#alec writes

A tired sigh escapes Peter’s lips as his bones bleed into the sheets. The window’s cracked ajar, allowing cold autumn air to mingle with the smell of MJ’s perfume that’s lingering around in the room.

He’s stripped down to nothing but his tattered pink robe, searing skin exposed to the chilly sensation emitting from his wedding ring as it trails along the length of his body.

For the first time in a while Peter’s gotten some time alone.

MJ has taken Mayday for the day and left so that Peter could have the house to himself, claiming he’d been pent up for a while and supposedly needed a break.

Peter hadn’t argued against it but had instead taken the offer with grace since it’s true that he has been feeling pent up but not for the reason MJ thinks. Peter’s sure that if she knew the reason behind his recent behaviors she wouldn’t be so willing to help him.

For the last couple of weeks Peter’s been plagued with the realization that he didn’t hate his neighbor, not his next door neighbor because that man is a menace and Peter’s pretty sure the hate’s mutual.

Instead he’s come to the realization that he didn’t hate his neighbor on the floor below him, that neighbor being you.

At first he was sure that he hated you since you made his spider senses tingle, well at least that’s what he thought it was.

He’d first met you at a neighborhood block party. You had recently moved in or so he had heard and were more than eager to get acquainted with the neighbors for whatever reason.

You were lounging around in a lawn chair when he had first arrived with MJ and Mayday.

The poor thing threatened to give out under your weight but you paid it no mind as you entertained a conversation with a neighbor and nourished a beer in your hand.

When you rose to greet him, Peter noticed that you were a whole head taller than him so it was no wonder that you made his spider senses tingle.

He tried his best to ignore you but even when he couldn’t see you, he could smell you since you wore this stupid cologne that smelled stronger than anything MJ’s ever worn before and because of that he could always tell when you were lingering around.

If he thought that smelling and seeing you was bad then touching you was something else.

He’d purposely opted out of a handshake when you first greeted each other but that didn’t save his spider sense from going into overdrive after having your knees knock together while you were sat at the same table or having your elbows brush against each other while scooping up leftovers.

However even though you made his spider sense go off, Peter had quickly realized that you weren’t a threat, at least not a dangerous one.

You were friendly and always made sure to spark up a conversation with him, even when you'd be in a rush to something.

You’d go out your way to bring him any of his mail or packages that happened to be misplaced.

Hell you'd even baby sat Mayday a handful of times so it was safe to say you weren’t a threat. But for whatever reason Peter couldn’t seem to get you out of his head.

Especially after hearing your ever so polite voice protruding through his thin bedroom walls, your dirty words squeezing between his and Mj’s hushed conversations. Or seeing the way you basically engulfed whoever was in your arms but unlike the lawn chair they seemed to thrive from being in your embrace. And escaping the smell of your cologne turned out to be a hard feat since every other day someone would be prancing around in one of your shirts dozed in the smell of it.

He doesn’t even remember when he started making sure that he’d be the one to pick Mayday up from your house, just to see whatever lounge wear you’d be prancing around in that day and the bit of skin that always seemed to show through it.

He doesn’t remember when he started hoping that the mailman would misplace yet another letter or package just so that he could feel your calloused fingertips brushing against his as you handed him something.

He doesn’t even remember when he started biting his tongue just so he wouldn’t ask you who he had seen standing outside your door the previous night.

He shouldn’t be feeling like this. He has MJ and he has Mayday and as far as he knows he’s happy. He’s just pent up, like MJ had said.

It’s not like Peter and MJ don’t have sex. It’s just that she doesn’t do it for him, at least not anymore.

Every time they get intimate he’d have to fake an orgasm or jerk off after she’d gone to bed. Lately he’s even had to pretend to be asleep every time she tried to initiate something because he simply wasn’t up for it.

So he’d find other ways to entertain himself and one of the ways being with inappropriate thoughts of his neighbor.

And things kind of escalate from there not in the literal sense since you’re so fucking polite, wont even look at him twice, keeping a respectful distance to a man who has a kid and a wife.

But God Peter wishes that you did, so much so he imagines you pinning him to the bed, hip to hip, chest to chest, those strong arms and thighs caging him into the mattress

The tattered robe wrapped around his frame doesn’t compare to the way your body would feel on top of his. But he keeps it on anyway, closes his eyes and pretends that the hand leisurely dragging across his limbs is your body pushing down onto his.

He imagines the way your lips would slot together, hot breath washing over his cheek as you whisper dirty words to him.

A thumb finds his lips, teasingly tugging and taunting at the bottom lip. It feels nothing like your calloused fingertips but his tongue peaks past his lips, tasting the salty skin before sinking down on it.

He imagines how you’d tease and taunt him in that polite voice of yours that managed to whisper such dirty words, how you’d mock him for wanting to be fucked like a bitch in heat despite the wedding band digging into his skin, maybe you’d force him to say it just so that he hears it from his own lips or so that the whole neighborhood can hear how desperate he is.

He imagines you straddling his waist grinding into him while wearing nothing but your boxers, teasing him to point where he’s soaking through his own pair of underwear.

A hand slides down his chest, blunt nails dragging down his happy trail, only to stop at the fringe of curls atop of his cunt, tugging and taunting til he’s all worked up.

He imagines your long fingers thrusting into him , or making him finger himself while wearing his wedding band, prepping himself to be fucked by someone other than his spouse.

And God he’s already so wet, fingers easily coating in his arousal as he trails them up his cunt, and in that very moment he can't help but think how MJ never gets him like this.

But his fingers are not enough- this little fantasy of his is not enough but you’re too good to do anything about it so he rolls onto his stomach before propping the pillow between his legs, pretending it’s your face.

He imagines the bed creaking under your shared weight, and the way the smell of your cologne would engulf his senses. He imagines the way your calloused fingertips would sink into the supple skin of his thighs and the way your ever so polite voice would sound as you command him to properly sit down.

He starts moving slowly, rolling his hips cautiously, imagining the way your tongue would experimentally delve through his folds.

The pillow slides in between his folds, coarse fabric creating a steady pressure onto his engorged numb, not enough to overwhelm his senses but enough to send jolts of pleasure coursing through his body every time he moves his hips.

He imagines you wanting to take your time with him wanting to taste him, tongue licking a strip along his cunt up to his puffy clit where you’d continue to tease him until he’s begging and urging you to hurry before someone can find the two of you like this.

But you wouldn’t listen to him, wouldn’t care if anyone were to find you like this, hand slapping his ass in warning before you continued to do as you pleased.

His hand cups the globe of his cheek, much like the way you’d do it if you were with him, except his fingers feel nothing like yours. But the cold sensation from his ring as it slaps his searing skin sends sparks of pleasure coursing through his entire body and for one second it almost feels like you’re actually there with him.

The coarse fabric of the pillow case reminds him so much of your stubble and it’s so wrong but feels so right - the thought of being fucked by someone other than his wife as huffs and pants escape his lips, hips moving faster as he wanders back to his fantasy.

He imagines you having him so worked up to the point where Peter’s long forgotten about the fact that someone can just walk in on you two because the bed’s creaking and he’s loudly begging and pleading for you to stop teasing.

Eventually you'd take pity on him, showing him mercy by properly latching onto his puffy clit, eagerly suckling on it before tonguing his hole.

He adjusts his hips, and the angle in which the pillow hits his clit changes slightly, and intensifies the sensation along with it.

“Oh- oh fuck!” He squeals out, toes curling as he throws his head back.

He imagines the way you’d easily have him teetering on the edge of his release with Peter begging and pleading for you to let him finish.

He can almost taste it, can hear the Squelching sounds mingling with the sound of needy noises escaping his lips. He can even smell his arousal: strong and heady, knowing he’s probably stained the pillow under him and will need to wash it before MJ comes back but for now he can’t find it in himself to care.

He’s so close, needs just a bit more -and that’s when he picks up on the sound of your footsteps walking up the stairs, smells the scent of your cologne bleeding into the air.

You must be on your way to his apartment to bring yet another misplaced package.

And Peter knows it’s wrong but it feels so right, feels himself tip over the edge as you read what’s written on the parcel, out loud

Basically, in this AU, the Earth Trillionaires have united with the Condesce to create the Imperial Coalition. Mutants are no longer culled on the spot, but they're still very much second-class citizens, and the distribution of wealth in the empire benefits only the elites of both planets. Enter the Third Sufferer's Rebellion lead by one Dirk Strider, who back-stabbed his brother in the middle of a war campaign, leaving him to pretty much die on a jungle planet. Dave was thankfully saved, however, by a mysterious online presence that only calls themselves THE MAGE, and who appears to have a lot of knowledge about the future.

Years later, Dave's now the captain of the Imperial Coalition Ship Hepheastus, a delivery ship. He hires Sollux Captor, one his sister's friends, to help him pilot it and the two get into all sorts of shenanigans, including a 'no strings attached' non-quadranted relationship that would be the outrage of any imperial authority. Dave's fine with it, because Sollux doesn't do relationships and also becaise Dave's actually in love with this very cute guy he met on a space station but who turned him down because his ex-moirail 'slept with him before fucking off to who knows where so yeah, I'm not looking for a serious relationship right now, sorry'.

Unknown to most of its student body, there was a war raging in the halls of Luna Nova. A war being fought for honor, integrity, and the truth. The young witches that blissfully walked the campus may have been unaware of its importance, but for Chloé LeBlanc, it was her reality. The day would come when she would conquer this fight, when she would finally show her peers the truth! The day when she would prove to everyone, student and teacher alike, that she was a better witch than Diana Cavendish.

For the life of her Chloé could never understand just what everyone saw in Diana. She swore that she couldn’t go ten minutes without one of her brainwashed peers throwing out a “Wow Diana!,” or a “You’re so talented Diana!” So what she was good at a couple of spells? It’s not like she could pull off anything their teachers couldn’t! So what she was from a fancy noble family! As far as Chloé could tell there were several girls in her year with noble blood. Hell Chloé herself was from a long and historic magical lineage. The difference was she didn’t feel the need to flaunt it around like Diana did.

Every other word outta that snobbish brit’s mouth was about her dumb family. “The Cavendish family honor,” this and “My duty as a Cavendish,” that. And yet no one but her seemed to care. All the other girls, especially Barbra Parker and Hannah England, ate up that crap like it was a freaking ice cream sundae. They just loved to hear all about Diana’s dumb family history and her dumb realtives, and her dumb ancestorial connection to one of the olde nine witches. And Woodward knows that Diana was all too eager to tell them about it.

The LeBlanc family was just as storied and important as the Cavendish lineage, yet no one seemed to be chomping at the bit to ask Chloé about her history. For generations, witches of the LeBlanc name were crucial parts of the magical community. Her great great grandmother Belle was one of the founding members of the great mages library. Her great uncle Auguste revolutionized the magical culinary arts with his cooking. Even as recently as 16 years ago, her cousin Jean-Pierre helped to stop a dangerous drug trading coven. There was no shortage of excellent LeBlanc witches! Okay, yeah sure, her older sister Sherry might have gotten a bit too obsessed with that crazy motorcycle card game of hers, but that's hardly enough to erase the decades of impressive LeBlanc achievement. Didn’t seem to matter though, as these noble deeds meant nothing to the masses compared to Diana’s rambling.

The only other people who seemed to be immune to Diana’s annoying drivel was her teammate Sarah Bernhardt, and Sucy Manbavaran and Akko Kagari of the red team. Sarah was too much of a realist to get caught up in pointless hero worship, Chloé was pretty sure Sucy didn’t really care about anything, and Akko, poor, sweet, troublesome Akko, had convinced herself that Diana was her destined rival. A rivalry that the Japanese witch stood absolutely no chance in, but one that Chloé admired. Sure, She and Akko didn’t talk much, but Chloé saw her as a companion of sorts. The only other girl who was dying to see Diana get knocked down a peg.

And finally, after all this time, Chloé had found a way to make just that happen. A full proof plan that would once and for all prove herself to be a witch of equal, no, greater calibur than Diana Cavendish. Chloé grinned wickedly at the envelope she clutched to her chest. With her master piece in mind and her secret weapon in hand, Chloé proudly strode towards the peach team dorm. The last classes had just let out for the day, and the French girl was certain that both her teammates would already be back in their dorm. Not that she was eager to brag about her master plan or anything, Chloé just felt like talking to her friends was all. As she approached the door, Chloé’s suspicions were confirmed as she heard Sarah and Elfriede’s voices from within the room. With a confident smile on her face, Chloé threw open the door, just knowing her fellow peach team witches would be eager to listen to her magnum opus.

“I’m telling you El, that’s absolute nonsense,” Sarah said as she lay on her bed, looking up at the ceiling.

An annoyed grumble came from Elfriede who was sitting across the room on the bottom bunk of the bed she shared with Chloé.

“Oh what would you know about true love? Always looking at matters of the heart in black and white,” Elfriede retorted. The German witch had a book open on her lap. While Chloé couldn’t see the title from where she stood, she was certain it was probably another one of Elfriede’s trashy monster romance novels.

It was a sight that Chloé had gotten rather used to in her time at Luna Nova, as her teammates seemed to argue constantly like this. Elfriede would dream up some cheesy idealistic scene of love and confession and drama in her head, only to adamantly defend it when Sarah would ruthlessly point out how absurd it was. The arguments would never get mean spirited and they hardly ended in the two peach team members being genuinely upset with one another, but they did more often than not go on for a long time. Neither Elfriede nor Sarah was the backing down type, and as a result were more willing to waste an afternoon then admit they were being silly.

The fact that the two were in the midst of one such argument did not bode well for Chloé as neither had noticed her come in the door, and even worse, neither would be willing to hear about her awesome plan.

“All I’m saying is that true love is an unproven concept,” Sarah said, turning on her side to face Elfriede. “But you know what is a proven one?”

“What’s that?”

“Hunger. As soon as that lamia gets hungry, it doesn’t matter how ‘perfect for each other,’ they are. Goodbye lover boy or girl, you’re fucking dinner!” Sarah said, throwing up her hands for emphasis.

“Sarah!” Elfriede said with a huff. “You’re so morbid!”

“What? It’s the truth!”

“Ehem,” Chloé said with a cough, figuring now was as good a time as any to make her presence known.

Sarah and Elfriede both fell silent as they turned to look at Chloé.

“Oh hey Chloé,” Sarah said. “Didn’t see you come in. How long have you been standing there?”

Chloé walked forward and sat down at the desk the three shared.

“Long enough to know that you should cease this pointless argument before it becomes a whole ‘thing’,” She said with an air of authority. “And long enough to know that a certain team leader owe’s a coin to the swear jar.”

Sarah rolled her eyes and with a groan flopped onto her back.

“Seriously? I Didn’t even mean to! It just kinda slipped out.”

“Yes seriously,” Chloé said, grabbing the jar from its place on the desk and thrusting it towards Sarah.

The redhead grumbled under her breath as she sat up and dug for a coin in her pocket. Once the necessary penance was paid, Chloé put the jar down and turned to her roommates with a smile. It was time. Time for them to hear her plan.

“Girls, there’s something I would like to discuss with you.”

Chloé had only just said her first sentence when Sarah already let out another groan.

“What?” Chloé asked, somewhat put off.

“I know that face is what. It’s the ‘I’m gonna destroy Diana’ face.” Sarah said.

“I don’t have a ‘I’m gonna destroy Diana’ face!” Chloé retorted.

“Then what you have to tell us has nothing to do with Cavendish?”

“Well...not exactly…”

“See? I knew it,” Sarah said victoriously.

“You don’t understand Sarah!” Chloé said, excitedly shooting up from her chair. “This time it’s going to work! This time I’m going to show Diana what for!”

“That’s what you said about the swimsuit incident and we both know how that went,” Sarah said with a sigh.

Chloé’s response died in her throat as she felt her face heat up in embarrassment. Ah yes, the swimsuit incident. Not the LeBlanc family’s finest hour.

“This is different!” Chloé managed to say, blocking the embarrassing memory from her mind.

From behind her Elfriede joined Sarah in letting out a tired sigh.

“Do you really have to do all these schemes Chloé? Can’t you just try and get along with Diana?” the German girl questioned.

“Spoken like a true Cavendish apologist,” Chloé said with a ‘hmph’, crossing her arms.

“I’m not a ’Cavendish apologist,’ Chloé. That’s not even a thing. All I did was ask her for some help on the linguistics homework.”

“And that’s just how she lures you in!” Chloe said. “If you are truly loyal to the peach team and are not a Diana brain slave in the making, you’ll at least hear what I have to say.”

“Fine,” Elfriede said, resignation heavy in her voice. “Go ahead.”

“Sarah?” Chloé asked, whipping around to face her redheaded teammate.

Sarah gave her a frown, but relented all the same.

“Yeah go ahead. Regale us with your oh so clever plan.”

Chloé felt her heart race with excitement as her teammates gave her the all clear. They were clearly apprehensive at the moment but they’d surely change their tune once they heard her brilliance. Clearing her throat with a good cough, Chloé began her speech.

“Now, as you both know Diana Cavendish has garnered a rather annoying reputation as our grade’s, and perhaps the whole school’s, top witch. But do you know why that is?”

“Because she has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things magic?” Sarah said.

“No,” Chloé responded flatly.

“Is it because she’s dependable and is always there when her peers need her?” Elfriede asked innocently.

“No, wrong again,” Chloé said with a grumble.

“Oh, I know! It’s because she-”

“It’s because she supposedly gets top marks in all her classes!” Chloé said, cutting the German girl off.

“Well yeah,” Sarah said dryly. “She does get top marks in all her classes.”

Chloé couldn’t help but chuckle darkly at that. Oh how naive her team leader was.

“That’s where you’re wrong, my dear Sarah,” Chloé said with an evil grin. “For that is but an illusion, a lie that Diana has led the entire student body into believing. I, however, have seen the truth.”

“Which is…?” Elfriede asked tentatively.

“That Diana Cavendish has not, in fact received the best possible grades in all her classes, but has merely received them in most of her classes!” Chloé exclaimed.

A silent pause fell over the room. Sarah and Elfriede shared a look across the room before letting out a joint “huh?”

“Allow me to explain,” Chloé eagerly said, ignoring a groan from Sarah. “You see, last tuesday in potions class, while I was packing up our cauldron I noticed a certain British snob looking over the tests Professor Lukić had handed back to us.”

Chloé began to pace across the dorm room as she continued her story.

“Usually when Diana gets a test back, she simply nods her head before putting it away in her bag. Yet this time, this time was different,” Chloé said, ignoring Sarah’s interruption asking her how she knew exactly what Diana did with her tests.

“For whatever reason, Diana did not nod in confirmation when viewing this test, no she practically scoured at it. For on the top of that paper sat not the expected A+, no. The grade she had received was in fact...a B!” Chloé shouted.

Chloé whipped around to see her roommates' reaction. Neither had moved. They must have been reeling in shock at her revelation.

“A...B? That’s it?” Sarah asked

“Nay! It goes deeper!” Chloé responded. “You see I had to make sure I wasn’t mistaken, that I hadn’t been seeing things. Surely the oh so incredible Diana Cavendish hadn’t scored a grade not one, but three whole steps below an A+? But she had! And I have the proof!”

Chloé strode back to the desk and picked up the envelope she had been carrying earlier. It was time to deploy her secret weapon.

“Behold!” She said, opening the envelope and pulling out the paper within. “The record of Diana’s potions grades!”

“How on earth did you get that? Sarah asked somewhat worridley.

“I have my sources,” Chloé responded smugly.

“That sounds like an invasion of privacy Chloé,” Elfriede said.

“And kinda illegal,” Sarah added.

“Don’t get caught up in the details,” Chloé said, waving off her friend’s concerns. “Pay attention instead, to the truth!”

Chloé turned the grade sheet so that Sarah and Elfriede could see. Despite their misgivings, both girls leaned forward to read it.

“This page, this mere piece of paper is the key to toppling Diana! For it proves that not only did she indeed get a B on our last test, but that her class average is only a B+!! That’s right, not an A+, not a basic A, not even an A-, a humble B+.”

Chloé laughed wickedly as she threw the paper up in triumph. There! She had exposed the truth! Now both of her roommates were enlightened!

“Is...that it?” Sarah questioned.

Chloé stopped mid evil laugh to whip her attention back towards Sarah. This lukewarm reception was not the response she had been expecting.

“What do you mean is that it!? How is your mind not blown right now??” Chloé questioned angrily.

“Well, It’s just that, I don’t see how that’s a big deal?” Sarah said. Elfriede nodded in agreement.

“This seems pretty...normal?”

Impossible! Chloé could understand how a grounded person like Sarah could fail to see the bigger picture here but not Elfriede too!

“It’s not! Diana is supposed to be perfect! But here she is clearly achieving below perfect scores!”

“Everyone has something they aren’t good at Chloé,” Elfriede said. “It makes sense Diana would have a subject she struggles in too.”

“If you can even call a B+ average struggling,” Sarah added.

Chloé took a step back, wind knocked out of her sails. Clearly her teammates just couldn’t appreciate the gravity of her discovery.

“Hpmh. The two of you may not understand the opportunity at hand here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t.”

“And that opportunity is what exactly? Are you gonna go around the school screaming that Diana has a B in one subject?” Sarah asked.

“No! I’m not,” Chloé said. “If you must know, I will simply out perform her in potions class! When the school hears about how I, Chloé LeBlanc received a higher grade than Diana, they’ll realize that she’s just another witch. Just another girl in school, susceptible to normal grades just like the rest of us!”

Chloé crossed her arms and closed her eyes, a smug, satisfied smile on her face. A silence once again fell over the room until a nervous sound from Elfriede broke it.

“Uh, Chloé? Isn’t there something...wrong with your plan?” the German girl asked.

Chloé’s eyes flew open, and she turned to face Elfriede with a frown.

“Like what?” She asked.

“Like the fact that your shit at potions? Almost as shit as me?” Sarah said deadpan.

“Language!” Chloé retorted angrily, shoving the swear jar back in Sarah’s face.

Sarah starred her down with a frown as she dropped another coin into the jar.

“I am aware of my...lack of skills, when it comes to brewing potions. I know that I can’t beat Diana with luck alone,” Chloé explained. “But I have that covered! You see, I’m going to get a tutor, and under their tutelage, am going to work nonstop until I’m confident that I will achieve the A+ that Diana cannot!”

“That’s your big plan? To study?” Sarah asked incredulously. “That’s what you should be doing anyway for a class you suck at!!”

“You’re failing to see the bigger picture Sarah.”

“Oh yeah? Who are you gonna get to tutor you anyway? It’ll take a godd- er, gosh-darn genius to polish your skills.”

Chloé chuckled to herself smugly. “Oh don’t you worry about that Sarah. I’ve got my eyes on the best potion master in our grade!”

“Sucy Manbavaran?”

“The best approachable potion master in our grade!”

“Barsa McVinegar?” Elfriede asked.

“The very same!” Chloé responded.

“How exactly are you gonna get her to agree to tutor you?” Sarah asked drly.

“Oh please, Sarah, that’ll be easy. You may not know it, but me and Barsa are great friends. She loves me.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea Chloé. I’m pretty busy after class these days, and I kinda...don’t like you?” Barsa said to a rather flabbergasted Chloé.

The day after having revealed her master plan to her teammates, Chloé had gone to talk to Barsa as soon as she could. She often frequented the potions lab after school and that was exactly where Chloé found her. The French witch wasted no time in asking Barsa for her help in being her potion tutor...only to be immediately shot down. Okay, so it was a possibility that she had exaggerated how close she and Barsa were to Sarah and Elfriede. In reality, they had barely interacted before Chloé had started this whole scheme of hers. Still, she couldn’t take no for an answer, not now! Not after coming so far! A LeBlanc wouldn’t give up so easily!

“Please Barsa! You have no idea what this means to me!” Chloé said, throwing herself down onto her knees. “I’m begging you! Just a few lessons after class. At least until our next test!”

Barsa shifted uncomfortably at Chloé’s sudden begging. Chloé took this as a sign that her pleading was starting to work. She had no qualms about keeping this up until Barsa cracked.

“I-I don’t know Chloé,” Barsa said, shifting her gaze to look anywhere besides the fairly pathetic witch in front of her. “I already made a mistake in helping you get that grade sheet outta Professor Lukić’s office. If she found out it was missing, I’d lose my job as her TA for sure! Hell, I could have gotten expelled.”

“Yes, I understand that was a big risk for you. Which is why I brought it back, as promised, unscathed!,” Chloé said, jumping back to her feet and handing the envelope containing said document back to Barsa eagerly.

Barsa hesitantly took the envelope, giving Chloé a sideways glance before checking the contents inside. Determining that the grade sheet was in fact unmarred and in one piece, Barsa let out a relieved sigh.

“See? Good as new!” Chloé said confidently. “Now you can slip it back in place of the decoy and no one will ever know it was missing. You see, I gave my word and a LeBlanc never breaks a deal.”

“Deal!? What ‘Deal,’? You blackmailed me into stealing it for you,” Barsa said angrily.

“Well blackmail is a bit of a harsh word, isn’t it?” Chloé said with a nervous laugh.

“You threatened to release pictures of me dressing up as Professor Lukić to the school paper. I’d say blackmail describes that perfectly.”

“Okay so I might have used some underhanded tactics, and for that I’m sorry. Truly I am,” Chloé said clasping her hands together. But that was then, and this was now. Surely you can overlook the past just this once? Isn’t our friendship strong enough for that?” Chloé said hopefully.

“Not really,” Barsa deadpanned in response. “and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be your friend.”

Chloé gasped, somewhat scandalized. How could a girl with such a cute sounding voice speak such harsh words!?

Seeing Chloé’s shock as a chance to escape, Barsa quickly gathered her things, picked up her cauldron, and made for the door.

“Anyway, Bye Chloé. Good luck with...whatever it is you were doing, I guess.”

Chloé shook herself out of her surprise at these words. Barsa was trying to leave! Leave without agreeing to tutor her! Her window was closing, her plan was practically falling apart before her eyes. It was now or never! Gathering her courage, Chloé leapt at the fleeing form of the other girl, successfully clasping onto her leg. Barsa yelped at the sudden contact, and went totally red in face as she took in the scene Chloé had caused.

“Please Barsa! You’ve got to be my potions tutor!” The French girl begged.

“Just, a-ask another student!” Barsa said through her embarrassment as she continued to try and walk to the door, dragging Chloé with her.

“I can’t! My potion skills are dirt! If I try and learn from anyone but the best, my grade won’t improve enough,” Chloé retorted.

“If you want the best, then go ask Sucy. She’s even better at potion brewing than I am!”

“Ask Sucy Manbavaran for a favor? Do I look suicidal to you!?”

“Alright fine!” Barasa finally relented. “I’ll be your stupid tutor, just let go of me already! And stand up please! It’s embarrassing to see you clinging to me so pathetically like that!”

Completely missing the insult she had just received, Chloé could only hear an angelic choir as Barsa agreed to teach her. It worked! Diana’s destruction was one step closer! Oh she could see it now, the Diana Cavendish and all her brain dead worshipers standing dumbfounded as she, Chloé LeBlanc towered over her stupid ‘B’ with a perfect score!

Releasing Barsa from her grip, Chloé once again rose to her feet, composing herself with a polite cough.

“Thank you for agreeing to assist me Barsa, it’s much appreciated.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure whatever,” Barsa said flatly.

“Then I’ll meet you here after class, for let’s say, two hours or so? Starting tomorrow?” Chloé said, holding out her hand for Barsa to take.

“Ah ah ah, not so fast,” Barsa said, crossing her arms. “If I tutor you, what’s in it for me?”

What? In it for her? Chloé hadn’t expected for Barsa to ask for recompense. She hadn’t prepared a reward. In hindsight, that was probably a pretty big oversight on her part. Something was telling her that Barsa wouldn’t exactly take “the satisfaction of seeing Diana being beaten down,” as a fitting payment.

“Um, I’ll...do anything you ask?” Chloé offered with uncertainty.

“Anything, I ask?”

“Well, within a certain reason-”

“Okay bye Chloé,” Barsa said, turning for the door.

“Wait! Fine! Don’t go!” Chloé said, grabbing Barsa’s arm. “I promise, I’ll do anything that the might of the LeBlanc family name and fortune can achieve!”

For the first time since they started this conversation, Barsa seemed somewhat pleased.

“Okay Chloé, you’ve got yourself a deal,” Barsa said, turning back around to shake Chloé’s hand proper. “Meet me here everyday starting tomorrow as soon as class lets out, and don’t be late. I don’t want to spend more time doing this than I have to.

“Not to worry, Mrs. McVinegar! A LeBlanc is nothing if not punctual!”

“I’m not gonna be an easy teacher either. I can get a bit crazy when it comes to potions. You sure you still want me to teach you?”

Chloé felt her enthusiasm falter a bit at that. Well, it’s not like she expected this to be easy, right? Getting her potion skills up to snuff was always gonna be a bit of an ordeal. Besides, the harder fought the battle, the sweeter her inevitable victory over Diana would be, right? And no matter how ‘crazy,’ Barsa was about potions, she couldn’t be worse than trying to learn from someone like Sucy, right? There was no turning back now! She’d come too far.

“Yes, i’m sure!” Chloé answered confidently. “I’ll be the best student you’ll ever have!

“Sure, great,” Barsa said tiredly, finally leaving the potions lab.

Chloé watched her leave with a satisfied smirk on her face. Phase two of her master plan was complete, and she only had to beg a little! Diana’s demise was practically at hand and Chloé couldn’t be in higher spirits. Sure, Barsa had said that their tutoring sessions would be hard, but honestly, compared to the pain of living in Diana’s shadow, how bad could they be?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turns out, lessons with Barsa could be hell. No, actually Chloé was pretty sure Satan himself would want nothing to do with the punishment that Chloé had been enduring everyday after class for the last week and a half. Barsa had not been kidding when she said that she got crazy when it came to potions. It was like the normally passive girl morphed into a completely different person, one fueled solely by rage, and insulting others. Barsa had little to no patience for Chloé’s lack of skills, so rather than starting by reinforcing the basics of brewing, like Chloé had suggested, Barsa had decided to go with a more trial by fire kind of approach. This of course meant that she made a lot of mistakes, mistakes that Barsa didn’t take kindly to. It was like the orange haired girl took each and every fumble as some kind of personal affront to the art of potion brewing.

“And what exactly is that supposed to be?” Barsa had asked harshly, looking at Chloé’s attempt at making a panacea.

“Um, it’s a pa-”

“Because I know that you aren’t stupid enough to try and tell me that that pathetic excuse for sludge sitting in your cauldron is supposed to be a panacea,” Barsa said, slamming her hands on the table and leaning towards Chloé. “You aren’t stupid enough to do that, are you Chloé?”

Chloé could practically feel the venom dripping off of Barsa’s words.

“No! I’m not, Mrs. Barsa, uh sir!”

“Good. Then throw that trash down the drain and start again. From scratch.”

Seeing Chloé’s hesitance, Barsa slammed her hands down once again. “Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation!? Get brewing!”

“Yes ma’am!” Chloé said snapping to action.

And that was basically how all of Chloé’s tutoring sessions went, with her scared out of her skull as demon mode Barsa berated her. Still, as much as she didn’t want to admit it Barsa’s tutoring certainly seemed to produce results. It wasn’t long before potion mixtures and techniques were coming easier to Chloé. Now all that was left to do was see if the training paid off, which is exactly what Chloé currently found herself doing. As she sat there in potions class Friday afternoon Chloé found herself fighting to stay awake for what was probably the fifth time today. She may have been just a tad bit excited about destroying Diana’s perfect girl image and had been unable to fall asleep the night before. Nevertheless, she had pressed on throughout the day as any good LeBlanc would. She would not falter here! Not when she was so close to tasting victory!

After sitting through a class period that felt like it had lasted ages, Professor Lukić finally finished her lecture.

“That’s all we have time for today girls,” the old witch cronned. “I will see you next week.”

There was a general commotion as the witches in the room all began to stand and gather their things, clearly eager to leave the potions room and start their weekend. Chloé was not one of them, as she was starting to feel something that was probably akin to panic, just magnified times a hundred. What about the tests? They were supposed to get back their tests! Did Professor Lukić forget to grade them? Or worse, were they destroyed in some horrible unforeseen accident? Was all her hard work doomed to-

A hand shot up out of the corner of Chloé’s eye. She didn’t need to turn and look to know it was Diana’s. Chloé had long since memorized where her rival sat. Which was a totally normal thing to do, regardless of what Sarah thought. Professor Lukić took notice of Diana’s raised hand.

“Yes, miss Cavendish. What is it dear?”

Diana stood up from her seat.

“Forgive me Professor, but I believe you have forgotten to hand us back our previous test scores.”

A flash of recognition went across the old witches face before she turned back to her desk.

“Ah, right you are Diana. I know I have them here somewhere…”

A collective groan spread across the room as Diana sat back down in her seat. Obviously most of the class was not looking forward to getting their results. It was an open secret that potions was far from the most popular subject. A subpar grade in it being handed back to you was hardly the way any witch at Luna Nova wanted to start their weekend. Chloé couldn’t help but scoff. It was just like Diana to bring something like that up. Chloé bet she was the kind of kid in grade school that reminded the teacher to give homework. It baffled her to no end how Diana maintained all her fans when she pulled stunts like this. Of course, Chloé herself had also been eagerly awaiting her test results but that was neither here nor there.

Having seemingly found the graded tests, Professor Lukić turned back to the class. With a wave of her wand, the papers all began to float towards the seat of the respective students that owned them.

“Overall, you all did quite well. Even I have to admit that I’m impressed with some of the improvement I’ve seen since the last test.” Professor Lukić said. “With scores like these we might finally be able to get into some more dangerous and difficult brews.”

The professor cackled darkly as another wave of groans swept across the classroom. All of it however, was mere background noise to Chloé. The world around her practically fell away as she stared at the test in front of her...and the large A+ written on top in red ink. She’d done it! Actually really done it! She had sacrificed her pride and crawled through the trenches of potion brewing hell to get here, but she had reached her goal! The coveted A+ that even Diana Cavendish struggled to achieve! She had won! For the first time in the history in the halls of Luna Nova The LeBlanc name had reigned sup-

“Woah Diana! You did it!”

Suddenly Chloé felt herself being dragged harshly back to reality. With a speed that almost certainly wasn’t healthy for her neck Chloé turned to face Diana. The British girl had a small smile on her face, her test held in her hands, a large, red A+ adorned atop it. Chloé felt her jaw go slack. She blinked slowly in disbelief. How? How could Diana have gotten an A+ too? How!? Wasn’t this supposed to be her weak subject!? Chloé knew that the proud Cavendish could have never asked for help in her studies!

“See? I knew you’d get that A+”

Chloé hadn’t realized it before, but it was Akko who had spoken earlier, and who was now praising Diana. Wait a minute, since when in the hell was Akko friends with Diana!? It couldn’t be! Not only did she lose her chance at Diana’s destruction but had she also lost a (self-proclaimed) comrade in the battle against the Cavendish tyranny!? The Japanese girl was sitting awfully close to Diana, hell they were practically shoulder to shoulder. When Diana turned to address Akko, the smile on her face grew.

“Yes well Akko, It would appear you were right. Perhaps I was selling myself a little short,” Diana said. “Still, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Wait a second that didn’t make sense. Akko was awful at potions. How could she have helped Diana-

“Thank you Sucy. Without your lessons my grade never would have gone up.”

The witch in question scoffed in response as she stood up from her seat and walked to the door. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Akko was never gonna stop bugging me if I didn’t help you. Not like you were a difficult person to teach anyways...”

“Don’t mind her Diana,” Akko said through a laugh as her fellow red teammate left the classroom. “I bet she’s just embarrassed with how sincere you were.”

“Oh, my bad. I didn’t mean to embarrass her. Should I not have thanked her so publicly?”

“Nah don’t worry about it. It’ll take more than that to rattle Sucy. Like one time, she…”

The sounds of Diana and Akko’s conversation faded as they too left the room. Chloé remained glued to her seat, her mouth still very much hanging open and her mind still very much blown. She didn’t know what to think anymore. Diana Cavendish and Atsuko Kagari, were friends. Not only that but the notoriously stubborn and prideful Diana had actually asked someone else to help her study. A someone that just so happened to be Sucy Manbavaran. The most unapproachable witch in the entirety of the school. Slowly, Chloé closed her mouth, and turned back to face forward in her seat. She glanced down at the A+ that sat on her paper. What had filled her with near elation only minutes ago now seemed like nothing more than a cheap consolation prize.

With all the force of the disappointment that now weighed on her shoulders, Chloé slammed her head onto her desk. What she had once thought as truths, were broken and what had once been hope, was now despair. She had no idea how this day could get any worse.

“Hey Chloé.” Barsa said as she walked up to the sulking witch.

Chloé didn’t give a response, but more of an acknowledging groan.

“I see you got the grade you wanted. Good for you, I guess.”

Chloé let out another groan. “Good for me? Yeah right. This is nothing now. Nothing but the promise of what could have been.”

Unfortunately Chloé’s words were muffled by the fact that her face was currently flat up against her desk. Barsa considered asking the French witch to repeat what she had said, but just shrugged in indifference instead.

“Yeah cool so you remember our deal right? I help you, you do whatever I ask.”

Chloé raised her head to look at the ginger witch.

“And what would that be?”

“There's gonna be a potion’s expo in town this weekend, but I can’t make it because I’m visiting my family,” Barsa explained. “I was planning on stocking up on some rare ingredients, ones that I won’t get another chance to get my hands on for a while. So you’re gonna go in my place.”

“Okay. So uh when is it?” Chloé asked tentatively.

Sure, Chloé wasn’t looking forward to this at all, but hey with the leadway she gave Barsa, the ginger witch could have asked for a lot worse. What’s one day out of her weekend?

“It starts tomorrow at 9 a.m and goes until Sunday night at 11:30 p.m. The lines can get pretty long, especially for the stuff I’m after, so you’re gonna have to get there early. Six in the morning should do it,” Barsa said.

She turned to take an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to a bewildered Chloé.

“Here. That’s your ticket. Be sure not to lose it. I’ve also got a list of the stuff I need written down in there too. Make sure you get them all, especially the petrified dragon vomit. That’s really important.”

Barsa patted Chloé on the shoulder and made her way towards the door.

“Okay have fun!”

And with that, she was gone. And so was Chloé’s weekend. Finally Chloé managed to find her way to her feet. She slowly gathered up her things and made to walk for the door. As she was contemplating whether throwing herself off of the new moon tower or drowning out by the cafeteria vestibule would be a more fitting end, Professor Lukić emerged from the ingredients store room at the front of the class.

“Oh, miss LeBlanc. You’re still here. Was there something you needed child?”

“No Professor. I was just leaving,” Chloé said dejectedly.

Professor Lukić raised an eyebrow at her student’s clearly downtrodden mood.

“What’s gotten into you girl? Why are you so mopey?” The professor asked.

Chloé cringed at the question. She didn’t exactly feel like explaining her entire ordeal to the old witch.

“It’s nothing professor, really. I’m fine,” she said, hoping her professor wouldn’t press further.

Lukić let out a huff. “If you say so. Still, try and smile a bit child. You did very well on your test. You’ve far exceeded what I thought you were capable of. I’m almost proud of you.”

Chloé blinked in surprise at that. It was practically as close as possible as one could get to receiving a compliment from the old potion master. Despite everything that had gone wrong today, Chloé couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you professor. I’ll be sure to keep trying my best.”