So…
This was a long time ago, but since I had 2 out of 5 votes before the deadline, and then a few weeks ago or so, a guest came on and reviewed three times saying they wanted to one-shot. Well, guest, if you want it that badly you reviewed three times, I had an idea already, and here you go.
Toby Pov
So it was a typical summer's day in InTheLittleWoods. And blazing hot like the Nether's lava pools.
What else so you do when it's this hot? You grab a cola, duh.
And so, forget it; I'm having a freakin' cola.
I slipped into the supply tent that we'd just set up to protect our tools from the elements, relishing the shade, and spotted the cooler. I reached inside and drew out a cola. I'd save the root beer for when Reyanna came over later, of course...
Crap! When was she coming over again? I'm a terrible boyfriend. I'm like, 89% sure she's coming over at 4:30 or something, when the heat's gone down. Yeah, that makes sense. I left the tent, fully intending to sprint back to my tree house in the tree's cool shade.
I reached the base of the trees and paused underneath, relishing the cool shade amongst the leaves. Why did it have to be so hot… ?
sssssSSSSSSSSSSS...
"Freakin' creepers!" I swore, feeling a familiar ache- just a memory- in my ribs. I'd had many bad experiences with creepers, but few were as memorable as the near-death when we fought Israphel and his creeper army. It had taken weeks for me to fully recover from the broken ribs, bruising, and heat blisters in my skin.
I know it doesn't sound like near-death, but I was out for hours afterward and we'd had no respawning just then, so it had been a bad experience. End of story.
I dropped the cola to the grass and drew Derrick, my trusty sapphire sword. A few well-practiced slashes sent the creeper into a pile of gunpowder and sulphur.
"That's the third creeper I've seen today." Reyanna said, jumping out of the tree next to my tree house, practically scaring the hoodie off of me. (Not literally, because my hoodie has been in my tree house since last week. WAY too hot to wear it.)
"When did you get here?" I asked, suddenly realizing I was probably all sweaty and gross just as my girlfriend shows up. GG, Toby. JJ.
"A minute or two ago." She said, keeping a straight face.
"Did you lead the creeper here?" I asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at her. I wouldn't blame her for retaliating for when I left a spider in her library and enchanting room. Okay, maybe I'd prank her for this too, but whatever.
"It may or may not have followed me." She said slyly, smirking through her mask.
"Really, Rey?" I asked. I was one of the only ones who she didn't mind being called that by. She'd given up on not getting Zoeya to say it, and Rythian… well I didn't know. But she hated when anyone else would call her Rey. "You expect me to believe that?"
"I'm not sure, okay? I was flying just above the ground coming here, under the trees." She said. "I may have been born in a desert but that doesn't mean I enjoy the heat."
Yeah, she just said flying. My girlfriend is an Alchemical Mage. All those magic rings, dark & red matter, condensers, power flowers? She knows how to make them, use them, and kill you with them.
She's awesome.
As I'm zoning out, my girlfriend kicked the cola towards me with her sneaker.
"Couldn't wait for me to get a drink, huh?" She teased. I blush.
"I thought you were coming over later, when it was cooler." I said sheepishly.
"Toby, I ALWAYS come over at 2:00. Come on, you forgot." She laughed.
Damn it!
"I saved the root beer for you." I said weakly.
"Root beer! My only weakness!" She exclaimed jokingly, letting her hands cover her mask in mock surprise, her eyes wide. Then she kicked the cola towards me again.
"Why would that be?" I asked, finally grabbing the cola off the grassy ground and rubbing some dirt off quickly on my shorts.
"Because I lov-" Reyanna broke off in a fit of laughter as I attempted to open up my cola and drink, only to have it explode all over me.
I sputtered, fizzy foam running all over my face, down my shirt and into my hair. Reyanna laughed even harder, almost doubling over.
"Let's get a photo of that- I mean, let's get you cleaned up." She said finally.
I wiped off most of my face and mock-glared at her as she led the way back to InTheLittleCorp.
"Come on, Rey." I held out my arms to her as we entered the clearing. "Give me a hug."
Reyanna took one look at me, covered in half-dried, sticky soda foam and sprinted across the clearing. I took off after her.
I chased her around the clearing for a minute or so before I started to gain on her. Nether, I'd forgotten she was so fast. I mean, I'm a fast runner, but she made me look like a horse next to an Enderpearl. She whipped past Martyn and Kaeyi's tent and skidded to a halt next to mine.
Unable to stop my momentum in time, I almost crashed into her. She promptly side-stepped and shoved me into my tent, then zipped it up from the other side.
"No fair!" I shouted, slumping onto my bed.
"No coming out until you've cleaned up!" She told me.
"The cola or my tent?" I called back jokingly.
"The cola. We don't have all day!" She retorted. I laughed. It was true; my tent was a mess of homework, food wrappers, games, and random other stuff.
Ten minutes later, I had changed my shirt, washed my face and hair, and discovered Reyanna had abandoned her post as guard to my tent. I blinked at her in the sunlight, which was still beating down mercilessly on the forest.
Reyanna leaned against a fence post, grinning, a canned drink in her hand.
"You didn't wait for me to get a drink." She told me as I looked at her root beer, smirking again. She looked nice when she smirked- you could just see a faint impression of it through her mask. I'd learned to read her expression long ago just by the creases in her indigo mask and her violet eyes, which she was currently rolling at me.
"Fine!" I exclaimed, going to the supplies tent again. This time, I grabbed root beer.
"Hey, Reyanna. Where's Toby?" Martyn asked, somewhere outside.
"In the supply tent!" I called out, saving Reyanna from answering.
"Can you grab me a wrench? And maybe some iced tea for me and Kaeyi?" He asked.
"Kaeyi and I" Reyanna corrected the Sapling prince.
"Sure!" I answered, ignoring my girlfriend's grammar corrections. I grabbed two iced tea cans, then snatching up the wrench; I stood in the entrance to the tent.
"Catch!" I called, tossing one of the drinks out towards Martyn. Just then, Kaeyi popped out of the entrance to the "Mole hill".
"Martyn, how do I craft this agai-?"
Martyn, distracted by his pink-haired girlfriend, failed-epically, might I add- to catch the drink and it ricocheted off a rock and exploded all over Kaeyi.
Martyn got sprayed a little, too, but Reyanna was lucky enough to be far out of the blast radius.
A fizzing mound of cola foam gurgled up from the main wreckage, coating the grass.
"Toby!" Kaeyi yelled.
"Shit! I'm sorry! Don't kill me!" I yelled. "Martyn didn't catch it!"
"Toby, what is it with you and explosions today?!" Reyanna said.
"At least the creeper didn't blow up!" I said, ducking into the supply tent again to grab a new iced tea.
"I was talking about your cola from, what, 15 minutes ago?" My girlfriend said.
I crossed the clearing and passed the drinks to Martyn along with the wrench.
"I'm not sure if I want to say thanks or not." Martyn said. I pouted.
"Why do all of you always be mean to me?" I say, half joking.
"Because all you do is prank us in retaliation." Reyanna said.
"Umm, hello?" Kaeyi said suddenly. "Iced tea doesn't explode into cola foam, you know. So why did that can just explode into cola foam?"
I realized she was right. Reyanna paused, her root beer halfway to her mask, which I knew was enchanted to let food and drinks through. Kaeyi, still covered in cola foam, was not looking amused. Martyn…
Martyn was stifling laughter, very, very hard- to the point that we all knew he'd done it.
And, of course, made it look like I would have done it by being the one to give him the drinks.
"Martyn!" Kaeyi beat me to it as she stepped over the mound of suspiciously very fizzy cola foam and stalked towards him.
"Shit! She's coming! Run!" Martyn yelled, taking off into the tree line, his pink-haired girlfriend in hot pursuit.
"Well, what do you want to do?" Reyanna asked me. "It's too hot to practice archery, like we planned."
"Let's go explore underground," I said. "It's a lot cooler down there and I saw a new cave system there a week ago."
Reyanna shrugged, reached into her alchemical bag, pulled out her Dark Matter pick, and grabbed my hand in the other.
"Lead the way, Tobs." She said, knowing I wasn't a big fan of the nickname. Better than 'Idiot' though I kind of deserved that sometimes.
And we headed down into the mine under the campfire; I hoped I remembered where that really awesome ravine was.
But hey, at least I got to hold hands with my awesome girlfriend. That made the heat, the pranks, and the explosions all worth it.
Oh, and by the way, "Creeper Buddies" should not be sung around Reyanna. Take it from me.
