TWST'D: Keys to the Future

His True Colors pt 4

Deuce let out a gasp while Ace widened his eyes in anger and disbelief.

"You wouldn't dare!" Ace protested, "Those things cost who knows what to make for us students!"

"Then your friend here'll know how to stop me, right?" Grim dared as he held the wand with his tail, dangling it over the tree branch again.

"Dammit, knock it off!" Ace roared at Grim.

The two exchanged bitter words as Camila watched Deuce lift his wand towards Grim's direction.

"You better stop it!" He menaced, "if you don't, I'll..." his serious disposition collapsed as quickly as before as he thought up something before regaining his vigor.

"I'll flatten you!" He then flashed a cocky smile.

"Yeah! That's it!"

"Oh brother... can't believe I'm gonna owe a debt to this numbskull..." Ace moaned as he rubbed the back of his head.

Deuce ignored him as his wand glowed fiercely.

Grim yawned.

"You gonna do it already or are ya just-"

Without warning a large black cauldron appeared right above Grim's head a split second before it crashed on top of his body.

Camila and Ace's mouths went agape before the latter burst into laughter.

"So frigging funny, man!" Ace said between snickers.

Once he regained his composure, Ace looked for his wand, which was dirty, but still in one piece.

"Hallelujah!" He then turned to Deuce, who had been congratulating himself for the job well done.

"Hey, you're not half bad-"

"Hurry up and head to class!" Deuce coldly interrupted as he glared at Ace, "I'm not gonna get beheaded because of you!"

Ace's cheer broke into annoyance.

"Wh-what's your problem-"

Deuce pushed him away as they rushed into the crowd of students headed into the main campus, leaving Camila alone with a flattened Grim.

Camila pushed the cauldron off of her partner with relative ease as she checked his vitals.

He was breathing, but the blow must have knocked him unconscious.

She sighed, wondering how she'd manage two people's loads of work.

******

"You finished far slower than expected, Camila!" The Headmage spoke sourly as he looked over piles of paperwork in his office, "there wasn't anything that may have happened to impede your progress, was there?"

His stare was strong enough to frighten a tiger, but Camila held strong.

"......"

He finally looked away as he returned to his papers and sighed.

"No use in trying to lie to me. Not only did several students inform me of the situation, but the large mark on Grim's stomach is a dead giveaway."

It was Camila's turn to turn away and she glared at the lilac pattern on the wall.

"But he started it," she gritted her teeth.

"I don't want to hear excuses," Crowley shot back, "you aren't a student here, and you don't have magic. You have no time to make enemies, understand?"

Someone shouted from the hall and she and the Headmage turned to see Grim wearing a bandaid on his tummy as he had a chicken drumstick in his mouth.

He munched away until he registered the stares of the two of them.

"What? I gotta eat!" He looked at them defensivly as he chewed.

"And this is what I'm talking about right here!" Crowley spat, sticking a hand at Grim, "you need to get him in check!"

Camila's brows furrowed.

"But what am I supposed to do? Put him on a leash?"

"Hey!" Grim glared at her, "I ain't no pet, got it?!"

She simply cocked her head, "then why are you so cute?"

"Don't patronize me," he eyed her with suspicion.

"You two! Listen up! Since it took you so long to clean Main Street, I've decided to have you stationed with lunch cleaning for now!"

"Ooh, lunch cleaning?!" Grim's eyes lit up, "does that mean we get to be taste testers?"

"You're going to pick up trash and clean up the lunch room to make sure it's spotless," the Headmage answered woodenly.

Grim's excitement died as he groaned while he held the meatless bone in his paws.

"What?! But don't we do that anyway?"

Camila had to make sure she held a giggle.

"It's different," Crowley said assuredly, "you'll clean in between periods, so you'll seldom come across students."

He then stood up behind his desk, making sure to place his hands where the papers wouldn't be disturbed.

"Now that I've assigned you your tasks, please, for the love of God, no more mishaps! As a gracious man, I don't want to have to bring the hammer down on those who lack a place to stay!"

"Right, right," Camila agreed without pause.

"Bootlicker," Grim teased as he played with the chicken bone.

"And Grim!" Crowley didn't hesitate to put his firmness on Grim, "you better behave or I'm making you eat brussel sprouts instead of tuna for the rest of the school year!"

"Huh?!" Grim's eyes went wide and he let the bone fall to the floor, "that's illegal! R-right, Camila? That's illegal right?!"

She shook her head.

"Not so, as he's technically still feeding you," she said as-a-matter-o-factly.

Grim fell back as he groaned dramatically.

"Ugh, who's side are you on?!"

Camila allowed herself to smile as she watch him complain; Grim was quite a funny little fellow.

"Don't worry, Headmage, sir. I'll keep a closer eye on him."

"Make sure you do. You are dismissed."

She bowed as she took Grim in her arms and walked out without protest or rebuttal.