- ahem* no real description this time--except at this point in the story, Sophie only had four abilities, so keep that in mind.
"So I've had an idea--and lemme tell you, it's pure genius!"
Dex groaned from the overstuffed beanbag he was slumped on, lowering a bronze stick made of intertwined wires. "Is this another prank idea, Keefe?"
The blonde haired boy grinned from the door. "How did you know?"
Sophie snorted and looked up from her desk, covered in rune books and scrolls. "Just so you now, we are soooo not getting involved."
Keefe crossed the room in a few strides, flopping down in a large plush chair. "See, now I was just thinking the Great Pranking Adventures of Foster and Keefe has a great ring to it--and Dex, of course," he added when Dex shot him a look.
The Technopath rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter how great it sounds. It matters that your last prank was an epic fail. I think you've lost your touch."
"What was his last prank?" Sophie asked when Keefe clutched his heart as though offended.
"He--"
"We don't need to discuss it," Keefe interrupted Dex, holding out a hand to silence him. He leaned back into the chair and flicked at his intentionally messy and rumpled cape, smirk still plastered to his face. "What we do need to discuss is how awesomely boring this homework is. I mean, I thought getting away from Foxfire would guarantee no more school work, and then they hand us this?"
He thrust out a hand at the rune books Sophie had flipped open and shook his head. "We need some quality memories of this place--some that don't include these little symbol thingies."
"Agreed."
Sophie and Dex both jumped in their seats as Biana appeared next to Keefe. Her Vanishing abilities made it really easy--and really annoying--whenever she snuck up on them.
Keefe, the only one who didn't jump when Biana appeared, held out a fist and smirked. "See? She agrees with me."
Biana accepted and bumped fists with Keefe. "I've been reading one of these things for the past hour and I still don't get anything. I think I could understand ogre better than this."
"Nah--ogre's too confusing." Dex told her, fiddling with the gadget. "And hard to pronounce. But Sophie's got it down."
He didn't look up at her, but Sophie saw a cheeky smile spread across his face. She folded her arms and grumbled, "Polyglots tend to do that."
"Yeah yeah yeah, Miss Ability Quartet--now how are we gonna ditch the rune scrolls?" Biana asked Keefe.
A look of madness crossed Keefe's face and he tapped his fingers together like a movie villain. "We'll prank the Collective."
"WHAT?" Sophie and Dex both spewed. Keefe laughed at their reactions and Biana grinned.
"I"m in," the Vacker told them, and Keefe looked like a proud teacher.
"You realize Forkle will kill you, right?" Dex asked.
"And they'll probably kick you out," Sophie added.
Keefe shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "They wouldn't dare risk losing The Hair." He carefully patted the back of his head. "Besides, it'll give us something to do instead of reading."
As Keefe pretended to shudder at the word, Sophie rolled her eyes. "If anything, they'll lock you up and force you to read."
"They won't be able to with the pranks I'm cooking up."
Dex frowned. "Do you mean that literally, or..."
He trailed off when Keefe raised an eyebrow.
Biana collapsed onto a blue beanbag across from Dex, crossing her arms together. "Well if you two are going to be boring about it, Keefe and I will go ahead."
"Who said we're being boring?" Dex asked, arms matching Biana.
She smirked. "I did. Unless...you'd like to participate in the pranking?"
Dex's mouth became a tight line, and he stared at the ground for a moment before holding out a hand. "Fine. But only because I'm not boring. And...pranking my mom is fun."
Keefe snickered and shook Dex's hand. "You won't regret it, Dexinator. I've got some real juicy plans being concocted."
Sophie blew out a sigh, rising from her chair. "You guys have fun with that. Meanwhile, I'll be doing Cognate Training."
A laughing fit from Keefe ensued, causing Sophie to turn around from halfway across the room.
"What's funny?" She asked when Biana also began giggling.
"I hope your Cognate Training included practical jokes, because I've already got Fitz wrapped up in this."
Sophie's jaw fell. "What? Why did he agree to this?"
"He probably thought you and I would be apart of it," Biana told her, flicking dust off the side of her beanbag.
"Oh yeah he did." Keefe said. "What can I say? The Fitzter has a pranking spirit hidden behind the Wonderboy facade. Or maybe I'm just really persuasive."
"Uh-huh--like that'll ever be true." Dex rolled his eyes. "Did you get Tam and Linh to do this, too?"
"Nope. Bangs Boy didn't want his twin getting into trouble. But I mean, how could she get into trouble when I'm in charge?" Keefe gestured to himself and smirked. He turned to Sophie. "So, Foster? What do you say? We could really use some more Blonde Backup."
"Hey--I'm Blonde Backup!" Dex protested.
"Not to me, Strawberry," Keefe remarked over Biana's sniggers. "Well, Foster?"
Sophie was silent for a moment, briefly glancing at the door to see if she could escape. But she took in a breath and sighed, turning back to Keefe. "Alright. What are we doing?"
Keefe jumped up and pumped a fist in the air. "Yeah! The Foster-Keefe-Vacker-Diz--oh forget it. The Pranking Gang's official!" He turned to Dex and Biana. "You ready?"
After Sophie's shrug, Dex's "Sure", and Biana's "Yeah!", Keefe straightened his collar and stepped to the door.
"Let's go prank the Collective!"