Chapter Three

Tongue sticking out of his mouth from concentrating, Leif flipped through the pages of a beginner"s textbook over magical botany, double checking his multitude of sticky notes against what he had recorded in a notebook.

"So how"s it looking?" Rahul asked him, indicating the hydroponics station that was set up in one corner of their semi-basement.

"The peppermint and spearmint are still going strong and look ready to harvest," Leif said, pointing to a few flourishing herbs, their leaves shimmering faintly to his spirit senses. "Um, but not the lemon verbena. It"s only shining at thirty, maybe forty percent compared to the mint, so another few weeks?"

"It"ll be interesting to see what kind of potions you can make when it"s finally ready."

"Oh, I know! Alright, let me get the water changed out."

After turning off the pump to the water system, Leif disconnected the reservoir, then carried it to a nearby bathroom to get the several gallons of water that he needed while Rahul looked on. As the reservoir filled with water from the shower, Leif ensured that he was still channeling his magic at a constant level.

The hydroponic garden had been an unexpected, but exciting development in Leif"s spiritmancer abilities. Several months ago, Tucker had met with a pair of elvish mages during a case, and they"d graciously lent him a book about using mana-infused plants in magical castings, which Leif had studied with Julia"s help. While Leif still wasn"t able to directly infuse non-alcoholic substances with his particular brand of spirit energy, many weeks of experimenting and a couple of visits to the mage sisters for advice had uncovered a workaround. So long as Leif carried the energy inside of him while he tended to the herbs he was growing, the plants would collect the ambient energy that leeched off of him and into the circulating water and nutrients.

The end result was that every week or so, he was able to harvest a collection of spirit-infused leaves that he could muddle or turn into a special simple syrup, the vital ingredient in his newly discovered Recovery potion. He was only able to gather enough for one, sometimes two cocktails each week, though, so he had to ration carefully and limit his experimenting until he could accumulate a large enough backstock.

Leif set his gardening tools aside, then checked his phone. "Let"s see.Dawn is at..."

"Seven-twenty," Rahul told him.

"Ooh, thanks! I"ll set my alarm. I still don"t know why the exact harvest time makes that much of a difference. Maybe something to do with normal plant cycles? Alright, your turn!"

Giving him a quick kiss first, Rahul took the tools and began tending his own separate, larger hydroponic garden. Filled with more than a dozen different growing herbs and spices, the only magical part about it was in the way it enhanced Rahul"s cooking.

Shaking his rear in tune to a silent melody, Rahul clipped a couple sprigs of basil and rosemary for their pasta dinner, then helped Leif with putting away their supplies before they journeyed back upstairs.

While Rahul went to prepare his homemade meat sauce for their Sunday dinner, Leif continued on up to his personal room, where he kept his computer, clothes, and wrestling gear. He busied himself with checking over his upcoming classes, reading their syllabi. Once he had an idea of his workload for the week, he opened up an online document over his potions that was shared between him, his boyfriends, and a number of DOMA employees, studying his collected data until Rahul called him down for dinner.

"It smells amazing, babe," Tucker said, joining them after a post-yoga shower, and Leif had to concur. Dinner was Italian sausage in a flavorful tomato sauce over rotini, with garlic bread on the side, and the aroma had been circulating in the house for most of the last hour.

"Ah, it"s nothing," Rahul said. "Now eat, eat! Then we can plan out the week."

Leif was only too happy to oblige, serving himself a plateful. He kept his phone"s calendar open, making sure he had all his events and work shifts added.

"Is Tuesday still good?" Rahul asked him. "I need to book our hotel."

"It should be, but I"ll have to talk with Dennis when I go in to work tonight to double-check. I"ll try to let you know as soon as I arrive. I checked my school work, too, and I can get almost all of it done tomorrow without a problem."

Tucker finished adding on a sprinkling of freshly-grated parmigiano cheese to his plate, then stabbed a few noodles. "And what about your certification exam, darlin"? That"s coming up real soon for ya"."

"The end of next month!" Leif agreed. "I"m a bit nervous, but I should be fine. The written exam seems a lot like a driver"s license exam, just memorizing basic general facts, um, like how vigilante work is still illegal whether you have magic or not, or knowing the rules involved in keeping your certification current."

"And the practical portion?" Tucker said around his mouthful.

"A little trickier. Julia says I shouldn"t worry, it"s really more of a simple demonstration that I"m able work my magic in a controlled fashion and not accidentally blow anything up, but I have no idea what the board will actually ask, so I"m going over all my old recipes."

Tucker nodded, then paused, tilting his head. "I might have an idea about that." After saying so, he lifted his plate in order to better shovel the noodles into his mouth.

Conversation turned to friends and family. Yes, hosting Rahul"s parents for a few days over Winter Holiday had been fun, but no, they still hadn"t found his mother"s best flog. Rahul had his weekly dance class with Sebastian and Sakari Whitetail on Thursday, and Tucker and Leif had a standing invite, of course. And maybe it was time to invite some of their friends over for drinks? If they made it a relationship party, inviting the Whitetails, and Deimos and his spouse, they could invite Wu without her objecting over grounds of being seen for favoritism.

"I don"t know if she"ll accept, though," Tucker said.

"Because of the record"s room thing?" Leif asked, getting up from his chair to get another glass of water.

"Yeah, darlin". Guilty isn"t an emotion I would have ever assigned to her."

"Might be the whole situation itself, pup." Rahul began carrying dishes to the sink. "You"d said that she didn"t seem to want to let Clairmont give the case to you.Maybe she"s trying to protect you from him?Or worried that it"ll bring up bad memories for you."

Tucker leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach, but was clearly eying the last slice of bread. When Leif returned with his water, he reached across the table, grabbing it and tossing it gently onto Tucker"s plate. Leif"s boyfriend gave him a soft smile, chuckling as he picked it up and began tearing strips off of it. "She wouldn"t be wrong about the memories. But yeah, let"s invite her and her girlfriend over. Maybe if we bring it up casually and let her know that I"m not stressed about it, she"ll feel better. Not stressed anymore, anyways, thanks again."

Rahul waved it off, and Leif checked his phone again. "Alright, I"m gonna shower and get ready for work. Kisses?"

Leif"s boyfriends obliged him with pasta-flavored kisses, then he dashed upstairs to get himself ready for his bartending job at the Rainbow Rooster.

Dressing for work in the winter usually necessitated wearing layers, since there was a direct link between how many tips he got and how little he wore on the job, but tonight was going to include a series of drag events, and a speedo wouldn"t quite fit the vibe. Instead, Leif settled for a white long-sleeve with an embroidered floral pattern, a black bowtie and vest, and dark slacks. He donned his nipple rings, as well as a pair of blue zirconia ear studs that matched his hair. After another quick farewell to Rahul and Tucker, Leif grabbed a coat and set out.

It wasn"t a long drive to work from their home on the southern outskirts of Minneapolis, so his car hadn"t even fully heated by the time he pulled up outside of the gay bar. He nodded and smiled his way past a few familiar faces, doffed his coat in the employee break room, donned his LED nametag, then checked to see if his boss was available before his shift started.

He found Dennis already in her drag persona, Mama Hen, coordinating with a few other performers in a curtained off corner of the dance room by the stage. Leif stood by patiently while she helped affix a wig and several balloons to one of the amateur performers, then gave a firm clap before sashaying over to him.

"Hey, Mama," Leif greeted her."You look plucking amazing."

Mama Hen struck a pose, lifting one of her dark, toned legs and placing it above her head against a nearby wall, her slitted dress shimmering. The feathers of her outfit ruffled as she fluttered a tacky, bedazzled peacock fan.

"Of course I do, dahling," she said huskily, rolling her head.Then she snapped her fan closed and set her heeled foot back on the ground."Did you need something, my sweet chickadee?"

"Just wanted to make sure my schedule this week was still good, Mama.I"ll be going out of town on Tuesday and Wednesday."

She tapped his nose three times."Good.To.Know! But yes, my pure dove, I can make do without your pretty presence.Oh, and when you start your shift, make sure you have enough ingredients handy for our Tits and Balls line of cocktails, they"re on special tonight.Ta!"

Mama rejoined the other half-dozen drag queens, lending them her expert advice.Leif made a stop at the employee break-room to send a confirmation text to Rahul, then started his shift.

Sunday"s weren"t normally the busiest of nights, but the drag act drew in a steady crowd throughout, and Leif was kept hopping in order to keep the patrons satisfied.As he mixed and delivered drinks over the course of the night, he"d hear frequent laughs and cheers from the audience in the next room as the performers acted, sang, and danced.

The performances wound down to a close as midnight approached, and the last couple of hours were low-key enough that Leif was able to get the place almost entirely cleaned up before the bar closed at two, which just left a final till count and walkthrough.

"How was it, Dee?" Leif asked him while doing a last restock of a few liquor bottles that were nearly empty."I heard a lot of applause, but I let Barney watch your dance."

"Your selflessness is noted," Dennis said."But also, you should have been able to watch too, since the entire house should have been captivated by my quintessential beauty."

He struck another brief pose, briefly touching a cheek with the back of his hand, then indicated a bar stool. "But real talk. I won"t keep you long, I know you"re tired."

Leif shrugged.Bouncing between day and night cycles did sometimes leave him sleepy, but he"d gotten used to it over the years.

"How long have you been working for me, Leif?"

"Um, coming up on nearly eight years, I think?"Leif counted on his fingers."Yeah, eight this summer. Barback for the first couple of years, and then you let me start serving on my twenty-first birthday. Love you, Big D!"

That got him a smile."Love you too, cutie. You"re a fantastic bartender, and among my favorite employees overall. Don"t tell Andre or Barney I said that, I"ll deny, deny, deny, capiche?You"re nearly done with your degree, yes?"

Leif nodded. "Spring of next year, or Fall of this one if I take summer classes. Which I might, since..."

"Since you found yourself two hunky sugar daddies and don"t need to work so hard to pay rent, right?"

"Hey now, I pay rent!" Leif said as he patted his crotch, grinning."But seriously, I do chip in."

"Sure you do," Dennis said, winking. "You hussy.Either way, though, there"s been a change recently.You don"t ask for extra shifts anymore, and this is probably the first time in a long while that you"ve made sure you had your days off."

"I just want to do right by my boyfriends, that"s all.You once told me that no matter how mind-blowing the sex, if you don"t put in the still-sexy-but-not-literal-sex hours, you"re just asking for someone else to fill their holes."

"Yes, my advice is amazing, and I"m a genius. Wait. Is my advice working for you?"

"Yes, Dee."

"Then yes, I"m a genius." Dennis struck another pose, tilting his head up and framing his chin with his hand."My point is that I always knew that you working for me wouldn"t last forever. Your degree was always a ticking time bomb, and now you have your magic career on top of it. Although, please, no more stories like last time!When you told me about how you hurt your hand, my heart literally fell out of my vagina and got all knotted up in my panties."

"Oh, geez!" Leif giggled. "And don"t worry, Dee, there"s no way I"m gonna leave you for DOMA."

"You might, and that"s okay." Dennis looked at him, then sniffed. "Baby chicks grow up. That"s just the way of the world. And I just wanted to let you know, your Mama Hen is mega-mommy proud of her chicken. Now come here."

"Aww!"Leif hopped off of his stool and wrapped his arms tightly around Dennis" waist.

Dennis rubbed him on his back."Keep working for me like you"re doing, you"re a fabulous bartender.But don"t be afraid to leave if you need time for your magic career, your future job as a social worker, or if you need to make time for your boyfriends. Okay?"

"Sure, Dee."

"Mm-hmm. And speaking of boyfriends... have I told you that I think I found someone serious?"

Leif squealed into Dennis" chest.

"Mm-hmm. I thought you"d like that. Alright, let"s finish up so you can get yourself home."

"On it!" Dancing a little, Leif moved back behind the bar.

"And be sure to give your two boyfriends kisses for me, okay? Big sloppy ones."

"Can do."

"Better yet, big sloppy blow-jobs!"

"Ha, okay."

"And make sure they know it"s from me. I"m off the market now, or I"d do it myself."

Leif rolled his eyes as he put away the last few martini glasses, listening fondly to his boss and good friend giving him a play-by-play of his missed performance.