A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan
Rule 53- Remember, just because you didn’t pay for something that doesn’t mean it won’t cost you.

The drive home is entertaining because the two fae are both sitting in the back seat and are practically bouncing up and down like children from the excitement of the day and because they have so many new things to open and look at. I ended up buying a few games, toys and random tech items that they wanted to try out. Actually, Ashton is the one practically bouncing with excitement. Fin has managed to keep his cool a little better but I can see the excitement on his face and I'm fairly sure the majority of the purchases were ones that he suggested. The guys unload the car and stack everything in the living room. It's a little crowded. There's space for the fold out mattress that we got for Fin on the floor if we shove the coffee table to the side, but I don't know how long he's staying and it really doesn't offer any privacy. I contemplate the room and come to a decision.

"Okay, we're going to rearrange the living room." I declare. Ashton who is poking through the new stuff looks up with a curious expression on his face. "Why?" He asks.

"You'll see.” I promise. We spend the next half an hour moving all the furniture. Or rather Fin and Ashton move the furniture and I direct them. We turn the biggest couch to the side leaving a gap between it and the wall. We move the rest of the furniture around to accommodate it. The end result has the big couch positioned weirdly so it will be hard to watch TV from there, but it all fits with no issues. The last thing I do is help the guys set up the new mattress behind the large couch. It's not much, but with the furniture positioned this way it provides a tiny bit of privacy as the mattress is positioned behind the couch and to the side of the room rather than right in the middle of it. No one will have to climb over the bed to get to the couches, and as long as Fin is sitting or lying down on the mattress, he should be mostly out of sight. It's not the ideal set up, but it's the best I can do with the space we have.

"You have created me my own space." Fin comments, seeming a little surprised. I shrug.

"Sure, sorry we don't have another spare room." I apologise. I still feel like a shoddy host asking him to sleep in the living room on a fold out mattress. It's the nicest one we could find, but no matter how good it's never going to be as good a an actual bed.

"It is more than sufficient. I appreciate your efforts to make me comfortable. You did not have to change the layout of your home and move your things for me.” Fin seems almost uncomfortable about the effort, even though it's honestly not that much.

You're welcome. I wish I could do more. If you end up here for longer than a week I'll look into getting you a privacy screen or something so that we can set up a better area.” I promise him. Ashton smiles at me gratefully.

"You are a kind host, particularly when your guests were not anticipated." He compliments me and I smile.

"Hey, you got me out of work, this is really the least I can do." ." I joke. Ashton takes my hand and squeezes it gently before stepping away to help Fin finish with setting up his sleeping arrangements. I'm surprised to hear a knock on the front door and my dad calling out.

"KAT, COME LET ME IN PLEASE." He yells. I glance at the time, It's actually pretty early for him to be home. He's a total workaholic most of the time. Fin rushes to answer the door and I stand beside him, hands on my hips and call out through the door.

“Did you forget your keys again?” The door swings open and I can see my dad has his arms totally full of bags.

"Actually, no I didn't thank you very much young lady." He replies with false offence. Fin immediately takes some of the bags from him. Dad heads straight through to the living room and pauses in the doorway, eyebrows raised. He glances back at me.

"Doing some redecorating?" He jokes and I nod.

"Yep, just making sure there's space for our guest to sleep without being trampled. Why are you home so early?" I question. Dad shrugs.

"This is a perfectly normal time to come home." he insists.

"Well yeah, but since when do you come home at a normal time? This is early for you." I argue and dad rolls his eyes.

“I come home at a reasonable time for once and this is the welcome I get? I brought dinner.” he grumbles. I perk up. Dinner? I hadn't registered it before, but now that I'm paying attention I can smell something good from the bags he brought in. Dad unpacks Chinese takeout on the coffee table with a huge variety of options and I grab us plates so that we can all serve ourselves. This is a little suspicious, why is dad being so nice to Ashton and Fin, he was so unhappy to have them here and now he's leaving work early to come and hang out with us? Dad must notice me watching him oddly because partway through the meal he puts his plate down and clears his throat awkwardly.

"You asked me to look into more thefts like the one you described." He starts. Ashton and Fin who up until this point have been entirely focussed on their meal both sit up straighter and give him their full attention. Ah, I get it. He's not being extra nice, he's being professional. Dad's still in work mode.

"Were you able to learn anything?” Ashton asks eagerly. Dad nods slowly.

"I think so. There have been several reports of theft and even a few arrests where the perpetrator has reported a woman directing them to take the items or just give them away. Most of them are very vague on the details though. Some of them seem quite embarrassed to have been fooled that way. I brought files with all the cases I could find where the woman was mentioned in the report. Her description seems to vary a lot which doesn't help much and no one has been able to give a name or any useful information.” Dad explains. He gestures to the satchel he had hooked over his shoulder when he came home. I didn't pay it any attention at the time, too caught up in the arrival of dinner.

Eager to read the files, we all finish up eating quickly and clear away the food. Since Fin and Ashton learned English using some kind of charm, their reading skills are limited. They CAN read, but they're unpracticed. So instead, I read out each file to them. Dad sits quietly in the corner listening and nodding occasionally.

“There seem to be a lot of thefts taking place in jewellery stores.” Ashton observes.

“It seems like our target is fond of accessorising. Or perhaps she knows that the items have a high value here.” Fin suggests.

"The thefts are strange, some of the items taken are really expensive and some of them are cheap, not things you would go out of your way to steal if you were trying to re-sell them or make money.” Dad points out.

"But does any of this help us actually find the woman?" I question and we all fall silent. Oops, I didn't mean to ruin everyone's enthusiasm.

"I guess it's time to play detective and figure it out." I say optimistically, dropping the pile of files onto the table with a satisfying thump.