The battle between Albert and the boa constrictor didn't end so well. For the snake, anyway. Crocness had fought valiantly, and as a result, her beloved Albert was once again safe and sound, happily perched on her shoulder.
A week from that night had passed, and Thorne had finally accepted the fact that he really liked Crocness. She had deeply impressed him with her warrior's spirit, and even before that, he had already liked her better than any of the other Defenders. (Well, besides Shaiden, of course.)
In fact, Thorne liked Crocness so much that he wanted a night alone with her. For a dinner date.
So, on this day, Thorne decided to set up the event for the next night. And in order to do that, he had to take extreme measures. Thorne couldn't believe what he was about to do, but he didn't have any other good options.
The alchemist forced himself to walk into the Stockade where he knew his viking comrade would be working out. Because it was Crocness he wanted to impress, he specifically needed Gildar's assistance.
I cannot believe I'm doing this, Thorne thought with a cringe. He stepped one boot onto the wooden catwalk, then did the same with the other. He took a deep breath, then swallowed his pride.
"Gildar, I need some advice."
The viking was hanging from the Pardoning Platform, doing some pull-ups. When he heard Thorne's voice, he paused, then looked over at the alchemist. With a mighty heave, he lifted himself onto the purple boards of the Stockade, then straightened himself up.
"Advice?" Gildar inquired. He grinned in a cocky manner. "Advice for what?"
Thorne glanced down at his ripped-up boots. "What do you know about dating?"
Gildar stared at the alchemist for a moment, surprised. When he recovered from his slight shock, he lifted an eyebrow. "Why?"
Brief pause.
"A hand..." Thorne almost vomited. "...A handsome guy like you might know a thing or two."
The vain Defender smiled and proudly flipped his hair. "Thorne, you've come to the right viking." He patted the railing next to him, gesturing for Thorne to come closer.
Thorne grudgingly walked over to his coworker. He crossed his arms and gave Gildar his undivided attention.
The viking flipped his hair again, casually leaned against the railing, then folded his hands together. "What do you want to know specifically?"
"What makes a good date."
"Hold on, buddy," Gildar said, holding one of his hands up.
Thorne gave him a look.
"First off," the viking continued, "you need to know what a date is. What purpose it serves. A date is an activity, anything from dining to sky diving, shared between two people of the opposite gender with the intent to build or develop a relationship. Make sense so far?"
Thorne nodded.
"Second off: what kind of activity are you interested in?"
"Dinner date."
Gildar nodded. "Dinner dates are all about the moment; the atmosphere; the feeling."
"Okay."
"Now, onto your question: what makes a good date. For a good dinner date, you need good food and good scenery. But you shouldn't want to settle for only "good." You want it to be better than good, right?"
Thorne shrugged. "I guess."
"For an even better date, you must have fantastic food and amazing scenery." Gildar whipped out his little red mirror and stared at it. "And I've got half of those essentials already."
Thorne rolled his eyes, then waited for Gildar to continue. When he didn't, Thorne decided to move onto the next part of his inquiry. "You were once married to Crocness, correct?"
Gildar blinked, then looked back at Thorne. "What?"
"You were once married to Crocness, right?"
Gildar scowled. "I told that to Skabb in confidence," he muttered, looking back at his mirror.
The alchemist smirked. While the viking was distracted with his reflection, the English Defender asked his next question. "When you two were dating, what kind of stuff did she like?"
Gildar stared intently at his mirror as if he was watching a series of flashbacks in the glass. "As far as I can remember...she liked dark, mysterious scenery...and moss. She loved eating all sorts of meat...I recall that on out first date, she ordered chicken, meatballs, ribs, salmon...any type of meat she could get ahold of." Gildar's eyes gleamed. "Wow, I was handsome that night..."
Thorne gave the viking a look. You have got to be kidding me.
"Crocness," Gildar mumbled. "She looks like a warrior and eats like one."
Thorne nodded. "That'll do, Gildar," he said, backing up a bit. "Thanks."
"No problem," the viking replied absent-mindedly, smiling at his reflection.
***
The next day, around eleven in the morning, the blue ninja was walking towards her brother's lab. She hadn't seen him all day, and the lab was the first place she suspected him to be.
She arrived at the lab, then leaned her ear against the door and listened. When she heard some familiar sounds, such as glass clanging against each other and bubbling liquids, she clasped her hand on the door's handle and pushed the door open.
Looking inside, she saw Thorne had his back turned to her, and was working with some bottles of chemicals.
"Morning, Thorne."
"Morning," the alchemist replied, not bothering to look at his sister.
"Have you figured out how to change yourself back to normal?"
"No."
Thorne stated the negative with such calmness and with an almost careless attitude that Shaiden's eyes widened with surprise. She quickly shook the feeling off, stepped inside the lab, and shut the door.
"What are you doing, then?"
"Things."
The ninja walked closer to her brother. When she was within six feet of him, she saw that one of the containers on his counter was a bottle of sparkling grape juice. Thorne glanced at his sister, then picked the bottle up and poured some of its contents into a large test tube.
"Shaiden, can you do me a favor?"
The ninja crossed her arms. "Depends. What it is?"
Thorne set the bottle of sparkling grape juice down. "Can you stay behind at the castle tonight?"
Shaiden blinked with shock. He knew that she had been following him? How was that possible? The alchemist's sister quickly composed herself, then asked, "How did you find out?"
"Kook told me," Thorne stated stoically. "Crocness had already told him what you were up to a few weeks ago."
Shaiden growled and looked at the door. "I'm gonna break his neck," she muttered under her breath.
Thorne poured something else into the test tube with the sparkling grape juice, then set the container down. He turned to his sister. "Look, I just want to spend one night alone with Crocness."
Shaiden knew what her brother was up to, but even then she asked, "Why?"
Thorne's face colored slightly. He glanced to the side. "Just...because." A look of aggressiveness suddenly hardened Thorne's expression. "Well, you've been watching my every move, so you should know!"
Shaiden lifted her eyebrows. After a moment, Thorne realized how sharp his response had been. He lowered his head and sighed, then looked back at his sister. There was an apologetic gleam in his eyes.
"Shaiden, can you leave us alone just for tonight?"
The ninja shifted her footing hesitantly. She didn't think that was such a good idea. What if the night ended badly? What if Thorne made a fool of himself? What if Crocness rejected him and he got so mad he'd...
Shaiden almost shuddered at the thought. It might be too risky to leave Crocness on her own with him. So many bad things could happen.
Although, Crocness was pretty good at taking care of herself. If Thorne got out of control, she'd know what to do. Additionally, Thorne had been really good at staying calm during the night. The past few nights, he hadn't turned into a "full dragon" at all. Maybe they would be just fine on their own.
Hopefully.
"...Alright," Shaiden reluctantly replied. "I'll leave you two by yourselves."
Thorne almost smiled, but nodded instead. "Thanks."
Shaiden nodded back. Without another word, Thorne turned back to his work, and his sister slowly turned on her heels to leave. After exiting the lab and shutting the door behind her, she set her course for the courtyard.
But even after she reached her destination, the unsure feeling in her stomach had not left.