"Lili, I'm going to fall."

"No, you're not."

"You're going to drop me."

"I won't."

"Lili..." he whined, dragging out her name.

Lili resisted the urge to drop him right then and there, rolling her eyes. If it were anyone else she was carrying, she would have dropped them ages ago and left them at the mercy of the hand of Galochio. Scratch that, she wouldn't have offered in the first place.

Raz had been at it for hours. He'd bounced up the sandy cliff on his levitation ball, looked down at the shore, and spotted a Psi challenge marker hovering way off in the distance on a tiny island in the middle of the sea. He had tried everything, throwing himself off of every cliff edge in the surrounding area, hovering down and only just missing the small patch of sand, toppling down into the water. It ended the same way every time - with him only just making it out of the water in time before he was dragged into the depths.

After his fifth attempt, he pulled himself onto the beach and dropped onto the floor, panting and spitting water into the sad.

Lord knows it was times like that these that made Lili wonder what she saw in the boy.

She was sitting cross-legged in the sand, the newest copy of True Psychic Tales in her hands, ignoring Raz while she flicked through the pages.

"I give up." Raz sulked, sticking his lower lip out into a pout. "It's impossible."

When Lili gave no response, he reached out and poked her.

"If you get this wet, I'll hand you over to Galochio myself," Lili said, not looking up from the comic.

"Cruel."

"Nothing less than you'd deserve."

Raz sighed. Lili ignored him.

She continued flicking through the comic, ignoring the second and third time Raz sighed. The fourth time, she slammed the comic shut and began unlacing her boots.

"What are you doing?" Raz said, raising an eyebrow, wondering for a moment if he should be looking away.

"Getting you to shut up."

She peeled off her socks and, with a flick of her wrist, used Telekinesis to lift Raz up into the air.

That was how she had found herself wading through sea water, dragging Raz through the air behind her.

"This can't be safe," Raz mumbled, and for perhaps the seventh time, Lili found herself holding back a long sigh.

"Call it payback for all the times you tried to lift me up in training," she says.

His voice is somewhat smug when he said, "and I succeeded."

Lili snorted. "You couldn't get me two feet off the ground. Some prodigy."

"Hey!" Raz says, indignantly.

She didn't even have to look up to know that he was pouting.

A few minutes passed and Raz got used to being up in the air. Down below, the hand hovered by Lili's legs, the palm outstretched towards Raz, daring him to fall.

"Suck it, Galochio," Raz said, grinning down at the empty hand. "How does it feel to be so close, yet so far?"

He stuck his middle fingers up at the ocean below, crowing out the taunt that he'd stolen from Bobby Zilch on his first day of camp.

"Y'know, I'm really beginning to see why someone would want to curse you," Lili commented.

"Is it because I'm awesome?"

Lili didn't deign to give that an answer.

"I didn't hear you deny it," he said, smugly.

She still didn't answer.

"You liiiiiiike me," Raz says, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

Lili stopped still, and with another flick of her wrist, dropped Telekinesis and let Raz topple down towards the ocean below. He screeched as he falls, and the water hand darts out up from the sea, ready to drag him down. Seconds before it could get a grasp on him, Lili caught him in the air by his leg and let him dangle upside down while she grinned up at him.

"You're mean," Raz said, slightly out of breath after seeing his whole life flash before his eyes.

"Oh, look, we're here now," Lili said after taking a few more steps, dropping Raz into a heap into the sand.

Raz scowled as he gathered himself together and dusted off the sand, but he stopped frowning when he saw the challenge marker just a few steps away from him. He slid it into his backpack and turned back to grin at Lili.

"You're the best," he said, eyes shining as he smiles.

Lili found herself getting oddly shy, as she always did when Raz complimented her. She stared down at her bare feet, wet sand squidged between her toes.

"You know, I never realised how strong you are," Raz said, pulling her towards him and kissing her on the cheek. "Thanks for getting me here."

"No problem," she muttered, still staring down at her feet, unable to stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks and the smile tugging at her lips.

After a few moments, she looked up and grinned at Raz, a twinkle in her eyes. "Have fun getting back!" she said, brightly.

She ran off into the sea, giggling at Raz's indignant shouts behind her.