Page 11 of Stoney Gazes for Helpful Gorgons

He nods. "If you don't mind. If you do mind, then just tell me and I won't ask again."

"Okay, I mean, if you're sure, then I guess we can try. But we should do it on Friday night so you don't have lectures the next day. And it gives you time to think about it."

Hope lights up his face. "You're saying yes?"

"I am. But that's not to say I'm not nervous about it." Though if I'm honest, I'm mostly still in shock about it. I've never considered that someone might want me to try turning them into stone on purpose. It's just not the done thing, even for those who are curious about how gorgon magic works.

"I can put it in writing that I want you to do it, if that will make it easier."

"Maybe?"

He grabs his phone and types out a quick message before hitting send. "There you go."

I don't check exactly what he sent, I'm still trying to work out what's happening and why.

A waitress appears with our burgers, then disappears to get us some condiments, effectively putting a pause in the conversation while we awkwardly wait for privacy to return.

I pick up one of the chips and take a bite. "Hmm, good, but they're not as good as the chips at Dessert After Dark."

"Seriously? They're the worst chips around campus."

"I'm not sure I can trust you after a statement like that," I joke, picking up another one and biting into it. "These are fine though."

"I'll take that."

The waitress returns with the caddy of other bits and sets it down between us before leaving us blissfully alone.

"Okay, so where are we supposed to do this?" I ask. "If you do turn into stone, then you'll need to be somewhere safe. Maybe your room would be best?"

He nods and eats some of his chips while he thinks. "My room makes sense."

"And you should make sure to eat a good meal and use the bathroom first. From what I know of gorgon magic, if this goes wrong, you'll be aware the whole time and I can't imagine that's going to be fun if you've got a full bladder."

"Ah, fair point."

"And...then I guess that's it?"

"I think so. And it won't necessarily go wrong. Hopefully, it'll go right and then I'll be able to turn into a gargoyle again."

"Again? So you've had gargoyle magic in the past?"

He nods. "My whole life. Everything worked fine up until about five or six months ago. I'm not sure exactly when because I don't try and turn into a gargoyle every day. But since then, I haven't been able to change at all."

"I'm sorry, that must be really stressful."

"It isn't great," he agrees.

"Then I'm glad I can help, even if it is really weird to have someone ask me for this."

"There's a first time for everything, I guess?"

"I imagine this will be the last too."

"Depends if it works. Maybe you'll have gargoyles with magic problems lining up at your door if it does."

I snort. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"You never know." The way he smiles at me puts me a lot more at ease about the potential of turning him into stone. And if he's okay with the risks, then that's something I can respect.