Page 28 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

Rory considered this seriously and then shook his head.

Max hesitated. “Do you want it anyway?”

“No, that’s okay,” Rory decided. “Better to leave it here for someone who’s actually going to eat it. It’s just silly when we let food go to waste.”

Max nodded and put the artichoke back. They then went to check out, and Rory marveled at the self-serve kiosks, where you got to scan everything yourself! As soon as Max saw how much Rory was enjoying it, he put Rory in charge, which was awesome. Rory liked the way it beeped and how it usually knew what the item was, but sometimes, you had to help it search.

“Yes!” Rory cried out when they successfully identified the yellow potatoes they were purchasing. He patted the machine. “Good job. You figured it out again.” He beamed at Max. “I like this game.”

Max looked bemused. “I’m glad. I think I can truthfully say that I’ve never had this much fun while grocery shopping.”

Rory beamed at him, because he definitely wanted Max to enjoy when they spent time together.

Max even let Rory tap his card to make the payment. Rory had already gotten used to that form of payment at the bookshop, but he’d never gotten to do it himself before.

He’d observed a lot as a bird, but it wasn’t quite the same as getting to do it himself. This was delightful.

Max insisted on taking two bags for himself, but he let Rory carry the third as they made their way back to the bookshop.

When Max let them into the apartment, Nōwē meowed at them, expressing her displeasure that they’d been off to procure food without her.

“They don’t like cats in the grocery store,” Max told her. “You know that.”

She screeched her outrage but was mollified by Max’s offering of the small piece of fish for her to eat.

Max was smart.

Rory helped Max put the food away in the fridge.

“I thought we could have the curry and rice tonight, since it’s ready-made. I should have asked first. Is that alright?” Max asked.

Rory nodded, his stomach choosing that moment to declare once more that it would like to be filled with food.

Max laughed. “Let me just pop it into the microwave and heat it up.”

A few minutes later, the apartment was full of delicious scents. Rory inhaled deeply, his stomach grumbling audibly once more.

“Why don’t you set the table?” Max suggested.

Rory did so. Max seemed to eat half his meals standing at his kitchen island, but he had a square wooden dining room table with four chairs, and Rory set out plates, cutlery, and glasses there. Then he filled the glasses with water. Once the microwave beeped, Max transferred the dishes to trivets in the middle of the table, and they sat down to eat.

Rory hummed in appreciation as he swallowed the first bite of curry. His bird forms were perfectly happy with the diet of that particular species of bird, but his human form had a distinct preference for spice: the spicier, the better.

Max’s eyes watered a bit when he ate the curry, but he just wiped the tears away and agreed that it had some kick to it.

They ate steadily for several minutes until Max said, “What makes you think that we’re, uh, meant to be together?”

Rory struggled with how to put it into words. “As far as I know, the Magic isn’t sentient, at least not the way that most of us would consider sentience. But it’s still a force upon the world, and sometimes, it feels to me like there’s a… a nudge, I guess you could call it, that directs me to a certain location. One of those nudges brought me here, and then I found you.”

“And what, you took one look at me and just knew?” It was clear what Max thought of that idea.

Rory shrugged. “Well, yes. I know most witches and shifters—never mind the normal people—have lost their connection with the Magic. They don’t feel it anymore.”

Rory wasn’t sure if everyone was still getting nudges they didn’t notice or understand or if nudges weren’t given very often anymore.

“But you think that you can feel those nudges.” Max’s attempt at neutrality wasn’t particularly good.

“I know I can,” Rory confirmed. “Most of my kind can. And most of us have been waiting for a long time to find our mates.”