Remember Lady Belva? That mentor, an adult who crushes on Keefe? (Holy crap, why did Shannon write that in? And as far as I know, no canon queer characters. (no unlocked spoilers pls)). Anyways, she's here and it's ugh but I'm calling her out, but like, a warning I guess?

Dex sighed as he walked into detention. Unfortunately, he wasn't even able to see if the pranks worked or not. Keefe sat next to him as they ate their lunches in silence. Keefe was jittery- his leg bouncing to relieve some of that pent up energy he had but couldn't utilize by talking.

The mentor supervising them was Lady Galvin. Strict as she was, as long as you ironed her caps efficiently, she wouldn't yell at you. And after a few years at Foxfire, you got used to it.

Lunch ended uneventfully, and on his way to his next class, Dex ran into Sophie.

"Where were you two? Were you..." her eyes had a sly glint to them, and she smirked.

Unfortunately, Dex knew exactly what she was referring to. "N-no! We already both agreed that we're not making- I- what happened to you being innocent!?"

She shrugged casually. "I was a telepath who could read the minds of dozens of teenagers way too often. Innocence was never an option. But I was just joking around, was it detention?"

"How'd you know?"

"Fitz is shorter than me."

Dex snorted. He didn't know how effective the elixir was supposed to be, but the image of a Fitz Vacker who was shorter than Sophie- who was already short- was hilarious.

"You both keep pranking the two of them, how come?"

He remembered the original reasons that the pranking started in the first place.

Yeah, I'm not gonna tell you what happened. You don't need to know that we did it because they dated our previous crushes. Wait, why are we still doing that? We've both moved on. It's just petty at this point. But... it's pretty funny though.

Instead of saying any of that, he just shrugged. Then he went to his next class, which was completely ordinary. The end of the school day came, and Dex sighed, remembering that he had to go to detention.

I wonder who the mentor is this time...

He walked in and saw Lady Belva.

Uh, that's the one who makes us dance, right? He shivered. But I guess it's fine, I have Keefe with me.

Or, that's what he'd thought. The mentor had ordered for everyone to go into pairs. Dex had only managed to lock eyes with Keefe before the blond had arms wrap around his waist before pulling him backwards.

"Lady Belva, I-" Keefe's eyes were wide, his posture tense.

"Nonsense Keefe," she said, her tone saccharine sweet. "You'll always be my partner... boyfriend or not."

There was venom in her words, and it was enough to make both boys flinch. While his friends and some of his mentors showed support, Dex forgot that they were merely a minority. That others saw them as something other.

That even though the way he loved was natural, others saw it as something abnormal. He likely would have sulked and thought over that statement, but all thoughts vanished from his mind as Keefe managed to look even more tense.

His shoulders were stiff, his back rigidly straight, and his eyes were downcast, as if trying to hide his fear from the world. It was the closest he could get to asking for help without outright saying anything.

"Lady Belva," Dex began hesitantly, ignoring the dread that he could feel building up. "As a mentor, don't you think that this is inappro-"

"Would you like more detention, Mr Dizznee?" She interrupted.

Dex looked around, hoping that someone, anyone would come to his defence. But not a single person made eye contact with him, seeking fidgeting nervously while pointedly looking away.

Was this what it was always like? Did things like this always happen? Was I blind to it all, or did I simply not care until now, until someone I care about got affected?

He may have accidentally (or even purposely, a bitter part of his mind told him, the part that tried to go through Foxfire by being invisible) ignored it in the past, but he knew that he couldn't let it slide this time.

And it wasn't just because it was Keefe, his boyfriend. It was because this was wrong. Not only was she violating someone, she was a mentor- an adult, and her target was a child.

He opened his mouth to continue, because it didn't matter if he received extra detention- in fact he would gladly welcome it if it meant that the situation would be dealt with.

"I'll dance with you, Lady Belva," Keefe murmured, yet his voice was loud and clear. "Don't punish Dex, please."

It doesn't matter what happens to me! You shouldn't put yourself through this!

Then he thought about it again. What could he do? There was nothing forcing Lady Belva to actually listen to him. And even if she did back off this time, what stopped her from doing it again? Harass some other elf, one who may not have someone to support them? Next time, that elf might not have not been willing to speak up for them. (He couldn't blame them, it wasn't like he had done so in the past, and speaking up against authority figures was always stressful).

I'm so sorry that I can't do more for you, Keefe.

Even if he couldn't do something about it now though, there was surely something that he could do later. He could tell Magnate Leto, and Dex knew that he would be willing to at least listen.

He sent Keefe an apologetic look, and with all the emotion he could muster, he mouthed. I'm sorry I couldn't make this right.

Keefe only gave him a small smile. (Could he feel his emotions? Even without touching?). The smile was unlike anything he had ever seen from him, small, sincere, but there was so much emotion behind it.

I won't make you have to look like that again- I won't make anyone have to look like that again.

It was absolutely sickening to watch. His feet went through the steps absently, and he didn't take his eyes off of Keefe. Each second was a day, each sway and twirl made that dread pool up even more.

How bad is it for you Keefe?

Very distantly, he could hear his dancing partner whisper to him- probably something apologetic and feeling sorry for what was happening, but he couldn't hear. The only thing he could hear was the sound of the music and the shoes tapping against the floor.

Then finally, finally, it was all over. As soon as he could, he took Keefe's hand and led him away from the detention room. But first...

"Dex, that's not the way outside... where are we going?" Keefe asked, his voice a whisper.

"Magnate Leto."

"You're going to tell him about this?"

Dex stopped and looked at Keefe. "What happened earlier, that was wrong. You're taken, you're a child, and she's an adult, and she shouldn't even be attracted to you in the first place. She shouldn't be a mentor if she can't control herself around others. I thought that... I thought that we can't let this happen again, and not to anyone else."

It was the last sentence that had the greatest impact, because Keefe's posture changed, and that lost look in his eyes began. It was replaced with a determined spark.

"You're right, we can't let this happen to someone else."

He almost seemed to look better, except for the fact that Keefe let go of his hand.

He probably doesn't want contact yet, he was too uncomfortable earlier.

They continued their walk to Magnate Leto's office.

"Did something happen?" the principal asked.

Keefe looked too shaken to speak, so Dex was ready to speak for him. But then he spoke.

"Did you know that there's a mentor who's attracted to children?"

A beat. Then eyes narrowed. "There's a mentor that what?"

Dex had the urge to wrap an arm around him, and use physical contact as a way to support him. But he still looked shaken.

"Lady Belva forced me to dance with her during detention."

"How long has this been happening for?"

Keefe flinched, clearly not expecting the question. He looked down. That must have been enough of an answer, because Magnate Leto didn't press further, and instead said that he would deal with it.

"Thank you for telling me," he said. "It must have been hard to do so. It seems like there are more flaws to Foxfire than I realized. The both of you are free to leave."

They left the room, and it was silent.

"Are you okay?" Dex asked.

"I'm fine," he said.

But Dex saw his hand reach for his waist, where Lady Belva had touched.

"Do you wanna come over and have me comfort you?"

Keefe shook his head. "Nah, I think my father would want me home today, midterms and stuff. If I need it though, I'll ask."

At first, it sounded like an excuse, that Keefe was doing his thing where he pretended to be fine so he 'wouldn't be a burden' on anyone, but Dex understood. He genuinely wanted space, otherwise he wouldn't have acknowledged that he may need it later.

"I'll see you later, then."

Dex leapt to Rimeshire, and saw that both of his parents were waiting in the living room for him.

"You had detention, right?" Juline asked. "Something about breaking into lockers?"

Oh great. Usually, informing the parents wasn't the biggest priority. Then again, Juline was Squall, and Squall worked with Mr Forkle. And considering how shocked Leto was, it made sense that his mom would already know.

"Dex, why are you breaking into lockers?" His father asked.

At this point, there was no point in lying, especially since they probably knew the truth already.

"Keefe and I were using elixirs to add in the lock, like we thought Elwin would. I didn't do that much, it was mainly Keefe."

"Pranking is super fun and all," his dad began. Juline glared at him. "But maybe save it for outside of Foxfire?"

His mother rolled her eyes. "I already know that I can't stop all the mischief that this family causes. So minimizing it will be close enough."

"That sounds about right," both Kesler and Dex said in unison.

"I also think that you should save the pranking for after midterms. You need to study for them."

"Oh, that leads into our next point! It's about Keefe, but don't worry, we're not forcing you to break up with him," Kesler continued. "But we know that he has his tendencies to skip his classes, so we're just asking you to make sure you do well in Foxfire. So don't land in detention too often. And if your marks drop suddenly, then there might be a problem."

"That's just an 'if' though," Juline said. "Just know that we have faith in you, and you can always come to us if you start struggling, okay?"

Dex gave them a smile. He was really lucky to have parents like them. "Thank you."

After the talk, he went to his room and pulled out his work. It'd be a good way to de-stress.

"What happened at Foxfire,"Lovise murmured. "That was... something."

He hummed in agreement.

"I didn't realize that it was possible to be attracted to a child like that. They're small, innocent, and they're like you in the past."

"Yeah."

He continued working, and he could feel some of the anger and tension start to drain. Dinner was quieter than usual, which was strange because the triplets were being quieter.

As tine passed though, it became harder to work. He would catch himself shooting glances with his imparter.

Should he call Keefe? Before he could decide against it, he recieved a hail from Keefe.

"Can I come over and get cuddles?" The blond asked, the messiness of him made him look younger.

"Of course." Dex wondered if Keefe's acknowledgement of what he needed meant that he was more rattled than he let on.

"Okay, give me a few minutes then."

It wasn't an exaggeration, Keefe actually got in within minutes, greeted his parents- who smiled and raised their eyebrows- before they went to his room.

"Do you wanna talk about it, or just relax?"

"Relax."

Dex shifted, then patted his lap. "Okay, come here."

Keefe called over and laid in it. Then Dex started to massage his head, and just like that, he started to relax. With his free hand, he held Keefe's, and rubbed slow circles on his palm. And before long, he was asleep.

"I still can't believe that you can knock him out that quickly," Ro whispered.

"He needs the sleep, he doesn't get enough of it."

She nodded. "He needed that."

Wowee, another update in less than a month? Ideally, this should happen more, but like, prolly not. But I'll try!

Toying with the idea of making Keefe ace/aspec. It doesn't affect anything in the story really, so I don't see why not. Probably will, gotta write that ace content for my own needs. It wouldn't be properly established until a bit later, as they learn more about attraction and stuff.

(edit. but clearly above is no longer the case. Keefe is ace. Already established.)