Thistle and Stone [Chaennie]

Chapter 23

KNOW

Jennie moved to follow Jisoo back into the sitting room, but Lisa's hand on her shoulder gently held her back. Jennie turned, catching her friend's eye. "Lis?" she said.

"In all seriousness," Lisa said, "how did it go?"

Jennie glanced behind her and ensured the rest of the group had filed out of the kitchen.

"The test was bizarre. I'm just crossing my fingers Croaker doesn't show up in my fireplace anytime soon with another request. But after," Jennie gave a little shrug, "it was good. Before, I wondered if the bond drew me to her, or if we were making it work out of survival. Now...I just want to be around her. I still feel that pull."

"I know you don't need my advice," Lisa said, "so I'll just say I'm really pleased for you. And maybe take it slow, yeah?"

"That still counts as advice," Jennie grinned, laughing as Lisa poked her in the ribs.

"Do you think though," Jennie paused and let Lisa search her face, "do you think the bond...it chose us?"

Lisa shifted from foot to foot, as if caught off guard by Jennie's earnestness. She shrugged.

"That's a big question. The basement dwellers still haven't figured it out, have they?"

Jennie shook her head. "No, not that I know of. Roseanne said that Croaker had essentially taken over our case on his own. I don't know, I think maybe I'm just romanticising the whole situation. Makes it easier to understand, I suppose."

"Nothing wrong with that," Lisa said. "Would it matter either way?"

"I don't know, I ...like the idea that it chose us." Jennie shrugged. "You must think I'm mad with all of this."

"Not any more than usual," Lisa laughed.

The pair of them wandered back towards where the group had gathered. They were all doing their best to look inconspicuous, though Roseanne caught Jennie's gaze when she entered and smiled before turning back to Eunwoo. Unsurprisingly, Eunwoo had managed to wrangle Roseanne into a conversation about the merits of using Floxglove in healing potions, while Jisoo chimed in with her own thoughts on the matter. Jennie felt her love for Roseanne settle quietly between them as she moved to join the group.

-

Roseanne found that they fell into an easy routine over the next few weeks. Jennie started working on her research again and Roseanne returned to work. They established an unspoken and perhaps tenuous rule that Jennie didn't ask about Croaker and Roseanne didn't mention him either. In the evenings, Roseanne would drop by Jennie's, sometimes staying the night. On the weekends, Jennie showed Roseanne a few of her favourite Muggle coffee shops to get writing done at and the best places to get watercolour paints, and Roseanne dragged Jennie out in the evenings. Roseanne realized that Jennie had even left a few of her shirts in her closet.

Things at work were a different story. In truth, she hadn't faced any consequences after disappearing from work for three days. But when she quietly returned, Croaker was gone. Baekhyun had mentioned he was travelling for a work lead, but nothing else. His letters stopped the morning she returned.

She was put on an assignment with Baekhyun and Holly. While she generally preferred working alone, their work on magical life extension at least interested her. It was a great deal of desk work, and the three of them were often surrounded by stacks of documents and ancient boxes coated with thick layers of dust.

"Bullocks," Baekhyun muttered, and Roseanne glanced up from the pages of scrawled handwriting in front of her. "Croaker was supposed to give me his file on alchemy stones before he left." Baekhyun sipped from his cup of already-cold tea, frustration etched in his brow. Roseanne stretched her shoulders back, sore from a day of sitting. It was nearing the evening and she was looking forward to leaving.