Then Ari can tell that Katur is: a) blushing, b) looking pleasantly surprised...

"You're very pretty, you know. And I like the way you care about things."

Blush. "I could say the same about you."

Ari kisses him again. "Go on, find the fabled Aunt. But I'd like to continue this conversation later."

Blush, blush. "Thank you. Talk to you later."

He hops back in the car.

Gabe gets out of the backseat and gives Ari a quick peck in the kiss before taking the passenger seat.

Ari waves goodbye, then turns to Henry. "So! Rekindling the stars! How does one do that."

"Oh, the theory behind it is actually very interesting. Oh, wait. Just a sec," he turns back to the two people. "As I said the light is going to come back in a bit. Nothing to worry, Mayor. We just need to get to it."

The two apparently take this as a cue to leave, they give Ari confused glances but don't say anything.

"Okay," Henry says leading them inside, "as I was saying the magical principles are very interesting. One thing you must understand is that the stars are not regular stars, but crystals that emit light and heat, by default they are stuck in what we call twilight setting..." and then there is a descent into jargon about how the star crystals work and how they keep themselves in place and how they exploit this to make them grow brighter or dimmer.

Ari follows along competently, asking questions when necessary! Magic is cool.

Magic is very cool.

(They have work to do so the kissing is kept to a minimum.)

Once they are ready, it's time to climb up the tower and perform the relevant ritual. It leaves them both tired and tapped out. But they have enough energy to get under a blanket and watch the show.

The crystal at the top of the tower gradually starts glowing and then emitting soft waves of light. Above then the stars react as the waves of light hit then. They tentatively flicker with weak light, barely perceptible, but getting stronger. Then a single star burst with a strong glow and it's surrounded by a colorful halo for a long moment, before going dark again. Then a second star repeats the process. Then a third. Then four stars near each other play the effect together, alternating colors between them. One of those soft stars persists with a soft blue glow, emanating blue waves that kindle blue into the nearby stars. And this repeats, waves, and cascades with all the colors until the stars appear to collectively take a deep breath and shine triumphantly and persistently at once.

"Oh, that's beautiful," Ari breathes. He nuzzles Henry's neck appreciatively.

"Very beautiful." Kiss. Pause. Kiss again. "Love you."

"Love you!"

Ari could fall asleep like this, especially after a draining ritual. It's been a pretty intense day.

They certainly could. The blanket is very soft. It's in the middle of the day, but they are in the shade and the breeze is cool and nice up here...

Henry kicks off his shoes and rearrange their bodies so they can snuggle while napping.

zzz.

zzz.

Someone is poking Ari on the shoulder.

zzzzwh?

Ari opens his eyes.

There is a very thin woman, she looks maybe forty or at most fifty with eyes that look almost forcedly wide. "Dearies, this is no place for you two sleep."

Henry stirs and is suddenly bothered by the day light in his previously closed eyes. "Oh? Aunt Annabeth?" He asks without looking at her direction. "Aunt Annabeth this is Ari."

Aunt Annabeth glances at Ari and smiles politely, if confusedly.

"Hullo. We rekindled the stars. It was tiring. I'm dating your nephews."

"Oh, okay," Annabeth says simply. "One of the Daliath triplets found me and told me someone is coming to inspect us about a demon or something?"

"Yeah... we should probably make an effort to leave the place presentable," Henry says standing up.

Ari hops to his feet. "I can help! I have strong, manful arms and telekinesis."