Renegade, 6

John sat crosslegged in the dirt, so absorbed in what was in front of him that he didn’t hear Kay coming up behind him. “What are you doing?”

“Working,” John told her.

“On what?” She peered over his shoulder at the potion he was blending. “And why aren’t you doing it in the kitchen?”

“I just finished cleaning it and I don’t want it to be a mess when Mom gets home,” John muttered. She was away at the Sorcerer King’s castle. She said she’d be there for a long time. “Do you need something?”

“Catwing powder,” Kay said. “I can’t find it. Did you use it?”

“No,” John said. He never used Catwing powder. “What do you need it for?”

“What are you making there?”

John sighed. He was almost done. “A mood enhancer.”

Faery, 9

Juniper inhaled. Even though he shouldn’t have.

“Oh, shut up,” Juniper mutters, taking another drag. “I’m a grown-up faery, I can smoke mind-altering substances if I want.”

I know, I know. I’m just not sure the hallucinogenic that’s laced with is a great call.

“Whatever. It’s not like I’m doing anything important.”

Indeed, Juniper was not doing anything particularly important. He’d been sort of bumming around the woods since his court appearance, just kind of lost.

“What am I supposed to do? The queen and Daffodil have the centaur stuff under control. I’d just be in the way.”

I think that you could be a pretty strong asset.

“They’ll be fine without me.”

Slavery, 63

“It’s not fair that he gets this huge bed and we have to sleep on the floor,” Marcus said, flopping back on Theodore’s bed naked, idly touching himself.

“Yeah, slavery sucks,” Hugh agreed, sarcastic. “We should let people know.”

Marcus gave him the finger, but Simon climbed between them. “I kind of like our little room. Everything else here is so big and fancy that it doesn’t feel real. Like, Theodore spent so much money on it all because he wanted to seem rich rather than because he actually needed it. Our room is just what we need.”

“My ass needs a softer place to sleep,” Marcus complained.

“Your ass needs a pounding if you’re just going to keep complaining,” Trevor called over.

“And you sleep on your belly,” Daniel reminded him. He took off his shirt as he spoke, tossing it aside carelessly. “Ideal pounding position.”

Faery, 3

Juniper danced. Or at least that was what he thought he was doing. Really it was more sort of bouncing his arms around a bit while he tried not to fall down.

“Hey, fuckhead. You’ve ruined my life enough, don’t insult my dancing, maybe?”

Your dancing sucks.

“Like you’d fucking know. I’m having fun, okay? I had a bad breakup, I got poisoned, but now I’m feeling better and I’m having fun.” Juniper doesn’t stop dancing as he argues.

You’re still poisoned, that’s why you’ve been dizzy since you started drinking.

Juniper scowls. “That’s because of the alcohol.”