Author's Note: Devon finally gets to bond with Jamil! I'm really happy we're finally at a point where she's officially met all her LIs so I can start writing her bonding with them! I know it was a dry well for ship tease for anybody but Ace for a while there, but I'm really grateful to everyone who stuck with me while we got to this point.

"I thank you for your continued patronage, little she-imp," Sam said as Devon paid for yet another round of pumpkins. "I'm not typically one to pry into my customers' purchases, but I notice you've been buyin' up an awful lot of these pumpkins. I get that Ramshackle's a big place, but when are you gonna find the time to get all these bad boys carved?"

"Don't you worry, Sam. I'm not about to let any of your stock go to waste," Devon assured him. "All these pumpkin purchases are for a good cause. Grim and I might not be putting a stamp rally venue together, but I still want to do something to get into the Halloween spirit. Pumpkin carving's the easiest way to do that and it's always more fun when you've got friends helping you out, so I'm having a pumpkin carving party this weekend!"

"I see, I see," Sam replied. "It's supposed to be nice and cool this weekend too, so if you're planning to hold your party outdoors, you'll have some great weather to do it." He placed a quick enchantment on the pumpkins so they would follow Devon when she left the store; there were too many for her to carry. "You enjoy yourself, alright?"

Devon smiled. "I will. Thanks, Sam!"

As Devon exited the store, her herd of pumpkins rolling gently behind her, she noticed Jamil Viper standing near the large tree out in front. He was staring at the building with a look of intense concentration on his face. 'Oh hey there, gorgeous. Don't see you off on your own very often.' Outside of class or club activities, Devon always saw Jamil with Kalim. Well…maybe 'saw' wasn't the right word since she had a tendency to forget about Kalim almost completely when she was talking to Jamil, even if he was standing right with them, until he inserted himself back into the conversation. If Kalim noticed her accidental habit of ignoring him in favor of Jamil, he didn't say anything, but it still made Devon feel guilty.

Jamil didn't seem to notice as Devon moved closer to him, still staring intently at the school store and the area surrounding it while muttering something under his breath. Devon was nearly able to get right up next to him before he finally noticed her. His eyes widened briefly in surprise, caught off-guard by her seemingly sudden appearance, before giving her his usual polite smile. "Always a pleasure to see you, Devon. My apologies for not greeting you sooner. I'm afraid I was a bit distracted."

"Yeah, I was wonderin' about that," Devon replied as she smiled back. "You can usually spot me comin' from a mile away, even in the crowds at your basketball games." She gestured at the pumpkins behind her. "I'm a little surprised the pumpkin parade here didn't get your attention."

Jamil eyed the pumpkins at Devon's feet. "The enchantment Sam cast to have the pumpkins follow along with you certainly is a convenient one, but aren't you worried some of them might be damaged or destroyed on the trip back to Ramshackle?"

Devon shook her head. "Nope." She opened up her messenger bag and looked down into it. "You're up, Flapjack!"

The Ramshackle staff flew up out of the bag on its own, shifting into its extended form before landing in Devon's hand as the orb at the top began to glow a bright red. She moved the staff in one quick downward motion, almost as if unzipping a coat, opening up a portal directly in front of them. A hallway in Ramshackle dorm was visible on the other side, both sides lined with pumpkins of various sizes.

She looked at Zephyr as they hovered at her shoulder. "Ready to bring it home?"

Zephyr pulsed in agreement before sending a gale just strong enough to carefully lift the pumpkins Devon had just purchased and move them through the portal into Ramshackle. Sam's enchantment ceased as soon as they passed through, rendering them immobile.

Jamil looked mildly impressed. "I seem to recall Ace mentioning that you'd figured out a way to conjure warp links using the Wisps magic, not unlike the Dark Mirror. I confess I was skeptical when he first told me about it, but you really have done it, huh?" He gestured toward the portal. "Do you mind?"

Devon shrugged. "Not at all. Just be careful, okay? I don't think it's gonna hold for much longer."

Jamil nodded before carefully stretching out his arm and extending it through the portal, moving it up and down as if to make sure what he was seeing wasn't some sort of illusion. When nothing bad happened, he moved his upper body through the portal before stepping through it completely. "Very impressive," he said before stepping back through to the other side and allowing the portal to close. "Warp spells are fairly difficult to use in general, but I've never seen one quite like that before."

"Thanks, but Flapjack's the one doin' all the work," Devon said as her staff disappeared back into her bag. "They're a Warp Wisp, so those portals are a piece of cake for them. It's improved quite a bit since we first came up with the idea. All those lessons with Riddle are really payin' off. It's still not a perfect spell, though: the portals are harder to maintain the further the two connecting points are from one another and given the nature of the spell, it only works if you know you're going to need it and where you need at least one of the points to be in advance."

"So it requires a fair bit of foresight to work the most effectively," Jamil commented. "It sounds like something a Scarabia student would come up with."

"Speaking of Scarabia students, what had you so laser-focused on the school store?" Devon asked. "I was a little concerned you were gonna give yourself a migraine."

"Heh. I appreciate the concern, but it would take more than that to give me a migraine," Jamil replied.

'But you didn't deny that you get them, which concerns me,' Devon thought.

"I was trying to get a feel for how Scarabia's stamp rally venue should be set up," Jamil continued. "I was trying to visualize where all the decorations should be placed."

"Oh, that's right. I thought I'd heard Scarabia was setting up at the school store," Devon replied. She sent Jamil a playful look. "Sooo…"

"I'm not going to tell you what Scarabia's costumes are going to be, so there's no point in asking," Jamil replied bluntly, though Devon could see the amusement in his eyes. "Each dorm's costumes are meant to be kept under wraps until Halloween Week begins and I've no intention to be the one that breaks tradition. If you're really that dead-set on knowing, you could just find Kalim and ask him."

"I know, but that's no fun," Devon said. "We both know he'd sing like a canary even if I didn't come right out and ask him. It's no fun if it's not a challenge. Besides, I'm only buggin' you for this information so I have an excuse to hang around with you. I know you're a busy guy and you don't really have a lot of free time, so I'll take whatever crumbs I can get."

Jamil opened his mouth to respond, only to close it again as Devon's words sunk in. He turned his gaze away from her as he felt his cheeks get warm and pulled his hood up over his head.

"I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, honest," Devon added quickly, despite inwardly gushing at how adorable she thought he looked when he was flustered. "I just…I've always thought it's better to be direct about things like this so nobody can misinterpret anything."

"I'm not uncomfortable," Jamil insisted. "It's just that I'm so used to almost every person who deliberately seeks me out having some kind of ulterior motive-" The image of a certain bespectacled classmate of his came to mind for a moment. "-that I was a bit thrown by how straightforward you were." He looked back at her again, keeping his hood up. "You're correct that we don't get many opportunities to interact without something-or, more accurately, someone-claiming one or both of our attention."

It was true. At Cater's insistence, Devon had been making an effort to seek Jamil out after the Basketball Club's games since she knew they'd have at least a little while to talk. Unfortunately, nearly every time the pair got a moment to themselves, either Jamil would have to run off to take care of something for Kalim, or Grim would cause some sort of ruckus that Devon would have to fix, or Ace would show up and demand one or both of their attention. Ace was quickly becoming the most frequent culprit, though Devon couldn't quite determine if it was intentional or not.

"More's the pity, though, because I happen to find it refreshing to have someone seek me out for the sake of just being around me and not because they want something from me," Jamil continued. "It's not often that someone prefers my company to Kalim's, either." He would never admit it out loud, but the fact that Devon nearly always seemed to forget that Kalim even existed if he was anywhere near Jamil made him feel a sense of warmth and excitement he couldn't recall feeling before. He supposed it was normal; desiring the attention of someone whose company one enjoyed, especially when that someone was as attractive as Devon, would hardly be considered strange. He'd never been one to give into his emotions and desires easily, but he was beginning to think that Devon might give him the opening he needed to indulge just a bit.

"Speaking of Kalim, shouldn't he be the one figuring out all this stuff with Scarabia's Halloween Week station?" Devon asked. "Not that I think you aren't perfectly capable of doing it or anything, but he is Scarabia's rep for the Halloween Committee."

"He is, indeed," Jamil confirmed, both his tone and expression full of barely concealed bitterness. After all, he'd just had even more work dumped unceremoniously onto his plate thanks to Kalim. "He also procrastinated on finishing his homework and now has an almost literal mountain of assignments due at the end of the week. Given that he has no time to waste if he wants to get everything finished in time, I've been left to handle his committee obligations for the time being."

Devon let out a soft 'hmm' as she mulled over what he'd told her. She'd been able to pick the resentment in Jamil's tone, though she couldn't tell if it was directed at Kalim specifically or the extra work he'd been forced to take on because of him. "No offense to Kalim or anything, but there are times when it seems like you're the only thing that keeps Scarabia from descending into chaos. Kalim's a sweet guy, but I get the feeling that he tends to cause more problems than he solves."

'Thank you. It's about damn time someone acknowledged it,' Jamil thought, taking care to keep his expression neutral. "I've merely been acting in a manner befitting a vice dorm leader. It's nothing to praise me over."

"Maybe, but I'm getting the feeling it's taking a toll on you, Jamil," Devon replied. "When's the last time you had some time to yourself? I don't mean club stuff, either. I mean time that was completely yours without any obligations to get in the way."

Jamil remained silent, turning his gaze away from her again.

"Mmhmm. That's what I thought," Devon said. "It's not fair for you to have to take on both Kalim's responsibilities and your own."

"I don't really know what to tell you, Devon," Jamil replied wearily. "That's just the way things are. It's not nearly as bad as you probably think, though. Both Kalim and the other dorm students are happy with things are they are."

"…Are you happy, though?" Devon asked, keeping her eyes on Jamil's face. He still wasn't looking at her, but she could see the storm of emotions raging in his eyes. It also finally dawned on her just how tired he looked. She looked around and her eyes landed on an unoccupied bench just off from the entrance to the store. She nudged Jamil with her elbow before nodding toward it. "Sit with me for a sec."

Jamil was about to protest, but ultimately fell silent when he felt Devon gently take his hand in hers. He allowed Devon to lead him over to the bench and sat down with her, but still didn't say anything.

"Level with me, Jamil. Are you okay?" Devon asked again. She could tell he was still hesitant. "You don't have to tell me anything specific if you don't want to. It can just be a yes or no answer. I'm not trying to pry into your business; I'm just worried that you're overworking yourself."

Jamil studied Devon's face carefully, looking for any indication that she was just trying to bait him into revealing something that could be used against him later. She didn't really seem like the type, but a lifetime of keeping his true emotions close to the vest lest he risk bringing shame to the Asim family-and his own, more importantly-made him hesitant to open up. As he expected, there wasn't a hint of ill-intent in Devon's eyes, though for a brief moment they appeared to glow a soft blue. The glow was gone so quickly that Jamil hadn't been completely sure he actually seen it, but he noticed that any doubts he had about opening up were beginning to ebb away. It wasn't so much that he felt compelled to spill his secrets, but he did get the sense that if he chose to, Devon would be one of the safest people to confide in.

"There's…there's a lot that I can't tell you," he said.

"That's fine," Devon assured him. "Like I said, I'm just trying to make sure you're alright. I'll listen to whatever you feel comfortable telling me."

'That's just it, though. I want to tell you everything,' Jamil thought. From the moment he met her eyes barely a minute earlier, he'd wanted to spill all the secrets he'd been carrying around with him: everything about the Asim and Viper families, the truth about his relationship with Kalim, and the frustrating circumstances and obligations he'd been saddled with for as long as he could remember. Unfortunately, he knew that doing so-even just hinting at the specifics-could cause trouble for him later on. Still, there might be a way to hint that there was more to the story than what most of the population at Night Raven College was aware of. He might not be able to tell Devon the whole story, but damn it, nobody had ever offered to listen to him before. He'd be a fool not to take advantage of this opportunity.

"Kalim and I have known each other since we were small children," Jamil finally told her. "However, I don't know that I'd go so far as to call us childhood friends."

"I think I remember Sebek referring to you as Kalim's bodyguard when we were setting up for a ceremony that one time," Devon recalled.

"Something to that effect, yes," Jamil confirmed. "The fact of it is that we were brought to together by circumstances beyond our control. I can't get into specifics, but those circumstances mean that I am obligated to see that Kalim's needs are met. Sometimes that results in me taking care of his dorm leader responsibilities in his stead."

"Okay…but it seems like you end up needing to step in kind of a lot," Devon said. "I know I don't know the whole story, but from an outsider's perspective, it looks like Kalim gets the fancy title and the prestige that comes with it while you're the one that's doing all the actual work. I've heard stories from some of my classmates about the parties Scarabia throws; they say Kalim just decides he wants to have one and then leaves it to you to get everything ready."

Jamil nodded. "Yes, I suppose I can understand how it might seem that way." 'Because that's exactly what's happening.'

"Even if we leave out the dorm leader stuff and the parties, I've also heard from a semi-reliable hyena that you more or less take charge of Kalim's day-to-day stuff too," Devon continued. She sighed and shook her head. "Again, I don't mean any offense to Kalim, but I have to wonder how he even became the dorm leader if he has that much trouble managing his regular student responsibilities. He must've been named dorm leader for a reason, but if I'm being honest, I'm having a hard time figuring out what that reason is."

Jamil nearly had to bite his tongue to stop himself from blurting out how Kalim became Scarabia's dorm head. He'd never had anyone to commiserate with before-and certainly not about the Asims-and it was getting harder and harder not to give Devon the entire story. "Kalim was nominated by the previous dorm leader. I was proud to see him nominated, but quite frankly I was a bit concerned the extra responsibilities might be too much for him."

"With all due respect to Scarabia's last dorm leader, it seems like they might have missed the mark on this one," Devon replied.

Jamil studied Devon carefully, a mix of apprehension and delight swirling inside him. He hoped she was implying what he thought she was implying. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that you should've been named dorm head," Devon replied matter-of-factly. "You're already doing the work, so you oughta get the title to go with it."

Jamil chuckled, turning from her slightly and hiding his mouth behind his head to cover the grin threatening to break out. He'd had the same thought for months now, of course, but to have someone else verbalize it gave him a sense of elation that he'd never felt before. He cleared his throat and plastered his stoic neutral expression back on his face before looking at her again. "I'm flattered that you'd say that, but it's not as if my own grades are anything are anything special. I'm perfectly average all the way across the board. Besides, Kalim's very popular among the dorm members as it is. I can't imagine they'd want anything to change."

Devon shrugged. "So? You've already proven that you can do the job. I'll grant you that Kalim's a fun guy and I can definitely see why the other residents like him, but that doesn't mean he's qualified to be a leader, y'know. Don't even get me started on the grades thing, either. Crowley made me Ramshackle's dorm leader, but I'm still just half a full student. My scores are only counted as half, so even if they're perfect, all I'll actually get is 50 percent. I get that since Grim and I are the only actual students living at Ramshackle, he basically just picked the lesser of two evils to be dorm leader but still, it's not like I have any real idea what I'm doing."

Jamil chuckled again. "Yes, well, your circumstances aren't exactly the norm around here. Even so, I understand and appreciate the sentiment." His thoughts drifted back to the chaos Grim caused at the entrance ceremony as well as other incidents around campus involving the little monster…incidents that Devon was typically forced to smooth over after the fact. "I'm starting to think you and I might have more in common than I thought. Ace goes on and on in club about the trouble Grim likes to cause. I'm surprised you haven't started tearing your hair out yet."

"Ugh, please don't remind me," Devon groaned. "If it's not one thing, it's another with that one. We had a rough start, but Grim's become like a younger brother to me. I love him very much and would be absolutely devastated if he wasn't in my life now, but are some days where it's all I do not to smack him."

"I absolutely know that feeling," Jamil replied. "I've got a younger sister, so that feeling is not new to me at all. Granted, she never set fire to an entrance ceremony but she's caused me quite a bit of grief since we were younger." He looked at her and smiled. "In truth, I've always been a little envious of the way you can maintain that smile and optimism of yours even when I'm sure all you want to do is scream. I don't know how you hold yourself back."

"Well, to start with, I used to be a cheerleader back home. I've had to smile through the pain of some literally bone-breaking accidents. My Grim stress is nothing compared to that stress. Secondly…" She held up her messenger bag and opened it, pulling out her staff before showing Jamil the inside. "Who's to say I don't scream it out every so often?"

Jamil looked at the bag in confusion before looking back up at Devon. "I'm not seeing what your bag has to do with any-"

"Hecate," Devon interjected. The orb at the top of the staff began to glow with alternating red and purplish-black. The inside of the bag began to darken at the center, the darkness spreading out until it reached the bag's edge. There was no trace of anything that had been inside the bag just a second earlier and there was no clear indication that whatever the inside of Devon's bag had become had some sort of stopping point; it was just an abyss as far as the eye could see.

"Well…that's different," Jamil commented, dumbfounded.

Devon giggled. "It's a personal pocket dimension, a combination of Warp and Void magic. Flapjack and Nyx whipped this bad boy up for me so I'd have more storage space in my bag, but it's also really handy for when you just need to scream at the top of your lungs. Since it's a separate dimension, nobody hears a thing."

Jamil quirked a brow. "So…you stick your head into your bag…and scream."

Devon nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. I make sure nobody's around to see it, of course, but does absolute wonders."

"And what did you say before it opened?" Jamil asked. "Was that some sort of spell?"

"More of a password," Devon explained. "Hecate was part of a pantheon of gods and goddesses worshiped by an ancient civilization in my world. One of the things she's associated with is entryways, so I thought it was fitting."

Jamil let out an impressed whistle as he looked at the staff. "Those Wisps truly are impressive, aren't they?"

Devon smiled. "They really are."

Jamil's phone buzzed with a text at that moment. He fished it out his pocket, only to heave a long-suffering sigh when he saw who it was from. He sent Devon an apologetic look. "Just one moment."

"No problem, man," Devon replied with a nod. She watched as Jamil's expression grew more and more irritated as he read the text and tapped out a reply. She could only assume it was from Kalim. She waited until he tore his angry gaze away from the phone after a few more volleys of messages and glared out across the small courtyard in front of the store. "I'm guessing that wasn't good news…"

Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose, struggling to keep his voice level. "Kalim has apparently finished the assignments he'd been neglecting and he's so excited about it that he wants to spread the cheer around by holding a celebration for the other dorm students."

"I'm…guessing that means there's going to be another party?" Devon asked.

"A banquet, actually, but yes. Tonight," Jamil bit out. "I wouldn't be nearly so irritated if he'd run the idea by me first, but he's already gone to the trouble of announcing it to everyone." He pulled in a few deep breaths, but it did nothing to calm him down. He wasn't sure why he was surprised; Kalim's impulsiveness and lack of consideration was hardly anything new. "To answer your question from earlier, Devon: No, I am decidedly not okay."

Devon's messenger bag slid its way into his line of vision, the pocket dimension still open. Jamil looked over at Devon with confusion on his face, only for her gently shake the bag at him.

"Just give it a try," she urged.

Jamil looked at Devon with uncertainty before hesitantly taking the bag from her. He stared into the void for a moment, pondering how his life had come to this, before ultimately deciding he had nothing left to lose and shoving his head into the bag.

Devon watched and waited patiently, gently patting Jamil's back as he took his time screaming his frustrations into the void. Just as she'd told Jamil, there was absolutely no sound coming from the bag, so she could only guess whether he was just screaming indiscriminately or swearing up a storm. She smiled when he emerged from the bag a moment later, still looking irritated but now slightly less like he was about to pop a blood vessel. "Feel better?"

"Yes, actually, thank you," Jamil replied, handing the bag back to Devon as the pocket dimension faded away. He massaged his temples for a moment before standing up. "I suppose this means I have some shopping to do."

"Do you need any help?" Devon asked, standing up as well.

"Thank you, but no. A few Scarabia residents will be along in a moment," Jamil replied.

"Then, in that case, would it be alright if I hugged you before I left?" Devon asked.

Jamil blinked, taken aback by the request. It wasn't that he was unused to hugs, per se, as Kalim had a tendency to spring them on him, usually at an extremely inconvenient time, but he'd never had someone ask to hug him before. He glanced down awkwardly before clearing his throat. "I, ah…I suppose that would be fine." He'd barely gotten the sentence out when he felt Devon barrel into him, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling into his chest. He was surprised to find that he wasn't annoyed by the gesture this time; he actually found that his own arms were winding around Devon's waist and that he enjoyed her warmth and softness. He couldn't help but chuckle again. "You know, I didn't really have you pegged as a touchy-feely person, but I guess it makes sense. You and Ace always seem to be hugging or leaning against one another, but I wasn't sure if that was just because you two were so close. Especially since you usually try to avoid Floyd like the plague."

Devon snorted a laugh. "Can you blame me? I've had one run-in with Jade and Floyd and that was enough to convince that if they get me alone, it'll end with them wearing my skin." She shuddered at the thought. "Azul's not much better; somethin' tells me he'd steal one of my kidneys the second I had my back turned."

Jamil buried his face in Devon's hair to keep his laughter down as he rubbed her back comfortingly. "Come now, that's not true. You and I both know he'd steal both of your kidneys." He smiled as Devon pulled back slightly so she could look up at him. "Azul happens to be in the same class as me and I can tell you with certainty that you're better off keeping your distance."

"I've been hearing that a lot lately," Devon commented, recalling the warning Regina had passed on from Horns. The pair held the embrace for a moment longer before Devon reluctantly pulled away. "I guess I should be getting back to Ramshackle. I've gotta make sure Grim hasn't set fire to the dorm." She reached out to gently squeeze Jamil's hand. "Just so you know, I'm always willing to listen if you need to vent. And I know it's not as fancy as the other dorms, but you can always come to Ramshackle if you wanna get away for a bit." Her expression brightened as a thought struck her. "I'm actually gonna be throwing a pumpkin carving party this weekend. If you feel like it, you should stop by. You don't have to carve anything if you don't want to, but you already saw my pumpkin stash. Plus you won't have to worry about setup or clean-up or cooking or any of that; you can just be a guest for once."

"I thought I heard Ace mention something about that in club last week," Jamil recalled. "He said it was just going to be freshmen."

Devon nodded. "Mostly, yeah. Ace and Deuce are both going, and Jack Howl, Epel Felmier, and Sebek Zigvolt will be there too. I've also invited Ortho Shroud because he is my sunshine and I adore him."

"Sounds like an interesting mix, to be sure," Jamil replied. "I can't make any promises right now, but I'll definitely give it some thought."

"Awesome~!" Devon chirped. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a pen and a sticky note. She scribbled something on the note before handing it to Jamil. "That's my number. Whether you decide to swing by the party or not, I want you to have it. I'm serious about being here if you need someone to talk to."

Jamil stared at the sticky note for a moment before letting out a breath and reaching out take Devon's hand again. "Thank you, Devon. Seriously. I can't remember the last time anyone offered to just…be there. This means more than I can tell you."

Devon smiled and gave Jamil one last quick hug before using her staff to warp away. Jamil couldn't keep the small smile off his face as he looked at the note again.

"I think I'm starting to understand why Ace likes her so much."

Ending Notes: The more I write these characters warning Devon to stay away from the Octatrio, the more excited I am for her to become buds with them. Devon's friendship with Ortho gives me life too, for that matter. I feel like he's written off a lot of the time as just "Idia's robot brother", so I'm always excited when he gets the chance to interact with other characters independent of Idia.

Next up is the pumpkin carving party! It's gonna be a really sweet, wholesome chapter…maaaaaybe with a cute little surprise at the end.

Thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Geekinthepink, out!