“I'd really rather stay home. I'm nearly 13, mom, I am fully capable of managing myself.”
“Well, I'm sorry to say, you don't really have much of a choice in the matter. This isn't something I want to do either, Love, but it'll be good for you.” Mariella Mormont said to her only son, trying her best to sound positive.
Kellen sighed and turned to stare mournfully out the window of the max train as it rumbled down the streets of Portland. He was sick to his stomach at this point. This was definitely not how he wanted to spend his break from school.
“This is us!” Kellen’s mother declared as the trained slowed to a stop. Mariella gathered up her purse, and tugged on the sleeve of his jacket, trying to coax the boy from his seat. “Family therapy first, and after we can go get some bubble...”
“Tea is served!” Aurelia Tremaine announced as she carefully balanced a serving tray over to the perfectly set table in the middle of her bedroom. She began to pour warm water into each of the cups sitting before her siblings.
“This isn't tea. It's water!” Declan said, crossing his arms. He was wearing a suit and tie, as was the dress code for Ellie’s soiree, and Ayla couldn't help but laugh at how adorable he looked, even whilst pouting.
“Well, yeah, because you'd just spill it and tea stains.” Olenna said from beneath a large brimmed hat before taking a sip of her water, making sure her pinkie was out.
“I wouldn't!” Declan cried out. Tears filling his big blue eyes as his sister proceeded to poke him in the side whilst gingerly holding the delicate teacup in her other hand.
“There's a spell for stains anyway. Ayla’s just too dumb to know what it is, so you have to drink water.” Milo said with a smirk before taking a cookie and munching on it.
“She is not!” Ellie protested, before snatching her older brother's cup back. “She knows it! Right Ayla?” The now 5 year old looked to her oldest sister with hopeful blue eyes as she rounded the table to her empty seat.
“Well...I mean, we haven't officially learned it, but I'm sure it's in one of our books.” Ayla responded with an unsure smile. “Mom just didn't want us to make a mess, is all.”
“See? She doesn't know it. Honestly, have you learned anything ?” Milo said, rolling his eyes as he pictured his sister fawning over boys instead of text books.
“Well, I…” Ayla started, interrupted by Lenn’s laugh and Declan’s crying about not wanting to drink hot water in lieu of tea.
“You're excused!” Ellie said, as firmly as her small voice would allow her. She stood suddenly, and placed her hands on her hips. “You, Magnus Tremaine, ruined my party. I'm uninviting you. And you, Olenna, for making Declan cry. Declan, you can stay if you stop.”
Ayla just laughed. Her little sister looked an awful lot like her mother when she was angry.
“Fine by me.” Milo said as he stood up and loosened his tie. “C’mon Lenn, want to go race…”
Brooms. Liam hated brooms. He'd taken flying lessons somewhat grudgingly in school and hadn't touched one since. Until today anyhow. He needed to reach the community before Aria got done with school. He needed to find her parents, more specifically. Today's visit didn't afford him the luxury of time, so he'd brought a broom along to help cut back on travel time.
As he finally reached the edge of the settlement he began his descent, and somewhat ungraceful dismounting. He was nervous, so at least he could blame his clumsy flying skills on that. He'd rushed straight from Sonora without stopping to change, which was probably ok because he wanted to look nicer than normal. It was an important day, afterall and he wanted to look the part. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the others in the community, but Liam didn't have time, or the mental power to mind.
As he reached the house belonging to Kai and Ember Yale, he started feeling ill. He pushed on, despite his sweaty palms and racing mind. Liam took a deep breath, giving his hands a shake to try and calm his nerves before knocking on the door. The time between the knock and the answer felt like a lifetime, and when Mr. Yale finally answered, Liam let everything out in a string of nervous ramblings.
“Mr. Yale! Hey, it’s nice to see you. I’m sorry to barge in like this, I just need to talk to you about something. I don’t really know how to say it without completely losing my cool, but I don’t really want to beat around the bush, so, I guess what I’m trying to say is--what I’m trying to ask is--I’d like to talk to you about asking Aria to marry me.”