After the recruitment meeting adjourns, Nico de Varona and Libby Rhodes share a transit route back through New York's magical travel system at Grand Central. As they walk through Manhattan, they discuss the Alexandrian Society's offer. Both have clearly already decided to accept, though Libby performs modesty about it and mentions needing to discuss it with her live-in boyfriend, Ezra Fowler. Nico needles her about Ezra and her insecurities, but ultimately encourages her, telling her she's good enough that he wouldn't bother hating her if she weren't. They part at her block with their typical antagonistic warmth.

Nico returns to his cramped apartment, where he lives with his best friend Gideon and their roommate Max. Max, who possesses the ability to shapeshift, has been napping on the sofa in the form of a black Labrador. Nico learns that Libby has already texted Gideon about the mysterious job offer, forcing Nico into a conversation he wasn't ready to have. He tells Gideon he can't reveal details yet but will be leaving for a time.

The chapter reveals extensive backstory about Gideon's nature: he is the offspring of a mermaid (finfolk) and a satyr (equidae), making him a human-appearing creature hybrid who cannot be legally registered, employed, or classified as a medeian despite possessing abilities—specifically, the power to walk through dreams. NYUMA educated him as a research curiosity, but now that he's graduated, he has no legal standing. Gideon also suffers from a condition resembling chronic narcolepsy, struggling to remain corporeally anchored in reality, and faces threats from his con-woman mother Eilif and others who want to exploit him.

Nico has secretly devoted enormous effort to protecting Gideon: erecting security wards, learning to manipulate his own molecular structure to follow Gideon into dreams in animal form, stealing an alchemical formula to help bind Gideon's physical form to reality, and even acquiring telepathic skills at great personal cost. Gideon only knows a fraction of what Nico does for him. For Nico, the Alexandrian Society represents not just personal ambition but a chance to gain power, knowledge, and resources that could help secure Gideon's safety and potentially find a cure for his condition. Nico tells Gideon to trust that the time away will be worth it, and the two settle into a comfortable evening of cooking together.