Shady Hybrids AU

BOOK 4 CH 2: Cookies and Chaos

James and I walk over to Justin's house. We take our time, chatting and such. We don't really know Justin's sleep schedule, so we don't know if he'll be awake when we get there. But based on last time, he woke up at noon, so we can take a while if we need to.

Though, knowing Justin, he doesn't have the clearest sleep schedule.

Once we get there, I'm about to start swimming in the waterfall to get up to Justin's base, but James stops me.

"This is either going to work, or it is going to fail spectacularly." He explains.
"Shoot your shot." I respond. What on earth has he got planned?
Well, he grabs my waist and just...picks me up. I just kinda...freeze in place as he does so. Out of all the things, I didn't quite expect to be picked up. He manages to get me in his arms and attempts to fly. And he succeeds! For all about 5 seconds, before losing his balance and dropping me into the water.

I sit up, looking at him, and shake my hair off as he scratches the back of his head in shame.

"Uh...I thought that would work. Sorry, I'm not very strong."
"No worries, James!" I chuckle.

"I'd normally be able to pick you up, probably! But now I'm short and a bee and stuff, I can't." James shrugs.

"It's okay. Let's just get up to Justin's base."

And so I climbs up, climbing out of the waterfall to see James flying above, waiting for her. I squeeze some of the water out of my hair and nod, walking up to Justin's door. It's a hot day, I'll dry up fast. I do hope Justin's inside, though. It would be very dangerous for him to be out here in the sun.

I knock on the door, slightly nervous. Thankfully, I don't have to knock twice as the door opens. It's Justin, and his hair's a wild mess. I can see the dark circles under his eyes.

"Morning, Tiff, James." He gets out. Oh, he sounds tired, whoops. "I'm sorry, I sound out of it, I did just only wake up, so you caught me at a good time."
"More like a bad time." I joke. "If you want to go back to sleep, that's fine, I-"
"No no no, I set my alarm for this time anyways - and had some coffee. Too bad I didn't get to sleep until three last night..god, my sleep schedule is screwed." He waffles a bit, before shaking his head a bit and looking back at us. "Sorry, I'm getting off track. Come in."
"Oh, we didn't need to- ah, whatever."
Me and James head into Justin's house, James ducking under the doorframe. Inside, Justin's home looks as warm as ever, but his brewing station is scattered.

"What's up with the mess?" James asks, looking over to it.

"Uhm- I was rushing to make some potions when I got home. Harming, poison, you get the jist. Kinda hurts when you fly in the sun." Justin laughs nervously. "But I'm okay, I just haven't cleaned up."
I stare at the potions for a minute. Then, I get an idea.
"Would fire resistance work?" I suggest, turning to the others. "If you drank fire resistance, could you go out in the sun?"
"Surely it would invert to like...poison or something?" James tilts his head to the side.
"I don't think it has an inversion." I answer, shrugging.

"Might as well try it!" Justin runs over to the brewing stand, puts some awkward potions in and some magma cream. "I apologise if I seem hyper, I'm tired and high on coffee."

"Ah, fair enough!" I chuckle a little. "This probably won't help, but uh..I brought you some cookies? To help with the transformation and all." I smile, handing him them.
"Aww, Tiff, you're too kind! Is that why you two came over?" He takes them from me, smiling.

"Yep." James flutters his wings a little.

"Ah, well it was nice to see you!" The two of them start chatting as if it's just a quick visit, ready to head out. But then I remember. I'm not putting it off anymore.