Keal had woken up with an epiphany, and as usual, it was ridiculous.
"Nylessa," he declared, hopping out of bed with a heroic pose that accidentally knocked over a bookshelf, "today I shall uncover the deepest, darkest secret of all magic."
She didn't look up from her tea. "How to not trip over your own ego?"
He pointed at her, very dramatically. "No. The secret of magical style."
Nylessa blinked. "You mean... robes?"
"Exactly!"
---
The next hour was spent in front of the mirror.
Keal tried on five blankets, three curtains, and a lampshade.
"This one says 'mysterious rogue,'" he muttered, swirling a floral bedsheet like a cloak.
"It says 'lunatic who robbed grandma's linen closet,'" Nylessa corrected.
"Perfect!"
---
On the way to the forest glade, Keal rehearsed his magical monologue.
"Magic is the language of the soul," he whispered to a confused squirrel. "And mine speaks fluent flirting."
He passed a girl around his age carrying water. He flipped his sheet dramatically.
"How's the weather in your dimension, enchantress of liquid duties?"
She stared.
Keal tripped on his 'robe' and fell into the bucket.
---
Nylessa found him ten minutes later, dripping wet and talking to the bucket.
"She didn't even say hi," he mumbled.
"That's because you called her an enchantress of liquid duties."
"Which is a compliment!"
"Not in any known tongue."
---
Later, at the glade, Keal found the same older kids from before. Still practicing.
He crouched in the bushes like a spy. "Observe the majestic pre-teens in their natural habitat."
"You're talking louder than the birds," Nylessa said.
"They need to hear my admiration."
He stood and approached a girl mid-chant. "Good day, radiant practitioner of combustion."
She ignited her spell. A small flame flared.
Keal clapped. "Hot in every sense."
She walked away.
Nylessa pulled him back by the sheet. "You're lucky fire magic is regulated."
---
Back at the cottage, Keal sulked on the roof.
"Maybe I should flirt with magical objects instead. They don't judge."
He winked at a broom. "Nice bristles."
It fell over.
"I have that effect," he sighed.
---
That night, he dreamed of robes that sparkled, a hundred girls who all said, "You're ridiculous," and Nylessa sitting on a throne of rejected compliments.
He woke up giggling.
"I'm going to become so powerful even rejection will beg me for attention."
Nylessa threw a pillow at him.
He caught it.
"See? My first magical catch."
---