Chapter 72:
The entire family together
Daniel:
Teleports are wonderful things. You can arrange an event at the drop of a hat, and the people you have invited can get to you without much trouble. Sure, Ursula 590 is mana poor, but there is still enough mana, so that people can teleport between towns. Constantine spent the entire lunch break making phone calls.
He called his parents, his grandparents, a plethora of uncles and aunts, great uncles and aunts, and so many cousins, that he had to group call to finish up before the break ended.
My palms sweat, when we go home. Tine also ordered food from a nearby restaurant. As far as he told me, the restaurant is going to work for us, tonight. Yet, the get-together is going to happen in the house. How are so many people going to fit in a single house, is beyond me. Still, I can’t help but think that Constantine has more than one trick up his sleeve.
The table is wheeled to the garden, and then, Constantine presses a button on it. It expands from one corner of the garden, to the next. I gawk at that. The layers of the table are no less thick, than before. I turn to Constantine.
“Magic or science?” I ask him. I tend to do that a lot, now that I think about it.
“Science,” he says. “You see; the table was much thicker than it looked. It is just a folded table, nothing much to it.”
“Yes, but it is just...” I begin, but then the doorbell rings. His family will not be coming in here through his teleport, but, rather, they are going to use the community teleport, and then come over to the house.
“This must be mom and dad. They always come early,” Constantine says, as he leaves to get the door.
I busy myself with arranging the chairs. As I do so, I can’t help but wonder what Constantine’s family is going to think about me.
Sure, we humans weren’t the monsters I was led to believe we were. Still, many of the citizens of the Cosmos remember a war with Earth. There is even footage. I really should ask Tony and Thea what the deal is? They were alive back then.
I hear voices coming from inside the house. Soon, the garden door opens, and Constantine leads a pair of Naga inside. They don’t look that much older than him, but I have no doubt in my mind that they are more than 100 years old. I mean, Tine is a hundred. If they had him back when they were in their twenties, or thirties...
Constantine stops before me, and takes my hand in his. Then, he slithers around me, to stand by my side.
“Mom, dad, this is my fiancé, Daniel,” he says. His voice is so firm, that I can’t help the feeling of butterflies in my stomach.
He just called me his fiancé!
He finds nothing strange about being the fiancé of a human.
“Welcome to the family, Dany,” the male Naga says, as he wraps an arm around his wife’s middle. “And my condolences, that you are stuck with our son. He will make you bottle all of your happiness away.”
“Dad, there is nothing wrong with bottling your emotions,” Constantine protests. “It helps people go through tough times.”
“You have said that more than once. Still, it is something that you should share only with family, not with complete strangers,” the older man says, and I can guess that the two had this argument more than once.
“Augustine, don’t start now! If Tine wants to bottle happiness, then he can. He is not hurting anyone. Besides, his potions brought an entire dimension to light!” Constantine’s mother says, and I smile at that. It might have been an accident, but that is the truth.
“But, Samantha! Bottling happiness is an intimate ordeal,” Augustine says. I take it, that they wanted to name Constantine like his father. I wonder how they could tell, about whom one speaks about, when someone calls for a Tine.
Imagine the two of them, father and son, answering at the same time, and then bursting out in giggles.
I smile at that, and Augustine looks at me.
“Something funny, son?” He asks. I smile wider, at the fact that he called me his son.
“Nothing. I just thought that it would be strange to call you both Tine,” I nod first at Constantine, and then at Augustine.
“That is an easy one. He is Tine Jr.,” Samantha points at Constantine, who groans.
“No, I am not. As far as I am concerned, I hold a monopoly to the Tine name, as the one who bottles happiness,” he says, and pokes his tongue out at his parents. I blink at that. Are they really going to let him get away with this? Much to my surprise, his father pokes his tongue out right back, and even Samantha makes a funny face.
The three burst out laughing, at their private joke, and the doorbell rings.
“I’ll go see who it is. You get to know each other,” Constantine gives me one last hug, and then slithers away.
“So, son, how did you meet our Tine Jr.?” Samantha asks, and I scratch the back of my head.
“I was on a forum on the Dark Web, searching for conspiracy theories that could have made a good sci-fi book, when he began to speak about happiness bottling. He started off with the first half of a song lyric, but ended it with nanana,” I say, and they both chuckle.
“Yes, well, he has never been good at remembering such things,” Samantha says.
“Anyway, after a couple of conversation, he hinted at the existence of magic, and I experimented,” I say, and hold up my hand. I summon a firefly made from light to hover over my palm.
“Wow, can you do animals from Earth?” I hear Noah call from the doorway. I smile, and make a small elephant for him. Soon, the boy rushes by my side, and I give him an entire light show. Augustine and Samantha take up where I left off, with the chairs.
Chapter 72:
The entire family together
Daniel:
Teleports are wonderful things. You can arrange an event at the drop of a hat, and the people you have invited can get to you without much trouble. Sure, Ursula 590 is mana poor, but there is still enough mana, so that people can teleport between towns. Constantine spent the entire lunch break making phone calls.
He called his parents, his grandparents, a plethora of uncles and aunts, great uncles and aunts, and so many cousins, that he had to group call to finish up before the break ended.
My palms sweat, when we go home. Tine also ordered food from a nearby restaurant. As far as he told me, the restaurant is going to work for us, tonight. Yet, the get-together is going to happen in the house. How are so many people going to fit in a single house, is beyond me. Still, I can’t help but think that Constantine has more than one trick up his sleeve.
The table is wheeled to the garden, and then, Constantine presses a button on it. It expands from one corner of the garden, to the next. I gawk at that. The layers of the table are no less thick, than before. I turn to Constantine.
“Magic or science?” I ask him. I tend to do that a lot, now that I think about it.
“Science,” he says. “You see; the table was much thicker than it looked. It is just a folded table, nothing much to it.”
“Yes, but it is just...” I begin, but then the doorbell rings. His family will not be coming in here through his teleport, but, rather, they are going to use the community teleport, and then come over to the house.
“This must be mom and dad. They always come early,” Constantine says, as he leaves to get the door.
I busy myself with arranging the chairs. As I do so, I can’t help but wonder what Constantine’s family is going to think about me.
Sure, we humans weren’t the monsters I was led to believe we were. Still, many of the citizens of the Cosmos remember a war with Earth. There is even footage. I really should ask Tony and Thea what the deal is? They were alive back then.
I hear voices coming from inside the house. Soon, the garden door opens, and Constantine leads a pair of Naga inside. They don’t look that much older than him, but I have no doubt in my mind that they are more than 100 years old. I mean, Tine is a hundred. If they had him back when they were in their twenties, or thirties...
Constantine stops before me, and takes my hand in his. Then, he slithers around me, to stand by my side.
“Mom, dad, this is my fiancé, Daniel,” he says. His voice is so firm, that I can’t help the feeling of butterflies in my stomach.
He just called me his fiancé!
He finds nothing strange about being the fiancé of a human.
“Welcome to the family, Dany,” the male Naga says, as he wraps an arm around his wife’s middle. “And my condolences, that you are stuck with our son. He will make you bottle all of your happiness away.”
“Dad, there is nothing wrong with bottling your emotions,” Constantine protests. “It helps people go through tough times.”
“You have said that more than once. Still, it is something that you should share only with family, not with complete strangers,” the older man says, and I can guess that the two had this argument more than once.
“Augustine, don’t start now! If Tine wants to bottle happiness, then he can. He is not hurting anyone. Besides, his potions brought an entire dimension to light!” Constantine’s mother says, and I smile at that. It might have been an accident, but that is the truth.
“But, Samantha! Bottling happiness is an intimate ordeal,” Augustine says. I take it, that they wanted to name Constantine like his father. I wonder how they could tell, about whom one speaks about, when someone calls for a Tine.
Imagine the two of them, father and son, answering at the same time, and then bursting out in giggles.
I smile at that, and Augustine looks at me.
“Something funny, son?” He asks. I smile wider, at the fact that he called me his son.
“Nothing. I just thought that it would be strange to call you both Tine,” I nod first at Constantine, and then at Augustine.
“That is an easy one. He is Tine Jr.,” Samantha points at Constantine, who groans.
“No, I am not. As far as I am concerned, I hold a monopoly to the Tine name, as the one who bottles happiness,” he says, and pokes his tongue out at his parents. I blink at that. Are they really going to let him get away with this? Much to my surprise, his father pokes his tongue out right back, and even Samantha makes a funny face.
The three burst out laughing, at their private joke, and the doorbell rings.
“I’ll go see who it is. You get to know each other,” Constantine gives me one last hug, and then slithers away.
“So, son, how did you meet our Tine Jr.?” Samantha asks, and I scratch the back of my head.
“I was on a forum on the Dark Web, searching for conspiracy theories that could have made a good sci-fi book, when he began to speak about happiness bottling. He started off with the first half of a song lyric, but ended it with nanana,” I say, and they both chuckle.
“Yes, well, he has never been good at remembering such things,” Samantha says.
“Anyway, after a couple of conversation, he hinted at the existence of magic, and I experimented,” I say, and hold up my hand. I summon a firefly made from light to hover over my palm.
“Wow, can you do animals from Earth?” I hear Noah call from the doorway. I smile, and make a small elephant for him. Soon, the boy rushes by my side, and I give him an entire light show. Augustine and Samantha take up where I left off, with the chairs.
