Aster’s inexplicable draw to his home cooking has given Nash a confidence boost, so for breakfast, he’s making french toast. Or trying to, anyway. The concept seemed simple enough, but he still can’t find the cinnamon or the vanilla extract—assuming they even have any—and he's just realised the recipe is for twelve servings, which is probably too much. But then, what is the correct amount? The recipe calls for twelve slices of bread, so clearly one serving is not enough. Nash's head spins as he tries to do the mental maths to scale down the recipe. How do you even divide "a pinch of salt"?

Mid-panic, he hears the front door open. Nash pokes his head around the corner to see Niko hanging up his coat.

"Hey, uh, do you know how to make french toast?" Nash asks, trying not to sound as desperate as he feels.

Niko takes a second to process the question. Nash doesn't usually ask for help cooking—he mostly just watches from a safe distance. Niko's always busy, and Nash hates feeling like he's bothering him.

"I do," Niko says slowly. "Do you need help?"

"Yeah," Nash admits, sheepish. "I was going to make it for Aster, but I didn't realise I was being so ambitious."

"It's not hard," Niko says. His tone is gentle enough that it doesn't sting Nash's pride.

With Niko in the kitchen, talking Nash through the steps and miraculously producing cinnamon and vanilla extract from who-knows-where, Nash has to admit it's not as hard as he thought.

"So," Niko says casually as Nash dips bread in egg mixture, "How has Aster been?"

Nash already told him the basics on the phone a couple of days ago—about how Aster hadn’t seemed so good after the whole demon knife thing and Nash had offered him the guest room. Niko had been cool with it, even though it's his house. Trying to explain how he and Aster knew each other had been a mess of confusion.

"He's doing better, I think," Nash says, flipping the first slice of french toast onto the pan with a sizzle. "It's hard to say how much better since I don't know him that well, but right after everything went down, it was... rough. I still don't get the whole situation, but whatever happened, it hit him hard."

"Hm," Niko hums, frowning thoughfully. "I'd be very interested to hear what he actually did."

Nash's ears pick up footsteps on the stairs. "You can ask him yourself."

As Aster walks into the kitchen, Nash does a double-take. The guy looks... normal. Like, eerily normal. He's fully dressed, and there's an open, friendly look on his face as he greets Niko that Nash has never seen before.

"Aster," Niko says warmly, accepting Aster's offered handshake. "How have you been?"

“Better,” Aster says, and just the way he stands in front of Niko, giving his full attention to the conversation, is so unlike him that it’s a little unsettling. “Nash has been taking care of me.”

"Yes, he mentioned you were in a bit of a bad way at first," Niko says. "I'm still trying to understand what happened. It was an earring you used, Nash said?"

Aster's hand moves towards his ear but stops short. Nash notices the small, empty hole where the earring used to be. "It was. Enchanted, of course. I have some talent for sentiment magic."

Niko frowns. “Didn’t you say that you’re not sentimental?”

“You don’t need to be,” Aster says. “There was sentiment behind the giving of the earring, and that’s what matters. I had no particular attachment to it.”

"I'm not sure I understand how it worked, then," Niko presses. "What value did it have as a sacrifice if you, the person sacrificing it, didn't care about it?"

“I cared about the enchantment on it. I was using it to suppress my feelings about a particularly traumatic incident,” Aster explains, his easy smile a jarring contrast to his words. “Generally unwise, perhaps, but it’s hard to regret it when it gave me just what I needed in that moment and Nash gave me a safe place to process my feelings afterwards.”

The smell of burning snaps Nash's attention back to the stove. He swears under his breath, rescuing the french toast from its crispy fate. That one's his now.

Nash has no idea what’s happening. Suddenly, Aster's acting like a completely different person. He's friendly, open, spilling details to Niko that he left Nash to try to figure out on his own. What the hell is going on?

“I’m glad it all worked out,” Niko says, his words careful. “Would you mind if I contact you if I need a different set of eyes on something in the future? I would pay you, of course.”

"If there's an emergency, Nash knows where I am," Aster says with a shrug. "But I think you're overestimating how useful I'd be. I'm not as powerful as I might seem. I only knew about demonic texts because I was an edgy kid, and the rest was just common sense. Nash can tell you I was freezing my ass off when he picked me up that time he came to rescue me—I couldn’t even get my magic to work to protect me from the cold.”

Nash winces, remembering. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just assumed..."

Aster waves off the apology. “It's a false impression I give on purpose. I can’t be mad when people fall for it. If you look a certain way and refuse to explain yourself, people reach their own conclusions. Believe me, nobody would guess that I got back that night by tapping into a diner’s wifi and calling myself a ride. They assume it was some magical shit. It works for me.”

"But what about your hand?" Nash can't help but ask. "You healed that somehow."

Aster turns to Nash, and for a split second, his face twists into a venomous glare that's much more familiar. It vanishes as he faces Niko again. "I can't give away all my secrets," he says smoothly. "But that was... something similar."

“And the ring?” Niko asks. “You destroyed it.”

Aster laughs, the sound light and casual. "There's a reason you weren't taught to do things that way, and it's not because it's hard. It's just reckless. But hey, it made an impression, right? As long as everyone thinks I'm powerful, they stay out of my way."

“Well, powerful wizard or not, you’re certainly clever,” Niko says. “And even if it was just lucky happenstance, what you did to save Nash was incredible. I’m sure he appreciates that.”

“Oh yes, he’s been showing me his appreciation with his home cooking,” Aster says, and though his smile looks genuine, it’s the same one he wore a moment ago when talking about using an enchantment to suppress his trauma. “He doesn’t think it’s any good, but you know how sentiment magic is. Or maybe you don’t. Honestly, I’m not even sure if there’s any magic at play, but I’ve been telling myself there is, and it’s been helping me feel better. That’s all that matters.” He turns to Nash, the smile never faltering. "Can you drive me back to the boarding house after breakfast?"

"Uh, yeah," Nash manages, feeling like he's stepped into some alternate reality. After all that secrecy and guesswork, Aster just laid it all out for Niko like it was nothing. Does he think Nash is too dumb to understand? Sure, he's not a magic user, but he could've handled that explanation.

“You don’t have to leave on my account,” Niko says. “You’re more than welcome to stay for as long as you need.”

“Thank you, but I already have,” Aster says. “I need to get back to the boarding house, anyway. If you disappear, they don’t wait too long before they chuck all your stuff in a dumpster and give the room to someone else.”

“Fair enough,” Niko said. “I think Nash has got the handle of french toast, so I should go and get started on some work. Enjoy your breakfast.”

"Thanks," Aster says, his smile still firmly in place. The moment Niko leaves the room, it's like someone flipped a switch. The smile vanishes, replaced by a weary sigh as Aster slumps into a kitchen chair, all that fake friendliness draining out of him.

Nash stares at Aster, spatula frozen in mid-air, trying to reconcile the person he just witnessed with the prickly, mysterious guy he's been tiptoeing around for days. It's like watching someone take off a mask, only to reveal another mask underneath.

Nash slides the best two slices of french toast onto a plate and sets it in front of Aster. "So that's why you wanted me to cook? The sentiment magic thing?"

Aster just shrugs, already focused on the food.

Nash feels frustration bubbling up, but he pushes it down. This silent, prickly Aster is the one he knows. The one he's been... well, obsessing over, if he's honest with himself. That friendly, chatty version Aster showed Niko? Nash isn't sure how to feel about it. Jealous, yeah, but also kind of unsettled. Once again, Aster is a puzzle he can't solve.

Aster lays his arm on the table, resting his head on it as he slowly works through a piece of french toast. He looks exhausted, and Nash has to physically stop himself from reaching out to run a hand through Aster's hair. Maybe he's kidding himself, but he feels like there's something honest in this quiet, vulnerable version of Aster too.

Nash finishes cooking and sits down across from Aster with his own plate. "Want some more?"

Aster nods, holding out a hand. Nash passes him another slice.

"Another?" Nash offers, but Aster shakes his head, already nibbling on the piece he just got.

Nash takes a bite of his own. It's... actually not bad. Niko probably deserves most of the credit, but hopefully that won't mess with the sentiment magic. He did put his whole heart into it, after all.

His mind keeps circling back to everything Aster told Niko. Nash is used to tiny crumbs of information, vague hints he has to piece together. Getting straight answers feels wrong somehow. Like he cheated on a test or peeked at the last page of a mystery novel.

Nash watches Aster eat, trying to reconcile the open, talkative version from earlier with this quiet, tired one. Which is the real Aster? Or are they both masks, hiding something else entirely?

Aster is slow to get through his last piece of french toast, and when he’s done, he stands and looks expectantly at Nash, his body angled in the direction of the front door. Time to go, then.

They leave in silence, and Nash is caught off guard when Aster slides into the passenger seat instead of retreating to the back. Not that it matters much—Aster's staring out the window before Nash even turns the key.

"So, uh," Nash ventures as they pull out of the driveway, "it seems like you get on with Niko pretty well? I bet he wouldn't mind hanging out more. I don't have to be around for it if you don't want."

Aster lets out a snort of laughter, eyes still fixed on the passing scenery.

“I’m not sure what part of that was funny.”

The silence stretches so long that Nash is sure Aster's not going to respond. They're well into the suburbs when Aster finally speaks. "If I asked you to keep a secret from Niko, would you?"

Nash blinks, caught off guard. "Obviously not if it's going to hurt him or anything, but if it's just something you don't want to share with him? Yeah, of course."

Aster nods, seeming satisfied. "I don't want to be friends with Niko."

Nash frowns, more confused than ever. "Is that all?"

Aster clicks his tongue, like he's annoyed at having to explain further. "I'm realising you're probably going to obsess over that conversation with Niko. It'll be better if you're working with me instead of against me. If I can trust you."

“You can,” Nash promises.

“Did you think I was trying to make friends with him?”

Nash's frown deepens as he replays the morning's conversation in his head. Niko had been friendly, sure, and Aster had been... well, not Aster-like at all. But looking closer, Nash realises Aster had asked to leave as soon as Niko arrived. Most of what he shared seemed designed to discourage Niko from wanting to work with him. He wasn’t trying to make friends with Niko—he was trying to sidestep his interest.

“Oh,” Nash says. “But why? You seem like you have a lot in common.”

"Too much," Aster says, his voice tight. "We come from similar backgrounds. I'd rather he didn't realise that. I don't have a good relationship with my family and I don't want him to think he should meddle for my own good."

Nash nods. “I don’t think he’d do that. I mean, I hope he wouldn’t. I’m estranged from my own family, too. My pack. I’ve told him about it, so I’d be pretty disappointed if he didn’t even think about what your situation might be before involving himself. He’s not a careless guy.”

"I think that's probably true," Aster concedes, "but people surprise you all the time. They do things you never thought they would. It's safer for me to just stay off his radar."

"Okay," Nash says, though he can't help thinking that being upfront with Niko might actually be safer. "So was anything you told Niko actually true?"

Aster tilts his head, considering. “Probably about equal parts truth and lie, and a few half-truths.”

“Oh, great. And that’s for me to figure out, I guess.”

Aster shrugs. “If you feel like that would be a worthwhile use of your time.”

“Okay.”

Aster lets out a sigh that seems to come from his toes. “Maybe it is easier to be more direct sometimes. Maybe I will be, sometimes. It’s not helpful for either of us if I pretend to be something I’m not, though. If you’re determined to be my friend, then you have to understand that the version of myself I showed Niko isn’t real. I was being manipulative. I know I’m not nice to you, but I won’t do that.”

“I don’t think I want you to,” Nash admits. “It’s just confusing, I guess. You normally don’t talk to me this much. You don’t explain yourself at all.”

Aster just shrugs.

Nash pushes on, "It's just a lot to figure out, you know? And I know you never asked me to, but with things like cooking for you, the sentiment magic stuff, isn't it better if I know? I never could have figured that out on my own." He pauses, doubt creeping in. "Assuming that was even true..."

“More or less,” Aster says. “It was easier to admit to my ability there than try to explain it away. A narrow innate talent is common enough.”

“What else can you do?”

Aster flashes him a tight smile and turns back to the window. Okay, luck pushed too far. Got it. 

The rest of the drive passes in silence. As they pull up to the laundromat that hides the boarding house entrance, Nash feels a ridiculous urge to walk Aster to the door like some awkward teenager after a first date. Instead, he manages a weak "Bye" as Aster wordlessly exits the car.

Nash goes to sigh, but the deep breath fills his nose with Aster's lingering scent. He wonders if he can sneak some time in the guest room without Niko noticing...