"That was pretty magical and we didn't even need to use magic," she agrees with a laugh. She sets her own on her lap, then Valerie eases her wheelchair onto the elevator platform and presses her thumb into the button to ascend up. Much as Arielle can and would carry her up, she's got curry in her hands, so... Besides, soon dad will be able to sell this dumb thing, unless he intends on renovating or something. So may as well use it.

"Think it'll last? They seem to be hitting it off pretty marvellously, and Lakshmi isn't acting." She wanders partway up, then disembarks once it's up top.

She's got her first prototypes still sitting there, the things she was experimenting on to see if she could make this happen.

It's when she pulled her first few paychecks that she realized she could have done this for a living and pay rent, with some disability support. A little tightly, but still pay rent. Then it just got better from there as the production value went up, and the subscriber count climb. ...it's a pretty nice gig, and it's even better now that she's enjoying living.

For now, she sets her bowl down on the desk, scooping up a few mouthfuls. Mmh. "Yeah, I think so too. I guess we'll keep an eye on it. It's good to see him laugh like that, though."

She leans her head into Arielle's fingers, pleased. "I do try. But you give me too much credit. I'd have been a wreck without you to help me through it at every turn.

"We complete one another, Ari. That's our greatest strength as sisters." She waggles her fork at her.

She wheels over to her and pulls her into a hug. "You're here for me, I'm there for you. That's how it works, that's how it'll always work. Even when we ascend and become angels of the Aether or whatever, or hop the broken stairs of the exarchs, or whatever we choose to do... I'll be there for you, you'll be there for me. That's lesson one."

She smiles up at her. "That's what I like to hear, Ari." She slips back to her food. "And I dunno... it's going to be weird, though, I can tell. I'm half expecting a looping hallway with two rooms or something."

Watching her sister return to a more normal state helps Valerie's own anxiety. Obviously there's a wellspring of strength inside Arielle or she wouldn't have leveraged her physical strength to improve herself, or to help Valerie, or plenty of other things that made Ari Ari. She just needs to figure out how to tap more of it on her own, apparently...

For now, though, she contents herself with sharing the dinner with her, until Lakshmi comes in to give her report. "That's good! That's both good." She grins. "I'm glad you'll be seeing him again. Though Awaken him, huh... That's not super simple or else we'd have a whole lot more of humanity as mages. ...it also means he'll start to notice what we are eventually. That'll be a fun chat of revelations."

"Alright. We'll find an opportunity to break it to him. ...Maybe the day after tomorrow," she reasons. "When we inevitably have new information about mom and ourselves from the astral. Will seem like as good a time as any. ...also I'll have a doctor's note about my spine then too, so it'll be a double whammy of magic and miracles."

She shows Lakshmi how she can raise her legs up on her own power. "I even walked with Ikenga's help! Like a newborn fawn, but walked."

She leans over to put her head on Arielle's shoulder. "It's like I've been telling her. She's stronger than she gives herself credit for. She just needs to stop forgetting it's there."

"Yeah, I'm looking forwards to it. ...and also not." She squeezes Arielle's bicep to prove her point. This'll be a fresh level of hell, but damn it, it has to happen.

"Sounds good. Thank you, Lakshmi. I'll see you then." Note to self, donate cushions for the Free Council Assembly's demesne room.

Valerie cranes to listen, and a big smile comes to her lips. "It's really nice to hear him like that," she asides to her sister.

"Makes me think even the anxious things'll be alright, you know?"

"Can finish this video," she motions at the laptop. "Then I think I'll be good to turn in a little early. I want to get back home early tomorrow to chat up Ashlyn and make her a welcome back breakfast, and we'll need our mental strength for the astral, too, I imagine."

"It is," she agrees. "And we will," she then promises. "Together." Val checks hers too, though not quite as neurotically, for Grease (or even Rachelle, who might contact her for guidance? Probably not, much as she'd like to help them get back together.)

Then, in the night, Arielle's voice is answered with a "Come here, sis." Independence and self-love doesn't come inside of a few hours, after all, and she needs the comfort.

Val can provide that much.

She has hips! She has a butt, and a crotch, and thighs! It's no longer just dead weight, it's not even just a series of tingling toes!

Also her jeans are too tight! Why did she never notice this?? Well, if she's going to have functional legs, it'll be high time to cover them up in new outfits anyway so people can see them. ...maybe. She's still kind of self-conscious, but at least the people who matter and she doesn't mind seeing can go 'ooh' and 'aah' as she struts, in a few weeks.

Valerie covers her mouth to hold off a snicker at Ashlyn's reaction. "You don't have to tame your bedhair and pajamas on my account," she informs her through the door. Though when she emerges, Valerie is colored impress. "Though wow, you clean up really well!" She grins at her. Ash's got a fashion sense, clearly, that she couldn't express when she didn't have her own wardrobe.

"I was thinking of making you a welcome back breakfast, if you're still hungry." She glances at the cereal. "I can make it light, though."

"Oh, jeez. I'm sorry!" She hugs her tightly. "That sounds terrible. In that case, I'll whip us up something big and filling, promise. I can make pancakes, and I've got sausage and biscuits. Maybe with some scrambled eggs," she reasons, wheeling out into the kitchen to start grabbing stuff out of her fridge. ...jeez, she's got a lot of accessibility stuff in her kitchen that she won't need soon.

Got it! Mwah. she texts him back when she has a second.

"She's got a good point." She calls in from the kitchen. "We'll ask someone to help you come with us. I'm not finding any reason to object, honestly, and she wants to help, so, it works for me."

Soon, Val is wheeling out with a bunch of plates, putting up a little buffet for them to eat up at. "But you'll need your strength so you can concentrate, so... eat up!" she adds, cheerful.