[Xander – 12 years]
"Trey?" I ask as we enter Dragon Falls.
"Yes, Xander?"
"I wasn''t able to do the usual Saturday afternoon stuff yesterday because we weren''t in town and I was busy," I tell him. "Is it okay if I go to the businesses and walk around a bit, then go to the Wolf''s Dragon? I want to go to the pet store to pet the dogs, but that''s only on Saturdays."
"They only have them on Saturdays?" He asks. "Not Sundays, too?"
"The pet store is attached to the shelter," I tell him. "They have them there every day. But petting the dogs is only Saturdays."
"Petting the dogs… isn''t going to the Wolf''s Dragon only Saturdays, too?"
"No," I answer. "That''s just usually Saturdays. Not always. And I sometimes go there to treat myself, too. Like my birthday last year. And I want to treat myself, too, so I want to get two cheesecake slices. I only messed up a little bit during the demonstration, not a ton like I thought I would."
"You did very good yesterday," he tells me. "You can go to the businesses and the Wolf''s Dragon. Where do you want me to drop you off at?"
"Can you drop me off at the park?"
"Sure," he answers. "I wanted to talk with you about something that came up during the demonstration."
We talked about the demonstration a bit on the drive back here today and I thought we were done. Is there something else? He said I did good and can go do stuff, so I don''t think I''m in trouble for something.
"Okay."
"I''m not going to use the AR stuff to assign you more chores."
Is he sure he''s not psychic?
"Why do you think I made it for that?"
"Xander," he snorts. "You ask me almost every day if you''re getting new chores. The only reason you even received the chore of your laundry is because you wouldn''t stop asking. You don''t need to fill your free time with chores. Just focus on being a boy and having fun. Keeping your bathroom clean, your laundry done, and not leaving food out where you eat if you eat in your room, the theater, or somewhere else is more than enough. And I have a housekeeper who does most everything that would be assigned as a chore for you, too."
"But kids have chores!" I whine a little, then realize I messed up. "I-I''m sorry! I-"
"Does Luke have chores?"
"He says he just has to keep his room clean," I say. "And even that''s as flexible as it is for mine. As long as he doesn''t leave gross stuff out, it''s fine. I think he was meaning food and dirty clothes, but maybe his towel from showers. That should always get hung up so it doesn''t start to smell. Oh, and he has to do his own laundry. He said his parents started that when he turned thirteen."
"That''s about the same as you," Trey points out.
"Yeah, but Luke works for a multi-billion dollar company and actually performs major contributions and has a bank account of his own with millions in it from his earnings alone."
"And you invented something that didn''t even exist yet and make a minimum of twenty grand each time one is purchased," Trey counters. "And that means only fifty sales is a million dollars. Didn''t your great-grandpa say they already have more than two dozen orders?
That logic is hard to argue with.
"Can I ask Russell if he wants to visit the businesses and the Wolf''s Dragon with me?" I ask. "Not as a date. Just hanging out. I''d ask the S.G. and Connor and Sam and Isaac if they wanted to go, too, but they only left Autumn Hills a little bit ago so they won''t be around for awhile. And I think they''re all really sleepy, too, since they were up really late last night."
I know this because they posted stuff in the group chat for me to see once I woke up. It looked like they were having a lot of fun, but I don''t think I could have done that. Even if I weren''t too tired for it, they were all swimming in the lake again, among other things.
"You can," Trey says. "Though know that he might decline since he might be tired from the trip. Riding in a car for hours can exhaust people."
"It can?"
"It can," he says. "Even you slept for a bit. And his parents might be more strict on letting him hang out with just you than I am. I don''t mind it if it''s somewhere public, like the park or going for a walk through a business district to say hello to the workers, but his parents might."
"Oh, okay," I pull out my phone.
"Will you be eating lunch while out, too?" Trey asks.
"Is that okay?
"It is."
"Then I will," I tell him. "I''ll probably eat at the sub shop. Oh. Grandpa Adrian wants to talk with me at Greyson''s workshop."
I open up the messages with Russell and send him the invitation to hang out.
<u>[Xander]</u>: Want to hang out? I''m going to the mage district on Mystic Wave Avenue and then the Wolf''s Dragon for cheesecake after.
<u>[Xander]</u>: THIS IS NOT A DATE!!!
<u>[Xander]</u> It''s just a hangout.
<u>[Xander]</u>: I would invite S.G. and Connor and Sam and Isaac but they''re not back yet. And the cheesecake is because I didn''t do it yesterday.
"Now?" Trey asks.
"Yeah."
"Want me to drop you off here?" He asks. "I know you''ll just teleport there."
How did he already know that?
"Okay."
Trey pulls to the side of the road.
"Let me know when you head to the business district," he tells me. "And when you head to the Wolf''s Dragon, alright?"
"Yes, sir."
"Have a good day, Xander."
"You, too, Trey."
I get out of the truck and watch as Trey leaves, then I use my magic to prevent myself from being noticed by those around me as I teleport to the workshop, then cancel the unnoticing spell. When I enter the building, Grandpa Adrian is at the edge of my work zone, and I walk over to him. There are some crates sitting beside him, though outside of my zone rather than in.
"Did I mess up during the demonstration and beta test?" I ask.
"Not in any big way," he says. "I came here to drop off a few more materials for you, they''re in the crates right here," he taps the crate beside him. "I know you don''t like people entering your space without asking, so I set them here."
"You wanted me to come here just to tell me that?" I ask. "Aren''t you a really busy person?"
"No," he chuckles. "I didn''t ask you to come here about that. I wanted to ask about something I noticed in your zone. There''s a very secure lockbox sitting over there with a label on it that says ''GREYSON: DO NOT TOUCH'' on it."
He doesn''t say anything else, so I''m confused. He just wanted to comment about it?
"I wanted to know about it," he says.
That makes more sense. Stupid me. That should have been obvious.
"Oh," I look at the box, then back to Grandpa Adrian. "Greyson doesn''t normally enter someone else''s space unless given permission, but I wanted to make extra sure he doesn''t touch that box."
"Because of the gun inside?"
He went in and looked? What else did he mess with?
"How did you know about that?"
"I can see through obfuscation enchantments just as well as you can," he tells me. "You inherited your perspicacity and senses from me."
So that came from him? I guess it''s from his dragon genes, though I didn''t think I inherited that much of them. Him using those is a lot better than entering my space without permission. Even if he''s an adult, that''s still very rude and mean.
"If I''m not mistaking the enchantments on the gun," he looks over at the box. "That''s designed for combating zombies?"
"Yeah," I nod. "And I know it''s illegal for me to have a gun on me outside of certain situations, that''s why I locked it up instead of carrying it around. And it''s nonfunctional. You can pull the trigger, but nothing happens, and not just because I don''t have a power cartridge in it. The enchantments aren''t actually finished. That makes it legal for me to have, since it''s not legally a gun since it''s nonfunctional and so is technically just a toy."
"Why did you make an anti-zombie gun?" Grandpa Adrian asks. "Even if a nonfunctional one?"
"So I knew how to design the toy ones for the AR set," I answer. "I can just make anti-zombie bullets with my magic so that''s what I did to know what they looked like for the game. But I wanted to know what the design would look like for a gun, so I made one that had most of the enchantments so I knew what its design needed to be at a minimum. But I do promise that you can''t use it. I only secured it to reduce the chances of Greyson attempting to finish it. I really do promise that it''s not usable, that''d be illegal for me to make and use."
"Do you mind if I take it?" He asks.
"Not at all," I answer. "The more out of view of Greyson''s it is, the better."
I walk over and unlock the box, then give Grandpa Adrian the almost-gun, then I close the box and remove the label on it.
"Thank you," Adrian says. "Do you have the blueprints for it?"
"In my head," I tell him. "Do you want me to write them down?"
"Doesn''t need to be today," he says. "There''s no rush on it, I just want to see what your full design would have been, if you''d completed it. I can make guesses based off of what I can see, but the only way to know for sure is to get them from you."
I really want to know why he wants to know what my full design would be, but questioning adults about their motives is Very Bad. Trey is okay with it sometimes, and so is Katie, but they aren''t Grandpa Adrian.
"Okay."
"I''ll be heading off now," Grandpa Adrian tells me. "Enjoy the rest of your day."
"You, too," I tell him, then he teleports away.
I teleport to the mage district, then text Trey to let him know I''m there. Russell''s texted me back now so I check that, too.
<u>[Russell]</u>: My parents said I can they''ll drop me off in a few minutes
<u>[Xander]</u>: Okay.
That was sent a few minutes ago, so he should be here soon. Russell and his parents left around the same time as we did so they should be back in town, so it shouldn''t be too much longer. I pull Trenton out and hold him as I wait, and it takes about ten minutes before I see Mr. Jackson''s car.
Russell''s dad drives over to where I''m standing on the sidewalk and stops.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson," I say when Mrs. Jackson rolls down her window and Russell gets out of the car. "I''m gonna do this regardless of if Russell gets to come. And I''d have invited S.G. and Connor and Sam and Isaac, but they aren''t back yet. This is just a hangout. And I normally go to get cheesecake from the Wolf''s Dragon at about two in the afternoon on Saturdays, but I wasn''t here yesterday and was busy at that time then so I''m doing it today to make up for it. I don''t like doing that with other people, but I thought it''d be weird to invite someone to hang out for just a little bit and then leave them by themselves to go do other stuff if they aren''t already going to be doing other stuff. It just feels weird to think about doing that. Does that make sense? I don''t know if I''m explaining it that well."
"You''re fine," Mrs. Jackson says. "And Russell can hang out with you. You two have fun, alright?"
"Will do!" Russell says. "Bye!"
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson leave, then I look at Russell.
"Can I hug you?" I ask.
"Sure," he answers.
I hug him for a few moments, and he returns the hug. This feels really nice and I like it. Once we separate and step back, I look at him as I hold Trenton against my chest once more.
"You said ''a few minutes''," I say. "But it took fourteen. That''s not a few."
"Yeah," he says. "Sorry, meant to text you. Mom suggested we deposit my check from the beta test first so I''d have some money to spend."
"Isn''t in Sunday?" I ask. "The banks are closed, aren''t they? And don''t they hold deposits bigger than a little bit?"
I remember Trey telling me about all of that.
"Yeah," he says. "But our bank lets us deposit checks via the ATM. It''s newer tech – the ATMs actually scan the check to get all of its information and does all of the work a teller would. And some of the money is available immediately. If the check turns out bad, the funds''ll be removed and if they''re already used, I''ll have to pay it back. But since the check''s from a Lumaria Group company, that won''t happen."
"Oh."
"Where did you want to go?" He asks.
"The fudge shop," I tell him. "It''s right here and it''s been a week, so I can try the guessing game again."
"I wanna try it, too," Russell says. "I''ve never won before."
"You come here?" I ask.
"Yeah," he nods. "It''s where I buy my art supplies. Takes more money than normal stuff, but it''s better quality."
"Oh," I say. "Come on, Mr. Vincent looks like he''s waiting for us."
Mr. Vincent''s outside of his shop, but he wasn''t a minute ago. When we approach, he smiles.
"Good afternoon, boys," he says. "How''re you?"
"Hungry," I answer. "But the sub shop is later. How are you?"
"I''m doing well," he chuckles a little, then looks at Russell. "And you?"
"Doing good," Russell answers. "Can we try the guessing game?"
"Sure," Mr. Vincent pulls out a deck of cards. "Seven of Diamonds."
Russell concentrates hard and picks a card, but it turns out to be the Seven of Hearts.
"Aw," Russell looks really disappointed.
"Maybe next time," Mr. Vincent puts the deck away, then pulls out a second one. "And since you figured out the trick for the first deck, Xander, here''s the one for you."
"There''s a trick to it?" Russell asks.
"Yeah," I answer, though I''m not sure if I can say.
"Each card has a marking on one of its corners," Mr. Vincent says. Oh. I apparently could. "It''ll either be visible or not when I''m holding them up. The trick is to learn the marking for the one I call out for you, which is why it''s always the same card for an individual. There''s a different trick for this deck. King of Diamonds, Xander."
I look at the backs of the cards, then at Mr. Vincent.
"These cards have an easy one," I tell him. "It has a K and a diamond pattern on the corner right there."You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
I point at the card, and Mr. Vincent pulls it out and smiles.
"You noticed that quick," he says.
"It does?" Russell asks.
"It does," Mr. Vincent shows it to him. "Right here in the corner, if you look closely, you can see it in the pattern of the card itself. It''s in the way the fibers align. And Xander, that means you get to pick out seven fudges."
"Okay," I say.
After I make my selections, I put the boxes into my backpack, then we leave the shop and head down the street a little, greeting Mrs. Donna on the way. After that, we stop at the bakery. There are a lot of leftover donuts.
"Good afternoon, boys," Ms. Heidi says. "How''re you today?"
"I''m hungry right now," I tell her. "But the sandwich shop is later. I wanted to say hi."
"Hi," she chuckles. "I bet you were hoping for a donut or two, too. I made up a bigger batch today and didn''t sell them all, so you two can pick twenty-three each."
I didn''t think I needed to say the part about hoping for free donuts. She doesn''t care if we check for that and is more than happy to give them away. It took over a year before I was okay with just coming and asking about free donuts. Before, I would always be nervous when I asked, and even offered to pay from my allowance at the boys'' home even though I knew she''d decline it. Just in case she wanted to charge me that time.
Though it really seems like she made a massive batch, with how many are left.
"I''m not sure I can fit that all in my bag," Russell says. "Especially since I wanna buy something at the art shop."
"I can carry it in mine for you," I tell him. "If you''re okay with that. There''s plenty of space in there and I don''t feel the weight. But only if none of them are chocolate. I don''t want chocolate anything in my backpack."
"That''s fine," he says.
We pick out the donuts we want from the selections, then thank Ms. Heidi and leave. The owner of the next shop down is outside and greets us as we pass.
"How''re you doing, Xander?" Mr. Ben asks.
"Hungry," I answer. "We''re going to the sandwich shop now so I can get lunch. How''re you?"
"Doing well, doing well," he says. "I heard you''re into magitech now."
Mr. Ben owns a shop that sells basic supplies for magitech and even some basic magitech goods, like magitech lamps. He sometimes has them set up to have their lights fade in and out in different colors and patterns, and they''re doing that right now in a sort of wave-like pattern. I can see it through the shop window and it looks really awesome.
"You heard about that?" I ask.
"Of course," he smiles. "I do own a magitech shop. I put in an order for some of the puzzle spheres to sell here along with other magitech toys I carry. And you learning and knowing magic now spread throughout the district. We were all quite pleased to hear that you''re doing well and have some talent."
"You were?" I ask. "Why?"
"You''re a good kid," he says. "And from what we heard, you seem to enjoy magic."
"I do," I tell him. "Especially since I''m doing my best to make sure no one can try and milk me for money."
"And that''s good," he smiles again. "We here are of the mind that every good person should know magic. That''s why many of us offer magic lessons, if we have the availability for it. And we all like you, so we like to hear that you''re doing well and having fun."
"Oh," I say. "You really think the puzzle spheres will sell?"
"Wouldn''t carry them in the shop unless I did," he tells me. "They should be in tomorrow or Tuesday."
"Okay."
"Who''s this young man?" He asks.
"This is Russell," I introduce Russell. "And I''m really hungry, so please excuse us so we can go eat. Have a good day, Mr. Ben!"
"You as well, Xander, Russell," he says.
"Bye," Russell says.
We head down to the sub shop, where Mrs. Natalie is working behind the counter.
"Hi, Mrs. Natalie," I say.
"Hi, Xander," she says. "How''re you today?"
"Hungry," I tell her. "That''s why Russell and I came inside, so we can eat lunch. It''s a late one."
"Alright," she says. "Are you two paying together or separately?"
"Separately," I answer. "Do you want to go first, Russell?"
"I don''t know what I want," he says. "You can go first while I look."
"Okay," I look at Mrs. Natalie. "Is it okay for me to order now?"
"Go ahead," she answers.
"Okay," I say. "May I please have three large subs with turkey, lettuce, onion, pickle, and that really good sauce I can never remember the name of, with double meat? As meals, please, with chips for their sides and lemonade for their drinks. Also, may I please have a sugar cookie?"
That''s my usual order. There''s apparently a difference in subs, with a large being a full sub and a regular being half of one.
"Sure thing," Mrs. Natalie says. "That''ll be $10."
"Only ten?" Russell asks. "But that''s less than one sub meal."
"Xander gets a special deal," she tells him.
"Oh."
I pay and accept my receipt, then Russell places his order and pays. We receive our food, and he helps carry mine since I have Trenton. Neither of us talk as we eat. I''m not sure about him, but I''m too hungry for that right now.
The next place we go after this is the candy shop, where Mr. Roger is currently serving a woman with a little boy. She has to keep pulling her kid away from the displays because he wants to press his face against them, and he doesn''t complain at all when she does.
"Hi, Mr. Roger," I say once the other customer finishes and leaves with her son.
"Hey, Xander," he says. "How''re you?"
"I''m okay right now," I answer. "How''re you?"
"Doing alright," he answers. "How can I help my favorite customer today? Want to arm-wrestle? I want to see how strong you''ve gotten since last week."
"Okay," I say. "But I want to buy more candy than just a pound today, so I''m gonna buy two additional after."
"You can get them under the same deal," he tells me as he comes out from behind the counter. "Let''s do it."
Mr. Roger and I sit down at the table while Russell watches us, and we arm wrestle. I do my best to win, but still lose just as I always do. Will I ever win?
"Not bad," Mr. Roger tells me. "You did even better than last time."
"I had four fitness days this week," I tell him. "So I''ve gotten a little bit stronger."
"Keep it up," he says. "And you might just beat me by the end of this year. So that''s three pounds of candy you want?"
"Yeah," I nod. "You don''t have to do the deal with the other two, though. It''s just that I discovered that one pound isn''t all that much if I''m getting all the candies I want. And I ate them all in, like, a day and a half. This should last me most of the week, I think."
Mr. Roger laughs.
"I don''t have to," he says. "But I will. Let me know what you want."
"Okay."
After I pick out the candies I want and Mr. Rogers fills a paper box with three pounds of them, then I pay and we leave. Russell has a weird look on his face and I want to ask about it, but he might get upset if I do. People usually don''t like being told their face looks weird.
It''s not that his face looks weird, though. It looks really nice. He''s just got a weird look on his face.
We greet a few more of the workers and owners who are outside of the shops before reaching the art shop, which is on the other side of the street from the one we began on.
"Hello Xander, Russell," Mrs. Lisa, the owner of the shop, says. "How are you two boys today?"
"Good," Russell answers.
"I''m doing okay right now," I answer. "How''re you?"
"I''m doing good," she answers. "So you two are friends?"
"Yeah," I nod. "We met a long while ago, but only started hanging out properly last Saturday. He wanted to get more art stuff. Right, Russell?"
"Yeah," Russell pulls off his backpack and opens up the front pocket, then pulls out a paper before zipping the pocket back up and pulling his backpack back on. "This is all the stuff I need more of."
Mrs. Lisa examines the list of items. All of her goods are kept behind the counter or in the back; that''s normal for the shops in this district even though it''s not elsewhere. I think it''s a magic shop thing, but I don''t have enough information to know for sure since the closest to one I''ve been in outside of this district is when I go shopping for magic food. They don''t keep everything behind the counter, though.
"Let me grab these real quick," she tells him, then heads into the back.
When she comes back out, Russell looks over the supplies. Two sketchbooks, a book with pages for painting, several new art pencils and erasers, and six new paints.
"You can buy them individually?" I ask.
"At some places," Russell tells me. "Others, you can only buy them in sets. This one lets you buy them in sets, but replace individual parts of them, too."
"That''s cool," I say. "Did Mrs. Lisa teach you how to draw, too?"
"No," Russell answers. "She does have some books for it, and I looked some up online, and just experimented a bit, too."
"Oh."
He said that learning to draw can help with making lines for enchantments. I''m really good at making clean lines when setting enchantments and making enchantments, even more now that I have better grip, but it might help me, too. With speed rather than making clean lines. It might even help me make better lines than I already do, too.
"Can I get a drawing book?" I ask Mrs. Lisa. "And a sketchbook? And some drawing supplies? I wanna learn to draw, too."
"You do?" Russell asks.
"Yeah," I nod. "It''ll help improve my drawing for enchanting, right? So I wanna learn."
There turns out to be a lot of different things I can buy, but Mrs. Lisa talks with me about the different options, and I pick out some more basic ones. It''s a new thing for me and I''ll probably waste a lot of supplies learning, so I don''t want to buy anything too expensive.
Now that we''re done with that, we visit some of the other shops, then walk to the Wolf''s Dragon. When we arrive, Emily is the main server for right now rather than Cal. Hm. It seems she got pregnant since the last time I saw her, but I didn''t know she was in a relationship. I hope he treats her well, she''s really nice.
If he doesn''t, then I know a boy who can make sure he''s dealt with.
The two older boys I normally see when I come here on Saturdays are here right now as well, in their usual seat. Did they miss their usual Saturday visit, too?
"Welcome back, Xander," she smiles at me, then looks at Russell. "It''s… Russell, right?"
"Yeah," Russell nods. "Hi."
"We were wondering about yesterday," Emily tells me. "Since you weren''t here. You don''t often miss a Saturday."
"I wasn''t in town," I tell her. "I was busy doing a product demonstration and beta test for something I made, so that''s why I asked if I could come today instead. Is that okay?"
"Of course it is," she smiles. "You''re welcome here anytime, Xander. Will you be eating in or taking it to go today?"
"Um…" I look at Russell. "Do you want to eat it here or at the park or somewhere else?"
"We can eat it here," he says.
"Okay," I look at Emily. "For here, please."
"Alright," she grabs a pair of menus and two rolls of silverware, then leads us to the table closest to the door. "Would you like to order your drinks now, or do you want a few minutes?"
"I''m ready to order my drink," I look at Russell. "What about you?"
"Lemme check what''s available," he looks on the menu for the drinks, then looks at Emily. "Can I have the fruit punch? And a root beer float?"
"Sure thing," Emily says. "And you, Xander? And will this be together or separate?"
Mrs. Natalie asked that, too. Is it normal for friend groups to pay together rather than separately? I remember that happening when I ate out with S.G., Connor, Sam, and Isaac, too. But we all paid separately there, so maybe it''s not a friend group thing. But it''s still confusing.
"Separate," I answer. "And may I please have a strawberry lemonade and a milkshake, um… I don''t know what flavor."
"We''ll mix up something I''m sure you''ll like," she smiles. "Would you two like to order some food now, or do you need a few more minutes?"
"I know what I''m ordering," I tell her. "We came here for cheesecake! Though I don''t know if Russell knows what he wants."
"Not yet," Russell says. "I need to look at the choices."
"Alright," Emily says. "I''ll go get your drinks while you do."
A few minutes later, Emily returns with the our drinks on a tray and puts them down.
"There you boys are," she says. "And Xander, it''s a peach-banana-strawberry smoothie. Do you want to order your desserts now?"
"Yes, please," I say. "What about you, Russell?"
"Yeah," he says. "Though I think I want to get an appetizer, too. Don''t know if I wanna do fried pickles or the tots."
I was just going to get cheesecake and some drinks, but if he wants appetizers, too, then I can split some with him.
"If you buy the pickles," I tell him. "I''ll buy tater tots, mozzarella sticks, and onion rings."
"I don''t think I could eat all of those," Russell snickers. "Even with splitting it. Not if I want to eat cheesecake, too. And not after having lunch."
"That''s fine," I tell him. "I''ve still got plenty of room in me. But I don''t really like fried pickles, that''s why you gotta buy them if you want them."
"Okay," he says. "Then I''ll get fried pickles and a slice of caramel-swirl cheesecake, please."
"Alright," Emily says. "And you, Xander? I assume you''ll want your usual cheesecake?"
"Can I get a whole cheesecake?" I ask. "I was gonna ask for just two slices today because I did good during the demonstration yesterday, according to Trey, so I want to treat myself a bit. But I feel like I could eat an entire cheesecake."
"I can do that," she says, then repeats back our orders to us. "Will that be all?"
"Yeah," Russell answers.
"Yes, please," I answer. "Thank you."
Emily goes and puts our order in, then checks on and talks with the other boys, then comes over to us.
"Did you have fun at your thing yesterday, Xander?" She asks.
"Lots," I nod. "And I was really tired. I ended up falling asleep towards the end of everything, but it was an accident. Can I ask you something? Is that okay?"
"Sure," she answers. "What''s up?"
"A-are you married or just dating?"
"I don''t believe I''ve mentioned a relationship to you before," she says.
"I don''t remember if you have," I say. "But you''re pregnant, so you gotta be, right?"
"Xander!" Russell exclaims. "You can''t just say that to a lady!"
"But she is?" I say. "She''s got three tiny little babies inside of her. I can see them."
"See them?" Emily asks. "What do you mean?"
"Um… it''s hard to describe?" I try to think of how to do so. "I can sense their mana. It''s very tiny but very strong. Like. Um. Stronger than Cal. By a lot. But not anywhere near as strong as Greyson. There''s three of them, though. One right there, and one right there, and another right beside it, right there. But they weren''t there when I saw you last time. So congratulations. And I hope he treats you well. If not, I can always just ask Greyson to do something about it. And make sure to ask him to make sure it''s within the law."
That last part is very important because he might do something like murder otherwise. I''m not sure what he would do to do something about someone not treating Emily well without breaking the law, but I''m sure he''d have something he can do.
"My fiance treats me very well," she says. "Are you sure I''m pregnant?"
"People always say I''m wrong," I tell her. "But then I turn out right. So you''re engaged? Congratulations."
"Thanks," she smiles. "And not to doubt you, Xander, but I''ll wait until a test says I''m pregnant to believe it."
No one ever believes me when I say it.
"You''ll find out you are."
Emily snorts in disbelief, then frowns just a little.
"Do you know a Matt King, by any chance?" She asks. "I''ve wondered before if the two of you are related."
That''s a sudden topic change.
"I haven''t met him," I say. "But I do know of him. He''s my cousin. And his older brother, Adam, too. Our dads were twins. Or was it triplets? I don''t remember, but it''s one of the two. I''ve been avoiding trying to meet them ever since finding out about Matt because he''s apparently super hyper and I think he''d scare me."
"He definitely is," Emily says. "His brother, Adam, is my fiance. I''ll go check on your apps, they should be ready around now. Back in a minute."
Emily leaves, and Russell looks at me.
"You''re really not supposed to ask if a woman''s pregnant," he says. "It gets looked at like you''re calling them fat."
"But she''s not fat, she''s pregnant," I say. "And I can sense the mana of the babies inside of her. They''re separate from hers. I didn''t know she didn''t know yet. She should get tested so she can get confirmation so she can start preparing. Babies come pretty fast."
Russell doesn''t respond to that, so I guess I made sense.
Our food comes out soon after that, and Russell frowns a little when he sees my cheesecake.
"I don''t remember that flavor from the menu."
"It''s on a special menu," Emily tells him. "Only some customers can order from it. We do have it on the holiday menu for Memorial Day and Labor Day, though."
"Oh," Russell says. "That''s cool."
He looks like he wants to say something to me after Emily leaves, but doesn''t. It makes him squirm a little.
"What is it?" I ask.
"What?" He looks confused.
"You look like you want to ask me something," I say. "You''re even squirming a little when you hold back. I think that means you want to ask something, anyway. I could be wrong. I''m not very good at this."
"Oh," he says. "I wanted to ask if I could have a bite of the cheesecake, but I know you don''t like sharing your food. Don''t worry about it!"
But then if I give him a bit, part of it would be missing and it''d be Bad, then. But if I gave him a whole slice, then I''d be missing a slice and the rest of it would be Bad. But I want to let him taste how good this is. It''s really good.
What do I do? If I give him some, then I can''t eat the rest.
"Everything alright?" Cal asks, having just clocked in and come back out.
"Russell wants to try a slice of the blueberry cheesecake with strawberry cream cheese drizzle," I tell him. "But I if I give him a whole slice, then the cheesecake would be missing some of it and that''d make it Bad. But if I give him just part of a slice, then the slice would be Bad after."
"How about cutting a slice in half along the length and sharing that with him?" Cal suggests.
That doesn''t seem Bad at all and my hand doesn''t hesitate when I try to do that for a slice I haven''t eaten from already. I''m able to cut off a slice and move it onto Russell''s plate (after asking if he''s okay with that).
Huh. That''s apparently not Bad.
"Thanks," I tell Cal. "How did you know that that wasn''t Bad?"
"Your Autism and Greyson''s might be a little bit different," Cal says. "But I''ve learned a few things over the years of raising him. If taking a chunk off the front is stressful, then what about splitting it down the middle? If that''s still stressful, well, that''s all that can be done. The point is to try and see if there''s a different way of trying something which will allow you to."
"Oh," I say. "Greyson does love experimenting."
"Yes, he does," Cal snorts. "Enjoy your food."
"Thanks," I say, and he walks off.
"This really is good," Russell points at his slice of a slice of my cheesecake. "You''re really gonna eat the whole thing?"
"No," I answer. "You got a part of it. But I''ll eat the rest."
Once we finish eating and Emily comes to collect the payments, I make sure to give her an extra $5.
"What''s this for?" She asks.
"I learned about tips on Wednesday," I say. "And that they aren''t necessary, so most people do them, but that you should give tips for exceptional service. And I pretty much always get exceptional service here. You''re all very friendly and the food is always prompt and the stuff that''s supposed to be cold is still cold and the stuff that''s supposed to be hot is still hot and the food tastes good. So that means you deserve a tip."
"Oh," she says. "Thanks, Xander! Let me go get your receipts."
After Emily brings us those, we leave and head down to the parking lot to wait for Russell''s parents to come pick him up.
"You''re really liked by everyone, aren''t you?" He asks after a few minutes of waiting.
"No?" I look at him. "Lots of people don''t like me, and way more don''t even know who I am."
"No," he says. "I mean here. Emily and Cal both seem to really like you, and the shopkeepers we talked with were all super friendly, and some of them even have special arrangements with you. And you can order off a special menu here."
Is he upset with me because the workers like me more?
"But I''ve been coming to this area for years," I tell him. "You only moved here last year. And probably don''t visit as often as me, or talk with them as often as me. I like stopping by once a week."
"That''s not what I-" he starts to say, then shakes his head. "I mean, it''s just impressive. You''re a cool dude, Xander. You deserve to be liked by everyone."
This just confuses me, but I don''t really understand what''s going on.
"Oh," I decide on saying, then we''re both silent for a few minutes. "Russell?"
"Yeah?"
"I''m currently 96.7 degrees," I tell him. "That''s my normal body temperature, so I''m not actually cool. I''m perfectly-warm."
Russell snickers a little.
"Xander," he says. "When I say you''re a cool dude, it just means that you''re an awesome dude."
"Oh," I say. "Then you''re a very cool dude."
"Thanks," he grins.
"I see your dad''s car."
We get off the wall and wait for his dad to pull up, and Russell opens up the back door to put his backpack in.
"Russell?" I ask.
"Yeah?" He looks at me. "Oh! My donuts!"
I hand him the bag, which I''d summoned out of my backpack while he was turning around. As he puts that into his dad''s car, I summon three paper boxes out of my backpack as well.
"Also these," I say.
"You weren''t carrying anything else for me," he says. "Just the donuts, since they wouldn''t fit in my backpack," he looks at his dad. "Ms. Heidi had waaaay too many donuts when we got there and was giving out, like, two dozen each."
"Twenty-three."
"Yeah, twenty-three," Russell looks at me again. "But that was all you were carrying. And I don''t remember boxes like those? They''re just plain, they don''t have the logos for any of the shops on them."
"Yeah," I nod. "I bought them at the store. The boxes, I mean. I made the cookies they have. The top one has shortcake cookies with strawberries in ''em and a cream cheese filling. The middle one has lemon cookies with blueberries in them and a cream cheese drizzle. The bottom one has sugar cookies with ''stained glass'' windows. It''s really just hard candy that melted in them while they were baking, so it''s safe to eat."
"You baked them?" He asks. "When? And for me?"
"On Wednesday and Thursday," I answer. "And I was just baking lots. I upgraded my backpack to have a stasis enchantment, so everything stays as fresh as when I put them in there, so don''t worry about them being stale. I just decided to give you some while giving you the donuts, but I couldn''t decide which one to give so you get all three. There are two dozen in each box. I''ve got way more than this."
"Oh," he accepts the boxes. "Thanks. And, uh… how is Trenton sitting on your shoulder?"
"I''m using telekinesis to hold him there since my hands were full," I tell him. "Only thought about doing that when it was time to pull the donuts out."
But now now that I''ve thought of it, I might use that at other times, too. Being able to use both hands to carry my food at the sub shop would be nice.
"Cool," he says as I grab Trenton with my hands.
"Can I give you a hug before you go?" I ask.
"Sure," we hug each other for a moment. "See you, Xander."
"Bye, Russell," I say. "And bye, Mr. Jackson."
"Have a good one, Xander," Mr. Jackson says.
Russell gets into the car and his dad drives off, then I look at Trenton.
"Strangely," I say. "I don''t feel like I need too much of a nap. Want to sit at the peach trees and relax? Alright, let''s do that after we get home."
Hanging out with Russell was nice, even if it wasn''t fun. I hope we can do that more, especially with the rest of my friends. For now, though, it''s time to sit with at the peach trees.