Page 59 of Finn's Solace

Levi chuckled, then opened thebedroom door.

Greta raced in, hissed at Levi, then hurried over to me, peering at me through her beady black eyes until I picked her up.

She rubbed her head against my jaw and made a chittering sound, and I grinned at Levi.

"I think she believes you locked me in here."

"What? No way. She knows me better than that. Right, Greta?"

Greta paid him no mind as she continued snuggling me, making him frown.

"Greta!" he practically whined, making me laugh.

"Here. Tell her you're sorry for locking her out."

"Youwould've been sorry if I hadn't," he grumbled as he took Greta from my hands, then peered into her eyes. "Sorry, Greta. There are just some things you don't need to see."

She made a huffy, sneezy sort of sound, and Levi chuckled, then placed her on the floor.

"You wanna cuddle on the couch and watch something for a while?"

"Sounds good."

Walking over to my bag, I grabbed the blanket I'd brought over from my place, then followed Levi to the living room, where we cuddled on the couch and watched a show until lunch time.

Levi

After lunch, Finn wanted to see my garden, and since the rain had stopped sometime while we were cuddling, we went out to my backyard, where he spent a good while oohing and aahing over my plants. I felt proud of my garden, and I was practically preening as he admired it.

He wanted to see me 'work my magic,' so Greta and I showed him how we worked. It wasn't all that interesting to watch because even with the boost I gave, the plants didn't really grow at a pace that would be visible to someone watching, not unless they checked on the plant every day.

Finn still seemed to enjoy watching me work, though, and I did have to take care of the garden, so we spent some time there, with him watching and asking questions while Greta and I worked.

"I like your powers. You can actuallydosomething with them," Finn said after a while, making me glance up at him.

"You can turn people to stone." I thought that was a much cooler ability to have, but maybe that was just me.

"Who am I gonna turn to stone? Everyone's a good person here, and I have no interest in moving anywhere else."

Well, he wasn't wrong. With the dragon watching over the town, and the number of powerful supes that lived here, only an idiot would try to cause trouble.

"Sorry," I said, because I couldn't think of anything else to say, and he shrugged.

"It is what it is," he said with a shake of his head, then peered at the ground I was working on. "You leave the weeds in? Don't they damage the other plants?"

"Not if you talk nicely to them."

Finn blinked, clearly confused if I meant it literally, and I smiled.

"I give them the nutrition they need if they promise not to steal from the other plants. The land belongs to everyone, and I don't judge who gets to grow here."

"That's so sweet," he said, making me roll my eyes.

"Not really."

"It is! You're a sweetheart."

"Is that my pet name, then? Sweetheart?" I asked, and it seemed to take him a moment to remember our earlier conversation.

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