Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
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Chapter Forty One
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Acid leaked from Adam, his whole body starting to corrode the earth around him, eating away at the dirt, roots, and small insects that called the park their home. He couldn't stop the liquid from oozing out of every pore, burning away his clothes until he was as bare as the day he was born.
If Adam had had any room in his mind for embarrassment, he might have felt the emotion. Instead, all he could think about and focus on was Lisa and Ben's betrayal. The memory of catching them kissing replayed in his mind over and over; he briefly wondered if this is how Layla felt every time she saw Will and Magenta. He'd gone to see Lisa and Ben, to ask why they'd arrived together, and why Lisa hadn't replied to his text as to whether she was coming to the barbecue today or not.
After Adam had sent that text, almost four days ago now, he realised that he had initiated every text in the last two months and Lisa only responded when she wanted something. He had pushed the realisation aside, telling himself that Lisa was busy with the school paper and her schoolwork on top of that: she didn't have time to text him as well, and he was probably being clingy or something stupid like that. Lisa had even cancelled their date to watch Labyrinth together, even after she'd said she'd watch it with him. Adam ended up watching it by himself, just to understand what everyone had been going on about at lunch.
By the time Adam made it to the other side of the park, Lisa and Ben had both disappeared from sight. He cursed himself softly for getting lost in his own thoughts too much, then looked around to see if he could spot them anywhere else. Hearing Lisa's laugh nearby, Adam followed the noise until he came to the block of toilets. Adam almost left right then and there - he had no desire to know what was making his girlfriend laugh while in the bathroom - but his curiosity overcame him and he rounded the corner just as Lisa's laugh was cut off. Ben had all six arms wrapped around Lisa's body and he was kissing her firmly. Lisa didn't push him away, didn't tell him off or that she had a boyfriend, and instead, she wrapped her own two arms around Ben and kissed him back. Adam stumbled away from them abruptly. He couldn't bring himself to tear them apart, couldn't demand an explanation, couldn't do anything but replay that kiss over and over.
He had no idea where he was going and by the time he tripped over a root in the ground on the other side of the park, Adam just moaned in despair and stayed there. He didn't notice when the Commander and Jetstream arrived, the excited noises from the citizens a mere buzz at the back of his mind. Adam could feel the build-up of acidic spit in his mouth, the familiar taste burning along the back of his throat. But then it started to shift, to build up in his body itself, oozing from every available pore in his skin.
He was found about fifteen minutes later, a pit created around him by his acid, and Adam curled up on himself as the acid destroyed the last of his clothes.
"Hey, Adam, get yourself under control, would you?" Donny hissed, kicking a bit of grass and dirt into the pit to jar him into action. "You'll get the Super Bureau here if you go much further."
"What? Why?" Warren asked.
"Underground sensor."
"Can we do anything to help?" Layla asked, not fond of the idea of the Super Bureau arriving now, far too early in her plans.
Donny glanced over to Honey, whose eyes had almost rolled back in her head completely. He reached over and grabbed her hand a moment later, letting out a low groan of pain as his eyes rolled back as well.
"Set fire. Fill hole. Set fire. Fill hole. Set fire. Fill hole," Donny chanted, his body shaking with the force of the seer's vision.
"Chaos rains fire and the earth swallows them whole," Honey whispered.
"Right, guys give us a barrier here," Warren said to the others, his arms lighting up.
Zach and Ethan hurried to block Warren from view of the parents, Heidi and Wendy standing in front of them too. Warren threw fireball after fireball into the acid pit. Though he and Adam had practised with their powers together, Adam hadn't been at his power's full strength, and the fire burnt away to nothing in a matter of seconds. Warren looked to Layla, who was waiting beside him, ready to fill the hole as soon as Adam was ready.
"I need more power, like we did under the Hive," Warren murmured.
Layla realised what he meant and nodded. "Do it."
Warren pulled her in close, arm snaking around her waist as he kissed her fiercely, his tongue plundering her willing mouth a second later. Their tattoos spun wildly, fire burning and thorns piercing, and Warren built up a fire stronger than anything he'd ever attempted before. He licked at Layla's taste on lips before he sent the large fireball into the pit. This time, the acid receded as the flames licked and ate at it. The acid fought back, fought to protect Adam and keep him blissfully unaware and emotionless, but the fire proved stronger. Within a minute, the acid had disappeared completely. A large leafy vine brought Adam out of the hole and set him aside gently. Then, just as the last of the acid ate away at a few granules of dirt above the sensor, dirt and grass filled the small pit in completely.
(Elsewhere in Maxville, a security officer looked at the blinking sensor, but the blinking stopped barely a second later, and he rolled his eyes; probably damn earthworms again.)
When the grass had completely covered the pit, both Donny and Honey stopped chanting their mantras and Honey collapsed back to the ground. Donny struggled to stay upright, and if not for Wendy's arm around his waist, he might've fallen as well.
"Thanks," Donny whispered, throat raw. "Honey's got extra clothes in her bag to cover Adam with. Zach, Ethan, it's in the backseat of her car. Be quick," he said, nodding down to where Honey's car keys had fallen beside her.
Zach scooped up the keys, he and Ethan running up to the carpark a second later.
"Honey? You need anything?" Layla asked softly.
"A drink, something strong. Actually, a brandy schnapp will suffice. Only one though; don't want to get pulled over for drink driving," Honey murmured.
"Uncle Phil promised he wouldn't open them until after the barbecue," Adam said, voice soft and slow, as if he wasn't sure he could voice the words properly.
"He opened them when the Commander and Jetstream arrived," Warren said.
Adam nodded. "Thought I heard screaming before."
"Want to talk about what happened, or should I make an educated guess?" Layla offered, sitting beside Adam, not caring an ounce about his nakedness.
"Educated guess."
"Lisa and Ben did what Will and Magenta did?"
Adam looked away and nodded briefly.
"Fuck them."
"Heids, language," Zach admonished as he and Ethan returned with a bag full of clothes. "But I completely agree."
Everyone turned away to give Adam some privacy as he changed. Honey didn't bother moving, looking up at the sky and clouds gathered.
"You could probably turn that one into the Empire State building, Wendy," she said, pointing up to one of the clouds.
"Hmm?" Wendy asked, having heard her name but not knowing what Honey was referring to.
"Cloud, Empire State building."
"Food's ready, kids! And Honey," Sarah called out, walking over. "Ari's exhausted himself, so I've got him out of the dog park for you."
"Thank you, Sarah. Remind me to give you a raise on Monday," Honey said.
"Oh no, what are you buying now?"
"Oh, don't look at me like that; you'll like this one."
"That's what you said about the last one," Sarah replied pointedly.
"I still stand by that decision; the street is going to be important, and it's just easier if I own the whole thing."
"That's fine for the future, but right now, it's nothing more than a useless street! It's the real-world equivalent of Kent Road in Monopoly," Sarah groused.
"Yes, you've said that. This new one is a medical facility in the outskirts of Westville. They provide medication to surrounding cities, towns, and counties. They're planning on upping their prices again; I want to make sure that doesn't happen. So... at least 45% of the stakeholders should do. But try for 55%, just in case."
"Fine, but I'm doing it in the morning."
"Good, you'll remember more of this than I will by that time."
Sarah sighed heavily, knowing far too well what that meant for her employer. "I'll look after Ari tonight and check up on you in the morning."
"Thank you, Sarah. Don't forget the raise."
"Believe me, I won't," she said, then helped Honey stand up. "I said that the food's ready, and you're all still standing here? You're ruining teenager stereotypes for me. Go eat, shoo," Sarah said, waving them all off.
"What do you suppose that was about?" Ethan asked curiously.
"Apart from Honey wanting to buy a medical facility, I really don't have a clue," Layla replied.
"There you are, kids. Now, who wants a tofu dog and veggie burger?" Richard asked, grinning.
"That would be me, please, Mr. Damsale," Layla said, smiling at him.
"Good, 'cause they're some of the only things that didn't burn after that unexpected appearance by the Commander and Jetstream," Richard muttered.
Ethan winced when he saw the state of the hot dogs. "I might have a veggie one too, Dad. Not that there's anything wrong with charcoal, but... there really is."
"Don't blame you, Eth," Zach said, looking at his own sorry hot dog.
"Sauce'll cover it up," Warren said, offering him the bottle.
Zach squeezed enough sauce onto the hot dog to hide it completely. "That should be enough."
"If not, there's cheese, onions, and pickles on the table," Richard said, not looking the least bit offended at Zach's sauce-covered hot dog.
Zach almost ran over to the table to get his toppings. Heidi shook her head at her brother, but held her plate up with a smile for Mr. Damsale, who gave her the least-burnt hot dog and burger patty he could find.
If anyone noticed Adam's change in clothing, no one said anything. His mother had been called into work soon after she'd finished eating, and his father had been talking with Richard for most of the time, both of them bonding over their love of trains and model kits. The clothes that Honey had brought for him were similar enough to the ones he'd arrived in anyway, so Adam supposed it didn't really matter.
There was a lot of talking and laughter as people ate their food, barely noticing the burnt meat after adding their toppings of choice. When Honey and Sarah arrived, Honey immediately started to serve out slices of the huge cake she'd brought and iced earlier, while Sarah grabbed plates for herself and Honey. Ari had exhausted himself and was sleeping on Toby's back, Snowball guarding them both protectively.
Layla took Warren's hand in her own and squeezed gently, resting her head on his shoulder. "Today's been good," she murmured.
"Yeah. Definitely better than I expected," Warren admitted, spearing a piece of his cake with his fork.
An alarm sounded, making them pull apart. Layla turned her phone alarm off and sighed. "Time for you to go to work."
"Already?"
"Time flies when you're having fun," Layla pointed out, grinning now.
"Very funny, hippie," he deadpanned, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before he stood and headed to his mother, wiping the last of the cake crumbs from his shirt.
"Time to go already?" Nina asked, looking at her watch in surprise. "Well, that went by faster than I expected. I'm just going to grab some more cake, and I'll meet you at the car, okay?"
Warren nodded and turned, only to be stopped by Honey. She smiled at him and offered a small container with more pieces of cake in it.
"Already packed for you. You'd better get going, or you'll be stuck in traffic," she warned.
"Thanks, Honey," Warren said, heading up to the car.
"Thank you, Honey. We've had a lovely time," Nina said, smiling at her warmly.
"So have I. Now, honestly, go," Honey said, giving Nina a small nudge towards her car.
"Bye!" Nina called with a wave over her shoulder, getting a lot of farewells in return.
She was smiling broadly by the time she reached the car, and Warren frowned in confusion.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing, nothing. I'm just... I'm happy. It's been a very long time since I've had anyone to talk to about ... well, anything that's not work, I suppose. I mean, I talk to you all the time, but it's nice to talk to another adult now and then. It's nice to have friends again."
Warren was silent as they drove towards his work. After ten minutes of comfortable silence, Nina glanced in the rear view mirror and saw how the traffic had built up behind her; if they'd left the park any later, they'd be stuck in that mess.
"Thanks, Mum," Warren said suddenly.
"What for?" Nina asked, surprised.
"For everything," Warren said, shrugging and refusing to say anything more.
Nina's expression gave way to a smile and she squeezed her son's hand briefly. "Any time, kid."
...
"Whatever you and Warren are planning, I want in," Adam muttered, sliding onto the bench seat next to her.
"Are you sure, Adam?" Layla asked, not bothering to deny it.
"Yes."
"Good; we'll talk about it later though, okay? Just be patient for now," Layla murmured, smiling over at Anita who was looking at them curiously from her table.
Beside her, Ethan grinned and waved at his mother, taking her attention away from Layla and Adam.
"Patience is my middle name," Adam replied with a broad grin.
"Adam Patience Spattle doesn't have the same ring to it as Adam Mordecai Spattle," Ethan said, grinning.
"How'd you know my middle name?"
Ethan just grinned and didn't answer.
"Adam?" Lisa called, standing nearby with her plate. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked with a bright smile.
"There's space at Ben's table, you should sit there instead," Adam snapped.
Lisa paled and looked from Adam across to Ben. "I-I don't know what you mean."
"Yes, you do," Donny said from behind her, he and Wendy moving to the seats across from Layla, Ethan, and Adam. They spread out so there was no more room left, and they all looked to Lisa.
"What did Donny say? You know he's a liar," Lisa hissed, knuckles white as she clutched her plate.
"Donny didn't say anything, actually. I saw you and Ben making out. Do you want to call me a liar too?" Adam asked, standing to his full height.
Lisa stepped back. "Adam, you can't power up here; we're in public," she said, looking around nervously.
"You weren't saying that to Ben when he had his hands all over you!"
Acid dripped from Adam's fingertips, boring holes into the concrete ground beneath him.
Lisa stared at the holes, then at Adam. "What happened to you?" she asked, blinking with her third eye. "Layla, what are you doing to Adam?"
"Holding him back so he doesn't kill you. I suggest you leave," Layla said, taking Adam's wrist with a vine and tugging him back towards his seat.
With one last look at Adam, covered in vines that were dragging him down, Lisa made her third eye disappear. She ran to Ben's table a second later.
"Do we want to know what that was about?" Zach asked, coming over with Heidi.
Wendy moved so that Heidi could sit next to her. Smiling brightly, Heidi sat next to her and tugged Zach down beside her.
"Lisa thought that she could cheat on me and still be with me," Adam snapped.
"Want me to go spill my hot dog on them?" Zach offered, looking at what was left of his sauce and topping covered hot dog.
"What toppings didn't you put on that?" Ethan asked, wincing.
"I don't remember. Pretty sure there was some weird olive thing that I stayed clear of; the rest is probably on there somewhere."
Heidi tugged on Zach's sleeve, part of her burger hanging out of her mouth as she tried to sign at the same time. She automatically mouthed some of the words, her burger falling onto the plate that Donny held out for her.
"Nice catch. Was that you or Honey?" Layla asked curiously.
"Both, maybe? I figured it was going to happen; I've seen Heidi sign and mouth the words at the same time," he said, shrugging.
"Thanks; Mum'd lose it if Heidi ruined her nice outfit," Zach said, taking the plate from Donny while still watching his sister.
Heidi finally finished signing and ate the last of her burger, watching her brother to see what his response would be.
"All right, Heidi. But Mum's seriously gonna lose it, so we're taking Mrs. Damsale up on her offer, at least for tonight, okay?" Zach said, signing his response to Heidi.
She grinned brightly, then grabbed a handful of salad, turned and pelted it at Lisa and Ben's table. Lettuce, carrot, and salad dressing hit them with a wet slap, and Lisa screeched. Zach grabbed the soggy mess of his hot dog and threw the whole thing in the same direction, Ben letting out a cry of disgust. Adam didn't even hesitate, grabbing both his hot dog and his burger, throwing them straight at Lisa and Ben.
The others at Lisa and Ben's table didn't know it was a direct attack, and thinking of nothing more than the fun of a food fight, they began to pelt food back in their direction. Wendy let out a gasp as sauerkraut hit the back of her head, bits sliding down the back of her dress, and she turned with lightning flashing in her eyes, throwing pieces of bread and charcoal in their direction.
"Here you go. Avoid the cake; we'll eat it later," Honey said, putting several squeezy bottles of condiments on the table.
"You came prepared for a food fight?" Ethan called in surprise, over the noise of people's screaming and laughter.
"I came prepared for everything," she replied, grinning.
Layla grabbed the bottle of tomato sauce, shaking it a few times before she undid the lid and squeezed it across the table at Donny. He only managed to dodge some of the oncoming slash of sauce, grabbing the mustard and ducking to hide under the table. Shaking the mustard bottle and undoing the lid, Donny stood and sprayed everyone across from him: Ethan, Layla, and Adam all getting a line and drops of thick yellow mustard along their shirts.
"Ready?" Layla asked, grinning at Donny as she thought of her plan clearly.
He nodded, and they ran over to Lisa and Ben's table, squirting the condiments until only their screams could be heard. Heidi ran over to join them, armed with the barbecue sauce. Lisa and Ben were both covered in three separate condiments, and by the time Zach arrived with the mayonnaise, there was hardly any skin that could be seen.
"Just wait 'til we're at school; I'll get you back for this," Ben snarled, itching to bring out his other four arms.
Zach gave a cheerful whistle, took the lid off the mayonnaise completely and squeezed the lot of it on top of Ben's head. "Look forward to it, Benny-boy."
"Wow, Ben, you look dreadful," Ben's mother laughed. "But you made a mistake in attacking Lisa and my son: you used up all your ammunition!" Then she threw her salad at the four kids, laughing as she used her plate to ward off the salad they scooped up and threw back at her. "C'mon, Ben. Have a bit of fun," she called.
"Oh, I think he's had quite enough fun for one day, don't you, Benny-boy?" Donny asked quietly, patting his wet shoulder with a wet thwack.
Richard had condiment bottles in each of his pockets in his 'kiss the cook' apron and was spraying everyone like he was in battle. Layla laughed when Ethan betrayed his father and sprayed him with a line of mustard, Richard dying dramatically, sauce squirting out of his 'wound'. Heidi laughed as well and hurried to join them, taking a condiment bottle from another table.
Frieda grabbed Layla's hand and tugged her aside, covered in bits of lettuce and cucumber pieces. "This is the most fun I've had in years!"
"I'm glad, Frieda."
"So am I. Now, I know world domination is in the cards, but I hope your plan starts off on a smaller scale? It's a much better way to start; that's the reason a lot of the others failed, you see. They thought that if they controlled Maxville, then they controlled the world. It doesn't work like that, oddly enough.
"But on the note of Maxville, the Mayor has several mistresses that don't know about each other, and his wife is blissfully unaware about all of them, of course."
"Pardon?" Layla asked innocently.
"Now, now, no need for all that, dear. Honey spent most of today telling me all about it. Donny is a lovely boy, don't you think? He and Wendy will be wonderful together," Frieda said with a smile.
"Oh, uh, yes. I'm sure they will be," Layla said, still somewhat bewildered.
Frieda just smiled and patted her hand.
"So... how many mistresses does the Mayor have, exactly?" Layla asked.
"Oh, I'm sure you can find that out for yourself; you are the man's PA, aren't you?" Frieda added. Then, without another word or warning, she headed back into the food fight, armed with two hamburger buns.
"Are you all right, Layla?" Wendy asked, jogging over to her when she saw that Layla had been standing to the side for a good five minutes.
"I... I think I need to sit down," she said weakly.
"The condiments aren't that bad, are they?" Wendy asked curiously.
"Hmm? Oh, no, they're fine," she said, sitting on the grass.
Wendy sat beside her, and was pleasantly surprised to feel how soft the grass was; usually the park had prickly grass that made her itch for days afterwards.
"Heidi's a good kid, isn't she? Well, not exactly good, but I don't actually care about that," Wendy said, grinning.
Layla nodded, watching as Heidi attacked Ben with Zach by her side.
"I'm thinking that when she's older, I'll have her as my sidekick. Ethan was talking about that ASL class in the city, thought I might join that to help things along," Wendy said.
"Well, being able to understand what your sidekick's saying is definitely a good idea," Layla replied.
"You weren't planning on her as your sidekick, were you?" Wendy asked.
"No, Zach's mine. Ethan will be Warren's," she added.
"Huh. I can kinda see that working. Are either of them at full strength yet?"
"Zach is almost there; Ethan's getting there. A few more months for both of them, I think," Layla said.
"Donny's only just there himself; that thing he did with Honey really helped. I've still got a while to go myself. Think it'll be easier out of Sky High; less restrictions then."
"True, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to keep within those restrictions in the meantime. You know what happens to people who don't stick to the government's limitations."
"Yeah, they get moved to the Super track and get an X-box. Oh, wait, that's just Stronghold."
Layla laughed, and as her laughter faded, she looked to Wendy seriously. "You and Donny are serious about joining us then?"
"As serious as teenagers can be. And since Royal Pain was a teenager and tried to defeat the Commander and Jetstream two times, that's pretty serious," she added, grinning.
Ethan escaped an onslaught of tomato sauce and hot dog buns, and flopped on the grass beside Layla.
"You'll have to practice more; Save the Citizen isn't enough," Layla said to Wendy, carefully making the grass around and under Ethan grow and become gentler on his skin.
"Most things at Sky High aren't enough," Wendy replied with a snort. "They don't want us to reach our full potential, because then we might realise that we're actually stronger than anything the citizens or their government can put on us."
Layla agreed with a nod. "It's not like we can retaliate against them now, though."
"Principal Powers would put a stop to anything before it even started; she wouldn't want another Royal Pain occurring and affecting enrolments," Ethan pointed out.
"She has been listening to rumours a lot more, lately," Wendy mused in agreement. "A few girls swear that there's a listening bug in the bathroom; they heard the feedback."
"Well, there goes my plans for creating an office in the girls bathroom to recruit," Layla deadpanned.
"I don't think you need an office, actually," Ethan said, sitting up. "Sky High obviously won't let you do a recruit drive with 'villains apply here' on a banner, but they do allow extra curricular programs to be organised by students. You just have to word it in the right way that'll draw the right crowd. Or in this case, the wrong one."
"Yeah, you're an absolute badass, Ethan," Wendy said, rolling her eyes at his orange shirt and brown pants.
"Yeah, you're an absolute comedian," he sneered.
"The extra curricular class could be about training for Save the Citizen; that way, you'd get permission to use the gym," Wendy suggested.
"A teacher has to be present for any and all gym use," Ethan pointed out. "Or at least someone on staff."
"Nurse Spex would probably be useful; she'd fall asleep in minutes, and if anything did happen, she'd fix us up without any questions."
"Not a bad suggestion. Who else?" Layla asked, looking between them.
"Well, none of the bus drivers are available after school because they're obviously driving the buses. There's two janitors on staff - both super cleaners; Mr. Boy, Mr. Medulla, Coach Boomer, Principal Powers, Magnitude the Maths teacher, and Ms. Littera the English teacher.
"The student council were considered trustworthy and might've sufficed, until Royal Pain. I'm actually not sure if they still exist, or if Principal Powers disbanded them entirely. There hasn't been a mention of them in assembly lately," Ethan mused.
"Are any of the staff actually useful?"
"Well, as Wendy said: Nurse Spex has a tendency to fall asleep easily and doesn't wake up at loud sounds after working with Coach Boomer for so long. Mr. Medulla comes from a strict military background, went to military school in the United Kingdom before coming back to the US and getting a degree in Mad Science."
"Military school, Mr. Medulla?" Wendy echoed, surprised.
"His lab coat is cut in a military style, and if he had the ability to have hair, it'd probably be cut short."
"I can't imagine him with hair," Wendy said, shaking her head.
In front of them, the food fight was starting to die down. Ben and Lisa had come off the worst and were practically covered in head to toe in condiments, bits of bread, and various toppings. They looked even more disgusting than Zach's hot dog. Most of the other guests were dripping and sticky with condiments, and covered in a surprising amount of salad.
"I didn't think there was that much salad on the table," Layla mused.
"Craig brought three tubs of Tupperware out just before the fight started," Ethan said.
"All right, I think that's all of the food gone for the food fight. Who wants cake?" Honey called.
"Oh, I'd better get some before Zach does," Ethan said, standing up and brushing his pants off. "You two want anything?"
"I'll have a piece, thanks," Wendy said.
"Me too, thank you, Ethan."
Ethan nodded and left to where people were lining up for cake. They were laughing and wiping each other off, smearing more condiments than anything.
"Think Ben'll go through with his threat?" Wendy asked, looking to him and Lisa.
"Probably. I think Zach's hoping he does," Layla added.
Wendy leaned back on the grass and looked up to the sky. Remembering Honey's earlier comment about the Empire State Building, she tried to coax a cloud to change its shape. Zach and Heidi came over with Donny and Ethan following, all carrying a plate and cake.
"Honey put yours on the same plate; I was harshly judged as I left," Ethan said, offering the plate to Layla and Wendy.
Stopping for the moment, Wendy took her cake and ate it, the others all sitting and doing the same.
"Hey, why're you all sitting on the ground? There's perfectly good seats back there," Craig said, heading over with Adam.
"They're covered in condiments. So is your ass," Adam said.
"Ah, hell," Craig muttered, sitting down anyway. His curls were covered in tomato sauce and mustard, and he had a smear of BBQ sauce across his freckles. "Where'd Warren go?"
"He left for work before the food fight started," Layla replied.
"Lucky; I doubt his boss would like him turning up looking like this," Craig said with a grin.
"Probably not. Might invite Mrs. Woo next time," Layla mused, taking a bite of cake.
"The next date can be the 7th of May. It's a Saturday and there's no exams or assignments due around that time," Ethan said.
"That's a couple of months away; that should be enough time to get over this one and plan the next one. What do you think about hosting the next one at the Hive, Honey?" Layla asked, smiling as the woman headed over to them.
Honey set her plate down, settling Ari down in her lap so she could pet the exhausted dog, who was sleeping happily. "It could work. The trees would be finished by then, at least. Give it another month before making any decisions."
"All right, thanks," Layla said.
"Bis is 'm'zin', H'nee," Zach said, his mouth full of cake.
"I think that was a compliment?" Honey said with a slight frown.
Zach nodded adamantly, his cheeks bulging.
"Please tell me he'll mature in the next year, at the very least?" Wendy asked, rolling her eyes.
Zach swallowed his mouthful to poke his tongue out at her.
"Maybe give it two years," Honey replied, grinning.
...
End of the forty-first chapter.
Thanks for reading!
