Note: This takes place in a sort of mixing of the show and comic continuities; Caleb isn't turned into a flower and the Guardians still don't have their secondary powers yet (particularly Taranee's telepathy) but the incident with Irma and Hornby has occurred and Taranee and Nigel are already together, like in the comics.

On some level, it was downright surreal how normal everything felt. After weeks of escalating battle, the Guardians of the Veil had won, and Phobos was defeated. That had been yesterday. Today, the Guardians of the Veil were gathered in Cornelia's room. The only battle on their minds was the pillow-based combat Hay Lin was inevitably sure to incite; the only alarming developments were when Napoleon the cat got into the room and began knocking things off the shelves; the only rebellion was against the notion of mushrooms on their pizza. Today was a day to relax, and the guardians were all too grateful for the opportunity. Will's mother had even allowed her to come, though whether it was out of good spirits of simply being too exhausted for yet another blazing row was unclear.

Unfortunately for one member of the group, the removal of Phobos' threat meant that the more down-to-earth issues she'd been grappling with as of late were back on the forefront of her mind, and she was no closer to finding a solution. She wasn't one to resign to helplessness, either, but here, it truly felt like there was nothing she could do but hope the problem somehow magically disappeared, even if she was well aware by now of how very real magic was.

And unfortunately, the others wouldn't stop reminding her of it, even if unintentionally. "Oh my goodness, this has got to be the eighth time tonight!" Hay Lin smiled cheekily at Will as the redhead scrambled to pick up her beeping phone.

After sending off a quick text in response, the leader made a show of crossing her arms and jutting out her chin, with a humorously exaggerated expression of distaste. "So what if I want to get back in touch with Matt? They missed me at the pet shop lately."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the only reason," Irma said, hoping her snarky grin didn't look too fake.

Will only rolled her eyes and redirected the conversation. "Say, Taranee, how's it going with Nigel?"

"You traitor!" Taranee gasped, holding one hand to her heart and stretching the other toward heaven as she fell backward dramatically. "But yeah, we're good, he invited me to a date yesterday. It felt good to accept and know I could make it without business with Meridian getting in the way."

Cornelia saw the glances in her direction, and promptly decided that discretion was the better part of valor. "As hostess, I should probably go check if the pizza has arrived yet!" She rushed out the door before anyone could stop her.

"Right, she's not having such a good time with Caleb," Hay Lin observed. An awkward silence fell.

"Well, what about you two?" Taranee finally said, waving an arm vaguely at Irma and Hay Lin. "You shouldn't be allowed to give us a hard time about our boyfriends if you don't have ones yourselves! In fact, is there anyone you're interested in?"

Irma immediately blushed. Yes, she did, but it would be a disaster if the others found out. Unfortunately, if Hay Lin's excited squeal was anything to go by, disaster had struck. Crap.

"Oh my goodness, Irma has her eye on someone!" Hay Lin was suddenly in the brunette's face, her smile approaching chershire-cat levels of scale. "Ooh, is it Martin?"

Despite her annoyance at the situation, Irma couldn't help but openly laugh in the asian girl's face. "Him? Yeah, because short, awkward, and utterly cringeworthy is totally my type." When Hay Lin's expression didn't change, Irma's fell into a scowl. "No!"

Cornelia returned, bearing the promised food. Everyone quickly dug in, but Irma's troubles were far from over, as the blonde was filled in on the new development. "Is it that Hornby boy you turned into a frog that one time?"

"Please, after what he tried to pull on me, it's safe to say I'm over him like a bridge." Irma dismissed, attempting to tamp down on her growing frustration. There had been a reason she'd transformed him in the first place, even if it hadn't been intentional on her part.

"Is it someone we even know?" Will asked, looking up from her phone. Somehow that just made it worse.

"Yes, you all know them pretty well." Irma muttered, resentment beginning to show. "Trust me, you'll never guess in a million years, I'm sure of it."

"Well, will you just tell us?" Taranee braved.

Unfortunately, her talent for sparking explosions seemed to apply here as well, as Irma rocketed to her feet. "NO! Just please stop asking! It's not like I have a chance there anyway; I know for a fact I'm not her type, and they're already taken by someone else anyway! Will you get off my case already?" With a shuddering sigh, Irma forced her rage back down and dropped back down into a sitting position, grabbing her discarded pizza and tearing into it with a vicious bite. The others stared at her with shock, and she lowered her gaze in shame.

"Oh." Hay Lin finally said, visibly deflated. "Uh, sorry."

"Oh, you're sorry, are you? Well why…" Irma stopped herself, taking a deep breath to calm the surging tides of rage within. "Listen, no, I'm sorry too. That was completely uncalled for… it's just, this has been stressing me out since before things with Phobos got serious, and now that he's gone... There's nothing I can do but wait and try to get over them. Other fish in the sea and all that. I just… don't want to think about it right now."

After another long silence, she was surprised when Will, then Cornelia, then Taranee and Hay Lin enveloped her in a firm but gentle embrace.

"Alright, alright, that's enough sappiness for one day," she finally said. "Let's just eat!" This time, though, she gave them all a broad grin, which was quickly returned - no hard feelings. The rest of the night went much better - particularly since Irma had surreptiously turned Will's phone on silent.

As they settled into their sleeping bags for the evening, Irma caught herself looking across the room at Will; a few moonbeams shone through the curtains and onto the redhead's face, and it was so perfect that Irma's hopelessness was for a moment outweighed by a stronger feeling, the one that had gotten her into this mess to begin with. Was it love? She wasn't sure. Whatever it was, it welled up inside her like a deep-sea current, filled not with icy water but with warm feelings, something beyond the usual surge that came with her magic.

It wasn't much and it made her yearn for more, but for those moments, watching the moon caress her leader - no, her friend's face with its silver light in the way she wished she could, she attained a measure of peace. What they had now wasn't what she wanted, but it was still something. And for now, it would have to be enough.