[May 4th, 2023, Later That Evening]
The early evening sun cast a warm golden glow over the city of Charlotte as light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the world-famous restaurant known as Aurum. All while soft golden rays spread across polished marble floors and high crystal chandeliers.
The restaurant lived up to every bit of its reputation, just like it always had. Elegantly dressed waiters moved gracefully between tables, quiet piano music drifted through the dining room, and the scent of expertly prepared food lingered pleasantly in the air.
For most people, dining at a place like this would have been a rare occasion. But for the five young sorcerers gathered around their private table overlooking the rest of the restaurant, it was a celebration.
After spending an entire month away from home on their training mission, Cyrus, Maria, and Valerie finally had the chance to fully unwind after their return home to Charlotte. And because of this, Evan and Elizabeth had immediately decided that the occasion deserved something special.
The fact that it also just so happened to be Valerie's twentieth birthday only made the evening even better…
Valerie leaned back in her chair, grinning as another dish was set before them.
"Y'know…I could really get used to this." The tall blonde announced with a wide grin. "Maybe I should start having birthdays every week?"
"I doubt your wallet could handle something like that." Cyrus replied.
Valerie playfully pointed her fork at the freckle-faced sorcerer before responding. "That's exactly the kind of negative thinking that I'm choosing to ignore for the rest of the night!"
Evan nodded solemnly. "I agree. We really should try to come out here more often."
Elizabeth simply sighed at her friends' and brother's nonsense. "As long as I'm not the one paying, I'm perfectly fine with that."
The table erupted in laughter. Even the ever-stoic Maria Ortega allowed the smallest hint of amusement to grace her normally calm expression.
The group had only been seated for all of twenty minutes, yet the comfortable rhythm of old friends had already settled over the table. And for good reason.
The dishes currently being served to the group of young sorcerers weren't even ones that were officially on the menu yet. The owner of Aurum, a longtime friend of Evan and Elizabeth's father, had invited the group to sample several experimental dishes that were currently under consideration for future service. And being the dutiful young adults that they were, they were happy to indulge the man in his pursuit to find the next big thing that would put the restaurant on the map.
The current favorite, at least for now, appeared to be a perfectly seared filet topped with a truffle-infused sauce.
Valerie took another bite of the dish and immediately pointed at her plate. "Alright, they definitely need to put this on the menu!"
"You know you don't actually get a vote, right?" Elizabeth said to the 'fire magic' user. "We're only supposed to give feedback."
"I should absolutely get a vote!"
"You are a sample customer."
"A sample customer with excellent taste." Evan raised his glass. "She's got a point, though. Mr. Sellers really needs to put this one on the list."
Valerie flashed the 'earth magic' user a victorious smile. "See? Evan understands what I'm saying."
"That's because he's encouraging you."
"And because she's right."
The grin Evan gave the tall blonde was entirely too smooth not to be automatically charmed by it. And Valerie's answering smile wasn't much subtler.
Cyrus slowly lowered his glass.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
And Maria couldn't help but look away and focus on her food.
Oh, great, the flirting had begun.
Again...
It had been happening for months now. But neither of the two seemed interested in admitting it out loud. Everyone else had noticed, though. It was painfully obvious to anyone with a functioning pair of eyes that these two were clearly into each other. When the two would just go ahead and do what everyone else expected them to do was anyone's guess, though.
Cyrus finally spoke. "You're both being ridiculous."
"We're just having a conversation," Evan said innocently.
"Right, right…."
Valerie nodded. "Completely normal conversation."
"You've been smiling at each other for five straight minutes." Elizabeth then said.
"Friendly smiling."
"That's not a thing."
"It absolutely is."
Elizabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm starting to miss the month when you three were gone."
"Rude, much?" Valerie said.
"You'll be alright." Elizabeth corrected.
Despite her words, a small smile appeared on her face.
The conversation drifted naturally after that.
One of the benefits of being apart for a month was that everyone actually had things to talk about.
Cyrus told everyone about several particularly exhausting training exercises that had involved long-distance hiking through the rough terrain of the Blair Family's lands out in Kansas while constantly getting bombarded with poison gas bombs.
"You're definitely leaving out the important details." Valerie suddenly said. "Come on…there had to have been more to it than just some funky plant weapons. Or are you just too embarrassed to tell us the rest?"
"There were bugs." Cyrus admitted with a shrug. "A lot of bugs."
"The horror."
"Yes, the horror."
Maria quietly listened while eating, occasionally contributing a short comment whenever someone asked her a question.
As usual, the raven-haired 'beast magic' user preferred listening over talking. Still, she found herself enjoying the easy rhythm of the conversation. Nobody pressured her to speak more than she wanted to. Nobody acted awkwardly when she remained quiet. The others simply accepted her as she was and didn't try to force her to add more than she wanted to.
Across the table, Elizabeth had shifted to talking about her latest project. One that was sure to bring her even more notoriety than she already had.
"A concert dress?" Valerie asked.
Elizabeth nodded. "For my sister's performance."
"What style?"
Elizabeth's eyes lit up slightly. The topic clearly interested her. "Elegant, but modern. I wanted something dramatic without being excessive. I got my hands on some refined unicorn fur a while back, and I wanted to make something that would dazzle the crowd."
Evan immediately snorted. "You literally just described your entire personality."
Elizabeth stared at him. "I am choosing to interpret that as a compliment."
"And I'm choosing to let you believe that it was intended as one." The 'wind magic' user shot back.
"Good." She accepted the answer with a dignified nod.
Cyrus couldn't help but chuckle at how easily the two twins went in and out of arguing with one another at the drop of a hat. "So how many sketches did you make?"
Elizabeth looked thoughtful. "Twenty-three."
Valerie nearly choked on her drink. "Twenty-three?"
"Well…twenty-three that survived."
"Survived?"
"There were others."
The table burst into laughter again.
"Oh, yeah…that reminds me." The lone 'earth magic' user of the group then directed her gaze toward Maria. "I finished making you that new suit I promised you. Thankfully, I had more than enough left over from making my sister's dress. You can pick it up from the house anytime you feel like it. You're going to love it; that thing is damn near indestructible!"
"Really?" The raven-haired woman raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."
"Hey, how come Maria gets a cool new unicorn fur suit and the rest of us don't?" Valerie then pointed an accusatory finger at the dark-skinned woman.
"Are you forgetting that I already made you three pairs of fireproof boots for you not too long ago?"
"Oh…yeah…."
"Now that you mention it, the only person she hasn't made anything for is Cyrus." Evan then added while looking at the 'tree magic' user.
"You don't need to worry about that." Cyrus said with a calm smile. "Fashion's never really been my thing. Plus, I like to keep my outfits simple."
"Are you sure? I could make you something if you'd like." Elizabeth leaned forward and cupped her hand under her chin. "I'm sure that I could put something together that'd suit you. I know you like wearing sweaters all the time now. It wouldn't be any trouble for me to make you one."
This was probably the first time anyone in the group ever openly acknowledged Cyrus's change in fashion choices since his kidnapping. Since he was now averse to anything even slightly chilly, the young man always had on, at the bare minimum, a long-sleeved shirt whenever he left his apartment. That, plus, he needed a way to hide the scars on his arms from anyone who felt the need to ask him any uncomfortable questions.
"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Freckles!" Hannah's ghost said to Cyrus as it stood only a few feet behind him. "Let the girl make you something nice!"
Cyrus chose to ignore the personification of his insanity before responding. "I'm fine. But thanks for the offer."
"Suit yourself. But let me know if you change your mind. I want to try my hand at making more cold-weather apparel."
"I'll keep that in mind."
The discussion quickly changed topics after that. For a while, they discussed everything and nothing. Movies, video games, work, music. More stories from the training trip. And even some about what had been going on in the city while they had been away. The conversation wandered naturally, changing directions every few minutes.
Nobody seemed to be in any hurry to let the fun end anytime soon. Especially not as the food kept arriving, and the evening kept rolling forward.
At one point during the evening, the staff surprised Valerie with a small birthday dessert decorated with a single candle. A large decorative cupcake the size of her head that was apparently made by Cyrus's ex-girlfriend, Bianca, on the owner's orders.
The entire table sang when the candle was lit, and Valerie looked simultaneously pleased and embarrassed at the same time. Something which only made everyone sing even louder. Thankfully, the private room that they were all in was completely soundproof.
When the candle was finally extinguished, the blonde 'fire magic' user shook her head. "You people are the worst."
"But you love us anyway!" Evan said with a wide smile.
Valerie smiled. "Unfortunately."
"That's basically a declaration of friendship."
Elizabeth scowled at her brother. "Don't make it weird."
"You already made it weird."
"You started it."
"I usually do."
"That's true."
As the laughter died down once more, Maria glanced around the table to take in the sight before her.
Cyrus sat relaxed in his chair, looking far more at ease than he had a few months ago. Evan was animatedly telling another story, somehow turning a routine grocery store trip into a comedy performance. Elizabeth looked elegant as always, but there was a warmth beneath her composure whenever she looked at the others. And Valerie was still grinning over her surprise birthday dessert.
Everyone seemed comfortable.
Happy.
Together.
Maria lowered her gaze to her plate, a small smile appearing on her face.
She didn't say anything; she rarely did. But quietly, to herself, she acknowledged something she almost never admitted aloud. She liked this. She liked being here. For most of her life, she'd been alone. Not lonely, exactly…just alone.
On a normal day, most of her time outside the station was spent in front of a computer. Along with a not-so-healthy amount of hours scrolling through her phone while watching random YouTube videos. Just nothing but playing games, reading, and thinking to herself.
None of those things was bad per se. She still enjoyed doing all of them on a normal day, but this was different. Better, in its own weird and satisfying sort of way.
Sitting around a table with people who genuinely wanted her there, listening to conversations, sharing meals, laughing at jokes, and being part of something was a rather nice change of pace for her. But the feeling was still unfamiliar enough that she sometimes caught herself wondering if she deserved it.
For most of her life, she had been a veritable outcast among most people her age, especially after her father died. Closing herself off from anyone and everyone who tried to get close to her, except her mother. Sure, she had probably missed out on a lot of fun experiences that a normal young adult her age was supposed to have. But this little group outing of theirs was more than enough to make up for it.
Valerie then laughed loudly at something Evan said.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
Cyrus shook his head.
And Maria found herself smiling again.
Maybe she didn't need to overthink it. Maybe she could simply enjoy it. She hoped there would be more evenings like this in the future. More dinners, more conversations, more ordinary moments shared with her friends.
For now, this was enough.
As the lights of the city slowly brightened outside the restaurant windows and the evening settled comfortably around them, Maria sat quietly among her friends and allowed herself a rare moment to simply be happy.