The door swung open, and Tanya made eye contact with a surprised Ishita. Spices wafted over her from the open doorway. She could see some of the hallway over Ishita's shoulder. The broken glass had been swept since the last time she'd been here, rugs shifted around, and the pictures gone from the walls, replaced with framed drawings in bright colours.

It was only a second in reality, but it stretched on and on, Tanya's pulse pounding in her ears.

Ishita's face cycled through from friendly to surprise to nervousness and finally to a more withdrawn demeanour. She was still wearing a white sari over light blue jeans, but this one looked less expensive, with a spattering of dust and other ingredients over it.

"Hello," Ishita eventually said. She tucked a black lock behind her ear, and it immediately slipped back to the side of her face again, falling just past her chin. The sharp angles accentuated her hollow cheeks and sunken eyes.

"Hey," Tanya replied.

Ishita's gaze flicked over her, and Tanya was suddenly aware of how different she must look now too. Her hair had changed; she'd redyed it using one of those half-melted tubs from the ruined beauty parlour, and one side was finally shaved like she used to daydream about when she was sixteen and first decided to become a tattooist. Dresses had never been her thing, but they made it easier to get at the tattoos and channels, so she'd hacked one of Mrs Eceer's old yellow florals into a camisole mini, with cut-outs on each side of her waist for further summon access. She had so many more tattoos now from various tests gone well or awry. She'd thrown her leather jacket over the top to make it feel more like hers, and honestly, she liked the ensemble more than she thought she would.

"I like the new hair. Blue suits you." Ishita said.

"Thanks," Tanya replied, hand instinctively reaching to her face.

I should say somethin' back. What do I compliment? Think, Tanya, think…

They both stood for a moment.

"So, uh, yes. Where are my manners? Come in." Ishita unfroze, ushering her inside with a strained smile.

Ah fuck. I waited too long.

"No, no, it's okay," Tanya said, staying in the hallway outside the apartment. "I don't want to intrude."

"Tanya!"

She didn't have time to react. There was just a flash of movement before Fahad slammed into her legs like a happy little missile.

She staggered, laughing before she could stop herself. "Bloody hell! Careful, bud."

He looked up, with a wide grin, missing one of his front teeth now.

"You look so cool!" Fahad yelled.

Tanya grinned. "Thanks."

"Turn the volume down, babu," Ishita said.

"Sorry, mum," he replied in a sing-song voice.

"Put her there, big man," Tanya said, offering out a hand for a high five. "Only the coolest kids lose their front teeth first.

His eyes lit up. "Woahhh, did you too?"

"I sure did. This one right here." She opened her mouth comically wide and pointed at one right at the front.

Fahad was so excited that he was practically jumping up and down. "Did you know, even though it's the apocalypse, the tooth fairy still came all the way here. She said she knows money doesn't mean much anymore, so she left me a pile of my favourite chocolates instead!"

Tanya remembered Olena setting some aside, especially for Fahad, a few days before. Her heart melted. She made eye contact with Ishita over his head.

"That's wicked!" Tanya replied. "How's your lantern and Class stuff been going?"

"I've been training every single day when mum takes me out and—and—I can now make the lantern teleport around without me and drop it on monsters' heads just like Marjorie!"

Tanya wondered if that was Ishita's new friend. She considered asking, but then Fahad noticed Tanya's tattoos. " Woahhh, you have so many now!"

She pulled off her jacket to show him her arms. "I've been doing a lot of testing for the new shop."

"Oooooo, can you show me them?" He gasped, noticing the weapons on her ankle. "I wanna try the sword!"

Tanya looked at Ishita again and saw the reluctance. "Maybe another time."

"Aw, okay." He hugged Tanya's middle again. "Mum said maybe you weren't gonna come anymore, but I knew you would!"

Tanya's heart gave a sharp twist. "Did she now?"

"She talks about you all the time," he said brightly. "When she thinks I'm asleep."

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"Fahad!" Ishita exclaimed. Tanya could see the flush in her cheeks. It was blotchy on her new skin, like a wine stain birthmark fading in.

Fahad looked over, instantly wilting under her stare.

Ishita sighed, and the tension left her body. "Can you go clean your hands for food, babu?"

He went, but not before giving Tanya one last hug around the middle. She stood frozen in it, blinking too hard.

Ishita turned back to Tanya. She ran her hands down her face, mouth opening and closing like she was figuring out some way to respond to any of what had just happened.

"Kids, eh?" Tanya said, remembering Ishita's kind eye roll last time they'd been together inside the parlour as the wall was coming down.

Ishita snorted and showed Tanya her frustrated smile. "Kids," she mirrored. She stepped out of the doorway, speaking more softly. "You can come in, I mean it."

Tanya just nodded and walked into the hallway. She noticed it wasn't just Omar and the wedding pictures had gone, every picture of Ishita was too. Portraits of Fahad were now surrounded by so many kid-style drawings of Ishita and Mrs Eceer, and Fifi and—

Tanya stopped, reaching out for one of the frames at the end. Her fingers traced the glass. It was herself, with her new hair and sundress, testing her tattoos outside. She tried to work out which tattoos she was summoning in the drawing, until she realised Fahad seemed to have made up his own designs. One looked like a dragon, and another was maybe a person—it was hard to tell.

"He's really gotten into art recently," Ishita said from behind her.

Tanya racked her brain for how Tommy's art was at that age, but came up empty. She settled on a casual: "It's good."

"Just through here," Ishita said, gesturing at the doorway opposite Fahad's bedroom.

Tanya followed.

She was touched by the drawings, but couldn't shake the feeling of knowing Ishita had taken down every photo of herself in the flat.

That's 'cause of me…

Ishita gestured to a seat, and Tanya awkwardly sat. She looked around the room for anything to say, and her eyes landed on another one of Fahad's drawings. It was of a lady with ginger curls and a grumpy-looking teen with the same red locks.

Tanya nodded to the picture. "Mrs Eceer said you met another local mum."

Ishita smiled, and Tanya relaxed.

Just keep it light, eh?

"Marjorie and Adam," Ishita confirmed.

"I've heard she has a Class called Gravity Brawler," Tanya said, leaning forward despite herself.

Ishita leant forward too, eyes darting from the floor to Tanya with caution, but also gripped by the topic. "The strangest part is it isn't even a Unique Class. She got it from dropping this huge dehumidifier onto a monster out of the window."

Tanya gasped. "And the son?"

"Adam? I don't know his as well yet, but I know it's about computers and tracking portals somehow—his is unique."

Tanya leant back in the chair. "Crazy stuff. I've been trying to find out about more Classes for when me parlour opens."

It's strange chattin', kinda like someone I know a lot about, but also feels like a stranger.

Tanya wondered if Ishita felt the same. She looked up, and Ishita was looking at her expectantly.

"Oh—pardon?" Tanya asked.

"How is the shop opening going?"

"Pretty well," Tanya started.

Ishita nodded towards the kitchen with a smile, then got up to start collecting the food.

"Been working on the shop with Olena and Boris a lot, then evenings are for researching tattoos and reading about pacts—"

The pacts.

"I've been lookin' into the pact stuff," Tanya said. The words shot out of her mouth before Tanya could decide whether to say them.

Ishita froze by the kitchen counter. She spun slowly, pots of food in her hands. "Me too."

Tanya continued in a rush, words tumbling out faster than she could shape them. "Seems like there isn't a way to change the existin' one, but maybe we could layer a new one or multiple on top too, so they kinda layer over each other with different—uh—layers, I guess."

She winced at herself but kept going, too far in to stop. "Have you seen Mrs Eceer's wards? That's what made me think of it. I've been lookin' on ward duty and, uh, yeah, she stacks these sequences to avoid bad readin's. It just reminded me of this because this is—uh—"

Her brain stalled. Just stopped.

She blinked, looking away. Heat crawled up her neck.

"Like that," she finished, small and flat.

She felt her face grow hot and wanted the ground to swallow her up.

Why did I say any of that? It was going well…

"I had a similar idea," Ishita said.

Tanya lifted her eyes off the spot where her eyes had been boring a hole in the floor.

Ishita placed down the tubs on the coffee table and perched on the sofa. Tanya didn't want to intrude, but she also didn't want to ask in case it triggered anything, so she just awkwardly stood there.

"I hadn't thought of it in relation to Mrs Eceer's wards. It was actually something Fahad said." Ishita was more measured than Tanya, releasing tidbits in short bursts before pausing with a furrowed brow, as if convincing herself to keep talking. "He wanted to help me cook," she went on. "But with the gas canisters, it's too dangerous. So I kept saying no. Every new way he thought of joining in just made more things I had to warn him about. Layers of no. He got frustrated and said he couldn't do anything anymore." She paused. "So, yeah, layers of different rules. We would just need to make sure we didn't have any that overlap—"

"Otherwise we might be damned if we do or damned if we don't," Tanya finished.

"Exactly," Ishita said, smiling.

Ishita looked up, and for the first time, Tanya saw the old Ishita in her features. Her smile was so tight and lopsided, and her skin so stretched and ashen, but her eyes were still the same. Why did that make it worse?

Tanya realised she should mask her expression too late, and Ishita lowered her head, hair falling across her face.

You fuckin' idiot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"It's okay. I know it's a lot to get used to."

"Fuck," Tanya breathed, dropping her head in her hands.

Ishita laughed hollowly. "Not the meeting you were expecting?"

"Not at all—I mean—I don't know what I was expecting."

"Me neither," Ishita replied. "Could have gone worse, though."

Tanya looked up. "You think?"

"Well, you haven't asked me to give you the food, so you can leave still. It's a real good get out of jail free card to have in your back pocket, considering I can't say no and all."

Tanya couldn't help it. It started as a hiss and then became loud squawking laughter.

Then, Ishita was laughing at Tanya's laugh, and Tanya was laughing that Ishita was laughing and—

Maybe it'll be okay.

Tanya didn't stay much longer; they just exchanged a few more pleasantries about Fahad's drawings and how good the food smelled.

"Next time Mrs Eceer is on ward duty, you should ask to cover for her, picking up the food, I mean," Ishita said by the door. Tanya looked over her shoulder, pausing before she turned to go down the stairs to the street.

"You could come now if you want, to eat with us?" Tanya ventured.

Ishita shook her head. "Thanks so much for the offer, but I—"

"No worries," Tanya said.

The wind whistled through the gaps beneath the creaky front door.

"It was nice to see you," Ishita said.

Tanya searched her face for how honest that was, but found no sign.

"You too," Tanya replied.

Ishita shut the door with one last smile. Tanya stayed there a moment, staring at the wood grain, her arms full of cooling Tupperware. Then she exhaled and started down the stairs—each step lighter than the last, even in its complicatedness.

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