Aka Amy

"Hi sis! Hi Alex! Come on in!" I smiled as I greeted them.

Both Hailey and her beau gave me a hug as they stepped past me into the apartment, then they went on to exchange hugs and greetings with Tess as well.

"Before I start offering drinks, did you ride-share or drive?" I asked our guests.

My sister shook her head, "We used a ride share, so we're both good for a few drinks. And I'll have a beer if you've got some?"

"Same," Alex added.

"Two beers coming up," I smiled. "Tess? I assume wine for you?"

My girlfriend nodded, "Of course."

While I was in the kitchen pouring the drinks the others decided the weather was finally nice enough to take advantage of our balcony. Alex and Hailey went out first to get comfortable, and Tess helped me carry out the drinks.

Soon enough all four of us were seated on the plastic chairs we had out there. The view was ok, we were facing south-west, overlooking the older part of town which had lots of little parks and trees so it wasn't all just buildings.

"So how are things?" my sister asked Tess and I. "How's college? Are you two ready for the final crunch?"

Tess grimaced, "I don't know about ready, but I'm definitely feeling it. Last four weeks till graduation, there's a lot going on."

"Same," Hailey agreed. "The past month has been rough, and I expect the next couple weeks to be just as bad. The long weekend in the middle's a nice break though."

Meanwhile I had a sip of wine then shrugged, "It's not as bad for me yet, but maybe next week I'll start feeling it?"

"I'm with Amy," Alex added after a sip of their beer. "There's the usual tension leading up to exams, but nothing too rough yet. Then again she and I both have another year ahead of us, which I'm sure makes a big difference."

Tess and Hailey both nodded and my sister commented, "This time next year I bet you two will both be feeling the crunch."

I decided to try and move the conversation away from the stressful stuff, "Looking past the school stuff, do you two have any plans for the summer?"

Unfortunately that only seemed to lead to a different kind of stress, for my sister at least. Hailey grimaced, "After I've graduated I'll be looking for a job. I've got my eyes on a few places, but no idea if I'll land something that works. I'm hoping I won't have to relocate, but I'm also hoping I don't have some huge commute."

"What sort of work are you hoping for?" Tess asked her. "Or what places are you hoping to get into?"

Hailey had a gulp of her beer then shrugged, "Some sort of research lab would be ideal. There's some opportunities in the private sector, like pharmaceutical companies are always working on new drugs or treatments. Or there's other industrial applications with nothing to do with medical research. And there's some public sector openings as well, the government has a few research labs."

"How about you Alex?" I asked the enby. "Are you looking for work over the summer?"

They shook their head, "Not looking, I've already got something lined up. It's nothing to do with my studies though, just a boring summer gig to keep me busy and earn some money."

"What about you two?" Hailey asked me and Tess. "Are you both working? Or do you have other plans?"

My girlfriend responded, "I've been working part-time at a clinic for a little over a year now? Some of that was for my co-op work, but it's also been a bit of income and helped me build a relationship with Beverly, she's my supervisor and she owns the place? Anyways after graduation I'll be working there full-time, so I've already got that lined up. Which is nice, it's one less thing to stress about before graduation."

Hailey and Alex both looked to me, so I smiled and shrugged "I guess I'll be putting a little more time into my goddessing gig? I've actually been focusing more on that over the past couple weeks. Maybe I'll even go full-time over the summer?"

My sister rolled her eyes but she was smiling too as she asked, "And how's that going? Is the goddessing keeping you busy?"

"Yeah! There's been a lot going on lately," I grinned.

Alex changed the subject slightly as they asked, "So you've both got work lined up already, same as me. Are you taking any time off for yourselves?"

Tess and I exchanged a look, then the tall beautiful redhead nodded. "Me and Amy were just talking about that last night in fact. I've got two whole weeks clear, between the last day of college and my first day at work. We're thinking about going over to visit Ireland and Wales? My granny grew up in a little village in County Wexford before she moved to Canada, and I'd love to go and see where she's from. And Amy tells me the Price family is originally from Wales, so we were looking at spending the second half of our trip there. After we've checked out my heritage in Ireland, we'll learn about hers in Wales."

"Wow," Hailey commented. "Is this just idle thoughts or have you two already started booking flights and hotels and things?"

I smiled, "We haven't booked anything. We've been looking at the different options though, and trying to come up with an itinerary? We're looking at nine or ten days over there, we'd start in Dublin and probably rent a car so we could tour around and see the sights. Then maybe take a ferry across to Wales, and continue the sightseeing there. We'd probably end up in Cardiff, and return home from there."

"And the reason we haven't booked a flight yet," I added with a sly grin, "Because I'm trying to convince Tess to let me teleport the two of us instead. It's quicker and easier, not to mention cheaper. And no messing around with airports and customs and all that stuff. She's a little reluctant to give it a try though."

My sister stared at me as she half-demanded, "No shit?! Can you really teleport? And you can go that far?"

"Yeah," I replied as I tried not to look too smug. I had a sip of wine then added, "Just last week I popped over to Manchester in England, to see a friend."

Hailey continued staring at me for a couple more seconds before turning her attention back to my girlfriend. "Why in the world would you want to put up with the ultimate hassle of dealing with airports and planes, when your girlfriend's offering to take you there instantly with her magic?"

Tess grimaced, "I don't know? The idea of teleporting bothers me for some reason."

"Is it because of the 'transporter problem'?" Alex asked. "I could see that being an issue for some people."

My sister looked confused, "What's the transporter problem?"

That led to our resident physicist spending the next ten or twelve minutes talking about all the ethical, philosophical, technical, and even spiritual debates people got into over the use of hypothetical sci-fi transporter technology.

It was clear the enby had some thoughts and feelings on the subject, they seemed pretty enthusiastic as they explained the problem and the background in detail. While they were talking the rest of us just listened and enjoyed our drinks. It was kind of interesting too, like I'd been aware of the concept but I definitely hadn't put anywhere near as much thought into it as they seemed to.

Eventually they finished up with a swig of beer before adding, "Mind you all that is specifically about transporter technology. Whether that compares to Amy's magical teleportation is the sort of thing people would probably debate just as endlessly. At least unless we could measure and evaluate how her magic works."

We were all quiet for a few more seconds afterwards, and from the look of it both Tess and Hailey were maybe processing the stuff Alex told them.

"So what's your take on it?" my sister finally asked. "If you were going on a long trip would you choose a plane and all the hassles of airports and customs and tiny seats and all that, or would you teleport if you had the chance?"

Alex drained the last of their beer then smiled, "If we're talking about a man-made device like a sci-fi transporter? Then nope, airplane and hassles all the way. If we're talking about an actual living Goddess teleporting me with her magic? Then yeah, I think I'd trust that."

"Why?" Tess asked them. "You've obviously put a lot of thought into this. And knowing you're a scientist, studying physics, I'm really curious why you'd be ok with something as vague and unmeasurable as magic as opposed to something you can understand and evaluate, like technology."

They flashed a wry smile, "The short answer is, I have more faith in the abilities of a Goddess than I do in the works of man. After all, Gods are supposed to be infallible right?"

Hailey grinned, "Did you just say you have faith in my sister? Next you'll be putting out your own plate of sacrificial cookies and icewine next to mine on the full moons and Amy's holidays."

The enby rolled their eyes, they were smiling though.

"So you'd let Amy teleport you?" Tess asked Alex.

They nodded, "Yes, if I needed to go somewhere and that was the most convenient option. And if I was in your place Tess, I'd absolutely teleport with Amy to Ireland or the UK."

"Easy for you to say that since we're not invited," Hailey told her beau.

They frowned at my sister and asked, "Wouldn't you?"

After a moment their frown deepened as Alex looked back and forth between Tess and Hailey. "Surely you two trust Amy's magic right? You both got her to use it to transform your bodies. It seems a funny distinction to be ok with having her permanently alter your corporeal forms, but not be ok with letting her transport that same body from one place to another."

"It's all hypothetical for you and me anyways," my sister pointed out, "Since we're not going. And maybe we shouldn't be taking sides on this Alex? It's up to Tess whether she wants to do that or not."

They nodded, "Of course. Sorry Tess, I hope that didn't come across as me trying to pressure you. I was just trying to answer the question, and share my reasoning. Like I said, if I were going on that trip, I'd accept Amy's offer."

"Now it sounds like you're trying to swing us an invitation," Hailey teased. She grinned as she asked me and Tess, "When are you going? Last two weeks of June?"

My girlfriend replied, "We haven't set a firm date yet, but we were looking at about ten days, starting around the eighteenth of June. I'd like to be back before the first of July, so we can be home for the long weekend here. That'll give me a few days to get ready for work, which starts on July fourth."

"It sounds like you two are going to have a lot of fun," my sister responded.

From the look her face and the tone in her voice I got the feeling that Hailey was actually hoping for an invite herself, despite teasing Alex about that just a few seconds earlier. I didn't want to say anything without checking with my girlfriend first, so I came up with a quick diversion.

"I'm going to go and get started on dinner," I said as I got to my feet again. "Tess maybe you could get Hailey and Alex more drinks, then keep them company while I'm busy in the kitchen?"

My girlfriend stood as well, and we collected all the empty glasses then excused ourselves as we went back inside. Tess poured a couple more beers for our guests and wine for me and herself, while I started pulling ingredients out of the fridge and pantry.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked me in a hushed voice while she was pouring the drinks.

I suppressed a smile, "Should we invite them to come to Ireland with us? I'm pretty sure they both want to go."

She was quiet for a few seconds before responding, "I'll think it over and let you know. I take it you want to?"

"Sure," I nodded. "If it's ok with you that is."

Before she could respond both Alex and Hailey came in from the balcony. They came over to join us in the kitchen my sister said, "We figured we may as well bring the party inside, so you're not all alone in here slaving away over the stove sis."

"Thanks Hailey," I smiled. "That's the benefit of the open-concept place though, you can all get comfy in the living-room and I'm still part of the conversation."

Alex asked, "What are we having? Anything I can do to help?"

I shook my head, "Thanks for the offer but I've got it. I'm doing a pork and shrimp stir fry, served over some noodles."

"What about appetizers?" Hailey teased. "I could go for some egg rolls sis. Or spring rolls?"

"You'll see," I replied as I rolled my eyes.

Rather than sit down in the living-room they all ended up standing around just outside the kitchen area, leaning against the island counter as we all talked. I almost wondered if Hailey wanted to keep an eye on me to try and catch me cheating with magic as I made dinner, but the joke was on her since my magic could be subtle and unseen.

So nobody noticed where the wonton skins came from, or the filling. They all saw me assembling a dozen of them though, then I went on to pan-fry them before serving them with some dipping sauce.

"Here you go folks," I grinned as I set down the plate in front of everyone. "You wanted an appetizer Hailey, I hope this will do?"

My sister's eyebrows shot up, "Wow! I'm impressed Amy!"

I stayed with them for a few minutes and munched on a fried wonton while I sipped my wine, before returning to the stove. With all the prep finished it actually didn't take too long to cook dinner, and I timed it right so the stir fry was ready at the same time as the noodles. Then we all moved back to the living-room to sit down and eat.

Hailey and Alex took the love-seat while me and Tess were on the sofa. The conversation started off with my sister and her beau complimenting me on my cooking skills, but quickly shifted back to the earlier topic of our vacation plans.

Our guests were curious about what sort of sights we were interested in seeing, both in Ireland and Wales. And Hailey wanted to know what parts of Wales I wanted to see. Tess and I answered as best we could, while I got the feeling once again that my sister was interested in joining us.

Then as we all finally finished eating Tess finally made the offer, "Hailey, Alex, would you two be interested in coming with us? Like we've said, we still don't have our itinerary ironed out, but it'll definitely be in the second half of June."

"Is that ok with you two?" Hailey asked. "And um, I guess Amy would be providing the travel arrangements?"

I grinned, "I'll teleport you over there and back home again. We'll figure out the in-between stuff later. And yeah, it's ok with me sis."

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't ok with you coming," Tess added with a smile.

The happy excited look on my sister's face made it pretty easy to guess how she felt about it. She looked at Alex and asked, "What do you think? Can we go? I want to go!"

"Yeah we can go," the enby smiled. "Eighteenth to the twenty-eighth works for me, if those are the dates we're talking about."

"Sounds good to me," I stated.

That remained the topic of conversation for the rest of the evening, with all four of us working out the details and putting together an itinerary. We all had our phones out looking up places to visit and hotels to stay while debating the various options.

We didn't get everything figured out, but we did agree on the dates. I also picked a hotel in Dublin for the first two nights, but after that a lot of the options were still up in the air.