Pink mist swirled around Dalzonf’s finger and into Daliki’s mouth. Nosderag patted the little creature on the head. As soon as she did so, she began glancing at Dalzonf and twirling one of her dreadlocks.

Dalzonf’s heart sped up and cold sweat ran down her skin. So it began.

As the other girl inched closer, she stepped back. She continued walking back until she was in the bathroom. She shut the door.

Looking at her hands in the mirror, she reminded herself of all the ridiculously unrealistic, cliché lines that Nosderag spouted. The key word here was ‘unrealistic’.

She reminded herself of the source of these unrealistic lines, the power that had resided in her since birth. The power that has been passed down generation upon generation, discovered in her when she was only five years old and managed to get a girl who hated her to hold her hand. An ability she had refused to misuse from that day forward.

Finally, she reminded herself of all the ways the world had punished her for getting close to other girls. The girl who held her hand soon woke up from the weak spell and pushed her into the sandcastle. After that Dalzonf’s mother gave Dalzonf a lecture on when to not use her newly found powers.

Of course, there were the rumours spread throughout high school, but the one memory that stuck in her head was Nosderag being utterly convinced that she had used magic on her on their first day as roommates.

A tear slid down Dalzonf’s face.

‘Hey, are you okay? You’ve been in there for half an hour.’

Dalzonf’s eyes stretched out to the size of apples. She hurriedly opened the door. Nosderag, whose own eyes portrayed concern, was no longer under the influence of love tolxing. Dalzonf was tempted to ask her why she seemed so worried about her but said nothing.

The following day, she kept Daliki away from Nosderag whenever she fed the fairy, who seemed to get greedier for magic every time. When night came, Nosderag pouted and crossed her arms.

‘So you don’t think I trust you? I’ve had a hard day, let me pet Daliki.’

Dalzonf kept quiet as she fed Daliki. Nosderag stormed up to the fairy and patted her head. She smiled softly. Hot pink mist slowly entered her mouth.

The curses under Dalzonf’s breaths couldn’t stop Nosderag from grabbing her hands. The lovestruck girl swayed back and forth.

‘Dally-boo, we should get married.’

Dalzonf tried to escape Nosderag’s grip. She stepped back and flinched. She examined the room for a way to distract Nosderag, whose face moved closer and closer. Giving up on distraction, Dalzonf decided to play along until the spell wore off.

‘Dally-boo? Really? Now, why would I want to marry someone who calls me that?’

‘Oh, come on, let’s marry!’ Nosderag whined. ‘We both know you want to. Let’s both stop pretending.’

Before Dalzonf could protest, Nosderag leaned in for a kiss. She smelled faintly of vanilla and her warm lips swiftly stole the air from Dalzonf’s throat.

A horrible decision was made that day- Dalzonf kissed back. She placed her hand underneath the other girl’s chin and pulled it up, losing herself in the kiss.

Nosderag’s mind was in a daze, only vaguely feeling the sensations that come with a kiss. It was like she was stuck in a dream and was on the verge of lucidity but not quite there yet. She still smiled at what little sensation she felt, the blurry tastes and the foggy touches that surrounded her.

Upon coming to her senses, Dalzonf tore herself from Nosderag. Her breaths were quick and her heart rate was like that of a person with anxiety receiving a failing grade. 

She pushed Nosderag onto the floor. She visualised a sandpit surrounding the girl, an image that sent shivers down her arms. After a single glance at her own hands, she ran out of the room, leaving behind a dumbfounded Nosderag.

As Nosderag began to come to her own senses, she tried to piece together why she was on the floor. She lied in bed that night, waiting for Dalzonf to return until her drooping eyelids gave in.

Dalzonf, meanwhile, snuck outside and slept in the cold. There was no way she was going to ask the teachers to sleep in their quarters.

In the morning she only came into her dorm room to put on a casual outfit, never uttering a word to her roommate despite said roommate’s incessant questions.

Nosderag’s heart felt like it was bashing itself into a brick wall with each unanswered question. Dalzonf’s silence as she did homework on the table was dark, murky and thick like an oil painting of a bog.

The long run down the stairs gave Nosderag little time for breakfast. Despite guzzling down her food, she was late for class.

After school, Nosderag called Dalzonf but the other girl hung up. She scoped the floor for another girl to power the elevator but everyone was already gone. Everyone, that is, except for Sosoka.

With a low-pitched sigh, she asked her. Sosoka laughed.

‘I guess your owner got bored of you.’ Her face softened. ‘Sure. I’ll help. It’s the least I could do. I’m heading up anyway.’

While waiting in the elevator, Sosoka talked about how annoying some of her teachers were, nary interacting with Nosderag. That is, until she got to her level and had to power the elevator just a little bit to get Nosderag to her destination.

‘Hey, you know you can change dorms if you want, right? You don’t need to stay with someone who takes advantage of you.’

The elevator doors closed before Nosderag could respond. 

Once in her room, she saw Dalzonf with her arms crossed and her hands on their opposite shoulders. She was kneeling in front of her little statue of Terio, eyes closed.

Not wanting to interrupt, Nosderag rummaged through her own belongings for an idol of Cenaschramm. The statue was of a bulky man with lava for skin. She kneeled next to Dalzonf and prayed just like her.

She prayed for Dalzonf to start explaining what the hell was going on. A minute followed and she opened her eyes. Dalzonf was still praying.

Nosderag stood back up and took a seat on her bed. She absentmindedly tapped her knees like bongos, waiting. 

Waiting.

Waiting. 

When Dalzonf finally got up, she held her hand out. Nosderag instinctively took it. Dalzonf raised an eyebrow and let go of her hand.

‘Homework.’

Cue a blush from Nosderag. ‘Oh, yeah. Here.’

She handed her the homework. Dalzonf nodded her thanks and got working on it.

Nosderag peered over her shoulder as she worked. She stopped when the other girl glared at her.

The night soon got darker and she tried to have a chat as they hopped into bed. Dalzonf’s mouth was completely shut. Her eyes looked hollow, like she had just witnessed a murder and was trying to process it.

The next school day was full of Nosderag paying less attention to the teachers and more to her plans for getting Daliki back home. There was one small problem.

Despite devoting much of her thinking time to it, she could not formulate a workable plan. Every time she thought of how she could involve Dalzonf in her scheme, she pictured the girl silently glaring at her.

By the end of the day, the only things playing in her mind were the times someone would ask if they could carry her backpack for her or be surprised that she was doing well in school. Kind smiles morphed into condescending smirks.

The uncomfortable silence between the roommates continued until nighttime. Dalzonf had just finished praying and was now reading a book. Blood drenched in frustration reached boiling point in Nosderag’s veins. 

She stood up in between their beds. ‘Okay, you’re going to tell me what’s going on and I’m going to listen. Did I do something wrong?’ Dalzonf tucked her lips into her mouth and shook her head, continuing to read her book as always. ‘Then what makes you think ignoring me’s a good thing to do? Do I deserve to be treated like I’m nothing? Huh? Do I deserve-’

‘Astra, you sound like Sosoka,’ Dalzonf muttered as she rubbed her face up and down like someone rudely awakened in the morning. 

‘How?’

‘Chattering about yourself. Woe is you.’

Nosderag grabbed Dalzonf’s arm with a suffocating grip. ‘Oh, because you’re clearly not feeling sorry for yourself about something. At least I have the decency to be honest about it. What’s gotten you so shaken up?’ As if matching her words, Nosderag shook Dalzonf’s arm. Dalzonf responded by tearing her arm away and scowling at her.

‘You know what? You did do something wrong. You just had to be a stubborn idiot and pet Daliki when you could have just waited until after she was fed. Why are you so… childish?’

‘I’m childish? I’m not the one ignoring someone rather than, oh, I don’t know, communicating with them!’

‘It’s not just this thing. Now, who was it who decided to steal an ara fairy and make me look after it while I have to save your behind from getting expelled?’

‘I didn’t steal her!’

Dalzonf stood. ‘Who was it who fucked up when trying to take her back to the shed?’

‘You were the one who fu-’

Soon their faces were inches apart. ‘And who is the one who keeps getting drunk on my tolxing and embarrassing me in front of everyone?’ Nosderag shut her mouth, bringing her eyes to the ground. ‘Yeah, thought so. And I’m always having to make sure you don’t…’ Dalzonf glanced at Nosderag’s lips and immediately turned her head away. ‘...do something dangerous when under the influence. I don’t even know why I bother trying to protect you since you’re a disaster even when you’re normal. I’m sick of babysitting you.’

Nosderag stood on her tippy toes to make herself taller than the other girl. It didn’t work.

‘I am perfectly fine when I’m normal. I’m not a child so stop treating me like one!’

‘Really?’ Dalzonf asked while looking down at Nosderag’s feet.

‘Really!’ Nosderag yelled as she lowered her body and looked up to match Dalzonf’s line of sight.

Dalzonf scoffed and stormed to Daliki’s cage. ‘Would an adult…’ She pointed at the cage. ‘Let this happen? Or pet her even when I said not to for your own safety?’

‘N-No!’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I should just keep on feeding this little thing until my magic spreads throughout the whole room! It’s totally safe for you to constantly be love tolxed.’ Daliki squawked and flapped her wings about. ‘Look, Daliki’s hungry! Better feed her!’

A sharp tendril of red mist shot into Daliki’s mouth. Her squawks turned into whimpers as her heartbeat sped up. She struggled to breathe and collapsed to the floor of the cage.

Nosderag ran to her and unlocked the cage, picking up the fairy. ‘What did you do?’

‘I don’t know!’ Dalzonf answered, staring at her own hands in horror.

Nosderag shouted, ‘Watch over her!’ while running out the door.