“Okay, So:” Zabrina began, pulling a variety of canisters out of her book bag, each labelled with a holiday themed name, and some with multiple names as if they hadn’t been officially dubbed yet, as Zoey watched in slightly aghast horror. “First, try the Peach-SnowBerry Mint.”

Zoey paused, thinking she had escaped the tea try-outs this year. “I thought Ted already helped you narrow down the flavors for your holiday collection this year, ‘brina?” She tried.

“What’s a snow-berry?” Dominic asked, not receiving an answer, but eyeing the drinks just as warily as Zoey.

“Oh, he did! This is just still too many flavors to prepare and offer until my business is larger, so I’m bringing back last years favourites, as well as three new holiday specials this year.” Zabria replied chipperly, as Zoey scanned the table. Her friend had asked them to come to school early to help, so Zoey had obliged, but the table must have had at least fifteen canisters on it. How many had Ted tried in order to ‘narrow it down’ she wondered.

Dominic sighed reluctantly, then pulled a ceramic mug out of his backpack, steam escaping the first canister as he opened it, pouring a little in his mug. After the first sip, he pulled a face. “The peach is really strong in this, and I don’t normally think of peaches when I think of the holidays, I’m sorry.” He placed the remaining tea back down into the table, or he would have, if Lynda hadn’t scooted up behind him, grabbing the mug and pouring what was left into her mouth.

She made an obviously snide comment to him in Spanish, and then smiled to Zabrina. “I love peach, and I think it’s an interesting take on the holidays!” She cheered, then sped off.

Oscar jogged up behind her, only pausing to ask, “was that caffeinated? She doesn’t need it.” to which Zabrina shook her head, and he took off again, yelling “Stop stealing other peoples’ tea!”

They could hear the faint sound of Lynda laughing in the distance, fading as she continued to run.

“Alright, next one is Minter Winter…” Zabrina responded, deciding to ignore the chaotic whimsy, already pouring Dominic a mug as Zoey still sipped the first tea. “Then Double Truffle Raspberry.”

“Can I skip Mister Winter and go to the dessert themed ones?” Zoey asked, trying to reach over the next canister. Her hand paused when she received an eyebrow raise from Zarbrina.

“We have a system here, Zoey… and its MINTer Winter.” Her best friend reminded her.

Zoey sighed, grabbing the Minter Winter canister and pouring a bit into her mug. The icy strength burnt her eyes a bit. “What makes it different than other mint teas?” she asked.

“Oh, it has seven different kinds of mint in it!” Zabrina told her, sounding pleased with her friends sudden interest.

Zoey didn’t have the heart to point out that Minter Winter may had frazzled Dominic’s taste buds, as the Double Truffle Raspberry seemed to have left him looking like a dog eating peanut butter.

Doug walked up and joined them, bringing out his own mug. He drank the first tea down, and then turned to Dominic, who was eyeing him warily. “Remind me to talk to you later about… that test coming up. Sometime when we aren’t judging teas.” He told him, and Dominic gave him a curt but polite enough nod.

Zoey considered this enough of a success for now, although part of her worried if Doug was to talk to Dominic in private. Had he changed his mind enough due to the events of the day before? She sipped something labelled Honeydew Star shine. He had previously established that the only reason he helped out was due to fear for the non-dragon people, but then he’d left them afterwards without much trouble. Now that he was struggling to keep up with the teas Zabrina kept pouring, it was hard to take him seriously as a threat.

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Later, when Doug was able to catch Dominic in between classes, he did suggest that they step outside to have a more private conversation, even knowing how his family would react if they heard about that. Much to his surprise, however, Dominic agreed, and followed him out. They stood close enough to the school, to hopefully still make it to their classes on time, but far enough away that they shouldn’t be spied on by anyone. It was silent for a moment, just punctuated by the shuffling of shoes on frosted fallen leaves, as neither had grabbed a coat before heading outside.

They both eyed each other warily in silence for a few moments, but beginning to shiver with the chill. Doug wasn’t sure where he wanted to start now that he had Dominic’s attention. Dominic probably hadn’t paid much attention yesterday, being busy trying to save himself, but also most likely assuming Doug knew about the power he had used.

“So, what did you want to say?” Dominic asked, looking a bit nervous to be alone out there.

“Well, I wanted to ask you about what you saw yesterday. Apparently I used an ability that I didn’t know I had-healing people- and I can’t remember using it. I figured since that isn’t dangerous you wouldn’t mind telling me if you had an idea on how I managed it?” Doug asked, not feeling so certain now. This was a bit of stretch if Dominic saw them on opposite teams.

But, Dominic sighed. He must have agreed with Doug’s logic, because he told him, “There was a glow in your eyes, and you seemed very focused. I’d say its because you work in living matter, although I’ve never seen another plant dragon do that. I can’t say how you felt but it looked as if you were growing or regrowing tissues. Sorry if that isn’t much to go on.” He sounded honest, even if he felt very awkward to be talking to Doug about this, and possibly helping him in some way.

“That’s pretty much what I heard, but thank you for telling me. If you think of anything else, please let me know.” Doug told him, and both of them trudged back indoors.

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Oscar and Lynda had a free period, so they were tucked away in the cafeteria, sharing a giant bright blue slushie despite the upcoming winter season., Lynda sprawled out across the worn greige couch despite her tiny stature, muffled sound of techno music still heard over her bulky yellow headphones. She had one ear out in case he wanted to say something, but he was scrolling through his social media at the moment while she contentedly did his Spanish homework.

“Done!” She announced proudly, sitting up and closing his binder, jamming it rather violently into his book bag, and fishing out a bag of multi-coloured candies, throwing a few in her mouth and then scooting over to him mischievously.

She looked as if she was going to say something, but then suddenly the muffled music stopped playing, and her smile fell with it. She tapped on the screen, multiple times, then when it didn’t respond her shoulders slumped. Then she turned pseudo-innocently back to Oscar, in full puppy-dog eyes mode.

“Oscar, my phone died!” she gave a little whine.

He smirked, as this was a regular occurrence for the both of them. “And you don’t have a charger?” he asked, holding his hand out.

“Well, of course I do.” She replied, and smiled back, handing him the phone, “I always have the best one.”

He glanced from side to side, making sure there weren’t any other students around, then just held her phone in his hands a few moments, then passed it back, fully charged.

She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re my modern-day hero.” She teased, and he rolled his eyes but still tried not to smile.

By this time, she had seemed to get bored of the music, however, and was instead animatedly telling him about a new anime she had been watching, earning a patronizing look of anyone who walked by. She paused her rant, only for long draws of slushie, which only made her explain herself even more excitedly.

Oscar was definitely listening, because he loved to hear her. She breathed life into whatever she was excited about. However, he was also admitting to himself that he was a bit distracted at the thought of kissing her blue-stained lips. The light above them went out for a second, and he sat up like a shot.

She gave him a confused look as well. “Are you okay?” she asked, and he just gave an embarrassed nod, wanting to crawl into a hole. He took a couple sips of the slushie, wincing at the cold of it.

Lynda shook it off herself, usually pretty good at telling when something was actually bothering him. “Have you decided what you’re going to do for after high school yet?” she asked him, earning a groan.

In that moment, he didn’t care that they were still at school, he pulled her close and held her, feeling uneasy. “Honestly I don’t know if I should go somewhere until you’ve graduated too. Like you’ve got Skyler and Sullivan here to protect you, I know that. But, if I lost control of my emotions I don’t know who would be there to stop me…” he whispered, trailing off as the lights went out in the entire cafeteria this time, coming back on as he took a deep breath. “See?” he hissed.

He pulled back, but she grabbed his hand, holding it. “I don’t think you’re giving yourself nearly enough credit. Sometimes you do really well despite your anxiety, and you never seem to remember and celebrate those times.” She told him warmly.

“I have to be better than sometimes to go off to university or college… I should look at just online courses for my first year. Even if I stuck with the plan, and went to the same place as the majority of the others are going… Sometimes I just end up hurting them, and you know that.” He replied, eyes growing distant. “That just ends up setting me off even more.”

She didn’t want to discourage him from letting his feelings out, but she was a little concerned he was going to get too upset at school if the conversation continued much longer. “Whatever you choose to do, I’ll support you. You know best what your needs are, so just keep me updated.” She told him, swaying his hands in her own, this seemed to bring him out of his mindset, and he gave a small smile.

“Do you want to binge-watch terrible movies after school?” she asked, finishing the slushie quickly, noticing that the bell was going to ring soon for their free period to end.

His small smile turned into a grin. “Always. But I will make you some actual food for supper.” he told her adamantly, watching her fish more candies out of his book bag.

She gave him a look of being insulted, although it was all in jest, collecting her things. “Probably a good idea. My stomach is starting to hurt.” she agreed, beginning to walk off.

“Then why are you still eating it?” He asked, sounding worried, and following after her.

***********************************************************************************

Blythe had just taken a small detour to make sure her sister had done alright on her presentation before she took the bus home. She had been so nervous when she ate breakfast today, and it had been difficult for her to practice at home. In all honesty, Blythe thought about taking her to Atlas’ house, as he’d given her a key for emergencies long ago, but also thought better of it, thinking it would cause an argument between her and her parents.

Luckily, she found Emily quickly enough, and she had thought she did well, even if she perhaps spoke a little too quickly. Blythe reassured her that timing always felt weird when you were giving a presentation, and that she probably was amazing. Emily accepted the praise happily, and waving goodbye to her sister, Blythe watched the buses pull away, and shot a quick text to Atlas, wondering where he might be, and hoping they could hang out for a little while before her parents got home.

She stepped across the parking lot as more students filed out, heading to their cars, and she rubbed her hands together, wishing Atlas was there, or that she had at least brought mittens. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to winter, and rather liked how toasty Atlas kept her life. She knew her youngest siblings would be looking forward to Christmas though, and holiday movies, and playing in the snow, and that always made her feel a bit more accepting of the change. She thought that she had better start planning on how to make sure the kids were entertained while they were home on break, and make the holidays special for them at the same time. Seeing how she was already exhausted from the past few weeks, she shuddered, a bit absolved in her own issues. She checked her phone, hearing that she got a message.

It was Atlas, replying, “I’ll be down in a minute, just helping a teacher move a bookshelf.” She wondered if the teacher should be asking students to move something as heavy as that, but she shrugged, knowing that it was easy enough for Atlas to move.

Her legs were starting to get cold, however, so she decided to get a little exercise by walking around the building. She made one whole loop before turning a corner and coming face to face with someone in armored gear, although it wasn’t Dominic, as their headgear wasn’t on, and they looked a bit older than him. At first, she gave him a confused look, as he was out in the open at the school yard, but it was after hours, so she couldn’t really say he was drawing suspicion. It was when his head swiveled towards her and he started striding with purpose that she remembered she would now be one of his targets and doubled backwards, panic rising in her throat.

Normally, she was quite athletic, but these last few weeks had taken such a toll on her that her foot slipped out from under her as soon as the man reached her and yanked her backwards. In falling, she managed to rip herself from his grasp, but landed right on the ground near his feet, and scuttled backwards, not sure what to do. Her mind raced to remember what Ferris had taught her, and she managed to call forth a rock as the man reached to his pocket for one of the collar-machines she had heard about.

Her small boulder wavered in her hands, dropping to the ground as she struggled to maintain control over it. She fought the panic again, and tried again, the man seeming unimpressed, taking his time setting the machine up, giving her a derisive snort. Tears shot to her eyes and her breathing started to hitch as the stone rose again, only to fall again. She cursed herself for not training harder, for not picking this up more quickly, wracking her brain for another trick that he had shown her.

The man took aim at Blythe the same moment she remembered an even simpler move, and slid the ground underneath the man feet, throwing him to the ground as his machine launched the collar past her head.

She turned her head, ready to scramble to her feet just as Dominic rounded the corner, which blocked off her most accessible exit. Tears actually began to flow as he glanced back and forth between the two, obviously putting together what was currently happening.

“Don’t just stand there, Dominic!” snapped the older man, getting gruffly to his feet, and reaching for is machine again.

Dominic stepped around Blythe, standing in between his colleague and her. Opening up her exit once again. “No, Russ. Not her. Leave her alone.” Dominic told him sharply.

‘Russ’ froze in place, looking up with utter horror. “What did you just say?”

“Leave her alone, I know she isn’t a risk to anyone.” Dominic reiterated, turning just quickly enough to tell Blythe, “Run, get out of here.” then he returned to facing his colleague.

She scrambled to her feet, confused but thankful, and rushed off, barely seeing Russ storm forward after her, hitting Dominic square in the jaw when he tackled him to the side. She sped up, not wanting to leave him, but feeling that she wasn’t the best help in her current state, either. She found Atlas, and after assuring him she was fine, brought him back to the spot in which the two had been last seen, but both were gone by this point, although there were still signs of a scuffle present.