Coye 5.12 (Patreon)

God I'm exhausted after this one. Pay attention, though, there's tons of important set up in this one!

Chapter 12 - Coye’s Day 5 - A Chemical Reaction

When Coye stirred the following morning, it was among the roughest awakenings he'd yet experienced. His head was pounding, throbbing, and rebelling against him. The pain just wouldn't stop, and the pair of little hands slapping his cheeks wasn't helping, either.

"Come on already, you big, stupid dummy! Wake the fuck up!" Shayla urged him. She was heavily irritated and added a heavy dose of magic behind her each slap so that they tingled and shocked the boy.

"Couldn't you just heal his hangover?" Suzette spoke from somewhere nearby.

"Sure I could. But then he wouldn't learn his lesson!"

"And what lesson would that be?"

"That he shouldn't get this drunk again without me there to laugh at him!" Shayla insisted. "Also, so I can take care of him and make sure nothing bad happens, I guess."

"Of course," Suzette laughed.

Their conversation was helping bring Coye further into consciousness. He opened his eyes wearily, cringing at the light.

"What's going on...?" Coye asked as he yawned and clutched his forehead.

Shayla laughed at him. "What's going on? Hah! What's going on is that it's past noon, and you're still passed the fuck out! It'll be too late to do anything today if you don't get up now, so hurry! If you're lucky, I might be willing to treat that hangover of yours."

Coye sat up, still reeling in pain and disoriented. He rubbed his eyes with a vigorous fervor, taking in the sight of Shayla flying in front of his face and Suzette sitting over at the table with a cup of hot tea. Shayla was wearing a skirt and halter top combo, Suzette one of her fancier dresses because the weather was decent today. It looked like they'd been there for a while.

"Morning, Darling," Suzette's smile was warm as the sun as she greeted him. "Seems you went and had more fun at the concert than either of us thought you would."

"Guess so," the boy groaned as the world spun around him, his brain aching. "I can't even remember much of what happened... I'm pretty sure I got to talk to Vico for a bit, but other than that... I- agh, fuck..."

"He drank away his memory," Shayla shrugged. "Awesome. Now we get to watch him spiral out of control and become an alcoholic on top of a sex-crazed drug addict."

"Says his dealer," Suzette countered.

Shayla pretended not to hear her.

"I'm not gonna be an alcoholic!" Coye whined, the sound of his own raised voice making his head ring. "I don't even remember why I got so drunk. I've never done this before! Could you please help me already, Shayla? This is the first hangover I've ever had, and it really, really hurts...!"

The poor boy looked like he was about to cry, the sight of which snapped Shayla firmly out of her passive-aggressive mood. "Oh, baby..." she cooed. "Is it really that bad?"

Coye nodded weakly, causing Shayla to sigh.

"Here," the Pixie flew close and kissed his temples, imbuing her lips with healing magic. It was an old trick, but it made the simple act of curing more intimate and special. "How's that, big guy?"

"So much better..." he was relieved to announce. "I'm sorry I got so drunk."

"About that," Suzette spoke. "Do you have any idea why you might've done so? I'm only speaking from personal experience, but I'm prone to have a few too many glasses of wine during social events. Perhaps you were swept along by somebody else's tempo?"

"That doesn't sound like me," Coye laughed. "Pretty sure I was sitting alone for most of the night."

"Seriously, Suzette. Do you think Coye would get shitfaced and party with a bunch of strangers? Coye??"

"Well, I suppose not..." Suzette admitted. "I'm only glad you made it home safe and sound, Darling. Without dragging some strange girl into your bed, no less!"

"Hey! I wouldn't-" Coye couldn't finish the rest of his sentence. It was like he'd forgotten something, but he decided to move on with his day rather than ponder it for too long.

"Something wrong, baby?"

"No, I'm fine. Still a little foggy up there, that's all."

"Give me a moment, and I'll whip you up something to eat," Suzette finished her cup of tea and set it gently onto the plate before her. "After that, we have a lot of things to show you!" She said, gesturing at a group of bags on the floor which Coye hadn't noticed until now.

"Busy night?" Coye smiled at Shayla.

"You know it!"

A good breakfast helped clear Coye's just as much as Shayla's healing. Suzette worked fast and presented him with a hot meal which he eagerly scarfed down. While he still couldn't remember nearly anything from the night before, it mattered little when he was more interested in seeing everything the Pixie got up to without him.

As soon as he was done and the dishes were taken care of, Suzette and Shayla started emptying the bags and showing off the goods. Coye expected to see lots of variations on the outfits Shayla typically wore but was surprised when that was not the case. There were a couple of garments in her usual style, featuring black, blue, silver, and white with lots of swirls and Fairy-like patterns, but most of her work was more diverse. New designs were tested, different styles of trim and frills, not to mention colors outside her personal preference.

Even someone as lacking in fashion sense as Coye could tell Shayla was trying new things and experimenting, and the results spoke for themselves. Everything looked great to him, and he could even see himself wearing some of her men's clothing.

"You did amazing," he praised her, reaching out with his fingers to gently massage the tiny Pixie's scalp. "Nice job."

Shayla blushed but was high on her massive ego. "I did, didn't I? And that's just my first batch!"

"Did the two of you figure out how this will work?"

"More or less," Shayla nodded and then gestured at Suzette. "You want to take it from here with all the business talk, partner?"

"Of course," now Suzette was blushing, giddy at the term of endearment. "Shayla's main concern is that she doesn't want to be constrained by limitations or forced into taking custom orders. This won't be a problem, as I've agreed to let her make whatever she wishes, and we'll just sell that. If a customer wants something Shayla made, but it doesn't fit, I'll take their measurements, and Shayla will adjust it whenever the two of you next stop by. As for my part in this, I'll see how these do. If they go well, I'll raise the price and treat them as a limited, special item to increase demand. The fact that they're made by a mysterious designer who refuses to make themselves known, why, the marketing practically writes itself! The profits will be split sixty-forty, and I've already created a new savings account with my bank to deposit Shayla's earnings. Whenever she needs any of her hard-earned gold, I'll make a withdrawal. I can also put your name on the account in the future, Darling. Whatever's easiest."

"...It's almost scary how much thought you've put into this," Coye laughed awkwardly as he followed along. "But I always say it's better to be overprepared than underprepared."

"Quite," Suzette smiled proudly.

"It's still not about the money," Shayla insisted as she folded her arms and stomped her foot on the table. "I'm doing it because I want to. As long as Suzette respects that I wanna do my own thing and that I might get bored and need a break, there shouldn't be any problems with our arrangement."

"The money is still pretty nice. Maybe I should just retire and let you spoil me for the rest of my life?" Coye teased.

"No way, you lazy bum! I didn't leave that forest to stick around Cransmere forever. I want to see the rest of this world and go on adventures with you, dummy! All this? It's a side hustle! Suzette said it's practically necessary in today's economy."

Coye looked at his older lover with concern. "Have you been teaching her a lot about economics, then?"

"A few basic things, perhaps," the beautiful capitalist giggled. "While she was working last night, we sat around and talked about all sorts of things. I showed her some items from sales catalogs I could order for her in the future, and we made many plans. It was good fun if I'm being honest. I almost didn't want to bring her back!"

Shayla blushed and scratched the back of her head. "It was fun, yeah... I was a little worried about how I would handle being without you for the whole night, but it wasn't so bad. As long as you don't go having too much fun while I'm gone, I'm probably gonna have to stay over at Suzette's place every so often."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I'm not planning to get this drunk again if I can help it..." the boy insisted with a nervous grin. "Anyways, did you want to get back to our main hustle today? I'm feeling better now, and I wouldn't mind some questing if that's what you wanna do."

"I'd be down for some action, yeah," the Pixie grinned with mischief and excitement. "Let's do it!"

"Sure thing."

"While the two of you are out having a much more exciting life than my own, I'll be working on preparations to sell these!" Suzette chimed with glee as she started folding up the clothes and neatly tucking them back into the bags they came from. "I might have to do a promotional event in the future, cash in a few favors from Brick and my other associates to spread word-of-mouth... oh, yes, I'm going to be quite busy today. I might have to close the shop for a few hours and do some running around!"

Suzette had that predatory look on her face showing she was scheming and calculating business affairs, but Coye found it hard not to admit she looked charming in her natural state. Little did he know that Suzette planned to rope him into dressing up again.

"I'll walk you home right after I gear up," Coye announced, then started the suiting up.

Suzette watched him as he undressed, imagining which of the clothing Shayla made would look best for him to showcase. He sensed her wicked intentions, but she pretended to look away whenever Coye looked over his shoulder. After a point, he started ignoring the sinister sensation and managed to get ready to go.

While walking Suzette to her store, Coye felt more eyes on him than usual. That struck him as odd since he was wearing a wig yesterday while on the job. Did people recognize him regardless? Coye almost thought he heard a few whispers about a party god here and there but wasn't sure what that might've been about. Whatever they were on about, he didn't give it much thought and made his way to the Guild after dropping his lover off.

When he arrived, Coye was mildly surprised by the broken front door. It's not like it was the first time some adventurer had made a show of bursting in, but an even greater shock awaited him when he walked through the ruins and found Dorothy sitting at the front desk on the far side of the room. He almost lost his breath. She was wearing a white buttoned-up tank top that hugged tightly to her curves, especially her breasts, and around the collar was an adorable red bow tie in contrast to her more professional neckwear.

In the two years he'd known her, Coye wasn't sure Dorothy had ever dressed in anything beyond baggy clothes that downplayed all her assets. If she had, he'd certainly never seen it. Her bare shoulders caused the boy to gulp, and he couldn't stop thinking how lovely her pale skin seemed to match her long, curly black hair that hung past the middle of her back.

Even Shayla was taken aback. 'Whoa,' she gasped, eyeing the Guild Mistress over. 'I always knew she'd look much better if she ditched those crappy clothes, but... I didn't think it would be so drastic! While she's at it, I wonder how she'd look if she brushed her hair once in a while?'

Coye tried not to think about that, as Dorothy was already too cute for him to handle. He idled at the doorway for several seconds before finally forcing himself to walk up to the desk. Dorothy was scribbling on a clipboard, and she didn't look up as he approached.

"Just a... moment..." she failed to stifle a yawn. "I'll be with you short-" raising her head, Dorothy saw that it was Coye and her anxieties shot straight through the third-floor roof.

When she thought she was getting closer to resuming their normal working relationship, Dorothy noticed how Coye was blatantly checking her out. Even in her eternal obliviousness, there was no way she couldn't tell how interested he was. Coye was openly gawking, trying not to stare at her chest or shoulders. He was also blushing, making Dorothy bloom even brighter in retaliation.

Dorothy shifted around uncomfortably in her seat. It was only a tank top, but she felt like standing naked in front of Coye. She regretted her decision to dress casually the longer this moment dragged on. Dorothy initially felt relieved to discover she had something cute to wear hidden in the depths of her wardrobe, but now it felt like it wasn't worth it.

Then, a spark of defiance roared in the back of her mind. Dorothy didn't want this to keep happening- she was more tired of avoiding Coye than she was physically tired. She had to put in the effort to get things back to the way they were. Reaffirming to herself that she could do this, Dorothy bit her lip and tried to smile at him. No matter what happened during this conversation, Dorothy wouldn't run away.

That was the vow she made to herself.

Soon as he was at the front desk, Coye blurted out without even thinking twice, "Hey, Dorothy. You look amazing today! What's the occasion?"

"Oh, I, ah- ama... zing... aha... ha... hahaha..." Dorothy stood up in a hurry, the chair falling as always as her body readied to break her vow.

'You'd think she'd be getting tired of this by now,' Shayla sighed, rolling her eyes and rubbing her head at the psychic pain she felt coming from Dorothy.

Dorothy almost made it to the records room but stopped in her tracks despite her embarrassment. Damn it all. She was prepared to take this like a champ, but then he went and complimented her so casually and suddenly! Just from hearing her name coming out of Coye's mouth, Dorothy's legs were wobbly again like she'd never even drunk Britni's health potion. If only he wasn't standing there staring, she would've smacked herself to snap out of it.

This had to end. Enough was enough.

It took all her self-control, but Dorothy forced her body to sit back down after fixing her chair. Shayla could sense the fire burning within the Guild Mistress peeking out through the darkness of her mental anguish, which was a relief. She only hoped Dorothy could keep it up long enough to stop giving her a literal headache.

"Did you forget something...?" Coye asked as she sat back down.

"N-No," Dorothy awkwardly laughed. "I thought for a second that I did, but, um... no, I'm good." She kept to her resolve, even if she had to hang her head and avoid looking at him. "I had an accident earlier today and spilled coffee all over my outfit. There wasn't much clean that I could change into, so I had to make do with something from when I was... younger."

'I think what she means to say is skinnier,' the Pixie smirked.

"It still fits great if you ask me," Coye was quick to say, noticing how she shifted around uncomfortably at his praise. He decided he'd change the topic and cut her some slack. "So, what's going on with the door today?"

Dorothy mumbled, "Britni..."

Coye looked at the scattered pieces of wood lying around the floor, noticing that many of them were charred by lightning. "I should've figured. Wonder what her problem was?"

"If only I knew," slumping further over the desk, Dorothy shrugged.

'Probably something stupid,' Shayla figured.

Dorothy was oddly eager to move on from thinking about the bully.

"Enough about her. Did you want to take on some work today?"

"Yeah. Is anything good on the board? Or is there anything in particular I could help you with? You know, anything personal?"

Dorothy gulped. Her overstressed mind could think of oh so many things Coye could help her with on a personal level, but they were all too embarrassing for her to even cohesively process. She shook her head and then decided to try and play up her achievements.

"No, nothing specific. You should check out the board, though! I worked really hard and made some rounds yesterday. Went making house calls to all the different noble houses and begging for odd jobs. It cost me a full night of sleep and a lot of what little dignity I had left, but all that soapboxing proved worth it in the end, ahaha..."

"Really? Damn, great job." Coye smiled really wide upon hearing of her success. It was no secret how poorly Dorothy had been doing all this week, and to see that she went out despite all that to improve the Guild's situation inspired him to do his best today. Even Shayla had to give her credit for working herself to the bone. "I'll go take a look."

"Okay," Dorothy managed to look up at Coye and gave him a tired grin of satisfaction. "I'll be here if you need help, like always..."

Dorothy wasn't kidding- the quest board was packed! There had to be forty or fifty new quests. Seeing what she could accomplish when giving it her all was amazing, but Coye thought it was a shame she couldn't tap into that relentless side of her more often. Dorothy looked dreadfully exhausted that morning, and he feared she'd pass out the second he left. It was evident all her hard work came at a cost.

As far as the new quests went, the quality varied wildly. Many were mild inconveniences that noblemen needed solved- missing heirlooms, a couple of escort missions, security work- but there were still plenty of new monsters on the table for Coye to pick up. All those other job types were better suited to someone else. Coye preferred to be told where to go and what to do and not have to think much beyond that. He found his mark not long after pouring over the new listings.

A nobleman was having issues protecting his small farm from Pillastions not far to the northeast of town. Massive insects comparable to pill bugs the size of a cow, Pillastions were notoriously hard for average men to kill because of their dense chitinous shells. No one would be calling for their head if only they didn't go around ravaging crops, but that's what you got when you proved problematic to mankind.

That didn't matter to Coye. A job was a job, and the pay was decent. He'd get 1,200G per kill, and at least three bugs were already accounted for. More than the pay, Coye was drawn to the quest thinking it would be a good opportunity for some on-the-job training. The hard shell of a Pillastion would prove excellent for honing his Triple Strike, and it helped that the species hardly fought back.

He returned to Dorothy and told her which quest he would undertake, finding her as supportive and full of helpful advice as ever. The advice was pretty common sense, tip them over and hit them where they were vulnerable. Coye figured that already, and the two shared a small smile. It wasn't much, but it was a better interaction than they'd had in days. Bit by bit, the two were closing the distance that had opened up between them, much to Shayla's relief.

The more Dorothy recovered, the less her negative mood affected the Pixie. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been four days ago, and Shayla was hoping it would never be at those levels again.

Coye took his leave of the Guild and set off through the Peace Gate, with Shayla keeping in the hat for now because of how close the farm was. It was just far enough away from Cransmere for plants to start growing naturally again but near enough that Coye could reach it after running at top speed after only a little while. When he arrived at his destination, the farmer and a couple of his farmhands were tending the field. After introducing himself, Coye was led by the kindly man to the crime scene- so to speak.

The huge bugs had eaten a tremendous amount of crops, and there was little they could've done to stop it. The good news was that since Pillastions were so damned big and didn't burrow beneath the ground like their non-monstrous counterparts, their big old legs left equally large tracks for Coye to follow. He bid the farmer goodbye and promised to take care of the issue, setting off into the hills in the distance.

Shayla freed herself of the hat on their way, and it wasn't long until Coye tracked down the first Pillastion. It wasn't doing much of anything, just lounging about in the sun and napping. Its partners in crime were nowhere in sight, but there were still two sets of tracks for him to follow as soon as he was done with this one.

"Damn," Shayla whistled. "That's a big bug."

"I'm sure you've seen bigger out in the woods," Coye said as he drew his sword and shield.

"You're actually right about that, but I'd rather not think about it..." the Pixie briefly shivered. "Go on, baby. Do your thing!"

Coye nodded and then walked straight up to the monster, cracking his sword against its shell to test how hard it really was. His cold steel bounced right off, the Pillastion awakening directly after being struck. Instinct took over, forcing the creature to curl up into an armored ball of chitin. The damn thing was harder than rock. Coye wouldn't be making any dent in the shell unless he put forth a serious effort, which is precisely what he did.

With Shayla's helpful healing to dull his pain, Coye spent a decent chunk of his afternoon working on his Triple Strike. His progress on the Art varied wildly with every swing of his blade. Sometimes he would put too much energy into it, exacerbating his pain, and at other times Coye would forget to activate the stored energy only at the last second, ruining the entire thing. When Coye did pull off the attack, his blows cracked the shell little by little while the monster sat there and took it. It really was pathetic, and for a moment, it made Coye think that perhaps Byng's god had a point about the whole wildlife needing to be protected thing.

Not that it stopped him from killing his prey. After inflicting lots of wear and tear, Coye's latest Triple Strike did the job. It broke past the layers of chitin, allowing him to dig his sword straight into the wet, mushy innards. The Pillastion let out a scream and uncurled itself, all of its legs writhing in utter agony before all that remained was occasional twitching.

"Nasty," Shayla wrinkled her nose at the smell of the bug's blood and guts.

"Gotta do the job somehow," Coye shrugged and struck his sword through the air to cleanse it of filth before returning it to the scabbard on his back.

His attention now turned to the monster's corpse. Coye blamed Dorothy's bare shoulders for making him forget to ask what part of a Pillastion might be worth the most when sold. Without a clue, he opted to pick up the pieces of its shell he'd chipped away and stuffed them into his bag along with one of the insect's antennas to serve as his proof of kill.

After that, he followed the tracks to the second Pillastion, putting himself through the same vigorous training routine. Just as before, there were little bits of progress the more he used his powerful Art, but he couldn't keep the act up for very long this time around. His arm was getting physically stressed in ways Shayla couldn't heal, and he needed to back off for a while and let it rest. Still, Coye did better this time. It took him half as long to break open the Pillastion's shell and dip his sword into its body to finish the job.

His arm might've been all banged up from the training, but Coye had a different idea to kill the last of the bugs. This one was still on the move when he found it, but it curled up in his presence the same as the others- just the way he wanted it. Unsheathing his ordoghite knife, Coye plunged it into the shell. Much sharper than his sword, the blade pierced through the chitin like it were paper. All it took was to shove his sword down the hole he made a couple of times to kill it.

"Not bad!" Shayla praised. "Think you should stop back at the farm to tell them the job's done?"

"Yeah. The sooner they know about it, the better."

And Coye did just that. The farmer was relieved and thanked the boy profusely, as did the farmhands. The big, rugged guys clapped Coye on the back and cheered, only for the farmer's daughter to come out of the house and gift him a basket of fresh produce as thanks. He recognized her from all the times she was selling their goods in Cransmere, as did Shayla.

Just another one of the little fishies hopelessly caught on Coye's line, the Pixie thought with a smirk.

Coye dropped his food basket off at his cabin and changed into casual clothes before heading back into town. They stopped by the Guild first and had another chat with Dorothy, but she was soon busy helping other adventurers, so he didn't stick around for long. Next was Snyther's place, as always. The transaction went well, though the shady alchemist informed him he could've used some of the Pillastion's entrails instead of its chitin. Still, the bag earned him a solid 600G, with Snyther insisting he'd find a for the shards somehow.

They left soon after, much to Shayla's appreciation.

'We really need to get you a better side hustle,' she teased as they left the dark alley.

"If you got any ideas, I'm listening," Coye joked back.

When the two emerged onto Lettimore street proper, Coye noticed a pair of familiar figures hanging out outside a brothel. It was Tiph and Coco, both dressed in their adventuring attire. Coco was crouched over, clearly not paying attention to what was happening around while scratching the back of her ear with her foot. Meanwhile, Tiph was having a friendly conversation with a pair of working girls dressed in silky purple nightgowns.

Everyone was smiling and laughing, and eventually, one of the girls produced a small pouch of coins that she then handed to Tiph in exchange for a purse that looked like it contained some potion bottles. The two prostitutes went back inside after getting their goods, leaving Coye with the opportunity to hit Tiph and Coco up if he wanted.

'Could that have been any more suspicious?' Shayla scoffed and raised her eyebrow.

Coye reminded her, "Everyone needs a side hustle in today's economy."

'Oh, shut up. You think you're so clever... I suppose you want to go and say hi, don't you?'

"Well..."

'I'm exhausted from all that healing I gave you! Can't you just ignore them and go home?' Shayla wasn't really that exhausted and merely wanted to keep him away from Tiph for as long as she could help it.

"Sorry, Shayla..." Coye mumbled as he walked out onto the street.

Coco caught wind of him before Tiph noticed. Tail wagging, ears perked, and a familiar heat filling her cheeks, the pup realized that smell could mean only one thing. Runt. Coco had already smelled his scent in the area earlier, but this street was full of dirty smells ranging from copious mating, booze, and drugs. It was hard to determine whether or not the scent was fresh until now, so she chose to ignore it.

That was no longer an option now that he was walking toward them.

Coco watched him with wide eyes and an open mouth, remembering their battle and everything they said to each other. She wasn't ready to follow up on that. Not yet- maybe not ever. Her instinct took over, and since she couldn't process her emotions, she chose to vent them by barking at him.

"Easy, girl! Liiiike, what the fuck is your problem all of a sudden?" Tiph pocketed her gold and chastised her companion, only to look in the direction Coco was barking and see for herself. "Oh, shit. Hey there, squirt! What's a cutie like you doing in a place like this? Gonna start turning tricks?"

Tiph's underhanded comment flew completely over Coye's head as they often did. "No, I was just-"

"Going home!" Coco shouted and turned away from Coye. "Not in the mood!"

And just like that, she was gone. Coco sped off on all fours right as Coye finished his approach. He felt disappointed that she would run from him. Coye wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't that. Figuring Coco just needed some time, he decided he wouldn't hold this against her.

On the other hand, Tiph was full of questions.

"Uh, what the shit was that all about? Did you, liiiike, piss her off or something? Never seen her just fucking bolt like that, wow." Few people knew it, but Tiph had a nose that was just as powerful as Coco's. The only downside was that it could only sniff out opportunities to insert herself into other people's drama. She could already sense that something weird was happening between him and the pup, and it brought a wicked smile to her otherwise innocent-looking face.

Shayla wanted to puke, and it had only been a few sentences into their conversation.

"Not sure why she was so upset," Coye lied. "But would you tell her I said sorry later? You know, just in case."

"Suuuure," Tiph claimed, though Shayla took it to mean she wouldn't be telling Coco a thing.

'You missed your chance with your four-legged friend, so I think you should scram, too. I don't know how often I have to tell you not to get mixed up with this bitch.'

Coye took Shayla's advice to heart, but that didn't mean he would listen. Whether or not Shayla was right about Tiph didn't matter. It was more along the lines of Coye wanting to see for himself. If she really was as bad as she and Byng believed, he could sweep the whole thing under the rug and not bother with Tiph in the future.

There was also the fact that many of his preconceived notions about people he knew had been proven wrong lately. He thought Tiph was nice, the others told him she wasn't, but what if there was more to it than that? Were people capable of betraying your expectations twice?

Coye didn't know, but a part of him was dying to find out.

"Anyway, were you, liiike, coming out of that alley over there a second ago?" Tiph pointed her purple-painted fingernail, holding back a laugh. "Don't tell me you know that creep?"

"Who, Snyther?"

"More like Pervin' Merv," the laugh burst out, and it was a loud one. "Yeah, that's the guy. Ugh, he's the worst."

'Guess we can agree on that much...' Shayla grumbled.

"How do you know him?"

"Because I stop by that to pick up shit from his shop every now and then. I usually wouldn't ever bother with a fourth-rate potion slinger like that douche, but Merv tooootally gets his hands on a lot of things he shouldn't, if you know what I mean?"

Shayla cringed at the implication. She didn't want to think about the kinds of ingredients that prick had tucked away in places where no one was looking. If it was as bad as she imagined, she might have to have a serious talk about Coye's side hustle with him later.

"He's a total slimeball, by the way. All I have to do is this," Tiph smirked and leaned in toward Coye, pulling down the neckline of her tight black top to reveal another inch or two of abundant cleavage before speaking in a soft, honey voice, "And tell him how smart and clever and how good at alchemy he is and he'll basically give me anything I want for free," Tiph giggled at her own grift, her voice returning to normal. "What a fucking loser, right?"

Shayla blinked. She felt terrible about the accusations she tossed at Dorothy, thinking she was a gold digger. Now that Shayla had met a real one, it brought things into perspective.

Coye was more transfixed by the cleavage and the sexy voice to care much about anything else, but he shook it off and scratched his head. "I mean, more power to you if he's really that shallow. I don't see what's wrong with you taking advantage of that fact."

His response intrigued her. "You're not gonna, liiiike, tell me it's wrong to manipulate someone like that?"

"Maybe if it was someone I cared about?" Coye shrugged. "I don't have the best impression of him, either, and I could care less about whether or not you're scamming him. I just sell him monster parts I harvest from my kills, that's all."

"Wait, no shit? Well, that explains some things..." Tiph puffed out her pouty lips and placed her pointer finger on her chin in thought. "No wonder his stock seemed better when I checked earlier this week. I dropped by to see what I could get from him for my research, and I probably ended up with some of the junk you've been pawning off! Isn't that, like, totally a weird ass coincidence?" She laughed like it was way funnier than it actually was.

"I guess so. I'm happy all my hard work is helping someone out, at least."

"It sure is," Tiph smirked, then leaned closer to match their height. Coye forced himself not to look at her cleavage, focusing on her mocking eyes as she placed the tip of her fingernail on his chin. She gave him chills as she trailed it down to his collarbone, laughing as he fought for composure. "I have to say, though, Coye. I'm a little offended...!"

"Offended? W-Why?" Coye got even more uncomfortable, Tiph being an expert at manipulating her cute voice to garner sympathy.

"Because if you were gonna go around dealing precious ingredients to alchemists, you should've started with me! I could've given you a little shopping list, squirt."

Shayla could feel how excited Coye was at the sudden intimate contact but was pleased to see he was far more resistant to Tiph's teasing than Snyther must be. It didn't turn Coye into an outright slave, probably because he was getting more used to being touched by women. Instead, he laughed softly and took a polite step back.

"I'm not going to get you anything for free," Coye told her. "But if you ever need help getting ingredients and no one else is around to help, I wouldn't mind coming along if we made a quest out of it or something."

'Excuse me?' Shayla asked in irritation.

Tiph looked the boy over, mildly surprised. "Really now? I'll keep that offer in mind... might be really funny to see the look on Brit's face when I tell her we're going out..." she lingered on the thought, a wicked smile soon tainting her expression. "On a quest, of course!"

"Haha, I... I don't know about that..." Coye instinctually feared what reaction Britni would have to a joke like that. If he wanted to avoid the same fate as the Guild's devastated front door, he figured it was best not to antagonize the boss bully. Not wanting to give Tiph any other ideas, Coye quickly changed the topic. "So, what were you guys doing here?"

"Just a couple of errands. Coco and I got back from an overnight ingredient run, actually. Brit has been, like, sooooo wasted out of her mind lately. It was funny at first, like it always is, but it started becoming a buzz kill, y'know?" Tiph's expression softened for a moment as she sighed. "Coco wanted to get away for a day or so, soooo... I don't know, it's not, liiiike, a big deal or anything. I needed to pick some herbs anyway, so I offered to take her on an extended walk..."

"That's... really nice of you, actually," Coye was pleasantly surprised to hear Tiph would do something so kind for her friend. Hearing about Britni's drinking unsettled him for some unknown reason, however. Coye couldn't place his finger on why, but there was lingering guilt in the back of his mind as if he'd somehow encouraged her.

"Nah, I just needed a bodyguard. I might be an adventurer, but I'm not a fighter. I'm, like, suuuper squishy," Tiph smirked and groped her substantial right breast casually before Coye's prying eyes. "Wanna see for yourself, squirt?"

Shayla groaned, already devising a way to punish him if he walked straight into this trap. Luckily, all he did was blush and avert his gaze.

"A little," he admitted with an uncomfortable laugh. "B-But that probably wouldn't be the best idea..."

"You're no fun today," Tiph clicked her tongue and stopped fondling herself in public. "So, yeah. We got back a while ago, and I dropped off the new shit over at my lab. While we were there, it just so happened that some potions I was brewing were ready, so I bottled them up and pawned them off to some friends. Again, no big deal."

"So, um, you were selling drugs?" Coye asked.

Tiph had a long laugh at Coye's candid inquiry. "Oh my gods! Drugs is, liiiike, such a harsh word. I don't brew a single thing that's considered a 'drug', squirt. I prefer the term 'experimental psychotropics'. What I make boils down to mind-altering shit, y'know? Nothing addictive, no major side effects, just one-and-done potions that'll send you on a trip for a few hours. Chill you out, make you feel happy, make you see crazy shit that isn't really there... anything harder than that? Nah, man. I'm soooo not about putting whack shit in my body or selling anything that isn't legal."

'This all just sounds like a bunch of semantics,' Shayla grumbled. 'Like she's trying to convince you her shit doesn't stink like everyone else's.'

Coye wasn't as sure. Even though he'd been around her while she was high often enough, he never knew much about the things Tiph was taking. It sounded like she knew what she was talking about. More than that, it sounded a little interesting.

"Huh. I wasn't assuming or anything, I just... well, this street is pretty shady and all that and-"

"Wellllll, I guess I'm not toootally a good girl," Tiph smiled innocently and tilted her head. "I mean, it's kind of bad that I don't have a license to sell... but no one's asking, and you're not going to go telling on me, are you?" She suddenly leaned in closer, the smile turning less innocent and more knowing. "I'm sure you of all people know what it's like, don't you?"

Shayla sensed imminent danger, but Coye remained unaware. "Know what it's like to um... to what, exactly?"

"To depend on a special something to get you through your day. Life is just soooo hard, isn't it? It's no wonder everybody needs a little help from time to time... even you. Right, Coye?"

'Fuck,' Shayla gripped onto Coye's hair from sheer frustration. This bitch knew, and she was a fool for thinking that she didn't. Now, Shayls couldn't tell Coye not to interact with Tiph. Not when she held all the cards.

Coye picked up on the implication and realized how bad things could potentially get. He decided to play innocent at first, asking, "What are you getting at, Tiph?"

Laughing hysterically, Tiph rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Don't play dumb with me, you little shit! I'm talking about the fact that you're higher than I am right now!" Taking Coye by surprise, she leaned in closer still and opened his eyelids, smirking as she stared at his sparkling eyes. "I can't believe I didn't notice it the other day. Then again, I was pretty fucked up at the time... still, holy shit, dude! How are you even here right now? I've never seen such an advanced case of Pixie Dust addiction before, not even in all the medical texts I've studied! Where the fuck are you even getting it? That shit is, like, way, way harder than anything I've ever gotten my hands on!"

Shayla took a deep breath as Coye backed away and rubbed his now irritated eye. 'Listen up, baby. You need to NOT fuck this up. This bitch is smarter than she lets on, and she's not going to forget about this anytime soon. What you need to do here is lie and be fucking convincing about it. You get me?'

He did, and so Coye made a solid effort.

"I have a connection, can't really say anything more than that, or they might get in trouble..." then, Coye made use of the fact that Tiph knew him reasonably well and wasn't a stranger. If he phrased it correctly, his story would sound believable. He needed that, so he exaggerated his nervous expression and stared at the ground with a deep frown. "It's tough for me to talk about, but I, um... I heard Pixie Dust would help with my anxiety and all that... you're right, Tiph. I do know what it's like to rely on something to get you through the day. Things were looking pretty bleak for a while, and I wondered if I would ever get better, but..."

"Shit," Tiph looked like there was genuine concern on her face as she looked him over.

For a moment, Shayla wondered if the girl was considering whether or not all of the bullying she took part in pushed Coye into such a bad spot that he'd develop a substance abuse problem. She tried reading her emotions, but couldn't feel any guilt... or much of anything, honestly. Tiph came off as a mostly blank slate, which Shayla assumed could be blamed on the excessive use of 'experimental psychotropics'.

If Tiph was experiencing a measure of guilt, it didn't last long.

"Guess this means you gotta suck up to me from now on so that I don't turn you in, huuuuh, squirt?" She laughed, her playful voice making it hard to tell whether or not she was serious.

"If you can prove I'm not getting it consensually from a Pixie, then feel free to rat me out whenever you want." Coye smiled at her, summoning his composure to appear nonplussed and confident.

Something about the way he looked at her awoke something in Tiph. She was irritated. Her eyes went cold, and her laughter stopped. The smile remained, but it was only a vestigial approximation.

"Huh. Look at the balls on you, little man. Sounds like you know your stuff. Did you have a talk with that basement-dweller, or what?"

"Yeah, Eschal was really helpful. He explained a lot about how the dust works and everything." Feeling nervous from the shift in Tiph's tone, Coye looked off to the side and scratched his arm.

Shayla assumed Tiph was annoyed she'd just lost blackmail material on him, but the fake smile grew more expansive, and the unsettling feeling in her stomach increased. "You don't say? Well, whatever... I didn't know you had it in you, squirt. It definitely explains a lot, though. The new confidence, the sassy back talking, the fact that you're suddenly a huge perv... oh, yeah. Everything checks out."

"It's just bringing out parts of me that are already there," he defended.

"Whatever you say. More importantly, I wonder what Britni would think if I told her about your little glitter obsession...?" She dwelled on the thought, trying hard not to laugh over the chaos it'd cause.

"I would really, really rather not find out...!" Coye pleaded.

"I bet you wouldn't," Tiph snorted. "But it would be soooo funny...! She would totally freak- maybe even finally fucking... well, who knows what she would do? All I know is that I'm not the kind of girl who can resist a pot just begging to be stirred. It's just who I am, you know? I've accepted that I can't be better than the bitch you see standing here in front of you..." there was a sudden wistfulness in her voice, but it was gone before long. "You should feel lucky this bitch has a soft spot for cute little guys like you, though. I won't say a word about any of this to Britni..."

'Wait for it-'

"For now." Tiph grinned, falling directly into Shayla's expectations and eliciting a groan from the Pixie. Some secrets had more value when you let them simmer for a while, Coye's dependence on dust definitely being one of them.

His guard raised, Coye asked with caution, "What do you want from me, then?"

"Nothing much," Tiph smiled wider. "Let's saaaaay... how about you owe me one, and we'll leave it at that...?"

That sounded suspiciously simple, which could only mean danger.

'I don't like it, but we have to go along with it until we're certain she won't go spilling the truth. It won't be the end of the world if Britni finds out, but there's always a chance she could find out about me if she started snooping hard enough...'

Coye took Shayla's advice and nodded. "Sure. Let me know if you ever need a favor or anything."

"Dangerous position to put me in, squirt. I take favors veeeery seriously..."

She did, did she? Coye thought he could use that. A sudden idea came to mind, a potential path forward that might throw Tiph off her game in a way she would never expect. It was unconventional and maybe even a little stupid, but he acted on the impulse immediately.

"How about getting me to owe you another one, then?"

'What the fuck?! No!' Shayla bopped him on the head, which Coye ignored. 'She's already got you by one ball, don't fucking hand her the other one!'

Tiph was interested as well as perplexed. Just like he predicted, she wanted to know more. "You saying you wanna give me even more leverage over you than I already have? That's a first. Did you need something I can help you with, or what?"

"Yeah, actually. Do you know what nerverine is?"

"Duh," she raised her brow and cupped her chin. "That's a super powerful paralytic agent. What about it?"

"I usually keep a stock of it to use on my sword when I'm up against tough enemies. The problem is, I've been out for a couple of weeks now, and even if I had the ingredients, I'm no good at making it."

"That's hardly a surprise," Tiph scoffed. "Nerverine is an advanced alchemical mixture, and it takes a looooot of work just to make a bottle's worth of the stuff. There's no way you would know the first thing about-"

"I'm okay with chopping up the shocksticker roots and extracting the yellow juice out of them, but the part where you boil the bitteridge weeds and transfer the juice from the hot flask to the cold one always gets me. I always get it wrong, and the mixture turns into-"

"Gelatin?" Tiph's eyes were opened wider in a way that almost conveyed respect. "Huh. I had, like, noooo idea you knew the first thing about alchemy... guess I underestimated you, squirt." She looked like she didn't know what to do with this new information.

'Traitor,' Shayla sighed. 'You were one of them all along!'

"I wouldn't ever call myself an alchemist," Coye said to placate Shayla. "It's just that I fight using a lot of sword oils, little bombs, and basic potions when necessary. My dad taught me how to make pretty much everything I use, but I've never had a talent for it... I mostly buy whatever I'm out of instead of trying to make it myself, you know?"

"Sure," Tiph nodded but looked irritated. "But you need to know most of the shit you'll find in bigger stores is just mass-produced swill pissed out the dickholes of Imperalis or Mithimere. If you want anything worth the gold, you should always stick to local shops that make their own supply. Normally I'd recommend one for you, but nerverine is-"

"A controlled substance. Which is why I was going to ask if you'd be willing to make me some."

"Me?" Tiph chuckled as soon as she heard his idea. "I have the ingredients, but I don't see why that would be worth my time. Basilisk fangs and Parachimp spinal fluid aren't exactly the cheapest things to come by, you know. That, and it isn't the easiest recipe to follow..."

"Even for you?" Coye gave Tiph a cheeky smile that caught her unawares.

"Hah! You really are high as balls if you think you can taunt me into trying to prove my skills to you of all people, squirt."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he shrugged and looked away. "You're the one who said it wasn't easy. Seems like you're implying you might not have what it takes...?"

Tiph couldn't believe how full of it this little shit was getting. She'd always had a problem whenever men started acting cocky, and there was a time when she might've done something drastic about Coye's behavior. Even now, the temptation to put him in his place was hot on her mind, making it easier for Coye to lead Tiph around than he thought it would be.

She took the bait.

"You know what? Fuck it. You're coming with me to my lab, where I'm gonna mix you up the best fucking nerverine your twink ass has ever seen! I'll take that second favor while you're at it, but you better not turn me down. Whatever I ask for, you're gonna do it... or else."

"Sounds good. Any idea what you'll want from me?" Coye tried to ask him casually, but he was still somewhat nervous about giving Tiph that much power over him. It was a gambit to throw her off guard, one which Shayla was starting to see the merits of.

Tiph grinned wider, not even trying to keep hidden her malicious intentions. "Oh, I'll think of something... I always do. You ready to follow along, little guy?"

'You're playing a dangerous game here, baby. Duck back to the alley for a sec? Tell her you forgot something.'

"Give me just a second. I think I forgot something-" Coye did as instructed and raised his finger to Tiph before momentarily retreating. She was irritated that he'd make her wait for him but remained regardless.

Once Coye was alone, Shayla started talking to him and expressing her frustrations.

'First off, you didn't do too bad back there. I thought you were crazy when you brought up a second favor, but I understand now. You're already thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?'

"That Tiph will be a problem we need to solve soon?" Coye mumbled to his hat.

'Damn straight. You're using the favor as an excuse to try and scope her out, aren't you?'

"Pretty much, yeah. There might be something we can do to keep Tiph quiet if we get closer to her, you know?"

'How close are you thinking...?' Coye couldn't see it, but he could feel Shayla narrowing her eyes at him.

"Not that close," he laughed. "Unless...?"

'Very funny...' Shayla sighed and cradled her forehead in her palm. 'I sure hope it doesn't come to that, but...'

"You wouldn't want me to seduce Tiph to try and keep her quiet, would you?" Coye was joking and lost some composure after imagining what it would be like to try and actively hit on Tiph.

'No shit I wouldn't want it! You know I hate that bitch. But... ugh, much as it pains me to say... I'm keeping an open mind as far as our options go. Tiph knows about your addiction to my dust- that box has already been opened, and there's no shutting it. For today, let's just had to her lab like she wants, and we'll see how it goes. Sound good, baby?'

"Sure thing. I'll do my best."

'You better...' Shayla was deeply disturbed by the idea of Coye hooking up with Tiph, so she was hoping she didn't ever need to give him the go-ahead. From what little she knew about the adventuring alchemist, Tiph was a cold, manipulative bitch with few redeeming features. She didn't even know if Coye could seduce her. Even if he succeeded, that'd invite a different kind of trouble.

In the worst-case scenario, they could potentially get Tiph to keep quiet about Coye's addiction, but there would still be a freak-out when Britni discovered he hooked up with one of her best friends. Shayla would undoubtedly choose the seduction route if it came down to that. Better for Tiph to know and voluntarily keep his secret than for Britni to learn the truth and start trying to figure out where Coye's getting all his dust from. Britni was loud, violent, and a raging drunk- none of which suggested she was good at keeping secrets.

If Britni learned, Shayla figured the whole Guild might... meaning that scenario had to be prevented at any cost.

Tiph was looking impatient by the time he returned, but it was all good, and she soon led him down a few different streets and past several alleyways before they wound up in a lot sandwiched between several other buildings. This lot had been reclaimed by the Gnarled Woods, covered in overgrowth and powerful roots coming out of the ground, save for a small shed comparable in size to Coye's cabin, if not in coziness.

"Mind your step, squirt," Tiph led him around an outcropping of bramble and beyond a couple of frightening, blue-leaved bushes to make it to the front door.

"Have you tried clearing all this out?" Coye asked. "I could do some yard work if you wanted to use one of your favors on it."

"Nah. Whatever I ask for, it's not gonna be as simple as mowing my lawn. Liiiike, I tried to clean this place up a couple of times myself- even dumped chemicals into the soil to make it more unsuitable for plant life- but this stupid-ass town does whatever it wants, I swear. I can't even get a good ingredient garden growing, but weeds, ivy, bramble, creepy-ass-looking dead trees? No problem with any of that, apparently..."

"Gonna be honest, I didn't even know you had a lab," Coye admitted as they reached the front door.

"I've had better ones," Tiph shrugged, digging her hand into the designer purse she'd strapped to her back. "I had a really nice one back in Perlshaw, but this place suits me just fiiine... and even though I might bitch and moan about the yard, I like how quiet and out-of-the-way it is." She found what she was looking for, pulling out a brass key with a sky-blue crystal embedded at its end.

Slotting the key into the lock caused the crystal to glow, and Coye watched as several magic seals appeared, rotated, and made unlocking sounds. Each seal disappeared into glimmering particles once the key was removed, only for Tiph to open the door and smile at Coye.

"Come on in. Might as well make yourself at home, squirt."

Coye followed her and took in the sight of Tiph's humble abode. As small as it was, Tiph's lab made Eschal and Snyther's places look like child's play. There were bookshelves full of alchemical manuscripts, hundreds of jars of ingredients ranging from innocuous herbs to containers filled with eyeballs, and more strangely-shaped glassware than Coye had seen in his entire life. Multiple cauldrons littered the center of the floor, some of them empty while others boiled over a red-hot transmutation circle as they released multicolored gasses into the air. At the far end of the room was a massive alchemy table with dozens of transmutation circles carved onto its surface, allowing Tiph to work on multiple projects simultaneously or one enormous project involving many ingredients.

The only part of the room that wasn't covered in something to do with alchemy was a shabby-looking mattress in the left-hand corner. It didn't even have sheets- just a couple of pillows and an old blanket. There was also a door leading to a bathroom on the right hand of the shed, but otherwise, Tiph's lab was chaos given form. It was a wonder she could navigate all this clutter and not set everything on fire with her experiments.

Coye was impressed by what he saw, but Shayla was predictably less than enthused.

'This is the third fucking alchemist we've met in just as many weeks. How many more of these places are you gonna drag me to?'

While it wasn't intentional on his part, Coye did find it funny that they kept winding up around so many alchemists.

"Sorry, there's only one seat in the house," Tiph nudged him with her elbow and then pointed her finger at the mattress. "I work best when I'm on my feet and moving around, y'knooow? Chairs just slow me down."

"Makes sense," Coye lied and took his seat. "You, uh, sure you don't mind me hanging out on your bed...?"

She gave him a funny look and then snorted. "No? You don't have to be weird about it... it's just a bed. Not like I sleep here that often, anyway."

Coye started to blush. "I was just making sure!"

"Whatever you say," Tiph stripped herself of her lab coat, hanging it on a hook from the bathroom door. "I know it might be hard for you to look at me because of how jacked up on dust you are, but, liiiiike... I hope you don't mind if I get more comfortable..."

"Do whatever. This is your place..." Coye gulped and tried looking away, which proved challenging. Tiph's top was smaller and tighter than he even realized. Without the coat, it was almost like she was wearing a bra and nothing else. "But isn't it a bad idea to practice alchemy without any protection?"

"Whoa there, squirt. Are you getting a little ahead of yourself? It's a little too soon to worry about whether or not I've got protection." Tiph found great amusement in how Coye's cheeks brightened like a blazing fire in response. Somehow, he was proving more fun to tease than usual- it almost risked putting her in a good mood.

"Y-You know that's not what I meant...!"

"Uh-huh. Suuuuure. Whatever you say... anyway, I think I know what I'm doing, so why don't you just hang back and let me show you how it's done?" Tiph's hands found the safety goggles resting above her face, and she slid them down over her eyes with a wide smirk. Then, she fussed with her bangs until they looked just right. If nothing else, Tiph sure didn't look like any other alchemist Coye had seen.

He smiled at her confidence, saying, "Ready and waiting."

"Cool. This is gonna take me a bit, so before I get started, do you want, liiiiike, a drink or something...?"

'I think I know where this is going...' Shayla grimaced.

"I could use a drink, yeah," Coye admitted, thinking little of her offer.

On the floor beneath Tiph's alchemy table was a magically chilled chest full of snacks and drinks. She kicked it open, bent down, and rummaged through the contents before pulling out a small glass bottle that she soon tossed to Coye from across the room.

Coye caught it and inspected the drink, recognizing it as something he'd seen Tiph drinking often enough.

'Knew it. She's not even being subtle about trying to drug you!'

"Um, Tiph... isn't this...?"

"Mellowmilk? Why, yes, it is." Tiph giggled. "Don't tell me you've never done anything besides dust, have you?"

"Nope," Coye told the truth as he rotated the bottle and watched the pale pink liquid within slosh, stir, and sparkle.

"Wooooow. I don't think I can even express how unsurprising that is. You're just kind of lame like that, aren't you?"

"Maybe. More like I've never been interested in getting high until now. What does mellowmilk do?"

Tiph was surprised that Coye actually asked. "Uh, you know I was joking, riiiight? You can toss it back if you don't want it."

"Been trying a lot of new things lately," Coye popped open the bottle and inhaled its scent, finding it sweet like candy. "How do I know I don't like mellowmilk if I've never had it before?"

'Come the fuck on, Coye! You can't use that excuse on everything. There are some rabbit holes you shouldn't go down, dumbass.' Shayla was trying to be the voice of reason but found that difficult when she wanted to see what Coye was like when he got fucked up. She missed seeing him drunk off his ass, so this might be a good substitute. 'But, if you really want to...'

Shayla wasn't the only one amused at the prospect. Tiph couldn't restrain her interest, telling him, "Mellowmilk is great. It's super lightweight. All it does is make you really chilled out and happy. Oh, and things get waaaay funnier than they normally are."

"Sounds fun," Coye shrugged his shoulders and started drinking from the bottle without hesitation. He gulped it down in one go, appreciating the rich, sweet taste he found similar to milk and strawberries. As the liquid streamed down his throat, it tickled him from the inside and swirled, settling in his stomach with little tingling vibrations.

"Whoa. That was... uh... something?"

'And so our hero falls to even further depths of degeneracy,' Shayla sighed if only to mask the fact that she wanted this to happen.

"Pretty great, riiiight?" Tiph was busying herself now as she rifled through her seemingly disorganized cabinets and shelves, picking out every little thing she needed to make Coye's nerverine. "Lots of people call mellowmilk weak-ass baby shit, but if you know how to make it like I do, you can get pretty fucked up." There was pride in her statement- Tiph thought highly of her talents and would never shy away from that.

"Um... how fucked up are we talking?" Coye wondered only now after he drank the entire bottle.

"Again, not as fucked up as you already are. If you can handle Pixie Dust of all fucking things- especially at the amount you'd have to be taking to get your eyes all sparkly like that- then I guarantee you'll survive liiiike... ninety percent of the shit I get up to, maybe?"

"Yeah? Good to know. If I end up liking this, maybe I'll try something else sometime?"

"Not for free, you won't," Tiph looked over her shoulder and laughed. "The first taste is always free, but anything past that, and you've gotta pay up!" Coye only smiled back at her blankly, saying nothing. This annoyed her for whatever reason, and she distracted herself with her task. "Whatever... why did you even trust me, anyway? I'm, liiiike, always fucking with you. You straight up just chugged it without even knowing whether or not it was really mellowmilk."

"Why wouldn't I trust you?" Coye tilted his head.

"Because I'm me?"

'Reason enough on its own,' the biased Pixie agreed.

"Trust didn't have much to do with it. I just wanted to try it. Isn't that enough of a reason? Until recently, my whole life was just going through the motions... I barely even knew who I was. Maybe I like to get fucked up every now and then? I can't tell you right now, but I can in a couple of hours. Finding out will be fun."

Tiph finished gathering all the ingredients and put them on her preparation table. A sour look was sitting on her face. "All this just because of some glittery dust? Come on, you're not that stupid. You know this 'new you' isn't really 'you', right? It's just the drug talking. Saying that it's bringing out parts of you that were always there is just an excuse, and you know it. If drugs could really change you into a better person, then I'd be head of the fucking Luxist Church right about now..."

"I thought they were experimental psychotropics?"

"Don't get cute with me. You're missing the point. You can say you're a different person all you like, but take away the dust, and you'll just go back to how you used to be. Worse, probably. Gods, I can't even fucking imagine what kind of withdrawal you'll go through if you ever sober up..."

Shayla gulped and felt a bit guilty. She gripped his hair tight, saying nothing but reaffirming to the boy that she was never going away. Coye didn't need reassurance, however. He was more focused on the way Tiph was feeling. While not anywhere near as good a judge of character as Shayla, he thought she sounded sad.

"Forget about me. I'll be fine. I'm just wondering why you take so many drugs when it sounds like they don't even make you happy, Tiph?" Coye tilted his head. It was a genuine and honest question that only made it tick her off further.

"If I knew you were just gonna sit there and psychoanalyze me, I would've left your ass on the street..." Tiph laughed darkly. "Why don't you shut up now and let me do my thing, kaaaay?"

He didn't mean the question to come off the way it did, and seeing how he upset Tiph brought a frown to his face. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant to say..."

Tiph took one last look at his cute, pouting face. Though typically resistant to Coye's adorable charms, seeing a cute, distraught boy sitting on her bed stirred nostalgic memories that pained Tiph. Once an older sister, always an older sister, it seemed. She sighed and rolled her eyes, saying, "You're good, squirt. Just chill, alright? The mellowmilk should start kicking in pretty soon, soooo... have fun tripping your little fucking mind out over there while I get to work."

"Okay, that sounds... goooood...?" Coye blinked rapidly, the world around him blurring as his head grew fuzzy and heavy.

"Wait a second, I feel like I'm forgetting something..." Tiph smirked and pressed a finger to her bottom lip. "Oh yeah, that's riiiiight! Pixie Dust increases the user's sensitivity to certain substances- substances like mellowmilk. Silly me, how could that have slipped my mind?"

"What... are you talking a... bout...?" Slurring his words, his thoughts spiraled out of control. One second, Coye couldn't stop admiring how cute Tiph was, and the next, he was focused on how excellent mattresses were and how thankful he was to whoever invented them. What a genius they must've been- wait- was his tongue always this tongue-y? Weird.

'That fucking bitch!' Shayla was angry that Tiph pulled one over on him, but at least it was a simple prank, and she didn't even intend for him to drink the mellowmilk in the first place. 'Are you doing okay down there?'

Coye was currently preoccupied with inspecting his hand. Had it always been this far from his body, or could it be moved closer if he desired? Shit- he could make it closer! Shayla watched in amusement as he giggled, moving his hand back and forth in front of his face for no discernible reason.

Awesome. They were definitely going to get a lot of intel on Tiph while Coye was high, and Shayla was super glad they decided to come here. Oh, well. At least someone was having fun.

Tiph watched him for a couple moments with what looked to be a sincere smile of entertainment, but that didn't last long. She turned her attention to the preparation table, and with little else to do, Shayla started watching the alchemist work. It was surreal for her, as the Pixie always assumed if she ever saw an alchemist doing their routine, it would be from the ingredient's point of view.

More surprising was how the typically mean-spirited bully became lost in a world of skillful busywork. Gone was the giggling, manipulative, drug-addled bitch- replaced by an expert at their craft. Tiph prepared the many ingredients, her hands working the knives and scalpels with the skills of a legendary chef and an expert surgeon. She ground things down to paste, inserted needles to withdraw extracts, and cut open this and that. Every second she was doing something new with the massive pile of materials, her hands practically blurring as they moved between tasks. It was a wonder she could keep track of anything, but however she did it, it was working.

When she was done with the preparation, Tiph separated the ingredients into a large variety of flasks, beakers, and bottles before turning her attention to her alchemy table. She bounced between the different transmutation circles, tapping on them with her fingernail to activate them. One tap for hot, one for cold- each glowing red or blue to reflect their setting. After activation, she rotated a number of the circles to specify specific temperatures. It was a very high-end alchemy table, so Tiph didn't need to wait long before everything was at the temperature she desired.

The next step was taking all the glassware and putting them on the necessary transmutation circles for each ingredient. She didn't stop there, as some of the flasks required tubes that would transfer their contents into another container. Eventually, everything was rigged so that the resulting tincture would be delivered to one central flask. Shayla assumed this meant everything was automated from this point, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

Tiph had to micromanage hundreds of little things as she watched over the ingredients. One flask started bubbling, so Tiph took a dash of salt from a tray and sprinkled it in, stopping the reaction. Another was changing color, so she stirred it with a red and silver mixing spoon she kept in her bra. The spoon must've been magic- whenever Tiph took it out of the liquid, it was never wet. Shayla correctly deduced this had something to do with ensuring there was no cross-contamination between the ingredients and found herself impressed by yet another example of Tiph's relentless cunning.

Eventually, there were periods spanning a couple minutes where nothing needed to be done. Tiph would set a short timer and stretch out during these moments before inevitably checking in on Coye and seeing what he was up to. He proved a constant source of amusement, and she often laughed at him, but these were different from her typical laughter. These seemed honest soft- and not spiteful in the slightest.

Coye seemed entirely unaware that he was being watched, proving just how high he was if his well-trained senses were as dulled as they were. He did notice Tiph's gaze once, though. When he did, Coye waved rather cutely at her and smiled like a puppy dog who had fallen asleep and then became happy to see their owner still in the same room as them. Tiph blushed when it happened, but she soon smiled and even waved back at him.

Shayla took particular notice of her interactions with Coye to hopefully get a better read on Tiph. Even now, Shayla wasn't convinced there was much more to the girl than being a snide cunt. So what if Tiph maybe had a soft side and wasn't always as mean as she could be. Was that really something worth praising? None of what she saw endeared the alchemist to the defensive Pixie, but it did give hope to their backup plan.

It probably wouldn't be easy, but Shayla figured Coye could win her over if he absolutely had to... maybe.

A couple hours had passed, and Coye had taken off his hat, setting Shayla on the floor before laying down on the mattress flat on his back. The boy was melting into it and had been for a while. He was occasionally drooling, laughing on and off about something only he understood while Tiph worked until it was done. Everything was finished- she just had to wait a little bit for the nerverine to cool before she could bottle it.

Tiph walked over to the boy and looked down on him from above, her face strangely blank.

Coye reminded her of all the others she'd reduced to similar states. Before her sudden career change, Tiph lived the empty life of a thriving street alchemist. She had it all- tons of gold, a big house with a lab, endless parties, people who she'd convinced herself were her friends... that sort of life had its charms for a time, but it also put her in the same circle as many unscrupulous sorts of men.

Killers, rapists, addicts... these types were always on the periphery of her vision. How many of them had she broken during her years as a dealer? Tiph was well known for it, and many party girls would ask her to help plot revenge on men who had wronged them. Tiph never touched a single one of them- she never had to. Men would do almost anything if you used the right tone of voice and implied this or that.

Coye obviously wasn't someone who would've been one of her marks, but seeing him helpless on her bed while drugged out of his mind nearly gave her an itch to scratch. Sometimes Tiph missed it- destroying a piece of scum and dissolving every shred of his confidence. There were few ways to enjoy a night so much as destroying someone who deserved it so hard that they'd never recover.

She and Britni always had that in common, making it no wonder they became fast friends.

Tiph sighed and shook her head, reminding herself she wasn't that girl anymore. Punishing others never satisfied her for long. Even if she randomly decided to take up old habits and shatter Coye, her heart would feel as empty as it always did once the thrill wore off.

Even so, maybe a little teasing wouldn't be so bad..? Not enough to break him, of course. Just enough to get some answers and stir some shit. Yeah, that sounded fun. Life was dull without a lab fire or a miscalculation every now and again, wasn't it?

"Everything's almost done, squirt. Mind if I chill for a bit?"

"Oh, hey..." Coye's eyes widened when he realized he was no longer alone. He looked up at Tiph in surprise, gulping at the vision of her boots, thick thighs covered in purple shredded fishnet stockings, and tight black skirt. Coye was disappointed he couldn't view her panties from here, but everything he could see made the stoned adventurer deeply excited. "Yeah. I'd love it if you sat with me. That would be, like, sooo great...!"

'Gods damn it. Now he's even talking like her!' Shayla groaned, already catching a whiff of trouble from the scantily clad alchemist.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest?" Tiph giggled and made use of the prime opportunity to tease him. She suggested that he scoot over, and instead of sitting next to him, Tiph laid by his side, propping up her head with her hand and elbow.

The way he stared at her was even less subtle now that she was up close and personal, somehow. Coye blushed as his sparkling yet glazed-over eyes danced around her from point to point. One moment the boy admired her beautiful makeup and her long, droopy eyelashes, and the next, he'd started fawning over her pouty purple lips. All of this was fine with Tiph. If anything, she almost found it flattering the way he was so blatantly honest about his desires the way that a child would be. That, and the more Coye adored her, the easier he'd be to mess with.

"Hey, so... I have a question I've been, liiike, meaning to ask you for a while..." Tiph reached forward, pressing her fingertip against his shoulder and running it down his arm. "I'm kind of curious, you know? What do you really think about Britni? Like, really think about her?"

Shayla's alarm bells were ringing, but she didn't want to talk to Coye too much and risk him accidentally answering her in front of Tiph. She resigned to watching quietly but reserved the option to use magic and create a distraction if she didn't like where things were headed.

At first, Coye only blinked rapidly. "What? Uh... why are you asking about Britni?"

"Why not? I just looooove hearing little bits of gossip. That, and after your little performance the other day, you've, like, totally got my interest. Seemed like you liked her an awful lot back then, didn't you?"

"I was just horny," Coye freely admitted on account of being high. "I don't know enough about Britni to know if I want to add her to my harem or whatever."

"Your harem?" Tiph snorted. "Is that, like, something you're actually trying to do, or...?"

"I think so? I keep falling in love with new girls, and Eschal said I'm only gonna get worse from here, so this is just who I am now...." Coye was laughing at how his situation sounded, but his candidness didn't stop there. "I want more! More falling in love... more sex... more everything? Yeah. Everything!"

Shayla was amazed that all it took to make the boy honest and drop all his pretenses was a little pink bottle of drugs, whereas Tiph was trying hard not to burst out in explosive laughter.

"Okaaaaay...? Well, I'm not talking about adding Britni to your collection like she's some kind of winnable prize. I just want to know what you think about her. You know, like, in a general sense?"

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry. My mind is like... over here and over there simultaneously, you know? It's so weird!"

Tiph impatiently put her fingers in front of his face and snapped them. "Focus!" she said sternly. "Tell me about Britni."

"Right, Britni. Yeah. Um, she's pretty. Really pretty! Sometimes I wonder how she got so pretty, cause it's just that crazy... but... she's also really mean sometimes. Is it weird that when she's mean, I feel like there's a lot more to it, though? It always feels like she's... not faking it, but... like she isn't being honest with me? She's never even done anything that bad. I had way worse bullying when I was a kid- it's just... I don't know. If I had to sum up how I thought about her, it would be neutral, leaning towards positive. If we're talking about the way she, um, interests me, then..."

"Oh my gods, is sex all you think about?" Tiph continued to ask with amusement.

"A lot of the time, yeah. Usually, I try and make it sound better than it actually is, but it never really works, and everyone just calls me a pervert..." Coye was dejected to admit this, but in a way, it was also liberating to work past his anxieties and just freely tell someone that he wanted more girlfriends and more sex than he was already getting.

Tiph didn't know what to make of any of this. He was rambling, going on about all sorts of things. It was entertaining enough, but his thoughts on Britni were relatively generic and were about what she expected. How boring.

To really stir some trouble, Tiph needed something more substantial to work with. As she began devising a way to mess with Coye, a wave of guilt crept over her, and Tiph forced herself to remember that Britni was her friend. She shouldn't be doing any of this. For whatever reason, that chick was obsessed with this little guy.

Yet...

More than once, Tiph thought it would be best for everyone involved if someone convinced Coye to stop engaging with Britni and responding to her taunts. The girl's obsession brought down everyone around her. Coco was neglected and lonely, Marlie always had stress headaches, and Tiph got tired of how Britni bitched and moaned about him without ever doing anything about it.

It wasn't Coye's fault, he was just some kid who didn't know what Britni's deal was. Maybe if she led him in the right direction, things would solve themselves? It was worth a shot.

"Wanna know what I think?" Tiph leaned in closer, almost making the boy think she was going to kiss him, but instead, she only continued to speak. "I think you shouldn't take Britni's shit anymore. She's only going to get worse, you know? If you don't start standing up to her and telling her to fuck off, then sooner or later, she'll be a huge problem for you. Fuck, she'll never leave you alone. Not until she gets what she wants."

"And what does Britni want from me?" Coye missed all the gaslighting and beamed at the possibility of making Britni happy. "If there's anything I can do for her-"

Tiph fought the urge to cradle her forehead. Shayla was weaker and was already doing so. This was getting frustrating, and Tiph decided she didn't want to keep up the flirty angle. She sat up and reclined against the wall, pulling her arms and grumbling.

"There's nothing you can do for her, and she can't get that through her dumb fucking skull! Gods, I love that girl, but she is so fucking thick..."

"I like thick girls..."

"Of course you do," Tiph rolled her eyes. "She wants you to be a big old manly man like all the brainless Vikings she grew up with. It's been, liiiike, a year since she started trying to shape you, and there hasn't been a lick of progress. Worse, you seem to be heading in the exact opposite direction all of a sudden! She's gonna get sooooo pissed soon, and it'll make everyone around her miserable. You, me, Marlie, Coco-"

"I like Coco, even if she isn't thick..." Coye felt the need to point out.

"Cool," Tiph waved him off and didn't think much about his admission. "The point is, you've never seen Britni get desperate. Not really. Hell- you've never seen her angry. I have, and I never want to again... so trust me when I say why you should just get it out of the way and tell her you aren't interested, you know? It would totally save everyone some time, and then maybe she could get on with her stupid life already..."

Shayla was at a total loss. She didn't know Britni as well as Tiph, but it felt like following Tiph's advice would only make Britni angry even faster. She didn't understand if this was really in Britni's best interest or if Tiph just wanted to shove her nose somewhere it didn't belong. If that were the case, Tiph would have to be a shitty friend to try and manipulate Britni's crush into not giving her the time of day. But then again, Tiph did know Britni on a personal level. What was that girl capable of when she was mad- truly mad? Shayla shuddered to think.

After processing the information for several moments with his drugged-up brain, Coye finally said, "I wouldn't know the first thing about giving Britni what she wants, but, um... this sounds really bad. Sad, too. I hope she finds a way to be happy someday. If Britni really is as confused as you say she is, then I'm really, really worried for-"

"Oh, come on... What the fuck do you care about Britni?" Tiph scoffed, her words more visceral and toxic than she anticipated. "You don't have to act so fake about it."

"Fake?"

"I mean, you're obviously pretending you give a shit. Otherwise-"

"But I'm not," Coye frowned. "Really. That reminds me, though. A couple of people I know told me you're fake, but I don't really see it. What is that supposed to mean?"

Tiph started stress-blinking as she looked at him. She couldn't believe he had just said that, and neither could Shayla. The Pixie was worried things were about to turn nasty because of his stupid comment, but Coye quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry if I'm saying stupid things. I don't mean to. My head just feels... soooo heavy right now that it's hard to think..."

"Fake, huh?" Tiph ruminated on the word, trying to sound composed. She'd been called much worse, but 'fake' irritated her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. "No idea who told you that, but it doesn't mean a thing. I might be fake, but so are you. Everyone is fake- some of us are just faker than others. People like us... we have less substance, you know? The black abysses us fake bitches have for hearts are harder to cover up, so we make do with what we have and lie to get by."

The central flask on Tiph's alchemy table was cooled now, as evident by the ringing of a magical timer contraption she'd set as an alarm. Good timing, too. She was still annoyed over the whole 'fake' comment. Who even told Coye that? Obviously, Byng was one of them, but he said there was more than one person who'd said it...

"There's your stupid oil, squirt. Give me a minute." As she walked over to the table, Tiph's hand was trembling until she forced it to curl into a tight fist. She took a deep breath and glanced over her shoulder, doing her best not to scowl at the boy.

Coye might not have done much to deserve it, but the temptation to break him was rising. Tiph had done worse on a whim before, and she could do it again. Coye was lucky Britni had that stupid crush on him- it was the only thing protecting him right now.

This was stupid. Tiph thought it would be funny to bring Coye to her lab, tease him a little, maybe get him high, but all it did was make him even more cute, innocent, and cuddly- infuriatingly so. Even when he was drugged up, he was still so wholesome. Tiph hated him for that. It was like he held up a mirror and forced her to look at herself, and what she saw was disgusting.

Tiph didn't know that there was a third party in the room who could feel all of the intense negative emotions her heart was pointing at Coye like a dagger. Shayla didn't have any problem picking up on these. Not even her drug-addled mind could obscure these intense emanations.

The hostility, the anger, the self-hatred...

This was who Tiph was, Shayla realized. If she wasn't already convinced this young woman would be a thorn in their side, she was now. Something needed to be done about her at any cost.

Would it even be possible for Coye to break through to Tiph? Shayla doubted it. Then again, he was getting trickier and more full of surprises by the day, and anything could happen.

Tiph took the completed elixir and poured it into five glass bottles, sealing them up properly and pocketing them in a small pouch. After another deep breath, she summoned her fake smile and calmed herself. This was almost over, and she wouldn't have to think about it much longer. All Tiph had to do was give him his shit and kick him out. Then, she could be alone and drown her frustrations in whatever substance suited her mood best.

This wasn't all for nothing, either. At least she earned two favors from the boy. The thought of cashing those in returned a measure of intrigue to Tiph's fake smile, allowing her to turn and face him with sincerity.

"Alright, that does it. There was enough nerverine for five bottles, so it should last a pretty long time. It's not like you waste these on any old monster, right?"

"Right. Thank you so much, Tiph! For everything! The nerverine, the mellowmilk, laying down next to me... hanging out with you was fun!"

Coye was still high as all get out, but the boy managed to pull himself upright and reached for his hat. Shayla clung to its ceiling and curled up so she wouldn't be seen as he clumsily sat it atop his head. Then, he got on two feet and made an ass out of himself. His stride was awkward as if his legs wanted to go in different directions.

It took him a moment, but he approached Tiph and pocketed the bag of potions.

Watching Coye stumble around improved Tiph's mood a little, but she was still finished entertaining him for today. "I just remembered I have some other shit to take care of, so do you, liiiike, thank you can make it back to your place? I can give you something to sober you up if I have to, I guess..."

"I think I can manage," Coye grinned vapidly. "I don't want this to end yet...!"

'This is gonna be a long walk home...' Shayla muttered in annoyance.

"If you say so," Tiph was skeptical, but she wouldn't let that ruin his good time. Picturing him walking home as he was made her smile. Unfortunately for Tiph, Coye had plans to unintentionally ruin her mood even further. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, could you just like-"

Coye took a step forward and closed the distance between them. With a disoriented mind, he made the strange decision to wrap his arms around Tiph's waist and pulled her closer to him, giving her a wholesome hug. His face might've ended up between her chest, but that wasn't his goal.

Mumbling between her cleavage, Coye said, "I know I already said it, but thank you for everything, Tiph! There's no way you're as mean as everyone thinks you are. You're so nice!"

'What in the name of fuck do you think you're-' Shayla was shocked to see his sudden show of affection, but her reaction took a backseat to Tiph's.

The Pixie watched as the alchemist's eyes widened in utter confusion. Her face burned as Tiph opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Hands trembling and shoulders shaking, Tiph searched herself for the appropriate response.

What was he doing, and why was he doing it? What the fuck even was any of this? She should be angry, shouldn't she? Why did Tiph have so many questions, for that matter? Nothing made sense.

"W-What... the fuck d-do you think you're doing to me, you... you little creep?!"

"Hugging you?" Coye said with innocence.

"Damn it, stop acting so wholesome! I can't take this stupid shit- I know you're hugging me, dumbass, but... why?!"

"Because a minute ago, when you were bottling the nerverine, it felt like you were really sad, angry, and stressed all of a sudden..."

Shayla's surprise rose to meet Tiph's, and it only got worse the more he spoke.

"I don't know how it happened, but... for a moment, I felt like I could understand what your heart was saying. Does that make sense? Because when I heard it, all I could think was that you needed a hug really bad..."

"...How fucking high are you? Holy shit."

It might've been the drugs, but Shayla thought it sounded like he was picking up on Tiph's surface-level emotions like she always did. That wasn't even the most interesting thing about the situation, however. Shayla had to hand it to what she was sensing from Tiph.

The more intense her feelings got, the less the drugs could mask them. While still ruled by anger and irritation, all sorts of curious things were staring beneath her negativity. Beyond the intense self-hatred, fear, doubt... Shayla sensed satisfaction and a general feeling of safety, ease, and comfort.

Tiph was content- maybe even happy- and that terrified her.

She wiggled out of the hug, violently pushing him away on pure impulse. "Don't you dare touch me again, y-you perv! You're full of shit, you know that? I can tell! There's no way you're as innocent as you want everyone to think. The first chance you get, you try shoving your face in my tits like a total perv! Men are all the same, even you... fuck, maybe I should just fucking tell Britni about your little Pixie problem?"

'Fucking damn you, you adorable idiot!' Shayla always knew his wholesome innocence would get Coye into trouble eventually, but she wished it wasn't now of all times.

"Wait, no!" Coye pleaded. "I didn't mean it to come off creepy, really! I just... Tiph, you really needed a hug!"

"You don't know a thing about me- I don't need shit!" Tiph scoffed, raising her voice as she stepped past him and opened the door to her shed. She was trying to keep calm, but even after closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she was still furious at Coye.

"Look- just... fuck off for today, okay? I'm gonna try and pretend none of this ever happened, and the next time we see each other, so are you. Do that, and I'll keep my mouth shut. Got it?"

"I... yeah, I got it. But are things really gonna be alright? I don't want to leave if you're not doing okay."

Tiph tried containing her bitterness but rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah," she scoffed. "I'm just fine. Not upset at all, I promise."

Even while high, Coye knew that was a lie, but he was starting to understand that he wasn't wanted. "Okay. Bye, Tiph..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever-" she pushed him as he turned around, slamming the door behind him and locking it from the inside.

Coye stood at her doorway in complete bewilderment over what had happened. He didn't understand any of it. The boy would've bet his life on Tiph needing that hug- he was absolutely sure.

"Did I make a mistake?" Coye wondered aloud.

'Yes, baby. A fucking shit load of them, but who's counting? Oh, wait. Me...' Shayla let out a deep sigh. 'Come on, you. Let's try and get you home. Once you're sober, I'll run you through every last dumbass thing you did. Sound fun?'

Trying to stay positive, the stoned boy managed a meager smile. "Everything's fun with you, Shayla...!"

The Pixie rolled her eyes and watched as Coye stumbled out of the overgrown lot, nearly falling over with every step. Forget about killing Pillastions- making sure Coye returned safely was today's real quest.

Back inside Tiph's lab, it wasn't just the cauldrons that were boiling.

Tiph was cleaning all of her equipment, anger at an all-time high. How fucking dare he get off like that, telling her she needed a hug? He didn't know what was best for her. He was just a stupid ass kid.

Even if it might've felt nice for a second or two, so what? That was beside the point.

Coye was looking down at her, she reckoned. Worse- he thought he was better than her- but Tiph knew the truth. He was just as miserable as she was, or he never would've started taking Pixie Dust. She smiled at the thought of what Britni might do if she learned that little tidbit of information, but... Tiph preferred doing her own dirty work.

Screw Britni's crush on Coye. Everyone would be much better off if she just gave up on him, and maybe all it would take was-

"Rrgh!" Tiph threw one of her flasks into the wall, where it shattered and fell to pieces.

Destroying Coye wasn't the answer. She'd already blown her first chance at a new life, and Tiph refused to ruin her second. She wasn't happy with where she was, and perhaps never would be, but she had friends. Real ones. Britni, Coco, and even Marlie were there for her when she needed it, which was more than she could ever say about her family or all of her 'friends' back on the streets of Perlshaw.

Relapsing now would only confirm once and for all that Tiphanie Biledrop was nothing but a toxic, irredeemable bitch, and Tiph would rather die than give that man the satisfaction of being proven right.

The troubled alchemist closed her eyes and pictured Britni. The way she smiled, the laughs they'd shared, that precious moment when she suggested Tiph leave her unfulfilling life behind her and join her side as an adventurer. Tiph knew she didn't deserve Britni, just like she didn't deserve that hug.

That fucking hug...

Angrily kicking a bottle of booze away from her feet, she closed all the blinds and sat down on her shitty mattress. Ruminating in a fugue of hated sobriety, Tiph pulled a joint from her bra. She placed it against the bracelet she wore on her right hand, activating a weak transmutation circle upon its surface to light up the steezweed.

"Shouldn't have fucking bothered," fighting off the first couple of tears, Tiph took in the first bitter drag and exhaled through her nose. Looks like she'd be sleeping at the shed tonight. There was no way she'd let her friends see her like this.

That stupid fucking hug... just why did it have to go and feel so damn good?