That was one major worry out of the way. Kind of. In my defense I really did expect that to go much worse considering everything I knew about my parents up to that point.

“You really never talked to them about any of that?” Liah interjected, commenting on my train of thought.

“I suppose I built them up to be much more intimidating in my mind? They would yell at me all the time growing up, so I assumed they would get angry about this too...” I trailed off.

“Your mom was a little angry, sure, but that’s probably more because you didn’t communicate any of this to her beforehand. Communication is important in any relationship, and it’s not like your parents can read minds. Not that my own family circumstances are a shining example of how a parent-child relationship would work, but I at least understand the theory from books and TV. Now, change pose.”

I shifted my feet and arms. This was a punishment, of sorts. I still feel a punishment for worrying a bit too much about introducing my wife to my parents was a bit much, but Liah said it was necessary, and who am I to really disagree with her?

“It’s not just that. Your mom also asked me to remind you not to leave her out of important family talks like marriage. Besides, you would do this for me anyways, wouldn’t you?” She gazed at me with doe-eyes as her charcoal pencil danced across the page.

“Isn’t the witch-familiar relationship supposed to go the other way?” I feel this is a fair question.

“It’s a partnership. Two hearts, joined as one working together to achieve their goals.”

“That doesn’t really match with most historical examples… nevermind.” But it was too late.

“Oh? Which historical examples would those be? The ones of a dog, a cat, a hare, or a bat, being given blood and milk from a devil's mark on a grizzled old hag? I didn’t know you were into that. Or maybe the ones with a bargain, a demon summoned by a robed, bearded magus in exchange for an immortal soul? I don’t think a beard would look good on you. I like to think I at least have your heart, but that would make this a contract among equals since you’ve done the same.” She went from spooky to romantic(?) in five seconds flat with that one.

I didn’t have the heart to point out that most demon summonings involved the magus just bullying the demons into doing their bidding with the name of a god or higher power.

“You really do need to work on communicating in relationships. Most people wont get how you feel from a connection like the one we have. It could be worse, but there’s always room for improvement.”

“True… speaking on people lacking interpersonal skills, how are we going to go about handling the new hire?” Not the smoothest segue, but with the stress from introducing Liah to my parents gone, I prioritized work as my primary source of stress.

“We really should take things easy for the next couple weeks. It might be best to ease her into things. On top of everything she’s gone through and done, she’s also a student.” I felt like there was something unsaid in that last phrase.

“By that, you mean?” As she said, communication is important.

“Why do you think I’m practicing figure drawing right now? We’re getting close to finals in a few weeks.”

“...”

“Did you really forget?”

“We had a lot going on.” I understated, earning a giggle from Liah.

“We might be able to slack off a bit, but our new subordinate is planning on med school. We don’t want to take up too much study time for her. Didn’t you see how badly she was taking care of herself?” Liah flipped to a new sketchbook page.“ Change pose please.” I shifted, arms raised outstretched over my head.

“I noticed, but wasn’t all that just from all the research she did trying to get her crush back? She must have spent a lot of time outside classes researching the occult.” The dark circles and dry, brittle hair did stick out in my mind.

“Physically her health looked poor, and clearly her mental health is even worse. Really it’d be best if she had an actual therapist, but at the very least we can have her take things easily for the first few weeks. Actually, don’t we have pretty good benefits at work? She should be able to get whatever treatment she needs with that.”

“As long as she can find a way to talk about it without mentioning the details. We are going to have to deal with our next assignment, and having an extra set of hands would be nice. Having our subordinate hospitalized with delusions of government conspiracies and magic would really suck.” She seemed smart enough to realize that kind of talk wouldn’t go over well with the esteemed members of the psychiatric community, so it was a minor concern.

“It does seem like the situation is less than ideal. We need to find the balance between taking things slowly to avoid pushing her over the edge, and ensuring that she’ll be more of an asset than a liability for our assignment.” Liah’s pencil paused as she thought it over.

“This seems rather cold. Discussing how to best use someone who’d be best off taking a break to recuperate. I know morally questionable stuff happens all the time in government, but somehow describing it this way hits differently.” This was feeling a bit over my head.

“It does seem a bit less slapstick than our introduction to this side of things.” Liah nodded in agreement. “But didn’t you have to deal with similar moral issues in the military?”

“Not really. It’s not like everything was black and white, but our whole situation here has cranked the weirdness up to eleven. It really feels hard to think of anything to use as a guidepost on how to move forward. Plus being pushed into this unexpectedly kind of threw everything off, just as I was getting a handle on all the changes to my life over the past year.” At this, Liah put down her sketchbook and scooted off to one side of the couch.

The cue was obvious. Getting out of my uncomfortable pose, I joined her on the couch. Having my head pulled down onto her lap wasn’t exactly what I had expected, but being the good sport than I am, I dutifully put up with it as she began to run her hands through my hands. Even after she began laughing at me.

“Usually these roles are reversed.” She snorted out.

“You looked like you needed something to pet.” I could feel the tension oozing out of my body as she rubbed my head.

“And after I lectured you about open communication...” Still being scolded after finishing my penance of being her figure drawing model?

“You know what I actually mean.” I muttered.

I rolled over, burying my head further into her lap. I tried to ignore the movement from her stifling laughter. Just what had her so amused?

“For everything you’ve been through in life, you still act pretty childish.”

“’When I became an adult I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.’” My delivery of the quote was rather dignified, or would have been had it not been muffled by her sweatshirt.

“A wicked witch, quoting one of the 20th century’s most outspoken Christian apologetics at me?” Her scandalized tone just barely managed to cover the laughter she was holding back.

“’The devil can cite scripture for his purpose...’”

“That line was a warning, not a tacit approval. And quoting old Englishmen alone doesn’t justify anything. The first quote does feel rather fitting, at least for right now. You really should try to act a bit more professional out in public. And less petty.”

“Yes mother.”

“You’re older than me by a good five years. And don’t talk back.” I couldn’t see her face, but I could hear the joking grin in her last sentence.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The figure looked over a file. It spoke of nothing but trouble for him. Not only had someone gotten wind of his plan, they might, just might, be able to stop it from coming to fruition.

Patience was often a virtue, as he knew well. Untold decades went into the best of plans, and a lighter hand would go unnoticed for far longer. He had acted directly in the world, once. He still sometimes would pop his head out to get an idea of how things have changed since the last time he had gone out, but as years went on he found this to be decreasingly necessary, as the roots he spread out were enough to keep him abreast of most things.

Patience was often a virtue, but the file in his hand wasn’t something that could be delicately swept away. Some...upstart… was making a move, at just the wrong time. His ritual was nearing completion. You would think that a man like him, who had lived centuries and amassed immeasurable wealth, would find the actions of what was effectively a minor bureaucrat to be child's play to deal with. He had dealt with Kings and Queens in the heyday of absolute monarchy, after all.

But this one had made just the right connections to where he couldn’t pry her out of her position, through either political, arcane, or extra-legal means. Furthermore, she was fortifying her position, assembling pawns that might actually have a chance of reaching the last row on the chessboard of life, and be able to deal a significant blow to his machinations.

Having made a decision to act, went to one of the numerous workshops in his estate. A few minutes of tinkering later, and his plan to nip this problem in the bud was ratcheted into motion. It may be hard to take down a queen in chess, but pawns are a dime a dozen.