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February 14, 2017

Valentine's Day. A holiday, according to Reuben, used to promote fake, over dramatic ideals of love, relationships, and a day to make the chocolate and floral businesses flourish for a time. At least until today...

Reuben was out with Calista running some errands on a lunch break before returning to the shop. All he could see for a mile was people bustling to get their gifts for their loved ones. Pinks, reds, and whites lined every street. Items shaped as hearts, boxes of candy, balloons, and fluffy stuffed animals were in everyone's hands.

The tarotist knew to keep his attention on his work, not rifle with affairs of love or affection. He had a business to run. Sure, he'd find people cute here or there, and even have a fun time with someone on rare occasion; but there was nothing worse for a career than establishing a "lifelong" or even long term bond with someone else.

"You really need to download Tinder. I'm telling you, you could get a lot of dates if you just tried. You're an okay looking guy," Calista jested as she kept her eyes glued to her cell. "Swipe left, swipe left, swipe right. It's truly very simple," she concluded, sipping her coffee and following the motions she spoke as a new fellow's photograph popped up in place of the prior.

"Cali, you know I have no time or patience for an actual relationship," Reuben stated coldly, pushing forward. "Not anymore at least."

"Who said anything about a relationship?" she chuckled. Shaking her head, eyes still on her phone, she continued, "All I'm saying is that you should go out and have some fun. You've really delved into your work ever since you supposedly '******** up' the soul capture for Lab 305."

"I'd really rather not talk about that," he replied, rolling his eyes as they continued their walk down the street.

"Fine, we don't have to. But you really do need to do something else to get your mind off of your stresses. s**t, go get yourself a ******** buddy if nothing else." Another long sip, this time, with sound.

Reuben sighed. "If it'll get you to shut up, I'll go download the app."

Calista grinned, finally locking her phone screen and placing it in her pocket. "Good. But you have to know I'll never shut up."



The evening came quickly and before Calista left back to Durem, she forced Reuben to download the popular dating app and quickly showed him how to use it.

It didn't take long for Reuben to get the hang of it, swiping left and right on people became second nature. It wasn't like him to judge someone so superficially to think someone was a "good match" for him, but this was like a game. Those whom he swiped left on would never know. He spent a good portion of the evening going through the local men that popped up, one after another, on his screen.

As the night progressed, Reuben took a break, only to come back to a few matches and a couple messages. He dove into the messages quickly, probably too quickly and began to get a bit too personal early on and never received responses.

Finally, a message popped up from a guy named Evan, 28.

From: Evan, 28
Hey there. I'm diggin' your photos. How're you doing? What brings you to Tinder?

Reuben couldn't help but snoop a bit. Something about this man felt familiar. He had remembered swiping right, but only because he was in a swiping fit and hadn't really taken a deeper look into their photos or about me's. Now that he got a message, he decided to look a bit deeper.

The about me was very weak, in Reuben's opinion. A small blurb about him liking the outdoors, the fact that he's a bartender in Aekea, likes to dye his hair a multitude of colors constantly, and the fact that he owns a German Shepherd who he named Axel.

His photos, however, proved a bit of insight into the man's life. A couple selfies, quite cute; one with bright green, acid-esque hair, shirtless (abs for days), and the other with a cute little outfit and titanium-gray hair. Another was a photo of him and Axel lying on a bed together. And finally, his fourth and fifth picture were of him and this woman. One of them was a cutesy couple-esque photo of them hugging and acting "adorable" to the camera, something he could see a multitude of his gay friends doing with their girlfriends. The other was a shoddy photo of, what seemed to be them at Halloween last year.

Reuben's heart picked up pace as he glanced at that final photo. Both of their faces were done in Dia de los Muertos paint. The man's heart skipped a beat as he wished the photo was slightly less overexposed and a bit less dark overall to make it easier to make out. Obviously the photo was taken at night, and by the background lighting, it looked as though it was at the Durem Fairytale Fair. His heart sank into the pit of his stomach. Nerves overtook him and all he was doing was looking at his phone screen. This couldn't be the same man that sat with him on the bench that night, could it? Reuben couldn't remember what the man told him his name was, but this was promising.

Finally, after about twenty minutes of figuring out what to write back, Reuben decided it was time to respond. He knew he didn't want to overshare like he had been doing all night, but keeping it kind and to the point.

To: Evan, 28
Thank you, man. I have to say, you're quite the handsome fellow. I'm doing quite well, thank you; and yourself? I'm just here because of one of my friends. She told me I needed to get out of my element and find something new to do with my life aside from work. What about yourself?

It didn't take long before Evan responded.

From: Evan, 28
You're welcome. I'm also doing alright. Just here to pass the time, really. My girlfriend said that I need more guy friends and I shouldn't be home all the time when I'm not at work. So, I figured Tinder was the right option. Looks like we're in similar boats. Haha.

Reuben's heart dropped, this time in sadness and disappointment. 'My girlfriend'. What kind of s**t was this? Tinder was a place for dating, right? Not for someone to go to make friends. With a heavy, saddened heart, Reuben couldn't help but continue the conversation, even if it wasn't going anywhere.

To: Evan, 28
Ah, I understand that. So, you're just here for friends, huh? I have to say that's a little disappointing. You're really cute.

The responses slowed down, and it took Evan a good hour to respond. It was getting late, but Reuben was determined to stay up and continue to text this guy.

From: Evan, 28
Hahah, sorry man, I'm not gay. Just here for friends. But you seem like a chill dude and I'd like to go to coffee this weekend if you want? Hell, I'll even buy! My girl is tired of me sitting at home with no life, lol.

Reuben laid in his bed, light cascading down onto his face from the phone screen alone. A saddened facial expression was all he could muster. With a sigh, he clicked the lock button and laid it beside him, staring up at the ceiling in the pitch black room. A good few minutes of thinking later, he couldn't help but respond. Strangely enough, however, the topic of the Fairytale Fair hadn't come up yet. Maybe that was something he should ask about in person. Coffee was innocent, right? With little friends in his own personal life, he decided to just go with it.

To: Evan, 28
Ah, damn, really? Well then, that changes everything. Umm, I don't normally go out to coffee with straight guys, but if you're offering a free drink, I'll take a green tea and whatever I can get. When's a good day for you?

From: Evan, 28
How about this weekend? Or next weekend? And if you want to get off this stupid app and text, my number is 887.1212.

To: Evan, 28
This weekend works. See you Saturday! And I'll text you.

Even with a saddened heart, Evan's number was placed into his phone and a date officially set for February eighteenth in the morning. This would be a nice little distraction from Lab 305 and work, even though they were to be just friends.

Reuben placed his phone to charge on his bedside table and rolled over, ready to sleep.

March 19, 2017

The first week had come and gone in a blink of an eye. Ryder was alive, well, and living within the home. The two Rothmore men were still getting used to each other, how to integrate into each other's lives, and just over all getting to know one another.

This was far different from growing with a baby, Reuben mused daily. Ryder seemed like he had a past, even if it was unknown. The fact that he was able to communicate so fluently, easily, and could now read, just after a few days of him and Alice reading the books together, was incredible. The fact that he could pick up on human concepts after a bit of explanation was fascinating to the tarotist.

Ryder had become accustomed to his room, the home, what went where, and just little things over the course of that last week. He hadn't met anyone else, yet, but didn't necessarily care to. He had Alice, Reuben, and the books in his already growing collection. Reuben had gone out and bought him a few books on day two, and by day four, they were read completely. Ryder's mind just swallowed information and continued to flutter with thoughts and imaginings constantly.

Reuben prepared a very quick meal in the kitchen for the two of them. Over the course of the week, he realized very quickly that all Ryder truly liked to eat was moldy and rotting foods. Once he got hungry, Ryder just took to the fridge on his own and found an old, rotting bag of spinach at the bottom of the bin. When Reuben told him not to eat it, Ryder didn't listen and felt much better for it. Thus, Reuben realized the fungus in his charge would crave the older food. That's what a fungus' job was, after all. To decompose rotten items. Well, in this case, Ryder would just scarf down anything he could. But it was never truly satisfying to the toadstool.

Ryder kept to himself most of the week, even with Reuben's attempts to bring the toadstool out of his shell. All Ryder wanted to do was read. But, towards the end of the week, and when all the books that Reuben had bought him were complete, he did venture out a bit to explore the garden, the gazebo, the small lake next to the home. It was all so peaceful, and Ryder recognized it as such immediately.

Through all of this, Reuben knew that he had one specific person to talk to, whom he hadn't yet told of Ryder's existence. One person he knew would be just as fascinated, if not more so, with the news of his charge's birth. Calista.

With a quick text, Reuben got Calista's attention.

To: Calista
Hey! I have some awesome news! Come by whenever you get the chance.

Within a minute, Reuben received a text back:

From: Calista
On my way!

"Ryder, go to your room for a little while. There's someone I want you to meet, but I want it to be a surprise," Reuben stated with a grin on his face as he walked out of the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder and a knife in one hand.

The toadstool glanced up from the couch and sighed. With a small flap of his wings he floated up into the air. "C'mon Alice, lets go," he said, looking straight ahead before floating off slowly down the hallway.

"Fine. Why does he have to be so bossy? And why does it have to be a surprise?" she questioned as her long legs galloped behind the frei to the bedroom. She began to dissipate into the void before she was even able to enter the room.

Reuben rolled his eyes with a quick chuckle at the girl's questioning. She was a strange one, that much was for sure. He still didn't completely understand his raevan's abilities; but he knew that she was just a figment of his imagination.

After a few minutes of food prepping, he heard his front door open. With a smile on his face, he put down what he was doing and scurried into the living room.

"Hey babe, got here as soon as I could. What's up?" she asked curiously, walking over to the couch and setting her purse down on it.

"Like I said, I've got some news that I'm excited to share. Have a seat. I'll be right back with some tea."

With a curious, unamused glare, Calista walked around and sat down on the couch to wait for her friend to return.

"Who are you?" Alice's voice chimed from behind the couch.

Calista jumped and spun around to see nobody there. "What the ********> she huffed under her breath.

"Who are you?" the voice spoke again, this time it sounded ominous and echoing about the living room, followed by a high pitched, little girl giggling.

Calista's fingertips flickered with magic as she stood up and moved towards the center of the room. "Don't you mess with me, Reuben Rothmore. I swear to the gods above and below that I will kill you."

The giggling continued. "Don't you worry. No worries. No worries. No worries."

Calista's eyes narrowed as she turned around the room. Nobody was there, but the ominous echoing of this girly laughter wouldn't leave her mind.

Reuben re-entered with some tea only to see Calista looking crazed and hearing Alice's voice echoing throughout the room. "Alice, stop that!" Reuben called with annoyance in his voice.

A heavy, ominous, high pitched sigh could be heard throughout the room. At that point, the giggling had completely stopped.

"Reuben, what the ******** is going on?"

"Alice, that's what. You'll see. Sit down. I'll be right back," he said as he set the tea set down on the coffee table and walked down the hallway towards the bedroom.

Calista eyed her friend as he went down the hallway, but did as she was told. She could only hear muttering, but he was definitely talking to someone. She couldn't even imagine what was going on. Had he somehow enchanted his home or something? So many questions ran through her mind.

Reuben finally appeared at the hallway's entrance. "Cali, this is Ryder," he stated with a smile, stepping out of the way to bring his frei into the light of the living room.

Ryder floated in, a soft smile on his face. "Hello."

Calista's jaw dropped. She instantaneously knew what Ryder was. "HOLY ******** s**t REU-"

"CALISTA! Language!" Reuben scolded.

"Words are words, Reuben. Language is a wonderful thing. She should be able to express herself however she likes," Ryder said with a smile on his face, turning back to see the woman quite excited and giddy over seeing him.

Reuben rolled his eyes at his charge. He seemed so smart for being so new to this world. What books had he been reading, anyway?

"No, no, I'm sorry, Reuben is right. Umm, well s**t. You're alive! Welcome home!" she exclaimed with a huge smile, walking over to inspect the frei. Grabbing him and giving him a hug, she caressed his soft skin ever-so-gently and squeezed.

Ryder didn't do anything but accept the hug. Though, in all honesty, he wasn't enjoying the contact. Reuben hadn't even tried to hug him. Ryder just took that as how Reuben was.

The physical contact lasted longer than Reuben had wished, and Calista pulled back a bit, slightly dizzy. "Whoa," she stated as she backed away. "Man, you are so ******** beautiful, hahahahahah!"

Reuben's eyes narrowed. What on earth was going on. He had never seen Calista burst into laughter like that. At least not when she was sober.

Turning her attention towards Reuben, she glanced back at Ryder a moment. Her body drooped a bit. "He's so colorful. So magical. Wow."

"Cali, are you alright?"

"No, yes, yeah, of course. Wow."

Ryder just raised a brow at his guardian's friend. "Thank you for the compliment, I think."

"Oh, baby, of course. Anytiiiiime."

"Calista, sit down, drink some tea."

"I'm fine, I don't need to sit," Calista insisted, waving a hand as she hunched over, acting almost annoyed.

Reuben eyed her and looked at his charge. "Did you do something to her?"

The mushroom raevan was taken aback by Reuben's questioning. He wouldn't have ever purposefully done anything to cause something like this. What was his guardian thinking? "Of course not. At least, not that I know of."

Reuben watched as Calista wobbled her way towards the couch again to sit of her own free will. He was sure that something had overcome her the moment she had hugged his charge.

"Here, Cali, drink this," the tarotist stated after pouring a cup of tea and shoving it into his friend's lips.

Ryder hadn't moved, but instead just watched as his guardian took care of his friend.

Behind the frei, Alice began to manifest slowly out of thin air. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Shall we go read and leave them alone?"

Ryder just continued to watch the scene in front of him and, with a shrug of his shoulders, Ryder couldn't think of anything he could do to help this situation. "Sure," he stated quietly.

Alice smiled and turned around, hobbling off into the room. Ryder turned and began to follow, but before he made it down to hallway too far, he turned around to see Reuben still fussing with the tea cup and trying his best to get Calista comfortable.

An hour later, a knock was heard at the raevan's door followed by a slow and steady creak of it opening.

"Hey Ryder," Reuben's voice called out. "Calista is feeling much better now, and if you'd like to join us in the living room, feel free."

Ryder closed the book and set it beside the bed on the table. He then floated up and began to follow Reuben out into the living room. Alice continued to lay upon the bed still with an annoyed look on her face before dissolving away.

As Ryder floated into the living room, Calista stayed seated on the couch. "Hello Ryder, I am so sorry for earlier. I don't really know what came over me. But I am so happy to finally meet you."

Ryder nodded, a very slight smile creeping in the corners of his mouth. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

The frei floated over and sat across from the woman on the opposite couch and she began to talk, pouring her heart out trying to get to know the quiet mushroom frei.

April 24, 2017

I will it to happen and it does.

That sentence crept it's way into the mind of the small toadstool frei many times over the course of that week. "All I have to do is will it to happen." Ryder stated, floating about his room as if to pace back and forth while thinking.

Ryder was quite the studious little frei, but for whatever reason, he didn't truly understand his powers, nor how to control them. He recognized that magic was innately inside of him. That he was basically created of magic and imagination. That he was actually quite powerful, even Ethiriel had said so. It was just a matter of learning to control these powers and actually go figure out what all his magic was capable of.

The logical first step was to figure out what exactly it was that caused those he touched to react in such a way. The conversation Reuben had with him on their way home from the bookstore that day played out in his mind.



How was he supposed to turn down or turn off a power he barely understood? His skin was his skin, he couldn't help that. The only thing he could think of was to will it to happen.

The frei glared at his soft, pale hands and turned it over to view the many freckles that adorned the backs of his hands and speckled their way up under the ruffles of his sleeve. He closed his hands to create fists and then relaxed, flipping them back over palm up.

With a heavy sigh, he just looked up and continued to pace back and forth across the bedroom.

"I will it...and it happens," he stated aloud. "You have to believe in something enough to make it work. That's what magic is...a fair amount of imagination, belief, and will."

With that said aloud, he closed his eyes and continued to repeat it over and over in his mind. He didn't feel any different, and after a few moments he realized that just telling himself that he believed his skin was no longer hallucinogenic wouldn't be enough. He had to test the theory.

"Reuben, can you come here?" Ryder called through a small crack in his door.

Reuben came in a few moments later with a concerned face. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Here," the frei stated, holding out his hands.

"Ryder, what're you doing?"

"Just hold my hands, please."

Reuben's brow raised as Ryder closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The toadstool began to think the thought that his skin was no longer hallucinogenic over and over again.

Reuben nervously took a deep breath and slowly clasped his hands onto Ryder's hands.

Ryder tightened his grip on Reuben's hands and scrunched his face as Reuben began to feel more and more uneasy. Finally, Reuben ripped his hands away. "Okay, that's enough!" he exclaimed.

As Reuben backed up, his hands began to shake and his skin fell pale. Nausea overcame him and he began to sweat instantaneously. "I...need to sit down," he said, wobbling over to Ryder's bed.

Ryder felt sick to his non-existent stomach as well, more out of nerves of what he had just done to his guardian. "I-I'm so sorry! I won't ever touch you again!" he exclaimed in nervous sadness, his own hands quaking at the thought of what he had done. He quickly floated out of the room in embarrassment as Reuben laid down on his bed feeling faint and sick.

Reuben knew what he needed to do was sleep off these effects, while Ryder didn't know what to do whatsoever. Ryder paced the hallway outside of his room while Reuben laid down in the fetal position on his bed. "What have I done?" Ryder huffed under his breath. "It was supposed to work. Willing it to happen...that's what Ethiriel said. She just wills something to happen and it works. Why didn't it work for me?"

Your magic is quite strong already if you are able to give me hallucinations just by contact.

Ethiriel's words danced inside of his head. His powers were strong...potent...

But he wasn't able to control them. Not by will alone, anyway. What could he do? He only held onto Reuben's hands for a mere ten seconds at best, and it sent him into a state of nausea and instant sickness. There had to be another way. There just had to be.

June 11, 2017

Meeting LuLu made Ryder think. Was he so wrong to wish to feast upon Reuben's dreams? He felt it weird considering it wasn't something he could physically touch and bring to his mouth like the molding and expired food he'd become accustomed to eating every day.

"I can't see it, I can feel it ... Warm and heavy. Right here."

That scene played out in his imagination time and time again. He imagined LuLu hovering her hand over her chest with a look of desire on her face as she chomped down on the creativity over her GramGram knitting. It brought a smile to the frei's face, but he wished he knew what it was that drew him to Reuben's dreams, his mind, and even the minds of others.

Reuben's dream was just the first time he had ever felt a twinge of hunger that deep all those months ago. Of course, he didn't ever do anything, for he wasn't sure what that twinge was. But, looking back, it was definitely hunger. Since then, he'd become accustomed to this twinge whenever someone nearby had a sudden "eureka" moment, a new idea, or was day (or night) dreaming. He just never knew what to do with these small twinges. Should he actually accept it, would he feel that warm and heavy fuzzy feeling in his chest too? It was food for thought.

Ryder vowed that the next time he felt this ache in his chest, he'd accept it, he'd voluntarily take whatever this ache was and allow it to envelop him; he always knew it was calling to him, but never once did he think to take it in. What Ryder didn't know is, the twinge was coming soon.



"Ryder, I'll be in the shop if you need me!" Reuben called from his own bedroom as he made his way out the door to his workshop.

Oftentimes, Reuben would just yell to him, alerting him of his absence in the house. It was during these times that Ryder found himself at peace. Not because he didn't care for Reuben or the company, but just simply because he liked being alone with his muses and books. And if Reuben was out and about, Ryder had full reign over the house, the books, the trash can, everything.

Though, it was at this point that Ryder felt called to go outside in the back yard and spend some time under the gazebo. He liked going out there just to get away from it all, even if it was for only a few moments a day. He'd take his book and go relax and just enjoy the freedom given to him by Reuben. It was under the gazebo that many wonderful images came to him. It was a different world out there and he garnered so much inspiration from that place.

Draping his ribbon gingerly across the small outdoor wicker sofa that sat underneath the gazebo, the toadstool opened the book he was currently reading back up to where he had left off. His imagination roamed with the stories of dragons, sorceresses, elves, heroes, villains, and even the common folk within the book. Every sentence meant something to the frei.

Whilst he read, however, he felt that twinge from deep down in his chest. The one he promised himself he'd allow in. But how?

He quickly sat up and closed his book, setting it on the sofa before floating up into the air and following this feeling of longing that he desired. It strengthened with every flap of his wings towards Reuben's workshop.

As he neared the shop, he saw Reuben sitting at his desk, looking off into the distance with a smile on his face as though he wasn't fully present. Upon closer inspection, Ryder could sense the man's thoughts roaming. He couldn't see them, but he could definitely feel them turning like cogs in a clock. The ache he felt in his chest just grew stronger. Ryder floated right up to the window and gazed deeply at Reuben's daydreaming face and suddenly, the ache was gone, it was replaced by a feeling of warmth, satisfaction, and fullness; things he'd never experienced before.

Reuben shook his head, as if he was snapped back to reality and he laughed and knocked on the window when he noticed Ryder sitting near the garden outside with a goofy smile on his face.

Ryder's head snapped in the direction of the clinking glass. With a smile on his face he quickly waved and floated off back towards the gazebo while Reuben chuckled and sat back down in his seat.

Upon arriving back at the gazebo, Ryder couldn't help but feel completely satisfied. "I totally get it. That was amazing. I feel so energized," he said, looking down at his hands. His freckles almost seemed to glow their faint colors, and his rune sparked a brighter shade of red. He was full. This feeling was full. This was wonderful.

"I'll never deprive myself again!"