#‘yeah apparently your dad and my aunt were madly in love and that’s why she threw herself of a cliff’

[mzcain27]

Gendry could you have interrupted at a worse time oh my GOD

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Who knew that your dad could actually do magic? I thought you said he failed out of school, Theo."

Theo rolled his eyes, hoping that his father wasn't snooping nearby to make sure the teens were still in the house. It was embarrassing enough to be dragged back to his house after sneaking out of family bonding time, but to admit that his fathers had managed the task by magic was humiliating. Apparently they had learned a few tricks since Theo ran away as a child and Theo was fuming about it.

"He did," he replied angrily. "Apparently someone has been teaching him demonic summoning at a higher level than we've studied. But who though? My parents don't really have friends. I bet it was our school."

"My dad could have shown them when he picked me up last week," Adam said. "He's all about parental rights and spreading magical knowledge. My mom too. She grounded me last week because I didn't check in on time for our stupid family meeting. I had better things to do than listen to her and my stepdad go on and on about responsibility."

Theo flushed, remembering that he had been the thing more important than getting home on time. 

"Boo hoo," Medora laughed. "My parents are dead; you at least you still have yours."

Theo rolled his eyes again at this. 

"Medora, your uncles let you get away with whatever you want," he complained. "And you live in a castle. You don't get to complain."

"Yeah, and you actually get an allowance," Adam pointed out. "Theo's parents are broke and mine think that 'hard work is good for you' and don't send me a dime. You have the best setup."

Theo didn't disagree, but he tried to imagine his life if his parents were both dead. He'd certainly have less siblings if they had died when he was young, but he'd miss his parents terribly. Even if he wouldn't, living with them was a lot better than being raised by Grandma Elaine. He didn't know how his father and aunt and uncle could stand growing up with their mother. Grandma Elaine was the stingiest, most demanding person Theo had ever met.

"Either way, someone has been helping my parents," Theo concluded. "We might as well make the best of it. Who wants to play video games?"

"I don't see why you're complaining about your life, you've got your own TV and game system," Medora pointed out, settling down beside her friends. "And your room is huge."

The Strangetown castle where she lived may be a castle, but it was cramped with all of the family members who lived there. Hell, even Adam's mom Edana had a room there for when she conducted official visits to the Strangetown coven. Theo's room had even more space than the crown princess of Strangetown had in her suite.

The teens started up Theo's game system, determined to make the best of their day. Teleporting into Pleasantview to hang out at the fancy mall would have been fun,  but video games were a good compromise.

Medora watched her friends play with amusement. Like on so many occasions, Theo and Adam looked like they were attached at the hip, totally in sync with each other. It would be frustrating if they weren’t so oblivious to what they were doing. Deny it all he wanted, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Theo was madly in love with their friend. Adam was harder to read, but she would put money on the fact that he felt the same. How long would it take them to confess their feelings? Would they ever? Theo was hopelessly shy and Adam was so reserved, Medora still had no idea what his opinions were on certain topics after years of friendship. The two of them were hopeless.

If Adam didn't make his move on Theo, Medora was tempted to try herself. Theo was handsome and talented and a genuinely nice guy. He was a lot nicer than most boarding school kids she knew and he really seemed to love his family. As much as she complained about them, Medora loved the family that had taken her in as an infant and she saw that same love in Theo's eyes whenever his family was mentioned. 

Maybe his feelings for Adam were just a silly crush and he'd welcome an advance from a well connected, family oriented girl instead. It never hurt to try. She wasn't looking to marry anyone or make a commitment at her age and Theo looked like a guy who she could have fun with.

"I'm hopeless at this game," Adam whined  bowing his head in defeat. "Medora, you try. Someone has to bring Theo down."

"What, you don't want Theo all to yourself?" she teased, watching both boys get flustered at the notion.

Well if Adam isn't going to make a move, then Theo's fair game.

“Alright kids, it’s time to go home. It’s a school night and Theo has to pack his things for school where you can all reconvene tomorrow. Do I have to make any calls to get any of you home safe? Adam, are you teleporting or is your mother picking you up? Medora, the king is expecting you home in the next ten minutes. Let’s go guys; people are waiting.”

Theo tried to slump down against his couch, once more mortified by his father’s presence in front of his friends. The other two teens didn’t seem to mind Roman’s commands, as both of them had powerful incentives to stick to their guardians’ plans for them. While Theo complained about his parents, he’d also seen Adam’s parents punish him for disobeying their commands. Grandma Elaine looked tame compared to them.

“Bye Theo.”

Medora made a face while Roman’s back was turned, then waved goodbye to her friend. Beside her, Adam pulled out his wand and took a deep breath. Teleporting wasn’t as easy for him as it was for Theo and he often let his friend teleport them both through demonic portals rather than using his own magic to travel.

“Bye Theo. See you at school tomorrow.”

Adam and Medora vanished into thin air, only a few floating sparkles in the air to indicate they were ever there.

“Dinner is almost ready, buddy. Put your game away and come help me finish the salad.”

Theo glared at his father.

“We just got here,” he whined. “First you summon us from our original plans and now you send my friends home so soon? It’s not fair. They were barely here.”

“You see your friends a lot more than you see your family,” Roman snapped, irritated with his son’s sudden rebellious streak. “You see them all week at school and us only on the weekends. You barely even played with your little brother this weekend. He looks up to you as his big brother, you know. And the twins love seeing you too. You can’t just ignore your family to go god knows where without permission. What if I hadn’t summoned you? Would you three leave the country, entering into a world of danger that I can’t protect you from? What if you got hurt and I didn’t even know which country to look for you? You can’t just leave like that. it’s dangerous.”

“I’m fine at protecting myself,” Theo insisted. “The demon sovereign knows that I can take care of myself, the school knows that I can take care of myself. It’s just you and Dad who think I can’t. Who even taught you how to do an advanced demonic summon? It’s not even in my textbook.”

Roman just smiled at his son in response.

“I’ll see you downstairs within ten minutes,” he called, heading for the stairs. “That salad isn’t going to make itself.”