He let her in through the garden gate, as he had a few times this summer — it was a good thing that he was often brewing her potions, and that sometimes she brewed them with him, or someone would have said something by now. The sun still set late at this point in the summer, and the sky was orange tonight — Noble had had the door of the workshop wide open to get some of the breeze flowing in. Now that she was here, Noble closed the door behind them.

"I'm working on a batch of pain potions tonight," Noble said. The pit had been good for business, which felt shitty to think but was also true. He expected that some of its victims would continue ordering from him for a few months now — once they were off the pain potions, they'd want a scar salve. He leaned in to press an introductory kiss to her mouth, warm. They had been continually ramping their level of physical contact over the summer. The last time she'd been by, Noble had touched her under her skirt, and he was fairly thrilled about it.

"But once I add the unicorn tail hairs, I don't have to stare at it — you weren't in town for the pit, right?"