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Fred tried valiantly to ask Pearl more questions, but Corvus kept using the smallest bursts of his magic to make Fred itch in various places all over his body to distract him. It was something Fred had taught him when they were boys, and he suddenly saw the lightbulb dawn in Fred’s eyes. Corvus realized his tactical error when Fred turned to Corvus with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “So Corvus, have you taken your girlfriend to that new show at the West End yet?” He made sure his voice was loud enough for the girls to hear him, and all eyes turned in Corvus’ direction.

Corvus didn’t skip a beat. “I’d love to take my girlfriend. Which show do you have in mind?”

Pearl absolutely beamed at Prudence, and he saw Prudence allow the smallest smile for her friend even if she did roll her eyes at the same time.

Corvus decided he’d let Fred live another day even if his friend didn’t know he’d given Corvus a golden opportunity.

They made it through dessert without incident, and when Fred tried to extend the evening by suggesting they visit a local pub, Corvus quickly said, “Oh, I think Pearl has an early morning at the bookstore tomorrow.”

When Pearl looked up in surprise, Corvus tried to communicate with his eyes the gravity of going along with this story. As always, she caught on quickly.

“Oh, yes. It’s a shame, really, but I do need to get my beauty sleep.”

Huffing, Prudence rolled her eyes again. Corvus wondered pettily if they would get stuck from the amount of time Prudence spent expressing her disdain with her eyes. “If you just want to get away from us to snog, you don’t have to come up with stupid excuses.”

Pearl stuck out her tongue. “Maybe we don’t want to hear the two of you argue anymore.”

Prudence didn’t argue for once. “Now that I would believe. Take me to this pub, Fred, and we’ll let our lovebirds have a break.” And she grabbed his arm and pulled him down the street before Fred could argue.

Taking Pearl’s hand, Corvus appeared in her living room with a crack and started snogging her with fervor.

Giggling and wiggling her eyebrows, Pearl pulled away after a few minutes and said, “I see my boyfriend isn’t wasting any time.”

Corvus smiled back. “Well, I was hoping to get you away from Fred before you run screaming in the other direction.”

“I mean, you’ve met Pru. We both have very…intense best friends.”

Curling up with Pearl on the couch under a blanket, Corvus thought about this. “I actually don’t think Fred is intense, it just is his greatest joy to sow chaos, so he is constantly distracting anyone from seeing anything real about him.”

“I think Pru is just an intensely loyal person, and she expresses it by being willing to throat punch anyone who looks at me wrong. And she and Frederick might be the most oil and water couple I’ve ever seen in my life. Can you imagine if they joined forces instead of fighting all the time? I think they could conquer the world.”

Giving himself a moment to think of the terror Fred and Pru could unleash upon the world, Corvus shook his head and made a mental note to encourage Fred to let this particular relationship go.

“So when do I get to meet your other friends?”

Huffing a laugh, Corvus replied. “What other friends?”

Jabbing him playfully in the side, Pearl replied, “No, I’m serious. You always have a ton of people around you at school.”

Corvus arched an eyebrow. “Checking me out at school, eh?”

“With glutes that good, how could I not?”

A belly laugh burst out of Corvus, “I’m so glad you finally noticed. It’s one of my greatest assets.”

“You are ridiculous, and you are changing the subject.”

Corvus interlaced his fingers with Pearl's. “I may have a lot of people around me, Pearl, but they don’t actually have any interest in me. They are interested in what I represent - my money, my name, access to my father - I’m a tool they hope to leverage to their benefit.”

“That’s rather harsh, isn’t it?”

“It’s rather true. Fred is the only one who won’t really benefit from all of those things, so he’s the only one I trust. And he’s the only one who will actually tell me when I’m being an ass - all the rest just kiss mine until their lips are sore.”

Pearl looked at him piercingly - so much so, he had to look away before she looked straight into his soul.

“Do you think I’m leveraging you?”

Corvus attempted a laugh, but his response came out with more sincerity than he intended. “I hope not because if you are, you’re doing a fantastic job.”