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chapter."

It was a moot request. Even if I hadn't been willing to give him another hour, he still would have kept writing. Mountains moved more easily than Seth in the middle of a story line. Happily accommodating, I kissed his cheek and wandered off to the office to find something to read. Sifting through those boxes made it difficult, however. By the time I had several of them emptied, I decided I might as well just go the whole way and do the job right.

I unpacked all of the boxes - even the ones in his living room. I didn't know how many books that left me with, but it was a lot. My bookstore instincts made me sort them into categories, and that alone was time-consuming. Looking up at one point, I realized almost three hours had passed. I stood up, stretched, and returned to the bedroom.

"Hey," I said. "We're way past your hour."

He kept typing.

I slipped my foot out of its sandal, shape-shifted the toenail color to burgundy and ran it up his leg. He jumped.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself. Sorry to interrupt, but you need food, or you're going to pass out on your keyboard."

"Wouldn't be the first time," he said. His eyes strayed, threatening to return to the computer, so I poked him again with my foot. He arched an eyebrow, then grabbed my foot, nearly making me fall over as he pulled me onto his lap. "You know, your toes aren't that compelling. It's not like I want to have sex with them or anything weird like that. I just think they're pretty. So don't think you can have your way on everything now. "

I wiggled out of his grasp. "Say whatever you want. I've got new leverage with you. So, look, can you tear yourself away long enough to go get food?"

It turned out he couldn't, toes or not. Disappointed, I ended up ordering pizza. We ate together and talked, but both of us were in our own worlds. He was with his characters in places I couldn't follow, and I was thinking about the ambrosia. Suddenly, I started laughing.

"What?" he asked, startled.

I told him about the ambrosia and what it did. The news obviously astonished him, but Seth had had some time now to accept the many unseen, supernatural things occurring in the world. I ended my story by saying Carter and Jerome were going to do something about it. I did not mention I would be taking on a large and possibly dangerous role too. There I was, holding back again, but it seemed pointless to get him worried when I had no concrete details yet.

"So, anyway, I was laughing because I was trying to imagine what you'd be like on ambrosia," I told him.

"Why is that funny? Maybe I could churn out a book a week."

"Yeah, but I'd never see you again. You'd never bathe or cut your hair. It'd grow down to your waist - so would your beard - and you'd be sitting here in the dark, hunched over, wasting away in your Punky Brewster T-shirt. "

"That's not funny. That's how I plan to spend my retirement. Besides, if I were going to wear the same shirt for the next fifty years, it'd be my Flash Gordon one." His features shifted to a frown as he chewed. "The entire concept of Doug's problem being 'magically' induced..." He shook his head. "It's crazy. And scary. Will they really be able to help him?"

"They will if they can. Carter especially."

"You always put a lot of faith in him. Seems ironic, given the circumstances."

I supposed it was, and again, it was kind of new for me. I guess I was just starting to realize that although I might be on Jerome's side, it was Carter who was on my side lately. I smiled for Seth.

"Well. If you can't put faith in an angel, who can you put faith in?"

The muse called to him after dinner, and I let him go, unable to stand against her. I wondered if it would be possible for Seth to date someone who didn't love his books. Few women would be able to handle the competition. And yeah, sometimes it was hard for me to handle the competition too. It was hard enough that Seth wasn't into the livelier things I liked to do, like dancing. But also being denied the low-key things poked at me on occasion.

Knowing his neglect was for the greater good, I returned to my book