I"M BACK!

And for good.

Now, for a GT skit written by a author who I have been excited to see their interpretation of GT from for a long time, it's ilikethemsalty! (I typed in "Cary Swirls" about twelve times before putting their current username in. Curse you brain!)

GT: *shivers* Wh-where am I?

Me: *doesn't notice and is too busy cooing at a baby penguin*

Me: Awwww! *claps excitedly as a penguin slides down a snowy hill*

GT: I-I'm freezing here you know!

Me: Aww look at it go! Go penguin! *claps*

Me: *finally notices GT* Wait, GT, what are you doing here?

GT: Aren't you… supposed to be torturing me or something?

Me: *snaps fingers and a calendar appears, marked on every day except for today as 'watch cute penguins'* Dang it, you're right. *squints* Yeah, today's not a penguin watching day. Sorry for that misunderstanding.

Me: Sorry cute penguin. I'll watch you later. *pets penguin*

GT: Isn't that interfering with nature?

Me: Shut up. *rubs hands together maniacally* All right, GT. You ready?

GT: Umm, no—

Me: Great! *snaps fingers and a couch appears in the middle of the snow* Sit, sit.

GT: *suspiciously sits*

Me: *sits down* *snaps fingers and two cups of tea appear* Here, have some tea.

GT: *takes the tea suspiciously*

Me: *sips tea* So, what's the status with you and Stina?

GT: Isn't this supposed to be torture?

Me: straight to the point, I see. *sighs*

GT: No, no, wait—

Me: *snaps fingers* *a chainsaw appears* Just got it polished, you like?

GT: *whimpers* Please don't hurt me.

Me: I would never *chainsaw buzzes* dream of it. *approaches GT with the chainsaw roaring*

GT: *flinches back* Please don't use that thing on me. I prefer myself whole.

Me: Wait what? I just wanted your opinion on it. It's got a new paint job too *proudly holds it up*

GT: *sighs in relief* Oh, well, it seems nice I guess.

Me: ONLY NICE? *chainsaw starts roaring more loudly*

GT: Very very nice! *trembles*

Me: *lowers chainsaw* Thank you. *smiles brightly* *sets chainsaw down* Sorry, I just wanted to know, cause green can be too bold, especially on chainsaws, you know?

GT: *nods weirdly* Yeah.

Me: yeah sorry. Ok now we can get to the actual torture.

GT: wait what?

Me: *snaps fingers and a book appears* hmm, let's see, *strokes book* we could always go with the classic nails on chalkboard thing— nah…. Or maybe the whole compliment to make 'em break-

GT: Are you- you're literally reading a book on how to torture people? Amateur hour.

Me: *slams book closed* did-you-just-call-me-an-amateur?

GT: Yeah didn't you hear me?

Me: *chuckles, quietly at first, and then a full on evil laugh* YOU NEVER INSULT A WRITER ON BEING AN AMATEUR IN TORTURE! Dude, didn't you learn anything from your creator?

GT: yeah my whole childhood consisted of— what are you doing?

Me: *slowly circles GT* I know where you're weak, GT. *picks up chainsaw and casually strokes it*

GT: Ummm, ok—

Me: You're funny.

GT: Wait what—

Me: You're an icon.

GT: Why are you doing this-

Me: You light up the author's notes at the beginning of the chapters.

GT: *visibly scared* nobody's complimented me before.

Me: You're- *searches for a compliment* uh, brave?

GT: *trembles*

Me: You're- an interesting character.

GT: *faints*

Me: *snorts* wait that actually worked? *checks book* hmm. 'works on 2 percent of insecure, tortured characters. Results not guaranteed.' Guess he's in the 2 percent quartile. Ok, time for you to go home, GT. *rolls GT into a small coffin* sorry if it's uncomfortable, dude, I was out of other containers. *tosses coffin into the ocean* BYE!

Thank you ilikethemsalty!

Now, let me explain about my earlier statement:

I've procrastinated a lot with wanderling, and it's taking dangerously long to complete. So, to make a long story short, wanderling is COMING OUT ON AN INTERVAL! A DEPENDABLE ONE, WITH HIATUS INSURANCE!(Aka prewritten chapters).

Every 1-3 days I will be posting a new chapter!

Please make this work worth it by commenting. It shows that people read and enjoy this, and it gives me motivation to write more, But I will never hold this story hostage for comments, no matter how little we get.

I recently got a VR headset, so anyone who has one will understand why I went on that hiatus.

Anyone who doesn't should buy one. Seriously, it's amazing.

Comments!

MidnightBunnyy: My answer is simply yes. I'll put you back on the GT torture list!

A very obsessed fangirl: Fun fact: The psychopath joke was inspired by a comment by Mythicalis4real, who hasn't been on here in a while. Hope they come back soon. I'm glad you liked it! Just keep that chapter in mind while you're reading this one.

thereisaredeemer: GT's skits can be confusing out of context. GT was an OC I created who developed over the chapters, and I had the idea of sending him to other authors to see their take on him. It was really cool to see an idea and a personality I came up with interpreted by different writing styles. So yes, I really do send him to people, and they write a funny interaction between them and GT and send it to me. If you'd like to do one, you can let me know. Answering your first question: Yes. Your second question: Read the chapter and you'll see. That's all I'm saying. Third quetion: That is a really good question, and one I can answer. Keep asking questions like these. Yes, team valiant is still together, although not very active as of now. But maybe that will change?

ilikethemsalty: That's okay. Although for some reason I keep calling you Cary out of force of habit.

Sarah: YES! YES! THANK YOU! YEAAAAHHH!

GT: (pulls party popper)

We got our first piece of serious criticism! Thank you! As an author, I know that not everybody will like my writing style, and that's fine. The fact that you spoke out about it shows that you're a good critic. Thanks!

Multishipping101: Thanks! Marella on the cover would be pretty cool too.

Now, on with the story!

Seventeen

She had really done it now.

As Sophie unsurely approached Everglen, she reflected on how she had gotten into this mess in the first place.

It had all started about an hour after Dex and Biana left. She had just finished cleaning Verdi, and had feathers all over her. That was when the call from Fitz came.

"Sophie, I just saw Iggy walk by my room wearing a white disco suit."

"Biana."

"Let me guess, she and Dex were being-"

"Barf-worthy? You bet."

"You should try having to be in the same building as them."

"Do they even go out for dates?"

"What's a date?"

"You don't know what that is?"

"Dating has a slightly different meaning in the Elvin language."

From there she had explained what it was, and of course, Fitz being the hopeless romantic he was-

"Well, why don't we try that? It would be so romantic! I could set up a diner in the ballroom..."

And he just went on from there. She had agreed to it, partially because it could indeed be romantic, and also partially to get him to stop talking. It seemed to be one of life's mysteries why people were so endearing when they were rambling on and on.

Sophie took a deep breath, walked into Everglen, took a right and stepped into an... old-fashioned diner?

The entire ballroom had been transformed into a perfect replica of a human diner that seemed to be called "The Counter". It was complete with everything, including jukeboxes, old newspaper articles featuring the diner hung up on the wall, and a recruitment poster for the Vietnam war. She suddenly felt overdressed, considering that she was wearing a regal cape outfit.

Fitz noticed her and walked over to her. He was wearing a ridiculous old-timey outfit that blened right in with the diner.

"Like it?"

"Just... how?"

"None of this is actually real, Sophie. Look." He placed his hand on the table, and it passed right through it.

"What the-"

"It's just light. A flasher just took our existing information on the latest human food givers, and replicated it through balls of light."

"Where did you find that outfit?"

Fitz grinned. "What do you mean? You're wearing it as well."

Sophie looked down and saw that, she was indeed wearing it as well.

"It's all light."

"Yep."

"Well, let's take a seat, shall we?"

"Indeed we shall."

They took a seat. (At this point Sophie didn't even want to know how that worked), and a waiter came over to their table. "May I take your orders?"

"Okay, ummm..." Fitz squinted at his name tag. "Not Grady. Nice name."

"Thank you."

"Well, I'll take whatever 'veal' is. That sounds like a tasty plant!"

"Wait, Fitz, that's not-"

"And what will you be having, miss?"

"I'll just have a potato."

Fitz looked at her horrified. "Why would you eat an animal?"

"Potatoes aren't animals."

"Really? Because I'm fairly sure-"

"Will that be all?"

"I guess so."

The waiter left, and walked back to the counter with their orders.

"Is any of this food real?"

"It's all just light."

"Also, do you even know what veal is?"

"Well, not really."

Considering that he would probably be traumatized if he found out he ordered it, she decided not to tell him. She yelled over to the waiter. "Cancel the veal!"

"Hold on, was veal actually meat?"

"I'm afraid so."

Fitz looked like he had just swallowed a rock. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"So, now what do we do?"

"I mean, what do people usually do when they go on a date?"

"It's sort of hard to explain. But they.. talk?"

"Okay."

"There's something actually on my mind I need to ask you. When you and Dex were talking, and you said you'd tell me later, what were you talking about?"

Fitz looked uncomfortable. "Well, you see-"

But they were interrupted by a commotion coming from the counter.

They looked over and saw Not Grady running towards them. He ripped off his name tag, and took off his hat. Fitz gasped. "It's Grady! Wait, what happened to Not Grady?"

Sandor and Bo emerged from the counter as well. Grady pulled his boy-bat out with a menacing touch, and pointed it at Fitz. "You. You're going down! No boy gets to be within three feet of my daughter and gets away with it!"

But then, the triplets, who were apparently disguised as a jukebox, pinned Grady to the floor. "This was our date to crash! We haven't had a cameo in like, three chapters!"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"I have no idea!"

As the fight escalated, both Sandor and Bo got in on the action.

Fitz leaned in and whispered to Sophie. "Do you want to ditch this place and go to the Panakes tree?"

Sophie shot him a grin. "You read my mind."

They both grabbed each other's hands, and leaped away.

Sophie sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree, and Fitz sat down next to her. They both looked up at the brilliant blue sky, dotted with little clouds. Fitz closed his eyes and inhaled. "We should have just done this in the beginning."

"Agreed. If anything's a date, this is."

"Yep." Fitz mimicked Biana's voice. "But I would enjoy being anywhere in the world, pookie, as long as I was with you."

Sophie snorted with laughter. "Did she actually say that?"

"And more. I may consider getting earmuffs."

"Same here. And that's just for their visits."

They both sat up, and Fitz turned around to look at her. "Although, that definitely does apply for me as well. The only reason I went through the trouble of setting up the diner was because of you."

"That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say, Fitzroy Avery Vacker."

"Well, I have something that might be even sweeter."

HE"S GONNA KISS YOU HE'S GONNA KISS YOU!

Plus,-

But they were kissing before her brain could even finish that sentence.

This was a definite first for her. She had never had a "romantic" kiss before, and she had been missing out.

After what seemed like hours, they finally pulled away. Instead of being embarrassed or shocked, Fitz was beaming and content. She felt better about her relationship than she had in a long time. They had been through some serious drama, but any lingering problems between seemed to be finally swept away, both of them finally in harmony with each other.

Fitz's eyes were sparkling, and without a doubt in the world, he said it.

"I think I'm in love with you, Sophie Foster."

"And I think I'm in love with you."

As soon as they started kissing again, they heard someone clearing their throat. They quickly broke apart, faces beet red, and saw Linh, who was watching them with an amused grin on her face. "Well, it's nice to see you lovebirds making out, but we need you. We're finally going to wake up Keefe.

For Sokeefe shippers:

A public service message by IStillHopeForSophex:

Other uses of this chapter! (for Sokeefe shippers)

Using it to pick up animal droppings!

Use it as a coaster!

Throw it at someone!

Throw it at GT!

Eat it with syrup!

And many more exciting possibilities!