Dylan

《◇》《♤》《◇》

Today was the annual holiday... of the beloved 4/20. 20th day of the 4th month. All my preparations were complete. Room booked for the whole day, comfy blanket and pillow, three different pre-rolled moonrock mixes, pipe packed and equipment ready. The cannabutter brownies, cookies, and banana bread were all good to last me the whole day, and the hands on the clock struck 4; it was dark out. The day has only just begun.

20 minutes later, and I began, and then I remember waking up downstairs. I was getting some stew for my room. Now I was bundled up in my blankets, and I was a bit sleepy. The nap was short, and I woke up with the pipe. I needed some water, forgot to get some with the stew. After hydrating, I was leaving the Rusty Crow. Already, the cookies were being eaten. Did I finish the brownies already? 

I entered the Golden Goose and knocked on Kaede's door. "Oh, Dylan. I wasn't expecting you, I thought you said you'd be busy." He was wearing a white bolero over a black shirt today, that ended in a frilly skirt. He was showing a bit more leg today with only knee high white socks.

"Cute outfit." I said in a genuine voice. "I am busy, very important holiday. Don't know why I'm here, but since I am, wanna share a joint?" I was trying to be casual, but it's been three days since we discussed the plan and I had been preparing for today in that time. Hadn't really spoken to anyone until now, either.

"A joint? Oh-" He was erupting into laughter, barely able to contain himself. I held his arm, as he nearly doubled over himself, and he used the door for more support. "Is that what you've been up to? That's great. Of course I'll share a joint with you."

"Awesome, it's- it's back at the room I'm staying in, across town." He just nodded and quickly grabbed a few things and even quickly put on some eyeshadow. He already had his lipstick on so we were leaving soon after.

"I'm happy to be invited for this sacred occasion, how come you didn't bring along Elias?" Hm? Was Elias at the Golden Goose too? I didn't really think to ask him to come.

"Eh, we can just find him later. Bring something for him, if he wants it." I was currently packing another joint since I only had moonrockets, but Kaede was already reaching for one. "Oh, that one is pretty fucking potent. Fair warning."

"Oh, I know." He winked and lit the end, and the next moment he was off to space. "Whoa-holy fuck!" He was choking on smoke and laughter. "Wow! Where the hell did you find this?"

"I know a pretty good guy. I can bring you with next time I see him." He actually handled that pretty well. And he was already smoking more, after drinking some water.

"Mm, well, I look forward to seeing him. It's almost 4 by the way." Shit, I hadn't been looking at the clock! It's the afternoon and we must find Elias! Finishing the joint I was still wrapping, I grabbed my mortar and pestle, bagged it up, and grabbed a few buds too. Pipe and supplies in hand, we were out the door.

He wasn't staying at the Golden Goose, apparently. He was down in the undercity. I decided to save us some time by leading Kaede through a crypt, past a few ghosts, and through the waterways leading down to the undercity's community homes. Kaede led the rest of the way, and we found Elias's unit.

"Oh, what are you two doing here?" He was currently petting a possum while writing with his free hand. Guess he was busy with spell stuff, maybe I should- oh wait, right!

I held the joint forward. "Happy holidays." His lips turned up into a large smile and he happily accepted the gift. We all sat down, and his possum left through a small hole before we began. Soon, we were walking into a nearby bar and just ordering food. Taking what we could carry, we went to a large cavern with only walkways moving through into different tunnels. Elias walked towards the middle.

"Okay, watch this." He announced before looking up at the small hole above us, and he cupped his hands, and shouted something that sounded like chittering. "Just wait, this is gonna be awesome."

Several chipmunks were climbing down the sides of the cavern from the hole, and were gathering at his feet. They all looked up at him, and from the water below, I could hear scuttling. Now crabs were climbing onto the platform surrounding him. 

"To me, my students! Show them what you have learned!" The crabs and chipmunks all raised their hands and magic came pouring out of them, sending small sparks into the air. Kaede and I were laughing our asses off, the crabs looked like they were holding sparklers! "Yes! Perfect! Your skills are growing, more power! More light!" The light show increased and soon we were all dizzily looking at each other. "Fuck! Too much! Too much light!"

We were back at my room in the Rusty Crow, I could still feel my cheeks hurting from before. We were all talking about what the fuck just happened, and this wild man has been teaching chipmunks since even before I saved him. Man, now I need to watch out for more chipmunk wizards when I'm outside city walls.

"What was up with the crabs, man? Have you been teaching them for long too?" Kaede asked.

"No, no, that was a side effect of the spell Dylan helped me with. When I transformed back, I had been blessed by the stars of the crab army, and now I can summon them from any body of water. Apparently, they are fast learners too, but nowhere near the level of my other students yet." Elias was happily recounting the tale. I remembered a bit of that, all those crabs coming onto the island around us. I kind of put it in the back of my mind though, when I was distracted by my disappointment at Elias not being a chipmunk turned man, but man turned chipmunk turned back to man.

I was smiling over my silly thought. Elias is actually a great friend so far, and I'm genuinely happy I could help him out. And there's still a lot I don't know about Kaede, but I can tell we are gonna get along fine. We happened to touch hands at that moment, with our fingers splayed on the ground behind us. I felt him playing with my fingers, then I looked over and he was staring at me with his eyes half-open.

His smile was calming, and underneath it was something more inviting. I held my breath before looking back at the ground. I liked the way he looked at me, but I'm surprised by how I hadn't been thinking of him until now. The guy that emotionally manipulated me before he left across the ocean. Tried to leave me with some stupid job he was putting off, saying I was more suited to it. It made everything he said to me before reaching the city so fake. Kaede was rubbing my shoulder, I looked over and there was concern in his eyes.

"You okay, Dylan?" His face was so close.

"Yeah, just thinking of something I thought I forgot. It's fine, just - yeah." I looked away. Elias took that as a cue to go downstairs for some more water and food.

When he was gone, Kaede only sat there, looking at me as I was clearly about to cry. I ended up telling him everything that happened. How I was fleeing my country, how my pursuers followed me through a portal, how I was saved by an agent of the royals, and how he made me feel loved, only to leave me behind and put his duties on me. There was no way I was gonna be an agent for him, though. I refused the offer from the nobles after he left, and they said that they would wait until I reconsidered. I don't want to look into their stupid problems, I only wanted to be near Justin.

"I'm sorry. I can see why you've been putting off your task with the archivist as well now." I just nodded. I really didn't want to go back to that place, and I don't want to get any closer to the royal court than I have to. Kaede hugged me, and I felt myself falling into his embrace. "I'll be your friend for as long as you need me to. I hope to get really close to you, Dylan." That would be really nice.

《♡》《◇》《♡》

Dylan