A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan
Rule 96- You can't truly hate someone without loving them a little first.

"You can call me Kat. Now I'm not saying that it's not nice to see you, but what are you doing here?" I ask curiously. Pan grins at me.

"I have another delivery for you from the prince." She declares with a mischievous grin. Why do I have the feeling that she's enjoying this too much.

"Well I suppose you had better come in then. I was about to order dinner and my friend Lucy should be here any time now. Are you hungry?" I ask. Pan it turns out is almost as excited to meet Lucy as she was to meet me and eagerly agrees to stay for dinner. I've been having way too much take out lately. I really should try to get back to cooking at least semi-regularly. I'll think about it... Tomorrow. Or maybe when I go back to work. My break from work can be a break from cooking too, right? I order Thai food and settle in on the couch with Pan. I've only just barely sat down when Lucy lets herself in the front door.

"Kat, I'm here! Is dinner here yet?" Lucy calls out. Yeah she's assuming that I've ordered in, there's no pretending she ever thought I was going to cook. I really need to work on that.

"I'm in the living room and it's on the way. We have a guest." I call out. Lucy comes barreling in and collapses onto the recliner couch.

"Hey there I'm Lucy." She says, an eyebrow raised at me that clearly says 'I thought I knew all your friends, who the hell is this?'

"Hello, My name is Pandra Ari. You may call me Pan. I am here with another delivery from Prince Ashton Rallowend." She introduces herself proudly. Lucy's eyes widen and she sits up straighter in her chair, turning to me with a triumphant look. "I TOLD you he wouldn't just forget about you. Wait, ANOTHER delivery?" Lucy questions. I roll my eyes.

"He just tried to send payment for my time. But it was too much so I sent most of it back. I don't know what this delivery is." I explain. Lucy narrows her eyes suspiciously. Probably wondering why I didn't mention it to her. To be fair, I probably should have, but I don't seem to have the energy for contacting people much lately.

"Well there is only one way to find out what our prince sent you this time." Pan announces, dropping her little bag on the table. She gestures for me to open it and I eagerly comply. Mostly because I want to mess with the cool magical bag. I keep an eye on Lucy's expression as I untie it and stretch it open. It feels like leather but leather shouldn't stretch like this. It's so weird. It stops at about the same size it did yesterday and I peer inside.

In the bag is... Another bag? I reach to pull it out but instantly drop it when I realise how heavy it is. There is no way I'm picking up the second bag any time soon; it would probably yank my shoulder out of its socket. Seriously, how was Pan carrying that so easily just clipped to her belt?! Pan bursts out laughing and I can see now that I've been set up. She planned to watch me fair. I glare at her with mock anger.

"Oh you're mean!" I insist and her laughter instantly drops out, replaced with a look of apologetic horror.

"I did not intend to offend you. It was supposed to be funny." She looks near tears and I instantly feel bad.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I'm not offended. I was joking. I forgot that fae don't lie. Humans can say whatever they want. I was just teasing you, I promise. I don't think you're mean. I thought it was funny!" I insist. Lucy is flicking her gaze between the two of us and she just bursts out laughing. She laughs until she cries.

"Oh my gosh that was just too much! You both looked so panicked. I think I'm going to like you Pan." Lucy sobers up a little.

"I still want to know what's in the bag though." Lucy adds.

"Care to assist?" I ask Pan who looks much happier now that she knows I'm not mad at her.

"Of course." She easily lifts the bag out with ONE HAND. How strong is this chick? There has got to be some kind of magic at play here. She thumps the bag onto the table and I swear the coffee table creaks a little. That's kind of concerning. I reach over and open the new bag and I gasp so quickly I nearly choke. I think Lucy falls off her chair, she's leaning so far forward to see what's inside.

This time the delivery is a bag full of gold. Gold coins, gold bars, even just shapeless chunks of gold. There is yet another fortune being dropped on my coffee table casually.

"Pan... What the hell is this? I told Ashton it was too much and I couldn't accept it all. Why did he send more? He's already paid me, this is just excessive. It wouldn't be right for me to take this!" I insist. Pan shrugs.

"I told him that you would say that. But he insisted on having me deliver it anyway. He is determined to reward you. I suspect that if you do not accept this prize he will simply send me back here with something else tomorrow night." She confesses. I sigh.

Our food arrives not long later and we all sit and eat, meanwhile, Lucy is sorting through the pile of gold with wide eyes.

"I'll be sending it back again." I inform Pan and she nods.

"I understand. Will you not take anything tonight?" I'm about to refuse but I remember that Ashton said Lucy should be rewarded too.

"Lucy, you should take something." I prompt her. Lucy hesitates at first, but after a moment she nods and chooses a gold coin. We don't use that currency obviously but the gold itself would be worth a lot or she could probably sell it as a collector's item or something. Pan packs up the rest of the gold and gets ready to leave. Lucy stops her.

"Pan... Did... Did you happen to see Fin, Finvara I mean. Is he well?" Lucy asks quietly. Ahh so she does still care, even if she is mad at him.

"Yes. He appears to be in good health although I have heard rumours that he is acting a little strangely. The prince is as well. They are both more withdrawn than usual. In the prince's case this is hardly surprising given the recent death of his father. Finvara was also fairly close with the king given his close working relationship with the royal family, however it was not until he came back that he seemed truly out of sorts. I do not know them well enough to be sure if there is any truth to these rumours though." Pan explains. Lucy contemplates her answer for a moment.

"Fin seems... Sad?" She confirms. Pan nods.

"That is what I have been led to believe." She agrees. A look of cold anger returns to Lucy's face.

"Good." Oh yeah, she is still pissed. Pan is concerned for a moment, but she must realise that Lucy doesn't mean it too maliciously because her posture softens and she turns her attention back to me. For my part... Well Ashton is acting how I would expect. His dad died, of course he's unhappy. He came straight here afterwards. He hasn't had to face what his everyday life would be like without his dad in it. Not to mention I DO believe that he cares for me. He probably does miss me, at least a little... It's just not enough. Sensing the change in mood, Pan heads for the door, but she stops to make another joke on the way out.

"I believe it is safe to guess that I will be back. Same time tomorrow?" She suggests and I laugh.

"Sure, same time tomorrow." I agree.