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He really should stop doing this. For the umpteenth time he had fallen asleep in the lab. Maybe he should stop going to the lab alone in general, seeing as rebels(?) were now out for his head. But alas, he was just a stupid boy with a stupid drive to faliure system instilled in him.
He woke on the cold stone of the cave this time, a small mercie from the heat of the summer kingdom, which made him suspect that he might have passed out instead. Not like he could really know for sure. He pushed all the fingers on his left hand down as hard as he could onto the rocky floor beneath him. Thankfully he didn't break skin- it only served as a way to snap his mind awake. And as soon as it did he was up and heading towards his chests.
Only for a wave of dizziness to strike. He saw the rims of his eyes darkening and then a pressure at his calf. He looked down and saw a coppery blob- Gadget, trying to get him to lay back down. He complied after a few seconds, his vision clearing and Gadget coming to rest on his chest. The pressure felt nice, though maybe he shouldn't be putting to much on it since he hadn't of been able to take his binder off.
Oh shit. He hadn't of taken his binder off in nearly a week. Juniper was gonna kill him. Did he think she would believe him if he lied? Definitely no. Would he still be trying? Absolutely. No time to worry about that now though.
He carfully removed Gadget from him and stood up, much slower this time.
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The sparks flicker out on the quartz and he felt a rush of unease from the failed ritual. He hastily scribbled down 'fail' under all the components. Sitting down on an edge out of the ritual circle, he ran his hand over Gadgets scaley head. What could he be doing wrong? He knew he was close, as close as he's been ever, but he did know what was stopping it. Maybe it was a certain ingredient? He bit down on his pencil. Was it something rare that he hadn't found yet? What if-
"Leggss! You in here?" A voice announced himself. It was one that had only recently became familiar- Oli's. They had only met a few times, only recently actually having a... 'coversation' with one another. He was actually pretty cool, though Legs was a bit startled when he suddenly appeared in his cave. It seemed he was currently trying to stop that from happening again by announcing his appearance. "Yeah!" He shouted back looking at the staircase as Oli made his way down.
"Heyo! I brought my notes with me this time and I was also wondering if-" Oli cut himself off. When Legs looked up at him he saw his face was a little flushed, probably from walking around in the heat of the summer kingdom. "Woah." Legs tried to follow his gaze but to no avail because Oli was looking at him.
Thats when he realized- and how oh so stupid he was for not noticing before. Being around fires and lava that were in the cave made it fairly hot. Combine that with lifting fairly heavy things and having to walk back and forth constantly, it got hot fast. Which is why he chucked his shirt off. (He still had on his binder, of course. He wasn't gonna walk around with his moobs out, alone or not.) Meaning Oli was likely looking at the splatters of blue along his body.
"Ah- sorry I wasn't expecting anyone to come down and it gets really hot down here." Legs hastily explained. "Uh- huh yeah uhm no problem-"
"I- I mean I could put a shirt on if you'd feel more comfortable-?"
"No! No don't take my silence as anything negative it's just- how did that... happen? I mean I noticed some on your arms last I saw you but I didn't know it... covered such a large range." Oli spoke quickly, almost as if his words were fighting over eachother to be released.
"Oh uhm. Basically a failed experiment blew up in my face. Well, it didn't actually get on my face- I covered it with my arms- but the rest of my body wasn't so lucky." He digressed, moving his arms from petting Gadget to rest behind him. The little dragon had jumped up almost immediately and ran toward Oli, or more so towards Sheerwing. He unbuckled his bag and let the charcoal colored dragon out.
Oli made his way to where Legs was sitting and sat besides him. "So, any progress?" He chipped, crossing his legs.
"I'd like to think im getting closer, but I'll only really know once it's complete. You said you had your notes?" Oli mumbled an 'oh yeah!' And stuck his hand into the bottom of his bag.