“FUCK THIS STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!” Vallerie throws her bow to the ground and snaps her arrow in half. She had just missed her target completely. 

Unable to do anything else but be angry at her own aim. 

“Archery takes patience, Val. Quick shots are for when you're better.” Yves shakes his head, his gaze landing on his short-tempered cousin. 

“I don't have patience; I need to get better. NOW. If I can't even be a good aim and don't have a proper grasp of what love is to Cupids, I'm never getting in.” She crouched to the ground, hugging her knees. This way, she could somewhat get the feeling that she was still protecting her heart, albeit broken. 

“But your rage won't make you better either. Get up and try again.” 

“I don't want to.” 

“Vallerie.” 

“You can't make me.” 

“Vallerie, you asked me to help you. I am against you moving to Bleufuad to attend St. Lyasho, but I'm still helping you either way, because I love you enough to help you achieve your goals.” Yves crouched beside her. 

“What can I do, Ivy? Nothing I do is right.” Her voice was devoid of the hope or determination she once had. 

“You're out of your element, Val. You can't be a Cupid. You know nothing, and now you're learning everything.” Yves says it bluntly. 

They sit in silence for a period of time; the noise of the swaying trees in their backyard and Vallerie's faint huffing were the only things filling the silence. 

“But despite that, you must learn patience. Despite only having two months left for preparation, you must learn to trust yourself.” Yves stood back up, leaning back to stretch his spine. Vallerie lifted her head from her sulking position to look at her older cousin. 

“Fix your temper," he massages his nape, "is my best advice for you.”

…

“Don't let your anger get to you ever again.” 

…

His words echoed until Vallerie was brought back to the present. This time, it was Monifa who snapped her out of it. 

“It's not worth it, Val. Trust me, all he does is be a constant thorn in my side.” The taller woman shook her head. 

“Aw, come on, baby, I'm at least a rose you'll keep forever, right?” Velt confidently walked over to where Monifa and Vallerie were standing. 

Vallerie was biting her inner cheek until she tasted copper, her tongue brushing over the wound to soothe the pain but also to remind her to keep quiet. If she says anything else, she can never take them back.

“Besides, if I had known Patches was a fellow club member, I would have been nicer to her.” He shifts his attention to look her in the eyes. 

“How'd her trial go?” He loses interest when Vallerie only stares back and says nothing—moving away from the girls to Sanne and Loukas instead. 

“Her aim is the best out of all of us. She hasn't missed a single target.” Sanne praises Valerie's best feat. 

“An excellent teacher too; she made me more confident with my own aim.” Loukas nods along. 

Velt shoved his hands in his pockets to lean back and groan. 

“God, you idiots. That's not what I asked. So what if she's better at archery than all of us combined? It doesn't mean squat if her calibration is shit.” 

Vallerie felt small again. Her nose was visibly scrunching, and her lips were pressed together. 

“Well… it could use some work—” Loukas starts. 

“But we're training her with what she's lacking.” Sanne immediately butts in. 

“And she's getting better each time we're at the shooting range!” Loukas adds. 

Both men seem to be frantic to convince Velt that Vallerie is a capable member. Listing what she's good at, how nice she is, how pretty she is, and that a new member is always a refreshing welcome. 

But all that did was plaster a wider smile to Velt's face. It was slow, and by the time Loukas and Sanne noticed the smile on Velt’s face, it was already too late for them to stop what came out of his mouth. 

“So… she’s shit?” 

The whole room fell silent. 

Piko was silent the entire time, but she knew where this was going; her mouth hung open. Monifa wasn’t a stranger to Velt’s cruelty either. 

“Velt, I don’t think—” 

“Oh, my God! This is so rich!” He howled, laughter bouncing off the walls.  

“Patches! You little useless Cupid you!” He giggles, walking up to Vallerie, pep in his step and everything. “You just got a whole lot cuter! Only being good at one thing, that’s so precious!” 

“She’s skilled with the Storge and Philia value, not the traditional values, but she can learn Eros down the line.” Loukas tries to minimise the blow. 

“HAH! That’s even better! Two of the easiest values, you really ain’t shit afterall, huh? All tough and confident for what?” 

“Velt, cut it out, seriously.” Monifa steps in. 

“Come on, babes, you have to admit, it’s a little funny. What is she even here for? God, you even got these goobers to practice with your incompetent ass? Loukas and Sanne are LEAGUES away from you,” he flicks her forehead, Vallerie stumbling back from the sudden action, Piko catching Vallerie by the shoulder to stabilise her, and Monifa stepping in between them.  “They’re humouring you, Patches. You’re not special in any way, shape, or form,” He laughs. 

“You don’t belong here.” Velt momentarily loses his smile to stare directly at her.

“Velt, seriously. Quit it.” Sanne walks up to drag Velt back. 

“Oh my God, are you allergic to fun now? What has Patches gotten you guys up to?” 

“We called you, remember? She is the answer. So we can finally experience love.” Sanne brings Velt down to his level, whispering frustratedly at his friend. 

“So what?” Velt whispers back, “Let me haze her a bit.” 

“Velt.” 

“She looks so desperate to be here, to prove something, right?” Velt turns back to look at Vallerie, “That’s why she’s overcompensating for what she lacks.” 

Vallerie’s face is blank, despite being held together by Monifa and Piko–the only thing keeping Vallerie in place was the way she held Velt’s gaze. Her anger was bubbling in her throat; his smug face just fueled her rage even further. 

But she doesn’t say anything in the end. The copper in the mouth is now overwhelming for her to ignore. 

She pushes past Monifa and out of the room. 

Everyone stood unmoving at the sudden departure. 

“Oops, seems like I got to her after all. Thought she had more of a backbone, shame.” Velt sighs, dropping his shopping bag to the side of the couch before lounging on it. 

“You are such an ass.” Monifa seethes. 

“Come on, babe. Tell me something I don’t know.” 

Monifa storms out of the room to follow Vallerie, Piko trailing behind the taller woman. 

As soon as the club room door closed, Sanne finally dropped his calm and collected facade, now that Vallerie was out of earshot. 

“What the fuck is your problem? You’re driving away the only person who could help us!” 

“What the fuck is YOUR problem? We LOVE making fun of people and playing with their emotions; she’s not special just because she has something we don’t.” Velt sits up. 

“She IS special; we can’t lose her.” 

“You’re the one to talk,” Velt scoffs, “What happened to breaking hearts of the people who are privileged enough to feel love? She may be a cupid, but she’s no different from the rest of the plebs.” 

“Seriously, I leave you guys for a week, quirky girl appears, and now suddenly you two want to be decent cupids? Total buzzkill.” Velt continues. 

Looking over his friends, he frowns a little. Just before he left, he could have sworn the two of them wouldn’t hesitate to mess with Vallerie if they had the chance. She must be a witch if she managed to brainwash the two. 

“You haven’t been this hung up over a girl ever since blondie.” 

That cracked something in Sanne. 

“Who… DO YOU FUCKING THINK YOU ARE?!” 

Loukas and Velt jumped up at the outburst. 

“You do not have the right EVER to mention her again. You think I haven’t thought about that day? How close I was? It made me sick with regret, AND YOU THROW IT BACK TO MY FACE?!” 

Sanne was manic. He made no action to zero in on Velt, but the whole room started to feel suffocating–the guttural emotion in his voice was enough. 

“We have Vallerie, our only hope. AND YOU WANT TO TAKE CHANCES IN DRIVING HER AWAY? ARE YOU A MORON?” 

“Sanne– relax, man– I just spit-balled a little. She’s not actually going to go anywhere.” 

“And she’s not going to; she’s never going to. If you so happen to fuck this up for all of us, I will personally take your head for myself.” Sanne finally grabs him by the collar. 

“I will not mess up again, and you will NEVER mention her again.” Sanne violently tosses Velt back to his seat. 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a club member to console.” Sanne smooths down his shirt before shooting Velt a piercing glare and exiting the club room.

…

…

…

…

“What the fuck was that?” 

“Don’t even talk right now.” Loukas quips. 

“Aw, come on, you too?” 

“Low blow for bringing up blondie.” 

“It was funny.” 

“Shut the fuck up, Velt. You are so miserable. If we weren’t the only cupids in St. Lyashko, I wouldn’t be friends with you.”  Loukas pinches the bridge of his nose, his brutal honesty coming out for the first time in a while after breaking up with his last girlfriend. 

“But unfortunately, we need to stick together. Though the odds of that happening are lowering,” Velt looks up at Loukas as he says this, his eyebrow raised, “Vallerie might just replace your insufferable ass.”