, shouting and waving something around. It was red, and shiny, and looked a bit like Jane’s old stapler…

“What’re you doing to Cami?” Rachel demanded, pointing what was definitely Jane’s old stapler at Trintio.

And for the first time since they’d met, Cami saw actual, honest-to-god panic flare in Trintio’s eyes. He stumbled back, but his legs gave way beneath him, and he slumped awkwardly against the wall.

“Get that thing away from me!” Trintio shrieked, voice high and hysterical. As Rachel crept closer, he genuinely cowered, shielding his face with shaky hands.

Cami watched the whole scene unfold. It was definitely something, watching the seven-foot, bioluminescent man who exuded power freak out at a stapler held by a college student in bright pink overalls.

Jane joined her, arms crossed and brows knit together.

“So that’s why you wanted my stapler,” she remarked. “Better not dent it. That thing’s been going since middle school.”

“Cami, make your demands!” Rachel hollered. “Quickly, while I’ve got him down!”

Trintio hissed, a sound Cami would’ve sooner expected from a cornered feral cat. And before anyone could get a word in, let alone a full demand, he was gone. No flash of light, no puff of smoke, just a fey there one moment and gone the next.

“Well,” Jane said. “Were we hoping for that to happen?”

Rachel groaned. She chucked the stapler to Jane, who just barely caught it.

“Be careful!” Jane exclaimed, glaring at her. “This thing’s meant for stapling, not… scaring fairies.”

“Are fairies supposed to be scared of staplers?” Cami asked. “Because Jane’s holding this thing right beside me, and I honestly couldn’t care less.”

“Trintio’s probably still here,” Rachel said with a shrug. “Why don’t we get him to explain?”

“Fuck off,” Trintio muttered, voice no louder than the summer wind rustling leaves. He reappeared on the far end of the room, pressed up in the corner.

“Tell them why you screamed at a stapler!” Rachel pressed, grinning.

“Because I’ve been working with humans too long,” Trintio grumbled. “When you’re young, the only thing that can get you is pure iron. That’ll ruin your life. It’ll burn, it’ll scar, might damage the nerves. And if you get hit by iron enough times, you lose your tolerance. All of a sudden, things like steel hurt, too.”

Cami nodded. “So, once I take my Vow, I should avoid pure iron.”

“Indeed,” Trintio said. “Or your life ends up flashing before your eyes whenever someone points a stapler your way.”

Rachel poked Cami in the ribs. “Hey, now that we’re all calm, you should probably say your piece. I’m guessing there was one, before he yelled at you?”

Right. Her piece. There had been something going on, before Rachel had burst in with a stapler and given Trintio the fright of his life.

“There was,” Cami confirmed. “Trintio, I want to take my Vow. Tomorrow.”

Trintio sighed. “Fine. Tomorrow. Can we move on? I assume you came to the bunker for a reason.”

“We did!” Rachel beamed at him. “Wanna see what we’ve been up to?”

~

“Hey, jackass!” Helena jabbed Rachel in the side. “You realize my supplies is limited, right?”

Rachel dropped the necklace she’d been stringing together. It fell onto the pile, one of bright beads and shiny charms.

“In my defense,” she said, “I’m making jewelry for both myself and Jane. We have no use for grounding objects, but it's fun to be a part of things!”

“I don’t need the jewelry,” Jane deadpanned.

Rachel pouted. “Even if it’s made with love?”

“It’s made of plastic,” Olivia retorted.

“Which I’ve imbued with my love!”

"I think you just like shiny things."

Rachel scooted closer to Olivia, looking her up and down.

“I think you need a necklace,” she declared. “Do you want one from the bunch, or one personally made? I think I can talk Jane into parting with one, if any of hers appeal to you. I mean, hey.” Her eyes lit up. “If you want, you can have one of mine.”

“I’m good,” Olivia said. "I know why you do this, you know."

"Do what?" Rachel asked.

Olivia gestured vaguely to the pile of necklaces. "Play the happy-go-lucky comic relief. You're trying to distract us from how bad things are."

Rachel drew back, like she'd been struck. "I mean, I just want to..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "I'm not letting you change the subject. You need a grounding item!" Rachel pressed. “You’re still new to being a vampire. What if you lose control and try biting someone?”

“I have a grounding item,” Olivia shot back. She tapped at the arm of her sunglasses. “I put these on, and I’m Olivia. I take them off, and I’m Olivia with vampirism.”

“Why don’t you have a grounding item, Rachel?” Cami asked.

Rachel laughed, for a bit longer than most would consider socially acceptable. When she realized Cami wasn’t joking, she said, “I’ve been a mothwitch my whole life. I don’t need training wheels like grounding items anymore.”

“Training wheels?” Helena echoed. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“They’re training wheels on a bike we got tied to against our will,” Olivia grumbled. “I should be studying right now, but I’m in an underground bunker, making jewelry.”

“You sound like Cassidy,” Jane remarked. “Speaking of, has anyone heard from her?”

“We have bigger problems,” Trintio cut in. “Specifically, I wanted to make a recommendation to you all.”

“Oh boy,” Jane muttered.

Trintio willfully ignored her. “I think it would benefit you all to take a gap year, following this semester’s end. Now that everyone’s together, we don’t need the school club, and really, trying to attend classes while you hone your powers is easier said than done.”

“What do we tell people?” Olivia asked, eyes narrowed. “Some of us, y’know, want to graduate.”

“Some of us have politicians for parents,” Jane added.

“Understandable. We’ll handle it.” Trintio grinned. “We’ve got glamours for that kind of thing, after all.”

Cami considered this. “So you’re telling me, I get to skip school and there won’t be any consequences?”

“That’s the goal,” Trintio said.

Cami wrung her hands together, a smile breaking out on her face. “Oh, I love that. I don’t have to spend my free time studying anymore, which means I can read about aliens on Wikipedia and stuff.”

“Aliens?” Rachel echoed. “They’re one of the few supernatural things that aren’t right here, save for, like, dragons.”

“I just think they’re neat.”

Jane raised her hand. “So we’re glossing over dragons of all things not being real?”

“Yeah, they’re extinct now,” Rachel said with a shrug. “Have been for centuries.”

“Dammit!” Helena exclaimed. “Riding a dragon into battle would’ve been so cool.”

“Sure would’ve,” Cami agreed. “Sure would’ve.”