A/N: Have a long ass filler chapter! Alright, boys and girls - sorry for the roller coaster, but you can rest easy knowing that everything from here on out, until Ralph and them come back, is going to be sad-free chapters. For the most part xD
Xaehttium : Poor Tessa is definitely put through the ringer, with this story. Yeah, the only reason it may not have seemed 'dark' until now was because no one was killed off because of the forbidden swap D: But now...
ArchitectDreams : No, Tessa also had classmates, in her first hour class, that knew of her User-swap with Zed. And then people gossip and etc. lol. Thank you for the review and kind compliments!
MightyNinja2000 : LOL No he wasn't spying on her, he happened to be in End Of Line station for reasons you guys will eventually find out about.
Alanshee The Guardian : Yeah... Academy, as well as the whole Arcade, isn't really 'with it' when it comes to swapping and etc. - it's not viewed as a necessity, but more an act of rebellion and sort of just an extra-activity people do. It's sort of frowned upon. And no, Rancis didn't see Ace because he was too far away from Tessa, he had kept walking to Dead Zed and Tessa had stopped to stare lol.
XxNightClassxX : Hahaha I'm sorry you're so mad - you guys will definitely be surprised once everyone comes back in the picture :) Don't worry!
Alisi Thorndyke : lol yeah, they're more sympathetic towards Tessa, than up in arms. They sort of now treat her like a ticking time bomb xD
Awesome Stories May Occur : Haha it keeps everyone on their toes, and you guys will thank me later! Trust me! Also, Tessa wasn't the one who killed Selka - it was Penny. She killed Selka with Rancis's double striped sword. But I'm glad you've come around - out of all my characters, Tessa is the one I cherish the most, character development wise. I appreciate you keeping up, and that my story is one of those special ones you stay tabbed on! It means a lot to me!
chuckiboo : LOL I take that as a compliment! :D Thank you!
Retrokill : Yeah, the boys definitely are careful around Tessa no matter what. Yeah, the Academies aren't really up to par on the whole social aspect of swapping - it's not needed, for gamers, so it's just viewed as nothing but risky business only meant for rebels and daring folk.
WildVirus : SPICY HAHAHHAHAAHAHAHHA I literally laughed REALLY loud when I read your review, and I was seriously in a quiet part of the hospital and all the nurses just looked at me and I was like ...! *meeps* my story's spicy! xD
*Chapter 37*
The week came and went, and the warm glow of a summer's Sunday morning rivaled the thriving fire flowers in the kitchen. Tessa sat in a sliver of a sunbeam, it showed the streaks of warm red in her hair, the auburn strands that messily dribbled down her left shoulder. She sat slumped at the kitchen island whilst her five older brothers lazily lounged about the television. Tessa's mind sat in a groggy state of billowing depression. She knew that when it rained it poured, though she was uncertain it could ever drown her to this extreme. Her tired eyes traced the delicate, quirky markings of the white marble kitchen island she sat at. Lounged in a Sugar Rush-esque shirt she hadn't changed out of in two days, and sweats that were garnering holes in the knees, she knew was on the verge of becoming a mess. She finally felt her finger want to trace the unique markings of the marble counter; she wondered if potentially spreading her wings and checking out West Arcade Academy should be something she puts on her to-do list for the day.
The drone of the television plagued Tessa's thoughts in a gentle murmur of comfort she had fallen into. She wondered if leaving the house, for the first time since she was kicked out of End Of Line Academy, would be good for her, though she also wondered just where she'd get the energy. She finally inhaled a deep enough breath to feel her rib cage expand to it's full potential, though it were merely as if she was dusting off an old, tired piece of machinery. She knew she had to be careful with the vat of depression that was trying to sink her. She was now vulnerable to viruses, whether subtle or loud. She was glad Zed kept a sharp eye on her coding, though even the act of swapping codes was a chore; happiness and pleasure seemed to only rise to the bones of her ankles and no higher, like previously. She long blinked, she was exhausted from exhaustion; not even the warm, happy glow of the Dead Zed sun could lift her spirit. It merely cloaked her in a hot sheen of false hope.
"Have you seen Ace?" Zed tenderly questioned her as he moved into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Tessa attempted to glance at him through her tired eyes.
"Out waiting for Libby," Tessa croaked, she remained still. Her heart jumped in a pang of physical hurt at the effort to pump more blood into her blood stream.
She squinted and nearly relished in the painful effort her body went through to keep up, the thought of having a girl friend around sounded nice, right about now. She knew she had Lickity, and heavily relied on her companionship, though there was nothing quite like having a sister-like friend of the same species. Tessa added that to her list of things to silently mope about and not cue anyone into her sufferings. She was aware she had nothing else to do.
"I knew that," Zed muttered in a scold to himself, as if he should've known, though he furrowed his brow, "It's well passed the time Libby would usually come about... He's been out there for an hour longer than usual?"
Tessa just barely shrugged and kept her eyes to the counter, she was too tired to look up, though in her peripheral, she noticed Zed slowly mosey towards the large window in which hung over the kitchen sink. Though it didn't show a whole view of the field of Tessa's fire flowers, it still showed a good chunk of it; enough to spy where Ace usually stood, day in and day out, waiting for Libby's return. Zed furrowed his brow and noticed Ace and Royal were missing from their usual spot. Zed sighed and returned his gaze to Tessa, at the kitchen island.
"He's not out there... I wonder if him and Royal went to Echo Park," Zed stated, to himself; he knew Tessa didn't have the energy to wholly care, just as long as Ace and Royal stuck together and were back before nightfall.
Zed picked up the stray digital pad, on the kitchen island. He powered it on, thumbed through a few options and brought up a map. He furrowed his brow, squinted into it and pin-point Ace's exact location. A small valley just a few miles northeast of Echo Park, a wallowing mud-pit infested haven for different species of Dead Zed's fauna to keep cool in during the summer's near unbearable heat. He gave the digital pad an incredulous smirk and noticed Ace had somehow goad Lickity to join him and Royal; something everyone knew was a situation in which Tessa had to be consulted with, first. Zed heaved a long sigh through his nose and, though he knew the three typically had no interest in the mud pits off of the path of Echo Park, he figured he'd go up there and find out just what was going on.
"I'll be back, I'm gunna go see what the three are up to," Zed stated casually as he began to leave the kitchen; Tessa merely glanced at him in a form of gentle, tired acknowledgment.
"C'monnn," Ace groaned, he threw his larger hands down and finally pointed to Royal across the mess of mud they had found themselves in. He clenched his fist and prepared to wreck the ground, once more, "You're holding back!"
"I don't want to hurt you," Royal stated through a hard, sudden growl.
Both boys were riled with their play, a mud-wrestle match they hadn't verbally agreed to, though the vast stretch of squishy mud was too hard to resist. Lickity dug through the mud; both dragons were slopped with a good dose of sticky mud that began to dry in the creases of their fur and feathers, though Lickity was likely going to be a much harder chore to clean, due to having a much vaster amount of fur. Ace's shorts, and the lower half of his shirt, were nearly indistinguishable of color or logos. He clapped his hand to his fist and finally held up a proper wrecking form.
"Y'saying I'm weak?" Ace barked through a boasting, brotherly smile to Royal. He pawed the mud firmly, as if to merely be a charging, powerful, matador-bull.
"I'm saying I'm too strong for you," Royal deeply urged as he bowed his head, flattened his ears and heaved a firey chuff of hot air through his nostrils.
Royal finally grunted a hard bark of a roar and lunged forward. He galloped across the stretch of mud, a slippery field everyone fumbled in, though before things could get too serious or dangerous, Royal and Ace heaved a hard amount of anticipated laughter as Royal lost his footing, crashed with a loud thud to the mud underneath and swiftly skid the rest of his course straight into Ace. He spun, caught Ace at the knees and he firmly plowed to the mud on his back. Lickity sprawled her wings, uttered a hard chirp of a noise of victory and stood on her hind legs.
"I would state the score but I lost track!" Lickity hollered to the two boys across the way.
Ace choked through laughter, though once he finally got to his feet, Royal slipped and caught him with his clumsy tail yet again, though this time behind Ace's ankles. Both boys crumpled to the mud once more.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to turn into mud, here, soon," Royal wheezed as he opened his mouth and attempted to spit out some dirt that got onto his tongue.
Before the boys could continue rough housing, like what they had always done growing up, the ground suddenly shook in a loud pang of wrecking power. Everyone froze and peered to the edge of the field they were closest to. With Zed's power, and control over the game, he had wrecked the ground beneath him, though with said coding routine, the mud immediately dried to hard, rock-solid surface that stretched a few feet away from Ace and Royal. Ace flinched, held his hands up in defense and was prepared to quickly switch gears, though it quickly sloped to dumbfounded, sheepish surprise.
"Dad," Ace heaved through a hard chuckle as he finally relaxed, as did Royal and Lickity, "You scared me."
"What're you guys up to?" Zed wondered, his bare feet carried him in a nonchalant saunter down the solid pat his coding and wrecking powers just created.
"We stumbled across this mud pit, I wish I knew of this place a long time ago," Ace gestured his hands out, "Join us, dad!"
"Were you going to jump in the river, afterwards, or were you planning on arriving home with mud coming out your ears?" Zed stated through an enthused chuckle as he sagged his hands into his lazy red board shorts.
Ace and Royal nervously peered into each other's eyes in a sudden slope of regret, as if they merely didn't think that far enough ahead. Ace gave his patiently waitinig father a bashful grin.
"Can we maybe, uh... Not tell mom about this?" Ace wondered with a cheeky smile and a pleading side-eye to Zed.
"I'm not the one who has to answer to her, about taking Lickity out, without her permission," Zed said through a hard laugh, as if to express that Ace was, indeed, doomed.
"Oh, for crying out loud, it's just a little mud," Ace muttered as he flailed his arm, lightly shoved on Lickity's snout, and stepped a few feet away. Royal let out a hard grumble, though Ace shot him an annoyed smile, "Oh, stop whining, Roy! It was practically your idea!"
"I don't know how I acquired so many idiots," Zed said in a sarcastic, incredulous tone as he averted his gaze from Royal, to Lickity, and on to Ace, who, in turn, furrowed his dark blue eyebrows.
"Am I one of said idiots?" Ace bellowed with a wide smile as he gestured to himself, "I mean, I don't know about these two bag of scales, but you had to have seen me comin' from a mile away."
"Surprisingly, no," Zed raised his eyebrows and looked down in a contemplative gaze as he sagged his hands into his baggy, surf shorts pockets, "All three of you chumps were a surprise. You, being probably the biggest."
"Dad," Ace complained, though he couldn't manage to hide a smile.
"Don't 'dad' me, now c'mon," Zed ordered with a soft chuckle as he pointed his finger down the trail they had messily made, "Let's walk home."
"Walk... When we have two perfectly good dragons," Ace wondered in a dull tone as he shot his eyes to both Royal and Lickity.
"Do you want me to help you come up with a cover story or not?" Zed snapped with an annoyed grin, in which Ace slumped his defensive demeanor and got a good look into his father's dominant, yet caring, eyes. Without much more time to pass, Ace finally heaved a hard sigh and lightly nodded.
"Yes, please."
"User knows your mother and uncles are probably in the code room laughing their asses off, at us," Zed muttered.
"Dad, can I ask you something?" Ace started softly, he trudged through the mud and gingerly hoisted himself up on the solid platform Zed had created; Lickity and Royal slowly followed suit.
"Y'gunna ask how in Arcade you're gunna get the mud out of your existence?" Zed chuckled, he grappled Ace's shirt and rung it around lightly. Ace laughed and lazily swat his dad's arm.
"I was gunna ask if we could possibly try and look for Libby's tribe... I really want to see her again, y'think we'd get in trouble if we found her tribe?" Ace uttered, his tone didn't hold any serious depth, though it was clear that was a fail-safe for him, a way to hopefully act so nonchalant his heart and brain believed it.
"That's tricky, we don't even know where her tribe could be... Dead Zed could have hundreds of tribes," Zed shrugged as the four began to finally approach the shade of the jungle's canopies, "Whose to say the one we stumble across would be hers?"
"I guess," Ace sighed, he looked down to his dirty feet, which began to show his skin again, "I just... I really miss her, dad. She was my best friend."
"I know, bud... You have to be patient," Zed stated softly, he, too, looked down to his feet as the sound of Royal's and Lickity's sauntering walk held solid in a slow mosey behind them, "She asked you to wait for her... Certainly that means something."
"I wonder who her new dream guy is," Ace grumbled in a fit of growing jealousy, though Zed eyed him.
"Why? Y'getting protective? Maybe a little... Jealous?" Zed nagged, Ace beamed a blushing smile, rolled his eyes and looked off.
"No, dad, I just wish she could make her own decision," Ace stated firmly, though sheepishly, "Clearly she didn't WANT to marry this guy."
"Well, like I said, it's likely their tradition," Zed sighed with a shrug, "Nothing we can do about it... Disrespecting tradition could get her kicked out of her tribe."
"Good... Then maybe she can come live with us," Ace mumbled under his breath, he began to pick the mud from underneath his fingernails, which were clogged to the brim.
"In a perfect world, son," Zed eased as the two pushed on in a casual stroll, "Don't hold the situation with your fist... If she's meant to be in your life, she'll come back to you. I'm positive she misses you."
"I miss her, too," Ace said quietly, his eyes idly scanned the mossy ground underfoot, "I just want her to be happy..."
"She'll find her own way," Zed assured, he lovingly gave Ace's arm a nudge, "She's strong-willed. She'll find a way to break the rules, eventually."
"It's not something she'll maybe grow out of?" Ace worried, as if the wild side of Libby was what he cherished most about her, though Zed gave him a look of coy annoyance.
"Well, YOU certainly didn't," Zed gestured to the mud all over him and the two dragons, "What makes you think she will!"
"You're just jealous you didn't join in on our fun," Ace beamed, both boys laughed, as did Royal.
"I've had my fair share of mud pits," Zed stated nostalgically as he looked on and crossed his arms, "Eventually, the taste of mud starts to get old."
"I hear that," Royal grumbled as he grimaced in annoyance.
"So what should I tell mom, then?" Ace sighed, "It's not like I took Lickity for a flight around the game. She won't let anyone fly her."
"Damn straight," Lickity urged sharply, though she beamed Ace a fang-filled smile as he gave her an annoyed, playful scowl over his shoulder.
"Your mother might be too upset to even care, actually," Zed stated through a hard sigh as he rubbed the back of his head, though Ace nervously peered to his father in anxiousness over the event of being kicked out of End Of Line Academy.
"She's still upset about it, huh," Ace worried, he looked down to their mossy path, once more. It weaved through gorgeous jungle scenery, the tranquil song-birds of the jungle chimed in the wind, simply a song of ages.
"Her sleeping pattern is all messed up, too," Zed frowned, he grimaced and peered to Ace, "Maybe you should suggest to her that signing up for West Arcade Academy should be the next thing she does... She's tired of hearing of it, from me."
"I'll say something to her," Ace gave his father a nod of assurance, "I just hope I can shadow her..."
"Well, if not, you can still look through all her textbooks, notes and homework," Zed eased, he gave Ace a friendly smile and nudged his elbow, "All the more reason to hang out with us, for the day. Work on the Tron-flyer Nox and I have been fiddling with."
"You can't even get it off the ground," Ace stated with a gentle laugh, though Zed nudged him again, harder this time.
"I'd like to see you try," Zed mumbled with a smile as the four slowly vanished into thicker jungle foliage. Zed finally heaved a hard sigh, looked down to his feet and furrowed his brow, "I think, tonight, we should spoil your mother."
"What did you have in mind?" Ace wondered, though he suddenly grimaced, "Ehh, that could include me and not get weird."
"Oh darn," Zed muttered sarcastically, he gave Ace a good nudge to the arm as his son blurt out in bashful laughter. Zed chuckled alongside him, scuffed a rock away with his bare foot and shook his head, "She's really been thrown through the ringer... She does more than you realize, for all of us men, around the castle. I think it's time we give back."
"Are you suggesting we make dinner tonight, or something? Cause, really, only Uncle Jax is good at cooking. Uncle Orph managed to burn ice cream. ICE CREAM, dad," Ace ogled as he gestured his arms out, Zed bookmarked his idea and gave Ace an incredulous gawk.
"When did this happen?" Zed worried with an enthused smile.
"The other night... Baked Alaska doesn't go in the microwave, future reference," Ace muttered as he looked on; Zed easily doubled over with laughter, and Ace couldn't help but smile.
"Oh my User, I'm surprised your uncle Orph's game-over tally isn't higher than it is," Zed choked through laughter, he finally collected himself with a satisfied sigh and peered to Ace, "We'll be fine. We have the code room... Let's make tonight about your mother. She deserves it."
"Done deal," Ace assured.
"Wow, that was... Way too good," Tessa uttered as she felt a wave of weirdness fall over her, a smile somehow formed without effort. She eyed Orph and continued through disbelief, "You guys didn't use the code room, once?"
"Uhh," Orph furrowed his brow, peered down to his empty plate, though he caught eyes with Zed from across the kitchen, behind Tessa. He largely flailed his arms and hands before gesturing a knife-hand like movement across his throat. Orph choked a small laugh and gave Tessa an honest look he was hoping he conveyed properly, "Nope. We just followed the recipe."
"Well, it was really good," Tessa stated through a satisfied sigh, though she slowly stood from the table as everyone else slowly began to pick up and take their dirty dishes to the sink. Tessa picked up her plate, rubbed Ace's shoulder as she passed him, and head towards the kitchen with everyone else, "Thank you, guys, I really don't know what to say... That was wonderful. You can just, uh... Leave the dishes in the sink and I'll get to them."
"Cute story," Orph stated cheekily as he swiped Tessa's dirty plate from her right hand; she flinched and froze in her tracks.
"I'll take THAT," Nox meeped as he successfully yanked the near empty glass from Tessa's left hand. She uttered an annoyed laugh and softly grappled for her apron, which was lazily slouched to the bar stool at the kitchen island.
"You guys," Tessa complained as everyone began to try and keep her from the dirty dishes.
"Nope, that's mine," Jax eased nonchalantly as he swiped the apron out of her loose grasp. Tessa ogled him and began to laugh, though the second Jax unraveled the apron and put it on, everyone peered to him in delightful amusement. He put his hands on his hips, puffed his chest and read the words on the apron aloud, "I am KITCHEN QUEEN. HEAR ME ROAR."
"C'mon, kitchen queen," Duke stated through a hard laugh as he threw a dish rag to Jax. It messily slopped to the top of his head.
"More like kitchen dunce," Tej stifled a chuckle quietly, which cued everyone else into hard laughter.
"Y'guys," Tessa urged yet again as every one of her boys began to pile into the kitchen, though she flinched once Finn made his presence known next to her.
"Shoo, you go," Finn finally urged as he desperately tried to shuffle Tessa out of the kitchen.
"Wait, you guys cooked and stuff, I-I just-" Tessa was interrupted.
"Alright, m'lady, let's get one thing clear," Orph peeled himself from the kitchen sink; his yellow dish gloves were wet and soapy as he suddenly began to wave around a dish cleaning utensil, "You cook, clean, launder and care for..." Orph stopped to count all the men in the room, "... All EIGHT of us. I don't even think Snow White had such a crazy lifestyle. Now go before I bow out and follow Zed to a place I probably shouldn't."
"What?" Tessa choked through a giggle, though Ace tenderly grabbed Tessa's lower arm, turned her around and gestured towards the entrance of the Sky Room.
Tessa flinched, glanced at Ace and finally hooked her attention to Zed, who stood patiently waiting for her to join him. He stood with one of Tessa's fluffy white bath towels folded over his arm. He gently gestured in the direction of their bedroom, to insinuate that her spoils were far from over. Tessa gently gave her attention back to Ace in a draw of delighted surprise, though she peered into his eyes as if to question if they were going to be okay with all the chores she usually did.
"We love you, ma," Ace's matured voice eased, he gave Tessa a look of warm earnest as he gently began to nudge her towards Zed, "Go. I'll keep the house from catching fire, I promise."
Tessa uttered a concerned giggle, glanced back to the seven men in the kitchen and finally turned away for good. Before she could turn back around and demand that she help out, Zed grappled her hand and tugged her to their love nest. As Zed closed off their wing of the castle, he tightly shut their bedroom door behind them and lead her to their marvelous, pearly bathroom. He had drawn her a hot bath, one with candles and soapy, glittery bubbles. He knew Tessa wasn't one to pamper herself often, though when necessary, he made sure it was as glorious and as girly as possible. Before long, he coaxed her into their large bathtub, and though he was so tempted to join her, he kept himself out of the equation. He sat on the edge of their massive tub, directly behind Tessa's relaxing body, so to rub her shoulders and comb through her hair.
"I really don't know what I did to deserve this," Tessa mumbled as she peered to her knees, which peeked out from the glossy white bath water and pink soap bubbles. Little flower petals hung about and sat perfectly even with the surface of the water. She scoffed a small laugh, shook her head and slumped her shoulders as Zed worked at the knots. She continued on through a gentle groan of relief, "I should get kicked outta places more often, yeah?"
"You do a lot for us," Zed's calm voice stated, he furrowed his brow and kept his concentration on the thick, angry knots in Tessa's shoulders, "You've been through so much, and yet still you keep this castle afloat."
"I have help," Tessa shrugged, though she winced as it jostled Zed's hands on her slippery, soapy skin.
"Sure, but it's mostly just Ace and I," Zed eased, he warmly pulled her hair to the side and covered it over the front of her bare chest, so to have an easier time rubbing her shoulders, "The five are usually gone during game day... You make marvelous dinners for us, and Ace is good about helping you with dishes, afterwards... I know I drop the ball on that, a lot..."
"I don't hold it against you," Tessa sighed, "You do a lot around here, anyhow."
"Well, tonight's your night," Zed stated confidently as he began to work a little higher up her shoulders, to her neck. She eased another groan through a giggle as he loosened all her muscles, "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thank you," Tessa mumbled as she lulled her eyes closed and finally rested her head back in Zed's lap.
He eased his hands off of her shoulders and lovingly brushed the bangs out of her face. He caught a long, ogling glance of the front of her wet, bare body and felt his face heat up. He heaved a shaky sigh and, though he was well versed in their routines, the main act of love-making wasn't something new to him, he still could feel those silver-coded butterflies line his stomach in a boyish, giddy way he was glad he could never get over, the way she made his head swim with delight. He cocked an eyebrow and, though he was aware this night was all about what she wanted, he was somehow hoping it'd eventually include him in the bathtub with her. He placed a warm kiss on her forehead.
"I'm proud of you for keeping your cool, through this whole mess," Zed stated tenderly, Tessa cracked her eyes open.
"Through being dropped out of Academy?" Tessa wondered quietly, Zed shrugged.
"Well, yeah... How you handle being expelled from Academy, amongst... Other places," Zed tip-toed around the topic of Sugar Rush. He shrugged lightly and finally caught eyes with her, "You handle it with such grace... And, though you know it's all wrong and the politics in it are backwards, you don't let anger drive you. The Tessa I came to know, on our 'game-jumping' days to EZ Living, is not the Tessa I know now."
"I've become weak, huh," Tessa chortled, as if to potentially convey that she was being sarcastic.
"You've become mature," Zed stated, "Back then, you were Sugar Rush's princess."
Tessa furrowed her brows, closed her eyes and inhaled a shaky breath. She finally opened her teary eyes and glued them to Zed's as he carried on.
"You're ready to be Sugar Rush's Queen, my love," Zed eased knowingly, his deep voice was as soft as velvet.
"Get me the key in, and I'd prove my worth," Tessa's voice cracked as tears finally dripped down her cheeks, though Zed was quick to wipe them away.
"You have the key," Zed's voice softly stabbed after a few moments of silence.
Tessa grimaced, sat up and faced Zed in the water. Her hair covered her chest and the water came to just underneath her breasts. She shook her head, crossed her arms and gave Zed a look as if to wonder if he really meant what he said.
"Ace?" Tessa whispered, Zed cocked an eyebrow.
"Love, he's a User..." Zed stated tenderly, "Users can reverse codes, they can bring a permanent game-over back from the pixelated-dead..."
Tessa raised her eyebrows softly and eagerly peered to Zed's mouth as he continued on with what she knew he was going to say.
"They can bring down force fields..." Zed concluded, though Tessa scoffed a hard sigh and looked away.
"I can't use him, Zed, we can't DO that to him... He doesn't even know of his powers," Tessa complained lightly, though Zed gestured his hands down tenderly, as if to silently ask her to not get so worked up.
"We don't need to act now," Zed calmed, "It's something to think about... If you want to go back, I'm pretty sure, with Ace's ability... He could get you back."
Tessa stared Zed down in hard contemplation and knew, all along, she had known said fact, though she tried so hard not to admit it to herself. She heaved a hard sigh through her nose and finally began to pool water into her hands; a few flower petals swirled chaotically with the rippling water. She shook her head, rubbed some hot water on her bare arms and gave Zed a look of nervous delight.
"I'll think about it... We need to get over the hurdle, of telling him just exactly who he is, first," Tessa waggled her finger.
"I know he'll handle it well," Zed grumbled, he finally began to paw at the hot water, "Got room for a King somewhere, in there?"
"I'm not sure you're worthy," Tessa teased as she held her nose in the air, crossed her arms and gave him a smirk. Zed furrowed his brow with a wide smile.
"I can prove my worth, if you just let me try," Zed played, though just as Tessa was about to protest, Zed took off his shirt slowly and revealed all the hard work he had been putting into building muscle and strength. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and desperately attempted to find some form of cheeky retort to volley at him, though she fell short.
"Hello, your majesty," Tessa chuckled, Zed shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"That's all it took? If I would've known that, I would've ditched the shirt long ago!" Zed uttered in hard, playful annoyance.
A/N: I drew fanart for this chapter, the part in the mud pits titled 'Ace To Zed' - it's a bit deeper in my deviantART gallery because I drew it sometime last year - username Vyntresser :)