✍️ Write based on the line prompt above

            “Wait, you are serious?” Agnes asked, blinking a few times. She was unable to comprehend what Winnie had just said so suddenly.

            “Yeah?” Winnie asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling, although most would call that smirking rather than smiling. It was clear she was trying to light up the mood, being afraid that she may have said something that could potentially ruin her relationship with Agnes.

            “I…” Agnes started, still blinking owlishly, before suddenly blushing bright red, finally comprehending what Winnie had said. “I, um, ah, uh, I, uh—”

            Winnie smiled bitterly, what else had she expected? Of course Agnes would never see her in that way; there was simply no way such a sweet girl could ever like someone as rough and playful as her. She was about to tell Agnes that it had indeed been a joke before Agnes grabbed hold of her larger hand with her smaller ones and held it between her hands, brining them up close to her face.

            “I, ah, um,” Agnes started, looking off to the side, mortified. She wasn't sure why, either, because her feeling were returned and she was with someone whom she had never had much issues regarding coming over before, but she couldn’t help herself and her feelings much in such a situation. Eventually, she spluttered out, “I, too, uh, fancy, ah, you!”

            It hadn’t been two seconds since she had said it, and she was already enveloped in a big and warm hug, her head peaking above Winnie’s, as she was slightly taller. Winnie, she noted, was very warm, and soft as well. She could feel Winnie’s breath hitting her neck and she could feel Winnie smiling into her neck as well, and suddenly, she felt a lot more at ease.

            It was the first time, she noted, that Winnie seemed truly, genuinely happy, and suddenly, Agnes felt proud and extremely happy, and this time, she knew why.

"Thank you for helping me with these papers," Njal spoke as he piled up the last remaining papers on the shelf. He had been late for school this morning, and as result he had been ordered to stay after school to help out with some cleaning as a punishment. Another student from the class, Stephen, had volunteered to help Njal out after school for no particular reason. While curious, Njal didn't deny his request: after all, he wanted to go back home to his games and comics as soon as possible.

"Don't even mentioned it," the dark-haired classmate replied with a sheepish smile. Then, after placing whatever he had been holding back on the shelf he let out an awkward laughter.

"Well, actually, I did have a reason to come here with you," Stephen grinned nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have been meaning to tell you something, so I figured this was a good enough excuse to uh, you know, have some alone time with you."

"What is it, then?" the blond asked, although Njal could already expect what was about to come.

"I'm terrible at this, I'm sorry, but I..." Stephen started and then took a pause as his face flushed bright red, "I've had a huge crush on you for a while now, and wanted to, um, ask if you'd like to go out with me?"

Njal didn't think a person could go any more red, but Stephen seemed to surpass the limitations of a mortal man, as his face just kept getting redder and redder - it was almost endearing, really. Then, he hastily added: "I-I'm sorry if this is weird and you're not into other guys or something, and if that's the case, uh, umm, please forget I even said anything!"

"It's fine," Njal replied, so calm he sounded almost monotonous. "But I'm not interested in dating... However, if you insist, I won't decline an offer to go somewhere."

He couldn't have care less about dating. In fact, just being with people for more than a couple of hours was exhausting and bothersome to him. But Njal had learned it was the easiest to just go along with people and let them do as they pleased; sooner or later they'd grow tired of him and his antisocial nature, and move on to someone who didn't spend 12 hours a day online or playing video games.  

"That's totally alright," Stephen replied, somewhat confused, but Njal could easily detect happiness from his classmate's voice. "I'm just super happy to actually be able to spend more time with you!" he added.

"We'll see if your tone changes in a few months..." Njal thought. This was not the first time, and wouldn't be the last either.  

There was a dark purple themed room. It was filled with magician stuff like fake saws, cards, hats, and plastic wands. Two magicians, who were standing next to each other, stood over a table in the middle of the room. They were nearly identical, with the only difference being the one on the left had green eyes and the one on the right had blue. On the table was a fossil, presumably of some type of snake. The magician on the left smiled at the one on the right. "You ready for this, Jude?"

Jude nodded. "I am, Jake. Let's do this. We've been trying for years, and we didn't steal this fossil for nothing..."

Jake nodded back at him and started waving the wand over him. The fossil started to glow brightly, almost blinding. Yet the magicians didn't move. 

The light faded, and the snake looked back up at them. The first noticeable thing about him is that he had legs. It was a sign of a defect in the spell. "Almost there..." Jude murmured.

Jake, on the other hand, was enthusiastic. "YES! It worked! It actually worked!"

The snake looked up at the two, slightly confused. He was mainly dark gray. He had a gold underbelly, which went to normal gray, then orange, then a small strip of black, then the dark gray, and finally a white back that almost seemed as if it were spray painted on.

Jude scooped the snake up and put him in a cage. “There we go… What do we name him?”

Jake shrugged. “Maybe Card Tricks?”

--

Jude screamed. Jake immediately ran to him. She was back in the room where Card Tricks was created. He was out of his cage, trying to walk towards Jude. Jude crawled back into the corner. 

“Jake… The-the snake… It’s… TALKING!...”

“Please listen, Sir…” Card tricks asked.

Jake suddenly jumped back from Card Tricks “... The WHAT now?! Why are you talking? What? How? Why? Explain!”

“I taught myself… But please listen to me..”

“... What do you want?”

“Sir… I have been here for a month, and I have watched you rehearse with intent eyes. I have never meant harm, and I know that because of my other ‘defect’ that you have failed to notice until now- The intelligence of a human itself- you may deny me of this very opportunity because  I’m a snake… But, I believe it is worth it, and I will ask- Can I please become one of you, a Magician? I believe I have done very well, and I have not hurt you in any way, shape, or form, and I just wanted to ask… Please, teach me everything, from the amateur tricks to the true magic. That is all I ask.”

Jude seemed to calm down at the question. Jake also seemed to get a bit calmer. He smiled at Card Tricks and opened a drawer. In it was a black hat with a red band and a clock bowtie. He started to put the bow on Card Tricks, whispering, “Of course. Who are we to deny somebody this opportunity? Being a magician is one of the greatest things in the world, and we’d let anybody experience that, even a talking snake with legs…”

"Sounds like we're soulbound after all."

Ronin couldn't help but frown when those words escaped Lewis. Ronin can almost taste the venom dripped from his tongue as he said those dreaded words. Despite the brutality within the sentence in Lewis' voice, Ronin can feel the same bubbling rage he had been feeling over the discovery of this supposed myth being true. It was hidden beneath the sweet chirps that came with Lewis' usual tone. The only reason Ronin managed to catch the hidden venom in his voice was due to the fact he was quite observant. Makes sense, considering his profession

Ronin eyed the mirror in front of him and gently ran his fingers along his neck. His hand was touching at the markings on his necks. The marking was golden and was roughly around the size of his hand. The marking itself resembled a feather. Specifically a feather that supposedly would fall from Ho-Oh.  It was certainly a beautiful marking. Ronin couldn't lie about that. It made looking at his neck without looking disgusted somewhat easier. Brushing his hand against it, the male could feel a strange warmth emitting from it. It certainly wasn't unpleasant. Just simply...unusual and bearable. 

"Perhaps this was something we received after our night together," Ronin replied. He focused his gaze over to the reflection of Lewis. "We were quite..intoxicated last night.

Ronin could seen Lewis in the middle of standing up. His paws were already moving to button his vest he often wear. The taller than normal Lopunny ears briefly twitched at the words that escaped Ronin's lips. He shifted his blue eyes over to the mirror that Ronin was looking at to show the Greninja he was looking at him.  A look of amusement formed on Lewis's face at fully processing Ronin's words. Ronin frowned at this, confused by this reaction. Despite his foggy memory, he was almost positive that he spent his time with Lewis' drinking. Did he misremembered something?

"Nini, I didn't drink anything," Lewis snorted. He focused his gaze back to the vest. "I don't quite enjoyed drinking while working. Don't get me wrong. Drinking is a nice way to get rid of your inhibitors but it's a dangerous game for me to drink while working at a Host Club in the Red Light District."

".....So that liquid....?" Ronin muttered.

"100% water," Lewis snorted.

Ronin wasn't sure to facepalm himself for his stupidity or simply shake his head. In fairness, he should have noticed it. Alcohol did have a certain smell and flow. The flow itself is something that water type tend to be able to pick up quicker than Pokemon of other types. It was a certain talent that most water Pokemon enjoyed having. On the other hand, Ronin wasn't fully focusing on if Lewis was drinking or not. That detail wasn't something that was important to him. In fact, it soon hit him that he should be happy about the fact Lewis wasn't drunk. He wasn't sure what kind of person Lewis was whenever he drinks.  For all Ronin knew, Lewis could be a violent type. Ronin definitely didn't need that espesically when he couldn't process the details of what occurred in his drunken state.

"I see..." Ronin couldn't help but mustered that word. What else was he suppose to say? 

"I didn't decide to get ourselves tattoos while you were drunk," Lewis casually replied.

Ronin perked up and tossed his gaze to Lewis. Just as he was about to go into that line of thought, Lewis managed to catch him before he can make that assumption. Ronin was impressed. Was this Lopunny secretly psychic type or could he easily read him like a book? Ronin was leaning towards both. Lewis was certainly a observant type. This fact was something that Ronin noted the moment he talked to Lewis. He knew what to say and was able to pick up on the smallest things. He was certainly a oddity when you compare him to his species. The psychic type was something that Ronin cling on for the explanation of hearing Lewis' voice in his head, It wasn't the most logically assessment but it gave him something for his hangover mind can cling to as a explanation as to what occurred. 

He then inhaled and force himself to look directly towards Lewis. For a brief second, his eyes lingered to the Lopunny's chest as it slowly became hidden behind Lewis' chest. He had to stop himself from staring at it for too long as he noticed Lewis flashed him that damn grin of his. Heat slowly gathered in his cheek as he stuck his tongue from his mouth. The long, red appendage curled itself around Ronin's neck, slowly hiding the marking that Ronin had been touching as well the scars Ronin maintained since he had that battle with that Gabite,

"Let's..try to think this through the beginning." He desperately wanted to get away from the idea that he was soulbound to a stranger. It was simply illogical. 

"Hey, Renne!" The sudden voice made the sky haired noble turn on her heel to see Riy striding up to her with a pleasant grin on his face. She was surprised by his sudden appearance, but welcomed it all the same and greeted him with a nod.

"What is it? You seem to be in a rather good mood today." She replied with her hands on her hip. The young knight laughed sheepishly and stopped just a few feet in front of her as they stood by a window on the third floor of Fenrir Palace, one overlooking the land below.

"Of course I am. Those last few jobs I took at the local guild really paid well." He told her eagerly, a strange light in his eyes that made Renne curious. She tilted her head to the side with a wondering smile and folded her hands with a laugh.

"No, I mean even with that. You're unusually upbeat." She shot back and leaned towards him. "I doubt a good payout would be worth that much joy." Her comment made the young knight turn his head and scratch his cheek in a sheepish manner.

"Well, in this case it does." When he felt the noble's probing gaze, Riy continued. "I was able to buy something I've been meaning to for a while now." Renne laughed again, though it was a playful laugh and she lightly tagged her friend on the shoulder.

"I didn't know you had time to browse for such things." She remarked. There was a short pause from Riy, prompting the noble to knit her brows. 

"It's not for me actually." Renne stepped back with wide, wondering eyes as she watched the youth reach under his coat and grab hold of something. When he pulled his hand back out, there in his palm lay a pair of small, orb shaped earrings. They were a deep blue in color, a stark contrast to Renne's sky blue hair. The noble was beginning to understand where this was going and she looked back up at Riy with a shocked face. Seeing this, he smiled at her. "They're for you. Happy Birthday, my lady." 

"You know you didn't need to do that..." Renne was at a loss for words, and gingerly reached out to touch the jewelry in the boy's hand. She curled her own hand over them and took hold, lifting them before her eyes so she could marvel. Meanwhile, Riy ran a hand through his hair  with a nervous laugh."

"I saw some on your desk the other day, so I just figured-" Before the knight finished talking, Renne had already pulled back her hair and put the earrings on, then twirled once to allow a view of them as her hair flowed with her.

"How do they look?" She asked with a soft laugh. With a satisfied laugh and a slightly flushed face, Riy smiled at the sight and sighed with satisfaction.

"Somehow you look even more regal now." He admitted with a nod. Renne gracefully stopped her spin, allowing her hair to come to a fluttering stop before she leaned forwards ever so slightly.

"You'll always be by my side, right?" Her question alarmed Riy, as it came completely out of nowhere so in a panic he just nodded.

"Of course, I-" The young knight was only able to get a few words out before he was quickly silenced as the sky haired noble covered his mouth with her own in a kiss. Taken by surprise he could do nothing but blush as his heart beat quickened. The pair remained like this for a moment until Renne pulled away and folded her hands behind her back, flashing the youth a warm smile.

"Then that's all I need. Thank you." She then spun on her heel and strode away, humming happily as he hair bounced with each stepped. Watching her go, Riy again ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"As always, I'm no match for her." As the youth became distant, Renne felt her own cheeks warm and she clutched at her heart.

"As always, I'm no match for him."