#infunred

It was a perfect day, because of course it was. Casey would have threatened the sky if it meant clearing the clouds. But luckily there was no need. They sit in a local coffee shop, dressed way too nicely for just hanging out. But they got too excited and wanted to impress Max. So much so that they showed up an hour early to make sure everything was perfect. And weirdly enough, most everyone has left except for the workers. Casey now sits, leg bouncing, waiting for Max to arrive.

Max slams open the door, rushing in, the bell ringing loudly above the door and startling Casey. He frantically looks around before spotting Casey and making an effort to slowly walk over like a normal member of society. Keyword: effort. “Hi, i'm so so so sorry i'm late, I was helping out a friend with a favor and I lost track of time and I really didn’t get any sleep last night and-” 

Considering Casey is the only customer currently in the shop, Max does not pull off the cool transition well. He tries to take a deep breath to stop breathing so damn fast. He’s a bit out of shape. “And I’m really sorry I wasted your time like that” Max is really only 20 minutes late, but to him it feels like 2 hours. “How um, how are you?” Although he was late, it didn't bother Casey as much as they thought that it should, and they gave him a wide smile. "No need to apologize!" They (not so subtly) show off the fancy dress they wore for the evening. "It's nice of you to help out a friend, and you weren't too late, I was only just getting bored." 

They responded with a giggle, "I'm great. Especially now that you're here."

Casey is full flung head over heels at the sight of Max.

“Awwww, that’s so sweet of you to say!” Max’s face flushes. “I have to say, you look absolutely magnificent. I especially love the stitching and embroidery at the hem. I’ve never seen you wear a dress like that before but it looks almost like it was made for you.”

The dress was made for them. They had their tailor make something just for today.

“Where did you buy i- uhh, I mean… uh… never mind, I’m sure you don’t want to discuss fashion with a guy like me” Max laughs nervously.

"Oh- uhm I bought it at…Claire's?" It was a lie. They got it from their personal tailor. "Thank you so much for the compliments! I know it's a little fancy for a cafe but I wanted to impress you."

Max very well knows that dresses aren’t sold at Claire’s. “Um, Claire’s, huh. Well you’re very lucky… Was it like a promotion or something?”

Casey has no clue what to say as they have little knowledge on what Claire’s actually sells. The safe answer would be ‘Yes, something like that,’ but then again, this is Casey Briar. Completely unpredictable and incredible at embarrassing themself. Hide your washing machines.

“I’ll stop asking about the dress, I'm being kinda weird” Max rubs the back of his neck.

"No! No, you're fine! I honestly like being able to talk to someone about dresses, no one I know really cares about fashion." Casey looks at their hands in their lap.

Max stammers. “I, ha, I mean, I don’t…um” 

"Are you not into fashion?" Casey frowned.

“Ah, um. I mean, “ Max hears a slight ringing in their ear. They should really open up to Casey, they only mean the best. “Yes, I’m into fashion,” he takes a deep breath. The ringing stops. “At least sort of, I mean, I don’t really care about…Well, any of the modern stuff I suppose. it’s all kinda… sweatshop-y? No one does their stitching right and it bothers me because like, I can see it right? Like it’s right in front of my eyeballs. I can see the effects of slave labour and just, it feels like no one ever cares to pay attention to it? I mean, everyone has like 40 print tees with dumb brands on them, and yet if you destroy one of their beloved graphic tees, half the time they wouldn’t even notice? I mean hell, half of it ends up in the landfill anyway. But the worst part is the clothes aren’t even good at being clothes, like. They fall apart in days, and they almost never darn nicely, and just. It sucks.” Max realizes. “Um… I’m rambling aren’t I, I’m sorry. I can shut up, I feel like I haven’t given you a chance to speak at all”

"No, I actually like listening to you. You know a lot." They tucked a stray strand of hair behind their ear. "And with such standards it makes me even more happy you complimented my dress earlier.."

Max smiles, relieved. “Aww, I mean, I feel like it’s the basics of ethical wear, but, sorry I keep putting my foot in my mouth. Yes, I really mean it about the dress, it’s magnificent. What do you think about fashion if I may ask?”

A blush made its way to Casey’s cheeks. "Uhm, I've never made clothes myself and most of mine are made by my tailor, but I really enjoy cute clothes. The ones that show off my waist, and fit well with my jewelry. I sometimes watch my tailor when he sews and I've tried it out once! I pricked my finger and he said I wouldn't be allowed to touch the needles again but it was so fun to see the dresses he made come together." They ended up rambling. "Ah, sorry, now I'm the one talking your ear off."

“Don’t worry about it, I think it’s super cool you hired a tailor. I did the same back when I was learning. It’s pretty easy once you know all the stitches, but you know, that takes a while.” Max relaxes a bit in his chair. “Hey, If ever you want help with an outfit and your tailor’s busy, feel free to give me a shout. I’m a bit of an amateur, but I know enough of the basics I’m sure I could lend a hand!” 

While the two chat, the workers behind the counter whisper among themselves before one finally walks around to the table. He nervously smiles and asks “Would you two like to order anything?”

"Yes please!" Casey started their very long and specific order that they order every time they come to this cafe. The workers already know their order but they still say it out loud every single time to their annoyance, 'just in case' they forget, even though they absolutely could just say 'my usual' and they'd get the same order. "Did you get all that? I can repeat it if needed." The waiter shakes his head and finishes drawing a squid in his notepad, because he knows if he doesn’t ‘write it down’ then Casey will repeat it, but he doesn’t mind. Helps him practice drawing. “Yup! Got it all down. Your usual!”

 Casey looks over. "What would you like, Max?"

“I’m really sorry, I uh, don’t know what the drinks on this menu are… Um, do you guys have frozen drinks? Like a frappe?”

“Well, yes we do, but we don’t call them frappe’s. Well no, we’re not supposed to call them frappe’s. They’re called…” the waiter sighs “Réveil Glacé…”

“Can I have a large er ‘Ruhvale Glass eh’?”

“We don’t have large’s we have Cup, Mug, and Vase. A large is a vase.”The waiter looks more and more miserable as he explains the shop's poor wording.

“A um, a ‘vaws’ of that previous drink then?” Max says, very sure he butchered the pronunciation.

“It’s- it’s just Vase. Like- something you put flowers in. It’s not French.”

“Oh um,” Max blushes. “Right. That then.”

The waiter nods and heads back behind the counter to make the drinks.

Casey tries to contain their laughter, failing, as they try to soothe Max. "It's okay hun, your pronunciation was amazing. I'm so proud of you." Max clearly looks EXHAUSTED from that exchange. 

“Fr- f- French is really hard Casey. It- it’s my worst subject…” He frowns.

"That's okay, it doesn't make you any less amazing." Casey is fluent in French, their mother made them learn it because it was a ‘dignified language’. They’re being kind to Max right now.

“We’ve only been studying it 4 years, it’s no fair they want me to understand whole entire sentences.” It’s completely fair for the school to expect them to understand full sentences, in fact it’s a miracle Max made it to French 4.

Casey almost laughed at that, but they held themself together. "It's okay, do you want me to tutor you? I'm. Pretty decent at French."

Max smiles. “That would be nice. I don’t know if it’s ahead of your learning, but if you can help me with passay ant-earier, I might be able to start on my assignment.”

"... I'm sure I can help you, don't worry." Casey had absolutely no clue what he was attempting to say in French. The narrator doesn’t know either. It also seems Max doesn’t.

The waiter walks back again two drinks in hand. One that looks to be a mountain of treats on top of coffee and the other, a usual frappe. He sets them down and asks “Would you two like anything else?”

"Yes, can we have a few cookies?" Casey asks, clasping their hands together.

“Sure! We have chocolate chip, sugar, raisin, double chocolate, vanilla, macaroons, macadamia nut, almond, and honey crisp.”

"Are you allergic to nuts, Max?"

“Just peanuts, the rest are fine, if you know there is no peanut oil or anything”

"Uh." Casey turns to the waiter, "Can we have all of them except for the ones with peanut oil?"

The waiter nods. “Sounds good! One of each or two?”

"Two, please!"

He smiles and says “coming up!” And quickly heads to the cookie display. The waiter comes back with a large plate of cookies and says “Enjoy!” Before heading back to the counter

“Hey Um. Thanks for all this.” Max fidgets with his hands. “I wouldn’t have ever thought to do something nice like this on my own and it’s really nice to be able to take a break from all the messiness in my life. Well, most of the messiness anyway.” He smiles. “You’re a really good person, Casey. I mean I’m sure you get that all the time but, I still think it needs to be said.” Despite being told that every day, for once it’s obvious that Max truly means it.

"Actually, I don't hear it that much.." Casey’s face goes red. "You're the first to, like, actually say I'm a nice person and not say it just cuz there's something to gain from being friends with me." This time, they looked from their hands and smiled at Max. "Thank you so much. If you ever need a break, you have my number, I'll always make time for you. Even if it's the end of the world."

Max blushes. “That’s really sweet. Though, the end of the world may come sooner than we think. Whole lot of capes these days and their powers can be anything. I heard one guy can freeze everything for half a mile around… All I’m saying is- you mean a lot to me, so take care of yourself, okay?”

The way he talked about capes caused them to pause, not sure how to respond. They just said, "Thank you. You too, Max. You mean a lot to me too."

The sky starts to turn red as the sun goes down. “We will close soon, just so you know.” the waiter calls out.

"Oh! Time flew by, huh? Well, I'm sure you have other things to do so we can call it a day?"

“Oh, yeah! Maybe text me sometime, again and um, I’ll, uh. Um.”

Casey giggles, "I'll text you." Then, they leaned over and pressed a small kiss on Max’s cheek. "See you, Maxie. This was fun!"

The narrator screams. Max is completely speechless.

Casey’s phone rings and after checking it, it appears to be their mother. Their wonderful time just got crushed, their mom was wanting to know where they were and why they weren't home. As they read the texts their face fell, it appeared she had been texting for hours at this point and they hadn't checked. There was no way they were getting off easy when they got home. They whispered under their breath. “Fuck.” The phone falls silent as the call finally stops. Right after it starts to ring again. Casey knows she won’t call a third time.

They quickly rushed out the door, waving goodbye to Max. As the door swings shut, Casey looks back to meet Max’s eye. Their eyes are full of tears, and their face is pale. Then the door shuts and the waiter looks to Max. “Don’t worry about paying, they prepaid and what not. I hope you had a lovely day!” 

Casey takes the call. "Yes, mother?"

“Where are you?” The voice is cold.

"I'm on my way home, I'm sorry, I didn't see the texts until now."

“I don’t want to have to wait for you. Either fly home or tell the driver where you are, we have dinner in 30 minutes and you will not be late. We are having very important guests over.”

"I'm sorry, I'll be home." They kept their voice from breaking mid sentence.

Casey’s mother hangs up, and the driver soon texts “Where may I pick you up?”

Casey sends the address to their driver and waits, their dress was now wet from their tears and it made them even more frustrated. Even though they wanted this date to end well, nothing does for them, they wonder why they got their hopes up from the beginning. The driver soon arrives, and when seeing the sight of Casey as they climb into the car she looks a little sad. She says quietly

 “There are tissues in the door, dear. And….your mother requested you change into the outfit she chose. It should be on the seat next to you.”

"Thank you." They whispered to the driver and wiped the tear stains from their face. They were glad they wore water-proof makeup or else their dress would be even more ruined. The dress their mother chose wasn't ugly, it was a fancy dress that they knew she made to suit her child, but they hated it because it didn't feel like theirs. It made them frustrated. They put it on anyway, knowing that they'd get in trouble if they didn't.

They arrive at the entrance of the Briar residence, Casey’s mother waiting impatiently. “You look lovely, dear.”

The sun is bright today. So bright it shines through the glass ceiling of the local Mall. Here is where a group of friends is soon to meet, according to the texts of the Winx Club group chat. 

“Just waiting for you magician! In the food court.” 

Is the last text sent. At a table smack in the middle of the large grid of tables sits three people chatting and sharing fries. Oryon soon came up to the table, food tray in hand 

"Sorry I'm late, mom wanted to talk before I got out of the car." Oryon said, putting down the tray and their bag before sitting down with the group. They add a burger and more fries to the pile.

“Don’t worry about it, Magician!” says Daun. She flashes a thumbs up and grabs some more fries. Sitting next to her is Brooke. The two always seem to be attached at the hip. They now fight over the same fry for no good reason. 

“We just wanted to talk to you for a little bit. We won’t take too long.” Says Percy who ignores the two. “Also you look. Uh. You look nice today.”

Oryon smiles with a small blush decorating their cheeks "Thank you, you look nice today too." They then looked at Daun and Brooke. "So, what did you guys want to talk about?" They questioned before they began to eat their burger.

Daun smacks at Brooke’s hands before turning back to Oryon “Well. This might sound odd. But what’s your take on crime?” She asks, still swatting at Brooke.

"Crime? How big of a crime are we talking about here?" They ask, pushing their fries towards the two before gasping "Don't tell me you murdered someone-" They looked at all of them in suspicion "Where's the body? I'll help you get rid of it."

Percy jumps in quickly “No no- we haven’t killed anyone.” He glances at Brooke “We’re trying not to.” 

Daun chuckles. “Relax. We just. We three have discovered an affinity for the more mischievous side of rules. And other reasons…” she glances to Percy “We’re trying to make a…group of sorts. Better in number right?” Brooke finally shoves Daun out of her chair and looks straight into Oryon eyes “We wanna be villains, do you want to join?” She says bluntly

Oryon blinks a few times "Villains?" They repeated. "What made you decide on that?" They added, curiously taking a sip of their drink.

“It’s easier for me.” Says Brooke, now helping Daun back up. 

“Family business.” Percy says. 

Daun lightly flicks Brooke and settles in her seat again “I can’t seem to do anything right, so might as well do something wrong.” She says, looking slightly glum. Percy starts looking a bit more nervous but says “If you remember the party…we might have been the cause of the chaos. We didn’t realize you’d get caught in the fight…”

"The flooding?" Oryon asked "Well I did cause a bit of chaos myself, but not on that level." They admitted lowering their head, a bit embarrassed about it. "It was pretty impressive though not gonna lie."

“I heard about some of the tricks you did at the party, and that’s why we decided to ask. Not totally sure what you can do though.” Daun says, eating fries again.

“The flooding was on me. I should have had a better control on it, but I was so distracted by Daun getting caught. Wait, didn't you get caught by Oryon?” Percy asks.

Dawn scowls at Percy. “Maybe. Shut up. No. Maybe”

"I noticed it and had a feeling it was Daun but didn't say anything." Oryon replied before reaching into their bag pulling out a deck of playing cards. "Now, this isn't my normal deck so nothing should happen. I’ll explain." They said, shuffling the cards before fanning them out towards the group. "Pick a card. If you got the same suit as someone else, return it and pick another card until you get your own suit."

“Yes! I love your card tricks!” Brooke says reaching out and picking a card. “Hearts!” The other two grab cards as well, both having to shuffle a bit before grabbing Spades and Clubs. “Now what?” Asks Percy

"Now put them back and i'll bring the cards to the top of the deck," Oryon said splitting the deck into different sections for the cards to go in randomly "as I reveal each card i'll explain what each suit does."

They all put them back “How many decks do you have on you, on like a casual day?” Daun asks

"A few, I have the deck that is the source of my powers, a few trick decks and a few normal decks." They replied, shuffling the cards again. "The one i’m using is normal, I make sure to have the power deck on me at all times as I cant use my powers if I don't have it." They finished before holding out the deck to Percy "Tap the deck to call your card."

He taps the deck, Daun and Brooke leaning in closer

Suddenly, a card popped out from the middle of the deck, the face of it up. It was Percy's card, the king of spades. Oryon smiled as they plucked it out of the deck. "Ah, the king of spades. This one allows me to control water and pull it from the atmosphere." They placed it on the table before holding the deck out to Brooke "your turn."

She taps the deck a few times “If I get more than one am I better than them?”

Oryon chuckles, having the card now between their lips before taking the card out and putting it face up on the table "You can only get the card you draw. Good try, though." They then look at the card. "The five of clubs. These control the wind. They were the ones that caused the mess I made at the party." They then held the deck out to Daun.

“Oh yeah, didn’t you throw trash around or something?” Brooke asks “People said you were throwing stuff.” Daun puts a hand on her face and pushes it to the side “My turn. Shut up.” And taps the deck. Brooke bites her hand and they start to smack at each other again. Percy seems enthralled by Oryon’s explanations though, and patiently waits for the next card.

Oryon holds out a hand into the air and grabs a card appearing in their hand. They twirled it a few times before placing it face side up. "I didn't mean to throw the trash around, it was an accident." They then smirked looking at the card, the face of the joker smiling back at them. "Ah, my favourite card. This one is random on the element it controls." They replied before grabbing the air two more times, getting a 3 of hearts and an 8 of diamonds, adding them to the table. "Diamonds control earth and hearts, fire. The higher the number, the stronger the power. The roll of a dice determines the duration." Oryon looks at the joker. "The joker fluctuates and needs two dice rolls to get it to work." They reach into their bag again and pull out a solid black deck of cards. "This is the power deck."

“What happens if we pull a card from it? Do we get the ability?” Percy asks, the other two now wrestling on the ground. They’re listening, just also fighting.

"Nah, I've tested with magic tricks before and it doesn't work that way, I get the power instead." They replied, cleaning up all the cards.

“That….that’s amazing, Oryon. Wow.” He says, giving a small simple smile. “Plus, maybe if you like, I can help you train with the spades part of your deck. I’m good at water.” 

“‘I’m good at water.’ is the lamest pick up line I’ve ever heard.” Daun says from somewhere below the table. A loud clunk is heard as the table jolts and Brooke yells “Fuck!” Both pop back up into their seats, now a little unkempt. “Yeah, it was a little lame.” Brooke says.

Oryon stifles a laugh "Sure, try not to get me too wet yeah?" They replied looking at Percy with a small smirk knowing exactly what they said.

Both Daun and Brooke scream in unison as Percy pales.

“OH SHIT! GOTTEM!” Daun yells “Shut up, it’s not like that they meant for practice or whatever.” They say, looking away and working up a sweat. “I won’t. Or whatever, we should probably get back to what we talked about before!” Brooke reaches out and gives Oryon a quick fist bump before leaning back in her chair and saying “That is true. You don’t need to answer now if we do want you to think about joining the crew. If you say no don’t worry, we’re still friends of course. But the crew has some secrets that may be for villains only.”

"Of course. Hmmm. It's a very intriguing offer, and my powers are more bad than good from time to time…" Oryon thinks it over "Ah what the heck. I'm in. But don't expect me to kill anyone....willingly." They replied, with a small smile.

“We’re not gonna kill people.” Daun says sternly “I hope.” She looks to Percy who shakes their head no. “No, there will be no need. But of course, accidents happen. That's life in this city.” They look back to Oryon and again give a smile. “I’m happy you’re on board.” The two girls nod “This’ll be great! Right now we’re just trying some things out but we’ve got a decent plan for the upcoming fundraiser.” “Oh yeah by the way…” Brooke says “…if some kid named Kirby- they’re scrawny and scrappy and need a haircut- talks to you…don’t tell them what you saw in the basement alright?”

"My lips are sealed, I wouldn't tell them a word." Oryon replied, "Thanks for the invite. I hope I don't disappoint."

“Well, you might need to tell them something. Just nothing about us. The kid doesn’t take no for an answer and keeps trying to “bust this case wide open”. If you remember anything else from that night it might work better.” Daun says finishing off the fries.

Oryon nodded and gave a thumbs up "Got it." They reply. "I remember quite a bit so I got it covered."

“Amazing. Can’t wait to get this up and running-“ Daun’s watch dings and she looks down. “Ah shit. I gotta go grab my brother. His strange friend invited him out to ‘watch him dance’ and it’s done now. Sorry to cut this short but we’ll talk more soon! Come on Brooke, I'll take you home.” Brooke nods, grabbing her stuff and giving Oryon a quick hug. “See ya at school!” She says, now heading out with Daun. 

Percy sits there, silently staring at Oryon for a while before saying “Well. I should. Go, too. But- It was great seeing you. Thanks for the fries and accepting and you know…whatever.” They stand and grab their bag, waving goodbye quickly before rushing off.

Oryon hums before cleaning up the table and leaving.

It’s the weekend finally. The usual crowds that follow Casey and somewhat avoid Kenneth have all gone their separate ways for various plans. Right now it’s raining quite a lot, but makes for a pleasant white noise for two kids at the public library. This also means Casey has a good enough reason to ignore the ungodly amount of texts on their phone, and gives Kenneth a good enough excuse as to not leave the library, despite being there since it opened.

Ding!

A text alert goes off from Casey’s phone. The only person who's notifications are turned on is Max. “lol” is all it reads and yet, Casey is over the moon. Almost as soon as the ding came from their phone, Casey snatched it from where it was laying and opened it immediately. They had a giant smile across their face as they texted back a reply. It could be considered rude to have your phone notifications on in a library, but does Casey care? Not really. Plus, the only other people here are a couple old folks, and the kid who everyone thinks sleeps in a dumpster. They set the phone back down and got back to their reading.

Kenny is reading silently on a couch within the library, When he hears a ding from across the room. Only sometimes does anyone come in on the weekend, aside from one other regular: Casey Briar. He sits up from the couch and walks over, shelving the book he was reading back into the bookcase. He catches a glimpse of Casey through the space between the books and watches as they frantically type something into their phone. Kenny takes out his notebook and prepares to take notes.

Ding!

Casey gets a text from “Don’t Answer”

“I feel like you’re ignoring me. That’s pretty rude you know😌”

Casey has tried turning this person’s notifications off a million times but they always eventually turn back on.

Ding!

“Come on, I just wanna talk 😉😉😉”

Their face immediately dropped once they looked at their phone. How did these texts always somehow go through? They were sure they had blocked this number at least three times now.

They decide to reply, to much dismay.

Casey: "Is it that obvious? I thought I was pretty subtle."

Once again, they turned off the notifications for this number, and set their phone back on their desk.

Kenny sees Casey's face change expression like emotional whiplash and takes note. Now that they seem to be unoccupied, Kenny walks over and takes a seat closer to where Casey is sitting, nervously fidgeting and scribbling in a small notebook.

Casey first notices the shaggy hair that the kid that sat near them had. They paid him no mind and went back to reading. If he wanted to talk to them, he would have to come talk directly, they were in a bad mood now.

Kenny stops writing in his notebook, shuts it and pulls his chair next to Casey. "Casey Briar, yeah?"

Casey looks to the kid that decided to talk to them. "Yeah. Obviously?" Their tone was a little on edge.

Kenny seemed a bit confused by their response. "Ah, great! It's nice to meet you. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

More and more it seems to be yet another fan, and yet their confusion to Casey’s response seems to hint that they don’t know them all that well. How odd? Everyone in this town knows Casey. At the least…they definitely know the Briar family.

"Look. I'm not really interested right now. You're cute, but I can do better." They shooed him away before going back to their reading.

Kenny is taken aback by Casey’s comment, then starts to laugh. "Ahahaha- oh you're serious... No no, that's not why I'm here. I need to ask you questions about the party that happened last week. I was hoping you'd have some answers."

Casey's eyebrow perked at the mention of the party. Once again remembering the embarrassing scene they made, they flushed. "Whatever you saw, 20 bucks says you didn't see it."

Ding!

“20 bucks says they did 🙃”

With a loud groan, they picked up their phone once more and looked at the notification. Then, their face fell.

Casey: "Which one of the old motherfuckers are you? I'm gonna kill you."

Ding!

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to spy on you, cutie.”

Kenny glances back and forth from Casey and the phone. Casey seems to grow more irritated with every text, and the air around them seems to get heavier. Their face goes red and they slam their phone on the desk.

"What?! What did you want to ask? Go ahead, ask away, I don't give a shit!"

As they slam their phone down the phone seems to shatter, broken way beyond repair, so badly the table has a decent phone sized divot in it. And despite the loud sudden noise, looking around the only librarian nearby seems to be dazed and moves on soon after the pieces settle. Not even bothering to check in with them. Looking at their shattered screen, they groaned again. Casey whispers under their breath. "Oh fucking great."

Kenny stares at the phone dent, glass pieces slammed so hard they affixed themselves into the table. "How ‘bout we talk somewhere else, yeah?"

Casey gives him a glare before sighing. "Whatever."

Kenny walks out of the library, Casey following begrudgingly behind him as he leads them out the front doors of the school, and around to the side alley where it's private.

"Remind me never to get in a fist fight with you.” He laughs awkwardly. “Anywho, the party. I need to know what you remember about that night." Kenny opens back up his notebook.

"I'd suggest you hurry up. And, I don't remember much. I got a concussion and the memories are foggy." Thank luck they had a reasonable excuse after knocking their fucking head against a washing machine. "Why do you care?"

"Did everyone end up blacking out at the party? -ah, whatever. First question: did you notice anything strange happen- anything out of the ordinary?”

"Wow, you're kind of a loser aren't you." They laughed. "No, nothing weird happened. There were no "aliens", there were no robbers, there were many fights but that's the norm for a bunch of drunk teens at a party, and there was no weird shit going on." There were a few beads of sweat trailing down their face.

Kenny could clearly see Casey’s nervous finger tapping and darting eyes. They’re hiding something. Just like Max was. He takes in the response and mumbles as he writes: "Defensive..when..asked...questions..about..party. Okay. Question 2, how'd you hurt your arm"

"I hit a washer too hard while laughing. I was drunk as fuck and ended up slipping and hitting my head, causing that concussion."

"You- hit a washer and broke your arm? Okay, strange." Kenny notes it in his journal. "3rd Question...."

Casey is half paying attention now, more worried about the rain when Kenny says “Third question…” and before Casey can meet their eyes again, Kenny’s leaned in close. He’s looking much more intense, and darker.

“Where's the other Casey?”

“Where's the other Casey” It hits like a brick, and the rain falls away. It’s only the two of them.

Casey seems to hear a ding, from far off, but not actually. Their phone was just shattered. They stare for a good minute at Kenny before answering.

"Another Casey? Oh please, no one is as hot as me, hun. Is this your attempt at an insult?" They laughed off their nervousness.

“You know what I’m talking about. At the party, people say you were in two places at once. There’s another one of you, I’m sure.”

"I dunno, maybe I have some mysterious twin or some bullshit. Why are you listening to some kids who were probably drunk off their ass at a house party anyway?"

“You mean like Max?”

Kenny isn’t trying to be as intimidating as he’s coming off, yet when Casey hears Max’s name, another layer of tension washes over them.

"Yes. Exactly like Max." Their face falls into an annoyed scowl. "What are you trying to get at, stop beating around the bush like a little bitch."

“Hmm…okay…”

Kenny begins pacing, recounting what he remembers.

“Something happened at the party. Someone caused the flood. Police say that it’s from a dented washing machine, but we both know that’s not true. But other than that, someone was at the party. Someone that looked exactly like you. But it wasn’t you. You were moving to the first floor after drunkenly punching a washing machine. At the same time, the other Casey was somehow in the basement you had just came from. Whoever they are, they came to the party with a plan to do something, probably to you if I were to guess. There were things besides that though. Things separate from the other Casey that were… strange. But I need the full picture to understand what’s going on. There’s someone out there looking to cause some chaos. And I know you know something about what happened that night. Chances are there’s a lot of people that know something about what happened.” Kenny stands straight, facing Casey. “You can either help me figure this all out and possibly save your ass from someone out there looking to fuck up your life. Or, you can go back to pretending you have this handled, yeah? So which is it?”

Once again, Casey stares at Kenny. This time it seemed that they were at a loss for words.

"You.. Fuck." They paused again.

"You wanna be some kind of detective or some shit? Ugh- whatever. I didn't actually get a concussion, I knocked my head but it wasn't hard enough to give me something like that. I remember most of what happened, so shoot. What do you want to know exactly because I could go on about the party and completely ignore what you're looking for. That good enough for you?"

When Casey says this a quick but freezing breeze blows through, causing a shiver up their spine. Almost as if an unspoken warning. Kenny less so feels the breeze, with much less intensity. However in a strange way, it feels familiar. Both are now cold in the rain, debating what to say.

Kenny thinks for a moment. "Okay. Let's start with this: I want to know who you remember seeing at the party. Any interesting characters you might remember? And I need to know if anything like this has happened before."

"No, the only person that I talked with was Max and a few other friends of mine. And, also no, this has never happened before."

"Hmm. Okay. How about who do you remember not seeing at the party? Anyone missing or absent that would've been there?"

Now looking back on it, Casey is hit with the memory of a familiar face. The scrawny kid a grade younger. Daun’s brother. They remember this because they've seen the two chatting plenty of times before. Dawn had also been pretty popular so occasionally their crowds mixed. Casey thinks about it more.This kid paid more attention to NotCasey than them. Not only that, but Casey is certain that NotCasey ran into someone before they managed to grab them. The card trick kid. Casey can’t think of their names. Hell, they cant even manage their own friends names.

"Actually.. There was someone I remember. This kid was playing card tricks during the party. We didn't talk, but I caught a glimpse of them and it seemed weird. I hadn't seen them before."

Kenny's eyes light up with surprise as he scribbles down a note "That's right! The card trick kid. They did seem kind of strange. I think they gathered a crowd at some point- might be a good lead. Have you seen them around anywhere outside the party? What do you remember them looking like?"

"Mmmm, they had black hair, it was to their shoulders and pulled to one side. They also had a bow. It was.. red? I think?"

“Perfect. Perfect. Do you know if they go to the school? Have you seen them anywhere else besides the party?”

"No clue, I don't usually pay attention to anyone besides my friends at school. I'm sure they do if they were at the party, though."

The rain has finally started to let up when down the alley a honking is heard.

“Casey dear!”

Casey jumps at the sudden call of their name. When both turn to look at the noise they see an older woman waving through the window of a rather mediocre car.

“Casey hun! I got so worried since you weren’t answering your phone! We have to go, we have the dinner party!” Her voice is cheery yet firm “Not to mention a friend wishes to talk to you! Hurry up now! Let’s go.

“I can drive your…friend?.. home too if needed!”

"Sorry to cut this short, but I need to go. Hope you don't mind." They didn't even offer to give the kid a ride, just waved back and walked to the car.

"Oh, uhhh....." Kenny's voice trails off as Casey makes their way to the car. Kenny looks quite confused, but makes sure to take note of what the car looks like for later reference. Honestly Kenny is a bit relieved that they didn't force the ride idea much more. (edited)

While Kenny doesn’t know much, he does know that Casey’s family is known for their wealth, and the idea of driving in such an average car is off putting. Slightly strange even.

Casey’s mother smiles and waves to Kenny “Well it was nice to meet you K-, Kid!” She quickly rolls up the windows and pulls away, the car missing its license plate.

Kenny stands and watches the car drive away for a moment before closing his notebook and shoving his hands in his pockets. He thinks about the interaction he just had with Casey and ruminates on what might be going on, then walks home, wherever that is today.

Back in the car, Casey is getting scolded by someone who is definitely not their mother.

“You know if you took some fucking time to actually respond civilly, you’d realize I’m not really out to get you. I just want to talk.”

They rolled their eyes, "I just hate talking with you. You're annoying."

As they pass through a tree covered roadway, the darkness slightly hiding the shift, Dawn suddenly appears in the driver's seat and gives Casey a sour look. “And you’re such a peach.”

“First off, thanks for keeping your mouth mostly shut. That kid is becoming more of a pain in my ass by the day. Luckily I’ve had a friend keeping an eye on him. Also lucky you were there at the library too!”

"He was up my ass the entire conversation, wouldn't let up on any details and kept poking. Sorry I couldn't keep everything hidden, it'd be suspicious if I didn't let a little info out." They sighed and put their head to the back of their seat. "And now you're up my ass, too. Fuck this."

“I wouldn’t be up your ass if you would have just listened!!!”

“Listen I just want to talk about an….agreement we might both benefit from.”

"Shoot."

“We both keep our respective secrets, obviously, and then maybe if need be…we help each other out. Simple I scratch your back you scratch mine.”

“Plus I heard you were talking to Max recently? The fucks up with that, you don’t run the same social groups.”

The agreement surprised them, they raised an eyebrow. "Didn't expect you to actually trust me any, to be honest. Sure. Beneficial for both of us, I guess, and maybe you'll finally stop texting me over useless shit." Their face flushed at the mention of Max, "Nothing. We just happened to meet at the party and I wanted to get to- It's just hanging out a little. That's it." They mumbled under their breath.

“I told you, I wasn’t out to get you, I genuinely wanted to discuss things. Neither of us want this shit getting out and well, instead of just blackmailing each other we can get ahead of it all.” She glanced over at the sight of Casey’s face flushing “Yeah. Nothing. Just like it was nothing at the party.” She smiled and laughed to herself “You know if you really want to get to know him more, a tattoo might be a good start. Full price of course.” she says with a grin.

"I think my mom would keel over if she saw me with a tattoo." They scoffed. "It's bad enough that I'm hanging out with Max, and now you. If my mom knew then she'd… fucking freak." It wasn't like they hated the thought of getting to know Max better, but their parents' wishes always came first.

“So? Hide it. Makeup? Blind spots? Long sleeves??? Nah, whatever. It’s not worth the fight. And I wanna clarify we are not friends, we are business partners. We’re not gonna hang out, we gonna meet. Only reason I’m driving you home is because I needed a way to get you out of there. I had to borrow this car.” She finally turns into the long driveway that leads to Casey’s house. She parks right at the entrance. “Get out here I’m not wasting gas on your pompous ass driveway.”

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Fucking asshole." They slammed the door to the car shut and gave the middle finger as Dawn drove away.

She gives a smile and wink to Casey and quickly backs out, driving away blasting music.

END.

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.

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KENNY’S NOTES:

InFUNred is a text-based roleplay game (TBRPG) hosted by Dawn the Narrator. It takes place in the world of Petra, a place similar to Earth but instead, with super powers! People can be born with powers, or inherited. The story mostly takes place in a Chicago sized city on the west coast of vague southern Canada, called Castle Roe. The story specifically follows a group of teens, making their way through high school, heroes, villains, and mysteries.

The posts on this page are transcripts of our adventures compiled into a story written format!

All Tests (in order)

InFUNred Summary

Test 1: Aftermath

Test 2: Library

Test 3: Oryon and PB&D

  It’s been 2 weeks since the party. The schools are still whispering rumors about what happened, but most have died down. The most popular theory was aliens, but as a few students may know…it was a planned attack. Not that it matters to Casey. All Casey cares about from that night is Max. Max- who was known to help some shady business going on in the cafeteria back bathroom. Max who was the most stunning person they’ve ever seen. Max. The person they absolutely failed to impress. 

Casey had been avoiding seeing Max since the party took place. Their absolute failure at flirting made them so horribly embarrassed, they hadn't checked social media for the last few days. It was a bit helpful that the rumors were taking up most of the attention, but Casey couldn't be sure that no one was talking about them, so they didn't bother to look. 

For Max it’s his day off from helping Daun, and has just sat down to enjoy his lunch, writing vague and illegible scribbles on a notebook as he eats. As usual the cafeteria buzzes, mostly around Casey because of course. To the sidelines is our ever present detective in the case. A lovely Kenneth Quinn. He actually purposely started the alien rumor so that he could focus on solving what actually happened. Today he has a lead. He knows both Max and Casey were there when it happened and he may have some questions.

   Kenny is writing erratically in his journal, jotting down every possibility he can think of. Despite the alien rumor, it's not actually off the table, and is more of the likely situations he has thought up the past two weeks. He sits in a chair at the local library, in a back section where not many eyes pry.

Casey decides to hide out in the library. However, despite trying so desperately to hide, Casey had an unfortunate ability of attracting attention wherever they went. A student volunteer quickly walks up to them.

“Are you Casey Briar?” She seems way too excited.

The sudden question startled them away from their book with a yelp. Casey looked at the girl and gave a nervous giggle, "Uhm, yeah. Can I help you?"

The girl sits down next to them even if she wasn’t invited to do so. “I just- well you-“ she giggles.

 “I was wondering if I could give you my number? You’re just. Well I mean you’re Casey Briar and it’s so hard to ever find you alone.” Her face is red and she keeps leaning in closer “I just think you’re really cute…”

  Kenny can hear their conversation from across the room. He keeps his journal open, but is focusing on listening, occasionally glancing towards Casey and the fangirl.

  As the girl spoke, Casey's face got more and more red. "I-" 

Although their usual 'royalty-like' appearance was what they tried to portray, they never got used to confessions like these. "N-no, I'm not really- uhm, interested." It came out much more bitchy than they intended, fuck. "N-not that you're not adorable, I'm just worried you'll get hurt if people see you're taking all my attention." They gave a cheeky grin and kissed her forehead before grabbing their book, putting it back, and walking off.

The girl looks disappointed and slumps. As Casey walks away, they turn to leave- only to see your usual cloud of “friends” walking into the library looking around. They have not shut up about the party and have perfected the sport of hunting you down. Dealing with them would be a handful, but not impossible. Their only choices being to face the crowd or dive deeper in the books.

    Casey sees a somewhat familiar face nearby. From where you recognize it you aren’t sure, but they aren’t staring at you with admiration. Actually, he seems to be glaring at the book he's trying to pretend to read.

Casey weighs their options and chooses to face the crowd. Kenny sees Casey walk up to the group of people that just entered the library. He shuts his journal and moves closer, behind a bookshelf, peering at the scene unfolding as Casey's friends begin to talk. The swarm of friends spots Casey quickly and runs forward to meet them. Almost grasping at Casey, they start to pull them towards the exit again. 

“Oh my gosh! Casey you silly did you forget how to get to the cafeteria again?”  “You look absolutely great today.”  “Have you heard the newest rumor? Something about villains at the party or some shit? I keep telling people it was just old pipes”  "I saw fighting!”  “No you did not!” 

They shuttle Casey back to the cafe. It’s loud and booming but once back into the open area, Casey catches a glimpse of Max sitting alone, lost in his notebook. The many voices jumbled together, giving Casey a headache. There they saw the one person they really didn't want to meet. Internally, they groaned at the situation, and just crossed their fingers that Max wouldn't notice them there. They just focused on trying to answer their friends. 

"I heard that there was a racoon that fucked with the trash." “Not to mention someone ate all the fucking sandwiches. Literally hundreds of sandwiches gone within like ten fucking minutes.”   “Some many weird things happened that night. You’ll never believe what someone said about you Casey-“  “don’t bother them with that!”

They just keep fucking going. Sadly the small peace you had Max is interrupted as this tidal wave of chatter hits the scene. And in the middle, the person who passed out in front of you at the party.

Max is currently staring at his phone, furiously texting Daun, who won’t stop badgering him about this and that.

Daun: Don’t forget to tattoo that dickhead in 5 🥰 also charge him extra I hate his ass. Max:  Isn’t he the other guy you are seeing? The fuck is wrong with you? Daun: I needed him to make Jordan jealous. Also kinda a good kisser. I’m not ashamed … Daun: Do you know where I left my math textbook? I think I lost it. Max: Dude Jordan was always gonna be jealous he’s an asshole. Also, you literally know that you only ever call people good kissers when they aren’t your primary partner m Not dumb, I can see patterns, I know when a person actually likes a guy, and this isn’t it And who the fuck did you sell to that you told me never to sell too, don’t think I don't know how that particular text works either. Bad enough you have me selling shit for you. Which like I never wanted to do But then you have me remember who we are and aren’t selling to each week depending on your whims Half these guys walk up to me the day after selling to them completely unaware that you blacklisted them? Do you ever bother letting the boys know, or is it just two weeks cold turkey before you realize they were actually cool this whole time Like I don’t mind the work but I’m getting really tired of the petty drama I just wanna help people you know?  Daun: Look…I’m sorry. Things have been. Weird lately. I seem to be much better at making problems than solving them. Max: Your math textbook is in your back up bag. I knew you’d forget you put it there so I took special note. Daun: Lol of course it is….thank you Max. Max: It’s fine just like, give me the goss, but stop expecting me to get mad for you, cool? I bet I wouldn’t even get mad if I was the one getting mistreated (read not getting responded to for 10 mins) by a dude, so it’s hard for me to do it in your behalf  I'm not  mad it just, it can be a lot sometimes:) Daun: Alright MOM I get it. I’m going back to bed. Thank you for talking to me. I’ll see you Monday, I’ll finally be back! Ttyl. Max:  See ya kid

Max glances up and notices Casey near their table. "Oh hey Casey, Jesus, how are you? How's your arm?"

Casey is caught off guard by Max, whipping their head around to meet him. "Oh- It's fine, d-don't worry. I got it checked out and it was just a sprain!" They looked everywhere other than directly at Max.

The group surrounding Casey seem to be quiet when they speak and part ways so they have more direct line of sight with Max.

 Max sighs, relieved. “Oh, good. Lucky eh? I mean did you see the size of the fuckin dent? I was drunk off my a- “ Max looks around for teachers. “I mean, I uhh I was a little out of it and I was still super worried for you.” Max notices Casey isn’t really saying much. 

"Worried about me? Pff- why? I'm fine, see?" They smack their arm to prove it was fine. Too hard. They winced. "I was just- uh, nervous,"

Kenny is stationed at an unassuming lunch table, listening in, and cringes from afar.

“ So uh, anyways, it's crazy, I didn't see you much at the end of the party, one second I was on the stairs and I saw y-, well I don't know what I saw I was pretty uh…” Max glances at a teacher. “out of it but next thing you know someone had fucking pushed me head first into the flooding water and by the time I am really up again everyone was gone and it was dark.” He pauses. “Anyway I just wanted to apologize…”

“Apologize for what?”

“Like, you must have been so embarrassed by my actions all night, right? Like even now I can see you're cringing about it,”

The group now start to talk with themselves, seeming to have lost their interest in Casey for the moment.

“You know I swear I saw Casey in the basement at the party when shit went down.”  “Shut up, that's impossible, they were on the first level with us you dunce.”  “I know but it could have been the aliens!”  “You are so fucking stupid.”

 Max shifts in their seat. “You? But I was so excited to make a new friend, and instead I got so drunk and confused I didn't even get to see you walk in the basement. I mean I, I think I saw two if ya, but, if I am honest I am not even sure you were there at that point. Maybe no one even pushed me and I fell over on my own... It's embarrassing.”

“Two of me?? haha you must've been super out of it haha” Casey is sweating bullets trying to act like it’s nothing.

 ”Who are they talking to?”  “You know, Max. They work in the back bathroom. With the girl who sells forged shit. Max is the tattoo kid.”  “Oooo I heard they got in a fight though.”  “Who cares.”  “Actually speaking, I need a doctor's note soon to get out of that test.”  “Daun isn’t here today. I think I heard she was sick.”

“Anyway, I am super sorry for all of that and for you getting your wrist sprained and everything, and just, hey if ever you need a favor back, Daun made me print out these dumb business cards, so uh you can contact me here.” Max hands Casey a business card.

The business card shows a small icon of a bathroom stall with graffiti. In big letters: “Inking Emporium.” And under that “Where you can get inked or buy ink in the form of a signature! Wink!” Along with two phone numbers.

Casey takes it. “Oh- thank you, the card is.. Cute.”

The card is not cute.

“Anyway, I see you already want this conversation to be over, hey?” Max stands up, gathering their things. “I’ll head on out, get out of your hair and all that. I think I have an extra client I'm supposed to be inking today anyway, but I don’t know for sure, Daun never lets me keep an itinerary for “ infosec” or whatever the fuck.” They laugh nervously.

“No, wait- “ Casey grabs Max’s arm. “Do you.. Want my number? I actually really like talking with you…”

The cafeteria almost seems to grind to a stop. Everyone around seems to have dazed out, but no one looks at Max and Casey. Almost no one.

Max stares at Casey. “Yeah, um, feel free to give me your number, I would be happy to chat again, if you’re comfortable.”

They smile, “Of course I am.” Casey holds out their hand for Max’s phone.

“I uh don’t think I'm allowed to keep phone numbers in my work phone though. Same infosec stuff. It’s fine if not, like, I may have a piece of paper somewhere at the bottom of my bag, I would just feel super bad if I lost it before I memorized the number, y’know?”

“How about your arm? Do you have a pen?”

“Yeah sure thing, it’s in the right pocket of my bag, one sec.” Max rummages through their bag and pulls out a pen, handing it to Casey.

Casey writes their number on Max’s arm in perfect cursive.

Casey's so-called friends are still talking among themselves. 

”Bro did I tell you about that one kid who did the magic trick for us?”  “The card kid?”  “Yeah! Straight up magic, like they musta had some fishing wire.”  “Not to mention they were one of the last people to leave the house.”  “Oooo maybe they saw aliens too… we should ask them.”

A friend roughly throws an arm around Casey's shoulder and says “Alright prince let’s get going, class is gonna start soon!” They get pulled away just as they finish writing down their number.

"Oh- shit, I didn't even realize the time." Casey follows their friend out, wanting to look back at Max.

Max goes to wave, but decides against it. He shifts his hand against the back of hair as he looks at them leaving with their friends. As Casey leaves, Kenny makes his way to where Max is sitting and sits at their table. If he’s going to learn anything about the party and what went down, he has to start asking questions and getting to the bottom of things. He sets down his lunch tray which consists of only a can of orange juice and a sandwich. 

Max turns away from Casey’s direction and is met with an abrupt visitor. He notices this kid is a bit rough around the edges and has a notebook gripped in hand full of scribbled notes. Kenny sits in silence and waits for Max to say something first. He’s attempting to look stoic and cool, but comes off more as a sleep deprived paranoid, staring at Max with intent to talk, but isn’t saying anything. He should’ve thought this through better. 

 "Can I help you?" Max asks. 

Kenny is about to answer when Max interjects. “Ohhhh- you must be the guy Daun isn’t dating. Big spender, huh? It’s okay you can pay me after. Come on, we’re going to the bathroom." Max stands up from the lunch table.

Kenny is taken aback, confused. "Uh, what? No- I need to ask you-" Kenny is cut off by Max walking far in the lead of him. They eventually arrive at the boy’s bathroom stall near the library.

Max sets down a metal carrying case. "Now I know what you had in mind and paid for, but-I have a few more details I can get to stay than the average artist yeah? So just trust the process kid, it’ll be alright. Want a drink?" Max hands over a 40.

Kenny is severely confused.  "Wh-what process, sorry? Oh uh sure-" 

“Alright you just sit there on the seat, a little weird I know but I promise it’s sterile." Max starts unpacking his equipment. "Daun won’t let me do this elsewhere, says it’ll ruin the aesthetic, you know how she is."

 "What- what is going on?" Kenny’s questions fall on deaf ears, Max is too focused on setting up. He looks at the drink he’s been handed, not recognizing the brand. He takes a sip of the alcohol. He spits it in the toilet when Max turns around, and sets the can on the counter.

"Now okay kid I know you are really nervous but it’s going to be okay." Max pulls on a pair of black rubber gloves and rolls up his sleeves. “We can even talk the whole time while I work, sounds good?"

Max’s phone pings.

Daun: Asshole just canceled the appointment. Found my math textbook too. And a bag of trail mix. Score!

"Look kid, you want the tattoo or not? I know you and Daun have been talking about this for weeks and that you are super wishy washy about it." Max sighs out of frustration.

    "But I fucking promise you it will be the best damn tattoo of your life okay? Better than any you’ve ever seen. So just lift your shirt up and let me work on sterilizing your chest, or get the fuck out right now."

“Tattoo? What? No- I’m not here for a tattoo, I just wanted to talk to you-”

Max buries his head in his hands. “No no no no no NO- I don’t wanna deal with these negotiations.” He paces angrily. “Daun promised I wouldn’t have to do this shit! The deal was you guys figure it out on your own and I just do the damn tattoo.” “Look kid-” 

He stops and checks his phone. 

“-How the fuck did you get Daun to cancel while we were talking??? Did you text her behind your back while we were chatting?”

“What? No. How is- how is that even possible?”

“Look, I’m so fucking confused, do you want the dragon tattoo on your chest or not?”

Kenny whispers under his breath, “Wait, that sounds cool actually…”

“I should hope you think so, it was your goddamn ideaI’ve been sending you sketches through Daun for like 2 weeks now. I'm kinda impressed you’ve managed to keep her attention this long honestly. No offense or anything. She's just… well… you would know, being her other other boyfriend and all…”

“What?? Other other? Like meaning three?? Who even is this person??”

“Oh shit you didn’t know? I'm so sorry uhhhhh fuck. How the fuck didn’t you know? Doesn’t she make y’all meet up to talk about her every once in a while???”

“No, no- okay look- I'm not here to get a tattoo”. 

Max throws up their hands. “FUCKING HELL! Ughhhhhhhhhh”

“Okay- okay, I'll explain things.”

Max leans against the wall next to the sinks, clearly bothered. “Alright kid. Now you’ve wasted the goddamn bottles of ink I prepared for you. What’s up? What are you going to explain? I'm waiting…”

Kenny sighs. “Two weeks ago, there was a party. The whole house ended up getting flooded, and everyone evacuated. Except for you, you were still in the house after everyone left, right? So, I need you to tell me what you remember. Any of it, all of it.” 

“Dude why would I tell you any of that? What are you, a goddamn cop?” Max scoffs.

“Look I- it's important, I need to know. And no, I'm not a cop.”

“Kid, I’m gonna need some motivation here. I mean fuck, I’m starting to think you aren’t even dating Daun.”

“Honestly I have no clue who this Daun person is.”

“Dammit.” he runs his hand through his hair, clearly stressed and frustrated. “So uh, What’s your name again kid?”

“My name?” Kenny takes a second to think. “It's uh, Kirby.”

“Kirby?”

“Yeah.”

Max squints at him. “That’s a dumb name kid, no offense.”

“Wow okay.”

“Sorry your parents named you that.”

“I thought it sounded kinda cool…”

“Good for you, Kirby.”

The room is silent. Kenny isn’t leaving without information. There was a hero at the party, and he’s sure of it. More so, he’s sure it was Casey.

“Look. Why would I talk to ya, Kirby? Especially after this god damned mess. This has just been a waste of time. I mean- fuck. Even if I wanted to tell you what happened, I was uh, out of it- let’s say. What good is my testimony?”

“It's a start. If I get a tattoo, will you tell me what you remember?”

“Can you even afford one of my tattoos?”

“Does 16$ get me anything?”

Max laughs out loud. “Kid, $16 doesn’t even pay for sterilized materials…” Max considers the request anyways. “Buuuut seeing as they are already out anyways, I suppose I can take it.

What do you want and how much are you willing to spend when all is said and done?”

“Fuck, I don't know. Depends if I can find enough cash around-”

“Ugh- look, the damn needle practically wants to jump out of my hands. Just tell me what you want, you can figure out paying me the debt later. I don’t mind collecting in 3-4 years when you have a real job, Daun has ways, you know? You couldn’t screw me if you wanted to” 

“Sure, only if you tell me what you know. Right?”

“Yeah sure kid, now what do you want for the tattoo?”

Kenny flips to a page in his notebook, staring at the blank page trying to think of something to draw. Then, a vision. An eye. Like the one he saw between the sky, when he first fell into Castle Roe. He’s not sure why or what it means, but he draws it out and hands it to Max.

Max takes the scrap paper. “Oh sick, that’s super cool actually. Got a good drawing hand on you kid.” 

“Ah, thanks.”

Kenny sits on a toilet seat and positions his notebook on his leg, with his pen in his opposite hand and his other hand outstretched for the tattoo soon to be on his forearm. 

“So yeah uh, not much to tell kid.”

“Who did you go with? Did you see anything strange happen, or any strange individuals?”

“I didn’t go with no one, Kirby. Lone wolf, Awooo and all, ya get me, kid?”

“Hey why do you keep calling me kid? Aren't we the same age?”

“Cause you’re a kid, kid.”

“You're a kid too, kid.”

“Anyway, we spent like- the rest of the evening trying to treat the sprained wrist you know? And I guess I must’ve kept drinking because I was seeing double for a second there, and then someone pushed me, or I fell, or whatever because next thing I know I’m in the flood water in the basement and it’s dark and everyone’s gone. And that’s all there is to it.”

“Saw double- what do you mean by that?”

“I was just super drunk, so I saw two of Casey. I mean fuck I might have fallen on my own. I really don’t know, it was kinda a mess.”

He knew it. There’s some kind of doppelganger. Or maybe a shapeshifter? “Did they look identical? No differences between them? Any other unusual things you noticed?”

“It’s hard to remember after the shock of being in the cold water sobered me up. Dude, I'm pretty sure that I was just drunk and confused. The two Casey’s looked exactly the same.” Max leans back. “Anyway, your tattoo is done.”

“Is there any way I can get in contact with Casey?”

“Nah, no way kid.”

Kenny eyes Max’s arm. He sets down his pen and turns it over, revealing Casey’s pristine handwriting. “Mind if I write it down?”

Max slaps his hand away. “Back off kid, I said no.” He pulls his sleeve back over his arm. “I told you what I know about that night. That was the deal. Casey has nothing to do with it. Now, here is Daun’s business card.”

Kenny takes it and pockets it.

“She’ll be getting into touch with you about the invoice.”

“Right.” 

Max texts Daun. 

Max: new tattoo, standard detail, 2 inch square area, kids name is Kirby, you know the invoice stuff Daun: Fuck yeah. New customer. Great job, needle! I’ll get in touch with him later. Max: Gonna go attend my classes, talk later

Max starts to pack up. “Tell anyone who wants a tattoo where you got yours.”

“The bathroom, got it.”

“Read the business card kid, she has a special phrase she likes to use.”

He reads it.

The business card shows a small icon of a bathroom stall with graffiti. In big letters “Inking Emporium.” And under that “Where you can get inked or buy ink in the form of a signature! Wink!” Along with two phone numbers.

Kenny gives Max a nod and leaves the bathroom, trying to put together everything that just happened. He looks at the tattoo. It blinks. At least, Kenny could have sworn it did. But then again he hasn’t slept in 32 hours. He can feel his heart quicken. He pulls down the sleeve of his jacket and puts up his hood, stepping outside to get some fresh air.

END.

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KENNY’S NOTES:

InFUNred is a text-based roleplay game (TBRPG) hosted by Dawn the Narrator. It takes place in the world of Petra, a place similar to Earth but instead, with super powers! People can be born with powers, or inherited. The story mostly takes place in a Chicago sized city on the west coast of vague southern Canada, called Castle Roe. The story specifically follows a group of teens, making their way through high school, heroes, villains, and mysteries.

The posts on this page are transcripts of our adventures compiled into a story written format! However, our first adventure took place via voice chat, so we’ve provided a summary for you:

Percy Neptune, captain of the swim team, hosts an end of summer party before school officially starts, at Neptune Manor. A majority of students attended. Oryon, the jokester with the power of the elements in the form of a deck of cards, Casey, the rich kid with the powers of knockoff superman if he was gay, Kenny, a secret outsider with the primary power to create portals, Dan, the enigma with the powers of teleportation and cooking, and Max, the anti-social artist trying to make it through a world that loves heroes and he hates them.

The party starts, and everyone is spread out through the house doing various things. Oryon is by the pool for the most part, trying to entertain guests with their magic tricks. They somewhat succeed and have gathered a small crowd. Dan and Lucas end up in the kitchen, where Lucas watches Dan take many sandwiches into the bathroom. Eventually, Lucas talks to and befriends Dan. Kenny walks through the party, just trying to blend in and look around. He’s not familiar with anything or anyone, but figures he might have a better chance of surviving if he can meet some people. Casey is busy handling a crowd of people, but eventually walks into the basement and meets Max. Casey attempts to flirt with Max and instantly fails, injuring their hand by denting a washing machine, and passing out. When they wake up, Max takes them to an upper bathroom to bandage them up.