Green Canyon Magic - Ch.6 - Finishing Touches (Patreon)

I was still in Stef's arms when I finally drifted awake, but I was momentarily disoriented when I opened my eyes. It was much darker than it should have been, there were some strange noises coming from off to one side, and there was no sky or trees above me.

My ears twitched around to try and identify the sounds while I raised my head up to get a better view of our surroundings. That's all it took for me to realize we were inside our cave, laying atop our sleeping bags on the raised stone bed I'd created. We even had Theo curled up on the bed at our feet. And the noise was rain pouring down outside. 

From the look of it a storm had rolled in while I was asleep, which explained why it was so dark out. Fortunately all our gear was back in the cave with us, so everything was safe and dry. 

"Welcome back my little star," Stef whispered as I lowered my head back down. "I've been worried about you. I think you overdid it with the magic."

I grimaced, "I'm sorry cutie. How long was I asleep?"

"It's been about three or four hours," my enbyfriend replied. "The weather turned about an hour after you fell asleep. Now tell me little star, how are you feeling? Are you ok?"

After a second or two I nodded, "I think I'm ok. I'm hungry though, and thirsty."

They smiled, "Then let's make something to eat. It's probably almost time for dinner anyways."

We both got up and started setting up our camping stove on the floor near the entrance where it wasn't so dark and there was slightly better ventilation. It was easier now that the cave floor was smooth and flat, but I couldn't help looking around at my earlier handiwork and thinking of all the ways I could still improve it.

"Where should we put the fire-place?" I asked as I continued to look around. "And I could add a table next to the bed. Or on the opposite side, with a bench next to it so we have a comfortable place to sit."

Stef gave me a look as they responded, "Or you could get some more rest, a proper meal and something to drink. Let's make sure you've fully recovered first ok? Instead of rushing to overdo things again."

"Ok cutie," I pouted as I sat on the floor next to them.

Sitting next to the short 'hallway' that connected our cave to the entrance meant we both had a good view outside, and the rain was really coming down. I ended up just staring at that while Stef worked on our meal. They kept a pot over the stove until the water was boiling, then the pot came off and the kettle went on.

"What are we having?" I finally asked.

"Stew," they replied as they added the dehydrated food mix to the water. "And tea. And some bread if you like? Or we can toast it."

That was enough to get my stomach grumbling, and I smiled "Sounds perfect!"

I got our dishes ready and pulled out a couple slices of bread, so it was all ready to go when my enbyfriend had the stew done. It took another couple minutes, but soon enough dinner was served. Stef and I each had a bowl of stew and a slice of bread, plus we set out a bit more stew for our feline friend.

We ended up moving back to our bed to eat, since it was more comfortable sitting there on the sleeping bags than it was on the floor. The meal wasn't anything special, but I was hungry enough to enjoy it. And every meal was great when Stef and I got to share it together.

"Has the rain been coming down like that the whole time?" I finally asked as I looked towards the cave entrance.

They nodded, "Pretty much."

I grimaced, "I'm glad we aren't out in that. I'm so glad Theo found us this cave last night."

"You're welcome," the wildcat responded as he looked up from his little serving of stew. "Thank you both for saving me from the water last night, and for the food today."

Stef smiled at him, "Of course Theo! I couldn't leave you stranded in the flood!"

Then they looked to me and added, "He thanked us for saving him last night."

"Yeah," I nodded. "And for sharing our food with him."

Then I addressed the cat, "You're welcome for that too Theo, we're happy to share what we have with you."

My catkin enbyfriend turned and looked at me with their head cocked to one side. "I thought you couldn't understand him? You said this morning you couldn't even hear him when he talked to me."

"Yeah you're right," I frowned. "I can hear him clearly now. And I'm sure I heard him talking earlier today?"

After a moment's thought I added, "It was after we escaped from the lake, after you did the magic blow-dryer on us. He said we should head back to our den."

Stef and I were both frowning as we thought about that. They looked from me to Theo then back at me again. Then in a half-whisper they said, "It's the water, isn't it? We both got wet last night in the flood, then we both changed. And we both got those enhanced senses? Plus I could hear Theo but you couldn't. Then after we got dunked in the lake today we got even more magic, and now you can understand him too."

My eyes widened and I turned to look out through our cave's door again, where the rain was still coming down. I quietly suggested, "Maybe we should try and catch some of that rain somehow, so we can use that to cook and drink? Incase the lake water isn't safe."

"I don't know about that little star," my enbyfriend replied with another frown. "So far everything's worked to our favour, right? We both got wonderfully affirming bodies, and we both got magic. We wouldn't have found this cave if I couldn't understand Theo last night. And your magic has turned it from a rough uncomfortable emergency shelter into a cosy place to stay."

I couldn't argue with that, despite a few scares things had definitely worked out well for us so far. And it seemed like our luck remained good, as the rain finally let up by the time the three of us finished dinner. 

It was still wet and muddy outside, and lots of droplets continued to come down off the trees though, so we decided to leave the washing-up until later. It wasn't that far to get to the shore of the lake for cleaning things, but it would be a wet messy trip there and back.

Instead I decided I was ready to start working on our cave upgrades again, since I felt much better. The meal helped a lot, so did my long nap. 

So I suggested, "Why don't I start on the finishing touches to our new vacation home? Like I said earlier, I was thinking of adding a table and somewhere to sit. And I like your idea of a fireplace and chimney, so we can cook without worrying about smoke from a fire or fumes from the camp stove."

"Are you sure you're up for more magic?" they asked in a worried tone. 

"Positive," I replied. "I feel fine now, and I'll be careful next time not to over-do it."

Stef smiled, "All right my little star, here's what I was thinking."

"Do you think you could put the fireplace into the wall right about here?" they asked as they got up off the bed and moved to the opposite wall. 

They also moved closer to the back of the cave, and gestured with their hands to depict an area a little over half a meter wide and the same again in height, positioned about as high up off the floor as our bed. At the same time their tail was twitching back and forth with obvious excitement while they explained their ideas.

As they indicated the size and location they continued, "Maybe the same size deep too, basically a cube-shaped space fifty or sixty centimeters in each direction? The ceiling would taper upwards to the chimney, which would be about fifteen or twenty centimeters diameter, and go straight up until it reached open air above us."

Then they moved over to the wall opposite the fireplace location, and pointed upwards, "A ventilation shaft should go here, upwards at a bit of an angle so emerges well away from the chimney. About the same size, fifteen or twenty centimeters diameter."

"Then finally," they said as they went over to the wall next to the entrance, "Another ventilation shaft here, just next to the doorway, that would come out about a meter above and to the side of the entrance. So if we manage to come up with a door and a way to close it, there's still places for fresh air to come through."

I watched and listened as they explained everything. I also got up off the bed and moved to where they wanted the fireplace, then put my hand on the stone wall so I could feel the rock there, and the path upwards to where it would emerge near the top of the hill.

After a minute or two Stef asked, "What do you think? Can you do it?"

"I think so," I nodded as my tail slowly swished around behind me. "I don't know anything about fireplace and chimney design though? Are you sure this will actually work? It's about five meters straight up to the surface from here Fifteen to twenty centimeters diameter seems small compared to the length? And you know how it was raining earlier, won't rain just come straight down and put out the fire?"

Stef blushed but smiled as they admitted, "While you slept earlier I was thinking about these things, and sort of did some models in the air with my magic? If we build an actual fire, once the chimney starts to heat the air inside will rise on it's own. That will draw fresh air in to feed the fire, the air in the chimney will get hotter and rise faster, and it becomes self-sustaining."

"Our little camp stove won't work quite the same," they added with a grimace. "But I can use my magic to encourage the air to go up so the fumes are vented up and out. Also, if there's any wind or breeze going past the top of the chimney that should cause a natural draw as well."

I nodded slowly, "Ok. What about keeping the rain out?"

The adorable cat-kin made a little face, "That's a bit tougher. They put metal hats ontop of chimneys, but I'm not sure if we can make something like that out of what materials we have available here. I don't know if wood would last? We definitely don't want to start a forest fire ontop of our cottage cave."

"Agreed," I stated with a frown. 

I still had my hand on the stone wall, so I closed my eyes as I focused on the rock and imagined what my enbyfriend had described. All that stone I'd be removing had to go somewhere, and it wasn't long before I realized I could push it all up and out, then shape it into a sort of natural chimney above the ground. I could even disguise it like a rocky outcropping or something, and perhaps even have a stone lid over the top with vents on the sides, to keep rain and other forest debris from falling straight down into our fireplace.

"Ok I think I can do this right now," I finally announced. "I might even have a solution to keep the rain out."

Stef asked, "You're sure you won't tire yourself out again? I don't want you hurting yourself love."

I smiled, "I'll be fine, I promise. And I'm not going to do everything all at once, I'll do things one at a time. So if I start to feel tired again I'll stop."

"All right then," they replied with an excited grin, while the tip of their tail twitched around happily. 

I turned to face the wall then closed my eyes as I placed both hands on the smooth stone surface. There was still an initial struggle, but that seemed to go by much quicker this time. It was only a minute or two before I had the stone starting to flow and move. 

The shape of a fireplace slowly sank into the wall where Stef had indicated, as the rock ran upwards into the chimney space which formed simultaneously. And five meters above, a hole appeared in the wet ground then extruded rock grew up out of it as it started to take on a natural-looking shape, like a boulder or natural outcropping. It formed an over-all rounded shape, but with over a half-dozen holes in the sides which connected to the central shaft, that was in turn the top of our chimney.

In all the whole process probably took no more than ten or twelve minutes to complete. Then I opened my eyes and smiled as I surveyed my handiwork.

"It looks amazing!" Stef exclaimed as they moved to my side and pulled me into a hug. 

"Thanks," I smiled as I hugged them back while my tail wagged happily behind me.

I still felt fine so I went on to do the table and seats next. This time our cave got a little bit larger as I moved material from the walls and ceiling down to the floor then had it flow upwards into the shape of a sturdy stone table. I placed a stone bench behind it against the wall, and added some cubby-hole shelves up above that so we had places to put things. In fact I did that over our bed too, so we could store our belongings up off the floor and out of the way.

The smaller ventilation shaft next to the doorway was next, and that only took a few minutes since it was fairly easy. By that point I was finally starting to tire, and it was getting darker outside as overcast sky gave way to night.

"I think that's it for now," I said as I moved back to our bed. I sat down on the corner of our sleeping bags and added, "I'll do the last air shaft in the morning."

Stef moved to sit at my side and hugged me again, "Of course my little star. It's amazing what you've already managed to do today! From a rough natural cave to a cosy little cottage made of stone, you've done a wonderful job!"

"Thank you cutie," I smiled as I started getting undressed and ready for bed.

My adorable cat-kin enbyfriend did the same, and soon enough we were cuddled up together in our sleeping bags. Theo didn't waste any time joining us, he curled up at our feet the moment we'd stopped moving around.

I drifted off to sleep while Stef mumbled something to themself about making us a mattress tomorrow, so we didn't have to sleep directly ontop of the stone bed.

*** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Lucy who commissioned it! ***