Sentry of the Arcane: Befall

Chapter Two: Fitz

"Why were you so late?" I don't even realize that Sophie's the one who asked that until everyone stares at her. I raise an eyebrow. "Sorry, but it's kind of weird that you suddenly went out and then came back really late."

I replay Sophie's question in my mind and realize that I also want to know. Nodding in agreement, Sophie and I look at each other before staring at Mr. Wallace, looking for an answer.

Mr. Wallace seems rather astonished by her question but shakes his head instead. Smiling, he says, "I was meeting up with a friend that I hadn't seen in over a decade or so."

Laurel smiles her signature grin when she suspects romance. "Is your friend a girl, perhaps?" When Mr. Wallace shakes his head, Laurel pouts. We all laugh when she playfully pouts more.

Clearing his throat, the middle aged man asks, "Why are you six up so late?"

"We were playing a game earlier," I explain. "You weren't here, so we decided to do something less..." I pause, glowering at Audrey and Donovan. Rolling my eyes when they wave at me sheepishly, I add, "...chaotic."

Mr. Wallace sighs, shaking his head. "Anyways," he says, changing the subject. "Shouldn't you all be in your rooms sleeping? What is it- past midnight?"

Sophie elbows Audrey when she remarks, "Duh. It's not like it's noon or anything." She shrugs. "It's true though," she says, earning a nod from Donovan. I can't help but roll my eyes at her as we leave to go to our rooms.

I'm the last one to exit the room, so I don't miss witnessing the hug Laurel gives Benen, making him blush madly. I smirk, reminding myself to talk about that to the make Altruistic tomorrow.

After Sophie and I make our way to our rooms, I can't help but yawn sleepily as I change into my pajamas. Wow, I think to myself. Mr. Wallace's talk about sleeping must've made me realize how tired I really am.

So it only makes sense that I'm fast asleep before my head actually touches the pillow.

...

Surprisingly, I only find Benen in the conference room. He's already eating breakfast, so I grab some yogurt, fresh fruit, and a bagel before sitting next to him. He puts his glass of water down to greet me, then takes a bit of a half-eaten cinnamon roll.

I eat half of my bagel and most of my fruit in the silence to come. Once I finish both of those, I get started on my yogurt. Swallowing my first spoonful, I turn to look at Benen. "So, Benen," I begin, stirring my yogurt more. "You want to enlighten me on what that hug was about? And what happened last night, while we're at it?"

Benen's eyes widen at my question as he chokes on his food. I silently pat him on the back until his coughing fit subdues. After gulping down more water to clear his throat, he finally chokes out, "Um...what?"

I merely raise an eyebrow, silently telling him that he can't get out of this now.

Benen gulps loudly, and I'm surprised that the sound doesn't echo back to us. "Well, I- uh, um," Benen stammers, his cheeks reddening by the second. His eyes practically pleading, he says, "Don't tell Donovan! Or Audrey! Both!"

I nod, placing my hands on his shoulders to calm him. "I don't plan to anytime soon, Benen."

He nods, fiddling with his fingers. Turning away to stare forward again, he says, "T- the hug was because of..." He clears his throat when his voice trails off. "Because of what I said..."

"I doubt saying something crude or offensive would earn a hug," I reply, furrowing my eyebrows. "So what did you say?"

Benen sighs, probably because he can't find a way to sugarcoat what he said to Laurel. Leaning back in his chair in defeat, he asks me instead, "Remember how her lie was that she had a boyfriend?"

I scowl in thought. After remembering that specifically, I look at Benen again and nod. "Yeah. You said that she took a long time and some other reason to why it was a lie." After a moment of silence, I ask, "Was that second reason why?"

Benen nods. "I told her that if she actually did have a boyfriend, then she wouldn't have liked me back." He sees my shocked face and looks down, blushing more than I've ever seen him blush.

Shaking my head, I say, "Wow. That's actually quite brave of you to say that, Benen." I pat his shoulder. "Good job." I smile at him, earning a soft smile in return.

Benen's eyes widen more as he asks, "You won't tell Donovan, right?"

I can't help but laugh. "No need to worry. I promise I won't."

And as if on cue, we both hear, "What don't you want my lovely ears to hear?"

Both of us look behind us to see Donovan at the breakfast table holding two pies. I scowl when I see a plethora of the baked pastry on the long table behind him. "You have got to me kidding me," I groan, facepalming myself. Sighing in exasperation, I glower at the male Sovereign as Benen and I stand up. "Where the heck did you get that many pies?" I ask.

Donovan smirks mischievously. "Wallace guy," he says, making me groan again. Donovan shrugs. "Just had to tell him that I really, really like pie."

Of course, I think bitterly to myself. I look over at Benen, who seems to be terrified out of his mind. He slowly inches away from the table and towards the door.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" Donovan calls out cheerfully, turning towards the Altruistic. "You can't leave until you get PIED!" And with that, he throws both of his pies at him.

Unfortunately, he doesn't miss.

Dripping with fruit filling and pie crust, Benen groans as he's drenched with sugary pieces of pie. He then licks his finger and asks, "Is that blueberry? I'm more of a 'pumpkin pie' sort of person."

Donovan narrows his eyes nefariously as he picks up two more blueberry pies. "Wrong answer. I hate pumpkin pie."

He throws one at Benen, hitting him squarely in the face. To catch me off guard, he flings the second on at me. I step back when the pie hits the side of my face, making half of my face now blueberry-flavored. Narrowing my eyes at him, I walk over to the table of pies and pick two up.

I turn to the now wide-eyed Sovereign. "It's on."

And that was when I made the downright messiest choice of my life.