Chapter Text
“All it really took was adding a couple of extra wires and then I could make the device transmit holographic images,” Dex says, talking about his new invention. One he created after a very long discussion between team Vailent trying to describe what an odd statue looked like after Sophie and Biana found it during a search of an old Neverseen hideout.
After thirty minutes of back and forth of glitchy videos and awful descriptions, not to forget the repeated sound of someone banging their head against a table on the other side of the imparter Dex had decided to make something to help them for the future.
“Now if we carry these I don’t have to worry about Stina getting a concussion. I’m trying to figure out how to add the feature to our imparters but I need to find a way to size it down and I didn't have time last night because the triplets would not stop adding me into their games against my will.”
“Wait, you made this in a night?” Stina asks astonished, “C’est incroyable,” the last part is under her breath and in French so not many people hear it except for Sophie who happens to be sitting next to Stina. The corners of Sophie's lips turn up a little bit when she realizes that Stina has completely forgotten about her Polygot ability.
“Yeah, it was pretty simple after I figured out that one of the transmitters that make the image 3D was too far to the left and it was skewing with the transmitters that were next to it,” Dex adds, “And technically I made six, one for each of us and an extra in case one breaks or if the counselors want one. Oh! This is actually pretty cool, the shell is programable so you can pick the color of it, this way we won't get them mixed up and Biana may not lose hers if it's a bright color,”
“I don’t lose things that often,” Biana says in a scoff that is most likely in a joking manner,
“Biana you almost missed a meeting yesterday because you lost your imparter,” Wylie chimes in from the couch on the other side of the room,
Team Vailent had a routine meeting to discuss some problem the counselors were concerned about but the team solved the issue in record time and then decided to hang out for a little while longer especially since Dex wanted to share his new gadget.
Right before the majority of the group’s seventh year, Master Cadence had shown them an older building on the edge of Foxfire’s property that would work for a lounge/office if they needed an extra space away from both the Black Swan but also the Councilors offices, since then they had been using the two-room crystal building for after meeting debriefs.
It was perfect, far enough away from their classes that no one would overhear them but still close enough that they could get to their classes in time. The Vackers had some extra living room furniture that they brought over to make it comfortable and the building had a bathroom connected. Dex had found a mini fridge no one was using in his house and after hooking up a water feature it was the perfect hang-out. Sometimes even being used for studying or a quick place to get away from everyone else.
“I did not lose it! I simply forgot to turn it on hence not getting your call,” Biana says pulling Sophie out of her thoughts,
“That is unfortunately not a better excuse Bee, the only reason you made it was because I called your brother,” Sophie says closing her history book, “Speaking of not getting to places on time I have to go, Keefe planned a date night for me and I don’t want to be late,”
“Ooo, have fun,” Biana squeals,
“Any idea where he’s taking you?” Stina asks as Sophie is grabbing her stuff,
“Nope, he said he wants it to be a ‘super secret surprise’” Sophie says in response,
“Correct me if I’m wrong but isn't a secret what makes a surprise a surprise?” Wylie asks her as he gets his own things organized, he doesn't always come back the the team hangouts since he’s a bit older than the rest of the group but every once in a while, he brings a book and some advice that the rest of the team sometimes take,
“You would be correct but I ignore that because I love him,” She says as she heads towards the door, “Hope you all have a good night see you tomorrow,”
She steps outside and brings her leaping crystal out and leaps home, where Keefe had instructed her to meet her.
When she gets home she is greeted by Keefe with a bouquet of flowers and a nicely wrapped gift box. He is also wearing an alicorn onesie that Sophie did not know he owned,
“Happy late third year anniversary!” Keefe cheers, “I know we said not to make a big deal out of it since we both have been so busy but I wanted to get you a little something plus a fun night, so be prepared for food I definitely didn't make and star gazing,” he laughs,
The two of them had been mostly together for the last three years ever since they kissed after he came back from the forbidden cities. There had been a brief separation right before their first full year together because of poor communication but after a lot of long and deep conversions, they got back together and have been ever since. They even survived Keefe giving them both food poisoning on their second anniversary which is one, why he didn't cook for them anymore and two, why they had decided to stop making a big deal out of their anniversaries.
“That sounds amazing, please tell me there is chocolate in there somewhere,” Sophie says while she reaches past the gifts to give her boyfriend a hug,
“It's in the box, right above the matching onesie,” Keefe smiles,
~~~
One clothing change later the two of them are sitting on a big fluffy blanket near where their first kiss was and eating a bunch of baked goods and some gnomeish dish that tasted remarkably like pizza.
“Mm, this tastes amazing I thought when I first moved here I would miss all the human food I was used to but so many dishes here taste so much like the stuff I grew up with just with super different textures,” Sophie says after finishing her second slice of a foamy cake-like substance,
“It is amazing, there is also some mallowmelt over there. I tried to get the majority of your favorite foods I also tried to make custard bursts but they just seemed to melt when I took them out of the oven,” Keefe tells her with a small laugh, which then causes Sophie to laugh especially because he has mallowmelt covering his face while his head and hair is covered by the hat of the onesie that not only has a horn and ears but big cartoon eyes.
“I love you so much right now, I mean I love you every day but today you brought cake and comfy clothes with pockets,” Sophie says reaching out to wipe to clump of frosting off of his nose,
“Ok very important question, how much food do I have on my face?” Keefe asks,
“Oh, I see more butterscotch than I see your face Keefe,”
“Perfect,” He laughs using a napkin to wipe off half a slice of mallowmelt off his face, “Oo, look up there! Shooting star you have to make a wish now, it is the rule,”
“I don’t know if I have anything to wish for right now,” She says smiling, “We’re happy, my parents are safe, the Neverseen has been really quiet, and team valiant is doing great, and right now my amazing boyfriend created a literal picnic from my dreams,”
“Well then wish for all that to stay the same, or just keep watching the pretty lights with me,”
“That sounds amazing,” Sophie replies, she moves the boxes of food to the side and snuggles closer to Keefe letting his lips brush over hers for a moment before settling on his chest. They spend the next few hours watching the stars until they get so tired they are falling asleep and decide to move into the house.
~~~
Sophie’s eyes start to open because of an insistent buzzing sound coming from somewhere in the room. And shuffling awkwardly and still half asleep does not help her find her imparter.
“What’s going on?” Keefe asks rubbing his face,
“The council is calling me, Dex added specific ringtones for emergencies. I need to find my imparter, I threw it somewhere last night but I can’t find it!”
“Ok, ok I’ll help you look,” Keefe says getting up still in his onesie, he almost comically drops to the ground to search under the bed. As he does this the little alicorn wings flap up and down like a weak attempt the fly,
“Got it!” Keefe cheers and throws it to Sophie and she would not have caught it if not for telekinesis,
“Hello, it’s Sophie what’s wrong?”
“A bunch of scrolls have been damaged because an intern put them next to a water fountain, we need you guys to re-write them. Also, why do you have a horn?” Bronte says through the apparent video call Sophie had answered,
“Oh, I don’t know how to answer that in a way that will make sense to you,” Sophie responds as Keefe tries to stifle a laugh from the other side of the imparter, “I’ll let the rest of the team know we’ll be there in like twenty to thirty minutes,”
“Good, sorry to take up your Saturday,” Bronte hangs up and Sophie flops back onto her bed groaning,
“Ugh, I do not want to go!” she wines, “And I can not believe I answered Bronte in this outfit,”
“Are you saying that these amazing clothing pieces are not the top fashion possible?” Keefe jokes,
“They are amazing and I plan on this being a new favorite of my pajamas but it’s not great for calls with my kind of boss,”
“Fair, now you should get ready for your very important and very cool job even if it is boring sometimes and takes up your Saturdays,”
“Fine,” Sophie grumbles “You should probably go though, because I will definitely get distracted if you are here,”
“Ok, but can I have a kiss before I leave?”
“Of course,”
~~~
“How do we live in a place that can where we can literally teleport because of magic crystals and we have basically superpowers but we don't digitalize our files?” Sophie says,
It was almost three in the afternoon and the majority of the team had been in Atlantis since ten in the morning and they were all bordering on death by boredom. Sophie had let Wylie go home after his dads called him for help with a bunch of old boxes they were going through.
The more time passed, the more irritable Stina got, the more Dex talked to himself, and the longer Biana took to finish reading a page. Sophie was hanging on by pure desperation to go home.
“Items found, two boxes of unknown containers of fur - origin unknown,” Dex reads aloud, apparently not only did they have to rewrite reports but also go back over the inventory of a Neverseen hideout which seemed to be Team Vailents main job for the last couple of months, “Why did the Neverseen have or need this much fur! If they are going to be weird it might as well make sense,” Dex complains,
“I don’t care about the why, I care about when we can put these scrolls in a box far away from any possible water damage and leave,”
“I appreciate that we have this job but at this moment I hate it,” Biana adds to the conversation,
“You are not alone in that thought,” Sophie says, “How about we take a break, if we keep going like this none of our work is going to be as good as it should be,”
“Good idea, plus I can show you this,” Dex says pulling out a small cube and attaching it to his imparter. In Sophie’s eyes, it looks like it’s levitating but after knowing Dex for so many years she knows there is probably a more logical explanation.
“It’s a compacted holograph gadget, and it can plug into your imparter. It's not as great quality as the bigger version but it should work in a pinch if we don't have space to carry the full-size one,” Dex starts he goes on to talk about how he made it but Sophie gets distracted by Stina who cannot keep her eyes off Dex,
“I should not find this cute,” Stina says, and it takes a moment for Sophie to realize it was said in French
“Ok you need to stop making fun of me in languages you know I can’t speak!” Dex says all of a sudden to Stina who only replies with a simple,
“I have no idea what you're talking about,”
Sophie smiles a little to herself but luckily no one notices. The rest of the day continues in boring forms and the occasional balled-up paper being thrown around the room. Not many interesting things happened for the rest of the day except Dex somehow falling asleep while still sitting up,
“Je crois que j’ai envie de t’embrasser” Stina whispers to Dex while Biana is out getting food,
While Sophie does find it hilarious that Stina has completely forgotten her friend is a Polyglot, she also is definitely starting to feel like she is intruding on a big secret, especially if it includes romantic feelings for people that are not Sophie,
“I’m flattered but I think you should be telling Dex you want to kiss him, not me,” Sophie responds in French to make her point,
“Wait what,” Stina quickly turns horrified, “Oh no, you're a Polyglot. How did I forget that?”
“I have no idea, I’ve been trying to figure it out for days. By the way, you talk to yourself in French a lot,” Sophie laughs which causes Stina to throw one of the couch pillows at her,
“I have never been more embarrassed in my life,”
“Well as someone whose life has basically been on display since I moved here, I promise you it can get more embarrassing than having a crush, but as someone who went through the same thing I get it. If you ever want to talk let me know, ok?” Sophie says as Biana walks in,
“You two know you're speaking a different language right?” Biana says as she puts down a couple of boxes of food on a table near us, “Because you both do that sometimes and I’m not super sure you notice,” she laughs which somehow earns a glare from Stina to both of them.
“I do not do that regularly,” Stina grumbles, causing Sophie and Biana to laugh even harder waking up Dex,
And Sophie does not miss how Stina’s annoyed frown turns a little bit more into a smile when she hears Dex’s voice,