Roar of Dragons

[Luke – 13 years]

When Seph and I near the entrance to the academy's building itself, I notice some of the kids who used to make comments about Parker waiting near the entrance. They seem to be looking at our group and I'm getting a bad feeling from them.

"Hey, Luke," Damien, one of the boys, says. "Seph's been lying to you."

Yeah, they're trying to cause trouble. I can't imagine they'd know something about him I don't already know.

"Lying?" I ask. "About what?"

"His family," Damien tells me. "Friend of my sister's saw his home yesterday when going somewhere with some friends. Dude is poor – like, actually poor. He has to raise chickens just so he can have eggs. That stuff he makes is just to help earn money for his family so they can eat and pay bills and stuff."

It was only a matter of time before someone else found out about Seph's home life and status. For it to be Damien first isn't good, but I have a way to deal with it. Amusingly, Xander actually gave me one of the perfect ways to do so.

One of them.

"Oh," I say. "Yeah, I've known about that for awhile, actually. Their eggs taste pretty good."

"You don't have an issue hanging around someone in poverty?" Damien asks while his friends give me looks of confusion. "Do you have any idea what that looks like?"

"Or is it pity?" James asks. "A Gatewood helping-"

"We were hanging out even before I found out," I say. "Seph is a pretty cool guy. And he's attending our academy. Which doesn't offer scholarships. So clearly, he's got connections which got him into our prestigious, elite academy. Which indicates that he's among the elite, too."

"That's-" Damien begins.

"And another sign that he's among the social elite," I pull out my wallet, then a business card. "Is the fact that he has one of these. Do you know what this is?"

"Uh… a business card?" Damien offers after just a glance.

"An invitation to a party," I tell him. "Specifically, a party hosted by Xander King. Who hand-delivered each invitation to each invitee. And Seph received his before I did. I would know, because Xander was surprised to see me at Seph's house when he went to deliver it."

It kind of hurts that Xander went to deliver the invitation to Seph first when considering I'm literally his neighbor, but I guess it's fine. The fact that Xander was willing to sell me an improved teleport spell formula and he's inviting me to his parties and events is enough for me.

We'll become friends one day!

"Do you have an invite to a party by Xander King?" I ask.

"He probably only invited Seph because he's friends with you," Damien retorts.

"This is Xander King we're talking about," I say. "The kid who can get a dragon to reveal that dragons are real just so he can do an interview with him, then spend twenty-three minutes talking about the best way to eat a burger, and sides for them. He closed a Rift when it popped up near him, then teleported Special Magic Forces agents away from him and didn't get into trouble. He also once accidentally made the sensors think there was a Rift when there wasn't and caused an alarm which got me called in, then developed a new sensor which is more accurate as an apology.

"He's not just any Lumaria King," I say. "He's the one who puts the 'king' in their name. Each person he invites to his parties is carefully-selected, without regard to their class level. You have elites such as myself, wealthy such as Parker, powerful hunters such as Tyler, original mage lines such as those from the Autumn Realm, and ordinary citizens such as his boyfriend and their friends.

"And if you really think he'd be friends with just anyone," I say. "Then you really think little of the person Adrian King has decided to become actively involved in the life of. The person who got Adrian King to reveal his real appearance to the public. The person who got Adrian King to become more active in the public eye. The person who got Adrian King to determine who should be invited to his gaming SMP.

"If he can do all of that," I say. "Then why would he be friends with just anyone? Why would he invite just anyone to his parties? The fact that Xander hand-delivered an invite to Seph while he's probably never even heard of you is rather telling, don't you think?"

Damien doesn't seem to know how to react to that, so I put the card away and look at Seph.

"Come on," I say. "Let's go find Parker."

What I said is true. There's no way someone would get invited "just because they're friends of someone invited". That might get the door cracked open, but Xander would need to approve of them first. And Seph was invited because of S.G. rather than me… while I was invited because of Seph.

Well, sort of. The door was cracked open because of my friendship with Seph, but Xander still made the decision on whether or not to invite me. Ultimately, he decided to invite me, with whatever reasons he had for doing so.

We head inside and find Parker in his seat in our first period class… with a streamer orb floating near him, iris green. Parker himself looks rather gloomy.

"The class is getting streamed?" Seph asks.

"No," Parker responds. "My parents talked to the school and got them to approve me being monitored via one of the orbs. They got the idea from, well, you know. And because of my recent hospitalization, they want to make sure I'm fine. They also apparently reached out to Xanson Technologies to find out if there's one which can handle basic medical treatment magics, in case… something goes wrong."

In case he tries to takes his life again. I'm the only person here who knows what happened, but Parker has mentioned he got sick and was in the hospital to others. His wording is to make sure people continue to think it really was just some sort of regular illness.

"Ah," I say. "Well, hopefully things go well enough you don't need health monitoring anymore. So it's just here to monitor you?"

"I don't know if it's actually recording," he looks at it. "It's a slightly-modified version of the streamer orbs, which are apparently already capable of doing basic health checks. I think it's just monitoring my health at all times and is supposed to alert if something goes wrong."

Or if he does something he's not supposed to, I'm guessing.

"Ah," I say. "If they already possess that capability, it might just be an additional program added in to that one to use it at all times rather than… wait, they can do basic health checks?"

"Apparently," Parker snorts. "And it's not in the manual. And yeah, it's a program. My parents were told to purchase a normal orb, and we were sent a program to add to it. Along with a manual on all of the health stuff the orb can do. Did you know? It can analyze bodily waste for health checks… I'm not sure why that's a feature, but it apparently is."

"The mind of Xander King is not for us to question."

Because questioning it would only lead to more questions.

[Sig – 13 years] → starts a little after Luke's PoV.

"You're in pain?" Xander asks when I open the door.

Him and his empathy. Not everything is cause for concern and I'm fairly certain his expression is him wondering who needs beat.

"Just sore," I tell him. "Spent a little too much time wrestling with Hunter and Turtle after dinner last night, that's all."

"Oh," he says. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yup!" I answer. "Let's go!"

Xander leads me to the street before letting me know he's teleporting us, then we appear outside of the gate to his house. We head through the house to the rec center, then change in the changing rooms into our swim trunks… though Xander's also wearing a swim shirt today. I know he doesn't like wearing things other than swim trunks because they're uncomfortable, but I also cannot figure out why he sometimes does it.

Though this one's not the full-body swimsuit he usually wears under his trunks when he wears more than those. It's a close-fitting long-sleeved shirt meant for swimming in, with a grey body and green arms.

"Is that a new shirt?" I ask.

"No," Xander answers. "I've had it for awhile, I've just not worn it outside of trying it on."

"Is it comfy?"

"No," he answers. "Come on, let's meet Coach Adam."

We enter the pool room… and Coach Adam's wearing a swim shirt this time, too. It's a short-sleeved one rather than a long-sleeved one, though it also matches Xander's. He's never worn one before, but I wasn't told there's a new uniform or something.

It's a bit weird, being the only one shirtless while swimming, but I get used to it fast during our warm-ups. By the end of the swim lesson, I'm extremely exhausted, as always. Coach Adam is definitely increasing the difficulty each week, even for my individual stuff. I really don't think I would have noticed if it weren't for me asking Xander that one time. Our coach is good at avoiding getting into a pattern.

"Hey, Xander?" I ask after we leave the changing room, back in regular clothes.

"Yes, Sig?"

"Was I supposed to have one of those shirts, too?"

"No, why?"

"Because both you and Coach Adam had them."

"I didn't know his matched," Xander says. "And he felt surprised but amused when he saw me, so I think he didn't realized we matched. I think? Dad's felt like that before sometimes, when we both pick shirts which match. Like if he's come home from work while I'm napping and changed into comfy clothes and then I wake up from my nap and put on a shirt the same color as the one he's wearing."

"Oh," I say. "How come he was wearing one, though? He's never done that before?"

"I dunno why he is," Xander tells me. "All I did was tell him on Saturday that I was probably going to wear a swim shirt for the swim lessons from now on because being shirtless around people I'm not close to isn't comfortable, especially if they're adults. And-and that I'd understand if he didn't like that I wasn't wearing proper swim attire for a boy who's swimming, but I wasn't going to budge on it."

So Xander tried to give him advance notice when it wasn't really necessary, and Coach Adam realized that he might have been making Xander uncomfortable this whole time and decided to adjust. He's here to teach Xander, so it makes sense he'd go with what makes Xander comfortable. One day, Xander will probably understand that.

"Do you want me to get a swim shirt?" I ask. "Does me going shirtless when we swim make you uncomfortable?"

It'll be uncomfortable for me, but for a completely different reason for why being shirtless makes him uncomfortable. That's just me not being used to the texture and feel.

"I've gotten used to you being shirtless," he tells me. "You're just a boy."

I guess he would've gotten used to it a little, and I suppose he's probably used to seeing shirtless boys at the park when he goes on his walks. Some of the ones from the boys' home probably did it if they could get away with it. The rules at the home might not have allowed that, I don't know.

"Yeah, but… wouldn't-um… wouldn't your former foster brother have been about my age when he started… y'know?" I ask. "Mr. Richardson said that you might get a trauma trigger seeing someone similar to one of your former foster parents. And that even people being around their age might trigger it, depending on the circumstances. Wouldn't that apply to the brother, too?"

Bringing this up absolutely violates what Mr. Richardson told us about not bringing up what happened to him. It also feels necessary right now because of the situation. If I'm triggering him… I need to know.

"Um… well…" Xander stops walking and makes sure the door out of the hallway is closed.

Whatever he wants to say, he wants just the two of us to hear. I don't know how long it takes before Coach Adam leaves after we do on swim days, but he might come in here while Xander's saying whatever it is. Then again, Xander would probably hear him before then and stop saying it.

"Greyson lied about feeding him to a griffin."

"Your old foster family's alive?"

"No," Xander says. "He lied about my old foster-brother getting fed to a griffin. After my brain got all fixed up, I was having one of my PTSD moments and after I came down from it, I realized that Greyson had never looked me in the eyes that I could remember when telling me that they were all fed to griffins. He only did when it was about my old foster-parents.

"So I asked him directly," Xander tells me. "And he looked back at his project to answer. But he didn't know – or maybe still doesn't know – that I don't need to be looking someone in the eyes to know now. As long as I hear the lie, I'll know it's a lie. So I did some research on my own and found out that he's still alive. Just… on the other side of the country. And he's in therapy, too. I'm sure Grandpa Adrian knows about it…"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Why would Greyson lie about it?" I ask. "Wait. Why wouldn't Greyson have killed him? Isn't he protective of you? And what does this have to do with you being okay with boys our age being shirtless?"

"It's them being naked that's uncomfortable," Xander tells me. "And… I think Greyson felt he was a victim, too. He hurt me lots and did mean stuff and abused me and even made me do-made me-made me-the stuff his parents-it was… b-b-but-"

Xander stammers and stutters for a minute as he tries to explain. What he says makes sense, though. His old foster-brother was probably afraid that if he didn't join his parents, then he'd get the same treatment. He did what he felt was necessary to protect himself.

That sounds… really rough. And the way Xander keeps repeating how his old foster-brother was a victim, too, I think he's trying to convince himself of this. He's not wrong, now that I'm looking at it from that angle. His former foster-brother really must have been a victim, too.

After all, he would've only been thirteen. Seeing someone else getting abused, and by his own parents… it definitely would have made him join in if only to make sure he didn't get the same treatment.

"How long have you known?" I ask once he finishes.

"A couple of weeks," his voice is really quiet. "And-and it still makes me nervous and scared. And I do get scared when other boys are shirtless. But boys are boys and it'd be wrong to ask others to stop to accommodate me, especially when they're in the pool. A-and y'all have blessings from gods, so I know you'll be nice."

"I can wear a pool shirt if you want," I tell him. "And a regular shirt whenever we're hanging out. It's just comfy after getting used to being shirtless all summer."

"It's okay," Xander tells me. "Like I said, I've gotten used to you so it's not a problem, usually. And you don't have to change for me."

"I don't mind making adjustments!" I tell him. "You're a friend!"

"Adam's coming," he says. "Let's go get our recovery stuff from Mom."

That ends the discussion, so we head to the kitchen to get our smoothies from Ms. Katie. These ones are mostly peach, but I can still taste the banana and peanut butter. Those tend to have pretty strong flavors that can be tasted without something equally strong.

In addition to the smoothies, Ms. Katie gives us each a rather large cookie. They're around four inches in diameter and half of an inch thick, though I guess not exactly four wide since Xander seems happy with his and chomps into it immediately after giving it a sniff.

"What kind of cookies are these?" I ask. "Isn't it a bit early for them?"

"They're cookies meant for after a workout," Ms. Katie tells me. "Similar to the smoothies. The sessions consume a lot of energy and it takes plenty of nutrients to replenish what's used and to recover, so I've decided to start experimenting with additional ways to replenish. One plan was to do nutrient bars, but I figured I'd go with cookies first, since you're teens. These ones are blueberry with hints of strawberry and cream cheese."

"I think Xander likes it," I snicker a little.

He's already finished his cookie, and he nods in response before taking a big drink from his smoothie. I take a bite of my own cookie and it really is good.

"Glad to hear it," Ms. Katie smiles.

I eat the rest of my cookie and down the entire smoothie, then Xander takes me home. Once we reach my front door, Xander pulls me in for a hug.

"Don't change for me," he quietly says as I hug him back. "If I get uncomfortable, I'll tell you. Okay?"

"Alright," I tell him. "Have a good rest of your morning!"

"Bye," he gives me another quick squeeze in the hug, then leaves.

Once he's teleported away, I head inside and to Aunt Rachel's office.

"Come in," she says after I knock on the door, and I do. "How'd the lesson go?"

"Went good," I answer. "Exhausting, but good. And Ms. Katie's apparently adding in a nutrient snack in addition to the smoothies now, due to the intensity. It was a cookie, and it was delicious! And I think it was homemade, not some store-bought protein cookie or something like that."

"Glad it went well," she says. "And you have a lot of cookies already, so no buying more."

"I wasn't going to!" I say. "Even with us eating them as snacks during the afternoon hangouts, I'll still probably have some still leftover by the party. I do want to go to the store to get something real quick, though, then I'll be back, so I'm gonna go get my bike and head out. Might pick up some crafting stuff, too."

Even if Xander said not to use a swim shirt, I'll get one for if he has a day where he'd rather I wear it.

"Alright," she says. "Make sure to wear your helmet."

"Always!"

[Xander – 13 years]

"Here you go, Mr. Wilson," I hand Mr. Wilson today's packets.

Rather than doing a morning class after the swimming session, I did the packets to make up for the afternoon's classes not being taken and to make up for not doing a math class this morning. The packets take me less time to do than a full lesson, and Mr. Wilson is more than willing to stay here and be available in case I have questions.

Though before I worked on the packets, he helped me with some stuff I struggled with in the packets I did last week.

"I'll have them graded before tomorrow's class," he tells me. "Enjoy your lunch."

"Thanks," I tell him. "Have a good rest of your day."

I put my school things away, then meet with Mom in the kitchen. It's about time for her to start preparing lunch for today, which is why I only did the packet work rather than a full class. I'm helping her make lunch, then we're going to Dad's office and eating it with him there.

We haven't done this before. Dad was talking with Mom about his lunches; he normally either orders something or eats whatever Mom packed for him. She was originally hired to cook for him, after all. Even if that's not her job now, she still does a lot of cooking since she's better at it for some types. Dad is good at grilling, some casseroles, and Japanese foods.

During their conversation about his lunches, Mom mentioned she wished he could have more fresh foods she packs rather than something she'd packed hours before. Dad told her she could always bring the food to him directly. Then, they could eat together. I could come along as well, if I wanted.

Mom decided it will be a Monday thing. I'm not sure why it has to be Monday, specifically, but having a set day of the week for this rather than it being on random days is very nice.

During their conversation about his lunches, they both forgot about stasis containers. We have several of them, not just the ones for pies and cheesecakes. I even bought and then enchanted some regular containers (with permission) to make them stasis containers. This way, we have plenty of regular containers and plenty of stasis ones.

Mom and I grill some chicken on a stovetop grill, then slice it into strips with some of it cut into smaller pieces. Those are put into a stasis container, then we wash and separate/slice various vegetables and place those into their own stasis containers. We also make croutons using some bread we baked yesterday, and I make tortillas.

This way, we can do wraps or salads.

Before finishing up in here, we also make some sauces to use as dressing or dips. We were already getting low on the ones we had, so making more makes sense. Especially since one of the flavors was one we didn't have yet, so we needed to make that one, anyway.

"Ready?" Mom asks.

"Um… I need to find my shoes first."

"They're at the front door," she tells me. "I'll put these in the car while you get them on."

"Can I get my backpack, too?"

"Sure."

I grab my backpack and Trenton, then put on sneakers which better-match the outfit I'm wearing than the ones at the front door would. Once those are on, I meet Mom at the SUV and she drives us to Dad's office.

Dad's office is in a tall, brick building. Nine floors. That's a good number of floors. What if he has basement levels, though? As long as it's only one, it's fine.

He might have more, though. It's a security company. They might have cells. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I don't end up in one.

"Hello," Mom greets the men at reception. "My name is Katie Mason, and this is Xander. Trey Caldwell is expecting us."

"Do you have an appointment?" One of the guards behind the desk asks.

"We brought Dad his lunch," I tell him.

The man starts to say something, but receives a call on his cellphone.

"One moment," he frowns and answers the call. "Yes, Frank?"

Frank? He's working here today rather than at the house, I think. I remember Roderick mentioning that Frank had a meeting at the office today, anyway.

"That's Trey's girlfriend and his foster-son," Frank tells him. "I'm not sure how you don't know this since everyone should have received an email showing their pictures so they know. No appointment is needed for those two, you're supposed to let them head up the moment they arrive. And our entire security system is ineffective on those two. That's Xander King. Of the Lumaria Kings. He's made headlines quite a lot recently, which makes it even more interesting that you don't seem to know him. Especially since Trey's been in the picture for a lot of those headlines, too.

"If Xander wants to see his father," Frank continues. "You say 'yes, sir' and let them up. His father has stated that his son is allowed to see him at any time. In addition, we're a scientech company. Xander can teleport. And he can kill wyverns with his raw strength alone. Them coming in through the front door and asking to be let up is a courtesy.

"Xander," Frank says. "You and Katie can head up to Trey's office. He's on the ninth floor. You're already keyed in for access, so just put your hand on the scanner in the elevator and you'll be able to go up to the ninth floor. It won't let you go to any other floor, and your dad's office will be the door straight ahead. The guards at the checkpoints know to let you through."

The guard opens his mouth to say something.

"Frank said we can go up," I tell Mom. "I apparently have access to the ninth floor in the security system. But not to the other floors. That makes sense. I'm Dad's son, not an employee. It wouldn't be right to give me access to other areas."

"Alright," Mom says. "Let's go."

Mom and I walk around the desk and to the elevator bank, and she lets me push the up button. There's a down button as well, so there must be a basement, too. I don't want to go down there, the cells will be scary.

When the elevator stops, everyone who was on it gets off, and Mom and I step onto it. There's a hand-scanner above the floor numbers, and I place my hand on it. It scans me, then the doors close and I press the button for the floor with Dad's office.

Up, up, up we go. I close my eyes and hold my breath and… huh. I'm subconsciously casting a spell to make sure the elevator doesn't fall as it ascends. Why am I doing that?

I don't know, but it does make me feel better about the ascent. It's like how I apparently subconsciously cast spells to make sure car wheels don't fall off or pop or something. I don't know why I do it, but knowing that they won't definitely makes me feel better.

Once we reach the top floor, we step out of the elevator into a fancy lobby. There are potted plants in here and the floor is carpeted, and there's even a receptionist at the desk at the wall opposite of the doors to the elevator. It's beside the entrance to what I think is Dad's office.

I can feel his mind in there, and there's a sign on the door, too.

Trey Caldwell

Cold Well Security

Founder & Owner

So I'm pretty sure that's Dad's office.

"You can enter," the secretary informs us, much more nice than the security guard down at the desk in the lobby was.

"Thank you," Mom tells him.

We enter Dad's office, which has a desk in front of the back well, a large, fancy chair behind it. Several monitors are set up on the desk, and he has shelves and cabinets along the walls to either side of it. Some of those shelves have books on them, but their titles all indicate they're for his company.

A pair of comfy-looking chairs sit on this side of the desk, and he has a couch against the wall with the entrance door, to the right of it. Another door leads off to the side, though it's closed and there's not magic here, so I can't tell what's in there. Maybe a bathroom, though.

It would make sense for him to have his own bathroom in the company he owns. An easily-accessible one, too.

Dad's not sitting at his desk, nor is he on the couch. Instead, he's sitting at a table near the front of the room, to the left from when we enter.

"Hey," Dad gets up and comes over to give Mom a hug and a kiss, then he holds his arm out a little while looking at me. I give him a hug, and he gives me a light squeeze. "They didn't give you two trouble down at the desk, did they?"

"Someone tried being mean," I tell him. "But I guess Frank was watching the cameras, because he called the guy and told him off before he could really do it."

"Good," Dad says. "I was about to start watching the cameras, and you were on your way to the elevators when I saw you. Come on, let's sit and eat. What's for lunch today?"

"Grilled chicken," I tell him as we sit, me opposite of him and Mom to his left. "We can make wraps or put them in a salad, and Mom and I made fresh sauces for dips or dressings."

"Sounds good," Dad says as I pull our lunch items out of my bracelet.

"How come almost no one here is a mage?" I ask. "Almost everyone I saw here and can sense has roughly an average mana capacity. All of the guards at the house have magic, ain't they all former Special Magic Forces?"

There's a really big difference in the power levels between the guards at the house and the guards here. That doesn't make any sense to me.

"The security guards the company employs to protect me and my assets are different from the regular guards we employ," Dad explains as we begin building our lunches. "Since I'm at the top of the company, additional protection is afforded to me. For most of our work, however, regular guards are fine, no mages needed. We don't deal with magic most of the time."

That makes sense. They are a mundane company rather than a mage one. Mundane companies don't usually hire mages or use magitech or have much in the way of enchantments. I knew he ran a mundane company, but him having mages for guards at the house made me think all of the security guards here were.

Just that the ones who guarded the house were stronger than the ones who worked at the office.

"Oh."

"It would also increase our costs," he adds. "We could add in magic security to our model, in a separate tier and setup. Breaking into that side of things would take a little work, especially as we would need to be careful not to take business from mage security companies."

"That makes sense," I say. "So you don't pay the security guards at the house? The company does?"

"Yes," Dad answers. "Except I'm still their boss, which is why they have to listen to you."

"Okay."

I finish making my wrap, then take a bite of it. Mom and Dad talk a little while they eat, but I'm really hungry so I just eat.

"How did your swim session go?" Dad asks once I finish eating. "You told me you were going to wear a swim shirt today, right?"

"Yeah," I nod. "And I did. Coach Adam did, too. I wasn't expecting that, but I guess he realized he was making me uncomfortable by being shirtless. And Sig asked me after and then said he could wear one, too, but I don't mind him being shirtless. It made me nervous at first, but he's like that a lot of the time. A lot of boys are, 'cause they do it when it's warm out because it's more comfy than getting hot in their shirt or worse, sweaty. And… I guess I'm getting used to it for boys in general? Not men, just boys. At my party, I was okay with it even with boys I wasn't too familiar with. Not super comfortable, but still more than I'm sure I would've been over summer."

"It's good to hear you're starting to get more comfortable," Dad tells me. "But don't try to force it when you don't need to, okay? Only try to push your comfort limits when you're comfortable doing so."

"Landon's told me that before," I nod. "He said that I'll have an easier time getting comfortable if I don't force myself too much. Only if I push myself when I feel like I can. I had bad dreams for a few nights after sleeping shirtless at the last party's sleepover, so I think it's a good thing the dorms are being added in. I could sleep in full pajamas, of course, but I don't think that would make me relax too much, not with that many others around. Especially since telling them they have to sleep fully-clothed instead of in shorts or whatever would make them uncomfortable. Regular clothes feel scratchy to sleep in. And I'm pretty sure Nash was uncomfortable last time. He slept in shorts and a shirt. So adding in dorms was definitely the right decision."

Everyone will be a little bit more comfortable with dorm rooms rather than us all sleeping in one room. At least, that's what I think will happen. There's a section on the feedback survey to ask about that, so I'll know for sure after those are filled out and submitted.

"Alright," Dad chuckles. "Back to your swim lesson, did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Coach Adam used telekinesis to move some rings around above the pool, and Sig and I had to take turns trying to catch them. Though he had to tell me not to use my magic to disrupt his… I didn't know that wasn't allowed. I did it so that I could grab the ring without having to swim as much and he hadn't said it wasn't allowed until after I did that."

Dad chuckles a little again, though I don't know what he finds amusing in that.

"You put that in the binder, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have plans for your stream this afternoon?" He asks. "Or will you go with whatever you feel like while you're doing it?"

"I plan on renovating the main fairy village," I tell him. "Or at least, starting on doing that. I'm still not sure on what to do to make the farms blend into nature more, so I figured, instead of wasting time trying to figure that out, I could make the village full of house trees, right? That would give me more time to think about what to do about the farms. But I might ask Niels for help, since I still ain't good at that."

"Alright," he says. "I'll be listening as I work, when I'm able."

"Okay," I say. "It's dessert time now. I brought cookies and ice cream."

If we don't start on dessert soon, then Mom and I won't get home in time for me to get ready for my stream without using temporal acceleration. I can do that… but she can't and doesn't like the feel of it when I use it on her, and she acts as a moderator for my chat in addition to the automod. She needs time to get ready, too.

Besides, I'm still hungry and don't want to wait any longer for dessert.