𝑰'𝑽𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑻 𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 - 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟔

NOTE: RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH I LIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! WRITER'S BLOCK IS OVER, Y'ALL GET A TRIPLE UPDATE AND A LOTTTT OF SHIT HAPPENS SO GET READYYYYYYYYYY

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Delphina was vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass when her week of bedrest was finally up.

She loved her family, she really did. But after a week of being cooped up in her bedroom at Charmington palace, with only her dead grandfather and her bothersome older brother for constant company, she was desperate to get back to work.

The cell service in Sherwood Forest was absolutely horrendous, so trying to talk to Audrey ultimately amounted to a bunch of static and half-sentences. Ella, Kit, and Ben had tried to be there for Delphina as often as they could, but they all still had their kingdoms to run. In fact, Ben was supposed to be running the kingdom with Delphina. And after a week, they could finally get back to work.

Delphina had dived headfirst into the tasks awaiting her, much to Ben's chagrin. After a point, though, he accepted that there was nothing that could stop Delphina, and resigned himself to helping her however he could.

Presently, though, Ben was off dealing with his own meetings and conferences while Delphina waited in the palace labs, bouncing eagerly on her feet and awaiting Varian's arrival.

After that first conversation with her grandfather, Delphina's brain had been working overtime with different potion variations and measurements. She had reached a point where, if need be, she was fully prepared to chop off all her hair and use it as a cure for Anastasia.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the doors to the lab were pushed open, and Varian slipped inside with a drink carrier of coffees in one hand and one of Delphina's journals in the other. His eyes were fixated on the journal as he pushed the doors closed with his foot, distractedly strolling further into the room while Delphina began bounding forward.

"Hey, kid. You ready to get back to–"

He was abruptly interrupted when Delphina snatched the journal out of his hands, carelessly tossing it aside so she could grab Varian's arm and drag him towards the work station.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, we have a lot of work to do," Delphina huffed in excitement. Varian blinked, a small smile playing on his lips as he let Delphina drag him around the work table and remove the coffees from his hand, setting them out of the way.

"Wow, Delphina," he drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's great to see you, too. How are you doing? How's your day been? Y'know, cause that's what you say when you use this thing called common courtesy."

Delphina rolled her eyes at his teasing, pulling his bag off of his shoulder for him and digging through her own hurriedly.

"Pleasantries can wait. I think we finally got a breakthrough on the cure," she breathed, pulling out all of the napkins and post-it stickers she had been scribbling on for the past week.

Varian stared at the mass of tiny papers before him, more amused than ever as he skimmed over the contents. "You really are incapable of sitting still, huh?"

"Technically, I was sitting when I wrote it all down. My handmaiden brought me the napkins with my meals."

"Uh-huh. And the post-its?"

"They were the only piece of paper I could smuggle away without Ella knowing I was working."

"How many times did you almost get caught?"

Delphina scoffed defensively. "Never, obviously."

Varian crossed his arms, giving her an expectant, disbelieving stare. Delphina hesitated in her sorting through napkins and post-its, then sighed heavily.