Chapter One Hundred and Thirty One

...

"Welcome to Maxville!" Honey said happily, her smile and arms wide.

"We've lived here for nearly six months, Honey," Connor said.

She grinned back at him. "Who cares? It's just a reason to have a party and cake. Come on in," Honey said, opening the door wide so Connor could walk into the room with Ry, Victor, Craig, and the twins.

"Hey, free hugs!" Craig said, hugging Honey warmly, the woman laughing in his arms.

"You're only the second person to accept a hug today, isn't that the saddest thing you've heard?"

"It is. I'll have another hug to make up for it," Craig said with a grin, hugging her again.

"All right, go on now. Your lovelies will be here soon," Honey said with a wink.

"Don't know what you're talking about; Adam's already here," Craig called, waving to his friend.

Ry snorted and headed over to the numerous tables set up with food, Craig following him quickly when he saw Adam there with Ethan and Zach. "Hey, guys. How's the food?"

"Zach cooked most of it, so enough said. I don't know if I'll be happy or sad when Maxville Fashion Week's over; this is the best food I've eaten since... well, ever. No offence, Ma," Adam added, smiling at his mother broadly on the other side of the table.

"None taken, I completely agree. Though, some of it could be healthier," Ida said, eyeing the cheesy pizza with concern.

"It's goat cheese mixed with mozzarella; it masks most of the goat taste, and makes it a little healthier. Admittedly, not by much," Zach said. "And I want Maxville Fashion Week over with, like, last week."

"But who would feed us at school?" Craig asked with big eyes. "Your food is like five thousand times better than the cafeteria food. Plus, less risk of food poisoning from the pizzas and pizza-related food."

"I prefer your puddings to the ones they have, too. They taste like chemicals now I know what real pudding tastes like," Adam said, scrunching up his nose.

"You could have told me; I wouldn't be carrying around a crate of puddings," Ethan muttered, adding a few puddings to the table.

"Hey, I didn't say I wouldn't eat them! Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me!"

"It's a musical," Craig said, laughing around a mouthful of food. "Don't give me that look; you've seen Monsters Inc., right?"

"Who hasn't?" Ryuu said, rolling his eyes.

"I haven't!" Ethan said.

"Wait, what? Really?" Craig asked.

Ethan just grinned and Craig groaned. "You have to stop believing everything at face value, Craig."

"I prefer to believe that everyone means what they say," he replied.

"That's just a nice way of saying you're gullible."

Craig poked his tongue out at Ethan.

"Hey, take that back."

"Oh, hi, Beau," Ethan said with a smile.

Beau didn't smile back at him, glaring. "Take it back."

"Huh?"

"You teased Craig and called him names; take it back."

"What, gullible?" Craig asked, his head tilted. "Don't worry, Ethan's just teasing. He's my friend and allowed to tease me, especially when I fall for his lying ways. You don't have to worry, Beau; if he was bullying, he'd be nothing but paste on the wall," he said with a bright smile.

"Like you could catch me," Ethan said with a grin.

Ry snorted around his cheesecake bite. "Wouldn't need to catch you; he'd just need a sponge."

"Ooh, bad memories," Zach said, shaking his head and remembering his father all too suddenly.

Ethan turned to him, ignoring the others to check on Zach. "You okay? You want to sit down or have some water?"

"Yeah, I'll sit. Ah, shit. Stupid hands," Zach muttered, his hands trembling.

"What was that about?" Ry asked, looking between Adam and Craig in confusion.

"No idea," Adam said, glancing at Craig to see if he had any idea from Donny's power.

"'Scuse, be right back," Craig said, even leaving his plate of food behind to follow after Zach and Ethan.

"Um. What is going on?" Beau asked, looking around for someone to explain what he'd happened.

"Ethan was just teasing Craig; it's a thing he does. He says something with a straight face and sees how long he can get Craig to believe it until he breaks up laughing. It's a game to them, but it's also teaching Craig to recognise microexpressions," Adam said, shrugging.

"Were you there for the one last week about the moon landing?" Ry snickered.

Adam shook his head. "How long did he last?"

"About two seconds; Craig's heard Eth talk about the logistics of the Russian rockets compared to American ones, and whether super astronauts counted as a win or cheating in the Space Race, so he knew he was lying from the start," Ry said, contemplating whether to eat Craig's food since he'd left his plate behind, or to refill his own and be judged by several people who were watching them.

"Two seconds is still too long." Adam shook his head and grabbed a plate for himself.

Beau still seemed lost, so Ry held Craig's plate out to him.

"Take Craig's plate to him, good? You heard bullying and you defended him, no one is going to be upset about that, 'kay?"

"Hell, Craig needs as many people to defend him as he can get," Adam muttered, not quite under his breath.

That just confused poor Beau even more, but he took the offered plate and looked around for Craig. Seeing his red hair in the growing crowd, Beau moved around the room to reach Craig. Standing beside Ethan, Beau frowned as the room shifted around them. His question died in his throat when he saw Zach crying heavily against Craig's chest and wondered what the hell he'd done.

"Hey, it's okay. Zach has pent up parental issues and Craig is giving him space and comfort that I can't always provide," Ethan said, standing nearby with a cup of water. "You know I wasn't actually bullying Craig, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah, Ryuu and Adam explained it. I'm not sorry, though," Beau said, standing there awkwardly with Craig's plate in hand.

"Good, I'd be disappointed if you were," Ethan said with a nod of approval.

"Is... Did I make Zach cry?" Beau asked.

"No, no. Like I said, pent up parental issues. He just needs to let it all out. Craig'll fix up his face when he's done and Zach'll feel better once he's eaten and had some more water."

Still feeling like he was to blame in some way, Beau just nodded. Eventually, Zach pulled away from Craig and said something, too low in the noise of the crowd to understand. Beau didn't think he really wanted to know anyway, especially with Craig's serious expression. Zach laughed suddenly, and Craig grinned, kissing his cheek.

"All right, enough with the promises of patricide. I'll be fine; it's just been a hella stressful week. When Fashion Week's over, then I'll go see that therapist Honey's got, 'kay?" Zach promised.

"I'm holding you to that, Brighton. Want me to fix your face? Not that you don't always look lovely," Craig added, winking.

"Yeah, yeah, just do your thing. You promise no one saw me crying? I don't want to ruin anyone's day."

"I distorted the room, so no one 'cept Ethan and Beau saw. And probably Layla and Warren, if they're here; not sure I can do much against them," Craig admitted, shifting and using Illusion's power to modify Zach's face. "There you go, new and shiny. No making out for half an hour, okay?"

"No problem; we've got a different schedule when there's days like today."

"Good idea. Now, let's get some of your amazing food, and meet all these lovely permanent people Honey's got for us, yeah?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Cee."

"Anytime, Zed."

Zach grinned so brightly that Craig's distortion broke around them, and Grant and Jewel looked over, relieved to finally see their boyfriend.

"There you are. Is everything okay?" Grant asked, stopping short when Craig held up a hand to him.

"All good, just let Zach settle. Oh, you brought my food. Thanks!" Craig said, smiling at Beau brilliantly. "Also, how are you here? Did Honey hire you?"

"Oh, no. My father's working for Babel as her new assistant at the United Nations. Babel invited him and us to come here. I don't actually know what this whole... thing is," Beau admitted, looking around the room.

"It's a Welcome to Maxville party that our friend Honey is hosting for her employees and friends," Grant explained. "I suppose it's good that you're here, since you're new to Maxville, too."

"I think Honey's setting up Pin the Paper Lantern on Maxville; I'm going to help her stick it to the walls properly. Will you look after Zach for me, please?" Ethan asked Craig.

"'Course," he replied, kissing Grant and Jewel's cheeks before going to sit by Zach again. "Have you eaten yet, dude?" Craig asked, offering him the selection on his plate.

"Yeah, breakfast. Anita makes sure we eat before we leave. Sometimes, as we're leaving if we're in a rush," Zach admitted with a grin, taking one of the mini quiches.

"Good. Now, where's my lil sis? I haven't seen her yet," Craig said, leaving the rest of the food for Zach to eat.

"Heids is out with some friends. Stevie's been bragging he's going to beat them at dodgeball; he just got an electric wheelchair."

Craig snickered. "That sounds like fun. Heidi's not going to take control of his chair, is she?"

Zach swallowed his mouthful, his eyes narrowing as he considered it. "I'd better text her; Heids can get super competitive."

"Uh, Zach? I brought you and Craig something to drink. Adam gave me lemonade, but I can get something else, if you want?" Beau offered, holding out two cups for them.

"Nah, this is good. I've been banned from having any drinks with bright colours," Zach admitted, taking a cup with thanks. "I glowed for six hours straight the last time I had a cup of Mountain Dew," he added when they both looked at him curiously.

"Huh. I kind of want to try that now," Craig said. "Thanks, Beau," he said, taking his cup and drinking.

"I mean, the stomach cramps probably weren't worth it, but I am tempted to try different drinks and see if I change colours. Y'know, like a grape crush turning me purple," Zach said, giggling into his lemonade.

"Super Jesus, Zach, no. You've gotta start off small! Besides, grape crush has like ten zillion grams of sugar and additives. What about juices?" Craig asked.

Beau didn't know if he was intrigued or horrified by their discussion. Thankfully, neither one actually seemed interested in getting the drinks they were talking about. By the end of the conversation, they were talking about combining juice with soft drink - orange juice and Dr. Pepper - which just made Beau feel queasy.

Looking around for someone more responsible to stop the conversation, Beau realised that Grant and Jewel had left to help Ethan and Honey put up the giant map of Maxville on the wall.

"Why'd you stop Grant from coming near Zach?" Beau asked Craig suddenly.

"He negates powers, and I didn't want him missing up this masterpiece," Craig said, now lounging on Zach's lap, Zach's long arms wrapped around him.

"Aww, thanks," Zach said, kissing his cheek with a smacking noise. "C'mon, let's go see the map. I think Eth's going to hyperventilate over the bubble if it's not fixed soon," he said, standing and holding Craig in his arms.

Craig laughed and scrambled around Zach's body like a damn monkey until he was on his back. "Oh, hey. Warren and Lay are finally here. Ooh, they've been making out! C'mon, let's go tease them; Honey found a safety pin for the bubble."

Beau frowned and looked over to the door, seeing the redheaded girl and brunette boy, wondering why it was so important that Layla and Warren were here. They seemed as average as any of the other supers as Sky High, and from what he'd seen and heard of their powers on Friday, they weren't that great, really.

Craig snorted, Zach wincing at the sound in his ear, but Craig just patted his chest. "Come on, before Frieda and Babs get there!"

Zach grinned and made his way through the crowd, Beau hurrying to follow when he realised how fast the tall gangly boy was. They were near the door in a matter of moments, Craig crowing his victory over Frieda loudly.

Frieda looked over at him like she was seeing into his very soul, while Babel - Babs? - was looking at Craig and Frieda like she was seeing something more than what was happening or being said. Beau wanted her to tell him what it was because he didn't know what was actually happening. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his father's boss.

"We'll concede to your victory, young man. Come, dearest, we really need to be faster next time. Let's get some food; I think Victor's trying to stop Elijah and Elliot from eating their weight in sugar," Babs said, hearing the twins' cross noises over the crowd.

"Why are you carrying Craig around, Zach?" Layla asked curiously, smiling.

"He was already there, it was easier than dropping him," Zach said, shrugging Craig off his back gently.

Warren gave an oof! of noise as Craig jumped into his arms. "Really, Cee?"

"Yup. Hey, if you can hold Lay up for that long, then you can hold me up, too," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Warren's cheeks turned red and he shook his head. "I should've worn the cuff."

Craig snickered and waggled his eyebrows. "You can still hold her up without the cuff."

"Super Jesus, Craig, you suck."

"Not yet. Still got eight months. Then I'll suck, like, everything."

Layla laughed so brightly that even Beau was distracted from the sight of Warren's burning red cheeks. Beau had a feeling he was missing something very important here, like he was missing pieces of a puzzle and didn't know what picture the puzzle portrayed anyway.

Craig kissed Warren's cheek and clambered onto his back. "Onwards, steed; I need more food."

"You need something all right," Warren muttered, but adjusted Craig slightly and headed towards the tables covered in food.

Beau followed them, glancing behind when he realised Zach and Layla weren't with them. Layla was resting her hand on Zach's shoulder, and Beau swore he could see an actual green light emitting from her eyes; maybe it was a reflection of Zach's glow?

"You coming, Beau?" Craig asked, grinning when Beau looked at him sharply at the innuendo.

"I'm going to dump you in the punch bowl, Cee," Warren muttered.

"Nah, you love me."

"Not the point," Warren said.

Beau wondered if he'd ever get used to the teasing between this group of friends; they seemed to be talking in a completely different language than anything he knew.

"Hey, who brought the fruit and jello cups? Warren, can you get me the green one? Ooh, no, the orange one! Wait, there's yellow!"

"Honey, where's the punch bowl?" Warren called, seeing her stabbing a pin in the wall.

"Down the other end of the table," she called back, as though she knew what was going on.

Warren looked and then sighed. "Too far. Get off my back and get your own food."

Craig slipped off and hugged Warren firmly. "Thanks, Warren. C'mon, Beau, help me pick which one to eat?" he asked, holding out a hand and smiling broadly.

"Sure," Beau said, stunned by his smile and freckles and everything, taking Craig's hand and following him to the table.

Even though he still didn't know what was going on, Beau felt better with Craig by his side. Grant and Jewel joined them a moment later, already carrying a selection of jello cups for Craig, and Beau couldn't help but relax in the presence of these three wonderful people.

...

"Oh, hey, there's Freya," Justina said, seeing her bright yellow and brown hair in the crowd.

"Where?" Robin asked, looking around and barely seeing people's shoulders, let alone their hair. Catching a flash of bright colour, Robin stood on their tiptoes to try to see which triplet or twin it was. Frowning, Robin lowered back to their flat feet again, looking at Justina. "Do they have another brother or sister? There's another person with their coloured hair, but I don't recognise them."

"Uh, I think there's more than one," Terrence said, seeing blues and purples and silver and yellows and greens around them.

"Are you seeing, like, a shitload of poison dart frogs, or is it just me?" Adam asked, coming up beside Terrence and rubbing his eyes.

"There's a shitload of poison dart frogs," Justina confirmed. "Oh, there's Hagen. Geir and Malik are here, too. Who doesn't Honey know?"

"There you guys are. Does anyone else feel like we just got surrounded by predators on purpose or is it just me?" Wendy asked, shuddering. "Donny freaked out like five minutes before they arrived and left. He could've told me what was going to happen."

"What is happening?" Adam asked, shrinking in on himself when someone brushed by him.

Terrence handed him a travel-sized bottle of hand sanitiser.

"Thanks, Terrence," Adam said.

"None of us know what's happening right now, Ace," Robin said, getting frustrated and tempted to use their power to stop everyone moving.

"There's too many people and they keep touching me. Screw this!" Adam snapped, gathering a mouthful of spit.

Terrence's eyes widened when he saw Adam powering up, and readied himself to help or defend, his hand falling to the thick watch on his wrist.

"Oh, shit. It's going down. Get ready, Robin," Justina muttered, nodding towards Adam and Terrence.

"Fuck," Wendy hissed, a breeze starting to gather.

...

"Honey, is this the group with nineteen children, or did you just let a whole group of random people into your pharmaceutical business?" Layla asked, eyes wide on seeing the number of people with wildly coloured hair entering the room.

Confusion abounded, the ones already gathered surprised by the sudden onslaught of new people and the rush of colour. Several shifters froze in their tracks, recognising predators despite their human forms, and the frozen people just added to the confusion of the others gathered.

Warren fought his way to Layla, grabbing her hand as she stood by Honey, his hand hot and ready to light on fire. His confusion and need to protect the others flowed through to their friends, Adam powering up, Craig ready to shift, Ethan melting down and waiting to attack, Zach starting a soft glow, a breeze gathering at Wendy's command, Ry standing in front of his father and Victor protectively, Connor adopting his son's defensive manner and ensuring no one would get near Elijah or Elliot, Jewel de-robing to her Gemstone outfit, and Grant readying himself to blanket everyone with his negating power.

Layla sent out a vine through the room, tiny feelers on the vine conveying a mental picture of the people and emotions it neared. She considered the group that had entered the room as she received the vine's steady flow of information of who they were and what they were feeling. While the colourful group had arrived en masse and were likely to be considered a threat, the vine was conveying excitement and trepidation and nervousness. Layla forced herself to exhale slowly as their emotions flooded her. The vine had no way of stemming the emotions, so she was hit by them all at once, her heartbeat skyrocketing, and the same emotions flooding down her wrist tattoo and the shoulder brands.

"Warren, calm down."

He looked at Layla in surprise, his body tense; hadn't she felt the same emotions he'd just felt?

"Remember how you felt on your first day at Sky High with all the new people, an unfamiliar environment, worried about what people would think of you?" Layla asked.

Warren frowned at her words; what did that have to do with this?

"They're just nervous, Warren. Please, trust me, and calm down. We're fine, I promise," Layla said, stroking his hair with her free hand.

Reluctant to do as she asked, Warren nodded and forced himself to relax limb by limb. Throughout the room, their friends relaxed as well, Jewel changing back into her civilian clothes quickly, and Ethan reforming.

Now that she wasn't frozen with Layla and Warren's emotional response, Honey stepped forward and smiled broadly. "Welcome to Maxville!"

"What the fuck, Honey?" Zach called out, several people laughing and releasing their own tension.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to the Sylvan-Colores family; they arrived in Maxville just this week. Decima, the mother of this colourful group, will be starting here at the Maxville Pharmaceutical Company on Monday. Her husband, Barnabas, is currently raising their offspring."

"Which ones?" Craig asked, eyes wide as he counted seventeen, no, eighteen, wait, stop moving!, nineteen kids.

"Storm, Rainbow, wave hello to everyone," Barnabas said, smiling at his daughter and son.

Storm hid behind his leg while Rainbow glared at everyone, then glared up doubly hard at his father.

"Sorry; Rain, wave hello to everyone," Barnabas corrected.

Rain stopped glaring and suddenly looked as shy as his sister, hiding against his father's leg.

Like his namesake, Rain had a rainbow of colourful hair, as bright as the mohawk Alex had sported weeks ago. Storm, on the other hand, had one side of her hair a silver colour like mist and the other side a burgundy as deep as a sunset on a stormy day.

"Well, you're both adorable, aren't you? Do you mind if we say hello to you, dears?" Frieda asked, smiling at Storm and Rain, rather than addressing Barnabas.

Barney sighed in relief; while they were the youngest, Storm and Rain were also the most stubborn of his children and hated when people addressed Dess or himself instead of them. It was one of the many reasons they'd all arrived so late.

Rain glared up at Frieda. "You're old."

"Yes, I definitely am. You're very young, aren't you, dear? How old are you?" Frieda asked.

"Six," Storm said shyly, holding up two hands with eight fingers splayed.

Babs snorted, then coughed when several people glared at her. "Sorry, dear, it's just... " she trailed off to a series of clicks and odd noises that had those several people moving away from the crazy lady.

Storm and Rain's eyes both widened and they communicated back with their own series of clicks and noises.

"You understand them?" Barney asked them in surprise; the woman didn't look like a poison dart frog, or any subspecies of one.

"Oh, I don't. This is Babel. I'm Frieda," she introduced, holding out a hand.

Barney smiled and shook her hand. "Lovely to meet you. My wife, Decima. Dess, this is Frieda and Babel."

"The woman from the UN? You've been in the news a lot," Decima said, shaking Babel's hand with a gloved hand of her own.

"Yes, I suppose I have. Now, let's get these lovely children something to eat, and we'll talk. I'd love to hear more about your lives in South America. And what's this I hear about an aquarium?" Babel asked as she and Frieda led the parents and children to a nearby table.

...

Ellie walked into the room, smiling when Honey greeted her with the usual "welcome to Maxville!" even though Ellie, her husband, and son had lived in Maxville for nearly fifteen years.

"Hello, lass," Ellie said with a smile.

Honey glanced between the three of them. "Sorcha didn't come with you, after all?"

"No, she refused," she said, her smile falling briefly; she honestly didn't know why her daughter was rebelling against the seer's invitation, but she certainly wasn't as stubborn as her girl.

"Oh, that's all right, I have back up plans for my back up plans for this very reason. Now, do come in and meet everyone. Sorry about the mess, dear. It's been absolute chaos," Honey said, Pad looking at her abruptly.

Ellie looked between her son and Honey, smiling broadly. "You didn't tell him, lass? That's cruel."

"Thought he'd enjoy the surprise; I wasn't trying to be cruel."

"We all know what happens when you try to be cruel, Hourglass," Patrick, the owner of AAA Constructions, said.

"Oh, don't give me that look. It was just a little blackmail; you were going to be stubborn, otherwise."

Ellie laughed uproariously, drawing the attention of several people. "My Paddy, stubborn? Never!"

"Mam, Da, I love you both, but you're embarrassing me," Pad groaned.

"Good, lad. It'll keep you humble. Now, go find those friends of yours," Ellie said, patting her son's arm instead of planting a smacking kiss on his cheek; see, she could be nice! Especially when the poor lad looked like he might throw up.

"C'mon, I'll introduce you," Honey said, offering her arm.

Pad took it like a lifeline and let Honey lead him away.

"Think he'll make it without puking? What? You were thinking it, same as me, love," Patrick said at the look Ellie levelled him with.

Ellie looked after her son, then took her husband's gloved hand. "He'll be fine; he's a Morton, after all."

Patrick snorted. "He has more of your McKinnon side in him. And you know these kids are meant to be his real friends. He hasn't had any before, so it's sure to mess him up a little."

Ellie concedes with a reluctant nod and sigh. "I know, Paddy. Just wait 'til I get my hands on those entitled little shits from the other families. They'll regret the day they introduced a majority vote to keep our lovely lad quiet."

"I'll go for Brad's scrawny throat, love, and you go for Chad's. Tad'll pass out in fear."

Ellie laughed and kissed her husband's cheek. "You say the sweetest things."

...

Layla and Warren watched as Honey weaved through the crowd with Pad Morton on her arm. The sharp thorns they could feel from their vines were already obvious enough that their friends stopped their conversations (or in Jewel and Craig's case, stopped egging Beau on at Pin the Paper Lantern on Maxville), all of them watching Pad and Honey.

"What's going on, Hourglass?" Pad asked, feeling sick and nervous now, glancing at Ethan and Zach as they outright stared at him.

"It's all right, Rick... hmm, Pat? Paddy? Which name do you prefer?"

"Paddy's my father's name," he replied, momentarily distracted from the stares and his churning stomach. "I could get used to Pat."

Honey squeezed his hand gently, and smiled at Warren and Layla. "This is Pat."

There was a long moment of silence, as though the whole room held its collective breath, and then Layla smiled broadly and walked the short distance between them. "Hi, Pat. It's nice to meet you in person. Before we get started, how do you feel about hugging and physical contact?"

"Um... I don't really know? Haven't had much outside of family," he replied, wondering what exactly was going to start.

"You heard that, Cee? Start off slow and stop if he says no," Warren said.

"Duh, no means no."

"Great, why don't you sit with us and we'll chat? There's cake, and Zach made chocolate mousse bites."

"Don't take any off my plate," Adam called, blindfolding Craig and spinning him around in circles.

"If I puke on you, it's your own fault," Craig groaned, even as he wobbled towards the wall, paper lantern in hand.

"Stop peeking through the blindfold, babe. We know you're cheating," Jewel said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Am not," Craig replied, even as he pinned the lantern directly on the Paper Lantern.

Pat grinned as Layla led him over to the table, Honey sitting with him as Layla and Warren sat across from them. "So, what are we starting here?"

...

"Hey, Eliza. How've you been?" Robin asked, smiling at her new favourite lawyer.

Eliza frowned slightly, then smiled brightly. "Oh, you must be Robin. It is so lovely to meet you! I've heard nothing but good things about you, though admittedly, my sister has been known to stretch the truth every so often. I'll believe all I've heard anyway," she said with a wink.

"Uh... Okay?" Robin said, wondering if Eliza had hit her head or something.

Surely she remembered that they'd already met?

"Wait, did you say sister? Is Eliza your identical twin by any chance?" they asked.

Not!Eliza laughed. "Caught on quick, didn't you? I'm Beth. Well, Elizabeth, formally; we both are, which makes it both fun and utterly frustrating when my sister does something that others blame me for," Beth said with another laugh.

"Did you spoil my fun already, Beth? Honestly, I can't even get five minutes to have fun, can I?" Eliza muttered, rolling her eyes as she walked over with Mr. Medulla.

"Ah, good morning, Robin. How are you?" Mr. Medulla asked with a hesitant smile, looking between his girlfriends with no small amount of worry. Citizens were fired every day for being gay, so he could only imagine what would happen if someone discovered and complained about him dating twins.

"I'm good, thanks, Mr. Medulla. Beth was introducing herself. Do you work for Honey?" Robin asked curiously.

"Robin! Oh, hey, Mr. Medulla. Robin, c'mon, it's your turn at Pin the Lantern. Hey, Eliza, and... Eliza?" Justina asked, doing a double take.

"I'm Beth, nice to meet you. Justina, right?"

"Right. Nice to meet you, too. Now, how'd you three meet?" Justina asked, grinning broadly and obviously no longer interested in playing Pin the Lantern.

"It was a double date, but... well, Boomer was nice, but Maxie made me laugh," Beth said, smiling at him warmly.

Mr. Medulla blushed. "I do love hearing you laugh, Beth."

"Max laughed at my jokes, so I knew he was a keeper," Eliza said, winking.

"Well, you're hilarious, so of course I laughed," Maxwell replied, his cheeks red.

"Ooh, I'm gonna need all the deets. Spill, ladies," Justina said with a cackle that impressed Eliza.

"We're going to need food and drinks first. Poor Maxie didn't get a chance to eat breakfast," Beth said, patting his arm and kissing his red cheek.

With the satisfied smirk on Eliza's face, and the fact that Mr. Medulla was now bright red, neither Justina nor Robin wanted to know why.

...

"Are you sure this will last?" Victor asked Craig before he could run off to the Pin the Lantern game again.

"I'm sure, Victor. It'll block the noise out and they'll sleep as sound as babies. So, y'know, not great."

"Craig."

"I was just kidding. They wouldn't even notice if Soundette came in here with her boombox," Craig promised, hugging Victor and looking over to ensure the twins were still asleep in their power-created stroller.

He'd used The Creator's power to make a stroller with a power repressing frame so Elijah and Elliot wouldn't shift and teleport to random places. The last thing anyone wanted was two toddlers shifting into spaces and making a mess, especially when that place was a pharmaceutical company. Knowing his nephews, Craig wouldn't be surprised if they tried to eat whatever they found. That was typical for babies, right? Right.

"Why are you thinking about giant babies?" Donny asked, frowning at him as Craig wandered over to the drinks table.

"No reason. Bleach my brain?"

"No. If I have to suffer with that mental image, then so do you."

"You suck, Donny."

"Love you, too."

Craig groaned and wrapped his arms around Donny's shoulders. "Did ya see Honey bring Patrick Morton the Third over?"

"Everyone saw that. It was like a peasant bringing vegetables to their king and queen."

"Are you calling Honey a peasant?"

Donny shook his head. "Hell, no."

"So... Patrick's a vegetable?"

"Oh, my god, shut up. You know what I meant, I know you do."

Craig snickered. "Yeah, I know. I just like seeing you squirm."

"Asshole."

"It takes one to know one," Craig quipped cheerfully.

Donny groaned.

A few moments later, Grant wandered over, eyebrow raising when he saw Donny's predicament. "You called?" he asked Donny.

"He's your asshole, take him."

"That's... that's not how assholes work," Grant said, choking as he laughed.

"I hate you both."

"You love us," Craig said, kissing Donny's cheek.

"One day, I'm going to leave you suspended over a vat of toxic waste," Donny muttered.

"That's okay, I still love you."

"Going to cut the rope holding you there, too," Donny muttered over his shoulder as he left.

"Still love you!" Craig called at a higher pitch, several people turning to look.

"Have you noticed that a lot of the Sylvan-Colores family aren't here anymore?" Grant asked curiously, pouring a drink for himself and another for Craig. "Drink, you know how you get after going high pitched like that, babe."

"Where are they?" Craig asked, looking around the room. Grant was right: there was significantly less colour than there had been only five minutes ago.

"Don't worry; they're safe. My siblings don't like big crowds, so they've shifted," Hagen said.

As Craig focused on Hagen and not on choking on his drink, he noticed tiny froggy legs and tiny froggy eyes peeking out of Hagen's silver and purple hair.

"Is that safe?" Grant asked.

"For me, yes. For others, well... we've never tried," Hagen admitted.

"Honestly, dude, I thought you would've been the first to shift," Craig said.

Hagen looked annoyed. "I drew the short straw."

"Damn, that sucks. I can set up an illusion so you can read and no one disturbs you, if you'd like?"

"You'd do that?" Hagen asked.

"Sure. Just 'cause I'm an extrovert, it doesn't mean I don't know how exhausting people and parties can be for other people. This seat look comfy enough?" Craig asked, Hagen and Grant following.

"Any seat is perfect, honestly."

"Great. Go on, then."

"What are you reading?" Grant asked curiously as Hagen sat down carefully, not wanting to squish his siblings.

"Warren reminded me how good War and Peace is, so I'm reading it again."

Grant sat across from him and they started talking about Tolstoy eagerly, Hagen waving his hands. His hair moved with the movements, and Craig saw several frogs jump off. "You've lost a few of your siblings. I lost count, but there was definitely a black one, and I want to say teal?" Craig said uncertainly.

"Darren and Candra; they're not fond of reading. Candra calls her colouring aqua, but I don't think anyone else really cares if you say teal."

"M'kay. I'm going to get more food. You have fun talking books, you geek," Craig said, kissing Grant's cheek.

"Love you too, babe," he said, grinning.

...

End of the hundred and thirty-first chapter.

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!