Double or nothing
Edric POV:
I sat at the kitchen table, only halfway awake. Rubbing my eyes, I drew a quick spell to clean off my plate before floating it back to the cupboard with a small smile. "Y'know, I could really just pick a seat for the rest of my life and float whatever I need to myself with the simple twirl of my finger. Life could be easy."
My voice echoed slightly off the walls, reminding me that I was the only one up. With a low sigh, I ran a hand through my messy hair, then summoned my scroll to make it float in front of me. Propping my other arm up on the table, I drew a quick electricity spell, watching the yellow circle envelope around my wrist.
With the spell activated, I started to flick my middle finger across the pad of my thumb, creating small sparks that fizzled and died quickly in the air. I watched the sparks for a moment, my eyes following them as they flew into the air.
Then, I held my fingers together for a moment, feeling the buzz of the spell travel up my arm. I waited a moment, then let the sparks go. This time, it flew out as a larger spark, going maybe a foot or so in front of me before dying out with a loud pop.
I let out a small chuckle, then turned my attention back to my scroll, opening up Pensta while I continued to make sparks. There wasn't anything too interesting, but it was better than sitting there and doing nothing.
A bit of time later I heard the wooden steps creak under someone's weight. My eyes flicked up the stairs for a moment, being greeted by my messy haired twin. "Took you long enough to wake up you lazybones." I muttered, turning my gaze back down to my scroll.
"Oh shut it Ed." She growled, stretching both of her arms above her head, her baggy shirt collar slipping down her shoulder. Even from where I was at, I could hear the faint sound of her joints popping. "Why are you even up this early?"
"Wanted breakfast. Also, it's not that early." I said simply, flicking a few sparks in her direction. She flinched slightly, then furrowed her eyebrows together.
"Yeah right. What did you prank without me?" She asked, her eyes darting down to the sparks for a minute. "And why are you doing that?" I shrugged my shoulders, holding my fingers together for a moment before letting it go with a soft pop.
"Honestly, I don't even know." I muttered, making her roll her eyes. "And yeesh, is it a crime to set up a prank without you?" Emira scoffed, moving over to the table before pulling out a seat.
"It's a crime if it's against Mittens. You know I love watching her get red in the face over something stupid!" She leaned her chin on the heel of her hand, her signature smirk plastered on her lips.
"Speaking of little ol' Mittens, you know if she's up yet or not?" I asked, eyeing the stairs once again. "Not like her to sleep in this late." My twin nodded her head, then shrugged, her gaze also going up towards the stairs.
"No clue. But, if she is up, she's not gonna come down here. She's gonna stay up there with Luz." My twin mumbled before chuckling.
"Do we really expect anything less of her though?" I asked with a smirk, Emira shaking her head. "That's what I thought." Using my free hand I made my scroll disappear before running it through my hair again, trying to get some of the knots out.
The two of us went quiet, save for the sounds of the crackling sparks flying from my fingers. Emira let out a low sigh, laying her head down on the table. "I'm so fucking tired..." Her voice was muffled, but it still made me laugh.
"Should've went to bed early. You're the one who set up the plans for today." I told her with a laugh, making her look up and glare at me before putting her head back down.
"I know I did, but I didn't expect to get up this early." She mumbled, making me roll my eyes, it was maybe an hour before noon, not that early. I stood up, still producing the sparks from my fingers as I made my way over to the stairs.
"Excuses excuses." I teased, Emira not looking up to face me this time. "Anyways, I'll go see if Mittens and Luz are up yet." I got a thumbs up from my twin, then I slowly started to make my way up the stairs.
It was fairly quiet upstairs, making me assume the two were still out cold. However, when I moved closer to Amity's door, I could hear the sound of hushed whispers escaping from behind the cracked open door.
Slowing down my pace so the floor wouldn't give me away, I made my way over to her door, just barely peeking my head inside. I saw that both of them were sitting up, facing one another as they spoke in quiet voices.
Luz had a hand on the side of Amity's face, which was a bright red shade. Her ears quickly flapped up and down as she struggled to stammer out a response to whatever Luz said before. "You okay?" I heard Luz ask, her voice sounding slightly shaky.
Amity nodded her head. "What are you doing?" She finally managed to squeak. Luz chuckled, softly shaking her head.
"I mean, it seems pretty obvious..." The girl let out another chuckle, this one louder than the first. "C'mon Ammy, I'm supposed to be the dense one here." I furrowed my eyebrows together, pulling away slightly from the door.
"Ammy?" I whispered under my breath, trying to remember a time where Luz ever called Amity that. My ears twitched when I heard Amity's babbling, struggling to correctly form a sentence. I poked my head in again, my eyebrows raising.
"Of course, that's only if you want to! No pressure or anything!" Luz quickly stammered out, moving her hand away from my sister's face to hold them up defensively. Amity was quick to take a hold of Luz's hands, rapidly nodding her head.
"Oh my gods..." I could feel the smile growing on my face as I stopped making sparks, holding my fingers together, an uncomfortable static feeling rising up my arm. With my other hand I summoned my scroll, a low, sinister chuckle rising up in my throat. "Blackmail~"
Both of them froze up for a minute, making me worry that they heard me. However, it wasn't long before they started to lean in. I held my breath, ready to break into a run the moment I got the photo.
Then, a sharp pain shot up my arm, making me let go of the sparks I was holding. It flew off towards Em's room, dying out with a loud pop. I heard a yelp come from Amity's room and my ears went down. "Oh no..." I muttered, peeking back into the room and making my scroll disappear while I wildly waved my hand, trying to get rid of the buzzing feeling the sparks left behind.
Now, Luz was practically in my sister's lap, one hand over her heart and the other tightly gripping Amity's shoulder. They spoke even quieter than before, making it near impossible for me to understand. The only thing I could understand were a few words of comfort coming from my sister, trying to soothe the girl in her arms.
"What'cha see Ed?" Emira suddenly appeared by my side to peer into the room, her voice no louder than a whisper. "Any good opportunities for leverage against Mittens?" She asked with a smirk on her face. I grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back from the door.
"Back up." I hissed, giving her a light shove. She blinked a few times, then tilted her head as her eyebrows bunched together. More whispers came from Amity's room, making me silently hope they couldn't hear us.
"What? Why?" She chuckled, moving towards the door again. I spun her around and started quickly shoving her away, struggling as she dug her heels into the ground. "Ed c'mon!" My twin hissed with a laugh, trying to go back.
"No! Em, I messed up and now we gotta go before Mittens catches us!" I finally managed to push my sister to the top of the stairs, then gave her a rough shove to force her to go down. She yelped in surprise, nearly tripping down the steps before she grabbed the handrail. "She will kill me if she sees me out here, go!"
"What did you even do?" Emira asked me with a laugh as I quickly passed her going down the stairs, hoping I could make it down there and act natural.
"Might've scared Luz and accidentally ruined their first kiss..." I said all in one breath, barely able to understand what I said myself. I speed walked to the kitchen and threw myself into a chair, nervously drumming my fingers on the table with one hand while I rested my chin on the other.
Emira slowly made her way into the kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed together. "You... their first kiss?" She finally asked, confusion clear in her voice. "Hold on wait, are they a thing?!"
I shrugged my shoulders, still tapping my fingers against he table. "Maybe? I don't know..." Emira let out a snort, then busted up into a full fit of laughter, leaning against the wall so that she wouldn't fall.
"Gods Ed, watch as-" My twin let out a loud wheeze, unable to finish her sentence. She struggled to catch her breath, nearly doubling over as she placed both hands on her knees. "Watch as you just blocked Mittens from confessing."
"Correction, Luz confessing." I pointed, only making Emira laugh even harder. "And it's not like I did it on purpose, I just don't prefer giving myself an actual heart attack while trying to get blackmail."
My twin was still laughing, struggling to walk over to a chair at the table and take a seat. I could see the tears pooling in her eyes, one slipping down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away. "Who knows Ed? Maybe it's jump start your brain cells!"
"Okay wow, gee sis love you too." I mumbled sarcastically, rolling my eyes. Emira gave me a rough shove, nearly making me fall out of my chair. I flipped her off in response, only making her stick out her tongue.
The stairs creaked again, making the two of us look up. We watched as Amity darted down, swinging slightly on the handrail before darting in the kitchen, clearly in a rush. "Well morning to you too Mittens." Emira said, making Amity's ears twitch.
She grabbed a water bottle and spun around on her heel, pausing in her tracks for a moment. "Mittens? Have you gone deaf or what?" I teased, making her let out a loud, annoyed sigh.
"Good morning." She finally said, making Em and I smile.
"What's got you in such a rush?" Emira asked, only making Amity roll her eyes. I noticed that despite her poker face, there was a hint of panic in her eyes. "Missing out on some valuable make out time or what?" Amity puffed out her cheeks, a red blush rising to her ears.
"It's nothing that'd worry you two." She snapped, her voice tight. "First you guys set off some kind of loud prank that wakes up me and Luz, then you decide to go through this spiel again..." Em and I exchanged glances, smirks rising to our lips.
"Whatever you say. You can head back up to your girlfriend if you want~" I leaned back in my chair slightly, hearing Amity scoff. She made her way over to the stairs, already half way up before Emira perked up.
"Mittens wait!" Amity paused, turning her head to give Em an annoyed look. "Ed and I have plans today, you two gonna be good here on your own?" I watched as Amity's eyebrows furrowed together slightly, her gaze darting to me for a moment before back to Em.
"I knew you had plans." She pointed a finger to Emira, then pointed it at me. "But I never knew you had plans." I let out a little chuckle, leaning onto the table.
"Well, once Jerbo and I heard about Em's little outing, we decided to be the third and fourth wheel. Besides, Viney's too nice to tell us not to come." I shot her a smile, making my sister roll her eyes.
"Remind me not to tell you guys..." She quickly closed her mouth, her eyes widening.
"What was that Mittens? Were you trying to say that you shouldn't tell us when you and your girlfriend go on a date?" I teased, making Amity's cheeks darken a shade. She huffed, then continued her way upstairs, disappearing from our sight.
Once I figured Amity moved out of earshot, Emira turned to me, letting out a small sigh. "When are you gonna tell her about you and Jerbo?" She asked me, but I only shrugged.
"Soon. Not right now since everything's happened, but soon." I said, making her shake her head. "What?"
"Nothing it's just the fact that I still have no clue how you managed to keep you two being a thing hidden for so long!" She laughed, running a hand through her hair. "Not even gonna lie to you Ed, that's impressive."
"Yeah well, unlike you, I didn't try to sneak him in all the time. I would always sneak out if I wanted to see him." Emira's cheeks went red, making me smirk. "Besides, the only way you found out was because Viney was dragging you through the forest to her house."
She stayed quiet for a minute, then sighed. "Okay fine, you win there."
"I know I did." I said smugly, watching her run her hands over her face.
"Seriously, I thought you were going to be the last sibling in this family to get with someone but you were actually the first one? Like... how?" She asked, her voice holding a hint of exasperation.
"Well, compared to you two who get red in the face at the brief mention of your crushes, I learned how to put on a good poker face." I stood up, getting ready to head upstairs. "Now, we should probably go get ready for the day. After all, it isn't a double date without the Blight doubles, amiright?"
Emira gagged, shaking her head. "Never refer to us as the Blight doubles again."
"What? Worried that you'll be known as the second Blight double because I'm clearly the superior twin?" Emira's lips pursed into a thin line as she rolled her eyes, giving me a shove. I went to continue on with my banter, but before I could, my ears twitched when I heard someone walking down the stairs.
For a second, I thought it was Amity again and I was ready to start teasing her, but I held back my words when I realized it was Luz. "Oh, hey Luz!" She gave a weak wave in response, not even giving us a smile.
"What're you doing up cutie?" Emira asked, spinning around in her chair until she faced the human. Luz sucked in a breath, her hand hovering over her side.
"Amity's in the shower, so I came down to get another drink." She mumbled, slowly walking into the kitchen. I noticed how she didn't call Amity by the nickname I heard earlier, raising my suspicion. I folded my arms over my chest, furrowing my brows slightly.
"You shouldn't be up you know. Mittens' gonna blow a fuse if she finds out." I could hear the human huff, pausing in her tracks before side glancing me, her eyebrows furrowed together.
"Yeah yeah, I know. Look I'm not really in the mood for any of this right now, so if you could just shut it, that'd be great." The irritated tone of her voice made my ears twitch, my eyebrows raising in a bit of surprise. Luz blinked a few times, then her eyes widened in a panic. She turned to face me, holding one hand out defensively. "Oh geez, I'm sorry! That came off really mean!"
Emira shook her head, waving Luz's worries aside. "Don't sweat it, you're in pain and don't feel the greatest. You can get your drink and go relax." She told her gently, making the girl turn to look at her.
"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice going soft. We both gave her a nod, making her nod her head as well. "Alright... I'm sorry again Edric."
I chuckled, lightly shaking my head. "Looks like Mittens' sour attitude is starting to rub off on ya." Luz looked down, placing a hand on her heart and giving it a couple of rubs. "Besides, I've heard way worse before."
Luz didn't say anything else, rather, she grabbed herself a drink and headed back upstairs as quick as she could. I leaned against the table, staring at the top of the staircase for a moment.
"That was out of character..." I said after a moment, making Emira look up at me and raise an eyebrow. "For Luz anyways." My sister scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"I honestly don't blame her for the sourpuss attitude." Emira said, turning her gaze back to the stairs.
"Neither do I. Still, it'd just a little odd sounding." I muttered, getting off the table and heading towards the stairs, this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something else was up. I shook it away as I placed my hand on the handrail. "Anyways, now I'm gonna go get ready. You should too."
"Alright, who are you and what did you do to my brother? Not procrastinating for once?" She laughed, leaning back in her chair. I let out a chuckle, going up the stairs.
"Hey, your brother is still here, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I just want to get this show on the road already!" Emira got up and out of her seat as I bounded up the stairs, quickly going into my room and closing the door.
I pressed my back against the door, a dopey smile on my face as I let out a laugh. With my ears flapping, I moved over to my closet and quickly started to sift through my shirts, trying to find something that would be good to wear.
For a brief moment, I considered wearing something a little flashier, but I was quick to push it away. Instead, I settled for a maroon shirt that had a few buttons towards the top, which I left undone, and a dark pair of jeans and sneakers. Simple, but something better than casual.
Glancing at my faint reflection in my window I scowled. My hair was still a mess, sticking out at odd angles. Going back over to my door, I threw it open and went to head into the bathroom to brush it, only to nearly slam into Amity.
"Watch where you're going Ed!" She snapped at me, only making me chuckle and ruffle her hair, which sent a few water droplets through the air. Pushing me away, she headed back to her room and closed the door.
I hung off the door frame, swinging into the view of the mirror. Quickly grabbing the brush from the drawer, quickly running it through my hair to make it look like its usual style.
Once I finally achieved the look I was going for, I set the brush down on the counter, eyeing myself in the mirror. Then, I shot myself a quick set of finger guns, clicking my tongue. "Looking sharp!"
Spinning on my heel, I turned towards the door and pulled it open, finding Emira standing there. She wore a pair of black leggings and a dark purple hoodie with faded black text scrawled across the chest that read "The Abominations."
"Wow, an old hoodie of ours. Classy Em, real classy." She chuckled, giving me a light punch to the shoulder.
"Hey, it's not like it's a formal date night. It's just where we hang loose and relax, besides, the place we're going, I don't want to risk tearing some fancy clothes." I nodded my head, still eyeing the old hoodie for a moment.
"True, still, you aren't really the type to wear a hoodie on a date night..." I trailed off, squinting for a minute before a light bulb went off. "Oh my gods no."
"What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I placed my hands on her shoulders, softly shaking my head.
"Em please, please tell me you aren't hoping to do that cliche and give Viney your sweater if she gets cold. Please don't tell me you're doing that." Emira's cheeks flushed a light pink, confirming my suspicions.
"You know, you could've waited to call me out." She grumbled, shoving me out of the way to move in front of the mirror.
"Oh you're right, I should've waited to call you out in front of your girlfriend. That would've been so much better." I taunted, making her roll her eyes. "Anyways, when are we leaving again?"
"Impatient to meet up with your brown haired boyfriend?" She asked as she started to apply her eyeliner, making me scoff. I leaned against the door frame, folding my arms over my chest.
"Not like you act any different with Viney." Emira finished applying her eyeliner, shooting me a cold glare before putting the makeup away. She moved towards me, giving me another light shove before leaning down the hallway.
"Mittens! Luz! We're going!" She called, getting a quick okay from the two. "We'll have our scrolls!" She paused, then turned to me. "You do have your scroll, right?" I nodded my head, making her nod her's as well. "Yeah we'll have our scrolls! Give a ring if ya need anything!"
Emira then spun on her heel, shoving her hands in her pockets and motioning with her head for me to follow her. The two of us quickly made our way downstairs and out the front door, the sun hanging high in the air.
Instantly the warmth started beating down on us, almost making me laugh. Glancing over at my twin, I could see the look of discomfort on her face, but she didn't make any effort to take the jacket off.
We walked in silence for a little bit, I shoved my hands in my pants pockets, lightly tapping my fingers against my thighs. "So where'd you tell them to meet us?"
"Outskirts of the market." She said, taking one of her hands out of her hoodie pocket to lightly pull at the collar, then she patted her legging pockets before letting out a little sigh. "Thought I'd take Viney through and see if she wanted anything."
"Wow, and you didn't tell me this for what? I would've grabbed my wallet before we left." Drawing a spell circle, I summoned my wallet, making it fall in the palm of my hand. Then, I shoved it in my back pocket.
"Well why didn't you think of grabbing it?" Emira asked, her voice flaring up with a bit of annoyance. I scoffed, rolling my eyes before turning my gaze forward again.
"Because you never told me what we're gonna do. You told me that you and Viney had a date, and she invited Jerbo so we could do a double date type of thing." I could hear Emira want to argue, but she hesitated, then said nothing.
Both of us fell into another bought of silence, quickly approaching the edge of the market. Up ahead, I could see the faint outline of two figures chatting. It took them a second, then one of them noticed the two of us, giving us an enthusiastic wave.
I could hear Emira suck in a breath, and glancing over I could see her ears flapping slightly. "Eddy!" I turned forward again, only to be nearly taken down to the ground by Jerbo.
He pulled me into a headlock, lightly running his knuckles over the top of my head, making the two of us laugh. "Let go of me!" I chuckled, seeing Viney jog up to the three of us out of the corner of my eye.
Jerbo was quick to let go of me, spinning me around before placing both of his hands on the side of my face. Then, he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before he let go of me. I took a step back with a laugh, feeling my ears lightly flapping.
Now, I could finally get a good look at what the two were wearing. Viney was wearing a thick strapped grey tank top, which looked like it was torn at the bottom with a light brown flannel tied around her waist, the necklace that Emira got her a little while ago, and a pair of dark grey pants with tears in the knees. Jerbo wore a simple black t-shirt and jeans, but it looked like he was wearing some kind of steel toed shoes.
"How long were you two waiting here?" Emira asked, subtly trying to move closer to Viney. The beastkeeper glanced over at my sister, rolled her eyes, then quickly placed an arm over my sister's hip and pulled her close, making my twin squeak in surprise.
"Not too long." Jerbo said, not hesitating to take his hand in mine, our fingers intertwining. I started doing small circles on his hand with my thumb, making him smile. "And hey, your guy's show was amazing!" The beastkeeper nodded her head, making the two of us smile.
"So Emmy, what exactly did you have planned for today?" Viney asked, raising an eyebrow. Emira stammered for a minute, trying to correctly form a sentence before she quickly cleared her throat.
"Secret stuff." She gave the beastkeeper a wink, making her ears go down. "But first, quick market trip! Get whatever you want, I'm paying. Then we can get a quick lunch or something." Viney chuckled, turning to my sister and rolling her eyes.
"And why would I need that when I've got a perfectly good snack right here?" Emira's eyes went wide, a high pitched squeak escaping her lips while Viney laughed. I turned over the Jerbo, who side glanced at me for a moment before turning towards me.
"Wanna head to the Snack Shack?" I asked, watching as his eyes lit up.
"Wanna see who can eat the most of those horrible things they like to call cookies?" He asked in return, making me smirk. We both nodded, then I turned to the others, giving them a quick salute before darting off, Jerbo not too far behind me.
I could hear Em and Viney call after us to not make ourselves sick, though they didn't get a response back. We entered the market and started weaving through the stands, laughing the entire time.
We both got three of the 'cookies' and moved over to a bench, watching the witches that passed us by for a minute. "Alright alright, whoever loses has to... oh! They've gotta fix the path to our hideout!"
"You act like that's some crummy chore." Jerbo leaned back on his free hand, resting the cookies on his lap. "Besides you know I could easily do it."
"Babe, I know." I said with a laugh, watching his cheeks go a dark pink. "But that was the only thing that came to mind. So unless you've got something worse than that..." I trailed off, watching as Jerbo's eyebrows furrowed together while he thought. There was a moment of silence, then he shook his head.
The two of us looked down hesitantly at one of the purple cookies in our hands, clearly wondering if it was worth the bet. Beside me, I could hear Jerbo take a deep breath to steel himself, then he gave me a nudge. "Ready?" He asked, making me nod. "Okay then... on three. One, two, three."
Taking a bite, I resisted the urge to gag as the horrible mix of flavors spread across my tongue. Jerbo almost instantly blew up in a coughing fit, spitting out the piece in his mouth as he struggled to get the taste out of his mouth.
I felt shivers travel up my spine and I quickly spit out the bit in my mouth, hating the taste it left behind. "Oh my gods we're so stupid..." I managed to say, sticking my tongue out of my mouth.
"We are!" Jerbo hissed, his eyes brimming with tears. "What do they even put in these?" I shrugged, trying to rub the taste off of my tongue. While both of us were complaining and whimpering about the taste, my ears twitched when I heard the faint sound of two familiar voices.
"What did you two do?" With my tongue still sticking out, I looked up to find a familiar pair of golden eyes. She glanced down at the purple circles in our laps, then grimaced. "Oh gods you guys didn't."
"We did." Viney rolled her eyes as Jerbo managed to choke out his words, lightly rubbing his throat with his hand. Emira sighed, drawing a small spell before tossing the two of us a small, white breath mint. "Oh, thanks Emira."
I quickly popped mine in my mouth, running across my tongue with a sigh. "Yeah thanks sis, you're a lifesaver."
Emira scoffed, motioning for the two of us to get up. "I didn't want to listen to you whine about the taste." Viney chuckled, making my sister's ears twitch slightly. "So, anywhere else you guys want to go? I mean, we've got a bit of time to kill before we should get heading to the spot."
She glanced up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest. "You're not supposed to look into the sun y'know? Geez Em, and you call yourself the better twin." Her head snapped around to face me, a glare glowing bright in her eyes.
Viney placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from going over and smacking me upside the head. "Can it dumbass." She growled, slouching down. "You're lucky I don't go over there and jinx your face."
"Hey!" Jerbo said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. "You aren't allowed to mess up his cute face!" I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, my ears going down.
"No, wait hey!" I stammered out, letting out a bit of a nervous laugh. "You're the one with the cute face here!" Jerbo struggled to muffle his laughter, but his flapping ears gave it away.
"Wow, look at you Jerbo, getting all pink in the face!" Viney said, a taunting tone hidden in her voice. Turning back over to the two, I noticed Viney looking down at her scroll before she quickly put it away.
Jerbo sighed, giving me a nudge as he rolled his eyes. "Not like you're any better V. Neither is your girlfriend, I mean, look at her right now." I glanced over at Em, who's cheeks were dusted a light red.
The beastkeeper only rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at Jerbo before giving my sister's hand a squeeze. "Well..." Emira started, tapping a finger against her chin. "I don't really have a clue where we should go before we head off to the spot so... any ideas?"
I shrugged, turning to the two previous troublemakers. "I'm down for anything really. Though, I say we should avoid our place. Wouldn't want to overwhelm Mittens and her Luz with our 'obnoxious' presence." Emira nodded her head, but she stifled a chuckle.
Viney's eyes suddenly lit up, her ears barely flapping. "How bout we go to the griffin pens? We can see if they're letting any newbies try and do some training. You two haven't seen how funny it is when they start getting chased!"
My boyfriend suddenly gasped, his eyes also lighting up. "Wait! Is..." He snapped his fingers a few times, trying to remember a name before he shot Viney a finger gun. "Is Gerald gonna be there today? He's hilarious to watch when he's trying to wrangle the griffins!"
But, despite Jerbo's excitement, Viney shook her head. "Nah, in fact he left a few weeks ago. Something about some plans with some friends that needed his full time attention. Haven't heard from him since then."
"What made him so entertaining?" Emira asked, making Viney shrug.
"Mostly it was the fact that even after weeks of practice, he had no idea how to correctly restrain a griffin. Not even Puddles, which was weird since she's like, the easiest to practice with. Then again... she never wanted to be around him." Viney furrowed her eyebrows together, but I only shrugged.
"Damn, shame we don't get to make fun of him." I shot a smirk to my sister, then shrugged again. "But hey, sounds entertaining enough, and we've got nothing better to do. So, lead the way!" Viney gave me a smile, then started to pull Emira along, Jerbo and I following after the couple.
Almost instantly, I could hear Viney start to ramble to Emira about the griffins, Emira nodding her head every once and awhile. "Oh, and you guys will love the seats! Jerbo and I know the best spot to watch everything happen." She paused for a moment, glancing back at the two of us with a sly smirk on her face. "And I'll send you that photo later, I know you want it for blackmail."
Instantly I tensed up, blinking a few times as I watched the two of them laugh. Jerbo grabbed my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Turning over to look at him, I could see his ears were pinned down and his face going red.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little, making him look over at me. "What are you laughing at?" He asked me, his voice a little higher than before.
"Nothing, just your cute face." A low squeak came from him, his face darkening a few shades. He gave me a shove, though he kept our hands intertwined, struggling to stammer out a response.
"It's not like you're any different right now!" He managed to say, which only made me smile wider. I shrugged, getting a little closer to his face, making his eyes widen.
"You're right, I am red in the face." I knew that wasn't a lie, cause I could feel the faint burn on my cheeks. "However, you're gonna be at least twenty shades darker than me." Before he could give a response, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips, then started dragging him behind me to keep up with the others.
It took a little while to make it to the griffin pens, but once we did, it didn't take long for us to get inside. Viney just had to give some tall black haired witch a wave, which made them smile, giving her a nod that we could go in. Glancing around, I could already see a few witches with a couple of the griffins, slowly trying to approach them.
Viney let go of Emira's hand, saying something to her that I couldn't understand. "Jerbo! Show them the spot would ya?" She called out, making Jerbo nod. Emira walked over to the two of us, her hands shoved in her hoodie pockets.
"What'd she say to you?" I asked, but Emira only shrugged her shoulders.
"She wanted to go talk to the guy that let us in." She said, making me nod my head. Jerbo was quick to drag the two of us along, pulling us to a spot that was close to the center.
All three of us got seats, Emira moving a little bit away from the two of us. Jerbo scooted a little closer to me, so I leaned my head on his shoulder. I could feel him tense up for a moment, then he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, holding me close.
All three of us were quiet for a moment, our eyes following the few witches down trying to properly mount a griffin. I let out a snort as one of them tried to get close, only to instantly jump back when the griffin just went to stretch its wings.
Jerbo gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Hey Ed?" I hummed, looking up at him to see he was side glancing at my sister. "Why is Em wearing a hoodie?" Letting out a snort, I tried to muffle my laughter so that Emira wouldn't be suspicious.
"Three words for you, cold date cliche."
"But Viney has her flannel..." Jerbo started to silently chuckle, his body shaking with laughter. While Jerbo and I were silently trying not to let a laugh slip, Viney slide on the bench until she was a couple of inches away from my sister, a bright smile on her face.
"Sorry that took so long, haven't seen him in forever! And besides, I wanted to see who was all here today." She started to bounce her leg up and down, giving my sister a bright smile that made her ears flap. "What're you two laughing about?"
"One of them down there." Jerbo quickly lied, still chuckling. Viney glanced down at the witches, then shrugged.
The four of us stayed there for a bit, laughing at the beastkeepers and enjoying each other's presence. Jerbo and I were entertained by the witches down with the griffins, but Viney and Emira clearly weren't paying attention to what was happening down there. Rather, I noticed how both of them were red in the face, softly chuckling at whatever the other was saying.
I felt my scroll buzz at one point, but I was too busy howling with laughter when one of the witches got bucked off a griffin's back to check what it was.
Eventually, I could see Em turn to look at the sky out of the corner of my eye. "Oh shoot, guys we should get going." She said, making me lift my head off of Jerbo's shoulder. I looked up, seeing the sun slowly starting to sink in the sky.
I went to stand up, but was stopped when Jerbo grabbed my arm, holding me in place. "What-" I started, but was quickly cut off when he pulled me into a kiss, holding me there for a couple of seconds before pulling away.
"Payback." He said, then started dragging me along to follow the others. I blinked a few times, noting how my feet were pretty much moving on their own. Placing a hand on my cheek, I could feel just how hot my face was burning.
Shaking my head a few times, I pulled up my scroll, noticing how I had a message. Quickly typing in my code and unlocking my scroll, I pulled up my messages to find it was from Amity.
"Look, I have no idea what your guy's plans are, but if you come home anytime soon, please just be quiet." She sent, making me furrow my eyebrows together.
"Why?" I hit send, glancing up ahead at Emira and Viney, noticing how Emira was pointing in Hexside's direction. My scroll buzzed again, regaining my attention.
"It's Luz, her pain's spiked up so she's trying to sleep it off." There was a bit of a pause, then she sent another message. "So for once, can you two not be obnoxious for more than five minutes?"
I chuckled, making Jerbo turn to look at me and raise an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. "Sure thing Mittens, y'know, we may tease you guys a lot of the time, but we care."
"Surprisingly." She quickly sent back, making me roll my eyes.
"Oh har har." I sent back before shutting off my scroll, turning my gaze ahead of us. Viney suddenly spun around, walking backwards as she faced Jerbo and I.
"Wanna race?" She asked both of us, making me laugh.
"We don't even know where we're going." I pointed out, which only made Emira turn around to face us as well.
"Better advantage for us then!" She said with a smirk on her face, making me roll my eyes. Drawing a quick spell, I made a quick spell to trip her. She flung her arms out in an attempt to keep her balance, smacking Viney in the face in the process before falling to the ground.
Jerbo and I froze in place, listening to the broken string of quiet curses escaping Viney's mouth. Emira quickly sat back up, glaring at me before turning to Viney, her eyes widening.
She was quick to get on her feet, the panic clear in her eyes as she frantically tried to apologize. Viney only laughed, but you could see the tears in her eyes. "Emmy it's fine don't worry!" She said, moving her hand from her face, revealing the bit of crimson dripping from under her nose. "Whoop, well that isn't."
"Edric you asshole!" Emira hissed, glaring at me. I only shrugged, letting out a little scoff.
"Hey, I wasn't the one that smacked Viney in the face, that was all on you." I started to laugh, which only made her even more angry.
"It was funny seeing the look on your face." Viney said, drawing a small spell circle. She moved her hand away from her face again, which now didn't have any blood. "There, that's fixed. There isn't any blood on my clothes right?"
The beastkeeper pulled at her tank top a little, glancing it over before shrugging. Emira slowly walked over to me, the anger clear in her eyes even though she had a poker face.
She stood in front of me, staring me down. I could feel my ears twitch, slowly going down as I tried to not look away. Then, with no warning, she gave me a sharp punch to the gut, nearly making me double over.
I held onto Jerbo to keep me from crumpling to the ground, letting out a small hiss of pain. Emira didn't say anything, rather, she spun on her heel and went back over to Viney. "Pull yourself together, we've gotta get going otherwise we'll miss it."
"Love you too sis." I managed to say, making Jerbo laugh. Trying to stand up, I stuck close to Jerbo's side so I had someone to lean on as we followed the others. A few minutes later, I was able to walk on my own, but I didn't move away from him, rather, I just took a hold of his hand.
After a bit of walking, I saw us pass by Hexside, making me raise an eyebrow. "Alright seriously Em, where are we heading?" I asked, making her turn around to face me for a moment before turning back forward.
"You'll see soon enough." She told me, making Viney look at her for a moment before back at the two of us.
"Hey don't worry, I don't have a clue where we're going either." I smiled, then slowly leaned in closer to Jerbo.
"Watch, they're taking us to some secret part of the woods to murder us." He chuckled, softly shaking his head as he gave my hand a squeeze.
"I doubt that." He said, only making me shrug.
"Honestly I'm surprise Emira hasn't done it to me yet." I said, glancing up at my twin for a moment before turning back to him. "If I ever go missing, assume her as the first suspect."
"I'll keep that in mind then." He said with a chuckle giving my hand another tight squeeze. "Though, I doubt she'll be the one to kill you first."
"What makes you say that?" I asked, watching as he turned his gaze ahead to the others for a moment before back to me, his cheeks dusted with a light pink blush.
"Because, you've still got your younger sister. And, you have me." Then, he gave me a quick kiss on the nose, the heat instantly rising back up to my face. I gave him a shove, trying to stop my ears from flapping.
Then, there was a sudden flash, making both of us snap our heads forward. "No keep going! This is fun getting blackmail on you for once Ed." Emira said, an evil smirk plastered on her lips.
My eyes widened, then I let go of Jerbo's hand, darting over to Emira to try and pry her scroll out of her hands. "Don't you dare send that to Mittens!" I hissed, which only made her laugh.
"Your voice is so high pitched right now!" She told me with a laugh, making her scroll disappear before I could grab it. "And besides, I'm not planning on sending it to her. At least, not right now."
"Emira so help me-" I gave her a shove, making her stumble slightly. "Delete it!" My twin pretended to think about it for a minute, then shook her head.
"Nah, I don't think I will. Welcome to the blackmail club Ed!" She told me with a smile, then she turned around. "Now come on! We're almost there!"
Jerbo slowly walked up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I let out a low growl, balling my hands into tight fists for a moment. "I am so getting double the amount of blackmail on her." I said, making him snort.
The four of us eventually made it to a wide area that was clear of almost all trees except one, which was a tree with nice pink petals, a few floating to the ground. The area was surrounded by a cliff, but it would give us a great view of the sunset.
"This place is familiar..." I muttered, that's when it hit me. "Wait, Em isn't this Mittens' little grom tree?" She laughed, giving me a nod.
"Though I'd hardly call that tree little..." Jerbo mumbled, looking up at the top of the tree before letting out a whistle. "Honestly this is impressive. Just... wow."
"Damn right it is. Then again, it's a tree made with gay energy." I said, making everyone laugh. "Honestly I wish we got a photo of Mittens here but that's besides the point, what are we doing here?"
"Well, it's got a perfect view of the sunset, so I figured that we scale this thing and watch it." Emira said, slowly turning her gaze from me and Jerbo to Viney, then back to us. I moved closer to the tree, running my hand over the bark.
"What if I just carved my name into It? Hey, I'll even make it romantic and carve Jerbo's name in with it. You don't think Mittens would kill me for that right?" I said, earning me a quick smack to the back of my head from Emira. "Hey I was just kidding!" I yelped, making her roll her eyes.
"You better hope that you were." She hissed, then turned to the others. "Now, we should probably get up there otherwise we're gonna miss it." Once she said that, I wrapped my arms around the tree and slowly started to shimmy myself up. Jerbo copied my actions, but Viney and Emira only watched.
"You two are gonna fall!" Viney called out to us, making me scoff.
"Bet!" I called back down, but once I did, Jerbo let out a yell and fell to the ground in a heap. "Oh gods... you okay babe?" He gave a shaky thumbs up, quickly picking himself up off the ground and dusting himself off.
Emira just shook her head, casting a spell before she started to float off of the ground and up into the air, Viney soon doing the same. "Just float yourselves up before you fall and break your neck." She said as she floated past me.
"Where's the fun in that?" I asked, watching the two of them float up a little higher before I dropped down from the tree. Moving over to Jerbo, I watched as he rubbed his lower back with a grimace.
That allowed an idea to spark in my head, a mischievous smile instantly spreading across my lips. He looked over at me, his eyes widening slightly. "Edric, what are you thinking?"
I didn't give him an answer, rather, before he could say anything else, I quickly scooped him up and drew a spell to float us up with Em and Viney. He let out a sound of surprise, wrapping one arm around my neck while the other hovered awkwardly in the air. Then, to top it off, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Can't let you fall for a second time." I told him, hearing the nervous chuckle rise up from his throat.
"Not even for you?" He asked, stammering slightly. I felt my ears go down, but I tried not to let it show on my face, but I could tell he noticed. "There, now we're both red." He leaned his head on my shoulder, waiting for the two of us to get to the top.
It didn't take long, but by the time we both got up there, Viney and Emira were already comfortable on a branch, their hair lightly tousled. "Took you two long enough." Emira said with a smile, folding her arms over her chest. "What? Were you two sharing a quick kiss before you got up here?"
I rolled my eyes, carefully deactivating the spell and setting Jerbo down. "Not like you two are any better." I watched as Viney's ears went down, a pink blush spreading across her cheeks. However, Emira scoffed.
"Where's your proof?" She asked me with a smirk, folding her arms over her chest. I laughed, leaning against part of the tree.
"Oh I don't have much, just the fact both of your guy's hair is tousled. Like, hands in hair tousled." Emira's eyes widened, realizing that I caught her in the lie. I didn't say anything else and plopped down on mine and Jerbo's branch, frowning slightly. "Look at that, a perfect view of the leaves."
"Hang on..." Jerbo drew a spell, carefully parting the leaves out of our vision. "There! How's that look for you guys?" Both of them gave Jerbo a thumbs up, making him smile. He then sat down next to me, leaving barely any space between us. I wrapped a hand around his waist, leaning my head onto his shoulder.
The sun was starting to sink over the ocean, casting the sky in a shower of golden orange light. I could hear Jerbo let out a soft, content sound, leaning his head on top of mine. To our right, I could hear Emira and Viney whispering to one another, but I didn't pay them any mind.
"Em wasn't lying when she said this is the perfect view of the sunset." I finally said, my voice no louder than a whisper. It honestly was a really nice view. Jerbo nodded, not saying anything. "Hey wait..." I pulled away from him a bit, making him get off of me and tilt his head in confusion. "How bout we do that stupid cliche where we kiss while the sun's setting?"
Jerbo started to chuckle, a few small snorts escaping him. "I thought you hated cliches though?" He said, pausing his fit of laughter for a moment before it started up again. I shook my head, chuckling softly as well.
"I never said I hated them. I just think they're kinda funny. Especially when Em or Mittens tries to do one." Jerbo laughed again, stretching his arms out in front of him.
"Why's that?" He asked me, pulling his hands closer to his body before he started to pop his fingers.
"Because they get really red in the face." I said, watching as his eyes darted from my eyes for a moment, then a smirk rose to his lips.
"It doesn't look like you're any better." He pointed out, making my eyes widen slightly. I let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand while I leaned the other against the branch.
"Never said I was..." I trailed off when he placed his hands on my shoulders, his brown eyes meeting with mine. I froze up, but I refused to let the panic show on my face. He glanced over at the sunset for a moment, then back to me.
Then, he slowly leaned in until his lips met mine, instantly filling my chest with that light, fluttering feeling. We stayed like this for a moment, then we both pulled away, taking a few deep breaths before laughing.
"We should do cliches more often." He finally said, still chuckling. I gave him a light shove, making sure not to push him too hard and accidentally send him out of the tree.
"Depends on the cliche you dork." I said, making him nod his head. He placed his hand down on the branch, my eyes glancing up at his face for a moment before I placed my hand over top of his. We both fell into a comfortable silence, watching the sun set the rest of the way, the sky slowly turning darker and darker.
It was peaceful.
"Emira!" Viney's voice suddenly cut through the silence, making the two of us jump. Leaning over, I saw Emira hanging onto the branch for dear life, the panic in her eyes clear even in the dark.
I stared at the two for a moment, then turned to Jerbo. "Welp, the peace was nice. But, I guess that means it's time to start heading back." I turned back to Emira, furrowing my eyebrows together. "How'd you even manage to do that?"
"Edric not now!" She said, trying to pull herself back up before slipping again.
The four of us eventually made it back down to the ground, thankfully all in one piece. Once we did make it back down to the ground, I noticed that now Viney was wearing Emira's hoodie, and Emira had Viney's flannel thrown over her shoulder.
I didn't say anything to the two, rather, I just took Jerbo by the hand and started to walk back in the direction of the market, hearing Viney and Emira's voices not too far behind us. We didn't say anything to one another, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
A little before we made it to the market, I could see him perk up. "Hey wait Eddy? When's your guy's next concert?" I froze up for a moment, wracking my brain for an answer.
"Uh... I think a few months from now? Not really anytime soon." He nodded his head, lightly swinging our hands. I stared at him for a moment, then turned my gaze back ahead of us, seeing the outline of the market coming into view.
"I'll have to see if I can get tickets then..." I could hear him mumble, making me laugh.
"There's no saying I'll be on stage by then. Luz might be ready to jump back into the action by then." He nodded his head again, then turned to me, shrugging his shoulders.
"Still doesn't mean I can't go see you guys perform. And besides, it'd be fun." He said with a lopsided smile, making me smile as well.
"True." I looked forward again, letting out a small sigh. "Well, looks like this is where you have to go." Jerbo looked over at the market, then back at me. I stared at him for a moment, then gave him another kiss, feeling him squeeze my hand a little tighter.
Before he could pull away, I smirked, drawing a quick spell before pressing my finger against his stomach, shocking him. He let out a yelp and pulled away, looking down at my sparking hand. "Edric!" I laughed, then quickly started to back away.
"Oh would you look at that! You're too far away to get back at me, such a shame... looks like you're gonna have to do it next time!" I then blew him a kiss, watching his eyes widen. "Love you!"
I spun around on my heel, gave him a little salute, then started to walk in the direction of our house. I passed by Em and Viney, who had their foreheads pressed together while soft chuckles escaped the two of them. I paused in my tracks, staring at the two for a moment before chuckling.
"Em are you coming?" I asked after a minute, watching as my twin jumped. She turned to me, then back to Viney, giving her a quick kiss on the nose that left her ears flapping before she took a step back, saying goodbye.
The two of us started to head home, not saying anything to each other for a bit. "So, is now the time to ask why you nearly fell out of the tree?" Emira groaned in annoyance, turning towards me.
"Does it really matter?" I nodded my head, making her sigh. "My grip slipped."
"Wow. Smooth Em, really smooth." She gave me a shove, not saying anything else. "Hey you've gotta admit it was kinda funny!"
"Not funny when your life flashes before your eyes..." She said, only making me laugh. I could see her glare at me, but it was quickly dropped. We fell quiet again for a moment, then she spoke up. "What'cha think Mittens and Luz are doing right now?"
I shrugged, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Probably sleeping." I thought about it for a moment, then an idea came to mind. "Hey, wanna see if we can convince Mittens to let Luz hang out at the studio tomorrow?"
"Do you really think that's possible?" She asked back, making me shrug again.
"You never know. But, if we do manage to convince her, let's see if the rest of the band can make it. We can all just hang out and goof off for a bit. Give Luz a good time after everything that's happened." Emira smiled, then gave my shoulder a soft punch.
"Surprisingly good plan Ed." She told me, making me roll my eyes and lightly shake my head. "So, you ready to convince her by using a bit of Blight charm?"
"You act like I'm never ready to!" I said, giving her shoulder a light punch as well. "But, before we do that, I'll race you home, whoever wins gets twenty-five snails!"
"You've really got to stop betting snails Ed..." She told me, then roughly shoved me aside as she started running. "Cause you know damn well I'm gonna win!"
"Hey!" I called back in an irritated tone, already tearing off after her, determined to win.