I woke up far before any of my alarms went up, my eyes flying open as I bolted upright. Giddiness bubbled up inside of me.

I had a girlfriend!

I HAD A GIRLFRIEND!

“Auri! Auri! Pssst, Auri!”

Auri poked her head out of her nest, and loudly scolded me.

“Brrpt! BRPT!!!!!” She complained, then stuck her head back under her wing.

“Brrrrrrrrrrrrrpt… BRPT! Brrrrrrrrrrrrpt… BRPT!” She pretended to ‘snore’, not fooling anyone.

The message was crystal clear though. She thought it was too early to be up.

“Sorry.” I whispered to the little phoenix, her flaming feathers acting as a soft nightlight.

I had nothing to do here, and I was just too excited! Energy flowed through me like lightning!

I had a girlfriend! And she was right next to me! Blasted walls!

I wasn’t going to wake her up though, that was just rude. Maybe she wouldn’t like me if I interrupted her sleep. Maybe…

Maybe I was overthinking things, and I should just have a nice shower. Hadn’t had one of those in ages, Auri flame-baths being my regular replacement.

I spent way too much time in the shower, imagining how nice it’d be to have company. Almost afraid to ask. I didn’t want to rush things too much.

I facepalmed as I realized I didn’t have a towel. There had never been any need, not with Auri around. I had Iona on the brain.

[*brrrrring!* Wake up! Time for class!]

[*brrrrring!* No for real.]

[*brrrrring!* Future me, I swear if you’re not up by now… we made these alarms for a reason!]

My alarms went off, marking my usual start to the day. Perfect!

I skipped across the hall, back to my room, and grinned at Auri.

“Hey sleepyhead! It’s drying time!”

“Brrrpt? BRRRPT!” Auri cried out in alarm as she saw me soaked with water, most foul of substances.

An eruption of flames later, a hurried packing of my bags and books - I had gotten home so late last night I hadn’t prepacked like usual - and I was out the door again.

“Cuteosaurus!” Iona jumped up from the sofa she’d been sitting on, rushing over to me. “You’re finally up!”

She wrapped one arm around my waist, and I dropped my bag to wrap my hands around her neck. We pulled each other in for a deep kiss, which only ended when I needed to swat Iona’s hand trailing down to my butt.

“Sadly not the time.” My eyes were dancing with mischief, and I couldn’t keep a stupid grin off my face.

“Or the place. Shift please?” Reinhard asked.

I flushed with embarrassment, realizing we were blocking the hallway. Iona lifted me up, and took a few steps back into the living room, sinking down on a sofa with me. Reinhard made a disapproving noise as she left, but I only had eyes for Iona.

I cuddled up with her for a few moments, enjoying the snuggles.

“Brrrpt?” A question came from behind me. A growl answered, and I craned my neck to see what was going on.

Auri was on top of Fenrir’s head, the two of them looking expectantly at us.

“We need to get moving.” I reluctantly told Iona. I wanted to spend the entire day cuddling with Iona, sitting in her lap with her strong arms around me, getting fed kisses and mangos.

Unfortunately, life called. I was responsible for more than just myself, although Auri was perfectly capable of getting food and going to school on her own. At the same time, skipping classes was a bad path to start down.

“Sure I can’t persuade you to stay here all day?” Iona was looking at me with undisguised longing and desire.

I sighed, and reached up for one last kiss.

“Sorry. School calls.”

Iona helped me up, then rested her head on my shoulder.

“Lunch?” She half-whispered into my ear, and I felt tingles running through my body.

“Oh yes.” I confirmed. We quickly agreed on a time and a place, and Iona said she wanted to surprise me with something fun.

“Bye studentosaurus! Have fun!” She waved as I left with a spring in my step.

Classes dragged on foreeeeeeeeever. Even my usual favorites seemed to just drag-on, and I found myself doodling little hearts in my notes while waiting for everyone else to catch up on writing their notes on what the professor just said.

Never before had I cursed my improved perception, accelerated thoughts, and speed. I had never been aware of just how much time I had before.

Finally, finally, the last class ended, and I was packed and out the door before the professor had finished dismissing us.

Iona met me at the base of the tower, and gods.

That grin. The sparkle of amusement. The…

I went over to kiss her, only to get foiled by my nemesis.

Our overly large hats.

“Why hello there.” I said, not really knowing what else to say. I broke apart, cursing the hats, belatedly remembering that I could just take them off, and Iona snagged my hand with hers. I entwined my fingers, loving the calloused feel of her hands.

Iona winked at me, and hefted a basket on her other arm.

“Do studyosauruses eat, or can they survive off of stuffy lectures?” She asked me.

“Oh yeah. Forget studyosaurus, right now I’m a real dinosaur. A biteosaurus.” I chomped in the air near Iona, showing off how hungry I was.

I was hungry for more than just food though.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Iona pulled me along, deeper into the central park that the eight main magic towers surrounded.

The park didn’t have everything. That was for the greenhouse, arboretum, and Museum of All things. It did have a relaxing atmosphere, and Iona clearly had a Plan.

We emerged in a field of blooming flowers, tucked away in a glade.

“What do you think?” Iona asked as she unfolded a blanket. I grabbed it as she tossed it onto the field.

“I think if we crush the flowers, nobody else will get to enjoy them!” I protested.

Iona tilted her head at me, then her eyes lit up.

“Ah! Not a worry here! Watch!” She bent over and picked a flower. A new one immediately started to grow in its place. Slowly, not instantly, but it was making progress visible to the naked eye.

Magic at work. Magic letting me roll around in a field of flowers, entirely guilt-free.

I was no [Botanist] - I’d dropped the class! - but I suspected that the flowers didn’t normally all live in the same climate, and have the same flowering time. It was just all too convenient.

Yay for magic! Making romantic moments!

I flipped my hat off, and took a dive into the flowers, happily rolling around and smelling them. Nature’s perfume.

I rolled over one way, then rolled back the other. In the flashes of sight I got, I saw Iona had finished setting up a blanket and the basket. I kept rolling, making small adjustments until my head ended up in Iona’s lap. I wrapped one arm around her, letting the other sprawl out.

I had a goofy grin on my face as I stared up at Iona.

“Grape?” She offered.

I had the tiniest disappointment that she wasn’t offering me mango, but that was hard to feed someone else with. I could just imagine it. Iona trying to cram a whole mango into my mouth, as I tried to unhinge my jaw to accommodate her.

… possibly something to add to the biomancy list. Did unhingable jaws have a drawback…?

Didn’t stop me from willingly opening my mouth, letting Iona feed me grapes.

We continued to eat, and I started thinking. I needed to do something myself!

“Ok, trade!” I declared, sitting up. We quickly kissed again - and a second one for luck, and a third one just because. Then Iona plonked her head in my lap. I dug my fingers into her hair, starting to massage her scalp.

“Mmmm, oh yeah, right there, that’s the spot.” Iona squirmed slightly under my ministrations, and I let a mad grin stick to my face.

Gods, wasn’t life just perfect? Iona and I in a field of flowers, the sun at a perfect temperature, some nice shade, a light breeze, and the giddy insanity of a new relationship.

[*Brrrrrrrrrring!* Lunch is over! Time for class!]

My shoulders slumped as I sighed.

“Class?” Iona asked without opening an eye.

“Class.” I confirmed. “I have an idea for after dinner!”

Iona grinned at me.

“I can’t wait to see what surpriseosaurus has in store!”

The afternoon started off being a tormented repeat of the morning, then I realized if I crammed in my studying during the small breaks during the lesson, I’d need to study less in the evening.

Our dinner schedules didn’t align in the evening, which was fine. We didn’t need to spend every waking moment together. I spent some time with Auri, who completely approved of me finally ‘making a nest’ with Iona.

“Brrrpt?”

“Of course I’m not going to spend every waking moment with her! You’re still important to me!”

“Brrrpt!”

“Yes, the most important, bestest bird EVER.”

“BRRPT!” Auri protested.

“Creature under the sun.” I corrected myself.

“Brrpt.” Auri nodded, everything right with the world.

“Pssst, want to know a secret?” I whispered to the bird.

“Brrrpt!” Auri was big on secrets.

“There’s a little grove in the park filled with regrowing flowers.”

Auri’s eyes started shining.

“Brrrrrrpt…..” She was imagining terrible things. “Brrpt?”

I pulled a face.

“Bridget… might not approve.” I allowed.

“Brrrpt…”

I nodded in agreement. Maturity sucked sometimes.

“Brrrpt!” Auri blazed out the door, with an equivalent of ‘see you later’ thrown over her shoulder.

I brought my notes with me to wait for Iona outside the building of her last class. I wanted to get as much study time as possible, while also getting to the fun as quickly as I could.

The work was engrossing though, and I found myself absorbed in my studies, drawing out several new rune sets again and again, getting a feel and practice for them.

“What does that one do?” Iona asked as she wrapped her arms around me, putting her head on my shoulder.

My undignified jump was weighed down by the blonde.

“Iona! You made it!”

“I wasn’t going to run off the island.” She teased me. “Not with the prettyosaurus waiting for me.”

“One moment.” I brushed Iona’s arms off, freeing my quill. “I need to finish this rune.”

“What’s it do?” She sat next to me, peering over my shoulder.

“By itself, nothing. But, when linked with these other runes, it…” I gave Iona the rundown of the rune I was finishing up, finding it good practice in a dozen ways. Not only did bouncing my understanding of the runes off of another person help solidify how it worked for me, but drawing runes while heavily distracted was solid experience. It was unlikely I’d always be under ideal conditions when making runes.

“Alright! All done! Let’s go!” I packed up and grabbed Iona’s hand, dragging her to the destination I had in mind.

“Where are we heading to?” She asked.

“It’s a surprise! But we need to hurry.” I glanced at the setting sun, mentally noting that we’d probably make it.

We wound through the campus, and across the practice fields.

All the way to the edge of the island.

We bypassed a dozen warning signs, until we got to the sharp edge of the island. It simply ended, one moment soft clover, the next nothingness. I peeked over the edge, unable to tell how far away from the water we were from so high up.

We weren’t above the clouds though, which was nice.

I sat down on the edge, my feet dangling off. Iona joined me.

One of the twelve smaller islands that orbited the main island passed - the one that looked like it was nothing but a large lake - and then we had a clear view.

I leaned my head on her shoulder, and we watched the sunset over the ocean, glistening like a blue marble.