Was the lack of the green thumb truly the reason Lilia had headed off into the big city? Simon had his own doubts about that. She'd always looked at things in a little different light than him, and it hadn't changed if he had to put in a guess. But it was true that her magic was more at home in such a locale. Mother had mentioned it quite a few times. So now that she was here, he suspected that she would be asked to try her magic on him. But he also had his doubts about it truly working out as intended. After all, it would not be the first time it was attempted on him. Nobody as capable as her had been at it, that much mother had made clear to him, but why else would she have called his childhood friend all the way here after these years?<br/><br/>As he'd suspected, his mother was quick on her feet when she heard that the expected guest had arrived. She had been having some sleepless nights lately so Simon did feel a little bad about waking her up, but those nights were the direct result of her awaiting an answer to her invitation. So despite her arrival meaning the end to her finally successful rest, it would hopefully also mean change that would bring sleep back to her eyes in the night. Yet as long as Simon was to stay here, she might just worry herself sick about his nighttime swims, and even now he could see her give him the side eye for only returning this late. Or early, whichever way one wanted to look at it.<br/><br/>Simon had just lit the flame under the kettle and poured water into it when he was chastised about not giving Lilia a moment of rest after her long journey. The male puffed through his snub nose, shaking his head and throwing little droplets from his hair around himself on the working surfaces and the carpet of the kitchen. He'd have said something, but Lilia was faster. She promised she'd be fine if she got a bit of tea or coffee, to which Simon responded by picking up an oven mitt and pulling it over his left hand before opening a metal box and a knife, soon whittling away at a slab of tea held in the covered hand to spare the stuff from being undried too soon. "If only we were so wealthy. Coffee costs a fortune in these parts", Simon noted with yet another chuckle, all too happy meeting Lilia to consider the look his mother gave him, talking like that about the wealth of the household. But when Lilia had last been here, she'd known it all. What harm was it? And it looked like Cassandra got this too, not glaring at her 'son' for longer than a couple seconds.<br/><br/>At least once the discussion moved on to the very subject Simon had suggested earlier, things were slowly starting to come to light, and he was spared from further nasty looks on account of his behaviour. He chose to stand nearby, leaning against the dividing wall between the little kitchen corner and the larger living space with a fireplace and a few chairs, as well as the large bed tucked away in the corner and the dining table there on the opposite end of the room from the kitchen, if on the same wall. It wasn't an opulent cabin by any means, just a single room where everything fit in and a little extension for the cooking, but it was homely. They discussed Lilia's talents again, and Simon heard the words he'd expected. She believed this would be something that she could get done with little alterations to her usual magic.<br/><br/>His mother was already looking rather happy, but Simon's smile had turned to a more contemplative expression, the oven mitt finally coming off as he tucked it into his armpit and touched his chin with the hand that had been confined within it. "Didn't we try something of the sort, mother? The other witch that came by that one time?" he asked his question, Cassandra losing a bit of her perkiness as a result but soon reconstructing the appearance that had been there just now.<br/><br/>"Oh but they were nothing as capable as Lilia is, just a small timer whose expertise was in something completely different. She's an expert, so if everything goes well we might not even need to think about what could come after it", she explained what was different this time around, now finally daring let it slip that there was something else than only these summons of his old friend planned. Which, knowing her, tended to mean that she didn't believe in the success of the primary plan enough to not plan for the next one. Simon smacked his lips, but had no need to verbalise an answer. "But dear Simon is right, it's not as simple as changing a human is. In fact, Pauline told us that she had never felt such a strange reaction from her magic when she tried…"<br/><br/>The kettle whistled now, and Simon raised a few fingers up in the air as the mark of him having heard it as well, turning to get it off the fire and pour the water into the cups. Cassandra took this time to lean closer to Lilia, lowering her voice to whisper a few more details: "I have no doubts you can see plain as day that he is not a child born to me… he comes from some strange alchemy, and-" With the whistle of the kettle cutting off, so did the whispering, Cassandra falling back to her side of the table as if nothing had happened in this brief period of time. "A little sugar for me Simon dear. And feel free to put some for yourself too. It is not every day that we have a touching reunion under this roof. Any for you, Lilia dear?"<br/><br/>Simon would bring the cups with the tea leaves floating in them to the table, sugar added according to the given specifications. A third of a spoon for mother, an entire spoonful for him, and something close to what Lilia had asked for for her. He could finally join the others at the table, sitting down by his mother's side. "If we do change my eyes, I hope it won't put pressure on them. Last time I felt like someone was tightening a band around my head", he revealed one of the more unfortunate details about the earlier attempts, earning himself a little nudge under the table. Lilia knew what she was doing!