7A good morning at Camp Campbell starts with waking up, getting breakfast, and attending one of Harrison's magic shows! The campers all gather around the small stage as the camp's only illusionist performs a trick for Nikki.
"So, Nikki... was THIS your card?" Harrison pulls out a two of hearts from the deck, showing it to Nikki before displaying it to the rest of the crowd.
Nikki gasps in amazement. "Oh my gosh! How did you know?!"
"The answer is simple." Harrison replies. "It's magic! Ta-da." With a flick of his wrist, the card vanishes into thin air.
"Of course! It makes perfect sense!" Nikki nods. Harrison claps his hands together and confetti shoots through the air, earning applause from the crowd as he takes a bow. Max and Neil walk up to the scene, settling in between Space Kid and Yuni. Said girl was already on her phone searching up how the magic tricks were being done. She waves a hand good morning to her friends, not bothering to look up from her quickly scribbled notes.
"Hey, Space Kid, what's going on?" Max interrogates.
Space Kid gestures to the stage with wonder. "Harrison is doing MAGIC. He's incredible." The boys frown at the younger's naivety.
"Pssh. 'Magic.'" Neil waves a hand at the blasphemy. "Come on, Space Kid, I expected better from you. There's no such thing as magic." The crowd turns around at Neil's party-pooping statement.
Nikki points at him from the stage. "Don't you say that, Neil! Just because YOU don't believe—"
"It's okay, Nikki." Harrison puts a hand on her shoulder to keep her from going rabid beast on her friend. "Neil just doesn't want his mind freaked by my powers." He gives Neil a confident smirk.
Neil rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms. "Sure, Harrison, that's it. It's certainly not because I believe in the fundamental laws of everything in existence, which goes against the slightest chance of magic even being possible."
"Then how do you explain..." Harrison reaches behind Nikki's ear and pulls out a quarter. "This?"
Nikki gasps again, eyes sparkling at the newly found coin. "I've got money ears!"
Neil swats at the space in front of him, unimpressed. "Sleight of hand. The quarter's up your sleeve and the movement of your hand covers up the coin coming out." The crowd gasps at Neil's revelation.
Yuni looks up at the explanation, surveying the concept for herself. She recognizes that Harrison's sleeves are actually rolled up past his elbows, so unless the guy had the utmost confidence in how the coin was going to come out and land in his hand, there had to be another method. She furiously begins tapping on the screen, inputting a new search into the YouTube search bar.
Harrison shrugs. "I guess that's one way to do it, but that certainly doesn't answer..." Someone plays him a drum roll for dramatic effect. Harrison pulls out four identical rings and piles them on top of each other, doing a cool spin before the grand reveal. "How these rings link together so effortlessly!" The crowd cheers at the display.
"Yeah, Neil! Explain that!" Nikki points to the trick, sure that Neil wouldn't find a way past this one.
"Trick rings sold specifically for the purpose of that illusion." Neil recalls finding them online, his brain pulling up the item image. "They're on Amazon for $12.95. Get rekt, Harrison." He makes a shooing motion with his hand, wanting to be done with this. "Why don't you do a real magic trick if you're so good?"
The camera zooms in on Harrison's narrowed eyes. "So, you want a real trick. Okay then, Neil. I'll perform the greatest trick of all! How about this?!" Harrison raises his arms and wiggles his fingers, aiming them towards Neil. "Abracadabra!" When nothing happens, Neil rolls his eyes yet again.
"Amazing, Harrison."
"Come on, Neil." Max shares a look with the nerd. "Let's get the fuck—" Before he could move any further, the boy in blue feels his stomach turn. The pain causes him to groan and hunch over, a rare sight for Max. Yuni looks up from her frantic research, scrambling to her feet and hopping a good three steps away before she became subjected to barf bag duty where she was the barf bag.
"Max? Are you okay?" Neil reaches out. It was too late, for Max had begun to hurl a string of handkerchiefs from his mouth. They were all tied together like they would be when a magician performs the endless pocket trick. Yuni stares on in horror, clutching the journal to her face to fight off her gag reflex. It was somehow more disturbing than actual body fluids. Every time they thought he was done, Max would continue, shocking everyone with the bunny, hook, and skateboard that came out of his tiny body.
Max pants after the ordeal, thoroughly traumatized. He looks up at Harrison in fear. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" Harrison merely smiles.
Nikki points at her frightened friend in glee. "Oh! You just got Abraca-OWNED, Max!" The crowd claps and cheers at the triumph. Ered seemed to be the only one who was concerned.
Yuni walks over after everything settled down, scolding the other girl. "Nikki!" She crouches next to Max, making sure to steer clear of the magic vomit pile. "Max? You doin' alright?" Suddenly, she could feel her brain tingle as her body shivered. Something in her mind was telling her to insult him and make fun of him for a change. "'Cuz if you are then, pfft, I'm obligated to laugh at you." Her laughter gives way to more laughter as the other campers join her.
Harrison crosses his arms over his chest, puffing it out in presentation. "Yes, and it would've been even better if it had happened to Neil as I intended, but you get the idea." He makes a rainbow with jazz hands. "Magic!"
"I do NOT feel okay." Max alerts, telling this more to the girl on his left than to the audience. She only sticks her tongue out at him in response. He flinches back, confused.
Neil shakes his head. "Whatever. It wasn't that cool."
Harrison slides into frame, mocking the science kid. "What's the matter, Neil? Did I freak your mind?"
"Please. That was lame." Neil waggles a finger in Harrison's face. "So I don't know how you did it, big deal. It's not like I'm gonna lose sleep over it."
We cut to seven hours later, everyone in bed, happily asleep. Except for one.
"Shit."
We move on to the next morning. Neil has been up all night going over every equation known to man trying to figure out how Harrison did the trick. He's gone through more than two recommended cups of coffee to pull this all-nighter and he still wasn't getting any closer to the scientific truth of it all. It was beginning to get on his nerves.
He hears Max shuffle and squirm within his cot, yawning into a stretch as he sits up and blinks the sleep out of his eyes. Max's morning un-pleasantries get interrupted at the sight of Neil's chicken scratch chalkboard. There were too many things on there that he didn't understand.
"Oh, good. You're awake!" Neil gives him a bloodshot stare. His eye twitches like a mad doctor's.
"Neil?" Max squints, vision still blurry. "What are you..."
Neil begins to pace the floor of their shared tent. "I was just thinking about that trick that Harrison did yesterday. Not that I care about it, but I'm THIS close to figuring it out, and I just need to know, at what point did he surgically insert the handkerchief and rabbit into your stomach? Were you awake for it? Or did he put you under?!"
Max rubs his stomach at the reminder of yesterday's events. "I... I don't want to talk about it."
Neil nods as if in understanding. "Right, right. I mean no one wants to talk about it, it's just a stupid trick after all, but... what irks me is that the math just isn't there, you know?"
Max doesn't respond, slinging his legs over the side of the cot. Before he could get ready for the day, an itch in his throat causes him to cough out a playing card. Looks like the spell hasn't worn off yet. "Look, I don't know what happened. I just... I'm gonna go get some breakfast before this scars me for life." He pulls on his sweater with a pop, trudging his way out of the tent and to the mess hall.
Neil sees him out with his eyes, not bothering to actually move his body. "Nah, yeah! No, that's fine. I'm about to figure it out anyway, even if I wanted to spend more time on it. Which I don't! Because I don't care!"
The sound of Nikki's voice pulls him from his frazzled thoughts. "Amazing! Do it again, Harrison!" Neil goes outside to investigate. He squints in the sunlight and barely contains the urge to hiss at the sky.
Harrison is seen showing Nikki the milk and paper cone trick. The milk drips out from the bottom, the trick not having been set up correctly. "Well, this isn't really how the trick is supposed to work..."
"I don't care, this is awesome!" Nikki holds her arms out in appreciation. "The milk goes right through it! How?!"
"That's kinda just like... normal physics."
Neil feels his eye twitch at the admittance, sliding over to the two. "Oooooh, NOW you're confined by the laws of physics? I thought it was..." He gasps mockingly, crossing his eyes. "MAGIC! Tada!"
"Oh, Neil. Magic only works for those who believe in it." Harrison points at Nikki. "Like my new apprentice, Nikki, for example."
"Yeah! I believe! Cut me in half!" Harrison is taken aback by his apprentice's enthusiasm to being cut in half. "I'll be fine! ...I'll be fine? I'll be fine!"
Neil pulls Nikki aside rather forcefully. "Is he teaching you his tricks?"
Nikki shrugs. "Uh, yeah, he said he would. I wanted to learn Avada Kedavra, but he said it was forbidden or some junk." She twirls a finger in disappointment. "But I'm learning some serious stuff! Check it out." She pulls out a deck of cards out of nowhere. "Pick a card."
Neil slaps her deck down, getting serious. "Look, Nikki. You gotta get Harrison to teach you how to do that trick."
"But I thought you said it was dumb." Nikki frowns.
"Forget what I said! I know he trusts you, and there's got to be something simple I'm missing." Neil grips his mug with enough force to crack it under the pressure. He takes an angry sip to quell his murderous intent.
Nikki salutes. "Okay, Neil. I got you, fam."
"I don't know what that means, but thank you." Neil walks away to breakfast.
(Meanwhile...)
Yuni watches Max enter the mess hall trying to keep a nonchalant demeanor. She was already situated at their usual table, picking at the last of her pancakes. She was impressed at the spread, wondering whether Quartermaster had to make some deals or steal from the other camps around the lake to provide this kind of breakfast. Not that she was complaining, of course.
The same tingling from yesterday itched at the back of her head, leading her to greet Max in a way she wouldn't have dared to otherwise. "Morning, fucker! I'd say good morning, but you still look queasy. Did the bunny hit you on the way up?" She snickers. Once she turns around to face away, she slaps a hand across her mouth.
'What was that...' She thinks, letting her hand fall once the boy gets his own tray and joins her.
"Not the time. And don't remind me." Max deadpans as he slumps into the seat.
Yuni simply scoffs. "Right, right. Hey, did Neil lie in bed thinking about it all night like he said he wouldn't?" She lets out a short laugh. "I bet he'll show up aaaany second now with a black coffee in his hands." She rubs her hands together as if scheming.
Max gives her an odd look, raising an eyebrow. "What the fuck is up with you today? Are you usually this annoying in the morning?" He rolls his eyes, beginning to pick at the pile of pancakes.
Yuni rests her head in one hand, putting on a fake hurt tone. "Aww, what, can't I just follow the leader like I always do? And nothing's up with me today, you're just imagining things." She swipes at her shirt to get rid of any crumbs before swiveling in the seat and propping her legs up.
"What happened?" Max stares her down. She wasn't normally like this. "Or what do you want? Just spill already."
Yuni rolls her eyes. "Like I said, it's no-"
The doors to the mess hall suddenly slam open, with Neil stomping his way over to the table. He scoots into the seat next to Max without making any eye contact.
"Thank fuck." Max sighs under his breath.
Yuni just happened to have sensitive ears. "Hey!"
"Hey, Max!" Neil steals a glance to his right. He keeps watching the door like wounded prey ready to run at a moment's notice. "Yuni." Neil addresses the girl.
"Neil." Yuni responds in the same way, offering a devious smile.
"Hey, Neil." Max replies, still poking the pancakes that were now soggy from syrup.
"Can you believe that kid?" Neil continues. "How does Harrison have the gall to do something so hurtful, ya know?" Yuni finds herself smirking at Max's reaction.
The boy's eyes widen at the recognition of his feelings. "Yeah. It's kinda shitty. I feel—"
Neil cuts him off. "It's like he doesn't even care how this affects ME!"
Max finally turns around to face Neil. "You?!" Yuni feels the tingling go away for a split second. There was something in his incredulous tone that struck her as odd.
"Yeah! How can he be so selfish?" Neil gestures in front of him as if Harrison had just walked through the door. He glances down at Max's tray, hungrily eyeing the bacon. "Hey, you gonna eat that?" Without waiting for an answer, the scientist snatches the piece and sticks the whole thing in his mouth.
"Uh..."
"I'll figure it out, though." Neil says through a mouthful of meat. "Just wait and see. So, how's your day going?" He switches the subject, somehow finally getting past his obsession.
Before Max could say anything, the tell-tale sound of his stomach squirming is heard. He coughs and throws up a bouquet of flowers right onto his breakfast. That's enough of that for today, he thinks as he pushes the tray forward. "I, um... I'm gonna go sit in the shower for a while." He walks away towards the showers in silence, a rare frown on his face.
Neil just waves. "Bye, Max!"
"Hey! Aren't you gonna-" Yuni starts, but when she sees Neil's eye twitch and his pupils shrink, she decides against arguing with him. "Max, wait up!" She calls out, shoving the rest of her breakfast into her mouth before dashing out of the mess hall after him. She passes Nikki on the way out, the two girls sharing a high-five.
"Neil, I'm back!" Nikki walks up to said friend. "And I have some great news!"
Neil points at her expectantly. "Nikki! Did he teach you the trick? Did he reveal his secret? Masked Magician style?"
Nikki shakes her head. "No, but he did say that if I keep training, I could get a cool top hat like his!" She just about squeals at the image of her and her well-earned top hat.
"NIKKI!" Neil grabs her by the shoulders, exasperated. "You were supposed to get him to teach you."
"I know," Nikki shrugs within the tight hold of Neil's cold, sweaty hands. "But Harrison said that trick is only for a level-four magician." She recalls something else he told her in their exchange. "He also said it's easy to figure out if you're smart enough, anyway."
Neil blinks, offended but determined not to take it out on Nikki. "Excuse me?"
"It's okay, Neil! I'm not smart enough either! We can be stupid together!" Nikki smiles, not reading the room.
Neil releases her, and picks up his mug, taking a dangerously fast sip of it before slamming it down on the table. The poor cup shatters into unsalvageable pieces with the handle somehow still intact despite his scary grip. "Well, if he thinks it's so easy, I guess we might as well TRY IT. YOU WANT TO LEARN MAGIC, NIKKI?"
Nikki nods her head enthusiastically, eyes shining. "Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"
"Well, consider yourself MY apprentice now." Neil was close enough to her that she could smell the coffee on his breath. She sticks her tongue out, feeling her skin grow goosebumps at the grossness. Coffee was just dirt water for classy people. She'd just stick to dirt, thank you.
"I don't know, Neil. There's still so much I need to learn." She begins to list off her lack of experience. "I've got to reach level four, and I haven't even been sorted into a house yet." That latter thing was the easier bit. Nikki is a purebred Gryffindor, for sure.
"Okay, fine." Neil sighs. He uses two of his fingers like a knighting sword. "I hereby christen you level four as of this moment."
Nikki wiggles her fingers. "Oooh. I feel all tingly."
"Now focus!" Neil slams one of his fists down into his open palm. "We're gonna do this trick. And we're gonna do it... with SCIENCE." He looks off into space, pausing for dramatic flare.
Nikki stares on, waiting for further instructions. "...'Kay."
(Elsewhere...)
Max walks back to his tent after sitting in the showers, lucky to have not puked anything magic-related while he was in there. As he gets closer, he sees Yuni lazing around by the entrance. She seemed content to just sit in the dirt and doodle as she guards it. "Okay, seriously, can't you leave me alone for like, a day?"
Yuni hums, glancing up at him from behind her journal. The tingling comes back full force. "Hm... Nope! And the red in your face is telling me otherwise!" She sticks her tongue out before biting down on it hard. That was not what she wanted to say. Max watches her whine at the pain, rolling his eyes as his face grows warmer out of unexplained embarrassment.
"I just got out of a hot shower, idiot. Now move over, I wanna lay down and forget yesterday ever happened." He nudges her out of the way with his leg, Yuni rising back into her original position once he makes his way in. He hears her teasing voice from behind the tarp.
"You want me to stay out here and fight the magic monster?"
Max raises his voice to yell at her. "No! Go the fuck away! Go find Neil or Nikki or something..." He flops back first onto the cot.
"Oh, yes, of course my liege." Her voice is much clearer. She must've turned around to speak directly at the entrance. "But, whatever shall you do if you puke your guts in handkerchiefs again?" Yuni pokes her head in, raising an eyebrow. "What then, hm~?"
Max stares at her before putting his pillow over his head. "Fuck you." Was the muffled reply.
"That sounds like I'm staying~" Yuni singsongs, inviting herself into the tent. It wasn't that different from her own, aside from the coffee machine and the wheel-in blackboard. She takes a glance at it, doing a double take at the sheer amount of numbers on it. "Woah, what the fuck?! He was actually trying to calculate this shit! How do you even read this..."
There was a silent pause as Yuni takes pictures of the board. The rustling of pages was heard as well as the click of her pen.
Neil
Needs to be right. His intellectual pride depends on it.
Harrison
Knows just how to push the right buttons. Also, kinda freaky. (Still don't know how the trick was done)
Max
Probably hates throwing up. Or magic. Maybe both.
Nurf
Not a mindless bully. Still got issues, though. (Somehow I forgot to add this from before?)
Max watches her pen scribble away before he drops his head back on the pillow. "So why are you here again?"
"I can't just visit my friends when they're sick?" Yuni gasps dramatically, putting a hand to her heart. "You wound me."
"Yuni..." Max drawls out. A pause stretches between the two campers as they eye each other. Yuni is the first one to fold, sighing as she closes the journal.
"Look, I don't usually come out and say when I'm doing something charitable, but this is one of those times." She skims a finger over the journal's edges, allowing the sensation to numb her fingertip. "You sounded kinda... offended? Back at breakfast, I mean." She shrugs.
"Okay and?" Max stares off into the distance. "That's none of your biz, I can handle shit myself. You're not entitled to helping me."
"But what if I wanted to?" Yuni's voice goes soft, probably the first time today that she's been some form of herself.
Max doesn't give the sentiment a second thought, however. "And what if I said no? Nice try, Yuni. But you're not getting anything out of me to keep in that book of yours." He points at the journal without really looking at it.
Yuni shields away her journal from disapproving eyes (or lack thereof). She blushes at being caught, but a smaller part of her felt a little disappointed that he didn't feel the need or want to open up to her yet. Weren't they friends? Isn't that what friends do?
"H-heh," she stutters. "Whatever you say, Max." Yuni shakes out her hands to get rid of the awkwardness. Her palms always got sweaty when things were weird. "Doesn't mean I won't keep trying. You're just going to have to hate me more." She shoves the journal back into her shirt, dusting off dirt that wasn't on her pants.
"I already do." Max responds, waving a hand around for emphasis and to get her to leave faster.
That same tingle from earlier comes back, and Yuni fights the urge to say anything particularly tongue-bite worthy. She steps outside before letting her mouth get ahead of her brain. "You're lying, get over yourself!"
"I am not!" Max shouts back with a bored monotone.
While Max doesn't think anything else of the conversation, Yuni walks away acutely aware of her warm face.
'WHY DID I SAY THAT.'
It's later in the day and Harrison has been requested to do a specific trick.
"...And presto!" He removes the red cloth from over his hand. "Just like that, Ered's bad report cards disappear!" The crowd lightly applauses.
Ered flips her bangs out of her eyes. "Right on, Harrison. I was just gonna throw 'em away, but that was way cooler." Suddenly, a new voice announces their appearance on stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention please!" The small crowd previously surrounding Harrison turns their attention to Neil and Nikki on stage. "Prepare to be dazzled by the magic of... SCIENCE." They all collectively "ooh" and "ahh."
"What do you think you're doing?" Harrison asks, wanting to get his crowd back.
"Oh, nothing. Just proving that any idiot with half a brain can do that trick you pulled off yesterday." Neil spits "idiot" out like it was poison.
"Wait," Space Kid pipes up. "Are... are you calling yourself an idiot, Neil?"
Neil glares at the shorter camper. "SHUT UP SPACE KID. I'm trying to prove a point!"
"Yeah, okay!" Space Kid shrugs, giving Neil a thumbs-up in support.
Neil slowly paces the stage. "You see, fellow campers, Harrison has been lying to you." He points to the magic kid in question accusingly. The crowd gasps, turning their faces to Harrison with shock and hurt. "He would have you believe that things like magic really do exist, but we know that's not true! Magic goes against the very laws of nature. Everything can be explained by SCIENCE. Even his tricks!" Neil pulls out the handkerchief rope from yesterday out of his back pocket, turning to his assistant. "So, to prove him wrong, I am going to re-create his magic trick." The crowd lets out more sounds of interest.
"Neil, don't do this!" Harrison warns. "You're not properly trained in the ways of magic!"
But Neil wasn't having it anymore. "YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH, HARRISON. Someone has to keep order in this chaotic, uncertain world, and it's gonna be me."
Nikki starts to get cold feet, partly because her performance partner was being super weird and kinda scary. "Neil, are you sure about this?"
"I believe in the science, Nikki. That's all the certainty I need." Neil responds lowly. He turns back to the audience. "In order to begin the trick, I would ask my assistant to please open her mouth."
"You got it, boss!" Nikki shoots him a thumbs-up, opening her mouth and letting out an "Aaaa..." noise.
Neil continues. "Now, look and be amazed, as I reveal the truth using my scientific equation," he points to the chalkboard. "Which shows there is only one way something like this is physically possible." He gives Nikki one preliminary glance before shoving the handkerchief rope down her throat. Nikki gags at the intrusion, twitching all the while.
"Oh my God! Science has gone too far!" Dolph cries, pulling at his hair in fear.
"Neil, what are you doing?" Harrison calls out.
"YOU MADE ME DO THIS, HARRISON." Neil yells, continuing to stuff the rope into Nikki.
"Somebody stop him." Ered says with about as much urgency as she could muster with her vocal fry.
"It's too late. His mind has been freaked too hard." Harrison grips his head, trying to think of a solution.
"Where are the counselors?!" Preston shouts.
We cut to David and Gwen (boy are those names scarce this chapter!) who sit in the counselor's cabin huddled by the TV. The soft voice of Bob Ross soothes them from the speakers.
"Shoot, why don't we just put a happy little tree right here? There."
Gwen sighs, slouching into the seat more. "Wow, this is so relaxing."
David feels like his brain is reaching for something. "I feel like we were supposed to be doing something."
"Nah." Gwen responds in her zen.
Cut back to Nikki choking! All that Bob Ross really gets to ya, huh?!
Harrison pushes through a shivering Preston and Nerris to confront Neil himself. "Neil, this isn't how the trick works! You're going to kill her!"
"The only thing I'm killing is your hocus-pocus bullshit, Harrison!" He feels the next object in his hand, recognizing it as the bunny. Neil is kind enough to offer Nikki a warning. "Here comes the rabbit, Nikki." Somehow the bunny goes down, and soon enough, the handkerchief rope comes to an end. Nikki closes up her mouth with an uneasy expression. "Well, how do ya feel?"
Nikki feels for her throat and stomach. No ill effects, so... "Huh. To be honest, I feel pretty good—" She immediately drops to the floor, clutching at her throat as her face starts going blue.
Neil panics. "Uh... Nikki?" She gasps and groans as her hand falls to her chest not unlike how dead people are arranged in their coffins. "What do we do, what do we do?! I can't do the Heimlich, I'm not certified!" If it's an emergency, do you really still need to be certified, Neil?!
"I can help her." Harrison kneels by Nikki's head. "I know a spell that will—"
"NO!" Neil quickly interjects. "NO MAGIC. We're going to save her with SCIENCE. As soon as I figure out how..."
"There's no time!" Harrison yells back. "We have to use the spell! But... it is powered by belief, Neil. It's like a spirit bomb." He throws his arms up into the air to convey the "bomb" portion of his statement.
"Neil! You must believe!"
"Yeah, Neil. Believe in the magic."
"Believe or I'll punch you!"
Neil looks from Nikki, who squeaks and continues to foam from the mouth, to his board of equations, to the crowd at Max and Yuni who just happened to walk in on the scene. "Max! What do I do?!" He cries out in desperation.
Max opens his mouth to reply, only to vomit out a dove who flies out of his mouth. "I think I'm gonna be sick..." The boy turns to his left, holding a hand to his mouth.
Yuni thrusts a bag in his direction, not sparing him another glance. "In the bag. And turn away when it happens."
Neil whimpers, at a loss for what to do. Was he really just going to let his friend die because of some dumb grudge he held against a stupid magic trick?
"Neil, just believe!" Harrison reiterates.
"Fine, yes!" Neil screams. "I believe. I believe in magic! Just do it!"
Harrison smirks, standing up to take his final bow of the night. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the greatest trick of all. Getting a cynical, closed-minded asshole to believe in magic!" He points at Neil's defeated face in triumph. The crowd cheers for the illusionist once again.
Neil puts aside his anger for a bit, turning his attention to Nikki who was still out cold. "B-but what about Nikki?" Just as he speaks her name, Nikki sucks back all the bubbles into her mouth, jumping up into a pose of her own.
"Ta-da! Magic!"
Neil lets reality sink in before yelling without restraint, finally at his last straw. "But... how? How are you okay, Nikki?!"
"I keep telling you, Neil." Harrison walks over and bends to eye level. "It's magic, silly! Boop!" He taps a gloved finger to Neil's nose before bowing to the crowd's applause.
As the claps die down, Neil lets his strained determination and exhausted obsessiveness push him to say, "Fuck you, Harrison."
The rest of the day goes on with Neil staring Harrison down every other second. Harrison expertly ignores the nonbeliever, satisfied with the amount of mind freaking that got done for the day. The kids all sit for dinner and dessert, the group whittled down to three since Nikki wanted to stay attached at the magician's hip. Something about becoming a Level Five magician.
"Give it a rest, Neil. At this rate, you're never gonna put yourself to sleep for the next two weeks." Yuni yawns, the tingle finally leaving her alone... For the most part. She was ready to get into her cot and lay with her thoughts for the next eight hours. "How are you holding up, captain?"
Max rubs his stomach, calming the sensation that comes before a gag. "I think I'm fine? You did tell him to reverse it, right?"
"Oh yeah, don't worry about it." Yuni waves a hand dismissively, spooning herself another helping of whatever mystery meat and veggies the Quartermaster had on the menu for tonight. "I ended up owing Harrison a favor, though..." She huffs. She lets the other, more implied message hang in the air before Max's confused look bothers her. "Which means you owe me one too, you know."
"Of course..." Max rolls his eyes, sighing as he pushes his tray away. He crosses his arms and lays his head on them, looking up at Yuni through a mound of his curls. "What do you want."
Yuni did not want to address the beat her heart skipped at the fairly domestic image of a sleepy Max, so she rolls her eyes and looks away, finding whatever Nikki was doing more deserving of her attention. "Tell me why you were bothered by what Neil said this morning."
"Hell no." Max immediately replies.
"Wait, what?" Neil stops glaring daggers at Harrison to focus on the conversation happening at his table. "What did I say that bothered you?"
"Not important." Max reassures Neil without a second thought. He turns back to Yuni, leaving Neil to sit in confusion. "What else do you want."
"Hm..." Yuni thinks about her request. She did want to know more about Max... For the records, of course. She wanted to know more about him like why he reacted the way he did at breakfast this morning for the records. But he wasn't willing to indulge her in that kind of information. So what else could she ask for...
"Alright, I have a favor in mind, but I'm not cashing it in just yet." Yuni responds after a while. Max raises his eyebrows as a way to tell her to continue. "For a whole twenty-four hours, you follow us around!" She folds her hands and places them on the table as if she's made the deal of the century.
Max lets out a laugh that gets muffled by his sleeves. He ducks his head into the fabric to muffle a yawn before getting up from the table. Everyone was beginning to leave the mess hall per David's orders. "That's it? No servitude or embarrassing payback? God, you're useless."
"But think about it! We get into crazy stuff with you all the time! Don't you wanna see what it looks like when someone else takes the reins for a change? Lead us somewhere new?" Yuni walks with the boys back to their tent, discussing the logistics of her favor all the while. "I'm just saying, it sounds like a fun social experiment to me."
"It sounds like a lame, total waste of time. But I'll be nice and grant you one more try." Max smirks as they reach his tent. He motions the group's nerd to go in first as he faces Yuni for the last time tonight.
"You could always hug me." Yuni tries, feeling the tingle dedicate the last of its energy into this one statement. When Max's face drops into a blank stare and the air around them grows dry with awkwardness, Yuni quickly adds on, "UNTIL I STop breathing! Just do me a favor and kill me, haha!" He continues to give her a blank stare until she retreats backwards to her own tent. "Do both of us a favor and forget all of this ever happened, why don'tcha!"
"Um, yeah, okay. Got it." Without another glance back, Max enters his tent. Yuni keeps the weird smile on her face until she safely finds her way to the lone cot in her tent. Flopping down face first, she whisper-screams into her pillow.
Two campers think to themselves, 'WHAT THE FUCK?!' that night.
"Hey, Harrison, I'm gonna need you to tone it down with the Max throwing up random objects trick. He might be losing it, I think."
"Don't worry, Yuni! That spell wears off by bedtime. And since you're here on account of your friend's disbelief, you owe me a favor!"
"Wha- disbelief?!"
"Max didn't believe the spell would wear off, so he asked you to threaten me. It's really predictable, actually."
"Ughhhh, then what is it?"
"Oh, you don't need to do anything. The favor's already been taken care of!"
"Then... what was the point of telling me that I owe you?"
"It was to help you figure it out on your own. I put a spell on you around the same time I put that spell on Max yesterday. Did you feel any different today, hm?"
"You were the reason I was being all weird today!?"
"Hush! A magician must not reveal his secrets!"
"You were gonna make me reveal one of mine, dickhead!"
"Oh, really? And what might that be~?"
"...This conversation stops here. And no, it has nothing to do with crushes or boys!"
"I didn't say anything~!"
"It was implied, dammit!"