Stars start up as nothing special; just clouds of gas and dust. These nebulas will later turn into protostars, the first stage of a stars life. From there several things can happen; since stellar evolution is a tricky process. At the height of a star's brilliance though, it will do one of two things; turn into a blackhole or go supernova.

Really, it just depends on the star.

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Ogres and Dave did not get along well. He had never liked the towering, mucusy monsters. They were pure muscle and fat, he doubted they had any bones, and they dripped. He also suspected that they had saliva instead of blood. They smelled too but so did many of the other monsters that he faced. He could handle the smell, but the mucus was far too much.

Most of the other ogres he'd fought he'd had Balthazar with him. However, two years back Balthazar had started to give him more and more solo assignments. He'd explained that he was trying to make things so that Dave would end up proficient in working by himself as well as in groups. He also got the feeling that Balthazar was trying to step back until Dave ended up a fully-fledged sorcerer like himself. He wasn't sure what to think of that.

When he had finally vanquished his ninth solo ogre he returned to the apartment he shared with his roommate. Normally he'd have to go to the Arcana Cabana that evening and report success. However, it really was just an ogre. Balthazar need not worry. Dave was too tired for a phone call and he'd be going there the next night anyway. He'd just tell him then.

Not for the first time he found himself wishing that Balthazar lived closer. At first he had considered going to college from the Arcana Cabana. He figured that it would save time and resources, but in the end he'd discovered that the commute would be too long. So instead Bennet and he had split the rent of a small apartment that was a twelve minute walk from campus.

Bennet had been out when he arrived, which was fortunate. Dave really didn't want to have to explain why he was covered with brown-yellow gunk. Exhausted he had just headed directly for the shower. Forty minutes later the last of the gunk had gone down the drain and he'd felt rather more human.

He'd dragged himself to his room and found that the time was 12:10. Rolling into bed he'd muttered;

"Happy birthday."

Then his eyes had closed, only to be woken seemingly seconds later by his alarm clock. Sighing he opened his eyes to see that Tank had wormed his way so that he was lying on Dave's chest. At least he hadn't slobbered all over him; Dave had had quite enough of slobber the previous night.

"Good morning beautiful," he said, scratching Tank's ears.

Tank gurgled in response and Dave got up. His head felt like it was full of cotton and he smacked it once or twice to get himself to focus. Not bothering to get dressed quite yet he stumbled into the living room. Bennet was already there, eating one of his super-sugar cereals. He turned when Dave came in and tossed him a package of cookies.

"Happy birthday," he said.

"Thanks," Dave said, rubbing his eyes and fishing around in his sock drawer for a fresh pair.

"So," Bennet said, "I hear Webber has you doing some sort of tutorial?"

Dave groaned.

"Yeah, I'm helping out with one of his Physics classes for liberal arts students," he said, practically falling back in his chair, "I'd forgotten about it."

The events of the night before had effectively pushed it out of his mind. He had been supposed to do the preparation the night before, but he'd gotten a call from Balthazar about the ogre. Now he'd have to hurry to get everything together. His morning was going to be much more hectic than he'd imagined. Some birthday this was turning out to be.

"Hah, you're teaching English majors long division," laughed Bennet, "I'd have tried to forget about it too."

"I know, it's like the Peace Corps," winced Dave, "But I need the credit."

"Mmhm," Bennet said, "Hey, there's this party tonight. There's gonna be cheerleaders there."

Dave rolled his eyes. Bennet's attempts to play matchmaker were always painfully obvious.

"No thanks."

"They're from Princeton," explained Bennet.

"Ooooh, smart cheerleaders," Dave said, "Like I said; no thanks."

"Well, what are your plans for your birthday?"

Truthfully Dave's plans were to down to the Arcana Cabana, talk over the previous day's hunt and catch up with his 'uncle'. Maybe they'd end up going off and killing something else; the ogre might have had friends or Balthazar might have found something in the sewer. However, he couldn't tell Bennet any of that. Best just to go with his plan if there was any spare time.

"Probably work on my Tesla coils," he shrugged.

Bennet made a face.

"They're soothing!" Dave protested.

Bennet shook his head. He walked up to the refrigerator and picked up the calendar. Dave watched with dismay. There were two calendars for each of them. Dave's pictured different mythological beasts. It was like a quick study. Bennet's had different pictures of wildlife. He had a bad idea where this was going.

"Are you familiar with the gray wolf Dave?"

"Oh no," moaned Dave, "Not again. You've been doing this since freshman year and I don't think that I can-"

"The gray wolf is a pack animal," interrupted Bennet, his voice serious and his face intent, "He must hunt and grunt. He must find a mate. He must participate!"

He slammed the calendar on the table to emphasize his point. Dave jumped.

"You can't keep doing that solo CIA agent stuff anymore," Bennet said, "That doesn't roll outside of high school."

"For the last time I'm not CIA!"

"You're gonna get thrown out of the pack," continued Bennet, ignoring him, "Alone, eaten by a hungry bear."

Dave resisted the urge to snort and swat the calendar away. Even Bennet's imagery didn't frighten him. After all Bennet had never been nearly eaten by something. Dave felt that he wasn't underlining the trauma that came with that enough. Considering all the things he'd nearly been eaten by a bear would be a relief. Again though, it was something he couldn't say.

He'd have to settle for having Bennet think that his words had been more than a slight annoyance and a reminder of his anti-social tendencies.

"Well that's a real pick-me-up," said Dave, "And I'm ready to go get the day."