A/N: Yep, I'm terrible. It has been way too long since I updated, and I apologize for this. My muse decided to fly the coop for a while, and forcing yourself to write without a muse is... It's a pain. Luckily life stuff is beginning to look up again, so here's hoping it continues that way. Thanks to all for being patient, and I hope you enjoy the final chapter to Cupidiocy.
Poof!
A cloud of purple smoke billowed into existence in the foyer of the God of Love's mansion, after which it rapidly dissipated, revealing the pair of fairy godparents and their still red-faced godchild. "Alright-" Timmy began, taking a moment to zip his fly before he gave the foyer a quick once-over. "This is the place, right guys?"
Wanda directed her attention at a pair of large, light pink-colored wooden doors in front of them, above which hung a painting of the self-proclaimed 'God of Love' himself, Cupid. Her gaze slowly scanned the rest of the foyer, taking note of the pink, lavender, and white color scheme, as well as the various bows Cupid used to deliver his arrows of Love to(usually) unsuspecting targets. "I'm gonna go with 'yeah'." Wanda deadpanned. "Looks like he still redecorates every year... Might've expanded too, can't say I remember the foyer being this... Extravagant."
It was Timmy's turn to look around the room they were in, his neck craning back to allow him to look up at the ceiling, which seemed to be nearly thirty to forty feet above them. Hanging from the middle of the ceiling on a shiny, golden chain was a huge, opulent chandelier, the lights replaced with some sort of pink, heart-shaped crystals that gave off a similar glow to the pink aura he'd seen coming from the mark on his babysitter's rear-end. The ceiling itself was made of white tiles sporting a pink outline, while the walls were a pastel lavender color with pink, six inch-spaced lines going down them, various stylized hearts of the same hue forming curving zigzags between the lines.
The left and right walls each sported three nearly ceiling-high windows, while the wall behind Timmy that held the mansion's front door sported an additional two at either side of the door, for a grand total of ten, each having white, lavender-trimmed curtains that were as long as the windows were tall, and parted to let in the soft, soothing light of Fairy World. Outside, one could see the various buildings that made up the main city area, many of them floating on clouds and connected to each other by bridges of rainbow-colored light.
Beautiful and magnificent as the city was, however; the brunet turned his attention back to the room he and his godparents occupied, his gaze briefly drifting over the various couches, loveseats, and armchairs which sat on either side of the door that he presumed led deeper into the mansion. "It's certainly... Uh... 'Fitting' for him, I guess."
"And look!" Cosmo exclaimed, disappearing in a puff of smoke and near-instantly reappearing on one of the many couches, in front of which sat a white, decorative-looking coffee table that held several bowls, some containing fruit, others candy. "He even put out sweets for his guests while they wait!" The green-haired fairy excitedly grabbed a handful of small, heart-shaped chocolates and tossed them into his mouth, then poofed onto another couch on the opposite side of the room and did the same at that one's snack table.
"Wait? A waiting area?!" Timmy nearly yelled, his voice reverberating off the high walls of the foyer. "I get that he's Cupid, and that today's super important, but... A waiting area?! Really?!" The teen turned to face his godmother, shooting her an incredulous look.
"Oh, you know how Cupid is... Even the whole 'God of Love' thing is just him playing up the fact that he can affect true love while the rest of us can't. He can call himself a 'God' all he wants, he's still a fairy like Cosmo and I, just one who... Can exploit the rules a bit more." The pinkette shrugged indifferently. "But before we go and see him, how about telling us why you wished us here in the first place, Timmy? What's going on? Why did you seem so on edge when you came back up to your room-"
"And why was your barn door open?" Cosmo interjected, suddenly poofing into existence next to his wife, his lips stained with chocolate.
The numerous questions quickly reminded Timmy why he and his godparents were there, along with how urgent it was that they speak with Cupid and break whatever spell he cast on Vicky. "Uh... A-About that... L-Let's just say you were right about Cupid being involved with how Vicky's acting, okay?" The fourteen year old stammered out nervously, his cheeks again adopting the rosy tint they'd been sporting when he darted into his room. "Once we... Um... Have Cupid undo... Whatever he did to her, then I'll tell you, but we- We don't really have a lot of time before Vicky goes up to my room to see what's taking me so long, I-I told her I was just going to check my phone, so..."
"Okay...?" Wanda remarked bemusedly, her godchild's nervous stammering only serving to fuel her curiosity over what happened between him and his babysitter down in the living room. "Well, Cupid's mansion is pretty big... No telling where exactly he is at this very moment, especially seeing as how today is Valentine's day..."
"Agh... Right, I didn't think of that... Didn't expect this place to be so big, either..." The brunet muttered out as he finished, realizing the foyer itself was big enough to accommodate several instances of his house, so there was no telling how large and sprawling the rest of the mansion was. "Hm... Oh!" The teen snapped his fingers. "Couldn't I just wish us to wherever Cupid is? You don't need to know where he is to make that wish, right?"
"Well... No, I suppose not... But you know how much of a drama queen Cupid can be sometimes. If he's in the middle of something and we interrupt it..." The pink-haired fairy frowned and rolled her eyes. "He'll never let us hear the end of it."
"Well he can get over it." Timmy replied sternly, not being in the mood to deal with the verbal tantrums of a fairy that insisted on wearing diapers. "I wish we were in the same place as Cupid!"
As before, Cosmo and Wanda's star-tipped wands flickered to life and gave off a yellow-gold light, then poofed the three away in a large puff of smoke, leaving the foyer empty.
The familiar 'poof' of his godparents' wands sounded in Timmy's ears as he felt thick, soft carpeting appear beneath his feet, though as he opened his eyes, he found his vision briefly obscured by the purplish smoke their magic produced, which he was quick to fan away with his hand. "Ack... Where... Where are we...?" The teen, along with his fairy godparents, looked around the room they now found themselves in, their gazes soon falling upon a giant(as far as beds go) round canopy bed a few feet in front of them, covered by a purple, thick, fluffy comforter. Against the far wall that served a the headboard for the bed were over a dozen pink, purple, and white pillows, and the canopy itself was a dark shade of purple that wouldn't look out of place above Tootie's bed, which Timmy assumed was quite useful for blocking out the sun when the bed's owner wanted to sleep in.
"Looks like the master bedroom." Wanda offered, noticing the highly decorative dressers, wardrobes, and bureaus that lined the walls, many of which held pictures of Cupid alongside several well-known residents of Fairy World, like the Tooth Fairy and Jorgen Von Strangle, as well as other important magical beings, such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Coming as somewhat of a surprise to the pink-haired fairy, there was even a picture from roughly four years ago of Cupid, Timmy, herself, and Cosmo; taken on the day that Timmy saved Fairy World from a corporate takeover by the Pixies.
"Okay... So where is he?" The brunet glanced about the room, his eyes locking on to a few more bows that hung on the walls, several of which were in varying states of disrepair. Below the many trademark weapons of the God of Love was a table that held a great many bottles of myriad shapes, colors, and sizes, all of them containing an equally myriad number of substances that ranged from bubbling liquid to sludgy goop to fine, powdery sand that seemed to give off light all on its own. Scattered about in front of the various bottles were scribbled notes and formulae that, from what Timmy could tell, made little to no sense at all, as they started out as number and letters like any normal mathematical formula, only to dip into strange, runic glyphs, or worse, crude drawings that appeared completely unrelated in any way. "What... Is all this stuff, anyway?" The teen strode over to the desk, his godparents floating close behind.
"Hm..." Cosmo chimed in with a curious hum as he reached for a small stack of papers and studied them. "Looks like... Recipes? Ooh! Maybe we can find the one for those cupcakes he always wins the Fairy World Bakeathon with!" The green-haired fairy remarked excitedly as he shuffled through the scattered papers on the table, many of which bore strange, colorful stains and splotches.
"Think you might have better luck in the kitchen, Honey..." Wanda floated a bit closer to the desk, allowing her a better look at the variously shaped and colored bottles. "Ruby dust, liquified ginger root, melted ever-ice, weeping willow tears... None of this should be used in baking, not unless you..." The pinkette trailed off and looked up, her eyes widening in realization. "These are all love potion ingredients, of course!"
"All of them? How much stuff goes into a love potion?" Timmy asked incredulously, scarcely able to believe a single potion could require such a huge variety of ingredients.
"Oh, only about two... Or three of any of these substances, at the most." The female fairy gave her wand a quick little wave, causing three small bottles to float off the shelves of the table and bunch up next to each other in front of her godchild. "And while I'm not quite as familiar with magical alchemy as Cupid evidently must be, I do know that love potions, much like love itself, come in many different forms, some being far more intense than others. Like, love, lust... Even simple endearment, all of it can be induced with the application of the right combination of ingredients."
"...How come you've never mentioned knowing about all this stuff before now?" Timmy averted his gaze from the trio of colorful bottles bunched up on the table in front of him, and instead focused on his godmother, the fourteen year old's head tilted ever so slightly to the left.
"There was never any need to, and you've never asked." Wanda replied rather simply, shrugging her shoulders.
"Huh... Alright, so... What you're saying is... The ingredients could be sorted into... Groups, right? Like, each one has a different intensity, and a different aspect of... Affection? If I'm following you right so far?" The teen scanned the shelves again, mentally cursing the fact that only the bottles themselves were labeled, thus leaving him clueless as to what each ingredient actually did.
"Well... It's a bit more complicated than that, but seeing as how we're short on time, yes, that's a basic explanation of how this works." Wanda nodded and smiled, feeling a bit of pride well up in her chest at how much Timmy had grown in the past four years. Mischievous and carefree as he could be at times, he had a certain aptitude for learning things that allowed him to grasp what should have been rather foreign concepts(to a human, anyway) rather easily, so long as those things were interesting to him in the first place.
"Okay, so then... Does that mean you could..." The brunet trailed off and fell silent as he scanned the shelves, then slowly reached out and grabbed a bottle of dark, reddish liquid off of one. "I dunno what any of these do, but..." He reached for another shelf, this time snatching up a bottle of bright, luminescent violet liquid. "So... Three, right?" Once more, Timmy reached for the shelves, this time pulling his hand back with a bottle of pink dust that looked almost like sand.
"Hm..." Wanda floated down so she was nearly level with Timmy, then leaned in to read the labels of the bottles he'd procured from the shelves. "Rosy quartz dust, moonflower sap, and... Succubus blood?"
"Now that sounds like a party!" Cosmo chimed in excitedly, making both his godchild and his wife jump in surprise.
"Where does he even get this- Er... Probably better off not knowing, actually..." The pink-haired fairy glanced to her left at the teen after a moment, one eyebrow quirked up curiously. "Why these three?"
"Uh... No reason?" Timmy snatched up the bottle of what Wanda had referred to as 'Rosy Quartz Dust' and gently shook it. "I just picked three ingredients at random... Why? There something special about them?"
"Apart from them all being very strong ingredients, each of them affects a different group-or aspect, like you said earlier-of affection. Ground up rosy quartz is for simple crushes, or getting someone to 'like' someone else; while moonflower sap can make someone fall head over heels for a person with just one other 'love' ingredient, no matter the potency. Finally, succubus blood is..." Wanda took pause, her cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink that nearly matched the similarly-colored dust in the bottle. "...Probably not something you should be concerned about at your age. Let's just say it can make people very... Amorous. It's one of the few ingredients that can be used all on its own, though it's generally recommended that you dilute it, bit too strong by itself."
"Uh... You lost me at 'amorous'. What's that?" The fourteen year old questioned warily, remembering how forward Vicky had become with her advances, shortly before he escaped her grasp.
"That's-Um..." The teen's fairy godmother tapped her fingers together nervously. "W-Well, when two people really like each other, the tend to consummate their feelings by-Er..."
Timmy hung his head, having already heard enough to know exactly where the conversation was going. "Sex. Gotcha... Succubus blood makes people... Wanna have sex."
"Oh-Ahem-" Wanda cleared her throat in surprise and glanced away, her blush deepening to a light shade of red. "Y-You already know a-about... I-Um... I assume from... Classes at school?"
"Eh... Yeah, learned about most of that stuff in Health class..." The teen drummed his fingers on the table in embarrassment as he went well out of his way to avoid making eye contact with his fairy godmother. "Y'know, s-stuff about puberty, the changes it causes, feelings I'd apparently start g-getting for other people, and then... Stuff about sex, differences between girls and boys..."
"And then nine months later, you were born!" Cosmo interjected, in a manner that he likely thought would be helpful.
"Ehe... Y-Yeah, that too." The brunet grinned in amusement, while titling his head down and rubbing the back of it self-consciously. "So... We don't have to have 'The Talk'... Right?"
"Oh! Um... N-No, I suppose that means we don't..." Wanda quickly snapped her head back over to her godchild, the relief clearly evident in her voice. "And thank heavens we don't, it's been way too long since I had to tell one of my godchildren about all that... I haven't the faintest idea where I'd even start..." She thought to herself, breathing a mental sigh of relief.
"Phew... That's good." Timmy wiped his brow, breathing out an actual sigh of relief. "I've had an awkward enough day already, what with how Vicky's been acting..."
Fwish!
"Hm? You two hear that?" The teen's ears perked up at the sound that he could best describe as an arrow or something similar sailing through the air. In fact, that was almost exactly what it sounded like, if the fantasy video games he played were anything to go off of. He quickly made his way toward the noise, crossing to the opposite side of master bedroom toward a pair of open, glass-paned doors that seemed to lead out onto a fairly spacious balcony. "It sounded like it came from out here-"
"Wait!" Wanda darted over to Timmy, her hand settling on his shoulder and bringing him to a halt, before she hovered around, then in front of him, blocking his way. "You're just gonna go out there and talk to him? Need I remind you it's Valentine's Day? The day Cupid is at his most powerful?"
"I know what day it is, Wanda; and yes, I was gonna just go out there and talk to him. Cupid can get on anyone's nerves, but I don't think he's got anything against me..." The brunet crossed his arms and pouted in thought, trying to remember if he'd done anything in recent memory that might have angered the self-proclaimed God of Love.
"I doubt that he does, but you being here is, for one, going to upset his quota, because you're supposed to be back on Earth with Vicky, remember? He's not going to appreciate you avoiding the person he set you up with. Second, he's going to be armed with his Love Bow, along with arrows, all of which I'd have to assume are dipped in some concoction he made out of all those ingredients on that table." The pink-haired fairy pointed her wand at the table she, Cosmo, and Timmy had been at just a short while ago. "If he so chooses, he could shoot you with one and make you fall in love with... Really anyone of his choosing. Me, Cosmo, Jorgen, Tootie... Heck, even one of those pillows on his bed, if he feels like it."
"And if he's... Using the same stuff that he used on Vicky..." Timmy gulped, the mental image of himself falling in love with and embracing Jorgen Von Strangle springing to the forefront of his thoughts. "Eugh..." He shuddered in horror, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to mentally force the image out of his head. "O-Okay, good point... So what can we do? Vicky's gonna be wondering where I am if we take much longer here, and after what she tried to do to me downstairs, I-" Timmy cut himself short, his cheeks turning a bright cherry-red as he remembered this was Wanda he was talking to. "N-Not leaving here w-without a cure for the spell Cupid cast on her is... It's not a g-good idea."
"...You're starting to worry me a bit, Honey... Care to tell me just what happened when you went downstairs with those magic-detecting glasses?" The fairy questioned in her usual concerned, motherly tone.
"Uh..." Timmy's gaze darted about the room shiftily, wondering whether or not it was a good idea to divulge what had happened with his babysitter to his godmother. "It's not like it was anything bad... Not- Not really, anyway..." He felt a familiar heat bloom across his cheeks once more. His rather intimate encounter with the older girl hadn't been entirely unwanted, that much he was sure of, though the fact that it was Vicky who was kissing him and... Touching him did come as a serious shock.
Again, the girl, despite being a fountain of vitriol and disdain for him most days; was indeed pretty attractive, and it was clear to the brunet that even though Tootie was the 'girlier' and cuter of the two sisters, Vicky knew how to act cute if she wanted to-or rather-if she wanted something. It felt downright bizarre to see Vicky in this light, as a girl instead of his evil babysitter; but now that he'd had some time to consider it... "I wouldn't mind trying to get to know her..." Timmy thought to himself, wondering if Vicky was even the 'dating' type. "So long as she's not acting... Like she is now."
Fwish!
Another sound of an arrow being loosed from a bow, snapping the fourteen year old out of his reverie as his gaze refocused on his godmother. "Timmy, anything you wanna talk about... You know Cosmo and I are here for you, right?"
"I know, Wanda. Really, I'm fine, just wanna get this done and be back before Vicky goes looking for me in my room..." Timmy replied in a more calm tone, doing his best to assuage his godmother's now obvious concerns. "Lemme think... Oh!" He snapped his fingers, scarcely able to believe he hadn't thought of the idea sooner. "I wish-"
Meanwhile, out on the balcony...
Cupid fired yet another arrow from his enchanted Love Bow, the thin missile flying through an opening in the cloud's of Fairy World and cutting through the air with a low 'fwish' as it zoomed down to Earth and its intended target. "And... Boop!" The Love Fairy produced a small notepad from the inner pocket of his pink suit-jacket and briefly transformed his bow into a pen, then drew a check mark next to the name of his target: Chad. "Hm... I really should remember to write down their last names too..." Cupid mused aloud to himself, lightly tapping his index finger to his chin in thought, before shrugging and returning his list of targets to his coat pocket; his pen poofing back into a bow. "Now... Where are you...?" The light pink-haired fairy tapped the monocle-like accessory he was wearing, causing several smaller lenses to fall into place in front of the lens directly over his eye, giving him a zoomed-in view of a rather impressively-sized house, though it still paled in comparison to his own abode. "Yup, that's the 'Star residence all right! So where is this 'Veronica'...?"
"Eh... Ahem... Cupid?"
"That's my name, don't wear it-" The diaper-wearing fairy replied happily in his ever so slightly effeminate-sounding voice, only to go completely still as he remembered that he wasn't expecting, nor did he want, any guests to his mansion today. He had 364 days out of the year, every year to do as he pleased, but on Valentine's day, he had to work to meet a quota, as love played a big part in fueling the magical powers of all the residents of Fairy World, himself included. Much in the same way that Denzel Crocker being miserable and unable to prove the existence of fairies kept the universe(and fairy magic) in balance, so too did love play a similar role, specifically love between humans, as they had the closest relationship(for non-magical beings) to fairies.
All in all, Cupid took his job quite seriously, as it heaped no small amount of responsibility on his shoulders, considering that if he failed to meet his quota, all of Fairy World-and by extension, every child who'd been granted Fairy Godparents-would be negatively affected.
He instantly spun around, his eyes wide with surprise as he looked upon not one, not two, but three uninvited guests in his mansion. Guests he instantly recognized as Cosmo, Wanda, and the very boy-no, teenager-they'd been assigned to.
"Er... Hey." Timmy waved stiffly, looking almost as if he was unsure he even should wave in the first place.
"Wha... What are the three of you doing here?! Timmy isn't-" Cupid looked at the fourteen year old between his two fellow fairies, then up at Cosmo and Wanda themselves. "He's not supposed to be here! Why would you two-"
"I wished to come here, Cupid." The brunet interjected, coming to the defense of his godparents as he noticed the perfectly-styled pink coif in Cupid's hair begin to develop a few stress-induced split ends. "W-We... We need to talk about..." Timmy trailed off, noticing that the angelic-winged fairy in front of him already had an arrow nocked in his bow, likely in preparation to be fired at some unsuspecting target down on Earth, though Cupid was now slightly aiming the bow at him instead. "A-About my babysitter, Vicky..."
Cupid raised an eyebrow in curiosity and allowed his bowstring to return to a neutral position, though he continued to frown at his uninvited guests. "Vicky... The name sounds familiar..." He reached back into his pink tuxedo jacket, producing the small notepad that contained his list of targets for this particular Valentine's day. "Let me see... Ah! Victoria Valentine, quite the auspicious name, given what day it is, wouldn't you say?"
"Y-Yeah... Auspicious, sure... The-Uh... The thing is..." Timmy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, his cheeks pinkening yet again. "You kind of..."
"Made her fall in love? You do realize it's my job to do just that, right Timmy?" Cupid returned his list to his jacket pocket, then took hold of his bow and arrow once more.
"N-No, I get that it is, but... Maybe you-Um... Could you s-stop pointing that thing at me?" The teen nodded at the bow in the God of Love's hand, causing him to briefly look down at it, then plant one tip of the bow on the stone floor of the porch as he leaned on the other and carefully returned the arrow he was holding to a quiver on his back.
"Honey, can you make this quick? I've got a whole list of people who need my help, and the day's already more than half over. What's the issue with Vicky that's apparently so important it couldn't wait until after the one day a year I have to work?" Cupid questioned with a confident look and tone to match, but a few more split ends appeared at the tip of his exaggerated pink coif, indicating he was growing a bit impatient.
"Th-The issue is that you made Vicky fall in love with me! You must've made a mistake or something, because I-... I don't like her... That way. She's always been so evil and mean to me for... For almost six years straight now! You must have meant to hit Tootie or... Or someone else!" Timmy exclaimed, finally able to vent his frustrations on the person who'd turned the last hour or so of his life completely on its head. "And it- It's not even just love, either! She can't keep her hands off me, she kissed me a bunch of times, and then she tried to get my clothes off so we could-"
"She did WHAT?!" Wanda very nearly screamed, making Timmy wince at how loud she'd suddenly become, then facepalm as he realized he'd revealed just a bit too much information. "Vicky tried to- So that's why your zipper-? And why your face was so red when you came back upstairs! Wh-What happened then? Did she...? Are you alright?!" The pink-haired fairy hovered down and in front of her godchild, placing her hands on either of his shoulders as she looked him in the eyes, her own filled with worry.
"Wanda, I told you, I'm fine." Timmy attempted to reassure his godmother, placing his hands on either of hers and gently sliding them off his shoulders. "It didn't get that far anyway and... And I wasn't really trying that hard to get away... If you... Y'know, get my meaning...?"
"I don't..." The pink-haired fairy frowned somewhat, her expression changing from worried to contemplative. Before long, what her godchild had said to her clicked in her mind, her cheeks reddening as she came to the conclusion that Timmy wasn't the young, naïve little boy she and Cosmo had been assigned to nearly six years ago. "O-Oh! I didn't... It never even crossed my mind that you- I-I mean, you are getting older now, so... It makes sense, of course, I just... I didn't realize you were already starting to take an interest in girls and... The-Er... Opposite sex."
"Oh, it only makes sense you'd be out of touch, Wanda." Cupid chimed in. "After all, hasn't it been around eight thousand years since you went through puberty...?"
"I-I am not out of touch!" Wanda spun around angrily, glaring daggers at her diaper-wearing fellow fairy. "It's just been a long time since Cosmo and I have been assigned to a child for as long as we have been to Timmy. Most people grow out of needing their fairy godparents by the time they're twelve, and even fewer manage to keep them that long in the first place, seeing as how we're taken away from our godchildren if we're ever found out!"
Cupid shrugged rather nonchalantly in response. "My point still stands: you're out of touch because it's been so long since you've had a kid as careful and... Mostly well-behaved as Timothy here."
"Er... Thank you? I think?" Timmy rubbed the back of his head somewhat shyly, feeling a bit embarrassed to receive praise from the God of Love himself. "Um... B-Back on point, if you could give me something to break that spell you mistakenly put on Vicky, that'd be-"
"Right, I nearly forgot!" Wanda cut in furiously, already being considerably annoyed with Cupid for making her godchild's babysitter not only fall in love with Timmy against her will, but also try to have her way with him. The light pink-haired fairy's comment about her being out of touch with her own godchild's development only further incensed her as she hovered over to him, getting right in the angelic-winged fairy's face. "Fix your mistake so we can get out of this gaudy mansion of yours already!" Upon finishing, Wanda returned to Timmy's side, her arms crossed in anger as she continued to glare at Cupid.
That comment was enough to cause Cupid to close his eyes and suck in a sharp, deep breath, then release it as a huff through his nose, his eyebrows furrowing in a way that suggested Wanda had not merely touched a nerve, but had quite obviously stomped up and down on it gleefully. Despite this, he remained calm, his eyes opening to stare somewhat disdainfully at his three uninvited guests. "Are you done, hm, Wanda? Did you blow off enough steam now? Happy you got to feel big and bad, insult me and my home, on the day that my powers are at their strongest?"
Timmy glanced to his right at Wanda, who kept up her strong, determined posture, her arms crossed as she continued to stare unflinchingly at someone who he couldn't help but assume was one of Fairy World's most powerful residents, being the only fairy he knew of whose magic could directly influence love, something not even Jorgen had any power over.
After a moment, he glanced to his left at Cosmo, who had apparently gone to get more candy when he wasn't looking, as the green-haired fairy was stuffing his face with all manner of sugary treats, and didn't appear to be paying much attention to the very obvious mounting contempt in Cupid's tone.
Timmy himself, however; did notice the change in the normally laid-back fairy's demeanor, as the effeminate tone, while still there; had dropped into something more sinister. By no means did he sound like some stereotypical evil villain, but his tone was nevertheless, threatening. It made the hair on the back of the brunet's neck stand on end, and caused his palms to sweat as that familiar, electric feeling he'd noticed earlier began to fill the air of the large balcony the four of them occupied.
"Well, considering I don't have a wand like the two of you, let me fill in for it. Pblt!" Cupid pursed his tongue between his lips and blew a raspberry, imitating the sound Cosmo and Wanda's wands emitted whenever they failed to grant a wish. "Sorry! Your wish isn't granted, Honey!" The pink tuxedo-wearing fairy lifted his bow from the ground and hovered a few feet higher, then readied his weapon, which began to emit a soft, yet somehow sinister pink glow, not unlike the glow Timmy had noticed coming from the mark on Vicky's right buttock. "See, love isn't a mistake, and as the God of Love, I don't make any mistakes when it comes to my targets. Like it or not, when I hit your babysitter with that arrow, the magic zeroed in and focused on the person she thinks about the most, and that person, evidently, is you, Timmy."
"Wha- It... It did?" The fourteen year old questioned in surprise. "But... But she doesn't like me! Or... I thought she didn't... So it wasn't your magic that made her suddenly like me?"
"All I did was give her a little push." Cupid extended his right index finger, jabbing it forward into the air in front of him. "Of course, she is rather stubborn, so the arrow did need to be dipped in a... Particular concoction, but those feelings? They are Vicky's."
"I don't- So then why is she always so mean to me? If she likes me, why not just say it...?" Timmy muttered to himself quietly. On the one hand, he couldn't even begin to understand the older girl's reasoning, as she always treated him... Pretty terribly, all things considered. She certainly didn't treat him like she did Ricky, or that one time he wished himself into a hunky sixteen year old, that was for sure.
On the other hand though, something about Cupid's words, and the way Vicky had opened up to him about not being able to control herself... It made him take pause and wonder if maybe Cupid was telling the truth. For someone who was under a spell, Vicky did seem to have a good bit of self-control, and she didn't seem so determined that she was going to force him to have sex with her. Every kiss, barring the first, he'd responded to; some more feverishly than others, and he'd never quite found any of her touches unwelcome...
"I suppose explaining this to you is a moot point though. I'm not giving you the antidote to my little love potion, because as far as I see it, the only mistake I made..." Cupid withdrew an arrow from his quiver, then nocked it and aimed the bow he held at Timmy. "Was that I didn't shoot the both of you from the start!"
"Ack!" The fourteen year old exclaimed, bringing both arms up to shield his face as he heard Cupid's bow let out a 'twinging' sound, followed immediately by a loud, sharp 'fwish' as the released arrow sailed towards him.
"Look out, Mr. President!" Cosmo shouted, impulsively flinging himself in front of Timmy at the last second, causing the arrow to embed itself in his chest, at which point the green-haired fairy instantly cried out and dropped to the floor with a thud.
"Cosmo!" Both Timmy and Wanda shouted simultaneously, rushing to Cosmo's aid. Upon reaching his fairy godfather, Timmy propped his head up and cradled it, the teen's face stricken with worry as Wanda hovered low to the ground, bearing a similar expression as she stared down at her husband.
"Ti-Timmy? I-I've always wanted to tell you..." Cosmo gasped out, his hand covering the spot where the tip of Cupid's arrow pierced his chest. "I-I'm your... Fairy Godfather! Hurk!" Cosmo's eyes rolled back in his head before closing as he went limp in Timmy's arms.
"Wha-? B-But! You never-!" The brunet winced, gritting his teeth as he felt an uncomfortable prickling sensation at the corners of his eyes. "...Wait. Yes you have." He reopened his eyes and shot the green-haired fairy a flat look, only to watch as Cosmo's hand slipped off his chest, allowing the arrow he'd been holding to tip over off his chest and clatter to the floor, leaving no visible wound where it had apparently pierced his godfather's chest. "Cosmo, I know you're my fairy godfather."
"Oh right." Cosmo's eyes shot back open as he sat up and quickly levitated up out of Timmy's grasp, looking none the worse for wear.
"Wha- C-Cosmo! You- You're okay?!" Wanda exclaimed in shock, wiping her eyes as she realized she'd nearly been on the verge of tears herself. "A-Are you feeling alright? Not... Weird or anything?" She floated up to the same height as her husband and cupped both of his cheeks to look him in his bright green eyes.
"Hm? Well a little sore from getting shot in the chest with an arrow, but otherwise, I feel fine, why do you ask?" Cosmo questioned with a bemused smile, his head tilted ever so slightly to the left.
"Well I-... I just thought that... Since Cupid shot you with one of his love arrows..." Wanda looked over her shoulder at the pink-haired male fairy, her face twisted into a scowl. "I figured you'd... At least be feeling a bit... Enamored with someone? Or something?" She turned her attention back to her seemingly clueless husband. "...In fact, nevermind that! Timmy and I thought you were hurt! Or worse!"
"Nope! I'm fine!" Cosmo beamed at his wife, clearly not understanding how much worry he'd just put her and his godchild through.
"Rrgh... Cosmo..." The pink-haired fairy fumed, her cheeks reddening with anger as she glared at her partner with near murderous intent.
"And besides, why would Cupid's love arrows work on me? The only person I've got eyes for is you, Wanda!" Cosmo happily wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her into a tight, affectionate hug.
Despite the anger she'd been feeling at her husband mere moments ago, the pinkette found it immensely difficult to maintain said anger in Cosmo's warm, loving embrace, and soon released a huff, then smiled in spite of herself and returned the hug, at last simply feeling relieved that he was alright.
"Bravo! Bra-Vo." Cupid deadpanned as he slowly clapped, his bow tucked under his left arm. "A little cheesy and dramatic in its opening, but truly a wonderful showing of how my magic can't affect people who are oblivious to love like Cosmo here." He ceased his clapping and re-readied his bow, producing another arrow from his quiver and nocking it as he aimed it at his two embracing fairy 'guests'. "Of course, you can't expect Cosmo to jump in the way of all of my arrows, now can you, Timmy?" Cupid lowered the aim of his bow, opting to now target the brunet instead of his godparents.
In response, the green-haired fairy poofed out of his wife's grasp and in front of Timmy, prepared to block another arrow if necessary.
"Ah... But then, who's going to protect Wanda?!" The angelic-winged fairy instantly swept the aim of his bow back over to the unprotected female fairy and loosed the arrow he was holding, his bowstring making another 'twinging' sound as the arrow fired and zoomed towards its target.
"Ah! Wanda!" Cosmo again disappeared in a puff of smoke and near-instantly reappeared in front of his wife, then batted the fast approaching arrow away with his wand, this time having the presence of mind to use it, rather than his body.
"What the- W-Why are you doing this?!" Timmy shouted, only to cry out and drop down onto all fours as he noticed another arrow zooming towards him, the missile piercing his trademark pink hat and pinning it to the wall somewhere back in Cupid's master bedroom. "C-Can't we talk about-Ah!" The brunet rolled to his left as Cupid released another arrow, this one narrowly missing the teen as it pierced the stone tile he'd been occupying less than a second before, leaving a large, splintering crack in it.
"Sure, just hold still and let me hit you, then we can talk about whatever you want!" The God of Love remarked in a voice tinged with growing frustration as he again tapped the side of the monocle-like accessory he was wearing. "Or don't, that'd be more fun, since most of my targets are oblivious to me shooting them anyway. I could use the exercise, and you'll get tired eventually~!" The fairy loosed another arrow form his bow, this one only missing its mark thanks to his fellow fairy's intervention as Cosmo appeared in front of his godson and swatted the arrow away with his wand.
"I don't think he's in a talking mood anymore, Sport!" Wanda chimed in as she appeared next to Timmy. "I doubt he's liable to listen to anyone at this point, Timmy; so if you've got a plan for that thing you wished for, now's the time!"
"Aw, c'mon! I can keep this up for a while!" Cosmo interjected, batting yet another of Cupid's arrows away, causing it to veer off-course and collide with the far railing of the balcony, blowing the stonework to pieces in a magical explosion.
"Cosmo! This isn't an action movie or a video game!" Timmy exclaimed, bringing his arm up to his face to block the small pieces of debris raining down on the three of them. "And we don't have time to draw this out, Vicky's not gonna wait for me to come back down from my room forever!"
"So then what's your plan?" The pinkette quickly looked back and forth between her godchild and Cupid, who fired another arrow toward Cosmo, only for it to curve around the green-haired fairy at the last second and whiz right by Timmy's head, missing him by mere centimeters as it sliced a few strands of hair off his head. "Timmy!"
The fourteen year old's eyes widened as he glanced down at the results of the impromptu haircut he'd just received, then looked back up at his fairy godmother. "Ah-! O-Okay, um... I just need you and Cosmo to cover me so I can get close to him. Once I do, I should have just enough time to get in range before he gets another arrow ready... Even if I don't, it won't be that easy to hit me up close... I hope." He gulped as he peered around the floating form of his godfather. Part of him felt like he was treating this far more seriously than it was, as Cupid wasn't out to kill him... Not necessarily, anyway. He was just trying to make him love Vicky... "And maybe make love to Vicky..." Timmy blushed bright crimson, the thought of being intimate with his quite willing babysitter flustering him to no end. "Not like it'd be my fault if I did get hit... And whatever happened from there would be out of my control... Right?" He quickly snapped out of his reverie and shook his head back and forth, clearing his mind of the(admittedly) tempting prospect. "Rrgh... I still have to at least try!" "Okay..." He took a deep breath, watching as the self-proclaimed God of Love nocked another arrow and aimed his bow at him.
Again, the now familiar 'twing' sounded in the brunet's ears as Cupid released his arrow, the shot rapidly cutting through the air towards Cosmo, and Timmy behind him. This time, however; Cosmo managed to swat it away using his wand.
"Now!" Timmy yelled as he sprang out from behind his fairy godfather and sprinted towards Cupid, who was already nocking another arrow. "Wanda!" The teen called out for the pink-haired fairy, who poofed several feet in front of her godchild just as Cupid released his arrow. She mimicked her husband's action and swung her wand just before the arrow struck her, knocking the missile away and causing it to generate a colorful explosion of magic as it destroyed another section of the balcony's railing. "Almost there..." The fourteen year old muttered to himself as he darted around his godmother and towards Cupid, who was yet again pulling an arrow out of his quiver as he took aim at his rapidly approaching target. "Cosmo, again!" The brunet reached into his pocket as he quickly closed the distance between himself and Cupid, his fairy godfather appearing just in the nick of time to bat away one last arrow as Timmy maneuvered around him and produced the object he'd wished for just in case Cupid refused his request.
Foof!
There was a low sound of rushing air, followed by a wooden clattering against stone as Timmy brought his weapon of choice down on the God of Love, capturing him in one of the few things he knew of that a fairy was powerless to escape from: A butterfly net. With the angelic-winged fairy captured, the teen quickly planted his foot on the handle of the net, and breathed a sigh of relief as Cupid readied and fired one last arrow, only for it to harmlessly bounce off the simple, mesh-like material of the net.
"Rrgh... I can't believe you'd-!" Cupid, his hair now thoroughly ruffled and unkempt from frustration, jabbed his bow against the net, to no avail. "H-How did you know about butterfly nets being...!" He angrily threw his bow to his feet and levitated upward in the net, going so far as to flap his wings to press himself against the mesh material, only for it to stretch slightly, but not rip nor tear in the slightest. "...Ugh!" Cupid groaned loudly and dramatically, then crossed his arms and dropped down onto his rear-end with a thump, his face twisted into an annoyed, yet resigned scowl. "This is completely humiliating."
"Then give me the antidote for Vicky so I can go home and you can get back to your job!" Timmy yelled at the now captive God of Love, having grown entirely fed up with the fairy by this point. "I never asked for your help, and I certainly never wanted you to make Vicky like me! I can..." The teen trailed off, his cheeks pinkening ever so slightly. "If... She does l-like me, then... I should find out on my own, without magic... I want to do it on my own, it's not right... This way." He finished somberly, remembering the many times he'd subjected Vicky to magic that made her act like... Not herself.
Cupid remained silent for several seconds, his eyes closed as he mulled over the teen's request. Before long, he opened his eyes, then rolled them impatiently. "...Oh, fine! I'll just have to add a few other names to my list..." He took out the small notepad he used to keep track of all the people he needed to make fall in love on Valentine's day and flipped through it until coming to Vicky's name, then dragged his finger across it, leaving a blank space where her name had been. He returned the book to his tuxedo jacket pocket, then rummaged around until he found what he was searching for and withdrew his hand, now pinching a small glass vial filled with a glowing, blue-green liquid. "The potion will wear off in a couple of hours, but this stuff'll snap her out of it like that." Cupid snapped his fingers. "You let me out, I'll give you this, and then the three of you will get out of my house and let me get back to work!" The fairy remarked angrily, narrowing his eyes at his three 'guests'.
"Ever the drama queen..." Wanda shook her head wearily; she'd had enough excitement for one day.
"Deal." Timmy nodded in agreement, taking his foot off the handle of the net and lifting it up off of Cupid. For a moment, he flinched and tensed up as the fairy picked up his bow, but Cupid soon proved he was a magical being of his word as he handed over the antidote, then smoothed out his now frazzled hair with his free hand. "So... I just need to get her to drink this, then?"
"Could also pour it directly on where I hit her, but there can't be any clothing in the way... Which, from how you made it sound, wouldn't be all that difficult, either-"
"Yeah, so get her to drink this, gotcha." Timmy quickly interrupted, the blush on his cheeks deepening to a rosier color as he pocketed the small glowing bottle. "Alright, Cosmo? Wanda? I wish we were back in my bedroom!"
The two fairies' Wanda briefly sparked, then shone with a familiar brilliant, yellow-gold light and emitted an equally familiar poofing sound, causing the God of Love's guests to disappear in a large puff of smoke, leaving him alone on his lightly damaged balcony. "Hmph!" Cupid levitated back over to the edge of his balcony and again tapped the monocle-like accessory he wore, making several small lenses slide into place in front of his eye. "Shouldn't have let him off so easy... Oh well, I suppose I can give him a break... This time."
Back in Timmy's room...
"Ugh..." The brunet let out a groan as he and his godparents reappeared in his room, both hands covering his face. "I have never seen him act like that before... Is he like that every Valentine's day?" The teen slipped his hands off his face and looked up at his godmother with a bemused(and somewhat horrified) expression.
"Well Cosmo and I tend to avoid visiting him on Valentine's day, so... I couldn't really tell you, Sweetie. It would make sense though, seeing as how my sister was the one who told me to stay away from him every time this holiday rolls around. He probably just isn't used to people showing up at his house uninvited and demanding that he undo his love magic." The pinkette shrugged, honestly just relieved that things had gone... Relatively smoothly. "And with how... Overbearing Cupid can be, the power trip he's probably on right now thanks to it being Valentine's day only exacerbated the situation... We might wanna steer clear of him for a bit, just to be on the safe side."
"No arguments here." Timmy rolled his eyes as he reached into his pocket and fished around for the little bottle the self-proclaimed God of Love had given him. "Okay... Now comes the hard part..." He stared at the bottle of blue-green, glowing liquid pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
"You just need to get her to drink it, right?" Wanda hovered a bit lower and moved in front of her godchild. "That shouldn't be too hard... Just... Oh! Be honest, tell her it'll snap her out of these weird feelings she's been having! Honesty's the best policy, Timmy."
"But what if she doesn't want to go back to... Her usual self?" Timmy glanced away evasively, breaking eye contact with the pink-haired fairy. Deep down, there was a part of him that still didn't want to 'fix' Vicky, either. She was finally nice, if a bit forward with her advances, and it wasn't as though he, being a hormonal fourteen year old; saw that as a bad thing... "And... And if she doesn't, then how can I get her to drink it?"
"Oh... That- That's a good point, Timmy..." The pinkette fairy hovered back a few feet and cupped her chin with one hand while supporting her arm with the other. "Wh-What if... You drank the antidote and didn't swallow it, then... Kissed her?" Wanda felt her cheeks heat up as she finished, hardly able to believe that she'd just suggested such a thing.
"Wha- N-Now you want me to kiss her? Then why'd you get all surprised and worried back at Cupid's place?" The teen stammered out, shooting his godmother a quizzical look.
"Because kissing someone is different than... Being as intimate with someone as Vicky intended to be with you." Wanda crossed her arms, her lips forming a slight frown as she blinked her eyes closed. "I just don't... I don't want you to grow up too fast Honey, that's all. I know you've... Dealt with far more serious things than most kids your age, and because of that, you've had to grow up faster than most kids, so..." She sighed, hanging her head somewhat. "You really don't need this lecture from me, you're more than smart enough to make your own decisions, and there's not much I can do to stop you, anyway, so go do what you think is right, neither Cosmo nor I are going to judge you for it." Wanda shot her godchild a somber smile as she finished.
"Hah..." The fourteen year old sighed, again bringing the small vial up in front of his face. "I should cure her... Just doesn't feel right to take advantage for whatever spell Cupid cast on her... What about you, Cosmo? What do you think?"
"Hm..." The green-haired fairy mimicked the same contemplative pose his wife had taken on a few moments prior, his eyes too closing in thought. "I'm gonna have to go with Wanda on this one, just try being honest. Worst case scenario, you can just offer to get her a drink and pour the antidote into it."
"The truth then..." Timmy gently shook the small bottle, then closed his fingers around it and took a deep breath. "Alright... Wish me luck, and... Thanks for the help, you two." The teen strode over to his door and pulled it open, then cast one more look back at his godparents. "If I... If I'm not back in fifteen minutes..." The teen blushed, feeling a mildly uncomfortable wave of heat wash over him. "I'm probably fine, just don't... Come down."
"Why not?" Cosmo asked innocently, before turning his attention to Wanda, who simply facepalmed in response.
"Right, message received." The pinkette nodded, again feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment.
"But why doesn't he want us to come down-" Cosmo's question was cut off as Timmy closed his bedroom door behind him and made his way down the hall toward the stairs, the fourteen year old not even bothering with trying to be sneaky now.
"Kinda surprised she hasn't come up to look for me..." The fourteen year old muttered to himself as he rounded the corner and came to the stairs, then slowly began to descend them, his voice dropping in volume to a whisper. "And she didn't come upstairs just now, even though I know she had to have heard me talking to Cosmo and Wanda... I wonder if she maybe... Fell asleep?" His ears perked up as he heard what sounded like a car chase in the living room, indicating that Vicky had turned the TV back on in his absence.
It wasn't long before he reached the bottom of the stairs, his gaze turning toward the TV, then the couch, upon which laid his fiery-haired babysitter, her right arm held up over her as she laid on her back, her own gaze transfixed on some detail of her arm he assumed he couldn't see.
"Ah... V-Vicky? I'm back from..." The brunet trailed off, pausing for a moment as he tried to remember the lie he'd told that allowed him to escape the red-head's grasp.
"Finally!" The girl nearly chirped out excitedly as she flipped over onto her stomach on the couch, revealing to Timmy that she was wearing(along with a big grin) a certain pair of glasses that he'd forgotten when he went upstairs.
"Ah-Er-... H-Hey... I left those..." Timmy gulped audibly, feeling a thin layer of sweat begin to form on his skin. "Down here..."
"Eyep. You sure did!" The twenty year old slipped the glasses off and held them with her right hand as she shot her charge a knowing grin, her legs kicking back and forth in the air in a rather stereotypical teenage girl manner. "'Trying out a new look', huh?"
"Ehehe..." The teen chuckled nervously, breaking eye contact with his babysitter as he brought his right hand up to rub the back of his head. "It was the best I could come up with at the time..."
"My little Twerp? Lying so he could use his X-ray glasses to see through his babysitter's clothes? That's almost... Scandalous! Heehee!" Vicky pushed herself up from her lying-down posture and swung her legs off the couch, then plopped back down on the middle cushion, causing her to bounce slightly. "Speaking of scandalous..." She began, setting Timmy's glasses down on the coffee table. "How about picking up where we left off...?"
"Ah..." Timmy felt his knees go a little weak at the girl's offer, with her mildly sultry tone not helping in the slightest. "A-Actually..." He took a step forward, followed by another, then another as he slowly but steadily approached the couch. "I got something for you that... Might help w-with the... S-Situation?"
"Oh?" Vicky smirked, one eyebrow raised at her Twerp as he stepped closer and jammed his hand into his pocket. "You sneak out your bedroom window and get me a present, or something?"
"N-No... How- How I got it isn't important, um..." The fourteen year old crept ever closer, before finally settling down on the couch, this time opting to sit closer to his babysitter, rather than the arm of the couch. "I-" He slipped his hand out of his pocket, the antidote given by Cupid now in it, only to flinch as he felt Vicky's left arm snake around his shoulders, followed by the twenty year old pulling herself over to him, the cloying, familiar scent of apples flooding his nostrils. "Eh... H-Hey...?" He squeaked out nervously.
"Ya done playing hard to get, Timmy?" Vicky murmured quietly into the teen's ear, her voice just barely above a whisper.
"W-Well... I'm... Here, aren't I?" He looked up at the girl, who still managed to be a few inches taller than him, even with both of them sitting down next to each other. "But-Uh... I think I... Got something that should snap you out of... Y'know, this?" He gestured with his eyes at the small, nearly nonexistent amount of space between them. "I mean, if you want..."
"That a fact?" The red-head questioned in a nonchalant, somewhat disinterested tone, earning her a bit of a quizzical look from the boy next to her. "So this... What? Antidote? It'll make me go back to normal? ...And why would I want that?" She grinned down at him, stifling a girlish little giggle as Timmy's eyes widened at her question.
"Wha- I-I just figured you did... You said yourself that you know you're not acting... Like you, so I..." The brunet-haired teen glanced down at the bottle of brightly glowing liquid in his hand, then back up at his babysitter. "Vicky, I really think you should-"
"What about you?" The twenty year old leaned closer, pressing her body to Timmy's and subtly making him begin to tip over onto his left side.
"What about me what?" Timmy asked, thoroughly confused as to why the older wouldn't want to break the love spell Cupid had cast on her. Did she somehow like being unable to fully control herself around him?
"Well... Do you want to fix me?" She smiled, her voice dropping a few octaves as it took on a more sultry tone. "Do you, really?" The girl again spoke into his ear, her warm breath tickling it and making his skin break out with goosebumps.
"Ahm..." Timmy looked away evasively and half-heartedly attempted to push her away and give himself some space, a bright pink blush now decorating his cheeks. "Th-that's kind of... A tough question..."
"Oh yeah?" The red-head brought her right hand up and extended her index finger, gently tugging on her charge's chin to make him look up at her again. "And why's that?" She questioned with a coy grin, earning her a flat, yet clearly flustered look from the brunet.
"You know why that is, Vicky." The teen slipped his arm out from between himself and his babysitter and held up the small vial, pinched once more between his thumb and index fingers. "...Please drink this. Please? You're not... You right now, and even if I do want-" Timmy caught himself, afraid Vicky might jump on the opportunity that he'd nearly presented to her on a silver platter. "It isn't fair to you if we... Y'know~..." He rolled his eyes at the girl, offering her a small, shy smile.
"Hehehe... You can flash me that cute little grin all you want, but it's not gonna convince me this time, Timmy." Vicky chuckled, her index finger slipping off the fourteen year old's chin as she let her hand drop down to the side of his left thigh, then gave it a quick tug, pulling both his legs up onto the couch so he was laying across it, before she laid down herself against the back cushions, her body pressing against Timmy's right side. "I'm starting to like the feelings I get around you..." The red-head laid her right leg over his and snaked it around it, while her right arm curled around his midsection, her hand gently cradling the small of the teen's back. "And you're not exactly putting up much of a fight..."
"Vicky..." Timmy sighed out, realizing their positions caused his right arm, and the antidote it held; to be pinned between them, and his babysitter didn't seem to have any intentions of letting him pull away to free said arm. "I get that th-this weird thing with y-you is making you act... This way, but..." He looked the girl in her vibrant pink eyes, the closeness of her face letting him appreciate just how beautiful the normally harsh, abrasive girl was. Her light, mildly flushed skin was smooth and blemish-free, her nose and cheeks were dusted with light freckles, just below those nearly hypnotizing eyes, and her lips, just a bit thinner than what could be called full, were still a few shades pinker than usual, likely thanks to how many times she'd kissed him the last time he was this close to her. "Is... is there something you want? If there is, j-just name it, but you really should take this..." He wiggled his right hand about, which felt as though it was pressed against the twenty year old's navel or lower abdomen.
"Timmy." She replied softly, unwinding her arm from around his midsection to bring her hand up to his cheek and give it a cool, gentle caress. "I already told you, I want you."
"I know that, but... But wouldn't y-you prefer to... To n-not be under this spell, or whatever it is?" The brunet asked weakly, nearly exposing to his babysitter that it was indeed a magical spell that she was under in his desperation.
"No, I wouldn't. You think the old me would be this straightforward with you? What if I take that, and I just go back to burying anything I might feel for you? What if this is the one chance I have to... To tell you that you mean a whole Hell of a lot more to me than I'd ever be willing to admit otherwise, Timmy?" Vicky questioned out of her own desperation as she choked back something that sounded dangerously close to a sob to Timmy's ears, the girl realizing her chance was slipping through her fingers like sand.
"I... I do? You're... You're telling the truth, righ-?" Timmy cut himself short, the look on his babysitter's face telling him everything he needed to know. "Of course you are, how dumb can I be to think otherwise...?" He mumbled out, hoping Vicky didn't take his skepticism too hard. "I..." He trailed off, mentally wishing he could in turn tell the girl how important she was to him, considering she was the catalyst for his life taking a dramatic, adventurous, and happier turn, but such a confession would undoubtedly risk, or outright cause him to lose Cosmo and Wanda. "Th-There's no reason you can't take this and still tell me, is there?"
"I- I just don't know if I'll have the guts to, Twerp..." The twenty year old replied sadly, breaking eye contact with the teen she shared the couch with. "...Gimme that 'antidote', or whatever..."
The brunet moved over a few inches, allowing him to unwedge his arm from between himself and Vicky as she sat up on the couch, allowing him to do the same. "Here." He remarked quietly, handing the small vial of blue-green, glow-in-the-dark liquid to her, which she hesitantly took.
"Hah..." The older girl hung her head and sighed. "You're... Honestly really dumb y'know, letting an opportunity like... Well, me, slip through your fingers... But it's really sweet too... Should've known by now that you'd put my well-being before a chance for you to get laid..." In one swift motion, the red-head unscrewed the cap off the vial and drank the glowing, blue-green liquid within, her face scrunching up and looking like she'd just sucked on a lemon. "Eugh! Th-That's the sourest thing I've ever... Blech!"
A second later, however; the twenty year old's eyes shot wide open, transfixed on Timmy for a moment, before she wiped her mouth and looked around. "So...? How do you feel?" The brunet spoke up, leaning in a bit to look his babysitter in her somehow more focused pink eyes.
"I..." Vicky trailed off, her hand settling in the middle of her chest, just below her breasts. "It- It's gone! That weird, fluttery feeling that made me feel like I was gonna throw up! And..." She closed her eyes, only for the mental image of Timmy to appear, still sporting that cute, innocent little smile. "Well that's still there, but..." She mentally dispelled the image of her Twerp, quickly realizing that she could in the first place. "It worked!" She exclaimed happily, covering her face with her hands as she tilted her head back against the back of the couch and smiled. "I'm not swooning over you like some dumb schoolgirl anymore!" There was a quick twinge of pain in her heart, but it was quickly overshadowed by genuine relief that her mind and actions were securely back in her control.
"Phew, that's a relief..." Timmy relaxed into his spot on the couch and smiled along with her, though there was a certain wistfulness to it, as he was almost positive Vicky would want to do everything in her power to forget the past twelve or so hours, not all of which were necessarily unpleasant, least of all being her confession to genuinely liking him.
"Thanks, Twerp. I mean it, for putting up with me when I was... Y'know, trying to screw your brains out." Vicky gave her charge's right shoulder a playful pat and a shove. "Not that it... Y'know, was really all that bad or anything, but... Let's keep today between us, alright?"
"Agreed. And... D-Don't mention it. Something about today just made you... Not yourself." The fourteen year old hopped off the couch and rose to his feet, then made for the stairs. "I-Uh... I'll be upstairs if you need me... Figure you want the rest of the day to yourself so you can relax, after... Eheh... Everything."
"W-Wait, Twer-... Timmy?" The red-head sat up and called after him, causing Timmy to stop his ascent midway up the stairs.
"Er... Yeah, Vicky? What's up?" He questioned in a bemused tone, finding it odd that his now cured babysitter would correct herself and call him by his actual name, rather than the usual moniker she referred to him by.
"S-Since I-Um... Since I owe you for... Y-Y'know, snapping me out of whatever was wrong with me..." Vicky looked away as she rose to her feet from the couch, her cheeks stained with the absolute lightest dusting of pink. "I was wondering if... You'd maybe w-wanna catch a movie or something?" The corners of her lips curled up into a playful, shy grin as she looked back up at the brunet.
"Wha- Y-You want to? Right now?!" Timmy beamed at the girl excitedly, feeling a slight, delicate flutter in his chest...