Sparky kiss.

She giggles.

Celebration time?

Yep.

The next few days fade into the next few weeks and into the next few months. Ruby slowly styles her entire wardrobe around showing off her collar, and then somehow manages straight A's in between fawning over her girlfriend and exploring the world and expanding on her magic and getting into the occasional fight with another wielder.

Ruby actually sits all her final exams, rather than sending her cinder woman to any of them - and she has a lot, across six full classes -

And then winter break is looming in front of them, exams dwindling behind.

Ellie passes all her classes, which is enough. She's satisfied in her own mind that she knows the important things, and besides, there's magic to practice. She has to catch up with Ruby. Expanding the range of things she can do without shapeshifting, increasing her human body's speed and durability, more tricks for fighting, working out a form that's not so magic-dependent.

And robbing enough banks that she doesn't have to go home over break.

"So what are your plans?"

"I've got some kinda sorta family I was hoping to see. I've been talking you up to them, and they'd like to meet you, too, if you'd like?"

"All right. I wasn't going to go back to mine."

"You can stay with me! I don't think my bedroom's been changed at all since I moved out, so it'll be a fun capsule of high school me's terrible interior design choices."

"Did you paint your walls black? Or is it more of a glitter-and-ponies deal?"

"I was really into forensic science! So I painted them black with very carefully textbook red paint blood splatters. The glitter and ponies is a couple layers of paint under that, sadly. The bathroom's got fairies, though."

"The best of both worlds."

"I'll let you play 'where's waldo' trying to spot the creepy fairies I snuck in."

"That's not all of them?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"I guess it depends on the taste of even your pre-high school self."

"I've had a lot of assorted phases! Most of them pretty tacky."

"I have a hard time believing you were ever but the vision of perfect composure and lovely taste I see before me."

Kiss. "You flatter me. Still, I'll leave all the horribly embarrassing childhood stories to someone else to tell."

"I understand that's the traditional method."

"I'd hate to rob others of their chance."

"Your kind and generous nature is another of your good points."

"It's the first thing people comment on, really!"

Kiss.

Mmmm kiss!

"Of course, winter break is pretty long. Lots of time for getting into trouble in and around meeting the crew."

Ellie hums.

"I was thinking I might spend some of it looking for an apartment of my own."