The next morning in class Mephisto had a much easier time with the homework. As it turns out, the strategy of drawing the equations out was helping a lot. It took noticeably longer, but it was better than not being able to do anything.

Yesterday they ended up dividing their time between tutoring and cleaning up the sketches.

He'd kept a spare sheet for drawing out some of Auriana's designs. They didn't need to be detailed, after all the final product would be the costumes, but he took care to define each element of the outfits. It was turning out to be a fun drawing experiment.

He was so used to drawing what he envisioned in his own head that drawing out someone else's idea was proving a little more complicated. He couldn't tell when certain parts were done or if they looked right. Auriana had to try her best to describe the image she was picturing. There was less incessant erasing as he critiqued his own work.

It wasn't formally agreed upon, but Mephisto saw this task as a trade off. Even though Auriana insisted she didn't want anything in exchange for helping him, he felt more comfortable knowing he didn't owe anyone.

When he was sure Mr. Gramorr wasn't watching, he passed a folded up piece of paper up to Auriana. She opened it, scribbled something down then passed it back to him.

I think the second one was really cool. Maybe we can use the puffy sleeves to theme the costumes. Kind of like clouds to signal it's a dream?

Also don't change Lev's. The prototype stays lol

He wrote something back, along with a few more sketches. This time she took a little longer to respond. She drew a circle around one of the pants that ballooned at the top.

What do you know? My grandma's underwear would've been pretty fashionable back in the day.

He laughed at that. Maybe a little too loud.

"Mephisto. I didn't know my lesson plan was so ammusing. Maybe tomorrow I'll bring my wig and nose."

Their classmates chuckled, all eyes on him now. Auriana took the opportunity to mouth sorry to him. Mephisto reddened and looked down at his desk though he was surprised to learn it didn't really matter. Eventually they moved on with class as usual, promptly forgetting anything had happened. He found it strange, but also relieving. One minute the world was watching, the next it ignored him completely.

And there was no one to see that Mephisto was still smiling.

~~

After the final bell rang, Auriana met up with Iris and Talia near the front entrance. As they were walking home after school, someone approached seemingly out of nowhere. It was Lev.

"Hey girls, how's it going?"

Though they were outside, he stood in front of them. As if Lev was trying to create a roadblock. Iris responded for them, "Fine. Just going home." She walked around him, but he only sidestepped to block the way again.

"Aren't you gonna ask how I'm doing?" He stood with his arms strethched out.

"What do you need?" Iris folded her arms, not sure how patient she would be.

"Ouch- but right." Lev took a step back,

"Well, I'm going to be holding a party. It's a thing for play members, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming along?"

Talia rebuked, "If it's a play members thing, why not announce it during practice when you can speak to everyone?"

"Excellent question, but it's this weekend, so I wanted to make sure everyone had more than a day's notice."

Auriana joked, "Isn't this kind of early for a Halloween party?"

"Nah- it's not a costume party. But I'll give ten bucks to anyone who does dress up. You're the one doing costumes right?"

"Ten bucks isn't worth it. Maybe for forty."

"Forty? Pfft- forget it!" He waved his hands at her for the dramatic flair. "At those rates I'll just save my 40s for a new phone."

Talia commented, "Yeah come on Auriana, you're asking for his net worth."

"Hey at least I don't heckle high schoolers for money."

"Is that all you stopped us for?" Iris still had her arms folded, but her face was more of a smirk now.

"And aren't you glad I did? Now you know to clear your schedules for Saturday princesses." He gave a playful salute and slinked off back from whence he came.

Once he was out of earshot Talia said, "He keeps things interesting I'll give him that."

"Yeah no way I'm going to a party he's hosting." Iris added, "Do you think he would've had games or something?"

"I think it's gonna be a pretty sad party when it's just him and the couch."

Auriana stayed quiet, walking slowly behind them as she would any other day. Only her mind was racing.