Rafael walked into his home after his weightlifting session. He didn’t have work today, which he was rather happy about. It was Thursday. The night of the full moon. It was going to rise later tonight, and Ezekiel was setting up outside.

He opened the back door and slipped outside. Ezekiel was setting up his rug and pillow, making sure his knees were comfortable on it as he knelt. He had heard about Quetzal escaping from a hunt, and how frantic Ezekiel and Hraktar were, looking for the little guy. He also heard Quetzal snuck into school, giving Alejandra a scare. Thankfully everything worked out, because there were a lot of ways that could have gone worse.

“Ready?” Rafael asked Ezekiel.

“More than ready.” Ezekiel glanced at the setting sun. “I’m almost tempted to pray now, but Hraktar keeps telling me to wait.”

“Smart idea. The moon will be in the sky for a while. I don’t want you running out of things to say.”

Ezekiel chortled. “I have too much to say. I got in trouble at the temple for reading books that weren’t based on real life people. But the truth is, I doubt the Great Lady of Light isn’t such a stickler. I think she embraces all stories that require you to look at the world in a more compassionate light.” Ezekiel squished his pillow as Rafael stared at him. Ezekiel then brought out a thick book and placed it on the makeshift altar.

“You’re going to read Lord of the Rings to the Great Lady of Light?”

A huge smile broke across Ezekiel’s face. “I’m going to read Lord of the Rings to the Great Lady of Light!”

He chuckled. “You know, Derek’s got the extended version of all three movies. Fall break is next week. We should do a movie night. Or nights.”

“Oh, yes, please! And everyone will be invited?” Ezekiel asked.

“Well, you know. Princess Clarissa. Milo. Grizzizzik. Hraktar,” Rafael said.

Ezekiel nodded, making sure the unlit candles were just right. “I would love to watch those movies with my friends.”

Rafael sighed, glancing around at the cleric’s setup. “It looks like you’ve got yourself set up. Do you want me to stay up with you?”

“No, I’ll be alright. Still have a few hours left before moonrise.” The cleric then looked at Rafael. “Your own friends have a sort of breaking of the fellowship, huh?”

“We’d already be going our separate ways if it wasn’t for you five.” Rafael glanced at Hraktar and Quetzal playing fetch in the living area. Quetzal kept running after the ball, and for now wasn’t leaving any marks as he slammed into furniture to get the tennis ball.

“Keep being a good man, Rafael. That’s all you can do.”

“Yeah. Well…” Rafael didn’t finish.

“It takes time,” Ezekiel said.

The dread returned to his system. “Do we have time?”

“Working on yourself should never be rushed,” Ezekiel said.

Rafael watched his cleric do some stretches. Ezekiel didn’t feel rushed, so Rafael allowed himself to not dwell in the dread. He pushed himself off the wall and headed toward the sliding glass door. Once inside, he glanced at Ezekiel, who had a lighter, igniting the flame on and off again, the awe clear in his face. Rafael looked again at the dark sky. His cleric was going to be fine tonight. Though maybe he’d have to grab that lighter from him.

***

Derek was talking with Baily and Eric early Friday morning. Honestly, he couldn’t believe it was already October, though in a way, he could. Being in a play performing at the end of October always made the month speed by.

On that note, he needed to memorize his lines better. Those last monologues as Wadsworth were a beast.

Milo had snuck in with a large crowd to get a head start on the red mana. He was close to a breakthrough, and the dirty twenty he rolled not long ago had to of helped.

So far, Baily and Eric were doing a good job being friends. Eric got the part of Mr. Green. Baily got the part of the singing telegram girl. Not nearly as large, but they managed fine. At least, it seemed like they were. Honestly, he couldn’t tell. Sometimes drama kids hid their authentic emotions behind sarcasm and passive aggressive remarks.

He was thinking about how nice it was to have friends outside of drama when he saw Nick. His heart sputtered to a stop at how dark Nick’s glare was. That was a kid who could not hide his feelings, even if he tried.

Nick marched over to Derek, his arms folded. “A word?”

“Uh, sure.” Derek watched Nick keep walking. He glanced at Baily and Eric before slipping away to catch up. He was worried they would have another fight about Evelyn, and he wasn’t mentally ready for it. As a drama kid, though, he forced those emotions down. “So, um, everything okay?”

Nick spun around. “Yesterday, a baby drake slammed into my head.” He lifted his hair enough for Derek to see tiny scratch marks across his scalp. They couldn’t have been that deep. Probably didn’t even bleed.

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“Huh.”

“‘Huh?’ That’s all you want to say? Alejandra said you’d keep me informed about things. Hiding a drake egg and then having it hatch is kind of a big thing to not tell me.”

“Oh, right. That was my responsibility, wasn’t it?” Derek said, like he didn’t know. Nick’s glare cut through him, and he sighed. “Fine, alright. I was supposed to tell you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Nick asked.

“Well,” Derek gestured toward Nick, feeling a bit nervous. He meant to tell Nick soon, but he’d been avoiding him the past week. “You’ve had this murderous glare for the past couple of weeks. I’ve been terrified of approaching you because of…” Derek felt a swirl of guilt come up, and he didn’t want to remind Nick of their last fight. “It was only this Monday you came to school looking like you wouldn’t snap anyone’s neck if they talked to you, and I was…” building up my courage. “I was afraid if I told you what happened, reminding you that Alejandra got a pet, let alone existed, that murderous look would return.”

Nick continued to glare at Derek, really milking it. Derek tried to smile, but that made his friend’s eyes turn into slits. “If this is going to work, you’ve got to do your job.”

“My job?” Derek asked, confused.

“Evelyn and I need some space. Rafael and Alejandra need it too. If we’re going to work together, we’ve got to have a messenger boy who does his job?”

Derek took a steadying breath. He needed to stay calm, or they might have another blow up. “I admit that I dropped the ball on this one. But if I’m going to shuttle messages between everyone…” The thought alone made him overwhelmed.

“Evelyn needs her space. So do I.”

“And I completely respect that. As long as the messages aren’t… you need to promise you won’t give me a dark glare that is…” Derek gestured toward Nick’s face again. “God, dude, put some black and gold scales on you and it’s a spitting image of Grizziz-”

“Don’t,” Nick growled.

He couldn’t help it and snorted. “Okay, fine. Sorry. Forgive me for wanting to enjoy your pleasant nature. I hadn’t seen it in weeks. I was afraid my message would squash it.”

Nick moved his jaw around before the glare finally lessened. “Fine. If it makes it easier to be open and honest with me, then I’ll try not to…”

“Bite off my head if I tell you something?” Derek suggested, causing Nick to roll his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Nick folded his arms. “You’re still wrong about Rafael, and the only reason any of us are even talking to each other is because Tyler’s the only one with any sort of sense.”

Derek held in his sigh. “Just… give Rafael a chance?” He said it carefully, like he was afraid of the wire he cut on a bomb.

Nick’s scared eyebrow twitched. “The only chance Rafael is getting from me is if he listens to Tyler and never touches her again. And never talks to her without her permission. And respects her so completely that he never makes another mistake around her.”

Derek nodded. “Honestly… yeah. That’s fair.” Nick raised an eyebrow, as though surprised Derek agreed with him. Holy shit, they actually agreed on something. It felt like hope. Did he dare hope? Derek clapped his hands together before rubbing them. “So, Alejandra has a pet baby drake. When that creature grows up in another six months, it’s going to be working with Hraktar and everyone else to kill the mythical creatures before the apocalypse comes.”

Nick kept his arms folded. “Thanks for letting me know.” His voice was devoid of all emotion.

“So, how do you feel about Alejandra and her new pet?” Derek asked.

“I don’t think he likes me,” Nick said, gesturing toward the scratches on his head.

“Give him time, I’m sure he’ll warm up to you.”

Nick snorted. “Whatever.”

“Hey, so you and Alejandra. How’s that…”

“It’s not,” Nick said too quickly, looking away.

“Oh?” Derek asked.

Nick’s face dropped. “I… punched her brother. You don’t come back from something like that.”

Derek shrugged. “I played Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream my freshman year during Shakespear. The bard himself has classically trained me to be the ultimate wingman.”

Nick crinkled his nose. “Midsummer Night’s Dream? You mean the play where Puck messes up the love potions and chaos ensues?”

“Shit, you actually read it?” Derek asked.

Nick rolled his eyes. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I have too much time on my hands. Way. Too. Much.”

Derek gave his friend a disbelieving look. “And so you read William Shakespeare?”

“Well…” Nick gave a weird gesture. “A few years ago I saw Alejandra reading it, and I wanted…”

Derek stared at Nick, the disbelief turning into shock. “Holy shit, your dad has messed you up socially.” Nick dropped his hands, and Derek noticed the usual glare entering his friend’s face. He needed to get off the subject of Walt fast, but he also felt an obligation to check on Nick. “I heard about your dad grounding you for a month. Are you… okay?”

Nick frowned, the glare deepening. “I’m fine. Not like I’d go to CCNC soon, anyway. It’s just…” Nick trailed off, then studied Derek’s face. “Do you think I should have been punished for punching Rafael?”

Derek met his friend’s gaze, knowing he had to tell him the truth. “If I knew you were going to hit him once, I would have let you. But you looked like you were going to murder him.”

Nick looked away, rubbing his jaw. “Yeah. Rafael doesn’t deserve to die.”

Derek let out an enormous sigh of relief, one that made Nick glance at him curiously. “Oh my god, Nick. I’m so glad to hear you say that out loud.” Nick rolled his eyes, though he failed to hide his smile. Derek saw a small burden lift from Nick’s shoulders, and he continued. “So no. I don’t think you should have been punished for punching Rafael. Especially not your dad’s rules. It’s not punishment, it’s abuse. As always.”

Nick snorted. “Not enough for anyone to change things.”

“And… sorry,” Derek said. He often felt helpless about Nick’s case, and hearing Walt’s strict rules always brought a dark unease in his chest. He wanted to do something for Nick for three years, but there wasn’t much the law could do.

Nick folded his arms, tunneling into himself. Derek needed to shock him out of it, so he put on a sarcastic voice. “Anyway, the offer still stands. I’m more than happy to help you in your love life. If not Alejandra, we can look at some other woman who—” It worked. Nick was already turning around and walking away, the faintest flicker of a smile on his face. It had been agony not being able to help Nick crack a smile. “It’s fantastic to see you not glaring at the world anymore!”

Nick responded by giving him an obscene gesture, and that, more than anything, solidified in Derek’s mind that his friend wouldn’t sneak into Rafael’s room and strangle him in his sleep.

A d20 appeared in front of his face, and words appeared.

Successful?

Derek’s smile widened as he grabbed the die. He had been rolling a lot of these lately. His smile faltered when it landed on a six.

“Oh shit.”

He then watched as a +15 bumped it up to twenty-one. Derek’s chest lightened. Milo had gone from a +5 bonus all the way to a +15 in a few weeks! He must have made a breakthrough.

Successful! Red mana created. Fifty experience points added.

“Sick!” Derek said, adding an extra fist bump for good measure. Fifty experience points wasn’t much, but he’d take every single point right now.