An Unexpected Proposal
Summary: It is ✨ date night ✨ and things are heating up 🔥🔥🔥
Evie's Notes: Welcome back to Scent of Lavender! I love you all and am so sorry for going radio silent! Explanation of what's been up with me in the end notes. But for now, enjoy chapter 37! - XO Evie 💋
The Sibuna Club gathered in the sitting room to go over the clues they had gathered regarding the rhymes from their ancestors.
"The lodges' heights are hot indeed, In the summer house beneath the weeds, In the place of rest you will succeed" read off Nina, tapping her pencil against the clue notebook.
"Any idea what those might mean?" asked Lili
"Nope, I got nothing" shrugged Alfie
"At least we already found one artifact," encouraged Fabian.
"I guess we should just keep an eye out for any hot lodges, places of rest and houses covered in weeds" sighed Jerome.
"Sounds like a plan, if that's all though Eddie and I have plans" grinned Patricia bouncing to her feet excitedly.
"Where are you guys going?" asked Amber
"Eddie got us tickets to a concert in town tonight, so we're grabbing dinner beforehand at Jackson's"
"That sounds fun. Enjoy!" waved Nina, before turning back to her notes.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Patricia poked awkwardly at her pasta. She loved Eddie, he was one of the most important people in the world to her. Yet she couldn't help but worry about the growing distance between the two of them.
The pair had sworn no more lies after the confusion of last year. But now there was this void of things left unsaid. She told herself over and over that she was leaving him in the dark for his protection. Truthfully though, if she was being honest, Patricia didn't want Eddie in her Sibuna world.
Being a Sibuna was dangerous, and yet Patricia never felt more alive than she had this year. Which was strange because at the beginning of the year she had been worried about the whole Amneris issue and the Society. But after the trip to the Museum Patricia had felt invincible.
Patricia almost felt silly for worrying so much earlier in the semester. Nina would figure it out and Patricia would protect the American Girl with her life. Little did the redhead know that her eyes had flashed gold as the elixir reacted to her thinking of its maker.
Eddie eyed his girlfriend cautiously as he noticed her eyes glint golden. Glancing around he tried to figure out what could have caused the change of eye color. Deciding to chalk it up to the lighting he paid their bill and helped Patricia into her coat before setting off to their concert.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The holidays were always a busy time in Anubis house, even without the upcoming midterms and evil cult looming over them. Joy was thrilled at the opportunity to turn her brain off for a bit and just let the fun of the season envelop her and her friends. Joy had always loved the magic that the holiday season seemed to bring and she greatly enjoyed running around downtown buying presents in different shops for her friends. This year, she had pulled Mara's name out of the stocking, and Joy was determined to make this Christmas amazing for the broken hearted girl. Not that the "Straight A" student was likely to be lonely for long.
Mara was drop dead gorgeous, a fact which the boys (and many girls) were not oblivious to. If she were only to turn her sights outwards from Anubis house, Joy was certain that the beautiful girl would be inundated with gifts and date offers.
Paying for her purchases, Joy finished up her shopping and headed back to the main road to meet up with her classmates and walk back to the school.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
"Careful! This box is super heavy!" warned Alfie as he passed down one of the many boxes of holiday decorations to Mick. The alien obsessed boy was perched precariously in the rafters of the greenhouse which Victor had built for Vera over the Summer Holidays. The Anubis House residents used the rafters of the attached building to store their extra items, such as holiday decorations.
"I got it" grunted Mick, carefully accepting the box. Hefting the box he carried it over to the doorway where Eddie was waiting.
Eddie, next in the chain, took the bin and carried it through to the kitchen where it was passed off to Jerome.
Jerome, the final link, carried the bin of decorations over to the living room where the girls and Fabian were unpacking the various boxes and decorating the house for Hanukkah and Christmas.
The thirteen Anubis House residents had a ton of fun decorating their Christmas tree, which the boys had found, chopped down in the woods, and hauled back on a sled that morning. Amber hung up sprigs of mistletoe over the doorways while Joy tied bright bows on festive holly and evergreen wreaths. Nina and K.T. placed a blue and white tablecloth over the central sitting room table before carefully setting up the house's menorah and dreidels.
Surprisingly even the adults were getting involved in the setup. Vera had put out a delicious spread of gingerbread cookies, which Patricia and Fabian were decorating. The woman had also whipped up a delicious pot of peppermint hot chocolate which everyone enjoyed in fun seasonal mugs; except the lactose intolerant Mara who stuck to peppermint tea. The phonograph from Victor's office had been brought down and cheerily played winter songs.
As the set up began to wind down, the teenaers had collapsed in various seats around the room. Except for Jerome, Aflie and Fabian who had dogpiled on top of Mick who was groaning at their combined weight pinning him to the ground.
The students' laughter and various conversations were interrupted by Victor loudly clearing his throat to get their attention. The grumpy man stood awkwardly by the large windows in front of the decorated christmas tree.
"If I could have all of your attention please" announced the house's caretaker. "Vera, my dear if you could come and join me?"
The blonde housekeeper blushed lightly and brushed her short hair behind her ears as she made her way over to join Victor by the tree.
The students all traded bewildered looks, confused as to what this was all about.
Taking Vera's hands in his own, Victor began his prepared speech. "The moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew in my heart that my life was about to change. And true enough, after speaking with you, it felt like I've known you since forever. Our instant connection over taxidermy sparked what would soon become the inferno of our love. Who would have thought, especially after all of these long years alone, that the stranger in front of me that day would be the person I won't last a day without. Today, I want to let you know that you are the person I want to be with for the rest of my life. I want to experience everything with you, the good and the bad, all of it with you…"
Letting go of the woman's hands, Victor reached into his pocket and pulled out a little white velvet box. Dropping down onto one knee he opened it to reveal a gorgeous golden engagement ring. A beautiful large oval diamond sat in the center and was surrounded by smaller diamonds. The gorgeous ring resembled the sun. "Vera Enid Devenish, will you marry me?"
All of the students' jaws dropped as one. Did grumpy, old, evil Victor really just propose to their beautiful eviler housemother?
"Oh Victor! Yes! Yes! I will marry you!" exclaimed Vera, grinning from ear to ear as the older man delicately slid the ring onto her finger.
Slowly the gathered students broke into staggered and shocked applause. Mick being the only one to not have anything truly against either of the adults standing before them whistled and cheered happily. While Mara did not know the truth about Victor, her crusade against Vera was still too fresh in the girl's mind, so her response was a little softer than her ex's. The Sibunas and Second Hand Heroes though were bug-eyed and at a loss as to how they should feel about this latest development.
With the surprise proposal now complete, the students offered various excuses and quickly made themselves scarce, heading back to their rooms allowing the couple space to celebrate.
Evie's Notes 2: Hi friends, I'm alive! It's been a hot sec since I last updated this story. Things have been a bit insane these last few months in my personal life. Things reached a horrible boiling point and bubbled over about a month ago resulting in me quitting my job. My mental health had just gotten to a point where I could not go on, Bipolar disorder and PTSD really suck. I am so thankful for the wonders of modern medicine though. I seem to have finally found a mood stabilizer that works! So life should hopefully be getting back to a relative state of calm.
All of this is to say: You all should be "seeing" more of me as I return to the fandom space. I have missed you all and I look forward to geeking out with you all over our favorite show together again!
If you have read this, I am so grateful and hope that you all have an amazing day. Sending you peace and positive vibes ✨. See you soon - xo Evie 🌺
