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“Hey Etho, I need your help over here,” Grian baits.
Gem senses the mischief about to occur. She turns her head back, staring Grian down. He shoots an expression that says shut up, which Gem responds to with a shake of her head. She almost feels bad.
But it’s Grian. And he’s pranking Etho.
She lets it slide.
“Yeah? What do you need?”
Grian points up to the stone shelf above them. “Love potion. I can’t trust Skizz to get it.”
“HEY!” The group, as per usual, laughs at his expense.
“So you want me to get it?”
Grian nods. Gem opens her mouth, attempting to stop Etho, but Grian cuts her off. “It’s a little heavy so”— He flings Etho up to the shelf, and Etho grabs it without second thought.
His body locks up before he meets eyes with Gem. “GeminiTay looks so whole—”
“NOOOOO!” comes the guttural scream of a man who feels betrayed.
“I KNEW IT! You just wanted Etho to fall in love with you!” Gem shouts, laughter cutting through her voice.
Etho drops the potion in the cart, the action earning a loud clang, and shakes himself out of the haze. He blinks a few times, eyes still a little wide.
“Is Etho joining the Gem fanclub?” Impulse teases, plopping a pocket watch in the cart.
“It’s perfect, you know,” Gem adds. She will return to reprimand Grian momentarily, but first she must relish in the fact that the potion chose her, though there is no real weight to Etho’s words, under the influence of a love potion. “I’m an Ethogirl, he’s a Gemboy.” It’s funny.
Even more funny, the way his face reddens. An abnormality with Etho. “No— no— it forced me to say that.”
“Mhm!” Gem grins, though turns away for a moment, going to grab more items from a cabinet below her. While the teasing is fun, the huntsman could turn the corner any second. They must get back to work.
“Yes. What I meant to say was you look homely.”
“HOMELY?!” She whips around, flashing a glare. Etho deserves it for such slander. “You’re calling me ugly?!”
Gem grabs the cart, pushing it through the set of large wooden doors. She tunes out Etho’s defense of himself, along with Impulse and Grian’s discussion of the definition of homely. After a couple minutes, the group refocuses on their job with no more love potion talk as they finish their work at Swiftbroom Academy.
~ ~ ~
“Pst— Skizz,” Grian whispers, beckoning him over from the couch to the small kitchen.
“What’s up?” Skizz jumps to his feet and scurries over.
From behind his back, Grian pulls out the love potion, dangling it in front of Skizz’s face. It pulses bright pink and hums softly. “Skizzleman is the coolest dude.” Grian sets it on the table, grin split out across his face. “You thinking what I’m thinking, dude?”
“Did you take that?” Skizz asks, his jaw stuck open, eyes wide.
“Yep. And I’m thinking we can pour a bit of this into a drink and trick someone. Eh?”
Skizz nods readily. The two stay quiet — aside from their aggressive shushings to each other — careful not to stir the rest of the house. Skizz pours the pink bubbling love potion into a cup of black coffee as Grian whisks the mixture. Coffee sloshes out of the mug, spilling out onto the wooden counter top. The two are a giggling mess as the potion tries to take hold of them.
“Did you pour all of it?”
Skizz nods.
“Skizz, we could have saved some!”
“We’ll probably find some more at another Hogwarts!”
Grian leans forward, whispering “Well there’s no use arguing over it since you’ve used it all up!”
Skizz takes the responsibility of cleaning up their mess. A couple minutes later, there is no evidence of their prank. Grian continues fixing coffees as Skizz fries bacon and eggs. Soon enough Gem, Impulse, and Etho are all blearily awake, Etho dragging more than the rest.
Grian steps around the kitchen island to the dining room table. “Since we’re at such a high level, I was thinking we try for just a couple stops today.” He sets the plates of food and coffees as everyone sits down. “Patience now,” he reminds himself as he watches Etho go to pick a seat. He keeps his lips firmly straight, forces any glint out of his eyes as he places down the mug. He gives it a last look, searching for any discoloration. The slightly sickening sweet scent was a larger giveaway than its color.
“We’re looking at another abandoned house, four extraction points. Or maybe the stronghold,” Impulse brings up. After a bit of coffee, he seems more himself, ready to get started on their day.
Gem and Etho are dragging by comparison, so Impulse’s suggestions are more directed at Grian and Skizz. The two share a look, steeling their best poker face. Skizz is far more trained than Grian in this regard. “I think the house might be best,” Grian mentions. More traditional a map. Easier to stick together and watch antics of... depending on how long this potion lasts… since the entire potion was used, Skizz!
“Ok. Sounds good. We’ll do that first.”
Grian tries to keep his gaze pointed away from Etho, not watching him at every sip of coffee he takes. Nothing’s changed yet. Still normal, quiet Etho. He looks over at Skizz anxiously, heart beating wildly as if he had been the one to drink the potion. Granted, that could be the effects of the coffee. Caffeine and Grian do not mix.
Skizz, Impulse, and Gem carry on most of the conversation, Grian knowing he will blurt out what he’s done if he says a word.
He notes a subtle change.
It’s small. It’s not in word, but by mere attention, that Etho has intently begun watching Gem, specifically Gem. It looks like a cat got the tongue sort of situation. Does Etho notice a difference? Is he able to fight off the potion’s control?
Eventually Gem takes notice of Etho, though not in the way he wants. “Would you stop staring? It’s really weird, dude.”
Etho opens his mouth as if to say something. Closes it. Looks away. Down at his plate.
Grian and Skizz share a look and snicker. Which further brings the issue to light.
“What?” Impulse asks, the first to put two and two together. “You didn’t.”
It’s really funny too, watching Etho look like a lovesick puppy. Poor thing, really. Grian bursts out in full laughter. The truth is out. It doesn’t matter.
“What did you do!” Gem yells, clearly knowing full well what they did.
And below all the screaming, Etho mumbles, “She’s so cute when she’s angry.”
~ ~ ~
Skizz is on truck-load duty. It’s a lengthy drive, which means he’s packing more than the cart and indestructible drone. There’s the lunches. The blankets and pillows they use to make the truck body more comfortable. Etho works alongside Skizz. Since the potion prank, Etho has been on Gem’s back — metaphorically of course, though the mental image does make Skizz giggle — which is why she’s so kindly requested that he help Skizz load up for a moment.
It’s almost unnerving how each and every conversation manages to roll back to Gem. It would be unnerving, if it weren’t so amusing.
“Can you fix sandwiches?” Skizz asks.
Etho nods, grabbing out all sorts of sandwich fixings, quietly asking, “What do you think is Gem’s favorite sandwich?”
Skizz barely manages to suppress a chuckle. “I don’t know, dude. You’ll have to ask her.”
From the living room, Gem shouts, “Skizz!”
He doesn’t try hiding his laughter then.
Before long, they’re on the road. Gem begs for shotgun as Impulse drives. It doesn’t go beyond Skizz or Grianthat Etho deflates a little.
And by a little…
It’s actually a lot more than a little. He’s quiet, but not in that Etho-typical quiet. It’s more a disappointed quiet — which, unusual for Etho. Maybe not for the rest of them, who are known to have a healthy — or in some cases, Grian, unhealthy — amounts of sulking.
“What’s up homie buddy?” Grian asks.
Etho looks up at Grian, then to Skizz sadly. “Gem doesn’t like me, does she?”
The two share a look. They for sure didn’t expect it to get this serious. Just Etho blurting out words of needless, unwarranted affection. Very out of character for him.
The existential crisis was not on Skizz’s list. “If you want my advice, I’d say you should take it slow. Gem doesn’t hate you. But maybe it’s just a little—”
“…much?” Grian finishes for him. He glances at Skizz, a slight glint in his eyes. “But you should still go for it.”
Etho smile reaches his eyes slightly. Better spirits. Grian pulls Skizz into leading a crash course on “How to have rizz, taught by Skizz.” The two have a little too much fun with it, and Etho hangs onto every word.
It’s not long before their two hour drive is up, and they’re ready to explore the house.
“Four extractions!” Gem announces, already pushing open the rickety old door to the hallway ahead.
Before they split off, Skizz and Grian nod at Etho, unfairly encouraging him. Gem’s already a few rooms down when Etho calls for her to wait up.
Impulse narrows his eyes at the two of them and shakes his head.
~ ~ ~
“Wait up, Gem!”
Goodness gracious. Gem sighs. It’s going to be exactly like babysitting. Not that she’s ever babysat before, but that’s what watching over her friends feels like, in her unexperienced opinion.
“We’re hunting down all the extraction points,” Gem tells him. Etho nods, doesn’t say much, follows diligently. It’s wouldn’t bother her so much if not for all the staring. The almost-hovering. Without the rest of the crew surrounding them, the two go quiet.
Gem doesn’t want to attract monsters, and Etho’s never been one for many words.
They walk on, footsteps creaking the floorboards below them. Pushing doors open, marking each room on the map.
“I hope we don’t get the huntsman again,” Etho says, and it seems more like small talk to fill that long lasting silence.
“He’s not too bad. More when there’s multiple trapping you all at once.” Yet she still falls for it, answering the statement with her own. She continues moving, ignoring the feeling of him watching her every move. So blatantly obvious, when she’s the only one his attention is focused on— and not in a normal Etho way. It doesn’t even feel like him, which is the problem, really.
Gem glances down at her map, then back up. “I think there should be an extraction here. Based on how the rooms branch off.” She pushes open the door to her right, and lo and behold.
“Wow you’re smart,” he breaths. The comment isn’t laced in some tease or criticism. Not some backhanded compliment, which is more Etho’s style. He bounces well off of Gem, for all her nitpicking ribbing.
Instead, she’s only left saying, “Thanks… I guess?”
“—No, I mean it—” he insists.
And she’s not sure what to make of it, so she just drops it. It doesn’t feel right, and there’s no way to change the fact that he’s been potioned. At least Gem played no part in it. This wasn’t her trying to force matchmake. Just a silly prank that’s gone on for way too long.
They go a little further, marking out the different types of rooms — the library, the living room, the kitchen, the uncomfortably tight hallways — and leaving dotted markings for anything of value.
A child laughs. “Slenderman,” Gem whispers, ducking her head down. She grips Etho’s hand, dragging him out of the room before he accidentally catches sight.
They stay still for a moment, keeping an ear out for the monster. The laughter gets quieter, and the two slowly look up. Gem looks back at Etho, noting a mildly fearful expression.
Wordlessly, they agree to keep the rest of their trip slow and steady. There’s a few more cases of shuffling around to loose line of sight towards any monsters. Gem can’t help but flinch any time either of them cause a squeak in the old floor boards.
After a handful of minutes they find the furthest extraction point. “I’m going to wait here, so we can open this point once they get done with the first one,” Gem instructs. “If you could go find everyone, and let them know what we’ve seen?”
Etho nods and runs off, with a bounce in his step.
Gem sighs in relief.
~ ~ ~
Buh-bum-bum-ba-buh-ba-buh
Ba-ba-buh-ba-bum
Grian’s pushing the cart as per usual, unashamedly starting the ever-looping tune of Mr Sandman. Impulse guides the crew through each room as he and Skizz determine whether they bring large items back to extraction or attempt a balancing act in the cart. Finally they’re in a rhythm four rooms in.
They are mid-discussion of how to move a grandfather when Etho skids in.
“We’ve found all the extraction points.”
“Good work, Etho!” Skizz affirms.
Impulse shoots a beam at the clock. It’s incredibly heavy. “Drive Gem nuts yet?” He lets go of the grandfather clock, turning to grin at Etho.
There’s some wistful look in his eyes, as they seem to grow two sizes. Safe to say, the potion has not worn off in the slightest.
“We could use some help with this clock, if you don’t mind,” Impulse says, breaking Etho’s trance-like state. He shakes his head, flinging off any lingering disorienting thoughts, then gets right on it.
“Lemme place my drones real quick.” Grian steps around them, putting the drones on the rounded top of the clock, and the two corners of the bottom. Once they latch firmly, Grian takes a few steps back, confirming they’re in the right location.
Etho, Skizz, and Grain move the clock to extraction as Impulse pushes the cart in beside it. Their first extraction’s quota is met, its alarms blaring a little loud for Impulse’s taste.
Hardly a second after the money is cashed, Gem opens the new one. As they follow the path on the map, Etho fills them in on all the monsters he’s run into.
Halfway to the final point, Grian and Skizz get distracted moving another large object. They land it at an earlier point Etho guides them too. Following that large object, Skizz and Grian run ahead, leaving Impulse slowly pushing the cart.
Etho lingers back with Impulse, the two going in and out of small bedrooms, dropping low-value items into the cart. Etho drags a little, sluggish as he beams a stack of money in. He misses the cart, the money scattering along the floor.
“You ok, buddy?” Impulse asks. Knowing Etho’s state, he’ll probably mention Gem.
It surprises Impulse slightly when Etho turns towards him, blinking out of his daze to answer, “Yeah. ‘m fine.” He scoops back up the money. This time it lands in the cart.
“Good. Glad you’re all here.”
Once they find G and Skizz again, they actively head towards Gem. Her extraction point is almost filled, but there’s enough room to squeeze the cart in. Now at a stopping point, Impulse pulls Grian and Skizz aside.
“It was funny the first couple minutes, guys,” he warns.
Grian is quick to shift the blame. “Yeah. Get upset at Skizz. He was the one who poured the whole potion in!”
“The whole potion!” Impulse yells. Skizz looks about to defend himself, but Impulse cuts him off. “Dude, it’s already bad enough when we’re holding the bottle. What were you thinking? He’s acting drugged.”
“I didn’t know it was gonna do that!”
“We’re just lucky he hasn’t gotten trapped with too many mobs yet.”
When they group up again, it doesn’t take any time to notice how Gem sags in her walk, eyes dulled and dead, ready to throw in the towel. Impulse coaxes Etho to follow him to continue filling the cart. This brings Gem to a sigh of relief.
Hopefully things will get better soon…
But the whole potion? Really, guys?
~ ~ ~
Gem has tried every rule in the book to get away from Etho.
He won’t leave! Impulse has kept him out of the way for quite some time, but Etho always comes flocking back!
Eventually Gem resigns to her fate, takes Etho by the hand, and leads him through the last rooms. They’ve all split up again, because Skizz is endlessly annoying with all his yapping. It’s Etho’s only saving grace that he’s quiet.
It’s going good. The two of them, lugging a once-square, now crushed television and clapping monkey towards the extraction point. They make a good team; any time they go through a doorway, Etho sets down the monkey to help Gem adjust the tv.
Gem’s intently focused on keeping the tv afloat when Etho shouts, “Floating head, Gem!”
She looks up with alarm, eyes catching the skull as she drops the tv, it landing with a loud crash.
Etho is still loudly warning her about it. Gem aggressively hushes him before clamping onto his arm, sprinting him out of the small den. They end up in a storage room, hiding behind some shelves.
“Shhh.” She puts a finger to his mask. “Quiet.”
He nods. No push back, tease, or anything. Stupid potion takes all the fun out of being friends with Etho.
“Is he gone?” Etho whispers after a moment.
“I don’t know.”
“I’ll check.” He’s making far more noise than necessary, but they’re in the clear.
The two head back to the group. Skizz’s head is the only object sat on extraction three. Etho pushes in the buggy, then they work together to get the tv into the tight spaced rectangular extraction point. Only one more point after this. Then they’ll go home— and Gem might just suggest calling it quits. She’s not having fun anymore.
The alarms go off on their third point. Skizz returns, loud as ever. Gnomes flood into the hallway, and Etho chooses to lead the pack, specifically telling Gem he’ll handle it. She doesn’t add any additional comment, no thanks or anything. Not that he needs the boost of confidence.
“One more point, guys,” Grian announces, leading his cart of money. Though it seems this house remembers its supposed to be filled with monsters, because all of a sudden, all of them spawn in. The head is back — Gem slides into a nearby sitting room, ducking under a chair. Etho follows a couple seconds later in a tuck and roll, choosing to land right beside Gem. It’s a rather tight fit, and Gem’s usually not bothered by close spaces.
The head floats in. Followed by knife lady, scrapping her knife hands along the floor. There’s a distant child’s laugh from a few rooms over.
Gem’s absolutely silent, leaving the monsters’ footsteps that much louder. From beside her, Etho’s breath is obnoxiously loud (and warm). Gem tries to scoot over some, but there’sno room for her to scoot without leaving the chair’s protection. Just a matter of waiting it out.
Eventually the monsters do leave, none the wiser to the two of them. The final point hasn’t been cashed yet, but Gem knows Grian has the buggy, presuming he’s alive, and she has no want to rush out of here. Not when they’re still surrounded.
They wait patiently until the monsters’ noises are nothing more than a distant memory. “I think we’re clear.” Gem pushes out from below the chair. Etho does the same, standing directly over her shoulder. “You don’t have to stand so close, you know.” It’s her best attempt at trying to crush whatever hopes Etho has in his mind. Granted, there’s probably nothing left in his head. It seems more head empty, no thoughts sort of deal.
“Oh- sorry.”
“All good. Just, space, you know. Personal space.”
He steps back a couple paces. Still watching her.
They’re quiet. Neither attempt to leave the room.
Gem sighs. Watches for some kind of intelligence that’s still inside of him. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it?
“This isn’t you,” she states outright, some small hope that she can get to him.
He blinks. Pauses. There’s something that cracks. “Yeah.”
“Me and you — we’re just friends. Best friends, but we don’t— we don’t compliment each other, and we definitely don’t snuggle as we hide from monsters.” Her nose wrinkles. “More fighting, you know. Murdering each other for fun, and giving each other a hard time. You and I aren’t nice to each other, and that’s what’s fun.”
He looks a little hurt, but that’s the potion talking. It’s not really— there aren’t real feelings there, Gem has to remind herself. Etho has never before today expressed interest in her, and hopefully it will stayed contained to today. They work much better as bantering friends.
“When we get back, I say we take a minute to… help you get back to normal. This isn’t normal. This is potion-Etho, and I like real-Etho better.” That part, Gem will be insistent about.
The money at extraction adds up on her locater device.
“I think we’re about to bank. Let’s go.”
~ ~ ~
It’s foggy. It’s hard to think properly, his mind hazed over, thick with potion. But everything feelsmore real and active thought is heading towards him which is a good thing. It should be a good thing.
Etho remembers it all. He begins returning to reality as Gem rambles about how this isn’t him. And it clicks. Partially. Torn between thoughts flitting around obsession and those towards a tangible reality, the reality where he has a say in what thoughts remain thoughts.
He’s far more quiet than before. If asked, he’s only thinking. Though he knows today won’t be glossed over and forgotten. All Etho can hope is that he mentally pulls himself together before the crew has a conversation with him.
Their last extraction crunches down as Etho steps foot into the truck. He gladly took the opportunity to run ahead of the group, slipping out of all their gazes. Hopefully they don’t worry when they can’t find him, instead keeping their philosophy of every man for himself.
Etho ducks under a counter space, hiding from monsters, obviously, placing a pillow and blanket down to make the space suitable for sleep. Ideally they’d leave him alone if he was resting.
Not that things ever go Etho’s way, but he’d like to sweep this whole situation under a rug. It’s not his fault he was potioned. None of those words were his own. If anyone decides to tease him, there’s not much weight to it, because none of it is his fault.
…but if they do, he knows he will struggle to laugh at it goodnaturedly.
The four enter before Etho is asleep, and he begrudgingly accepts that sleep will not come as his salvation. Instead he opts to sit next to Impulse, their truck driver.
They’re silent on the ride to the shop, the empty space broken by road noise and chatter from those in the back. Impulse offers Etho the choice of music selection, but he declines, never listening to much.
After a few more minutes, Impulse officially breaks the silence. “Doing any better?” The question is gentle, almost casual, but Impulse’s point is made.
Etho shrugs, though Impulse won’t be able to fully see the motion assuming he’s keeping his eyes on the road. It’s just a straightaway, their cut off from the highway isn’t for another four miles.
“Kind of,” he settles on, not too confident in his word choice, a little wary of follow-up questions. He wants to defend his past self. He was forced to say that nonsense. (That’s not entirely true. More that his thoughts and feelings were tampered with, pulled in a direction they weren’t inclined.)
“Homely, right? That’s what you settled on?” Impulse teases. As to be expected. They’ll find a way to keep the joke going. Unfortunately, his friends like to drive a joke into the ground, as can be shown by their insistence of calling shared health “neck kisses.” (Not the mental image he wants, but it is the one he’s left with.)
“You think I’m wrong?” he throws back after much deliberation. His lack of confidence makes the statement miss the mark.
Impulse laughs. “It’s funny, is all. But they were excessive about it. A whole potion? Seriously?” He sounds almost sorry for Etho’s case. “I don’t think either of them expected it to mess with you for so long. Skizz and G love a good prank, but I think even they were tired of it.”
At least Impulse recognizes its not Etho, not Etho’s fault that the potion targets Gem out of all of them. There’s no logical reason why that irks him, Gem chosen over the other three, but it does. “You’re telling me,” Etho mumbles.
He leans his seat back a little, hopefully sending the message that he’d like to avoid talking for a while. He doesn’t ever fall asleep, just watching the endless road, waiting until they make their stop. “You missed your turn,” he says when Impulse doesn’t take the cutoff that leads to the upgrade store.
“Yeah. I think we head home for now and we’ll worry about shopping and stuff later. Everyone will understand.” Impulse squints at Etho. It’s hard to tell what his gaze means — is it a question? Concern? He must see somethingto find it worth heading home early.
Etho doesn’t comment on it. Tries to sleep, though there’s little hope for that. It isn’t long before Impulse pulls into the driveway of his and Skizz’s home.
No one is focused on Etho, instead working on autopilot to empty the truck before collectively crashing inside.
~ ~ ~
There’s whiplash in going from the center of someone’s attention to then be starkly ignored, and Gem shouldn’t think twice about it, but she knows exactly why it’s the case. Because it’s Etho. And he’s finally come to his senses. And obviously he doesn’t want to look anything or anyone square in the eye — let alone Gem.
She’s not hurt. That’s nothing to be offended over. Not her fault. Not his. Just awkward after all that. There can’t be any judgment thrown around for feeling a bit strange about today. Even Gem still feels it, feels a bit of secondhand embarrassment for Etho.
A manipulation of one’s words and actions via love potion doesn’t sound appealing. It was funny for five minutes. After five hours Gem is beyond annoyed.
It’s over though. That’s the thing she clings to.
UnfortunatelyGem is the only one willing to address the elephant in the room. It won’t leave as long as they ignore it. They all know that, but pretend like they don’t. It leaves Gem to bring it up, and Gem does not care to be subtle. She sits near Etho, who is outstretched on the couch.
She shoots a pointed look at Grian and Skizz. The two silently argue back and forth who’s the one to start the apology. Neither of them say a word. Gem rolls her eyes and sighs, leaning further into the couch.
“Embarrassed?” she teases. It’s easiest to start there, to address the mixed feelings through a joke. Teasing is Gem’s specialty. Especially when it’s pointed to a certain member of their group whose face is buried into a pillow, non-discretely hiding through a means of “falling asleep.”
“I know you’re awake.” Gem pulls off the blanket that covers his head, then moves back to the end of the couch.
Etho sits up, only just barely, to glare at Gem, then turns away. That could be defined as normal behavior, but Gem knows it’s only a deflection and an avoidance tactic.
“You have something to say, right Skizz?”
“What about G!” And of course he defends. No surprise there. None at all.
“Dude, she asked you—”
This is why they can’t have productive conversations. “What they mean to say is that they’re incredibly sorry—”
“Soury,” Grian copies, mocking Gem.
“—yes, Grian, you are. Or you should be—”
“That’s right! He should be!” Skizz agrees.
Gem sighs loudly, “You two were both needlessly mean to our new, best teammate.” She shakes her head. “But it’s ok. I get that you love me, Etho. I love me too.” It earns her an amused laugh from the group, including from Etho. “Friends are supposed to love each other, but I don’t think Grian or Skizz got the idea.”
Though maybe it’s a good thing they aren’t good at apologies, because it clearly has lightened the mood. Etho has willingly peeked out of his hiding spot on the couch. Normal amounts of chaos begin irrupting in the house, mostly Grian and Skizz’s fault as per usual, though Gem gets involved as she does. Impulse eggs it on, and Etho watches as always, participating in the house’s silliness in his own way.
In about five minutes, it’s back to normal. Gem couldn’t be more relieved.
Next time (well, she won’t let there be a next time), Gem will remind Skizz and Grian about today when they grab another love potion. There will be threats. Plenty.
…granted, she knows this will happen again. But Gem will keep her word. She’s not made of empty threats.
She’s rather over this love potion business.