Tim pressed his lips together, a crease forming between his brows as he stared at the vial in his hands as though it would yield a different answer if only he looked hard enough.

But it didn't. The vial remained the same, the sparkling liquid within tinged a violet hue. An exasperated breath left Tim's lips, and he put away the vial with the dozens of others. All violet. All the same.

"Why in the eight realms can't I figure this out?" he lamented, biting back the urge to rip his research to shreds. Instead, he collected the scattered papers and returned them to the drawer, slamming it shut more forcefully than he'd intended. "You're a genius, Tim. You'll be the pride of all Autumn fae, Tim."

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Growing up, Tim had been constantly showered with praise for his smarts, told he could do anything he put his mind to. Even after his parents had been killed by human poachers and he'd been adopted into the Winter Archon's family, he'd continued to be praised for his smarts. It was one thing he was fairly confident in. So why couldn't he solve this damned problem?

Tim slumped over his desk, resting his forehead on his arms. He'd been working on figuring out how to restore Jason's mana signature to normal for years now, but nothing seemed to work. Every time he thought he'd made a breakthrough, the solution would fail in the end. At this point he was certain he'd been wasting his—and Jason's—time. His brother was growing increasingly more hostile whenever Tim asked for another sample, snapping that this was pointless and to leave it be.

But "leaving it be" had never been Tim's forte, had it? He was going to keep driving everyone mad over this, wasn't he?

"Sorry," he mumbled as he was handed a cup of tea. Smelled nice. Fruity. "I'm just...tired. Don't feel the need to stay up with me or anything."

He took a sip of the tea, letting the sweet warmth wash over him. A smile slowly spread across his lips.

"This is really nice," he murmured with a dreamy sigh. "Thank you."