"You here to exchange pointers, Min?"

Mina nodded. "I'm considering it."

Nix laughed at her expression. "What about my ugliness?"

The Aquarion pursed her lips. "I could close my eyes."

"HAHAHAHA." Nix pushed her away and sat up. "Why not just put a paper bag over my head."

"What's a paper bag?"

Mina watched as he got up and started getting dressed. "I brought you something else also."

"Present?" Nix held out his hand.

[Halter: Flash]

Nix clapped his hands together. "Finally! I have my horse back."

Mina got out of bed and stretched her arms overhead; she noticed Nix looking at her. "Going to take a shower, that okay?"

Nix nodded absentmindedly. "Hey, Min... Why are you naked?"

Mina stepped into the doorway, pausing to look over her shoulder. "I told you why."

He watched her slim form move gracefully into the bathroom. "Yeah. Let's discuss this later."

Nix walked into his kitchen a few minutes later, Una hadn't moved from the fire. "Need your help with something Una."

"That your mate Nix?"

Nix shook his head. "No. She's a trusted ally and a close friend."

"Very close," Una agreed.

Nix frowned at the wolf before walking outside. He heard the soft pad of wolf feet follow behind him. As expected, the Trams had already arrived.

"Have a seat." Nix brought out one of the Dire Wolf Dolls. Now that he knew Ginger was a girl, it was easy to pick her out. "You first."

Ginger nodded from her place on the ground. "What am I doing?"

Nix gestured toward the wolf-puppet that he laid on the gra.s.s. "This is an inhabitable puppet. It means you can a.s.sume control of it."

Ginger gave him a doubtful smile. "This a joke, Sir?"

Nix moved behind her and knelt on the ground. He gripped her shoulders tightly. "Focus. In your head, I want you to make an effort to inhabit this puppet. Be the puppet Ginger, don't worry, it's impossible to get stuck."

A gasp of surprise from her brothers as the Dire Wolf stood up awkwardly. Nix gently lay Ginger down on the soft gra.s.s.

One by one, over an hour, each of the Trams practiced with the puppets. Mina came out after a few minutes and watched them all work together.

Nix completely lost track of time and had to be reminded by Mina that they had to leave.

"Sorry, guys. I have to go."

Theo pulled his two siblings away, now that Nix was getting to know them, he understood that Theo was the defacto leader. "Back tomorrow Nix?"

Nix nodded. "Same time."

He grabbed Mina's hand and activated his medallion.

[Steward Activation: Nescari]

The gating point was just outside the back entrance to the Courtyard. Since this was where he agreed to meet, Nix opened the gate and entered.

Mina had to squeeze his hand to pull him out of his daze. The Courtyard was completed packed with people; it was standing room only.

Nix smiled at the couple when he approached. "You sure you want this many people here?"

Scarlett nodded. "Please don't let me down, Nix. Please... my heart couldn't take it."

Mortimus just nodded his big head; his large hands were clenching and unclenching.

"This is Filamina, my good friend." Nix shook his hand loose from her grip. "Mina, this is Morti's parents, Scarlett and Mortimus."

Mina's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. "You found Morti's family?" The Aquarion clapped her hands together. "He's going to be so happy."

Nix checked his hud. "Summon hasn't reset yet. So I should mention a few things."

Scarlett would generally have been more welcoming toward Mina, but her heart was beating so hard she was having a difficult time focusing. "Okay, Nix."

"Morti is no longer brown when I found him his coat was damaged a bit. In the process of fixing it, the color was changed to black."

"Morti's a black bear?" Mortimus's booming voice made it inevitable that everyone heard.

"I don't care." Scarlett's nails dug into her husband's thick arm. "Is it time yet, Nix?"