"This place really is kind of... Open, isn't it? Is that a witch thing? Or an Arcadia thing?"

No, Bys, you didn't go unnoticed. But Sable's not saying a damned thing, just making a mental note that you probably need help loosening up at some point.

"Heh, yeah, it really is. Just judging by what I saw online before, I'd say it's probably a witch thing?"

"Probably they're just less oppressed and this is what things look like if the Puritans aren't running things from 200 years in the grave, so much we all internalized it. Left here."

"Makes sense to me. Religious zealots do have a bad habit of ruining things in the name of their narrow-minded morality. And now we get to unlearn some of their damage!"

"Being a witch is going to be so amazing once we get over the parts of it that suck!" This is only slightly sarcastic.

They're mostly passing houses now, still in that nor'east style. There's an artful portal up ahead, a tall square with shimmering edges that opens onto a wholly different landscape. The aesthetic there seems to be more 'log cabin, but nice'. When they cross the threshold, it's abruptly chillier. Maybe fifty Fahrenheit.

A delighted shiver passes through Sable at the sudden chill. "Yes! Real weather!"

Bys smiles, breathing out clouds of condensation. And then a cloud of frost that adds a glossy layer of snow and ice to the side of the road, just to revel in it. "Mmmyep, real weather's nice."

"Mm-hm! Good choice. Oh uh, can you undo that? Don't want to leave it slippery."

"Urk. I don't think so..."

"Hold on, I think I can..." She adopts a rough Shaolin pose and punches forward. "HAH!"

-A small puff of pure sunny yellow fire appears with a flare and - hangs there.

"-Huh. I - Hmm. This isn't regular fire, it's... Sticky? Made of me? But I can still use it like this, let's just..."

She grabs her now-customized wand and with a look of focus moves the witchflame next to the frosted area and cranks up the heat, to clear the frost off the road.

"This is surprisingly tough..."

She wags excitedly. "Y'all. Are awesome."

"Hm. I feel like I can cut a rift to someplace hot, if that would help? But I think you've got it."

"I'm apparently a dragon. Dragons are cool and all but..." Sigh. "Yeah, it is kind of cool. Heh. Cool."

"No, I've got it..." Bright, hot. Back and forth. She tries to thin it out into a line, but it wobbles so she abandons that. And then she cuts the connection and lets it die, once most of the frost is gone.

"Whew. I think I'm low on mana? If that's what I'm feeling."

She grins and playfully hip-bumps Bys, though it winds up hitting her in the thigh.

"Well, Lenora, you got it done, and I bet there's a good spot somewhere in our new house for a backrub to fill your tank back up."

"Right, right. Mimis have it easy, ehehe."

She looks at the map to have a distraction. "Looks like ours is down that way? Number 26."

Bound and twirl and onward! "I'm looking forward to it!"

She bounces and wags, trying not to outpace her new housemates on their way to their new home.

She is tired, but as she re-broomifies her Rod and picks up all her bags with it again she notices that Bys has one lonely backpack. "If you need help shopping, let me know. I'll be glad to help. Tomorrow, I'm pretty tired today."

"Thank you, but I believe I can handle that. Actually, I am going to be making a grocery run so anything you two want, say now."

"Awesome. Okay, I'd be glad to help anytime you want it, but for tonight please get me some real ink. I am so tired of these cheap-ass knockoff Bic pens. I've only needed to have ink with my meals for a couple days now and already I long for something better."

She pulls one out of her purse and cracks it open illustratively, sucking on the end while she thinks.

"I'm not really picky. I kinda like cooking, when I have people to spoil with it, so getting plenty of ingredient-type things would be neat. Eggs, meat, vegetables, fish, spices, the usuals. Dust off some of Mom's old recipes. But really, I am so far from picky. As long as you get enough stuff to get us through the next day or two, I'll gladly help stock the kitchen after."

"Oh huh, that reminds me. Do y'all have opinions on like... ever eating meals together?"

Her tails lash slowly in her curiosity.

"I'd rather not commit to a schedule, though cooking for three is not much harder than cooking for one."

"As an irregular thing yeah, maybe. There's a reason eating together's a whole big deal, for personal connecting and stuff."

She nods. "Yeah, we're students at witch college, I don't think firm schedules are gonna be a solid part of our near future, except maybe for classes. I just think it would be nice to do sometimes. Like I could do breakfast on days when we all have to get up at similar times, maybe, or something like that. But no obligations or anything.

"Anyone got allergies to anything? Favorites? Things you don't like?"

"I can't eat steak, or pineapple, or sweet sauces without gagging slightly. Or fries. Never eat the food you serve for a living, you'll get sick of it in no time."