Hey guys, it's open suggestion time! Alrighty, so I have about five chapters that I don't know what to do with! Three of them will take place in September, and two will take place in early-to-mid October. I'd do more birthdays, but the two characters that have them we can't see because I have other things planned for those dates. So, what would you guys like to see during that time? Send a comment, message me (with the idea right away, don't beat around the bush and wait for me to say hi or something), or however else you happen to get in contact with me. Just know that I'm not adding new OCs though, there are already enough as there is. xD
Thank you for reading!
For the first time in awhile, the five of them were able to sit down and just laugh. The best part was that there were no kids around- which meant absolutely no censoring or holding back information. Unless you counted the turtle; then there technically was a child there, just one that couldn't talk back.
There was absolute no contest that Ira looked incredibly good for someone that just turned 39. His smile brought out the smallest of crow's feet, but they worked so well on him that it only added to his charm. At least, that was what he hoped, anyway. Having all five of them together was like reliving every memory they had before they truly became adults. No responsibilities, no kids to deal with, no tensions brought about by work, and absolutely no reservations on what they were going to do after tonight.
And honestly? Ira had missed those days.
"We need to eat out together for our birthdays more often." he smiled at them after some point. "I don't think we've had this much fun in years."
"Agreed." the other four simultaneously said. They all looked at each other before going into another round of laughter.
"Okay, okay, okay," Gula laughed, "So who else remembers that year when we decided to go surfing, and Aced had this massive wipeout?"
"Oh, I do!" Invi snickered. "He refused to come out of the ocean with Ava and I there because his swim trunks fell off."
"Why do you guys keep bringing that up?" Aced grumbled. "That was the worst day of my life!"
"Because it was hilarious!" Gula chuckled.
"It kinda was." Ava agreed with a small giggle of her own. "I don't think I've ever seen you look so red, Aced!"
"Oh, I have." Invi grinned before taking a deliberate sip of wine. Everyone but Aced went into another round of laughter.
"What about that year Ava found a hermit crab and tried her best to bring it home with us?" Ira suggested, casually resting his elbows on the tabled and placing his chin in his knitted hands.
"MoM almost let me too!" Ava smiled. "Of course, now I have a much cuter shell baby this year. Isn't that right, Shelby?"
The turtle, who was not allowed on the table and instead remained by Ava's feet, looked up at her and happily bobbed its head in agreement. Ava gave the tiny thing a little smile, bending down to pat his head, then took a strawberry from her plate to give to him. Shelby let out an excited clicking noise as Ava set the strawberry down beside him. Ava gave him another little laugh before returning her attention to her fellow headmasters.
"You know," Gula remarked, "It's a small wonder none of us are married yet. Sure, it makes sense for Ava and I, since we're still spring chickens. But you three? You're practically over the hill. And besides Ephemer (who isn't really your son Ava, he's only ten years younger than you), we don't have any kids either. Isn't that something? What are the odds of that?"
"I don't think they're as high as you think they are, Gula." Ira surmised with a neat raise of his eyebrow.
Aced almost agreed with Ira before something crossed his mind. For a brief moment, he remembered the conversation he had with April on their date a month ago. April had mentioned that many of the staff assumed that Invi had taken her sabbatical to cover up the fact she was pregnant. Curious, he gave Invi a glance to see her reaction.
Invi looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there. Her face had suddenly gone pale as she tightly held her wine glass with both her hands. When she noticed that Aced was looking at her, she shot him a dark look before it quickly turned into one of worry instead. It was that very look that made Aced realize something. But this wasn't the place to be questioning it.
"Invi?" Ava wondered as she looked at her fellow headmaster. "Are you alright? You look like you're about to be sick..."
Breaking her gaze with Aced, Invi shook her head. "Too much wine." she mumbled. "But never mind me." She looked up and gave Aced a wicked smile. "I almost bet Aced could bring us another child in the next year, if he and Ms. Tremaine get any cozier."
"What?!" the oldest of the five shrieked. "What makes you think…?!"
"So is that what I hear late at night?" Gula smirked. "I wondered which one of us was getting at it again."
Ira also gave a snide smirk. "It's a very distinct sound, isn't it?" he also teased. "Not quite grunting, but it sure isn't a moan either. I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like it."
Aced's face was now a deep shade of red. He wanted to hide, while at the same time he wanted to strangle them all. "Now wait a minute…!"
"You're a bear in every sense of the word, Aced." Invi told him, her grin wickedly catlike. "Big, strong, growling, gay..."
"That's enough!" Aced thundered, slamming his fists into the table. Everyone jumped a little at the impact- even Shelby, who then choose to hiss at Aced's feet. The oldest of them glared them all down as he demanded, "Can we PLEASE change the subject? This is the EXACT reason why I chose to be celibate after we broke up!"
A tense silence filled between the five of them now. No one wanted to look at Aced and his perfectly fuming face. Above all, he glared at Invi. He could see it now- he could see that she had secrets that she wasn't willing to tell. He could see how suddenly aware she was that, perhaps, he did know her secret and could have blurted it out to the rest of them. What was stopping him? In fact, it would even open up some very interesting discussions that they could all take a part of.
"I'm sorry." Invi said first. "I didn't mean to overstep."
"I bet you didn't." Aced grumbled. But he relaxed his body, plopping back down in his seat with a huff. "I bet you didn't mean anything at all, Invi."
As he mentally tried to ground himself after his outburst, Aced still continued to cast Invi a dark, accusatory glare that she only shrank under. The other three didn't know what to do or say. For the longest time, the only sound in the room came from Shelby, who resumed to happily munch away on his strawberry.
Hoping to change the mood a bit, Ava carefully spoke up to say, "I think you and April are a nice couple. She seems genuinely happy to be with you- even her daughter Annie seems to like you." A small smile appeared on Ava's face before she said, "Annie's such a sweetie too. She and Ephemer would absolutely adore each other."
"Anastasia is quite intelligent." Invi agreed. "I do find it odd that the two aren't already acquainted- but they are a few years apart, and in different houses."
"Ephemer knows everyone on campus- even the staff." Gula informed them in a matter-of-fact voice. "He just chooses who he wants to see on a daily basis. Like Anora, Skuld, and Ventus; he met them out of coincidence, and now he considers them his best of friends. You know why? It's because he purposely sought them out after. Some more than others, of course..."
"I assume you're referring to Anora?" Ira questioned. "She was an odd case, but adapted quickly enough. Still seems odd that she got an acceptance letter during winter break. Did we ever find out who sent that letter out? It wasn't any of us, was it?"
"From my understanding," Aced grumbled, "It was the superintendent. I would know- I'd recognize his signature on the paperwork in a heartbeat."
"But why?" Ava wondered. "Sure, she's one of our more exceptional students, but he couldn't have known that beforehand. Could he? No one in Anora's family is Daybreak alumni. I don't even think they're native to Departure County at all."
They all went silent at this, none of them truly having an answer. Eventually, Invi looked up at them with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Ephemer wasn't the only one who tried to find information on Anora when she arrived." she told them in a still voice. "It was how I caught him going through the student records. But that was just the thing; her records? Completely useless. At least, on terms about why she was enrolled. Her emergency contacts all rang over to dead numbers. The only family she has is a desk jockey aunt, a reserved cousin, and an uncle stationed out at sea. And her parents..."
Invi hesitated for a moment. The other headmasters leaned a bit closer to her so she could finish, but she didn't continue. Instead, she seemed to have spaced out a little, looking at something far off that didn't quite look right.
"What about her parents, Invi?" Gula questioned, sounding a bit more forceful than he intended. Invi blinked as she brought her attention back to the other four. In an ambiguous voice, she said to them;
"I hope you like mysteries, because this one is fascinating."