Mmmm kiss. But not too much kiss, no matter how tempting it is, because the do not want to get kicked out of this nice restaurant.

Well eventually they'll be out of the restaurant...

Well. That's true.

And then they can kiss as loooooong as they want. And then do more than kissing, though Kaede will want a pause to show Emily what sorcery looks like to her metamancer senses.

If it is visually obvious what she's taking a break from there will be some obligatory eye-rolling but that's fascinating.

Isn't it? It's so cool!!!

Yes!!!

But then the break is over and: more Edie!

Mmm yes good.

And in a few days, Kaede's going to meet Edie and Emily's parents.

"Have I told you anything about them, besides that Dad's a sorcerer and Mom's a genetics professor?"

"You mentioned your dad was not a sorcerer by choice but other than that not really."

"Well, Mom is an artifact user. And, uh--can you keep a secret?"

"My survival is a testament to that."

"Right, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he says, waving a hand dismissively. "Didn't mean to get the mood all dark. But yes I can."

"So I probably wouldn't be telling you this this soon if I didn't think you could find out independently anyway, but--my mom's an artifact user. That's not the secret. We tell people Mom's artifact makes her a technopath, and that's not false, but--it's not limited to technology. As far as we can tell, it works on sufficiently complex information systems. Including brains. Mom doesn't read minds without permission, but..."

"—does it work on magic?"

"...No but whether that's a hard limit or because she hasn't run across any magic information-system-y enough I don't know."

"Would she be guaranteed to notice a magic information system if she weren't looking for it?"

"I don't know for sure. She notices mundane ones."

"Galatea magic looks very information-system-y but yours does too, in a—different way. Especially the artefacts, they're very—here, let me show you—" He bounces the memory of staring at the artefact, how it had very specific functions that are separate and do their own thing even though they're very similar and the whole thing is so complex—

"Huh. Best guess is her artifact doesn't work on magic, then."

"That's a shame, it'd help. Anyway, so she can—understand information-system-y things very well?"

"She--can make technology do what she wants. And read minds, if she has permission."