I hope this chapter will make you as giddy as it made me! Enter horrified Nozel Silva and tortured Nova and silly Luck!

Without further ado:

Chapter 29: Chaos, contrition and…chemistry?

It started innocently enough. Luck slipped one of them into one of the nobles' pockets after he'd made a rather unsavory comment about Nova and the healers from the Tower. And then, Nova had done the next evil deed, putting another into a lady's purse, when she'd heard the woman say how the Bulls were vulgar additions to the festivities. And then, Magna had made his own contribution, sneaking one in the men's room.

That was how the chaos started, really. The following developments escalated pretty unexpectedly for Nova. She didn't know when they managed to use up their reserves, but rather quickly, they were all shocked to find Luck shrug and show them an empty baggie in his pocket, which was the origin of their mischief.

"They're not in season," he shrugged. "Even getting this many was a hassle." The Knight commented to them rather cheerily.

"Well, fifty was enough," Magna jumped on the bandwagon. "Now we just need to wait."

"Impressive, finding fifty," Nova nodded. "I'd have settled for twenty."

"I'm a man of many talents," Luck boasted rather proudly, grinning wide. "Is it time to make a turn around the room, see if any fruit has yielded?" He offered the other two a wide grin, mischief on his face.

"Let's!" Nova offered them each her arm, and once again, she was flanked by the two Bulls, taking a slow walk around the ballroom. Will and Vanessa were dancing again, the witch looking like she was having a grand time. It might've been due to the numerous drinks Nova had seen her consume, but if Will's smile was any indication, he had been making certain that she was enjoying the festivities.

"Miss Nova?" The trio stopped, politely greeting the group which had called out to them. Nova eagerly smiled at Remi, who was in formal Crimson Lions wear, Leo and Theo next to him, along with three ladies whom she didn't know.

"It's very nice to see you again, Remi, Leo, Theo," she curtsied all of them individually.

"It's been a while," Magna greeted.

"Where are my manners?" Remi chuckled to himself before the other two Knights could speak. "Our companions, also from the Lions, lady Sarah Beauchamp, lady Madeline Hastings and lady Eleonora Silverwing," he gestured to each of the women, who returned greetings. Lady Sarah was tall and blonde. She had high cheekbones and delicate, feminine features, but her makeup had been piled on a bit too thickly for Nova's taste. While her dress, in a pale pink color, did suit her, it was a bit too long in Nova's opinion, and the ruffles seemed to swallow her up more than anything. Lady Madeline, on the other hand, looked rather delicate in her pale blue gown, which further brought out her dark brown hair. She even had a feathered fan in her hand, which she placed in front of her face too often. Lady Eleonora was shorter than the other two, looking rather uncomfortably from one person to the other. Her doe eyes make her seem somehow young and innocent, but she was definitely older than Nova.

"Nova Goldin," Luck rushed to complete the proper etiquette before Magna could say anything and mess up the little ritual. "From the Healing Tower, and Magna Swing and myself, Luck Voltia, from the Black Bulls."

"I'm surprised that you're well-versed in etiquette, Mr. Voltia," the lady who'd been introduced as Madeline commented with a smile. "I'd heard the Bulls were a rather rambunctious Squad. Lacking in nobility and manners." Nova tightened her grip on Magna's arm.

"They're an unusual group, for certain, but they are all diligent Knights, ma'am," the girl spoke.

"Not to mention strong fighters," Leo immediately praised. "We had a joint mission last time and they were great," he turned to Luck. "I hope you will come spar with me sometime at the compound. I was very impressed with your application of your magic during our hunt for that last merchant."

"I'll definitely come," Luck promised, that usual battle-hungry smile on his face. "I'm eager to see how much power you can put behind those Spiral Flames you use." Leo laughed loudly.

"Enough to win a spar, for certain," the challenge was cemented right then and there. However, before either of them could speak another word, a scream rang out from the dance floor. And then, there was a commotion. "What's going on? An enemy attack?" Leo attempted to look over the heads of the crowd and see what was causing the disturbance.

"Surely not," Nova said, pinching Luck's side so that he wasn't smiling in glee so obviously. Another scream rang out from the middle of the crowd, and then, there was shuffling, the ladies attempting to hug the walls to get away from the dance floor, gentlemen rushing forward to deal with the situation, clatter of plates and cups could be heard in the distance. Nova tugged Luck and Magna back, away from the incoming torrent of panicked guests, doing her best not to smile. "Do you think we overdid it?"

"Nah," Luck shot right back. "If anything, we should've had more stags for this, maybe a nice roach," he pointed out. "It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be."

"Miss Nova!" Leo called out as they separated in the crowd, but Nova simply waved back.

"It's all fine, Leo, let's meet outside!" They joined the throngs of people messily making a mad dash for the exits.

"Calm down!" Nova spotted the Silver Eagles Captain standing on the podium, where the musicians were, his face scrunched up like someone had put feces directly in front of his nose, doing his best to get the situation under control. "Calm yourselves! It's just a few beetles!" But there was nothing he could do to prevent the chaos. Soon enough, everyone was filing out onto the lawn, coughing and Nova was certain she spotted some of the ladies crying to their companions.

"I think we overdid it a bit," the girl mused, looking to Luck and Magna. The former had a wide grin on his face, as if the mayhem was precisely on the scale he'd envisioned it, while the latter was doing his best to hold in his laughter.

"Overdid what?" Will's icy tone came from behind the trio and they froze, slowly turning around. He stood there with a stormy expression on his face, Vanessa at his side doing her best to hold in giggles.

"N-nothing," Nova tried to cover, but she ended up giggling mid-word.

"The running out, of course," Luck quickly covered. "Was there really a need for such a hasty retreat? We were a bit too far away to see the source of the commotion." Will whipped him with a glare.

"Stag beetles are rare this time of the year," he bent down, furiously whispering to them. "It surely took a long time to gather such an impressive number. Not to mention the stink. It could've only come from the rainbow stink bug." Will sighed, straightening. "We had a bad case of them one spring at the Tower, I'd know that stench anywhere."

"An expert in smelliness, Walt?" Luck asked with a coy smile. The look Will gave him should've sent him running, but this was Luck. He simply matched it with a wider grin.

"I'm sure they just found all the sweets appealing," Magna shrugged. "You know how they are." Will's glare fixated on him next.

"Right, the sweets," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "You trio of troublesome children stay quiet for the remainder of this… ordeal. I don't want another word from you." With that, he turned around and headed in the direction of their hosts. "I will see if anyone requires medical aid due to this mad dash," he tossed over his shoulder, nodding in apology to Vanessa. She managed to stay composed until he was out of earshot.

"Good work, you three!" She commended them. "Impressive mayhem, as always," she gave them a subtle thumbs-up and then went after Will. Nova turned to Luck and Magna, her heart finally light. She'd been feeling a bit guilty because of the size of the mayhem they'd caused. However, after Vanessa's reaction, she felt it leave her. After all, it wasn't her who'd made the choice to act snobbish. The nobles had done it all themselves.

"Maybe the red powder was too much," Luck mused to himself, making Nova balk.

"W-wait, there's more?" She asked. Magna nudged her side.

"We had a lot of time on our hands waiting for you, Novako," he chuckled. "We made a trip to the kitchens and spiced up some of the champagne. It's up to fate, now." Nova slapped her forehead. Yes, they'd definitely gone overboard.

The disastrous Silva ball was the talk of the Capital for the following week. After the ladies had been frightened by stag beetles crawling up from their purses or pockets, they'd gone for the corners of the room, to avoid the center where the majority of the insects were. That was when they'd been assaulted by the stench of frightened rainbow stink bugs, also known as the smelliest stink bug in the kingdom. But, if that wasn't enough, after the party had been moved to the gardens and attempted to resume, the complimentary champagne had been spiked with spicy powder, also known as red powder, which caused them to sneeze and cough uncontrollably and seek milk in great amounts. The look on Nozel Silva's face as he bid them farewell at the gates would surely go down in history, though it might not have been captured on any portrait.

Nova couldn't enjoy the fruits of her labor however, seeing as she was grounded. Will had been rather miffed after their night had hastily ended and the ride in their carriage on the way to the Tower had been quiet. He had scolded Nova, Luck and Magna for at least an hour, before assigning them cleaning duty only at the Tower for two weeks. Vanessa had kept giggling, doing her best to mask it with coughing fits.

Three days after the whole ordeal, a formal apology for the situation came from the Silva household, in the form of a letter and complementary confections. It was a proper apology basket, if Nova ever saw one. She read through the letter, under Will's watchful eye, unable to laugh or giggle, instead plastering an attempt at a remorseful expression on her face. She couldn't stop imagining the stuck-up noble writing that for every single guest, his eyebrows furrowed so bad that they touched his forehead braid. She would likely never forget his expression at the end of the night, a mixture of horror and disgust, as he attempted to school it into a polite smile all the while. His eyebrow had been twitching like mad.

The punishment, consisting of mostly cleaning toilets, bathrooms and the aftermath of healing, was worth the mayhem. As Nova was on her knees next to Magna and Luck, scrubbing the ER floor to perfection, one really could eat off it whenever they didn't have patients, she didn't feel any lingering guilt. While it may not have been polite to accept the invitation to the ball with the aim of sabotaging it, it really had been a back-up. She was hoping that everyone would be nice during it. But, when Luck had suggested a bit of chaos with that smile of his, she hadn't had the heart to say no. Besides, they'd promised, swore more like, all three of them, to only execute their plan if the nobles proved too disrespectful. A standing FU of sorts, all properly covert.

"You missed a spot," Magna pointed at a part of the floor where Luck was cleaning, making the Lightning Mage look back. Sure enough, a bit of blood had seeped into the wood in an annoying way. Nova knew just how long it would take for one to scrub it out, she'd done it enough times.

"Did I?" Luck smirked at Magna, his mana fluctuating in a telltale way. Nova sighed, deciding to ignore it. There were three more beds to clean up, and they were only on their second.

"Ouch!" Magna yelped. "Luck, you bastard!" The Knight growled, throwing his wet sponge with amazing accuracy. It slapped Luck across the chest. For a second, it was quiet. Luck's smirk grew. "No, don't-" Magna started to say, his expression saying that he'd already predicted the other Bull's retaliation. But, it was too late.

"It's on!" Luck flung his own sponge, landing it on Magna's face with a strong crack of lightning in the air.

"You little-" Magna didn't have any more projectile weapons, so he settled for picking up his water bucket and emptying it Luck's way. The soapy water sloshed partially over the Mage and partially on the floor, the taste of ozone in the air. Luck quickly tossed Magna's sponge then, missing the Fire Mage and nailing Nova in the back. She whipped around, glaring, only to find the fiend smiling at her invitingly. He'd planned that one.

"You did that on purpose!" Nova complained, but Magna was already taking out his grimoire. "No, wait, don't!"

"Exploding Fireball!" Nova wanted to slap her forehead, seeing as she knew that Will was upstairs, just waiting for them to do something to annoy him further. But, before she could attempt to put a stop to Magna's magic attacks, lightning zapped her through the wet floor, making her shiver all over. As always, it was particularly strong across her ass. Her grip on her sponge tightened, but she held strong.

"Will is going to kill you both!" She warned them, but the two were too far gone, sending magic flying left and right, tossing sponges at each other in between the spells. Nova tried to clean. She really did. But, after the third zap, she'd had enough. She grabbed her bucket and sponge, emptying the former across Magna's open back and throwing the latter at Luck. Then, she picked up her bucket as a shield with a war cry and made a mad dash for Luck, the main boss of the battle. She'd barely managed to tackle him, her bucket over his head, when Will burst into the room.

"What!" He yelled out, making Magna stop mid-swing with his bat. "What!" Nova stopped her assault on Luck. "What in the holy hells is going on here?!" Lightning zapped through the air, making Will yelp. "Oh, oh, I'm going to enjoy this!" The punishment they got after that made cleaning seem like a dream.

The nights became really nice and quiet to work during. As spring approached quickly, despite the lack of snow that winter, Nova was content. The weather became nicely warm and she would spend her nights studying various books on medicine, combining them with her personal notes and the Surgeon's manifesto. She'd settled in a nice routine with that. She would make herself a big cup of tea, go down to the basement with a lantern, open one of the small windows for airing out the space to let in the warm breeze and then get started. Oftentimes, Will or Mary would find her in the basement records in the morning, snoozing over her work.

However, on that particular night, Nova got stuck in the records room. She'd been updating her charts, as a large group from the Green Mantis came in the previous day, all looking for treatment. They'd clashed with a group of bandits and some of them needed a few stitches or mana replenishing potions. And, since Will was busy out in the fields and Mary had gone to visit her family, Nova was left to deal with the incoming patients. Hence, all of her diagnosing and prescriptions needed to be entered into the records of each individual Knight. It was busy work, not hard, but long, and she had to be meticulous. As Will had instructed, good record-keeping saved them a lot of time. They knew who had had what kind of injuries in the past, which medicine was good and what they were allergic to. Luckily, Nova was a fast writer, and her letters were very easily read. Mary had nice handwriting, too. Will's was a bit on the messier side, but nothing could top Elizabeth's. She wrote almost intelligibly, which was why they avoided assigning her charting duties at almost all costs.

Nova didn't hear Luck come into the records room. For once, he was very quiet. She was busy focusing on all of the ingredients she'd stuffed into a poultice she'd applied to one of the Knights, making sure she got them all right on the chart.

"Good evening, Nova," Luck greeted, walking over to the window and hopping onto the small seat there. When she didn't react, her brow still furrowed at her documents in the dim light, he tried again. "I think I'm sick." That got her attention. Nova didn't look up from the various papers on the desk, checking boxes for allergies.

"Fever, cough, headache, stomachache?" She listed off the usual suspects.

"Fever, I think," Luck replied. "Sometimes my stomach hurts. And my body gets really hot and then my head hurts." Nova's head went up, looking at him for the first time since he'd entered the records room. She was surprised by his expression – he looked lost somehow. Younger. Like a little boy, more than the capable Knight he was. "My limbs go cold sometimes," Luck looked at her. "Is it a curse?" Nova sighed, putting her pen down and leaning back in her chair.

"Could be," she agreed. "When do these symptoms appear?" Luck looked away from her, keeping quiet. "Luck?"

"When I'm around you," he mumbled. Nova was robbed of her words. She listed the symptoms in her head, tried to find a common denominator. "Did you curse me?" Luck asked, making her balk.

"Do you really think I would?"

"I don't think you would," he shook his head. Again, he looked lost. Nova arrived at her possible diagnosis and sighed, feeling that the conversation she was about to have with her friend would be hard. Hard for him and hard for her. Still, even as her heart painfully squeezed in her chest, she pushed past it.

"When does this happen?" Nova asked. "Does it happen just when we're hanging out, or is there a particular situation in which you feel this way?" Luck considered it for a moment. Guidance, Nova figured. It was best to appeal to his logic, as much as there was to him, and then figure it out from there. If he was the one making the connection, he could possibly accept the conclusion she'd arrived at.

"When you smile," he finally said. "When you smile at me. And when you cry. And sometimes when you touch me. Or, when you look different than usual." He frowned. "When you were in my room, before our last mission, when you took off your-"

"Okay, okay," Nova quickly put her hands up, embarrassed at what her sleepy brain had gotten her to do in his presence. "So," she cleared her throat, blushing. "What is the common denominator in these situations?"

"You."

"Just me?" Nova asked. Keep it as logical as possible, she told herself. "Or something in particular about me?"

"Different you," Luck concluded. "Not the usual you. You when you're behaving different with me." Nova nodded. "Is it a curse?" She shook her head.

"I mean, it could be, but I don't think it is," she told him. Luck tilted his head to the side adorably.

"Then, an illness?" Again, Nova shook her head.

"Do you also feel happy when you have these symptoms?" Nova asked making Luck tilt his head again. "Does it make you feel giddy?" He nodded yes. "Then, the only logical deduction which I can make, from your description of the situation, is that you're experiencing unusually high levels of dopamine in my presence." Luck took a moment to process that. Nova let him. She had seen some medical books in his extensive library. If he'd read them, and he probably had, he knew enough about medicine to make his own deduction in this case.

"Then… I'm happy?" Luck asked, looking at Nova finally.

"More than that," she replied. "You're happy when you're with Magna, right? And the Bulls?" He eagerly nodded at the familiar topic.

"I'm happy when I'm fighting and there's always fighting at the base and with Magna," he said. "Then, with you I'm more happy that that?" Nova considered for a moment how to breach the topic.

"Pop quiz: do you know what happens when you're attracted to someone?" She asked, instantly wincing at the stormy expression on Luck's face. "Chemically, not physically." At that, he relaxed a bit, thinking.

"Dopamine rises," he answered. Nova smiled, her hand rising to give him a thumbs-up.

"Correct," she said. "I think you might feel that about me." He frowned. "Am I your first crush, Luck?" She asked softly. He didn't reply. Instead, he fixated on a spot on the floor, inspecting it intently. "Luck, do you know what a crush is?" It took him a moment to answer that one, but he did.

"It's the person you do the sex with," he said in a flat tone.

"Have sex," Nova corrected. "It could be, but it doesn't have to be." He finally looked back up at her. "You could have a crush on someone and they don't return it. Then, you don't have sex with them. And, if there are two people who are crushing on one another, they still might not have sex. Sex is something you talk to your partner about and then figure out if you're interested in exploring with them. Crushes and sex can be connected, but they can also be very separate." Luck didn't talk for a long while after that. Nova let him be. He had some thinking to do, and she wouldn't disturb him. She returned to her charting, hands shaky as she filled in the blanks. Her head was fuzzy with the newfound information and her heart… her heart was bursting. She hadn't really hoped for her feelings to be returned. She had practically given up on that. But, there he was, annoyingly and adorably oblivious, asking her about crushes, essentially. She hoped that her diagnosis hadn't been influenced by her own selfish motives. She didn't want to make Luck suffer needlessly through his emotional trauma from the past. She didn't want to hurt him. If anything, she wanted to give him a hug, tell him it doesn't matter, break her own heart and tell him to forget about it. Tell him she'd been wrong and silly. That what he was feeling would pass. But, he'd sought her out for her medical knowledge, not her friendship. She would do as any healer would in her situation – properly diagnose and provide a treatment plan.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" Luck finally asked, making Nova stab the paper she'd been writing on with her pen.

"Oh, shit," she quickly pulled it out, checking the damage. The paper was salvageable. She turned to him, finding him waiting for her reply with an inquisitive look on his face. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "Maybe."

"How does one know?" He was really bad for her heart. He really was. Focus on the medicine, Nova. Focus. She steeled herself.

"I've got zero experience in this regard," she told him with a sigh. "But, I suppose you feel ready when you are?"

"Then, how do you know you maybe want to have sex with me?" Luck kept asking. He kept prodding. He really was going to kill her. Nova took a breath, then exhaled.

"I don't," she said. "I really don't." Then, she looked up at his face, finding his expression disappointed, almost. "Why don't we dial it back a few notches?" She asked with a soft smile. "Start with the basics."

"What are the basics?" There, she was a bit more comfortable. She was swimming in familiar waters. This was her Luck, the one who missed social cues completely and sometimes needed help understanding people and situations. This was the Luck she'd gotten used to explaining things to, helping him figure out the world around him. This was the Luck who'd helped her figure out her world, as well.

"Dating," Nova told him sagely, like she was giving away some tightly-kept secret.

"Dating?" He repeated.

"Mhm," Nova nodded. "Going out to places, just the two people who are interested in each other, figuring out if they like each other more than just crushing. Seeing if they're compatible for anything more, like a sexual relationship." Luck nodded a few times to himself, considering it.

"Dating is training for sex," he concluded and Nova didn't have the heart to correct him. "Then, why don't we try it?"

"Dating?"

"Yes," Luck concluded. Nova giggled.

"It's customary to ask the girl you want to date to go with you on a date," she told him.

"Like courting," he nodded. "Alright, then, Nova," he hopped off the window seat and bowed to her formally, extending his hand for hers. "Would you do me the honor of dating me?" Nova thought that she might be dreaming. Or hallucinating. Maybe a bit of both. Still, she didn't even think before she replied.

"Yes," the answer was almost breathless. "I'd love to go on a date with you." Luck straightened, smiling wide at her for the first time since he'd entered the records room.

"Does that mean you have a crush on me, too?" He asked, that wide smile turning almost coy. Nova glared.

"Obviously, it does."

That's all for now folks!

Reviews:

Kalithesavior:
Thanks so much for the review!
I'm glad that you liked their dance scenes! I had a lot of fun writing them :)
Luck can be smooth when he's presented with an opportunity to do so :P But, I don't think he realizes that he has game… at least with Nova lol
I hope the update was quick enough hhahhahaha I wanted do post these two really close to one another :D
Best!

KEZZ 1:
Thanks so much for the review!
I'm glad you enjoyed the last update and hoping you'll like this one, too :D