Gisela wondered how people had picnics without witches.
Cynthia, Naomi, and Nick, between them, were holding a shield over the picnic table to keep ants and bees from being drawn to the lavish selection of munchie-foods Kevin and Lori had made—everything from fresh fruit and vegetables through cold meat and devilled eggs to cookies and tarts. The witches had also talked a couple of barn swallows into hanging around to take care of any biting flies and the mosquitoes that would soon start to show up as the sun dipped lower; there were bats living in a bat house that could be coaxed into taking over after dark.
Okay, so bugs have their place, ‘specially the bees and ants because they're helping with the yard, but having a picnic with them? That'd be annoying.
The sun was pleasantly warm without being too hot, and the ground was dry enough that they could all simply lounge on the grass. Not far away, the fountain they'd had to pay a plumber to fix played cheerfully, glittering in the sunlight; all the other improvements on the yard, she and Deanna and Liam and the three witches had done. Beds of plants with bright flowers and pleasant scents would continue to bloom in sequence right through until fall—Naomi, who grew houseplants and spices to sell, was especially good at that, except with the colours, obviously—and vivid little green hummingbirds flitted around them right along with the heavy bumblebees and graceful butterflies. The rock garden was well on the way to being repaired, though she couldn't see that from here. It would take them years to do everything they'd thought of, but for the moment, they'd made a satisfying beginning.
“I would not, for anything, be a wolf,” Nick said idly; sprawled on his back with an arm over his eyes, Gisela thought he looked like a contented cat. “Off running around and introducing Jess to the other packs is not my idea of fun, when I can be right here.”
Sonja giggled, and fed him a green grape before eating one herself. “Lazy.”
“He has a point,” Flynn said. “Between lying in the sun with the elvenmage idea of a light snack and friends to whom you have nothing to prove, or running all over Haven and having to worry about who's alpha and who's got more status than whom and all the rest of that junk, I'll take being right here any day.”
“We'd be in an awful lot of trouble without them,” Deanna pointed out, just a bit sleepily, leaning back against Cynthia's raised knees while the witch braided and unbraided her dark hair just for the sake of playing with it.
“Nobody said anything about not appreciating them,” Naomi said, and gave Gwyn another bite of mock chicken. “Just being glad not to be them. I don't understand how they can put up with it, either.”
“Within one pack, it isn't so bad,” Sam said. Alfari sniffed at her plate, and helped herself to a slice of ham, dragging it off onto the grass. Sam just sighed indulgently, and glanced at the bowl of water that had been left in the shade of the table for Alfari and Gwyn, probably making sure it was still reasonably full. “It's only with so many all in the same place that it gets crazy. Packs become groups of friends instead of family units, and family members are in different packs. All the really complicated stuff keeps them from fighting every time they come within scent range of each other.”
“We all know they have to do all that, and why,” Flynn said. “And unfortunately, no one has come up yet with a better alternative. If there are lots of elves and dryads and gifted humans together, there are going to be lots of wolves, too.”
“We certainly hope so,” Kevin muttered, as he got comfortable again near Lori with another plate of food for them both to nibble on.
“Spread the elves and dryads and gifted humans out enough to give the wolves lots of space, and what do you get? No Haven, no college, just a lot of hiding from the neighbours and isolation from others who can understand.”
“Without the college, finding a coven would be almost impossible,” Nick said. “You'd get small groups with minimal contact.” He'd come here to the college from Ravenrock in British Columbia on the west coast, Sonja had come from Falias in Newfoundland on the east coast, and Evaline and Liam were both native to Haven; Bryan and Lori were from Haven, but Naomi had come here from Endor. Gisela could definitely see his point. Sundark was the closest she could think of to a coven all from a single village, but Flynn had come from outside the villages, and Cynthia had lived here with family only since high school: her parents had an extraordinary chance at working in renewable energy research but taking their witch daughter to live in a Toronto suburb would have made her sick and miserable. Of course, her highly perceptive parents being in Scarborough worked out just as well for Flynn and his mother...
“We need the villages and the college,” Lori seconded. “Even the covens that live on their own in other places keep at least loosely in contact, and a lot of that is through the villages being the core of the whole network. It'd be nice if it weren't so hard on the wolves...”
“But they've adapted,” Sam said. “That's the whole point of all the elaborate rules about social status and behaviour. Most wolves have no trouble with that. Adult wolves spend the majority of their time with pack and coven, encounter each other mostly on neutral ground, have clear rules on how to handle those encounters, and everything is fine. No particular stress. It's just the odd anomaly... 'Fari, leave me some, would you?... the odd anomaly who can't make that adjustment, and then you get all the stress and irrational antisocial behaviour and such.”
Gisela saw Kevin and Deanna both wince.
“I am still,” Nick said, “glad I'm not a wolf.”
“I suspect the wolves are glad they aren't anything else,” Liam said quietly; he was sitting as still as only a dryad could, watching a small pale yellow butterfly that had landed on his arm. “I've heard Eva say things a few too many times along the lines of, I wish you could come run with us, it's too bad you can't. While we're all lying here being glad we're here instead of there, they're probably feeling sorry for us for exactly the same reason.”
It was an interesting thought; Gisela considered it seriously.
“Point,” Lori conceded. “To us, it looks complicated and restrictive, but last time I said something about it to Bryan, he shrugged and said, That's just how things are. Okay, so Bryan's the world's most easygoing wolf, but I've never heard him complain. And he has made comments like Eva's.”
“Diversity is a wonderful thing,” Flynn laughed.
“Jess didn't grow up with all this, though,” Sonja said. “Is he going to be okay with it?”
“Not right away, but give it some time. He's learned to deal with everything else.”
“Besides,” Kevin said, “you obviously haven't actually seen Jess come home from a run. He's bouncier than Cait, and happier than I've ever seen him. That'll help a lot. I wouldn't worry about it. The others will make sure he learns what he needs to.”
“And hopefully they'll finish up the grand procession eventually and remember that there's still a party here,” Deanna said.
“Miss a party?” Nick laughed. “Not likely. They'll be back. And by then, the dryads'll be well-rested, the elves'll be well-fed, and we'll all be ready to party all night.”
“They won't take a chance on missing out on the food, either,” Cynthia said. “Not if I know our wolves.”
The conversation meandered aimlessly, comfortably, and shortly before the sun vanished below the horizon, Flynn said, “Here they come.”
Those who were dozing—Gisela among them— roused themselves and stretched, and Kevin got up to check how much food was left.
“Watch it, they're...” Flynn began.
Five large bodies poured in through the gate at high speed, eliciting various yelps and a lot of ducking as the wolves variously dodged around or jumped over obstacles, people included. Jess cleared Nick and Sonja easily, and skidded to a stop next to Gisela, panting, but with his ears forward and his tail waving.
“Don't do that,” Lori scolded. Bryan just gave her a wolf grin and ran his tongue up her cheek in a sloppy kiss before collapsing beside her, sides heaving. Lori made a square of magesilk out of sunlight and wiped her face with it, then whapped Bryan with it before letting it dissolve. “Don't do that either.”
“Who won?” Naomi asked.
The chocolate-furred heap next to Cynthia and Deanna changed. “Not sure,” Bane laughed breathlessly. “But I think it was Eva or Jess.”
Evaline changed, too. “Less mass to move,” she giggled. “By the time you guys get into motion, we're long gone.”
“If the two of you hadn't been zigzagging all over the place, Bryan and I would probably have run right over you.”
“I almost did,” Caitryn said, and paused to scoop another handful of water from the fountain.
Gisela laughed, and rubbed Jess behind his ears. “Good one, Jess.”
“That little brat there,” Bryan said, “is going to lose that pretty black tail next time he gets it in my face like that.” He didn't sound any more serious than the other wolves did.
“Only if I don't bite it first,” Caitryn retorted.
“No biting the wolf-cub,” Evaline said sternly, and actually managed to hold the expression for a couple of seconds before starting to giggle again.
Gisela picked up sudden shyness from the wolf under her hand.
“Change,” she said softly. “It's easier to talk and stuff.” She moved her hand, so it was only resting reassuringly on his shoulder.
Jess' ears went halfway back, briefly, and he looked down, then he shifted to human. The shyness didn't go away, though; he stayed near her, and quiet, though she could feel the joy singing inside him. She smiled, let her hand fall so she could close it around his and squeeze.
“Now that we've got the rest of the gang here and all in a useful shape,” Kevin said, “let's get on with this party, shall we?”