Such hug.

"I mean, granted, it's being confusing and complicated in helpful ways so far, just. Yeah."

"I aim to be the most helpful of complications!"

"Honestly, you're not even counting as a complication to me." Snuggle.

(Type type type, setting up the program that'll calculate what options she has that are least likely to react horribly to making friends with the two different magic types.)

Snuggle.

A few hours later, leaving plenty of time for Serafin to be early, Liesel goes to wait in the park. She sits under a streetlight with a math textbook and reads.

"Odd place to study. Mind if I join you?"

She glances up and smiles.

"Not at all," she says, scooting to the side slightly to make room on the bench.

She slides easily to the seat next to Liesel.

"Test tomorrow, or do you just like math?"

"I like math to what some consider an inordinate degree," she says.

"Oh? Which part do you like about it?"

"Hmm." She closes the textbook, keeping the page with a finger, and leans back slightly on the bench. "It's just... fun to think about? Or maybe it would be more accurate to say it's a fun way to think. It's like an entire abstract universe that I can visit whenever I want."

"Huh. I don't think I've heard math characterized that way before. I think I get what you're talking about, though. Like switching to speaking a different language with a different way of thinking."

"A little, yeah. But I get a lot more out of math than I get out of languages."

"Huh. Neat. Does the night help you go to the abstract universe?"

"Ha. No, my aunt set me up on a blind date. If he doesn't show by midnight, I'm going home. In the meantime," she pats the textbook, "I have linear algebra, which is more fun than boys anyway."

Snort.

"Well, be careful, all right? I hear this town's not the safest after dark."

"I've heard something similar," she says. "What's your excuse for the late-night walk?"

"My sister's out of town for a while, and I agreed to watch her cat while she was gone. Unfortunately, he's a sneaky little bastard, and now he's who knows where. I'm trying the 'leave a thing of the animal's where you last saw it' to see if that'll persuade him out, but I figured I'd also look around a bit and see if I can find him before he gets himself run over or something."

"Best of luck! Need any help?"

"Oh, probably, but I'm not sure how much it'll help to have someone else wandering around in the dark looking for a black cat. Besides, I think he likes being chased - know a good way to persuade a cat out of hiding without attracting raccoons?"

"I could call my aunt," she offers. "She's a problem-solver."

"Maybe if I can't find him tonight or tomorrow, yeah. I don't really want to bother too many people up in the middle of the night for a cat, you know?"

"Sensible," she agrees.

"Does your aunt usually problem solve for finding lost cats, anyway?"

"Well, not in particular. She's actually a computer security consultant."