Ever since that moment, time seemed to have sped up significantly. Minutes felt like seconds, the hours like minutes, and thus, days like hours. Before long, we had already made it to saturday, which meant we only had today and tomorrow left for our visit. Cecily has completely started getting along with my parents, and Latham's really started opening up to me as well. Cene is still bored out of his mind though, not much I can do about that.
"When awe we going hoooooome~?" He whined and whined.
"Soon enough. In a couple of days, actually." I replied.
"Mn, I'm not sure..." Cecily figured, "Maybe we could, y'know, extend our stay for just a bit more?"
"No!" Cene cried out, "No, no, no! No extending!"
"I'm glad you're having fun here, Cily, but..." I chuckled, "I don't think we should be overstaying our welcome too long. I mean, I'm sure mom and dad don't mind us that much, but we might be pushing our luck if we tell them we'll be intruding for a bit more."
We came unannounced, so I'm sure my parents will have some qualms about the idea. As I said, we're getting along swimmingly, but that won't last for long if we continue to act entitled like this. I think we should stick to the plan, after all. Best not to incur anyone's unneeded wrath.
"Come on, just a bit more?" Cecily seemed oddly adamant about the matter.
"Why though?"
"I just... wanna finish something up before leaving."
"But moooom, I wanna go home!" Cene tugged on her shirt.
"Cene." Latham popped his head into the room, "Wanna feed Flip?"
"Okay, wait fow me!" He immediately switched gears.
It seems these two have developed a rather interesting relationship as well during these last few days. Namely, ever since it was brought to light that the Grimhearts took in a raccoon by the name of Flip, Cene's been actively trying to get closer to him and hopefully achieve the same friendly, playful relationship level that Flip and my mom have. His plans were quickly ruined, but it thankfully didn't take much convincing for Latham to see his nephew so desperately seek out his furry friend's approval and help out as well, so now they're kinda like destined to work together to achieve a common goal.
"They were so at odds at the start of the week, and now look at them." Cecily smiled, "I'm glad we managed to get this situation solved."
"Wouldn't rest just yet." I added, "I still haven't finished pranking that guy yet."
Latham, he's been getting me more and more ever since he figured out my Iro Abilities are something I possess, and not something that possesses me. With each passing prank, the intensity keeps increasing in more cunning ways that make it even more difficult to hide my Abilities from mom and dad. I've been too busy tending to the defense to get any good jabs in myself, leading to a situation to occur where I actually had mom see me Go Solipsistic. Sigh, the only reason she still sorta believes me is because I came up with the weak excuse of me having incredibly good reflexes to dodge Latham's prank.
"So what's your grand plan when it comes to ending this prank war, then?" Cecily smirked, "You gonna leave it unfinished until the next time you two see each other? Or do you have a deciding match in mind that's definitely gonna leave you both satisfied?"
"Neither. I intend to win." I chuckled maliciously, "Pranks are something to bond and laugh together over, and it seems that concept was just lost on him from the very moment we first met."
He keeps insisting on harmful pranks, so I thought retaliating with a bit of fear would scare him back onto the right idea, however that didn't come to fruition. It seems, in the end, that no matter how hard you try, you just can't fight fire with fire if your goal is to extinguish it. I need to show him that you can become a master prankster without getting under the other party's skin.
"I'll be borrowing Cene for my final prank, though." I cooked something up, "I think I could use this little sudden improvement in their relationship to my advantage."
"Spoken like a true evil villain." Cecily nodded, "Just don't go too overboard."
"Of course. Heh, It'd be pretty hypocritical of me if I did, hahah."
I say that, though, but in reality I'm over here plotting up how to make a fake danger scenario where Cene almost gets himself killed again. Obviously, I'll be going through all the safety measures and precautions so as to make sure he isn't actually in any danger, but if I'm being honest, I'm trying my best to multitask. I want to show Latham what a harmful prank can do to a person and their loved ones, but also to show Cene what exactly testing your luck will get you.
That boy is dangerously close to getting himself killed at every waking moment. Cecily taught him to be way too lax in moments where stress would usually be eating the person up completely. I'm not saying he should be punished, far from it, just that he needs to understand his capabilities and limits in the world. Because if he doesn't, then one day I fear he may come across a problem that he'll underestimate. And that problem may just end up being lethal because of this...
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Deciding to put my grand plan into action, I went to follow Cene in secret outside to where he and Latham were at, and sure enough they were in the yard, playing with Flip. Latham was tossing and rolling the raccoon around all over the place, with the furry friend just happily coming back to him for more. The issue wasn't in those two, but rather in Cene, who was recklessly running straight towards Flip in the hopes he'll be able to accomplish the same. Obviously though, Flip would get way too scared and would either skeddadle away or just hiss at him, in which scenario Latham would have to calm him down. Looking at the view in any other situation would probably make you think Latham's an extremely irresponsible guardian, when in reality the opposite holds true. My brother is not only being extremely kind and patient with Cene, but he's also helping teach him how to properly take care of pets. This... can be used against him.
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"Hey, have you guys tried the handshake technique?" I suggested.
"The what now?" Latham turned to me with great suspicion, "This isn't another prank you're trying to pull?"
"Have at least a little bit of faith in me, will ya'? I'm being serious." I rolled my Eyes before explaining, "Then again, it's just something I heard, so please bear in mind I have no clue if it works. Basically, they say an animal's mind is programmed to immediately befriend anything they touch directly with their paws, so if you were to give an animal a handshake, it'd easily turn them friendly and docile."
"That's..." Latham paused for a moment, "The dumbest thing I've heard come out of your mouth. Like... ever."
"I wanna twy!" Cene immediately put his hand out naively, "Come here, Fli-!"
"Hell no!" Latham lifted him up and away by the scruff of the neck just in the nick of time, "The only thing that'd achieve is get your face clawed in!"
"Huh? But daddy wouldn't lie..." Cene looked torn.
"Yeah, that's what's bugging me as well." Latham glared back at me, "It's one thing to wanna prank me, but now you're aiming for your son? This is an odd choice to make..."
"What? Dude, if I knew you were gonna be so judgemental I wouldn't have said anything in the first place." I shrugged, "I just thought to spitball some scientifically proved possibilities is all, you don't gotta abide by them."
"Right, thanks." Latham shooed me away just as planned, "Now leave us alone."
"Oh alright~" I sighed before turning the corner.
Great, he's wary of me, he knows I have only the best intentions for my son, and yet he still fears I'm trying to being harm to him. Obviously, no sane person would tell their son to shake a possibly rabid animal's paw. It's crazy, and downright insane, so why oh why would I ever think to suggest such an outrageous thing? That's the question I wanna make him come to. Hopefully he'll see the hidden message I'm trying to tell him. What exactly a prank with bad intentions can do to an innocent soul...
"Ah!" Cene's loud crying could be heard.
"Shit, kid, I told you not to try anything rash!" Latham ran to tend to him, "Crap, Flip got you pretty bad...!"
"What's going on!?" Mom and dad ran outside as well to see the situation unfold, "Gasp, Cene! Latham, what happened!?"
"N-Nothing!" Latham tried to explain everything truthfully, "He just...! P-Please listen, it wasn't Flip's fault!"
"Are you saying it's Cene's?" Dad saw Red.
"No! I-It was...!" Latham was on the verge of tears as I finally made my grand entrance, laughing maniacally at the crybaby Cene.
"Bahahahaha!" I could barely even talk from laughing so hard, "Oh man! Did you seriously fall for that prank, dummy? That's too good - My son's an idiot!"
"Lune, what's going on!?" Mom and dad tried to talk to me reasonably, "Stop laughing! Your son's seriously hurt-!"
"I know, I thought to prank him as well a bit!" I said as I wiped away tears, "Seriously son, did you actually think giving Flip a handshake would make you two friends!? That's so... funny!"
"F-Funny...?" Latham was slowly tipping over his breaking point, "You think hurting your son is... funny?!"
"Whoa, calm down." I gave him a nice toothy grin, "It's just a prank, bro."
As expected, I could barely even finish the sentence before I got decked in the face and sent flying. Damn, this kid's half my age, but he's goddamned strong for a thirteen year old!
"Latham!" Mother shouted.
"Your son got his hand clawed by a raccoon!" He shouted angrily at me, "He got hurt because YOU were the one he trusted, not me! He wanted to listen to YOUR fatherly advice, and you throw all that trust away just to get a good laugh in!?"
"Oh calm down, can't I just "Heal" him like you said I could?" I joked about my Iro Ability, seeing as my parents were present.
"You jackass!" He shouted, "You seriously went too far this time!"
"Dude, I'm just following your example." I got up with a cheeky giggle, "Pranks are fine as long as they're pranks, right? No matter how much the other person gets hurt?"
"Huh...?" He looked at me with a face that spelled realization, "No, but..."
"Uhh, yeah?" I nodded, "That's what you're doing, idiot. Now, see how that looks to us when you do it?"
"N-No, I..." He stuttered before giving up, "Y-You're right. I've been acting just like this all this time and haven't noticed it yet. You just wanted to show me how it looks like..."
"Bingo." I nodded.
"Right, so please Heal your son." He took a crying Cene to me, "The prank's over, right?"
"Nah."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing I can do here. We can apply first aid and all that, but not much more." I shrugged, "C'mon, give him here."
"W-What, but...? Ugh, whatever, just make him stop whining!" Latham followed my orders as we left mom and dad outside in favor of making Cene feel better.
That's it. The cogs in both of their heads are starting to finally turn. Obviously, Latham was quick to realize the error of his ways in this situation, but as for Cene... He still doesn't realize why his dad betrayed him on this day. Why isn't he Healing him up with the magical Iro Ability he's been using time and time again to fix any and all pain that may come his way. Inspecting the wound, I feel like it'll definitely leave a scar on the back of his hand. Nothing too big, but a tiny slit will definitely stay for the rest of his life. This right now is a lesson he'll have etched into his memory forever. That there will come a day when he won't have a father to Heal him back up to full health like he is now...