#cameron scale

“Cameron doesn't know that we're Sorcerers, so I have to make sure they don't find out. You and Indrid are always using magic around the house, so I have to make sure you don't do any magic in front of them and blow our cover.”

“I do not use magic all the time,” Vincent scoffed, closing all of the cabinet and cupboard doors with a wave of his hand. “That doesn't count.

“Look, if you’re worried, we'll just make sure to lock up the office with all of our Pseudosphere artifacts. Indrid and I can survive one night without using magic.” Vincent frowned when Daniel rolled his eyes. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“You literally used magic to make coffee this morning.”

“It's called multitasking.” Vincent tapped Daniel on his head. “We'll be fine. We haven't used magic in front of Diana yet, and you've known her for years. Cameron's only coming over for a night, nothing's gonna happen.” Vincent furrowed his brows when Daniel fumbled with his shirt. “What's going on?”

They sat at the dining table.

“I like Cameron,” Daniel admitted.

“Oh, Daniel… There’s no need to be ashamed. It's normal to develop crushes at your age.”

“I'm not worried about the crush,” Daniel explained. “And I wasn't worried about coming out to you as gay. Or bi- That’s not the point. The point is… magic is influenced by emotions.”

“Yes,” Vincent confirmed. “And you've been doing a great job keeping your emotions in control so your magic doesn't act up. You've been training since you were five, Daniel, you know how to control your emotions.”

“But it's hard when it comes to love, or stronger emotions,” Daniel reminded him. “And it's been different with Cameron. They make me feel ways I've never felt before, and I don't know how to control these new things I'm feeling… Whenever I'm with them, I've noticed the room gets hotter. I thought it was just me at first, but other people have complained about the A/C being out of order.”

Vincent considered this. Usually around this age, when adolescent Sorcerers began developing crushes on their peers, the most common magical side effects were temperature change and telekinesis of small items.

“What do you think might help you?” Vincent asked. “We can get a Muse shard, maybe from Bea. Muse shards are known to help young Sorcerers control their emotions.”

“That might help,” Daniel agreed. “And I don't think I should be left alone with Cameron tonight. I just don't want to risk my emotions getting out of control.”

“Were you going to invite Diana?”

“Duh,” Daniel replied with a roll of his eyes, wincing apologetically when Vincent gave him a stern look. “I thought that was a given. You know she's bringing her mom's cookies.”

“Diana's gonna hover around you anyway, you'll be fine.”

Daniel sighed with relief. He was right, plus Diana always wanted to play games to pass the time faster, so he was sure there weren't going to be too many chances of him being alone with Cameron.

“Indrid should be getting off work soon,” Vincent noted, checking his watch. “I'll ask him to swing by Cool Beans on his way to grab apple cider. Hopefully Bea's still there.”

“When's Bea not there?” Daniel asked with an affectionate roll of his eyes. Bea was still working on starting up her own beauty salon, but he remembered getting his first haircut at Cool Beans. It wasn't the most sanitary thing to do, but at least they didn't do it in the kitchen.

When Indrid returned, he handed Daniel the Muse shard right away. The pink shard glowed as it was placed over Daniel's head, dangling next to his Visage shard. He tucked both away under his shirt so they weren’t visible.

Fortunately, Diana and Cameron arrived at the same time. Diana must have been walking over from La Breadtory when she bumped into Cameron. Diana knew sign language, but it was hard for her to sign back with her hands full. Fortunately for her, Cameron also knew how to read lips.

“What are we playing tonight?” Diana asked when she met Daniel at the door. “You know I love Battleship, but that's more of a one-on-one game. How about Monopoly?”

“We’re gonna miss the countdown,” Daniel chuckled. He took the plate of wrapped cookies from Diana to set them on the dining room table.

“Do you have any suggestions, Cam?” Daniel asked. “Our games are in the living room if you want to take a look.

Uno, Cameron signed. Unless there are any Uno naysayers.

“Regular Uno's usually not as competitive as the other versions,” Daniel recalled, grabbing the game from the entertainment center. “We can also play Mario Kart.”

I suck at Mario Kart, Cameron pouted.

“I don't!” Diana chirped, grinning when Cameron thunked the back of her head with a flick of their fingers. “It's not like we're playing for anything other than bragging rights.”

I like to win, though.

“Who said you'd be winning Uno?”

It was amazing how fast Daniel and Diana had both learned sign language. Well, it probably helped that they had Cameron to practice with all school year. They had created a few home signs and picked up a few that Cameron had learned from their grandparents, but for the most part their sign language was standard.

At some point, after a few rounds of Uno, they did decide to move onto a calm round of Monopoly. Adam, Indrid, and Vincent were all sipping wine while they waited for midnight to pop open the champagne, and they decided to play as one player to make the game go by faster. It worked in their favor when Indrid fell asleep.

“We'll wake him up before midnight,” Adam chuckled, making sure Indrid was away from the wine glasses.

Your dad's like a preschooler. Always ready for naptime, Cameron teased.

And your grandpa's like a baby with his special milk, Daniel shot back, referring to the formula Cameron's grandfather had to drink for his health. He smiled sheepishly when Cameron laughed.

You're going bankrupt for that one.

You and your three properties? Get real. Diana's probably gonna win this round.

Not if she keeps spending money as fast as she is.

“You know, I know sign language, too,” Diana muttered as she counted her moneybucks.

It was right before Diana was going to go bankrupt when Adam got their attention. “Hey kids, time to clean up. It's ten til.” He gently shook Indrid to wake him up, helping him wipe the drool from his chin.

“I gotta go to the bathroom,” Daniel announced after they folded up the board.

“You're gonna miss the countdown!”

“I'm taking a piss, not a shi-” Daniel corrected himself after catching Vincent's stern gaze, “not a dump, Diana.” He excused himself to the bathroom while they packed up the rest of the game.

When Daniel emerged from the bathroom with slightly damp hands, he nearly bumped into Cameron.

“Oh! Cameron, I'm so sorry,” he said while also signing an apology. He stepped aside to let Cameron into the bathroom.

I'm not here for the bathroom, Cameron explained, quickly looking over their shoulder. Daniel could hear the glasses clinking together as Adam prepared them.

Do your parents know about us? Cameron asked.

Daniel blinked. About us?

About us dating.

Daniel could feel the Muse shard rise under his shirt. He placed his hand on his chest to keep it in place.

Cameron, I didn’t even know about us dating.

Cameron looked hurt, then confused. But you're the one who asked me out?

When?

When we first met. You don't remember?

I don't. But that's not important. Daniel reached out to take Cameron's hand before they could storm off if they were planning to. I do like you, Cam. I just didn't know you liked me back.

You learned sign language just to talk to me. If that's not boyfriend material, I don't know what is.

Daniel smiled. Well, to me that feels like common courtesy material, but I guess most people wouldn't learn a whole other language just to talk to someone they didn’t like.

Cameron stepped closer to Daniel and farther from the hallway light. Well, now that we're alone… I was hoping for a New Year's kiss.

Daniel made sure to keep his hand over his chest. Are you sure?

I'm sure. I've wanted to kiss you forever now. I just didn't know when the right time was.

Daniel swallowed, and he was sure Cameron could see the lump in his throat bob. I've never kissed someone before.

Didn't you and Diana date in middle school?

We didn’t kiss, though. Besides, we didn’t even like each other like that, we only dated because everyone pressured us to. But this is different. I actually like you.

Cameron played with the curls by their ear, and Daniel could tell they were blushing.

I feel like I'm making this awkward.

I wouldn’t like you if you weren't awkward, Daniel.

Daniel looked up when he heard Indrid and Diana calling for him, and Cameron took the moment to kiss him. It was a brief kiss, but Daniel still felt his hair rise.

I can get better at kissing.

Cameron chuckled and shook their head. You don't always have to improve yourself for my sake. They squeezed Daniel's hand. Should we tell them?