“Woah.” I say as Calla brings me and Dex to a clearing in Alluveterre. Calla overheard him saying how he wishes he could take me on a date, but can’t because we’re exiled and on the run from the council, and decided to take us to a clearing for a picnic with just the two of us. Calla hands me a basket full of food. Dex spreads out the blanket, and we sit on it together, taking in the view. There’s a stream somewhere behind the bluish trees. There are vines with little yellow flowers on them hanging all around us, and flowers that look a lot like bouquets of roses growing everywhere. The effect is beautiful. I want to stay here, at this moment, forever. Next to Dex, in a beautiful garden, away from all the dangers of the world.
“This is really an amazing view.” Dex says.
“Yeah.” I agree. We start unpacking the picnic basket Calla gave us. Inside are all sorts of delicious gnomish vegetables, but what I’m the most excited for is the Starkflower Stew. It‘s what Calla’s famous for, along with being on the team of researchers who made me. “I’m really sorry I dragged you into all of this.”
“You know very well that even if someone else had broken the council’s order for you to wear the restrictor, I would have still come. You’re my girlfriend. I wouldn’t let you go on the run from the law on your own.”
“You should. Just by being with me got you kidnapped, and they decided to torture you because I made them realize that I cared about you.”
“I don’t care how dangerous it is. We’ll help each other, and we’ll both get through this.” I try my best to believe him. “So are you excited to start at Exillium tomorrow?”
“No. We both know that I’m not going to do well at anything there. It focuses on skills.”
“You’ll do fine. Just like you always do. Unless there’s a surprise alchemy exam.” We both start laughing. “I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”
“Well you certainly don’t. Didn’t your dad teach you some skills?”
“Yeah, but I’m not that great at them.”
“You told me you always win in the competitions at your house.”
“Yeah, because my dad is judging, and my mom is hardly ever home, so I’m just going against Rex, Bex, and Lex. They couldn’t concentrate hard enough to lift a pebble.”
“You’re still probably better than me.”
“I guess we’ll see tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” We start eating the food Calla packed for us. Everything is delicious, of course.
“Well, we have some more time. What do you want to do?” Dex asks when neither of us can eat any more.
“Let’s go on a walk. I want to explore around here.” We walk around and talk some, but mostly we’re just enjoying each other’s company. “You know, we don’t get to do this often anymore.”
“Take a walk in the Black Swan’s hideout after eating too many gnomish fruits to name?”
“No, just… having a quiet moment. Everything’s been so chaotic recently, we never get just take a walk or talk without the Neverseen coming into the conversation, or something. There are so many mysteries, I think we forget to just enjoy the fact that they haven’t killed us yet.”
“I guess that’s one way to put it. But I don’t think Exillium has homework, so we can have more time here.” He says, kissing me on the cheek.
“Let’s see if we can find that river I hear.” We wander around a little, then we find a clear stream. I take off my socks and shoes, and step in.
“How is it?” Dex asks.
“Come in and find out.” He takes his socks and shoes off, and we’re standing in the river together. The current feels nice against my feet, and it’s not strong enough to knock me down. It’s not too deep either.
“You’re so beautiful.” He says.
“I know.” I say, mimicking Stina. He gives me a playful shove, but it makes me fall over, so I’m soaking wet. He’s laughing his head off, so I pull him down with me.
“Oh, it’s so on.” He says, and soon we’re in an all out water war. By the end, we’re all soaking wet, and laughing so hard I can’t breathe. “SHOOT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BACK 30 MINUTES AGO!”
“Eh. I’d rather be here in a water war with you than reading some dumb book about cognates.”
“Still, if I know anyone there, they’re probably worrying their heads off. And I bet Biana’s around here somewhere. You can come out now!” He says.
“How’d you know?” Biana asks, becoming visible from a nearby tree.
“How long were you there?” I ask.
“Long enough.” She says with a smirk on her face. I groan. “Hey, just be lucky I didn’t stop you two from finishing that little water fight. Anyone else would have. By the way, Lori totally won.”
“Are you sure about that?” Dex asks.
“A hundred percent.”
“Why do you seem so surprised by that?” I ask, sarcastically.
“Cuz I’m about to do this!” He says, hitting me with a giant splash.
“Come on. They’ll send Fitz if you two don’t come back with me right now.”
“Oh, fine.” I say. Me and Dex help each other up, and get out of the stream. We walk back to the main section of the hideout, and WHAT THE- flashbacks. I’m having flashbacks. Well, at least that was a nice, fun one. But with my luck, the next one will be awful.
I’m curled up under my blankets. I can’t believe Keefe would join the Neverseen. And I can’t believe Elwin couldn’t heal the burn they gave me. Why would he do that? Even if he is supposed to be a double agent, I can’t help but worry that his mom will hurt him. Someone knocks on my door.
“Come in.” I say.
“Hey, how are you doing?” It’s Dex.
“Been better.”
“Elwin really couldn’t heal it?”
“No. I had to resort to makeup to cover it up.”
“Well no offense to your makeup skills, but it’s still pretty obvious that it’s there.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But, um, I made something for you if you really want to hide it.”
“What did you make?”
“I call them scar concealers. But honestly, I think you should embrace it. It makes you unique.”
“Maybe I will someday, but right now, I don’t want a dozen people asking for the story a day.”
“Ok. I’ll support whatever decision you make. Don’t feel like you have to.”
“Thank you.” I say and he sits down next to me. He hands me a bag of what looked like a bigger version of  the pimple patches humans use.
“If you put one on, it should blend right in with your skin tone. You’ll barely notice that it’s there, and anyone who sees it would have to be looking for it.”
“Thank you so much.” I say, burying my head in his shoulder. He wraps an arm around me, and we just stay there for a while. And it’s nice. WAIT WHAT’S HAP- flashbacks. I did end up embracing the scar there, and I probably will here too, but after I’ve adjusted. It’s always so disturbing when the world starts to disappear around me. Then I remember that I’m having flashbacks, and I can calm down. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. But trying to stop the next flashback from coming won’t get me anywhere. Hopefully it’s not a bad experience.
“DEX DEX DEX! WE’RE BORED!” The loud voices of the Dizznee triplets chant.
“Don’t come to us!” Dex yells back. We’re in the middle of an ability contest, to see who can levitate the longest. We haven’t been going for long, and we can probably have both gone longer, but the triplets run into the room and basically drag Dex down to the floor.
“Well, looks like I won that.” I tease.
“Hey, I call interference!”
“WE KNOW SHE WOULD HAVE WON ANYWAYS.” Lex says.
“SHE’S YOUR GIRLFRIEND, ISN’T SHE?” Bex says. I think she was just trying to get under Dex’s skin, but it won’t work. He smirks and pulls me closer.
“She sure is!” He says, and we lean in for a kiss.
“EEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Rex shouts. “DO THAT WHEN WE’RE NOT AROUND.” Dex shrugs.
“You were the ones who came in here.”
“I DIDN’T THINK YOU COULD ACTUALLY GET A GIRLFRIEND!” Bex exclaims.
“YOU KNOW, IF YOU EVER GET BORED OF HIM, I’M SINGLE!” Lex says. Dex rolls his eyes.
“Get lost.”
“NO THANKS!”
“What do you three even want?” I ask.
“I ALREADY SAID! WE’RE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED!” Rex says.
“Well, go entertain yourselves.” Dex says.
“MOM SAID THAT YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING WITH US. SHE HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE, AND DAD WON’T WANT US IN THE LAB.”
“Fiiiiiiiiiine. What do you three even want to do? I can’t make snow for all of you like mom can.”
“WE CAN INVENT SOMETHING TO MAKE SNOW AND CALL IT THE REX-IS-AMAZINGINATOR!”
“NO HE CAN BUILD IT LATER BECAUSE THAT PART’S BOOOOOOOOOOOORING. AND YOU SHOULD CALL IT THE LEX-IS-COOLER-THAN-EVERYONE-ELSE-SUPER-AMAZING SNOW MAKER!”
“I’m not making a snow machine.” He looks at me. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave before they figure out what the annoying activity of the day is.”
“Come on. Do you even know me? I’m not leaving these three unattended with you.”
“What, you don’t trust me?”
“No, I don’t trust them. They have unlimited energy, and your dad has a TON of prank elixirs laying around. You should be glad that there’s no Duct Tape in the Lost Cities.”
“Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“NO WE SHOULD BAKE MALLOWMELT!”
“Uh, there is no way you three are getting anywhere near the kitchen without mom.” Dex says.
“How about… nevermind.” I say, realizing that my idea would end up being a disaster.
“What?” Dex asks.
“Silly human game…”
“Which one?”
“One that they,” I say, pointing to the triplets, “should never hear about.”
“THERE IS NOTHING SAFE FOR THEM TO DO.” Dex exclaims.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The triplets seem to find this hilarious.
“Well, there is one thing I’ve been working on… and I think they’re ready…”
“WHAT ARE THEY? WHAT ARE THEY? WHAT ARE THEY?” The triplets ask.
“Giant bubbles that don’t pop…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” They scream in joy. “BRING THEM OUT RIGHT NOW!” Dex goes into one of the drawers on his desk and pulls out what looks like a giant bubble wand, and a jar of clear bubble mixture.
“We’re doing this outside. AND DON’T MAKE ME REGRET GIVING YOU GUYS THESE.” It turns out, the rambunctious children go inside the bubbles. Dex puts a bubble over each triplet, and suddenly we’re alone again. “It’s always an adventure with those three.”
“You sound like your mom.”
“Well, it’s true!”
“I never said otherwise.” I say, raising my hands in a surrender pose.
“Well, we’re alone now, what do you want to do?”
“Let's just sit here and talk. We can’t go far with the triplets being in giant bubbles.”
“Probably. How long do you think it will be before they need help?” As if on cue, Bex rolls her bubble in front of us again.
“REX IS STUCK IN THE LAAAAKE!”
“About that long.” Dex says, getting up.
“I didn’t know you guys had a lake.”
“It’s in the back. I honestly have no idea how they got there so fast.” Bex shows us how they moved so quickly, by running in it like it’s a giant hamster ball. In the middle of a small lake, Rex is trying to move around in his bubble, but since it’s floating in the water, he’s still stuck in the middle.
“YOU GUYS SHOULD COME IN!!! IT’S SO FUN!!!!!!” Rex shouts, laughing and trying to move again.
“OK!” Lex and Bex shout.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Dex yells, trying to stop the little chaos machines from jumping in, but it’s too late. Now all three of them are in the lake, laughing their heads off, and Dex is soaked from the splash Bex made when she jumped in. And I have to admit that I’m laughing at the look on his face too. “I never should have given them those.”
“Come on. They can’t get hurt in there, and it’s keeping them entertained. Why don’t you go dry off and I’ll supervise.” I say.
“Fine,” he says. I kiss him on the cheek, and he goes inside.
“LORI YOU SHOULD COME IN HERE TOO!!!” Lex says
“How about I stay here, and if you three can splash me, I’ll jump in.”
“NOOO! GET IN HERE!!!!” Rex shouts.
“I’ll jump in, and I’ll push your brother in.”
“YEAH! LET’S SPLASH HER!!!!” Bex shouts, right as Dex walks back.
“Do I want to know why they’re trying to splash you?” I shrug.
“I guess they thought it would be fun.” I lean in for a kiss, not noticing how the triplets were suddenly talking in low voices. Dex’s lips are about to meet mine, when we get showered by lake water!
“DIDYOGUYSJUSTUSETELEKINESISONTHATWATER?” Dex shouts. He’s soaked, again. The triplets are all laughing like crazy children inside their bubbles.
“USING SKILLS IS SO CHEATING!” I shout.
“NO IT’S NOOOOT! YOU NEVER SAID THAT! NOW YOU NEED TO DO YOUR PART OF THIS!” The triplets exclaim.
“Wait, Lori, what do they mean, ‘do your part of this’? Did you make a bet with them? Lori!”
“I thought they would keep running around in those bubbles, trying to get the water to move!”
“COME ON! THIS IS TAKING TOO LONG!”
“Sorry Dex.” I say.
“What did you promise them? Lori!” He lets out an adorable little squeal when I push him into the water. I count to three, and jump in. “I’m never leaving you alone with the triplets again.” He grumbles.
“You know that’s not true. But I promise I won’t make any more bets with them.”
“Deal.” Apparently, the triplets were laughing so loud that Juline heard them when she leaped home. Explaining why me and Dex were swimming in the lake with the triplets who were encased in giant bubbles, was difficult to say the least.
“I can’t trust anyone else here, can I?” She sighs. “Dex, go let them out of the bubbles.” I go off to help him while she hails Edaline to explain what I’ve been doing this afternoon.
“NOOOOOO DON’T TAKE US OUT!!!!!!!” Bex is screaming.
“Mom said I have to! So get out!” Dex grunts. He stops trying to pull her out. “This is a losing battle.”
“Well, if nothing else we had fun.”
"Yeah." He gives the most adorable smile EVER, and kisses me. WAIT WHAT'S… I'm having flashbacks. That… was a fun day.

Somehow, this is at over a hundred reads already! This is actually crazy. If there's anything special anyone wants me to write for it, just comment it, and I'll try to make it happen.