“I- Get your foot off me.”

    “This foot?”

    “I- YES!” 

    “Make me!” 

    “Fine!”

An ankle was jammed towards a head.

    “El! I don’t bend that way!”

    “You bend every way!”

    “So do you!” 

*BANG*

    A chirp sounded from Eleanor, and Avery yelped as the humvee hit a rutted hole in the road.

    “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jamie cheerily hummed, “Did I hit that?”

    “You swerved for it,” Carrigan stated.

    “It did come out of nowhere, didn’t it Carrigan?” he pressed in a warning tone, and Carrigan gave a hesitant nod while Avery groaned. “It’s like you two never grew up,” Jamie sighed while glancing in the rearview mirror to find Avery in a very uncomfortable position beneath Eleanor as she started to get up, but Avery pulled her back down into a headlock.

    “Avery!” Eleanor snapped, “I will put you both down!”

    “Go ahead and try Ellie!” 

*Screeeeeeeech*

    The tires squealed to an abrupt stop with Carrigan bracing her hands against the dashboard, and Avery shrieked with Eleanor as they crashed to the floor together, yelping when their heads smacked together. Dust plumed around the vehicle, and Jamie put it in park before slowly turning to face them.

    “Get off me…” Eleanor groaned, pushing on Avery, and a fond anger clawed at the back of her mind from Jamie.

    Her eyes darted to him, and a sheepish grin quickly took over her lips while she nervously started tapping Avery’s side.

    “Ave… Avery… Avery, get up,” Eleanor’s voice grew a bit more urgent with every consecutive second under Jamie’s calm anger.

    “I swear….” the twinsoul growled before Eleanor’s eyes flew back to him, and she gulped. “Anyone else…” 

Errant embers came to life in the air around him.

    “H-How yah doin’ Avery…?” Eleanor gulped, and Carrigan looked at them as well.

    “You’re an-... ugh…” he pulled himself from her with a scowl before sitting back in the seat, and he yanked her up beside him, making her squeak.

    “Avery, dear, you’re singeing the upholstery,” Jamie sighed.

    “Do I look like I fucking care?” Avery snapped with the embers crackling into flickering flames, and Eleanor shrunk a bit in his raw anger before she took a calming breath.

    “Grey goes the world in your anger,” Jamie threatened, and Avery paused before his eyes fell to Eleanor.

    “I’m okay,” she hummed with her focus on her lap, and dullness took her expression.

    Avery’s fear crashed at the back of her mind, and her eyes flickered to him before he pulled her into an abrupt hug. The flickering flames faded to embers that whispered from existence, and Avery held her tightly until she slowly returned the hug.

    “Don’t forget your seat belts this time,” Jamie sighed, and he put the humvee in drive.

    “Grey goes the world?” Carrigan tilted her head in confusion.

    “A reminder,” Jamie hummed as he glanced in the mirror to see Avery buckling Eleanor in with the dullness gone and embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

    “Of what?”

    “Of something that…” Jamie searched for the right words before nodding to himself, “Something that terrifies both sides of him.”

    “I am not terrified!” Avery snapped, “I am concer- ELLIE!” he squeaked her name as she poked his side, “N-NO! BAD!” he scolded with his screaming anger turning to the anxious anticipation at the back of Eleanor’s mind.

    “Yes. No exciting the zeal mage while in a closed vehicle…” Jamie shook his head.

    “S-Sorry,” Eleanor gave a crooked smile while nervously rubbing the back of her head, and Avery smirked.

    His arm hooked under Eleanor’s and behind her neck, making her chirp before he began tickling her side.

    “Ave-AVERY!” Eleanor cried out as she struggled not to laugh, “St-Stop ittt!” she whined, but he ignored her, and Jamie shook his head.

    “Is this normal for them?” Carrigan questioned.

    “Fairly,” Jamie sighed, “They were inseparable as kids too…”

    “Is he going to set the vehicle on fire?” Carrigan asked the important questions.

    “It’s not likely,” Jamie waved her off. “She is one of the few people he tames himself for.”

    “Hmm,” Carrigan hummed in acceptance while Eleanor lost herself to the laughter Avery forced from her with the miles slowly disappearing beneath them.

    Avery relented when tears of laughter successfully stained Eleanor’s cheeks, and she leaned against him, resting in his warmth with a gentle smile. The hours of the trip easily melted away, and stray homes came into view as the bumpy road grew smoother with Avery nudging Eleanor awake at the sight of the city.

    A concrete wall surrounded the cluster of buildings with guns perched upon them and guards patrolling them. Sapphire etchings marked the wall, and unease whispered in Eleanor’s gaze as she looked towards the soft glow that seemed to emanate from the city’s center. 

Power laid at its core, and countless lives walked the paved streets of Liope with fauna not natural to the area thriving in the essence of the druidic mages who tended to it. More than just those of the aetherum race, like Eleanor and the others, inhabited the city. Beings armored in scales known as drameluns resided there alongside the smooth skin race known as the octums, and even the rarest race, the humurs, could occasionally be witnessed.

This city was a hub that many sought to control, but few dared to try out of fear for its destruction. Liope housed a rare connection to the Net Port, one of the last two ways to travel beyond the continent without injury.

    “I do hope you two are still capable,” Jamie hummed while slowing the vehicle, “I want to get back home for dinner.”

    “Why? Got a hot date with your toys?” Avery rolled his eyes.

    “Eleanor, be a dear, and take care of him,” Jamie frowned.

    “N-Now?”

    “Before we get to the gate.”

    “But-”

    “Just give me one of your pills,” Avery cut in while reaching for her pocket.

    “But they’re expensive!” Eleanor whined, and she grabbed his wrist, struggling to stop him from raiding her coat.

    “For fucks sake!” Avery huffed, “I’ll buy you more!”

    “Ge-Get off! You can just wait!” 

    “Just- One!”

    “But you can just switch back naturally later!”

    “GIVE ME THE DAMN PILL!”

    “Avery- Would you-”

*THUNK*

    An inky tether slipped off of Avery’s head after it was slammed into the back of Carrigan’s chair with the stoic woman holding the other end of it. Carrigan opened her hand, and the binding vanished while Avery’s unconscious form slid down.

    “That works,” Jamie simply accepted it, along with his disappointment.

“Avery?” Eleanor pressed in worry as she pulled him into her lap before a groan escaped him, and a relieved sigh fell from her lips. “You can’t just give friends head injuries Carrigan!” she snapped at the stoic woman.

    “Then why refuse to aid him yourself?”

    “Because!” Eleanor huffed, “Those pills can be addictive if you’re not careful!”

    “Did you worry about that when you use them on others?” Carrigan questioned flatly.

    “I-...” Eleanor gritted her teeth before Avery patted her knee.

    “Because I love him!” Avery sang in his best imitation of her while throwing his arms open, accidently smacking her in the face. “Whoops…” 

    “Avery… I am going to-”

    “If you're trying to sound threatening El… it’ll never work. I mean… you’re like... two feet tall.”

    “FIVE FEET!”