Pancakes, Presents, and Phone Numbers
While Apple was laughing over what Rotbart had said, Rotbart was laughing over what Apple had told the entire school:
"You're kidding! You've gotta be kidding!" He chortled as he struggled not to choke on his boysenberry pancakes.
"As Cedar would say: 'No lie.'" Raven told him as she sipped her juice. "You've become the most desirable hero in the history of EAH. Humble, sweet, brave, chivalrous, handsome…"
"Ugggh, stop. Not while I'm eating." Rotbart groaned.
"Although Maddie DID say that you were probably some sort of bad boy with a rep to keep."
Rotbart stared at Raven in amazement. "Huh." He finally said. "Did I ever mention that your weirdo friend is kind of scary?"
"Multiple times. And Duchess called you a twit, but it was obvious that she was totally jealous of Apple."
"Huh." Rotbart said broodingly. He was mostly over Duchess, but he still sometimes wondered what it could have been like if Duchess had been able to view him as a hero when he left their story.
Raven noticed her brother's pensiveness and decided to change the subject. "I've got your Christmas present here." She said as she pulled a package out of her purse.
Rotbart rolled his eyes. "Aw come on, not this again…"
"Oh you like it, and you know it!" She teased. "Go on, open it."
Rotty scowled at his sister and slowly removed the wrapping paper, piece by piece, with painstaking neatness. Raven grinned. As much as her brother disliked Christmas and insisted that his own birthday was not a big deal, she knew that he secretly longed to get presents like everybody else and loved the ones that she gave him. Which was no surprise since the good "evil" princess was very good at finding just the right present for others.
Rotbart eyes lit up when he saw the label on the box. "Is this?…"
"Uh-huh. The Rubilacex Spell-Extractor 2.5!"
"But how did you get this?! They're not supposed to be out in stores yet!"
"Mom still has some connections on the Black Magic Market."
"Ah, of course."
"But I paid for it. So technically this gift is from both us."
"Did you tell her it was a Christmas gift?"
"No, I said that you had run out of ways to be a butt, and she was happy to oblige."
Rotbart snorted. "As if. Tell her I said thanks."
"You should call her one of these days yourself, you know; it shouldn't just be me."
"Well, yeah…" And then an idea struck him. "Can I get her new number from your phone?" He asked.
"Sure." Raven said as she handed him her phone.
But Rotbart didn't just put the Wicked Queen's number into his phone. He also put Apple White's number in there. The sooner they got started plotting, the better.
"Thanks." He said as he handed the phone back. "And thanks for the extractor, it's awesome!"
"Just don't use it to torture Apple." She cautioned.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Especially since my precious little sister could get me expelled for that. AND I swore on my powers not to harm her."
"Oh yeah…" Raven had forgotten about the Rotbart swearing-on-his-powers part. That seemed a little extreme. "Why did you promise THAT?"
He shrugged. "It was the only way for her to take me seriously? Besides," he said with a wicked grin. "I've got some other victims in mind for this baby!" It had just occurred to him that the Spell-Extractor 2.5 could come in very handy for his upcoming project with the crown princess.
Raven shuddered. "I don't wanna know."
"Good. 'Cuz I'm not telling. Another round of pancakes?"
"You know it!"