Hello everyone! The factory's back with the second chapter!

In this one, we explore a tad bit deeper into Boyd/Mist and there's some Rolf/Mist, too. And of course there's more Ike/Soren!

Here it is! Hope you like it!

DOPAMINIC

2

CASUAL PARTIES ARE SOMETIMES WHITE TIE

Mist always thought of herself as your ultimate girly girl. She looooved girly dresses, she liked-but never quite mastered- cooking (like her signature Mist's Magical Meatloaf, she prepared for her dad whenever he was feeling down). She was very good at sewing and even went through a knitting phase two years ago in which even her brother had to wear the embarrassing mohair sweaters she made for him. And overall, if you could think of something considered feminine, chances are Mist was into it. But then again, the girls at her school didn't seem to think the same of her.

She attended Azalea's St. Altina school for girls: A private school full of privileged snobs. And all the girls at her school labeled her as the hopeless tomboy (And some of them even called her tommy for fun). There were some nice people there, sure. Like the always gorgeous, junior year, Elincia Ridell, or of course her good friend Jill Fizzart. But most girls tended to not really . . . get along with her.

And it wasn't that Mist wasn't friendly or hadn't tried to be on every club there was at school. It was just that the St. Altina girls didn't understand why Mist didn't mind getting her uniform dirty in art class, or why she actually enjoyed playing hockey with her brother's friends, or that she always spoke her mind and was nice to everyone; no matter where your parents worked or how much they earned. But above all, they didn't get why Mist couldn't afford that Balenciaga bag everyone was carrying, or that she had bracelets made of colorful plastic beads and not expensive diamonds; not that Mist minded one bit.

. . . And maybe that's why most of her friends were guys. Hm.

Speaking of guys, there was certainly a cute one named Boyd who lived next door in a house built in the same rustic Victorian style as Mist's.

She walked to her backyard and closer to the fence that connected to Boyd's own yard. Boyd lived with his father (who seemed to never be around), and his two brothers: Oscar and Rolf. Save for Oscar who had already graduated, they all attended King Ramon's Academy for boys along with Ike (though, only Boyd was on Ike's class).

"Hey, Boyd!" Mist waved cheerfully with one hand on top of the white fence "Dropped practice already?"

Boyd's backyard was turned into a basketball court four summers ago when he joined the basketball team at school. He practiced every day in order to keep his sports scholarship.

"Mist! Watcha doin', kid?" Boyd came closer to the fence. He was wearing his old shredded good-luck-sweats, muscle tee and a sweatband on his forehead. He'd cut his green hair recently and it looked even spikier than usual.

"Kid?" Mist blew out her cheeks "It's not like you are that older than me!" She glared, but in Mist's kind, blue doe eyes, it looked nowhere near a threat.

"But you do look like a kid!" Boyd grinned "I even think peewee is getting taller than you"

"Oh, shut up, bonehead!" Mist stuck out her tongue and Boyd chuckled.

"No, but really, what brings you here, Mist?" He wiped sweat from his jaw with his wrist.

"Oh, right" Mist blinked, suddenly remembering about the party. She smoothed down the canary colored dress she had picked over the cream one "There's a party tonight at Soren's villa. I was wondering if you wanted to come"

"Sure" Boyd shrugged.

"With, um, me?" Mist tilted her head and looked at Boyd "Huh? Why are you blushing?"

Boyd's face just got redder "Quiet! I'm not blushing! It's just . . . sunburn. Yeah, that"

"That's such a lie!" Mist giggled.

"Whatever!" Boyd averted his eyes but kept blushing 'darn it!' "But, uh, you didn't mean with you as in . . . as in a date, did you?"

Mist pressed her rosy lips together ". . . N-no, of course not! I meant as friends. Duh" She laughed nervously.

"Oh, Heh" Boyd looked nervous, too "Okay, then. I'll go shower and stuff" He pointed back at his house "See you at . . . what time?"

"Seven" Mist answered quickly.

"Seven it is!" He waved and ran to the back porch "See you then, Kid!"

"I'm not-Oh, whatever"

She went back to her house feeling pissed.

…

"You hungry?"

Soren looked up abruptly from his score sheet and stared at Ike. They had set the game on Soren's coffee table and both sat crossed-legged on the sand colored carpet of the floor.

"Are you?" Soren replied. He put the dices back into the blue cup and shook it. He wasn't hungry; somehow he never seemed to be.

Ike shrugged "A little" He clicked and unclicked his pen "Some chips, maybe?"

"Hm" Soren flicked his wrist and the dice fell on the board. 'Yahtzee' he thought, but merely wrote down the points scored. "I think we may have some pretzels in the kitchen" His mother loved those; It was one of her guilty pleasures. And even when she got into some form of diet (that she constantly switched), there never missed to be several bags of pretzels in the house.

"I'll go get them" Ike stood up and Soren did so as well.

"I'll go with you" He said. He patted some invisible dust off the back of his pants.

Soren looked at Ike and caught him staring back at him. He had the tiniest smile on his face, but for some reason that was enough for Soren's heart to start to thrum.

"What is it?" Soren raised an arched eyebrow. Ike just shook his head. "Nothing," He said "I was just noticing . . ." he trailed off frowning slightly; he almost seemed as if he was merely thinking out loud.

"Yes?" Soren pushed, feeling truly curious.

"Well, you've changed a bit, you know?" Ike said.

Soren frowned. 'Changed?' "I feel the same"

"No, I mean physically" Ike explained "You're taller" He pointed out "And your hair is longer" Ike stared at Soren's sleek green-black straight hair.

"Of course" Soren nodded, thumbing the sleeve of his hoodie. He suddenly felt self-conscious having Ike speak about his physical traits. "It's been a year, it is only natural. You've changed as well. Quite a lot, actually. You're much taller than the last time I saw you"

"Really?" Ike blinked.

"Yes. You haven't noticed?"

"Not really. No. Maybe Titania has said so once, but most people here see me every day so . . . I don't think anyone's noticed"

"Oh" Soren replied simply "Well, you have"

And for some reason, he found he felt actually glad for the fact that nobody else had noticed Ike's looks; the thought of a girl all over his friend made Soren feel somewhere in between disgusted and angry. But then again, he was sure they have noticed Ike's physique, and he was just oblivious of the fact. It was quite common for Ike to be completely clueless about that type of things . . .

He pushed a lock of hair to the back of his ear feeling unexpectedly irritated.

"So are we getting those pretzels?" Ike pulled him back from his thoughts. Soren eyed him for a brief second before nodding.

"Sure"

He walked to the door, being closely followed by Ike.

…

Almedha never really had anything against Ike or his family.

Of course, it's not like she was particularly fond of them either since they were nowhere near close her social circle. But either way, the day little, kindergarten Soren came home with a gap-toothed equally young Ike, she was incredibly happy her son had finally made a friend.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Soren's mom" Ike had said that day "I'm Ike" He smiled widely with a few missing teeth. His shoes were grimy and his uniform was impossibly dirty (likely from playing in the schoolyard).

"He is the friend I told you about" Soren stated quietly, standing just a little closer to Ike.

From that day on, Almedha made sure to give Ike gifts from time to time. Like when she bought him a brand new soccer ball for no reason at all, or when she gave him that new video game he wanted a month before its official release. She would buy that boy's friendship for her son if necessary.

But that was then. Now . . . she wasn't fond of Ike in the least.

"Hello, Ike" Almedha said with a tight smile.

They had crossed paths just as she was coming out of the kitchen after making sure the preparations for the party were going all right. And then she saw that friend. He was casually conversing with Soren while the two of them headed her way

"Mrs. Almedha" Ike nodded in a greeting.

"Mother," Soren stared at her and squared his shoulders "Ike came to visit me instead" He stated, remembering he had told her he was the one going to Ike's house.

"So it seems" She said with that same forced smile on her face. "It's so nice to see you, Ike, dear" She narrowed her crimson eyes just slightly "But how rude of me! I take it Soren didn't tell you about tonight's party?"

Ike knit his eyebrows together looking confused "He did. Actually, my sister is coming by later, too"

"Is that so?" Almedha blinked "I just assumed he didn't, judging by your . . . attire. Or perhaps you're going back to your house later to change?"

"Mother," Soren said sharply.

Ike didn't seem to mind Almedha's surliness-or perhaps he didn't catch it?-so he simply took a quick look at his shirt "Is there something wrong with these clothes?" He asked with his usual frown "I thought the party was casual?"

"They're fine" Soren nodded, giving his mother a stern look.

"Well," Almedha cleared her throat "The invitations I sent said black tie" she pursed her lips "But don't let it trouble you. These clothes . . . suit you"

"Thanks . . .?"

Soren snorted and lightly grabbed Ike's arm to pull him past Almedha "If that's all, mother, Ike and I better be going. We were busy"

"Of course" Almedha's face looked pinched, she was obviously displeased.

Soren just strode past her without another word.

…

"I don't think your mother likes me that much" Ike said leaning against the white kitchen counter.

The cooks were working hurriedly trying to get the food ready for all the guests. A lot of appetizing scents were mingling in the air. It smelled deliciously of roast beef (which made Ike's stomach rumble), black pepper, butter, and garlic. You could even catch a whiff of vanilla and cinnamon coming from one of the ovens.

"Pay my mother no mind, Ike" Soren opened one of the cabinets and quickly found a hidden bag of pretzels "She's just being . . ." 'Idiotic? Paranoid?' he thought but settled for "overprotective" He tossed the bag of pretzels to Ike.

"Overprotective?" Ike blinked "I'm dangerous now?"

Soren could have laughed-yes, actually laugh- at that question; but he didn't. If there was anything Ike wasn't, it was dangerous. "Of course not" Soren shook his head "But mother says I pay more attention to you than to her"

He stared at Ike almost timidly for a second; as if he had just confessed a secret. It was okay to say he paid attention to Ike, right? Ike wouldn't suspect anything about it, right? Not that there was anything to suspect . . . But he stepped further away from the stove anyways because his skin was getting warmer.

"To me?" Ike sounded surprised; as if it wasn't plain obvious that Soren in fact didn't 'pay attention' to anyone but Ike. But understandably, he wasn't going to tell him that. So he walked towards the exit of the kitchen.

"It doesn't matter, Ike" Soren said "You know how my mother is. She tends to obsess over nothing" But specifically, over Soren.

"Like I said, pay her no mind" He insisted. A garson that had been hired for the party –one of twenty- kept staring at them nosily. Soren glared at him and the young man quickly averted his gaze.

"Whatever you say, Soren" Ike smiled and dropped the subject. He could probably see Soren's discomfort and decided to just let him be. He opened the plastic bag on his hands and munched on a handful of pretzels "Hey, let's go back to your room. Want to play Call of Duty?"

Soren nodded "Alright" he agreed, even if he hated that game . . . And even if he had been winning at Yahtzee.

…

Mist took a look at herself in the framed, wall mirror. Did she really look that young? She wasn't that short, was she? She was nowhere near as tall as her brother, of course, but she wasn't short either! Boyd was just being a jerk, as always.

Her reflection looked back at her. Her flowy dress reached her mid thighs and was made of a soft delicate fabric. Jill had once said it looked really cute on her, so she decided to wear it for tonight's party. Naturally, she had to add a few pieces to spice up the outfit. Like her brown boho lace-up boots, or her deep reddish-orange mid forearm length fingerless gloves. She was wearing her hair down (as always) and for makeup she just had on a cotton candy pink lip gloss and mascara; her style was most definitely quirky, but that's how she liked it.

"Kid . . ." She mumbled. And suddenly the Mist that was staring back at her didn't look fifteen but eleven. Her hair was much shorter and she stood awkwardly with twig-thin limbs. Her eyes looked even more Bambi-esque than they did now. She shook her head. No, she was not a kid anymore! She puckered her thin lips. "Boyd, you're such an idiot!"

Mist's bedroom was bright and quiet. It smelled very fruity, like a combination of oranges and berries. The walls still had the flower stickers she had pasted on them when she was younger. She thought they looked cute and decided to keep them; but she sort of felt like taking them off right now . . . She glanced through her bedroom window towards Boyd's house.

Rolf was resting on the window sill letting one leg down. He was cleaning one of the archery trophies he had won last semester. The tip of his tongue was sticking out in concentration. He wore a navy polo shirt, white socks and khaki cargo shorts.

He seemed to notice Mist staring at him and suddenly raised his emerald green eyes to look at her.

She blinked feeling embarrassed. She probably looked really creepy just standing there staring at Rolf without saying anything. He didn't seem to mind, though, since he grinned at her and waved. Mist waved back, but didn't open her window to say hi. Rolf was Boyd's younger brother, but their personalities were like night and day. Rolf was very sweet and caring, while Boyd was . . . 'a jerk!' she thought angrily.

Rolf frowned and tilted his head to one side. Mist sighed and finally opened her window. "Hey" She said feebly.

"What's wrong?" Rolf sat up straighter and quickly put his trophy aside.

"It's nothing" Mist rubbed her left arm.

Rolf gave her a look "C'mon, Mist. You know I can always tell when something's bothering you" He smiled. But really, probably anyone could tell when something was bothering Mist; it wasn't like she was any good at hiding her feelings.

"Okay, okay. It is something"

"I'm listening" Rolf nodded.

"Well . . . it's . . . about your brother" She said as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Boyd?" Rolf asked blinking. It had to be Boyd; Oscar was too nice to do anything that would upset Mist.

"Yes" She knitted her eyebrows together.

"What happened?"

Mist bit the inside of her cheeks "It doesn't matter" She shook her head and sighed "He just said something stupid . . . Who knows, maybe I'm just overreacting" She probably was. But she just couldn't help it.

Rolf frowned "What did he say? Should I go punch him?" He stared at her with a determined expression.

Mist smiled sweetly at him. Rolf was just like that: brave and always ready to protect her; even if he was actually younger than her and not that strong at all. "Well, um, it's sort of a long story" she cleared her throat.

"I've got time"

"Okay . . ." She said sounding unconvinced, but decided to tell him anyways. Talking to Rolf always made her feel better; it probably would this time, too.

"So, you see, there's this party at Soren's house tonight"

"Uh-huh"

"And, well, I decided to go . . ."

"Uh-huh"

"AndIaskedBoyd togowithmeasmydate buthedidn'twantto andnowI'mmad!" She paused to catch her breath.

Rolf looked at her as if she had grown out a third eye on her forehead or maybe a second pair of arms. She blushed lightly and looked at her shoes for a second.

"Um, Mist, I didn't understand a word you said" Rolf scratched his head.

"I said," She took a deep breath "That I asked Boyd to come with me to the party . . . but he called me a kid" She wrinkled her nose "And was, like, 'you didn't mean it as in a date, right?'" she tried to mimic Boyd's voice "So I felt dumb and said I didn't, but I actually did. And now I'm really mad at him!"

A long silence passed between them. Mist folded and unfolded her arms, waiting for Rolf to say something. The only sound they could hear was the song of an ice-cream truck that passed by.

"So you asked Boyd to the party, huh?" Rolf said finally, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Yes" She blinked confusedly "What is it? You wanted to come, too?"

"No" Rolf deadpanned.

"Rolf?" Mist asked. What happened? Wasn't Rolf in a good mood just now?

"I . . . gotta go" He stood up all of a sudden "I just remembered I told Shinnon I'd go practice with him today"

"What? But, Rolf! We were talking! What happened?"

Rolf didn't look at her and closed his window without explanation. Mist could only see him walk to his bedroom door, put on his combat boots quickly and then leave.

She stood there staring at Rolf's well-organized, empty room. She bit her lip. Everyone had told her they knew Rolf had a thing for her, but she never believed it. They were friends, after all, and Rolf was two years younger than her; so she just thought of him as a younger brother.

Mist kneaded her temples.

She suddenly felt really stupid.

…

Soren had a huge flat screen LED TV in his room.

The minute they turned it on to play Call of Duty, Ike almost wanted to hug it in happiness. Why Soren had it in the first place, remained a mystery; since he never turned it on when Ike wasn't there. As a matter of fact, he hated everything there was on TV; even those boring documentaries on the History channel. Not that Ike minded, though. He certainly loved giving this TV the attention it didn't receive from its owner.

They sat comfortably on the floor with the bag of pretzels between them. Soren had a book on his lap and was just half-watching Ike kill a ton of zombies.

"You sure you don't want to play, too?" Ike asked with his eyes on the screen.

"No, thank you" Soren replied simply.

Ike paused the game and turned to look at Soren, "What are you reading?"

"Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, by Paul Kennedy" Soren raised his eyes to look at Ike.

"Preparing? And here I thought we were living in it" Ike smiled.

"But the author wasn't when he wrote it. The book was published in the early nineties" Soren replied.

"Makes sense" Ike nodded "What is it about?"

Ike leaned toward Soren, trying to get a better look at the book. Soren scooted closer to Ike, too; almost crushing the bag of pretzels between them.

"It's about the different matters that would shape society in the future. Global warming, population growth, technology . . ."

They both raised their eyes from the book and stared at one another. For the briefest, craziest, most illogical second, Soren thought they might kiss.

"Is it good?" Ike asked.

"It is interesting, yes" Soren nodded.

"It definitely sounds like something you would read" Ike leaned back.

"I suppose" Soren answered simply.

There was a pause. Ike heard Soren turn the page on the book he was reading.

It took Soren a few more seconds to notice Ike never resumed the game; so he raised his eyes to glance at him again. Ike was staring back at him, and when Soren gave him a questioning look, he smiled. "Sorry" He shook his head and retook the game controller.

Soren reached out and lightly-almost unnoticeably-placed the very tip of his fingers on Ike's forearm. Tingles ran up his spine. Ike glanced back at him.

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to play, too" Soren looked down at the controller on Ike's hands.

"Sure" Ike said and handed him a second controller.

"Hey, Soren?" Ike said suddenly.

"Yes?" Soren replied with his eyes on the screen.

"I missed you"

Soren swallowed. He held his breath for a few seconds. Ike wasn't looking at him either; he was busily killing more zombies. Did he just imagine that?

"I missed you, as well" He managed.

And for the briefest, craziest, most illogical second, Soren thought Ike scooted closer to him.

Wahoo! Second chapter done! I want to thank everyone who took the time to review last chapter! Feedback is much appreciated!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll bring the third one as soon as I'm done editing it ^^

Hope we read from each other soon!

~MonaLisa