Love On The Brain

When Terrafin had first entered the library, he had wanted to make use of the quiet and the couches, and take a nap. It was a much better place to catch a few winks than a crowded common room full of students noisily studying, and the hostel was full of students busy "studying". If he positioned himself in front of a book at just the right angle, he could even fool Hugo into thinking he was reading. The plan was foolproof.

Well, almost foolproof.

When he entered the place, the first faces he saw were those of Bash and Pop Fizz, and he kissed his peaceful afternoon goodbye. When those two, along with Hugo, were in a room together, especially in a room like a library, things were bound to get chaotic. Unfortunately for him, the library had been his best option for an afternoon nap.

He couldn't go anywhere else since everywhere he went, there were Skylanders and Skylanders-To-Be. School was back in session, and every spot on the island was crowded with students and teachers. He had even considered taking public transportation to a nearby island, but finally decided against it as he didn't want to go through the trouble. Since the library was the most quiet place in the Academy at that point of time, he figured that he would have to endure whatever problems may happen with Pop Fizz, Bash, and Hugo in the room.

Of course, enduring the three of them all at once did not make it easy to catch any winks. He barely slept at all with the two of them in the library.

Throughout the entire afternoon, Pop Fizz was busy making some sort of strange concoction. As expected, the process was noisy, with pops and bangs coming out of the flasks and beakers every so often. Too noisy for someone to sleep through, so most of his time was spent there, lounging on a sofa while watching the two go about.

It was obvious what Pop Fizz was doing. He was making some sort of potion for his arsenal. They way he went about it, with his excited movements and fidgets. The colorful flasks on bunsen burners making small clouds of smoke as they boiled away, with a different chemical reaction every time a new ingredient was dropped in. The colors changed, the liquid bubbled, and whizzes and pops were heard from them all, echoed by the large, quiet library. The smell that came out of the potions was a sweet, almost intoxicating perfume, the scent of orange and grape and strawberry with sugar mixed in for good measure. He was obviously in the zone and having fun, and Terrafin decided to leave him be.

Bash, on the other hand, seemed dazed and unfocused. He walked about in circles, head faced down at the floor. Even his tail, it now dragged across the floor. The scraping sound it made on the floor was mildly irritating, but that was not what made Terrafin concerned with Bash.

He had been friends with Bash for the longest time. Since the were cadets, up until today, and when Terrafin spent that much time with anyone, he could easily read their body language. Usually, hardly anything got him down, but whenever his tail being dragged, the brows furrowed in thought, and the overall demeanor, there was only one thing that could drive him to this state.

He was, once again, thinking about Flashwing.

'Hey Bash, you alright?' He asked. Bash looked up at the sound of his name, and for the first time since Terrafin walked in, stopped pacing around. He turned around, saw Terrafin, and ran up towards him.

'Terrafin! You're my last hope! I need a cool creative way to tell Flashwing that I want to go on a date with her, and nobody has given me any good ideas so far! Please, could you-' He was promptly interrupted by Terrafin, who gave him a light smack.

'Pull yourself together, man! If you really wanna tell Flashwing your feelings for her, the first step's to keep your cool!' Bash nodded curtly at his friend, and sat down beside him.

In all honesty, Terrafin had no idea how to tackle a problem like this, but ever since Flashwing came, his friend had been reduced to this state every time he thought of her. He wasn't opposed to him being in a relationship, but when someone was this lovesick and this smitten, he knew he had to step in. Even if he didn't care for this lovey-dovy stuff, Bash was his friend, and he needed to be there for him. 'Well, why don't you just tell her? Be yourself?' He asked.

Bash looked at him, eyes widened in alarm. 'Just like that?! I can't do it, Terrafin. I can't just be myself when myself sucks!' He sighed, and climbed up the sofa beside Terrafin. 'Besides, even if she does like me for me, what's to say that she'll want to be something more than friends?'

'Don't worry 'bout that now. Just tell her how you feel. I don't think you've done that yet.'

It was true. Despite his crush going on for as long as it has, he had never truly told Flashwing how he felt. Sure, he had attempted to do large gestures to reveal his love, but most of them had… ended badly, to say the least. He supposed that Terrafin had a point.

But there was still a part of him that had its doubts. Flashwing has never noticed any of his gestures in love. But was all of that just simply not noticing, or was it just because she really didn't like him. If he couldn't find a huge gesture of love to impress her, someone like him may never have a shot.

'But, even if she does-'

'Look, I don't know jack about this romance stuff. If you want some good, why're you askin' me?' Went Terrafin, folding his arms .

Bash sighed. He looked down at his heavy tail, which now swung a few millimeters above the stone floor. 'I don't know.'

From across the room, Pop Fizz overheard everything. Earlier, Bash had asked him for some advice on how to woo Flashwing, but all his advice had been discredited. Alright, sure, it wasn't like he ever had a successful love life, but he was hoping that Bash would have appreciated the advice a little more than he did. Now that he had heard him converse with Terrafin on the same matter, he was more convinced than ever that all Bash needed was some confidence, and a push in the right direction.

'Hey, Bash-'

'For the last time, Pop Fizz, I can't sing, so I can't serenade her. Stop bringing it up.' Said Bash, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

'Who said anything about serenades? I was just asking if maybe it was alright if you could come with me to the Soda Springs tomorrow? You know, take your mind off this type of thing for a while.' He said. From the alchemy set, another "pop" sound was made from the beakers.

'Yeah, that might be what you need.' Said Terrafin. He folded his arms behind his head with nonchalance, and glanced over at Bash. 'I could tag along too, if you need it.'

Pop Fizz mixed some soda into the potion over the bunsen burner. 'Yeah, that's fine. I'll be looking for new flavors, so if you're willing to tag along, then come.' He tipped in the final drops of the orange soda, and threw the empty tin behind him.

'Well, it does sound pretty good.' Said Bash. A day out to find soda flavors sounded like a decent way to kill time, and there hadn't been any major fight that needed to be won for at least a year. It probably would be good for him to keep his mind off Flashwing for the time being.

Although, a part of him still wanted to come up with something to impress her. Even if it's something minor. If only he could find a way to know about her more. If only he knew how t charm her. If only…

He sighed and stood up. 'I'm going for a walk.' He said, and started to shuffle outside.

'Bye.' Called our Terrafin, but he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice. He walked out the library, and into the Academy square. Instantly, a cold gust of wind hit him, but he soon grew accustomed to it, and started his walk.

Winter was coming to an end, but the weather on the island had not changed. Although the air had only gotten the slightest bit warmer, it was still too cold to be comfortable. The only thing the increase in temperature did was make the once powdery snow melt into cold sludge. During the late afternoon, the sun already begun to set, and the long shadows from the bare trees were stretched out, the branches giving off a monstrous vibe. It was an unpleasant time of year, to say the least.

But Bash barely noticed the cold, or the wetness, or the shadows. His thoughts on Flashwing overwhelmed him, and the harsh outer world didn't even make him shiver.

Worrying never solved anything. He knew that, but at times he couldn't help but stress over things. He had thought of the best way to confess those feelings ever since he first met her, but none have ever worked. The picnic plan was ruined by rain. She slept through the movie date because he could only afford the most boring movie. Worst of all, she ate the note he hid in her dessert during the dinner date attempt. The crush had only gotten worse and worse, since all that time spent with her only made him fall harder and harder for her.

During all that time spent with her, there was one thing that he learned about Flashwing that stood out. It was the fact that although she was confident and perky, she was also very guarded. Something about those traits combined just made his heart melt. It just made him wish he had more confidence.

'If you really want her, why don't you invite her to come with you to Soda Springs tomorrow?' Said a sharp, but quiet voice from behind him. The sound jolted him out of his thoughts, and he turned around.

No one was there. Bash looked around the landscape again, but he was alone.

'Must have been the wind.' He thought out loud, and he continued the walk down the path.

While he walked, his thoughts drifted to that line of advice. The more he thought about it, it sounded like rather good advice. He could spend the day with Flashwing, and have fun with her all day, until at the end of it all, he can confess his feelings! It was perfect!

As he walked along the pathway, he continued to think about the confession. Perhaps it could happen somewhere colorful and fun, like some sort of pond that looked over the sunset. He could bring food, it could be romantic, it was foolproof!

When he walked and planned for the romantic day out the next day, he tuned out. Once again blocking out the outer world and all the cold dark shadows, but this time with a warm fantasy.

It was a shame he didn't look at the shadows on the trees closer.

OoOoOoOoOo

'That's your plan?' Asked Whirlwind, her head cocked to one side. She lay flopped on her bed, her patchwork quilt covering everything but her head.

'Is it bad?' Said Bash, his voice a little stressed. He sat by her desk, careful not to accidentally push anything off. Not that it would have mattered, it was full of clutter, similar to the entire room.

Whirlwind shook her head. 'No, no. It's just that.' She sighed. 'Why don't you ever take any of our advice and just be yourself? You know, just confess to her without any of the flash.'

Bash sighed. 'I know that you girls find it important to be personal and all that, but, well,' He hesitated, and looked at Whirlwind carefully. There was no hint of a sour mood, so he said it.'Sometimes "be yourself" just isn't the solution.'

Whirlwind's lips thinned when he said it. Thankfully, she had caught herself before she could scold him. She could have gone on and on about the value of individuality and freedom, but he had heard that message from almost everyone who had heard him say that before. She did it once too, and that ended with her getting scolded by Master Eon. So, she held her tongue.

'Well, if you think that's the case,' She pushes the quilt off herself, and walked towards the desk. From there, she took a bright red box dotted with little pink hearts of the top of a stack of books and files, and handed it to Bash.

'Just before you found me, this little girl scout came up to me and said that she was selling these sugar cookies. She told me that they were specifically to give to someone who you were in love with, and if I'm not in love, I should give it to someone who was.'

She lifted the lid, revealing four perfectly arranged sugar cookies. All were decorated intricately with crisp pink frosting and little silver edible pearls in the shapes of gems and hearts. But the smell was the best part, with a warm sweet smell still in the tin, it was hard to believe it was a tin of girl scout cookies. It looked almost custom made for Flashwing.

'Wow.'

Whirlwind smiled. 'Well, she did pester me non-stop until I bought a tin. But beside that, Flashwing has been a great friend to me, and so have you, and I want to see the both of you happy. I know that Flashwing would love this set of cookies, and I know you would love to give it to her.'

Bashed beamed at Whirlwind. 'Thanks so much for your help.' He took the box from her, and walked off. 'I'll be giving you updates on what happens tomorrow, alright?'

Whirlwind smiled back at Bash. "Good luck Bash. Good luck.'

To be continued

OoOoOoOoOo

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

-Tabbyluna