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"I still don't see why you think I need therapy," Max told his father as he flipped through Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth.
"Max, you tried to flush yourself this morning," Jerry said. "And you're holding the comic book upside down."
"I wanted to see where I would go!" Max exclaimed as he flipped the comic right-side up. He'd said it in an exasperated tone of voice, as though he thought people regularly tried to flush themselves in order to satisfy their curiosity about the septic system.
A centaur with a clipboard enters the waiting area.
"Max Russo?" she called. With a sigh, Max stood up and entered the shrink's office.
After some discussion, Jerry and Theresa decided it would best if Max saw someone in the wizarding world, as opposed to someone in the mortal realm. That way, Max wouldn't have to worry about hiding the fact that he's wizard, and he would be able to express whatever he's feeling more freely.
This was the first time Jerry had visited the wizarding community since he'd passed his powers on to Kelbo, and this brief excursion into the world he had left behind was bittersweet. Magic was at the center of everything, it resonated in everything. So everywhere Jerry went, there was a reminder of the power he had once possessed, and given away.
Then Jerry remembered the reason why he'd given his powers away, and he smiled, because he knew he was happier now than he'd ever been.
About twenty minutes pass, and Max is flung out of the shrink's office. He is soon followed by said shrink, who is pointing an accusatory finger in his direction. His hair is singed, a few of the individual roots still slightly flaming. His dress shirt was ruined, covered in something that resembled slime, and for some odd reason there was a jellyfish attached to his left leg.
"Get that kid out of here!" the shrink yelled.
"What did you do?" Jerry asked his son.
Max shrugged. "He looked like that when I went in."
The centaur with the clipboard passed Jerry a slip of paper.
"The bill," she said.
Jerry stared at it for a second.
"DAH!"
"So what is this big surprise?" Sir Justin asked Princess Russo.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, dork!" was her princessy, elegant remark.
"Smooth, Alex." Princess Russo stuck her tongue out at him.
"Whatever. Turn around, doofus." Sir Justin complied.
Standing on her tippy-toes, Princess Russo covered Sir Justin's eyes with her hands.
"Walk," she commanded.
So it was that Sir Justin found himself walking blind, with only Princess Russo for guidance. For a moment he thought she was going to prank him again, but he shrugged it off.
They walked for a bit, with her royal eminence giving monosyllabic instructions: Turn, run, skip, spin. It got to the point where Sir Justin got so dizzy he wouldn't have gotten where they were going even if he could see. And Princess Russo was having way too much fun.
"And…stop!" she said. "We're here."
"And where, exactly, is here?"
"Just enjoy it, 'kay dork?" And with that, she uncovered his eyes.
Sir Justin was speechless as he stared up at the enormous castle, its white spires and parapets glinting in the sun. The structure itself was massive. As far as he could tell, it stretched for miles in every direction, and was easily visible from anywhere in the world.
The princess took his hand. "You like it?"
"It's amazing…wait, is this why you had me tied to a tree all day? So you could draw?"
Princess Russo shrugged. "I don't like to be interrupted when I'm working." The knight laughed.
"Shall we?" he asked.
"We shall."
They entered the new palace together, and explored it room by room, still hand in hand. For the last few weeks, Alex had taken every chance she had to touch Justin. A hug here. A peck on the cheek there. Holding his hand more often. He didn't shy away anymore. More often than not, he was the one taking hold of her hand. Granted, he didn't realize he was doing it. But when he did notice, he didn't stop. Ever so slowly, the wall between them was crumbling down. Ultimately, his acceptance of those covert embraces was what led her to do this. Hopefully, he would take this in stride, as he had done everything else. If not…there were other ways to get him, but she wanted this to be real, so she would try it this way first.
They saved the bedroom for last.
