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What is this?Why am I feeling this?What if someone found out?Is this bad?Am I broken?Am I broken?Am I broken?These thoughts had been floating around Fitz’s mind for the past five months. Something about that smile made Fitz want to melt into a puddle. The Team Valiant member that just wouldn’t leave his mind. But why? It wasn’t right. How come everyone got what they wanted but him? Sophie is in love with Keefe, and he's planning on asking her out next week. Tam fell for his sister and Biana obviously likes him back. Lihn and Wylie are already together and are practically inseparable. And Maruca and Marella were both obviously fawning over a level five. But Fitz?He was falling.Falling hard.Falling for those periwinkle eyes that shone with mischief.Falling for that strawberry blonde hair with thin white streaks.Falling for that brute honesty that could never be stomped out.Falling for that dimpled smile that framed that beautiful laugh.Falling.Falling.Falling for the one and only, Dexter Alvin Dizznee. The only Foxfire Prodigy that had manifested as a technopath. The child of a bad match and the older brother of triplets. The boy who had almost killed Fitz multiple times. But he would die for that small, freckled boy if it came down to it.Fitz felt like he was falling into a deep pit of despair. His mind was messed up and confused. What if he didn’t like Fitz back? The most famous Vacker child was tired of not knowing whether or not the oldest Dizznee child liked him back. But Fitz felt like too much of a coward to do anything about it. All his feelings would be crushed if Dex didn’t feel the same.“Why?” Fitz asked. He was lying on the floor of his bedroom, curled into a ball and surrounded by scraps of paper. His bed was too soft and the sinking feeling started haunting him. It felt like an oven in his room because of all the stress, so he had discarded his shirt a while ago. He tried to manage his anger by writing down all his feelings as Elwin said. But all he had written down on the hundreds of papers were “Dex”, “Love”, “Falling”, and “Hurt”, so he had given that up a long time ago.“Why?” He repeated. This felt so wrong. He was a Vacker, he needed the perfect wife who could help carry the legacy. Even though he knew his parents wouldn’t mind Dex in the family, he knew that his older relatives would probably never talk to him again.Fitz finally got up off the floor, stretching his stiff limbs. He decided to try Elwin's anger management activity again, this time, writing down how his family would feel about it. Fallon probably wouldn’t even know until the wedding. Luzia would probably never talk to him again in his life. Orem probably wouldn’t care. He kept going on and on throughout the night, writing and writing until his hands started cramping. After he wrote down all the family members he could think of, which was over a hundred, he shredded the papers into hundreds of illegible bits. It made him feel slightly better, knowing that he shouldn’t care about what they thought, but it wasn’t enough. He still felt empty, the void deepening every minute he pondered his relationship with Dex.There was only one person who could help.Well, two. But he decided against asking Lord Cassius. Hearing about the feeling between the head and the heart would be worse than having Keefe put ogre amoebas in his food again. He grabbed his imparter, hopped in bed, and hailed the only person that he felt could help.“Fitz?” The person asked. They sounded groggy, probably from just waking up. “What are you doing awake at this hour? Did Sophie almost kill herself again?”“No?” Fitz said, but that was a logical reason for hailing someone in the dead of night. “I need some advice. It’s about Dex.”“I don’t know anything about Technopaths,” They responded impatiently, “Ask Lady Iskra. Now go back to sleep.”“That’s not it!” He blurted, “I… I really like him. I don’t know what to do.” The person on the other side of the imparter smiled sadly.“So this is about love?” they asked, “Isn’t it?”“Yes…” He answered, “You’re the only person I could think of who could help me with this.”“Kind of. If you were anyone else, I’d recommend you hail Lord Cassius, but knowing your experience, I won’t.”“Good.”“Are you wondering if you should tell him?”“Yes.” Fitz nodded.“I can’t make that decision for you,” They responded, “But I can say that if you don’t tell him, you’ll feel crappier and crappier until you can’t take it. That same thing happened to me. I’d tell him before you lose feelings, or before they become too much to bear.”“Who was it?” Fitz asked, “The one you were falling for?”“That’s a secret I’m taking to the grave,” They answered, “I’m surprised you didn’t hail Teirgan for this problem.”“He sees Dex more often than you do,” Fitz said, “And you’re the only person I felt comfortable with this. Plus, he and Prentice faced a bunch of scorn, whether it was from the Black Swan or not.”“Ok, well I hope this helps.”“It did.”“See you in the morning. And don’t call me again tonight unless it's an emergency, this was a nice talk, but I’ve got to get to school early tomorrow.”“Ok.”“Bye Fitz.”“Bye Elwin.” His imparter went blank and Elwin disappeared. He gave Fitz the confidence he needed to finally make his decision. Fitz held up his imparter again and hailed the one he’d been so scared to talk to.“Can I ask you something?” Fitz asked once the oldest Dizznee son appeared.“Hey, Fitz!” Dex said. His voice was way too cheery for the middle of the night. His strawberry blonde hair was filled with bits of metal and wires, giving it almost a metallic sheen. His freckles were covered by a black mask that also hid his dimpled smile. A small ring was in his black-stained hands. It was beaded silver with an aquamarine stone lying next to it. The center where the stone was supposed to sit was bursting with wires and springs, probably a panic switch.“What do you need?” He asked. Fitz couldn’t help but laugh. “What?”“Did something explode?” Fitz asked, “You have shrapnel in your hair.” Dex ran a hand through his hair, smudging black in it.“Oh,” He chuckled, pulling out some wires, “I guess I do. And yes. Something did explode.”“Was it the panic switch you’re working on?” The Vacker asked. Dex’s laugh made Fitz want to melt.“No,” He said. “I was trying to make a sibling repellent with compressed liquid tar and the smell of rotten eggs, but the triplets accidentally ran into my workshop and detonated it when I took out the egg stench, so now I’m covered in compressed liquid tar.”“Can I have one?” Fitz asked jokingly, “I could throw that into Biana’s closet and let it go off.”“I think you’d die if you did that,” Dex joked, “Biana would absolutely destroy your life if you ruined her dresses.” They both laughed.“So what did you want to ask me?” The Technopath asked. Fitz froze, he was hoping that Dex had forgotten.“Well…” Fitz hesitated, debating whether he should lie or tell the truth, “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime? I know I’ve been a bit busy lately with Cognate training and stuff.”“Why are you asking me this at…” Dex asked, then looked at the clock, “At 3:27 in the morning?”“Why are you up at 3:27 in the morning?” He retorted. Just answer the question, Dex, Fitz internally begged.“I could ask you the same question,” Dex narrowed his eyes at him through the screen and pulled down his mask. “Why are you up this early in the morning? I’m working on an invention. What are you doing?”“I haven’t been able to sleep,” Fitz answered, partly telling the truth. “I’ve been getting nightmares almost every night. And Elwin doesn’t have any sedatives that won’t give me weird dreams. And slumberberry tea is also ineffective on me.” It totally wasn't because he had been thinking about Dex.“Oh,” Dex said sheepishly, “Sorry. I bet I could come up with an elixir that works like one. Maybe Reveriebells with Slumberberry tea? Sophie has some extra Reveriebells, right? Dimmetines might help with preventing nightmares. Where’d my notebook go? I could try to make Somnalene drops edible, but about the dreams–” Fitz let Dex ramble, trying to plan his next move.He obviously couldn’t just blurt out that he liked Dex so that complicated things. Maybe he could tell him when they hung out. That sounded like a plan. Not a good one, but a plan no less. Should he bring flowers? Prattles? Homemade Mallowmelt or custard bursts? That’s a problem for later“Do you want to hang out tomorrow?” Fitz asked, snapping Dex out of his trance. “After we’ve slept and had some rest.”“Sure,” Dex smiled, his dimples momentarily distracting Fitz, “I’ll keep planning the sedative, maybe Fathomethes to help fall asleep?” He muttered the last part to himself.“You don’t have-” Fitz started.“It’s the least I can do,” He interrupted, “I haven’t seen you in a long time, I’m gonna bring you a present.”“I’ll bring one too, then.” The Vacker declared. “See you tomorrow.”“I’ll hail you later,” Dizznee said. The imparter turned black and Fitz resisted the urge to scream. He was meeting with Dex, who was bringing a present, and so was he. What should he bring? Flowers? Or is that too romantic for this? How come this was so difficult? Would Sophie mind him liking, or maybe even dating, her cousin? Could he-“Fitz?” Someone said, making him fall off the bed. He looked to his left and saw his sister, Biana, standing by his bedside.“How long have you been there?” He asked, suddenly very self-conscious of the shreds of paper around his room.“Since you hailed Elwin,” She replied.“So you listened to my conversation with Dex?”“Yep!” She smiled brightly, “And I need to get you ready for your date! First, you need a shower, you reek. Second, we’re going to Atlantis to get a gi-”“Wait! Date?” Fitz exclaimed, “It’s not a date!”“Yes it iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissss!” Biana teased, dancing around the room, “You asked him on a date! You should do it in the cave by the lake! It’s out of sight, secretive, and mom and dad don’t know about it.”“It’s not a date!” He objected.“Yes, it is!” Another person said. Fitz jumped again. He turned to find Marella standing giddily in his doorway, “Dex! Awh. I always guessed you had a crush, but I didn’t know for sure.” Fitz sighed in defeat. These two wouldn’t give up until he confirmed.“Yes, fine!” He said, “Are you two happy now? I like Dex! And I have for a long time! I just don’t know if it’s normal or not!” Biana and Marella shared a glance before erupting into a fit of laughter.“What did I do?” Fitz asked“I think he’s more oblivious than Sophie,” Biana said between laughs.“He might be,” Marella wheezed.“What?” Fitz repeated. Marella was the first to stop laughing.“You know Councilor Bronte?” She asked.“Yeah?” He answered, “Who doesn’t?”“You wanna know what we found out?”“Just get to the point!”“He likes Emery!” Biana exclaimed, then collapsed with laughter, “Why do you think it’s bad to like the same gender?“I like both boys and girls.” Marella said, “So does Maruca.”“Really?” Fitz asked. He didn’t know that it was fine.“Yeah,” She answered, “You can even choose if you want to have boys or girls on your match list. You didn't know?”“I didn’t,” He admitted. So all his worrying was for nothing. He wondered why he didn’t know this.“So let's get you ready!” Biana exclaimed. Fitz had forgotten that Biana and Marella came in here to set him up on the date. Biana first shoved him into the bathroom for him to shower. He took a long time, just to annoy Biana. When he came out, Marella handed him a tunic, a jerkin, a pair of pants, and a cape to change into. The tunic was white with small silver embroideries on the sleeves and the jerkin matched his eyes. The pants were white and the cape was made of threaded silver.“You look so handsome like that!” Biana complimented when she saw Fitz. She adjusted the cape to hang mostly over his left shoulder and undid the top two buttons on Fitz’s jerkin. “But that's what’s trending. You’ve got to keep up with the latest fashion if you want to woo Dex over.”“Yeah, yeah,” He complained. He did not want to wear this when he met up with Dex. “Where’d Marella go?”“Oh, she went to get Dex ready,” Biana answered.“What!” Fitz exclaimed, “Please tell me you’re joking!”“Nope! She went to tell Sophie, who was spying on Dex, to tease him and tell him he’s going on a date.”“Kill me please,” He grumbled, and flopped face-first onto his bed, “Just end my suffering!”“By the way…” Biana teased, “I think Dex might like you back~” Fitz shot up faster than a bullet.“Realy?” He asked, in disbelief, “You’re serious? Like, you’re not just saying that to make me feel better about this?”“Mhm! Haven’t you noticed the way he acts? We can’t convince him to do anything unless we say that you want him to.”“You… really mean that?”“Yep!” She sat down next to him and scruffed up his hair, “Why would I tell my brother that his crush since level 3 likes him when he doesn’t? I wouldn’t get your hopes crushed like that. Besides, it’s much more entertaining to see you fuss and fawn over that little cinnamon roll of an elf than watching you tearing up paper and making the gnome's jobs ten times more difficult.”“I-” Fitz was so touched by his sister’s words that he couldn’t form his own, “Thank you, really.”“No problem,” She said, then slapped the back of his head.“Ow!”“Get up loser, we’re going shopping.” She stood up and smoothed out her white, sleeveless satin dress. It had embroidered peacock designs on it with rose gold thread. A silver cape matching Fitz’s was thrown over her shoulders, revealing the scars on her arms and neck. The side slit in the dress revealed more jagged white lines on her legs. A silver eyeshadow was brushed over her peach-like skin, matching the scars that she proudly displayed.“Okay!” Fitz winced, “Jeez! You don’t have to hit me!”“Yes, I do,” She blew a raspberry in his face, “I’m the annoying younger sister. Don’t you remember?”“Yeah, yeah,” Fitz groaned and pushed himself to his elbows. Biana pinched his ear, making him squeal.“Last one to Mysterium has to wash the Verminion!” She shouted as she sprinted out of the room. Fitz scrambled off the bed and hurried after her, not wanting to be the one to wash the gigantic purple rodent. He stopped momentarily to write a note for his parents, telling them that he and Biana went out to Mysterium so they wouldn’t worry. He sprinted to the stairs, positive that his sister had ditched him. When he was about to reach the stairs to the Leapmaster, Biana appeared out of nowhere and tackled him into the living room. She was very careful not to wrinkle their clothing while she did it. She dashed up the stairs and disappeared. Fitz shoved the couch cushion off of him and ran after her. The last thing he saw before Biana glimmered away was her smirking at him as she shouted,“Slurps and Burps!”

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I’m a bad match.I’m not going to be loved.I’m always forgotten.I’m not good enoughI’m broken.I’m broken.I’m broken.All these thoughts had been floating through Dex’s mind for years, but something about that level-six prodigy made them disappear. The look in those eyes, the perfect smile, it just made Dex trip and fall. The Telepath was always floating in some corner of his brain. He was happy, he really was, but seeing everyone he knew with someone they loved filled him with jealousy. Sophie was in love with Keefe, and only realized vice versa was true after he straight up told her. Tam fell for Biana, probably the most beautiful girl in the world. Lihn asked Wylie on a date some time ago. And Maruca and Marella had a crush on someone from Foxfire. But Dex was falling,Falling hard.Falling for those teal eyes that sparkled in the sun.Falling for that perfect chocolate hair that was never out of place.Falling for that fierce anger that burned with power.Falling for that model-like face and pristine white smile.Falling.Falling.Falling for the one and only, Fitzroy Avery Vacker. The youngest to manifest as a Telepath, besides Sophie of course. The perfect son of the most perfect, highest-ranked family. The boy who had shut Dex out when he was going through trouble. But he would die for that beautifully perfect boy if he had to.Dex felt like he was falling into a deep pit of despair. Sophie always teased him that Fitz liked him back, but why? The most famous Vacker child in love with the son of a bad match? He didn’t think so. Fitz had always been in love with Sophie and always will be. And when Sophie found out who her biological parents were and registered for a match list, they’d be at the top of each other's lists in less than a blink. Dex never minded being forgotten, it had gotten him out of a lot of trouble, but it also meant he wouldn’t be on a lot of famous people's match lists, Fitz’s to be exact.To keep himself busy, he started working on a sibling repellent. It was made out of a thin layer of copper and was filled to the brim with compressed, liquid tar. He also thought of adding the essence of rotten eggs to it, too. He also used vaporized Blubberflower to make the cube explode along with a minuscule amount of Moonthyme acid to break down the copper so that the shards wouldn’t impale anyone. He was wearing a black mask that covered the lower half of his face, just in case something went wrong and it detonated. As he was working on adding the rotten eggs, he realized he had grabbed a Ripplenut smell instead.“Damnit,” Dex swore, now he’d have to go back to Slurps and Burps to get the elixir he needed. He left the device on his workbench, hoping that his siblings wouldn’t charge in and break anything. But of course, he was wrong.“GIVE IT BACK BEX!” Someone yelled. It was his little brother Rex. He panicked when he heard three sets of feet rapidly approaching his room. He ran to try and lock his door, but he was too slow. His sister, Bex, burst into the room waving a stuffed jackalope above her head and laughing like a psycho, her short red hair bouncing with every step. Next, his brother Rex chased after her, screaming bloody murder. He was in tears and snot was running down his face. Lex was the last one to come in, videoing everything on the camera Dex had made. It was surprisingly not broken. They were all wearing pale blue capes, and minty green outfits under them, so they were impossible to tell apart. Dex had planned for this, he pulled a switch on the closest lamp. Strings flew up from the ground and trapped his siblings in a messy net of black rope above his room.“NEVER!” Bex shouted. She was swinging around, trying to get herself upright since only her lower half was stuck in the net. Her grip was deathly tight on the antlers of Rex’s stuffed toy.“DON'T RIP IT!” Rex shouted. He tried to crawl over to her, but his arms were tangled too much.“Just give him the toy back,” Lex said. Only his torso was ensnared in the mess, meaning he could move both his arms and legs freely, “The battery life on this video thingy went out.”“Bex,” Dex sighed, “Stop bullying your brother, you know how much that Jackolope means to him.” The older walked over to his sister and took the toy from her. She screamed and flailed, trying to slap her brother. She grabbed a handful of strawberry blond hair and yanked him backward. Dex slammed into his desk and knocked multiple items off of it, including a small copper cube. He knew what was about to happen so he dove behind his desk and shouted,“TAKE COVER!” Then, the sibling repellent detonated, spraying everyone with a sticky black substance.“EEEEEWWW!” His siblings complained. Bex was probably the most affected. She was covered head to toe in tar, but she had the sense to at least cover her face with her hands. Rex wasn't as covered, but his legs and torso were coated in sticky black. Lex barely even got hit, but the camera he was holding looked unusable now. Dex got up and saw that his hands were covered in black, and there was probably some stuff on his face, too. He pulled another lever that released the net, sending his siblings tumbling to the ground. Bex and Rex landed on their heads, only Lex stuck the landing.“All of you!” Dex shouted, “Get out! Your jackalope is over here if you want it, Rex.” The triplets scrambled out of the room, taking the toy with them. He locked the door and went back to work. He was fuming, it would take him forever to remake it. He opted to start working on a different project, something less explosive. After brainstorming a couple of ideas on his drafting table, he moved to sit on the floor, it gave him a different point of view and was also the only place that wasn’t covered in tar. He decided to make a panic switch. Instead of making it gold like usual, Dex decided to use beaded silver. It was a bit stronger than gold and the beads could be used to send codes and messages. It also matched the silver flecks in Fitz’s eyes.Wait!No!That was most definitely not the reason he made it silver, Dex told himself. He grabbed his notebook and wrote down the Enlightened Alphabet, translating them to the beads and what order they’d be in. A full swipe clockwise around the ring would send a twenty-second voice recording, counter-clockwise would mean immediate danger. Five quick taps on the gemstone meant the Neverseen, then when the ring vibrated, you’d tap the number of people, but one long hold meant you didn’t know. He was so hyper-focused on writing down codes and programming the ring, that he didn’t notice that it was past midnight. Dex also decided to add a bright teal, aquamarine stone as a centerpiece; he told himself it was because it was the only gemstone he could find, not because it matched Fitz’s eyes. His imparter went off just before Dex was finished. It was Fitz.“Hey, Fitz!” Dex said, only barely hearing Fitz ask him something. Fitz was on his bed looking as gorgeous as ever. His hair was ruffed up, kind of like Keefe’s, but ten times hotter. He was shirtless. Fitz Avery Vacker was shirtless? Dex was incredibly grateful that he forgot to remove his mask because he was sure that he was blushing like crazy. Fitz had a strong, toned body with compact muscles and abbs. The older boy was lying on his back, propping himself up on an elbow.“What do you need?” He asked, struggling to keep his voice at an even tone. Fitz started to laugh. The most beautiful laugh he had ever heard. Dex suddenly felt very self-conscious about all the tar that was covering him.“What?”“Did something explode?” Fitz asked, with a chuckle, “You have shrapnel in your hair.” Dex quickly ran a hand through his hair, then instantly regretted it. All the black on his hands was quickly transferred to his already messy hair.“Oh,” He said with a chuckle, trying to hide his embarrassment in his voice. He pulled out the wires and gears from the sibling repellent, “I guess I do. And yes. Something did explode.”“Was it the panic switch you’re working on?” The Vacker asked. Dex laughed off his nervousness. He looked up to avoid Fitz’s piercing teal eyes; they could melt Dex into a puddle of pure admiration if he stared into them long enough.“No,” He said, going back to scribbling in his notebook. “I was trying to make a sibling repellent with compressed liquid tar and the smell of rotten eggs, but the triplets accidentally ran into my workshop and detonated it when there wasn’t any egg smell, so now I’m covered in compressed liquid tar.”“Can I have one?” Fitz asked jokingly, “I could throw that into Biana’s closet and let it go off.”“I think you’d die if you did that,” Dex said, thinking of the absolute mess that would make on satin, “Biana would absolutely destroy your life if you ruined her dresses.” They both laughed.“So what did you want to ask me?” He asked. He didn’t want to be a bad friend and ignore his question.“Well…” Fitz hesitated. Dex wondered if he had done something wrong. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime? I know I’ve been a bit busy lately with Cognate training and stuff.”“Why are you asking me this at…” Dex asked, then looked at the clock on his left. He was surprised at the time. He hadn’t been working on a panic switch that long, Right? “At 3:27 in the morning?”“Why are you up at 3:27 in the morning?” He retorted. Dex knew that anger was Fitz’s default defense, so he didn’t let it bother him too much. But why was he getting so defensive about the time?“I could ask you the same question,” Dex narrowed his eyes at him through the screen and pulled down his mask. He set down the ring he was working on, so he could look sternly at Fitz. He knew him well enough that if he looked away, he was lying. “Why are you up this early in the morning? I’m working on an invention. What are you doing?”“I haven’t been able to sleep,” Fitz answered, looking to the right. So he is lying, but about what? “I’ve been getting nightmares almost every night. And Elwin doesn’t have any sedatives that won’t give me really weird dreams. And slumberberry tea is also ineffective on me.”“Oh,” Dex said sheepishly, nevermind fibbing then. Fitz was probably just aggravated by sleep deprivation. “Sorry. I bet I could come up with an elixir that works. Maybe Reveriebells with Slumberberrys? Sophie has some extra Reveriebells, right? Dimmetines might help with preventing nightmares. Where’d my notebook go? I could try to make Somnalene drops edible, but the dreams–” Dex started rambling, jotting down ideas that could help his friend. He switched to technopathic words so that Fitz couldn’t hear all the wild ideas for him. Kraken skin could knock you out cold, but you’d be asleep for weeks. Some powdered alicorn hoof might be able to dilute it, but the sedative would taste like moldy Custardbursts and yeti pee.“Do you want to hang out tomorrow?” Fitz asked, snapping Dex out of his trance. “After we’ve slept and had some rest.”“Sure,” Dex said. Fitz flashed his crystal white smile, almost making him forget what he was talking about, “I’ll keep planning the sedative, maybe Fathomethes to help fall asleep?” He muttered the last part to himself. Those gave crazy dreams, and Fitz probably didn’t want a restless night of dancing polka-dotted unicorns.“You don’t have-” Fitz started.“It’s the least I can do,” He interrupted, already planning out the steps to make the elixir. “I haven’t seen you in a long time, I’m gonna bring you a present.”“I’ll bring one too, then.” The Vacker declared. “See you tomorrow.”“I’ll hail you later,” Dizznee said. Once the imparter went blank, he grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. He was going on a date with the person he’d had a crush on since level one. Well, it wasn’t a date, just a one-on-one hangout, but still! Should he just bring the elixir? Or maybe something else? Should he do his hair? He could use Floof to bring out his natural hair. He should really stop brushing it down so much, it ruined his natural curls. Could he-“Dex!” Someone said, making him almost drop the panic switch. It was Sophie, his cousin. She was standing in his doorway with the biggest, shit-eating grin on her face he’d ever seen.“How long have you been standing there?” He asked, pulling his mask back up so she couldn’t see his embarrassment.“Since Fitz hailed you,” Her smile never wavering, “You’re going on a date! We need to get that elixir first because Fitz has really not been able to sleep. And we’ll need Biana or Marella over here for-”“It’s not a date!” Dex exclaimed, “And how did you even get in here? It’s like three in the morning.”“The triplets let me in.” She replied, “I told them if they let me sneak in through their window, I’d tell them about the Forbidden Cities.”“Those little shits,” He muttered, “But how’d you get past my lock? It needs DNA, fingerprint, and password.”“I blinked through it.” Of course. Now that Sophie didn’t need to free-fall to teleport, she could just run and teleport, and it barely made a sound.“You are way too powerful. Oh, and also, can you get me some shavings from an alicorn hoof? I need it for an elixir.”“For your crush?” She teased.“Shut up,” He grumbled and went back to programming the panic switch.“Ooooh. Is that for Fitz?” Sophie asked when she noticed the aquamarine stone sitting next to him.“Yes. It is.” He said, “His broke while battling the Neverseen, so I’m making a new one. It has more options on it too.“Special for your crush.”"I will hit you." Sophie held her hands up in defense."Fine, fine," She smirked, “But I’m calling Marella.”“Why Marella?”“Because Biana’s getting Fitz ready! You’ve got to step up your game if you want Fitz to ask you out.”“YOU’RE ALL IN ON IT?!” Dex exclaimed, jumping up from where he was sitting, almost hitting his head on his tar-covered desk. “Please tell me you didn’t tell him anything. Ugh! Why Marella?” He let himself fall onto his bed in the corner of the room, not caring that it's probably stained with black now. Why Marella? The biggest gossiper in Foxfire!“You know,” Sophie said quietly, sitting on the bed next to him, “I really think Fitz likes you back.” Dex grumbled something along the lines of ‘You’ve told me that already’ into his pillow.“I know I’ve said that already, but I really do. I can barely get him to do any Cognate stuff with him anymore because he wants to hang out with you. And he also keeps a picture of you in his locket. The one he wears around all the time.”“Really?”“Really.” Sophie smiled softly before running chaotically over to his window, knocking more stuff off his desk. She opened it quickly and Marella barreled through soon after, almost shattering the glass.“I’m here!” The pyrokinetic panted. Her curly blond hair was somehow still perfectly in place, braids and all. She had a backpack over her shoulders almost bursting with whatever was in it. She looked over at Dex and shook her head."No, honey," She cooed, "You need to clean up your musty ass before you touch any of these clothes." Before he knew what was happening, Marella shoved him into the bathroom and covered his hands in soap. Sophie walked in behind her to brush out all the bits and parts in his hair."Okay," Dex shook off the girls, "What is happening.""We're getting you ready for your date!" Marella exclaimed, grabbing the ginger's hands back and scrubbing the black off his hand."This isn't a da-OW!" His words were cut short by a sharp pull from Sophie."Not looking like this it's not." His cousin taunted. He stayed quiet until they were done cleaning him up. They pulled Dex out to his room before Marella chucked her bag at him.“Change into this.” Dex was baffled at what had just happened, so he numbly took the clothes to his bathroom to change. It was a gold cape with a white shirt and pants. An orange jerkin with gold embroidery was also given to him.“Aww, you’re so cute!” Sophie cooed when she saw her cousin. Marella looked Dex up and down with a very judgemental look.“No,” Marella deadpanned. She pinned his cape so it fell over his right shoulder. “It’s better if you hang the cape over your non-dominant arm.” Sophie and Marella then proceeded to shove him out the window.“Ow!” He yelped, “Why’d you do that?”“We’re gonna help you with your elixir,” Sophie replied, handing Marella a Pathfinder. “Or, Marella is. I’m gonna go get you the alicorn hoof shavings, or whatever. Do you need anything else?”“Liquid jackalope fur,” He said, “You don’t need to liquify it, because I know your alchemy skills aren’t the best, but I do need some. Also, some Reveriebells would be nice too. Drop it at my door when you get them.”“Sure,” Sophie started running so she could teleport. At first, she just blinked a couple of times, but after her fifth blink, she teleported away entirely. Marella raised the crystal to the moonlight and motioned for Dex to follow.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Don’t you DARE!” Fitz yelled as he ran into the light, trying to stop Biana. Once he saw the colorful sign of the Dizznee family’s store, he stopped in his tracks. There were hardly any people outside because it was so early in the morning, so he didn’t have to worry about his chaotic entrance.“Biana, I swear,” He started. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sister entering the shop. A small burp came from the door. Fitz chased after his sister and ran into the colorful shop.“You little shit, Biana!”“Whoa,” Someone said. It was Kesler. He was standing behind the desk, cleaning the Deducter, “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” He joked.“Biana ran in here and now I can’t find her.” Fitz explained, “She’s getting me ready for a date.”“With who?” The Dizznee asked, walking over to face the Vacker.“Someone I haven’t talked to in a while.” He answered, “And I feel really bad about not talking to them.”“Really? Dex is also going out with someone today. He said something about it being a really long time since he and his friend met up, so he’s really excited about it. He’s also making a sedative for you.”“Already?”“He just got some ingredients from Sophie.” The door burped again and Marella entered with bulging white bags.“Hey Mr. Dizznee,” She said, struggling to juggle the mess of supplies, “Could you get Sophie or Dex to come down and help me with this?” She looked around and spotted Fitz, “Oh, Fitz! Can you help me bring these to Dex? He sent me on a supply run for Keefe’s prank elixirs, and he needed a lot.”“I’ve actually gotta find Biana,” He said, not wanting Dex to see him in this outfit. “See you around.”“Tell her I said ‘Hi’,” Marella mumbled, having put one of the bag straps in her mouth. She shuffled up the stairs and out of view.“Sure, whatever,” he grumbled. Before he exited, Kesler stopped him.“Just so you know, Fitz,” He said quietly, “I think you and Dex would make a lovely couple.” Fitz froze in place, halfway to the door.“Pardon?”“Have a good day!” He said. Fitz was sure that was most definitely not what he heard, but let it go. He opened the burping door and left the establishment, pinching himself to make sure Keefe hadn’t put something in his food.“Biana! It’s time to go!” He yelled once he was out of earshot of the shop, “I know you’re watching me.”“I agree with Kesler,” Biana said, appearing beside him, “You two would be so cute together!”“I swear to hell,” Fitz swore, “If you told him anything-”“I had literally no idea he was going to say that!” She interrupted, “That was very out of script. I don’t even know how he found out! You can even read my mind if you don’t believe me.”“I don’t believe you,” He growled, “I just want to go home.”“Nuh, uh, uh,” She tutted, “We still have to go shopping! We haven’t even gone to get flowers!”“I’m not going shopping anymore!” Fitz exclaimed. Biana tugged on his ear playfully, but painfully.“Yes. You. Are.” She said. She was still smiling, but her voice dropped to a threatening growl.“O-ok…” He let his sister pull him to a store called Fancies Florals. It was run by a family friend, so they’d been there a couple of times before. Her name was Shasta Fancies and she was a Guster. When they walked in, the scent of different flowers assaulted their sinuses. The airy white walls were lined with intricately organized bouquets.“Hello, Shasta!” Biana sang as she skipped into a flower shop. A young woman was in the back arranging different colored flowers into a pastel rainbow. She seemed about twenty and had rich, olive skin. Her thick dreadlocks of inky black hair contrasted with her soft, baby-blue eyes. She was wearing a plain yellow dress paired with a purple sash. “How’s the shop business going? I heard you just got some new flowers.”“Good morning, Biana!” The woman, Shasta, smiled back, “We did get new flowers! They’re very popular right now. Would you like to see them?”“Actually,” She said, pushing Fitz forward, “We need followers for a date, subtly romantic.”“You came to the right place,” Shasta invited them to the back, “We have bouquets organized in popularity, best to worst, in the first through the third aisle. There are also plain flowers in pastel, neon, and desaturated, all in rainbow order, aisles four through seven. Human flowers are in the last two.” Biana and Shasta discussed what they wanted for some time, long enough for Fitz to sit down and fall asleep next to the Sweetshades. He had no idea how long he was out for, or that he had even fallen asleep, but the next thing he knew, someone had landed a harsh kick to his hip.“Ow!” Fitz yelled. He jumped up, giving himself a painful headrush and making his vision impossibly blurry, but he was ready and willing to fight. His blind punch connected with something soft.“Hey!” Someone exclaimed. Fitz’s vision cleared and he saw Keefe standing in front of him, rubbing his jaw. He’d just hit his best friend. “Chill out, man. I know you hate waking up, but did you have to hit me?”“Sorry,” He mumbled, “I just haven’t been getting that much sleep lately. And Biana’s been annoying.”“Isn’t she always?” Keefe joked, “By the way… Who’s the lucky person?”“I- what?” The question caught Fitz off guard.“The person you asked on a date,” He answered, “Biana and Marella said that you’re going-”“So it was them!” He wanted to pull his hair out, those two were chatterboxes. “It’s none of your business.”“Aw c’mon! I’m your best friend!”“Yeah, but you’re just gonna use it as blackmail.” Fitz picked a petal from the nearest flower.“Ooh, so it’s a juicy secret! Tell me! I’ll only use it for blackmail in Base Quest, I promise.” Keefe gave him puppy eyes as he begged for the secret. Fitz rolled his eyes at the pitiful attempt.“Fine, but you owe me three favors and no blackmailing.”“One favor and one time blackmailing.”“Do you want to know or not, ‘cause I’m happy to keep it to myself.” He growled.“I drive a hard bargain,” The empath shrugged, “I thought you knew that by now, considering you’ve known me for five years.”“Two favors, no blackmailing.”“Deal.” Keefe tried to shake Fitz’s hand, but he refused, “Have it your way then, but who are you going out with?” The Vacker muttered something inaudible.“Who?”“I’m going out with Dex! Happy?” Fitz exclaimed. Keefe looked more confused than surprised.“Really?” He asked, “I wasted two favors for that? I was expecting a big secret, not a schoolboy crush.”“You knew?” The Vacker asked.“It’s kinda obvious that you like him. I don’t know why you haven’t asked him out already.”“Am I really that obvious?” He pulled at his hair, trying to make sense of what Keefe just said.“Uhm? Yeah! Everyone knows that you like him. And I don’t have to be an Empath to sense that.”“Does Dex know?”“No, I think he’s more oblivious than Mysterious Miss F,” Keefe joked. He was still massaging his jaw, which was bruising fast, “I never realized how strong you were until today, ouch.”“You deserved it. You were the one that kicked me.”“That was an accident!” The two laughed.“We chose some flowers for you to pick from,” Biana said, appearing beside Fitz. He jumped and threw another punch. She quickly dodged and twisted the arm behind her brother's back.“Yeah, he’s really riled up right now,” Keefe said, “And I didn’t even do anything this time.”“You kicked me,” Fitz growled. Biana let him go.“You still have to pick flowers, and we’re behind schedule. You were asleep for three hours!”“Well, I wasn’t the one shuffling through flowers for that long!” He argued, “And couldn’t you have woken me up?”“That’s why I called Keefe here, so I wouldn’t get punched in the face.” His sister responded.“That’s why you called me here?” Keefe asked, “You told me it was because Fitz sucked at flirting.”“I am not bad at flirting!”“Yes you ar-”“I called Keefe here for two reasons,” Biana interrupted, “One because you needed to wake up and I didn’t want to get punched. Two, he’s here to teach you the best way to ask Dex out.”“I’m not asking Dex out,” He growled.“Oh, yes you are!” Keefe said, “You still owe me that dare from Bramble, so I dare you to ask Dex to be your boyfriend.”“UUUUGGGGHHHH!” Fitz groaned, “You two are so annoying. I’d rather face King Dimiter in a battle with one of Biana’s sparkly pink ball gowns on than ask Dex that.”“That can be arranged,” Someone else said. Ro appeared from around the corner with a smirk on her face. Her pigtails were dyed ice blue, just like Keefe's eyes, probably from losing a bet.“Not you too!”“Yes me too,” She said, “I’ll put amoeba’s in your food if you don’t. The flesh-eating ones at that.” He grumbled something about her and Keefe taking bets too seriously then headed to where Shasta was arranging bouquets.“Hello, Fitz,” She said, handing him four sets of flowers. “Me and Biana picked out four bouquets for you to choose from.” The first was an arrangement of pale blue, rose-like flowers and minty green flowers that smelled like strawberries. A mix of purple and blue starglass flowers was in the second with a faint, strawberry smell. The third smelled like cinnacream and had chocolate-colored blossoms with yellow-orange buds. In the fourth were orange and gold, heart-shaped flowers with an aroma of coffee.“Could I do a mix of these two bouquets?” Fitz asked, holding up the last two, “I like both of them.”“Of course,” She smiled, “The Cinnamon Sweets and the Sunloves?”“That’s what they’re called?”“Yeah, we just got them in last week. They’ve been very popular, but I haven’t thought of combining them.” Shasta took the flowers from Fitz and laid them on the counter. She expertly weaved the stems together into a thick braid. The sweet-smelling flowers formed the shape of a loose heart.“What color do you want the ribbon to be?” She asked.“Gold please.” He pointed to the thin, lacey ribbon on the shelf next to them. Shasta framed the bouquet with brown packing paper and tied an intricate bow at the base.“Do you like it?” She asked, handing the flowers to him.“It’s amazing, Shasta,” He said, inspecting the bouquet. She handed him a deductor. “Thanks.”“It’s my job,” Shasta smiled, “Hope your date likes it.” Fitz paid and discreetly walked out of the store, hoping to avoid his friends.“Wait! Fitz!” Biana said, running up behind him, “Don’t forget about us!”“I was really trying to,” He grumbled. Keefe looped an arm around his shoulders and gave him a playful punch.“Don’t be so uptight, Fitzypoo,” He said, “It’s just a date.”“That you’re forcing me to go on,” Fitz said.“You were the one to ask him if he wanted to hang out,” Biana pointed out. Fitz tried to slap her, but she easily dodged, “You can’t deny that, no matter how much you don’t want to admit it.”“Really?” Ro asked, “Aww, I bet it was so awkward. I would’ve loved to be there when that happened.”“It was!” Biana squealed, “He was so cute trying not to blush!”“Keefe, I need a favor. Slap my sister for me.” Keefe shrugged and lightly swatted Biana’s shoulder.“You used one favor,” He teased, poking Fitz, “Only one left.” Fitz reached for his home crystal but realized it wasn’t there.“Whoever took it, give it back,” He growled, holding out his hand.“Took what?” Biana asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.“My home crystal!” He shouted. Ro snickered quietly. “Ro, give it back.”“What’re ya gonna do, pretty boy?” She asked teasingly, “Fight me?”“I really want to right now.” He balled his hands into fists. Biana pulled on her brother’s ear before he could do anything.“It’s ok Fitz, we don’t have to go home for another couple hours,” She said, forcing Fitz’s head down.“Ouch! Ouch! Hey! Stop!” No matter how much he flailed or struggled, Biana kept a painfully tight grip on his ear.“We’re going to Jaspyr’s shop now,” Biana smiled. Jaspyr was another family friend, who sold crystals. Not leaping ones, only decorative ones.“More crystals?” Ro complained, “I can barely even keep my eyes open to look at all these buildings.”“It’s not what you’re expecting,” Keefe assured her, “There’s actually less crystals in there.”“No way,” Ro muttered as they trudged through the busy streets, “That does not make sense.”“It will once you see the shop,” Biana said. The four of them walked down the street, drawing a lot of attention, considering the fact that they had an ogre with them and Fitz was being pulled, by his ear, by Biana who was skipping along happily. They reached a small, glassy store on the corner of a street. It had large, crystal letters that spelled out “Jaspyr’s Colorful Crystals”. Biana squealed when she walked into the store, letting go of Fitz’s ear, and boy was he grateful. The entirety of the inside was a plain gray, with short glass cases that displayed colorful gems. They balanced each other perfectly.“You were right!” Ro said, inspecting the jewels, “This is probably the least shiny place in the whole Elvin world!”“It probably is,” Biana shrugged, then headed to the front desk, “Jaspyr! How’s it been?” The man behind the counter was tall and lean with silvery blond hair. His pale skin and dark blue eyes looked enchanting with his gray jerkin.“What can I help you with, B.V.?” Jaspyr asked. Fitz sighed, this was going to be a long day.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Ok, I got the stuff!” Sophie said as she teleported next to where Dex was standing, making him jump.
He changed out of the extravagant outfit Marella gave him and wore a plain gray tunic and black slacks.
He had been working on the sedative for Fitz, and it was going well so far.
The Kraken skin was in a bowl and had solidified some time ago.
The timer for vaporizing the Blubberflower was about to ring, with a beaker of blue liquid sitting next to it.
A giant mixer with a thin, orangey-red slime was filled to the brim, ready for the jackalope fur.
On the other side of the room was a mortar and pestle for crushing the alicorn hoof.“You are incredibly lucky that I wasn’t working on anything!” Dex exclaimed, trying to control his anger.
Alchemy labs were extremely dangerous with Sophie Foster around. “If I had been vaporizing the Blubberflower, we’d both be dead.
Those things are highly explosive, not to mention the blue Miijk poultice could’ve turned every crystal in Mysterium into dirt.
And if the Kraken skin had imploded, that fire would have burned the entire shop down.
The Glirr acid in the mixer could’ve spilled and melted everything.
And didn’t I tell you to leave everything outside the door?”“Jeez, sorry,” She apologized, “I keep forgetting how dangerous Alchemy is when I’m with you.”“Yeah, ‘cause you can make kelpie fur explode,” He rolled his eyes, remembering their disastrous lessons.“That was one time!”“If I had a luster for every time you’ve made kelpie fur explode, I’d have two lusters.
That isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”
He emphasized his words so Sophie knew that she had somehow made kelpie fur explode not once, but two times.
The most static ingredient in all of Alchemy.“I’ve got to revoke your internet privileges,” Sophie sighed, “That meme is forbidden to use.”“I. Do. Not. Care.” He said.
A quick, metallic clicking alerted Dex of the Blubberflower.
He used telekinesis to lift the shiny blue liquid and slowly poured it onto a thick, blubbery flower.
The metal spoon he was using to stir started turning neon orange.
He took out the spoon and threw it into the sink and put a lid on the beaker that held the concoction.
Using his telekinesis, he rapidly shook the jar while using a pipette to drip a yellow, slime-like elixir onto the solid, blue Kraken skin.
When it was fully covered and turned green, he dumped the shaken liquid, which had now turned into a heavy black gas, into the bowl.“I need the jackalope fur now,” Dex said.
Sophie tossed him a small drawbag.
He opened it with tweezers and dropped five hairs into the red liquid.
The mixer turned on and whipped everything together.
After about a minute, he took out the bowl.
In it was barely a cup of the purple jelly.
He spooned the slimy substance into an airtight container and threw it into an icebox.“Alicorn hoof.” Dex held out his hand in Sophie’s direction.
She gave him another bag, this time with the alicorn hoof shavings.
Dex dropped the contents, which looked like brown nail clippings, into the mortar.“Grind it until there’s no chunks and it turns white,” He ordered, forcing the pestle into her hands.“Do I have to?” Sophie whined.“Yes.
Because I’m mixing the Noirint gas into the Kraken skin.
If you do it, you’ll probably blow something up.
Alicorn hooves are the only ingredient in Alchemy that can’t explode on its own.”“Fine.” Sophie begrudgingly started pounding away at the shavings with a miserable frown on her face.
Dex took the bowl with the black gas and folded it into the now-liquid kraken skin with a stiff spatula.
The gas slowly started dissipating into the liquid and turning it into a pale gray, putty-like substance that bubbled.
He dumped the putty into a glass baking pan and threw it into the preheated oven.
The timer, which was still going off, was reset to fifteen minutes.Sophie gave him the finely powdered alicorn hoof, which had turned a pristine white, in the mortar.
Dex sifted it over a bowl and took out the liquified jackalope hair.
He measured ten grams of both substances and mixed them.
It expanded exponentially and changed to look like a fluffy, pale blue whipped cream.
Sophie took the pan out of the oven once the timer went off.
It had shrunk to look like a white, pearly orb with a single, gray, needle-like point protruding from one side.
Dex carefully, using tweezers, removed the needle from the orb.
He placed the orb into a wooden bucket that held hundreds of others just like it.“What are all those orbs for?” Sophie asked, pointing to the bucket.“Those are Plims,” Dex answered, setting the needle into the icebox.
He took the timer, once again, and set it for fifteen minutes, “Don’t touch them.
Not explosive on their own, but they react to most Alchemy ingredients because they're the byproduct of most experiments.
Almost all elixirs make one of them.
They have to be kept in a wooden bucket because most other metals and crystals will detonate them.
You can use them for traps and prank elixirs, but otherwise, they’re useless.”“Really?” She asked, reaching to pick one up.
Dex kicked her hand away because he had picked up the tray of foam.“I said: Don’t touch.
You have alicorn hoof on your hands, knowing you, you’ll set all of them off and kill everyone in Mysterium.”“Sorry.”
Instead of touching one, she used Telekinesis to inspect one, “It looks just like a Fathomlethes.”“That's why Keefe gave some to Cassius when he was searching for memories, they're
generally harmless if you ingest them.”“He didn’t.”“He did.
And they cause very bad stomach problems.
Keefe almost blew up Candleshade because he dropped one into a bottle of Youth.
I revoked his Plim privileges after that.”
Dex took the tray of blue foam and folded it down with the spatula, shrinking it back down into a thick, chunky, greenish slime.
Sophie stared down at it, looking like she wanted to throw up.“Mhm, it looks delicious,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.“It’s highly toxic before I mix in the Jolim needle,” Dex answered.
The timer started clicking again and he took out the needle.
He threw it into the slime and whisked it quickly.
The substance slowly started turning purple.
It was smooth, with no clumps, and almost like slumberberry tea.“Reveriebells,” Dex said, holding out his hand.
Sophie gave him the flower and he delicately pulled the leaves off the bulb.
The bulb was a dark green color with white spots. He sliced it open with a scalpel and extracted a small, white perfume seed.
A sweet scent wafted up from it.
He threw it into the concoction and slowly stirred it together.
The liquid turned a dull periwinkle.
It was then dumped into a beaker and set over a Bunsen burner with a small flame licking at the glass.
Dex took the timer and set it for five minutes.“Are you done now?” Sophie asked.
She was leaning against an empty counter.“Until that timer rings, yes,” Dex replied, panting slightly.
He collapsed onto the floor.
Alchemy was exhausting.
He had to create a quicker way to make this, “How long has it been since we started?”“It’s, like, noon right now,” Sophie answered.“No way!” He said, craning his neck to get a glance at the clock.
Sure enough, the time read 12:17 p.m.“Is this the longest it’s taken to make an elixir?” She had settled on flopping on the ground now, a little ways away from the door.“I think Glooper takes longer, but it’s relatively easy.”
Glooper was an elixir that could turn hair into slime.
It takes about eight hours to make, but that’s just because the Miller Bulb had to freeze fully, and that took up most of the time.“What’s Glooper?”“An elixir that turns hair into slime.
It’s usually for pranks and stuff.
Fitz put some into Keefe’s food once.”“No.”“Yes.
Keefe came running to me with red slime on his head, begging for hairoids.
He went at Fitz in an all-out prank war after that.”“I can imagine.
Keefe is way too obsessed with his hair, but it’s really ho-”“I’m gonna stop you right there.
If you say ‘hot’ I will dye your skin green and your hair red and your eyes yellow.”“Honorable?”“I SWEAR-” The timer interrupted Dex before he could finish his sentence.
He quickly got up to check on the burner.
The elixir in the beaker had turned sparkly, almost like liquid glitter.
He carefully removed the breaker and turned off the heat.
Eight other bottles were placed on the counter Sophie was previously leaning against.
He poured the sedative into the bottles and corked them.“Can you hand me the labels?” Dex asked and pointed to the white strips of paper next to Sophie's head.
She lazily tossed them in his general direction, missing by a little more than a yard.“You are so helpful,” He remarked, walking to pick up the labels.
On the papers were two words: Sweet dreams.
He peeled off the wax paper backings and carefully stuck them to the bottle.
He then arranged them in a thin, flimsy container that looked like a two-by-four pack of beer.“Is that how you store bottles and elixirs?”
Sophie asked.“It’s how you store prescribed elixirs,” Dex responded, “Kinda like how you humans have those little orangey-yellow bottles for pills in infirmaries.”“So you’re prescribing these to Fitz now?”“More or less, yes.”“You really do everything for your lover boy.”“I’m kicking you out.”“Seeya!” Sophie said with no protest.
She got up and walked over to the door with a skip in her step.
When she opened it, she tripped and landed face-first onto a bunch of white bags.
“Ow!”“What did you do now?” Dex asked, not bothering to look at what his cousin had tripped over.“Marella’s supply runs for your elixirs,” She said with a groan, “I think she just left it all at the door.”“Like how you were supposed to but didn’t?”
He retorted, picking at his nail. “Can you bring them in here?”“Why don’t you help?
It’s your supply run.” She gathered as many bags as she could carry, which was less than half.“Nah, I just did all the work, it’s your turn.”“Jackass.”“You can say whatever you want, I’m not gonna do anything.”“I’ll tell Fitz you like him.”
Dex gritted his teeth, trying not to do something he'd regret.“Just bring the bags in, Keefe wants these by tomorrow.”“I’m not doing shi-.”“Do it, or I’m dying your skin red.”“Fine!
Fine!”“Good, now find the Gynt oil and we’ll start the Bruckle Bramble.
It should be in a metal tin.”
They spent the rest of the day making elixirs.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Do you know what we should do?”
Fitz heard someone ask, the voice was barely audible, considering how fuzzy his head was.
He had fallen asleep some time ago and was dreaming about Dex.
What the dream was about was anyone's guess, but he was awoken by a sweet female voice and a deep male voice.“Knowing you, it’s gonna be fun.”“Makeup.”“Biana, you’re a genius.”“I know.”“Do you think your mom has any more of that fancy stuff?
The stuff we used for Linh's date?”“Who are you putting makeup on?” Fitz asked groggily.
He opened his eyes to see Biana and Keefe standing over him.
Keefe was decked out in all kinds of shiny jewelry while Biana had on jangles of pink peridot necklaces with matching earrings, bracelets, rings, and headpieces.“Who do you think, dummy?”
Biana asked.
Fitz hesitated for a second, it took his brain a moment to catch up.“You are not putting makeup on me.”
He said finally, standing up from the plush velvet armchair he’d fallen asleep on, “I look fine just how I am.”“I beg to differ,” Keefe joked, “I don’t think Dex would be impressed with your looks right now.”“I don’t think Sophie would be impressed with your behavior right now,” he sneered, stretching his stiff limbs.“No one would be impressed with either of you,” Biana jumped in, adding insult to both of them, “Keefe looks like a rich human hobo. And you, Fitz, look like you just rolled out of bed, which is kinda accurate.”“No one asked you,” He grumbled, “How long was I out?”“About an hour,” Keefe answered, “We even picked out some crystals for your lover boy.”“Stop calling him that.”“Not until you confess.”“In your dreams.”“I dared you, remember.”“Nope!
Didn’t happen!
You don’t even have a dare.”“Stop being a wimp,” Biana said, giving her brother a light shove, “You will confess to Dex and you will do it tonight.”“You can shut the hell up.” Fitz retorted.“You’re mean.” She complained, “But you know what?
I’m gonna let that slide because we have plans.”“Oh great.”“Her plan is amazing!”
Keefe said, “We’re gonna go back to Everglen and do your makeup-”“I told you!” He said, “You are not putting makeup on me!”“Yes!
We are!”
Biana said, pulling on his ear for the fourth time today, “Or else I’ll get Ro to put amoebas in your next meal.”“Fine!
Whatever you say,” He grumbled.
Biana pulled him out of the store with Keefe and Ro trailing them.
She raised her home crystal to the light and stepped into the beam with Fitz stumbling in after her.“Home sweet home!” The youngest Vacker declared as the sparkling palace of Everglen came into view.“Argh! My eyes!” Ro complained, shielding her eyes.“Stop being dramatic,” Keefe said, “It’s not even as bright as Mysterium.”“I don’t know how you elves live with being blinded constantly,” She said, blinking rapidly, “It’s like being stabbed in the eye.”“You’re just weak,” He said with a smirk, “You’re just not strong enough to live like us elves.”“If you’re sooooo strong, why do you need other intelligent species to protect you?”“Because our minds can
break!
Yours can’t!”
Biana pulled on Keefes’ ear painfully.“Ow!
Ow!
Ow!
Ok!
Ok!
I’ll stop arguing!” He yelled, flailing and struggling to escape his assaulter.“You better, or else I’m kicking you out of ‘Plan Detz,’” She said, letting him go.
Keefe rubbed his ear.“The name is really stupid, though.
I still think we should have gone with Team Vizznee.” He argued.“Yeah, well, bring it up with Sophie, she chose the name.”“What makes you think she’ll listen to me?”“You’re her boyfriend!”“Wait!” Fitz interrupted, “What is ‘Plan Detz’?
This entire operation better not have been planned.”“It’s been in motion for about half a year now,” Ro said, rolling her eyes, “Marella and Sophie ship you guys way too hard.
They even came up with the name.
And I also agree with Lord Hunkyhair.”“Back up, back up, back up. You’re telling me you’ve been planning this for over six months?” Fitz exclaimed.“Yep.” Biana said, popping the last letter, “And now we’re finally getting to the good parts.”“What do you mean by ‘Good parts’?” He asked.“The part where you two become boyfriends,” She answered, pulling him towards their house.“Absolutely NOT!”“Absolutely YES!” Keefe exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air, “This has been all Sophie and Marella have been talking about.
And they're really annoying about it.
If this stops them, I’m willing to do anything.” Fitz sighed, he knew he’d lost.“You’re still not putting makeup on me,” He said“We’ll see about that,” Biana smirked evilly.
Once they opened the door, Alden and Della immediately bombarded them with questions.
Fitz wanted to sink into the ground from embarrassment.
His sister, on the other hand, was waiting patiently for her turn to speak, she had something up her sleeve.“Would you two like to explain yourselves?” Della asked.
She looked down at the group with her hands on her hips.“We were shopping for Fitz’s date!”
Biana squealed.
Della’s face immediately lit up and her anger disappeared.
Alden opened his mouth to say something, but his wife interrupted him.“Really?”
She asked.
Her daughter nodded, “With who?
Never mind, let me guess.
Marella?”“Nope.”“Foster?”“She’s my girlfriend,” Keefe said.“Oh, really?” Della asked, “How long?”“A couple of months now,” He answered, “Not too long.”“And Biana’s never told me?”“I thought you knew,” Biana shrugged, “It’s kind of obvious.”“Never mind on that,” Della said, refocusing on their previous topic, “Oh, what’s her name, uh, the little water girl?
I think Fitz talks about her some.”“Lihn?” Keefe asked.“Yes!
That’s her name.”“They’d make a nice couple, but no,” Biana shook her head.“Is it Timkins girl?
I hope not.”“No, most definitely not.”“Uhm, the boy whose name started with a ‘J’, or a ‘G’.” Della looked up, thinking, “Jam- Gel- Jen- Jensi!
That’s his name.”“I never thought about that,” Keefe said, “They’d make a nice couple.
Take another guess.”“Is it Tam?
Oh, they’d be cute together.”“They would, but no.” Della paused for a second, listing off all the people it could be, before lighting up.“It’s Kesler's son, isn’t it?”“Correct!”“I had hoped it was him, but I didn’t know if Fitz still liked him.”“You too!”
Fitz exclaimed.
He had been watching the interaction in silence, not knowing how to react, but that comment snapped him out of his trance, “So everyone I know is aware that I like Dex?”“It’s really obvious,” Keefe said, then turned to Della, “Do you have any more of the high-quality makeup we used the other month?”“I just got new pallets yesterday,”
She said, “They should be in the top drawer on my vanity dresser, either that or they’re still in the box.”“Thanks, Mrs.V,”
He said, “Can you help us with applying?”“I have to meet with the Collective in a couple of minutes,” She said, checking her watch, “But hail me if you need anything else.”“Thanks, Mom,” Biana said as Della disappeared up the stairs.
The youngest Vacker child then turned around to face Fitz, “This is going to be so fun!
We’re gonna do your hair, your nails-”“So this is practically a girl's night except it’s all based around me?”
Fitz asked, “Because it sure sounds like it.”“Yeah,” Keefe shrugged, “Basically.”“Let’s get this started!” Ro whooped.
Fitz had forgotten she was there.
He looked around for his dad, but Alden was nowhere in sight.
He must have slipped away once Biana and Della started talking.“Dad’s not pulling you outta this one,” His sister said, grabbing his ear once again, “You’re gonna come with us and get ready for your date!” She pulled Fitz upstairs with Ro and Keefe at her heel.
When the group reached her room, she pushed her brother in and ran in the other direction.“I’m gonna get the makeup!” Biana said.
Keefe made him sit down on the bed before he dashed to the bathroom to get towels.
When Keefe was out of sight, Fitz tried to escape through the door.“Nuh uh uh,” Ro tutted, shoving her bulky body between him and freedom.
She’d been watching him for this exact reason.
She drew one of her daggers and forced him backward, “You are not getting out of this.”“Did he try to escape?” Biana asked.
She was holding a bag stuffed to the brim with what Fitz assumed was makeup.“Yup,” She answered, sheathing her weapon, “And we haven’t even gotten to put makeup on him.”“I got the towels!” Keefe exclaimed, waving three, pink and white towels with gold embroideries.“Ok,” Biana said, setting her bag of makeup on the table.
It had all types of makeup and other knickknacks Fitz couldn’t name, “Let’s do a face mask first, and I'm thinking just eyes and lips, no concealer or anything.”"Do I have a say in this?" Fitz asked."Nope," Keefe smiled, pulling out a small tin filled with a green, semitransparent fluid.
Biana pushed him down on the floor and placed a towel under his head.

The blond wiped the brunette's face down with a damp towel before pinning his hair back with a thick cloth headband."Stop," Fitz protested, "you're gonna ruin my hair.""We'll wash it later." Biana waved him off. "In the meantime, stay still, or we might get it in your eyes.""Get what in my eyes?" He was ignored.
Biana stood up quickly to grab
a rubber, spatula-looking paddle. She tossed it to Keefe so he could scoop some of the green goop out of the container. Fitz shifted uncomfortably as it neared his face.
The goop was cold and sticky against his skin."This is disgusting," Fitz complained, "What does this even do?""It'll make your crusty ass skin nice and soft," Bana quipped, holding his shoulders so he couldn't sit up. "You'll thank me later.""Stop squirming," Keefe grunted, almost smearing the goop in the Vacker's mouth. "Or it'll get it in your nose.""If it wasn't so cold it wouldn't be so uncomfortable!" Fitz exclaimed.
He forced himself to sit still and let Keefe spread the disgusting goop over his face.
Biana ran a fine-toothed comb through his hair, brushing out the tangles and knots."Ow!" Fitz yelled. "Hey! Stop!""We'll wash your hair in a sec," Biana said, ignoring her brother's protests, "But I'm detangling it first so it'll be easier to wash.""And I am eternally grateful for that," His reply dripping with sarcasm. Biana yanked hard on a stubborn knot."Ow!" The older Vacker jerked to the side, causing Keefe to spill the goop all over the floor."Biana!" Fitz shouted, at the same time Keefe yelled, "Fitz!""What did I do?" The Vacker son asked, "Biana pulled my hair.""And you
knocked the face mask out of my hand." He countered, "It's fine, I was almost done anyway." Keefe grabbed a wet rag and started wiping the floor while Biana dragged Fitz to the bathroom.
She forced him into a chair and bent his head into the sink.
The water was warm as she rubbed in a floral shampoo."This feels nice," Fitz hummed.
Biana massaged his head for a while before rinsing the suds out.
She uncapped another bottle that smelled like honey and coconut.
She repeated the process before rinsing his hair with warm water.
Fitz was so relaxed he didn't hear Keefe walk in before his head was doused in ice-cold water."Hey!" He exclaimed, sitting up quickly and splashing his friend.
Keefe sputtered as the water ran down his shirt and hair."Ack!" Biana jumped to the side, shielding her dress with a towel. "I handmade this dress!" She whacked her brother with the towel.
He left out an 'Uhf' but took the hit."I'm done!" Keefe ran a hand through his hair, "I quit!
You ruined the hair.
The hair!
Biana you're on your own."
he walked out the door, taking Ro with him.
She gave a sympathetic shrug."Good luck Biana!"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“DEX!” Sophie shouted as she chased Dex through Havenfield.
She teleported him over to her place so that she could help him with his makeup.
When he saw Vertina, he bolted.
Sophie had been chasing him all over the residence for almost an hour now, and Dex was slowly starting to wear.
Sophie was teleporting whenever she could, so she could continue for hours.
He had already dashed through Verdi’s cage and stalled Sophie for a good time, the Verminion was also a good help, along with the flarendon. “GET YOUR DUMBASS BACK HERE!”“No!” Dex shouted back, but it came out as a wheeze.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass vial labeled: Runners Little Helper.
The bottle was empty when he tipped his head back, “Shit.”“You ran out of that speedy stuff, didn’t you?” His cousin yelled.
She blinked closer to him, almost enough to reach him.“I- still got- a bunch- of it- left,” He lied in between ragged breaths.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Panakes tree.
In his pocket, he remembered, was a bottle of ‘Up and Away’, a climbing potion, and ‘See me not’, an invisibility potion.
He turned in the opposite direction of the tree and chugged the latter potion.
Within seconds he became fully invisible.
He quickly jumped out of the way of Sophie and
sprinted back towards the tree, channeling power to his legs as he went.
About ten yards away, he uncorked the climbing potion and gulped it down.
Dex reached the tree and, surprisingly, climbed it almost effortlessly.
He scaled the tree quickly and quietly until he was hidden deep within the branches and flowers.
He coughed softly into his tunic, trying not to alert Sophie of his hiding spot.“DEX!” Sophie shouted.
He couldn’t see her, but he knew she was furious with him disappearing.
“WHERE ARE YOU!” Dex opted not to respond.
He sighed contently, inhaling the sweet scent of the Panakes blossoms.
They were in full bloom this time of year, the pinks, purples, and blues swirling together in a beautiful painting

A single blossom lands on his head, it hasn't peaked yet, leaving it a blue, almost teal color.
He smiled, thinking of Fitz, tucking it behind his ear.
Sophie would never be able to find him up here and his clothes were comfy.
His eyes closed for just a moment, just wanting to rest for a second.Dex was surrounded by the Panakes trees with petals flowing all over him, swirling around him in a miniature whirlwind of pink, purple, and blue.
His hair was fluffy as if he had curls.
He was wearing an orangey-red cloak over a white, four-piece suit.
It felt so surreal yet so authentic at the same time.“Dex?” Someone said.
Dex turned around to see Fitz.
The Vacker was dressed the same as him, except his cloak was a teal, matching his eyes.
Fitz's hair was perfect as normal, and his smile almost melted Dex on the spot.
He held a bouquet of white roses and daffodils in front of him.“Fitz?” Dex asked, clearing his throat, “Wh-what are you doing here?”“I wanted to ask you something,” Fitz replied.
He knelt on one knee and held out the flowers, “And I've been wanting to say this for a long time, but I've never had the courage.
Will you...
Be my boyfriend?”“Yes!” He squealed.
He went in to hug Fitz but a rough shake snapped him out of his dream.“Dex!” Someone shouted.
He opened his eyes to see Sophie shaking his shoulders.
They were both still in the Panakes tree and leaning haphazardly against a weak-looking branch.
Sophie was relying on a singular knee, with the other pressed against a fragile tangle of flowers, holding almost her entire weight while she rattled her cousin violently.
The branch cracked and groaned under their weight.“Stop shaking me!” Dex yelled.
Sophie released his shoulders with a smirk, “How’d you find me?”“I might have eavesdropped on your dream,” She answered smugly, moving to sit on a much sturdier arm. “It’s not like you were shielding it or anything.”“What?” He asked.
Since he was woken up so harshly, he remembered his dream vividly.“Yep.”“Please tell me you didn’t see what it was,” Dex begged, even though he knew the answer.“But your dream was so cuuuuuuuuute!” Sophie cooed, poking at the ginger.
He slapped her hand away, “With all the Panakes blossoms and Fitz with flowers!
Super romantic, I like it.”“Don’t you dare share it with anyone,” He growled.“Only if you let Vertina do your makeup.”“I’d nev-”“I guess I’m just gonna share this memory with Fitz.” Dex lunged at her as if that would help.
She quickly dodged, letting him fall out of the tree.
He used levitation to stop himself from hitting the ground.“That was not my fault,” Sophie said quickly.“Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna blame you,” Dex said, hovering next to her, “I’m going back home.”“We still have to do your makeup, though!”
She yelled.
Dex jumped down to the ground and started walking back to the house.
Sophie scrambled after him, almost landing on her face.
She tackled Dex to the ground.“Ow!”“You are not going home,” She said, twisting his arm behind his back."Get off me!" He kicked upwards at her stomach but hit her in the shoulder instead.
Sophie grunted and shoved his head into the ground.
Dex flailed and scrambled, trying to knock his cousin off him.
She shoved his arms under his chest and sat on his back, restraining him further“Fine!
Fine!
Ok!
Fine!”
He yelled.
Sophie smacked him up the head."Fine, what?" She teased.
Dex grunted."Fine, I'll let your dumb spectral mirror do my makeup," He wheezed.
The blonde stood up, letting the smaller gasp for air.
She tried to help him up, but he swatted her hand away."C'mon!" Sophie smiled, pulling him by the arm.
The house was empty when they entered, but a stack of custardbursts lay freshly baked on the counter. Sophie and Dex grabbed a handful before she led him upstairs to his room where he was pushed in front of her sassy spectral mirror.
She had straight black hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a shiny purple dress.“Oh!” Vertina squealed, “Is this the boy who you said was going on a date?
He is so cute!”“Vertina, this is Dex,” Sophie said, stepping to see the illusion, “He needs makeup and clothes.”“That’s a challenge I’m willing to accept!” The mirror giggled.
Dex gave an audible, annoyed sigh to tell Sophie that he was never going to let her do his makeup.
Vertina rolled her eyes at the action, “You don’t have to be so grumpy about it, Dex.”“Dex, don’t be rude,” Sophie scolded, “We’re here to help you blow Fitz off his feet if he doesn’t do that to you first.”“First thing’s first,” Vertina said, “Take a shower, and don’t brush down your curls this time.”“How did you know I have curls?” Dex asked at the same time his cousin asked, “You have curly hair?”“The unnatural waves in your hair, darling,” The mirror replied simply, “It wasn’t caused by an elixir, I’m sure, so you had to have brushed it down because those waves do not look good on you.”“Wow,” He said with sarcasm, “You just have so many nice things to say to me, don’t you?”“She warms up to you eventually,” Sophie reassured him, “Don’t worry.
Vertina, please continue.”“After that, you probably want to wash off the makeup that hides your freckles.” She said,
Dex’s jaw dropped.
He’d hidden his freckles ever since he was nine, how did she find out so easily?“You have FRECKLES?!” Sophie shouted.
He didn’t even know how to react to the fact that a mirror that he hadn't even known for two minutes could tell that he had freckles that he’d hidden for six years.“I- yeah?” He responded dumbfoundedly, “H-how?”“There are freckles on your ears,” Vertina said, “And I can see some on your shoulders, too.”“Are they obvious?” He asked, looking at himself in the mirror.
He did see a couple of freckles on his shoulders and more on his ears, but it wasn’t too noticeable.
You’d have to look hard to see them.“No,” Sophie said, “And I’ve known you for a long time.
I’ve never noticed those before, but it’s well hidden.”“Good.”“But still,” Vertina said, “Wipe off that makeup, we want a natural look for a first date, that includes freckles.”“This isn’t a date!” Dex exclaimed.
Sophie and Vertina rolled their eyes.“Whatever you say,” Sophie said, “But you still have to wipe off that makeup and reveal your curls.”“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” He said, walking into Sophie’s bathroom.
He closed the door loudly behind him.“I’ll bring you a towel,” His cousin shouted over her shoulder.
Dex sighed and turned on the shower, taking his time washing his hair and cleaning his face, just to annoy Sophie.
When he stepped out, he took the towel that was by the door and dried off. He grabbed his clothes, got dressed, and left the bathroom to meet Sophie.
His cousin was sitting in front of her spectral mirror, deep in conversation with Vertina.“Well, I think Marella and Maruca are wooed by Fiinna,” Sophie said in almost a whisper.“Is she cute?” Vertina asked giddily, “Of course, she is, Marella has the best taste.
What does Fiinna look like?”“Fiinna has bright, neon blue eyes that practically glow,” She responded, “And white-blonde hair in corkscrew curls, and it’s always in a poofy afro.
Her skin is fairly dark and she has this amazing fitted dress that she always wears when she’s not in her Foxfire uniform.
It's a white, knee-length dress with gold embroidery.
She also has this gold eyeshadow and eyeliner, I have no idea where she gets it, but it looks perfect on her.”“You have to have her over some time,” Vertina squealed, “No wonder why Marella and Maruca like her.
Who’s going to ask Fiinna out first?
Or is this going to stay a schoolgirl crush?”“Maruca said she likes someone else, a level four boy, so Marella’s going to ask her out sometime this week.”“Oh!
Maybe I could help.
Marella’s pretty on her own, but I could help her achieve beauty.”“I’ll tell her you offered to help,” Sophie smiled.
Dex coughed loudly to get their attention.
Vertina rolled her eyes.“Passive aggressive much?” She asked.
Sophie waved him over so that he stood in front of Vertina.
Without his makeup, freckles bombarded his skin, most of them gathering along his cheeks and nose, with some spilling down his neck.“You look so cute!” His cousin squealed, “I love your freckles and your curls are adorable.” While Sophie fawned over his appearance, her spectral mirror looked him up and down judgmentally.“I’m assuming that you’re not going to wear those clothes?” She commented rudely, “Because you look extremely disheveled.”“How does Sophie live with you?” Dex snarked, “You have zero filter on that fake mouth of yours.”“At least I don’t lie to myself,” Vertina snapped back, “Saying ‘Oh, I can go on a date looking like absolute Flareadon shit!’”“You little-”“Sorry about that, Vertina,” Sophie interrupted, “Dex, say sorry.”“I’m not the one who started it!” He exclaimed.“I would very much like an apology,” Vertina said.“Vertina, just style him.” Dex was fuming, with his arms crossed.“No!” She shouted, “I’m not doing anything until that douche apologizes.”“I refuse to say anything to that thing.” He said.“Dex,” Sophie growled, “Apologize, or I’ll share your dream with Fitz.” she turned to her spectral mirror, “Style him, or I’m shoving you back into Jolie’s room until I’m ancient.” Vertina and Dex grumbled a half-hearted apology to each other.
Sophie was pleased."Well then," She smiled, "let's get started!"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“No, go screw yourselves!” Someone shouted.
Fitz had been standing in the cave by the lake for only five minutes now, but he had already convinced himself that Dex wasn’t going to come. He had set up a small picnic by the mouth of the cave. It was a traditional human picnic that Biana saw on some human TV show and helped him up. Red and white checkered blanket with a woven basket filled with sandwiches, pastries, and fresh fruit. He also had a glass pitcher of a sour human delicacy, lemonade.
Biana had also forced him to put on makeup, not much though. She said that she wanted to go for a more ‘natural’ look, whatever that meant.
He kept on reaching to rub his eyes but remembered that he was wearing mascara, and Biana would kill him if he ruined her hard work.
A beam of light appeared in front of Fitz and a frustrated Dex stumbled out of it.“Look behind you, dearest cousin,” Sophie taunted, also appearing from the light.
Dex whipped around to see Fitz staring right at him.
The boys both stood frozen, staring, not knowing what to do.
But Sophie did.
She pushed Dex forward and sent him tumbling towards Fitz.
The latter caught the small boy just before he hit the ground, making their faces only inches apart.“See’ya stupids,” She said, disappearing into the light again.
Dex couldn’t care less about Sophie, his crush, Fitz, was less than four inches away from his face.
He could just imagine how much he must be blushing right now.
Fitz, on the other hand, was mind-blank, trying to think of what to do next.
After another second of staring, Fitz helped place Dex back on his feet.“Sophie’s crazy, right?” He joked uncomfortably.
Dex gave a chuckle and rubbed his neck,“We have really weird families,” The younger said.
They stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do next.“I didn’t know you had freckles,” Fitz commented, trying to break the painful silence.
Dex blushed.“Y-yeah, I usually cover them with makeup and elixirs.” Dex said.
Fitz moved closer to examine them. The former froze when Fitz touched his cheek.“Wow,” He breathed, “I’ve never seen an elf with this many freckles. Have you had them since birth, or did they start appearing once you grew up?” Fitz tilted Dex’s head to the side to get a better look. The latter blushed redder than a tomato, but the other didn’t seem to notice.“I-i’ve had them since I was a kid.” Dex managed.“Awesome. Do you have any, like, skincare routines? Freckles can cause skin damage, Sophie told me.” Fitz, who was not as naive as Dex thought, moved closer, his nose almost touching Dex’s cheek. His face exploded with red.
Keefe told the Vacker to get as close as possible to Dex, to make him blush a little.“N-nothing much,” The redhead mumbled, “J-just some lotion.” Fitz moved back a bit, resting his hands on the smallers hips.
They both blushed.
Fitz was at a loss for words now.
Keefe only told him so much, and it’s gotten him this far.
Dex gathered his courage, wanting the awkward moment to end.
He was about to say something before Fitz spoke up“I-i set up a picnic for us,“ The Vacker said, pointing towards the mouth of the cave. “It's like the ones from human television shows, I know how much you like them.“ Dex blushed at the thoughtfulness of Fitz.“Thanks,“
He smiled, before reaching into the knapsack he carried. “I made your sleeping potions.“ Dex pulled out a carton of glass bottles filled with a sparkly purple liquid.“What is it?“ Fitz asked, taking it and running his thumb over one of the labels. Dex blushed and turned away.“I-its your sleeping potions,“ He answered, “Sophie let me use some Reveriebells in it, and there are also some other ingredients that will help you get some sleep. Drink about half a bottle before bed and it should give you a good night's sleep.“Fitz grinned, touched by Dex’s thoughtfulness. “Thank you, Dex. This means a lot.“Dex nodded, smiling shyly. “You’re welcome. I hope it helps.”They both stood there, awkwardly, until Fitz gestured towards the picnic. “Shall we?”Dex nodded eagerly. “Yeah, let’s.”They settled down on the blanket, both feeling the initial awkwardness of the situation. Fitz poured them each a glass of lemonade, his hands trembling slightly. Dex noticed and tried to break the ice.“This is lemonade, right? Did Biana suggest this too?” he asked, taking a sip and wincing slightly at the sour taste.Fitz laughed, relaxing a bit. “Yeah, she did. She said it’s a classic. What do you think?”Dex shrugged, smiling. “It’s different, but I like it. Very... refreshing.”Fitz picked up a sandwich and offered it to Dex. “I made these myself. Hope they’re okay.”Dex took a bite and nodded appreciatively. “Not bad, Fitz. Not bad at all.”As they continued eating, Fitz's curiosity got the better of him. “So, tell me more about your inventions and potions. You’re always coming up with the coolest stuff.”Dex’s eyes lit up at the opportunity to talk about his work. “Well, lately I’ve been working on some new potions. One of them can change the color of someone’s hair in sections. You just apply it to the strands you want to change, and it works like a charm.”Fitz's eyes widened in amazement. “That sounds so cool! How did you come up with that?”Dex grinned, excited to explain. “It started with a challenge from Keefe, actually. He joked about wanting to change his hair color without using illusions, so I thought, why not? I experimented with different herbs and extracts. The key was finding the right combination that could penetrate the hair and change its color without causing damage.”Fitz leaned in, fascinated. “And it works perfectly?”Dex nodded. “Pretty much. There’s still a bit of tweaking to do to make sure the colors don’t fade too quickly or mix weirdly. But it’s been a fun project. You can even use it to create patterns or highlights. The potion reacts differently depending on how you apply it.”Fitz's mind was racing with ideas. “That’s incredible, Dex. Have you tried it on yourself?”Dex blushed slightly. “Yeah, a couple of times. Mostly just to test it out. I turned some of my hair purple once. It looked... interesting.”Fitz laughed. “I bet it did. You should show me sometime.”Dex smiled. “Maybe I will. I’ve been thinking about trying out some new colors. What about you? Any colors you’d want to try?”Fitz thought for a moment. “I don’t know, maybe some teal highlights? Something subtle but cool.”Dex nodded. “Teal would look beautiful on you. I’ll make you a batch to try out.”They continued to talk, the conversation flowing easily now. Dex shared more stories about his experiments and the funny mishaps that sometimes happened in his lab. Fitz listened intently, asking questions and making Dex laugh with his reactions. As the sun began to set, casting a warm glow over the lake, Fitz and Dex lay back on the blanket, feeling much more comfortable with each other.“This has been nice,” Dex said softly, turning to look at Fitz. “Thank you for today.”Fitz smiled, his heart swelling with affection. “Yeah, it has. We should do this more often.”“Definitely.”
Dex nodded in agreement, a contented smile on his face.
His grin faltered a bit when he though about how this would end.
Dex would say good night to Fitz and go home, where they would go back to their individual lives, hardly interacting.“Is something wrong, Dex?" Fitz asked, a look of concern working its way over his face.
Dex snapped out of his thoughts and glanced up to his friend.“Well,” The Dizznee started, taking a deep breath. He wanted to ask one more question before they left. “You- uhm- I-i actually wanted to ask you s-something.”“Hmm?” Fitz hummed, words escaping him.“I- well, I wanted to ask.
Umh.” Dex looked away, not knowing what to do.
Fitz gently grabbed his chin and pulled him back.
The Vacker's body moved on its own, pressing his lips to Dex’s. He jumped at the action at first, but quickly returned the kiss.“Awwh.” the boys jumped apart at the voices. At the side of the forest stood Sophie, Keefe, Marella, Biana, and Ro all smiling.
Biana held a small camera that Dex gave her, filming the tender moment.
Dex hid his face in his hands, wanting to shrivel up and die.
Fitz, on the other hand, was a bit more vocal about the interruption“What the hell guys!” He shouted, “Why are you here?”“You two are just so cute!” Marella teased, “Biana told us you were gonna be kissing, and she didn’t disappoint.”“That’s creepy.
And an invasion of privacy.”“Hey Fitz,“ Dex pulled out a small copper cube he’d made earlier in the day and showed it to him while his friends were still cooing about them.“We know, we know,” Keefe sighed, “But we just couldn’t resist a little spying.”“I'll run when you run,“ Fitz smiled.
Dex
flung the cube outside the cave, just behind Sophie, and pulled Fitz to the back of the cave.“Duck.” The technopath smiled as he pulled the telepath behind a rock.
Fitz lowered his head just as the sounds of screaming could be heard.“What the shit!” Tam yelled.
Dex quickly raised his home crystal and pulled Fitz with him.
They arrived outside Rimeshire and the light quickly disappeared.
After a moment, They both burst out laughing. Fitz fell to his knees, holding his stomach.“W-was that the s-sibling repellent?” He asked between laughs. Dex nodded hysterically. Kesler rushed outside, hearing the commotion.“You boys ok?” He asked.
His son gave him a shaky thumbs up, laughing himself to tears.Once they caught their breath, Fitz looked at Dex, a serious yet gentle expression on his face. “Dex, there's something I need to ask you too.”“What is it, Fitz?” Dex asked, holding his beath in anticipation.“Will you be my boyfriend?” The Vacker asked, taking Dex's hand into his own.
The Dizznee's eyes widened, and for a moment, he was speechless. Then, a slow, happy smile spread across his face.“Yes, Fitz. I'd love to.”Fitz grinned, feeling a wave of relief and joy wash over him. He squeezed Dex's hand gently. “Great. This is... this is really great.”Dex nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, it is.”They stood there for a moment, just gazing into each others eyes, before Kesler cleared his throat, reminding them he was still there.
Dex jumped away from Fitz, but the Vacker pulled him back.“I’m happy for you both,” Kesler said with a warm smile. “Now, how about you come inside and tell me all about it?”Fitz and Dex exchanged a glance, then nodded, following Kesler into
Rimeshire.