No Time to Lose!

Noble's sleep that night was oddly peaceful.

She had been wrestling with the decision about her future home all week and had been reluctant to rest as a result. Now that things were settled, the floating Master had finally been able to relax.

That was not to say everything was taken care of. As soon as Noble awoke and made the blanket that held her down lighter, her mind was flooded with all of the preparations that would need to be made.

"Good morning." Fort felt his wife stir.

"Are we going to sell the house?" Noble sat up in the bed and rested one elbow on her knee.

"The correct response is 'Good morning to you, most handsome of husbands.' But I suppose you have never been traditional." Fort tilted up one corner of his mouth.

Noble rolled her eyes and continued with her thoughts. "We could keep the house just for me. But that seems a little wasteful. I am sure I could convince the Academy to let me take over one of the living spaces for the few times I am in town and need a place to stay. I wouldn't require much. Then we could sell the house and use the money to start over in Ravenheart…"

Fort yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Did you just really have that whole conversation without me?"

But Noble only barely seemed to hear him as she pushed back the covers.

"I'll look for our housing documents and maybe contact a realtor. The sooner we get started in the process, the sooner we can find out what we can get for the house. That will determine —"

"My love? Can you please tell me what we are determining after a shower or at least once I get a cup of coffee?" Fort groaned.

Shaking her head, Noble headed to the closet. "If you are still tired, you go ahead and rest. You don't have work for another couple of hours. You rest and I'll take care of everything."

Fort's eyes opened a little wider. 

"What do you mean by everything?" He called after her.

Clicking on her communicator, Noble exited the closet fully clothed a moment later.

"Ok, maybe not everything. Not today anyway. I will let you know how much progress I make before breakfast. Love you!"

Fort rubbed his chin in disbelief.

He had spent a week with almost complete silence from his wife and now she was like a fire hose of words.

While he preferred things to be somewhere in the middle, too much communication was better than none at all.

Stretching, Fort reluctantly placed his feet on the floor. If he didn't hurry, his wife might sell the house before he made it to the breakfast table!

By the time he quickly showered and dressed, Fort could already smell cinnamon wafting through the air.

He headed to the kitchen to find his wife tapping on a datapad while talking on her communicator. Beside her, Sarai was looking through documents of some sort.

"Sarai?" Fort blinked a few times. No, he wasn't imagining things. His wife's best friend was sitting next to her at the kitchen table. They both had cups of a steaming dark drink in front of them.

Sarai looked up from the pages and smiled at the Director. "Morning!"

"Yes, yes it is…" Fort yawned.

Noble finished her conversation on her communicator, "Yes! That sounds great! I look forward to meeting you later today."

Fort looked at the time. It was still very early. The kids would be waking up shortly.

"Who are you speaking to at this hour of the morning?" He raised one eyebrow at her.

"I told you I was going to get a realtor. He came very highly recommended and his business page said he was available twenty-four hours a day for consultation." Noble turned her communicator around and showed Fort.

The ad had a picture of a lamp on it with many prestigious recommendations.

"I used him when I selected my bakery location in the NQSC. He does both commercial and residential properties." Sarai explained.

Noble nodded, "We were lucky he had a cancellation today. He is in high demand."

"I see," Fort made a mental note to do a check on the man and his credentials. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Know? No, but we have a few questions. First, have some coffee, sweetheart."

Noble floated a hot cup of real coffee over to Fort. He took a sip.

The two ladies watched him anxiously.

"Well?" They both asked in unison.

"Well, what?" Fort wasn't sure what was required of him.

'Am I still dreaming? This coffee is too pleasant to be my first Nightmare…'

"What do you think?" Sarai tapped her fingertips together nervously. She looked at the mug in his hands.

"Of the coffee? It's delicious. Some of the best I have had." Fort was surprised by both women as they celebrated with a hug.

"See! I don't even like coffee and I thought it was good. If Fort likes it as well, then you really have a winner on your hands!" Noble's voice rose to a squeal toward the end.

"You made the coffee?" Fort furrowed his brow.

Why would Sarai be making coffee in his home?

"Noble brewed it. I just brought the ground beans from a potential new business partner. I decided last night I was going to Ravenheart after Noble wisely changed her mind. Awakened Abyss reached out only a short time later."

Sarai tapped her chin.

"I was skeptical, but he seems legitimate. And his coffee, well, you can see the results. That and my baked goods can be a winning combination."

Noble's eyes opened a little wider. "Your bread! I was only supposed to warm it up!"

The oven opened on its own and a pan of cinnamon-laden bread floated out on a tray. A knife, synthetic butter, and three plates drifted from their homes to the table.

Meanwhile, Noble gathered up her papers.

The bread was cut and distributed. Thankful it hadn't burned. Fort had to admit it was exceptionally good with the coffee.

"If this is any indication of what you plan to serve in the Dream Realm, you'll have a line out the door all day long," Fort said around a bite of food.

"I am so glad you think so!" Sarai took another sip of her drink.

Fort looked down at the table. They had made a business plan and organized the paperwork on the house before he had set foot out of his room.

It was like Lena and Julius's wedding all over again. No sooner had Noble accepted that the two were getting married than she was out dress shopping and looking for musical talent. Of course, Fort had come through on the latter part. He was very proud of that accomplishment.

But still…

"You know we have a couple of months at least until we are leaving." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We can take our time."

Noble looked at him sharply. "You have it all wrong. We only have a couple of months until we are leaving! There is no time to lose!"