Lloyd slightly raised his head when Grayson flew off in Phora's direction. "Oh, now I see what's going on." Grayson settled on the ground when he reached the spot. "Now, about the battles..."

Phora walked ahead of Grayson and turned to face the creature once she was a considerable distance from Alice and Lloyd. She gave him a stern look and then spoke. "You and I both want the same thing-" She said. "-To keep those two apart! I know I'm the only one fit for Alice and you know the same about Lloyd, right?! So..." The pixie held out her fist. "Let's work together! Gimme some knuckle to seal the deal." She left her fist out expectantly.

It was natural that he was hesitant. "...I don't know, it doesn't look like anything could pull them apart right now." Grayson paused. "How would you go about this plan? I'm also curious: wouldn't you want Alice to be happy?"

"Don't mention it, besides, I honestly don't know what came over me." Tsubaki replied with her own friendly smile, and a hand rubbing the back of her head. "I'm more the listener type than the talker type."

While it was true they hadn't talked much, Johnathan was still probably on her top 5 list for most conversations had, at least in her time at Arclight. And, whether they knew it or not, the 4 people her age on that list were considered good friends. The teacher that kept calling on her in class, and having disappointed conversations with her about her grades, not so much.

---

It was that time again, the time when everyone in the club broke into their little groups. It seemed this time, however, it was to be an organic grouping experience, not the kind he was likely to be included into, nor did he want to. Times like these were when he could slip away to think (sleep), besides the only excitement that wasn't people asking others to a dance had already left, and if there wasn't anything important happening why even bother?

It took Derrek about as long as you'd expect for him to finally get to the door, after grabbing a few cookies for himself, and notably waving to Miss Rachel with PDA in hand to let her know he was only bailing on his peers, but could still be contacted if needed. Once out the door, he noticed Id still within sight, by what powers, he didn't know. Against all his instincts he suddenly engaged her.

"Hey... you? Noticed you left food behind, and since the two personality traits I've seen from you is 'likes food' and 'hates pretty much everything else', thought I'd ask if you were oka-... nah, dumb question. Wouldn't get a response that wasn't a punch in the face anyways. On second thought, I'll just do what I was already doing."

With that he turned away, not like she couldn't catch him if she wanted to.

Phora considered this. "Of... Of course I want Alice to be happy!" She began. "I want that more than anything in the world! But I know she'll get her heart broken when Lloyd dumps her or gets killed! It would be the bus crash all over again and I'm not sure she'd survive it!" The fairy seemed about ready to cry. "I... I need a cookie!" She said.

As the mirrors began to float around Lotus and the boy Lotus looked into his eyes. He wasn't exactly her type. Ltous wanted someone to ask her but him? She hardly knew the kid. She looked him over trying to get a feel of his style...She quickly discovered he really didn't have one or at least a noticeable one. She really didn't want to show up in her dress while he wore some kind of dirty polo and khakis. She closed her eyes and began quickly think of ways to let him down gently.
Lotus's thoughts began to infuriate Dot. Dot took it upon herself to 'nudge' Lotus into the boy! That always worked in the movies. Dot walked behind Lotus' chair and gave it a slight bump. But as with anything getting bumped by a tiger it fell over and took Lotus with it.
Lotus used her reflexes to land on all fours gently. Her eyes were still closed. She remained there till she knew how to let him down. Then she realized her face was up against something warm. Lotus tried to think of what it was....Fur? No....A rug? No.... Lotus finally moved her head back from the object to see what it was. When she did she realized she was staring at Daniel's crouch. Lotus turned bright red. She quickly stood up and looked at the boy who's crouch was just up against her face for an unusual amount of time. "Um....Uh....Sorry...I...Um.....Sure I'll go to the ball with you." She spat out quickly and nervously wanting to run away. After that she turned to run. She tripped over the chair that was on the floor, causing her to crash face first into the tile flooring. As the loud clatter rang through the room Lotus just to lay there and pretend she was dead.

Lotus's wild antics made Daniel laugh. At this rate he'd be smitten with her before the ball even came! He made glass hands out of the mirrors, and they gently picked the girl up and set her down on her feet. Then, he manipulated the glass mirrors back into an orb in his hand. "You seem like you know this already," He said. "But watch out for Alice."

He sat back down and tried to hold in his excitement. For once he had managed to keep his cool, and it all worked out for him. Things were looking up. Mindful of Lotus, he looked to Ms. Rachel for an order.

"Yeah, I can be the same way sometimes too." Johnathan said while he gave a light laugh. "So, did you enjoy the festival from the other day?"

_____

"Lloyd kind of acts the same way Griffins do," Grayson replied as he began to elaborate. "You see, Griffins are very intimate. When we have a partner they are for life, meaning if one were to die the remaining mate would be alone for the rest of their life. Now, Lloyd isn't that extreme but he does have a sort of 'tunnel vision' when it comes to this sort of stuff."

Phora blushed a little. If Alice and Lloyd were to be partners for life, what did that make Phora and Grayson? "W-well Pixies are a bit different!" She began as she looked towards her master, who was deciding on a weapon to spar with. Watching her pick a swordstaff of her own, she nodded respectfully and looked back to Grayson. "We just do whatever seems fun! Love is like a bloodsport to us. Sometimes we're just messing around, sometimes we stick like glue, and sometimes..." She paused to work out what she wanted to say. "Sometimes we just chew you up and spit you back out!" And sometimes we swallow, she thought silently. "Do you really think Lloyd is ready to deal with that?"

Alice, meanwhile, admired her swordstaff while stepping into the sparring ring. "Ring-outs count as a loss. Three rounds, like we agreed on." Already, she felt the lust for battle burning deep inside her. "I'll let you get the first swing, to make up for how badly I'm about to mess you up!" She laughed and smiled at Lloyd, waiting for him to attack.

"He'd try no matter how difficult it seems. That's his confident nature, which has positive and negative effects." Grayson replied. "I'd guess he would like the challenge you're alluding to." He thought back to Lloyd's past endeavors. He paused. "Well, if things start to looking bad then we'll intervene, but I think we should at least give them a chance. They are young."

"Ah, a swordstaff I see." Lloyd replied as he started practicing a little in the air. Holding it at equal intervals, Lloyd leaned forward to give himself some momentum and attempted to strike her side of her face with the staff end, opposite the side she held her weapon.

Phora wasn't happy about Grayson's response. "Does... Does Alice still need me?" She said aloud. "When that phoenix grows up it's going to replace me! So I've been trying to support her in other ways. But now, she has Lloyd." The pixie looked crestfallen. "Whatever. I don't want to think about this!" She took flight and landed near the sparring ring to watch the fight, before turning to Tsubaki, who was nearby. "Did you know Grayson can talk?" She asked.

Alice blocked Lloyd's attack and grinned. "You know," She said. "I never really practice with this thing." She spun the weapon in her hands and tried to check Lloyd in the center of his mass.

It had seemed that Phora misinterpreted what Grayson had intended, but figured the conversation could --no, it had to--be picked up later. After all it was Lloyd's potential future at stake. He had the power to set it on a completely different path. Of course he wanted nothing but the best, which should go without saying. For now though, he watched the fight at hand.

Lloyd instinctively gripped the end of his weapon and forced it down, effectively knocking Alice's down to the ground with a loud dull sound. Spinning it, he thrusted the staff end towards her abdomen.

Alice's combat instincts took over and she hit the staff with her palm, breaking it in half before it could connect. "Oops!" She said, before it dawned on her that she was now technically disqualified. The teenager had been so sure she would win, otherwise she wouldn't have made a bet in the first place. Needless to say, she was a little embarrassed. "Uhhh... uhhh... mmm.... W-what would you have me do, s-sir?" She said while blushing and looking down at the floor.

Lloyd dispelled his weapon and thought about what he wanted to do while rubbing his hair absently. He had a few ideas to choose from. After a minute he spoke. "I have it! I'll give you a complete makeover myself that you must keep on for 2 days."

Id became enraged at the boy's mouth. She spun around to grab him but she got a better idea. She directed Ego to the guy's cookies. After Ego delivered one to his master Id spoke up "You forgot one thing. I also like vodka." With that she pulled out her flask that has a cross one it and took a big drink before shoving it into her pocket.

Lotus was so embarrassed by what happened when Daniel picked her up she froze there unable to move or speak. Her face was as red as the punch.