Nick opened the garage door on Wednesday night. Evelyn had told him what might happen this week, with Clarissa trying to recognize where the saber-tooth tigers were. It also meant the hyped-up Lord of the Rings movie marathon was put on hold until they had more solid plans.

His nerves were jumbled as he walked through the door. It was a little after five, and Walt was either already home or arriving in the next ten minutes. Nick had to eat dinner fast, so he didn’t have to be around him.

“Well, hey, Nick,” Lydia said.

He barely glanced at her as he emptied the water bottle in the sink. “Hey, mom.”

“You enjoying your fall break?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah.” It was not convincing. Working full time for this one week would definitely make a nice bump in his bank account, but other than that, it was pretty boring.

A silence descended as Nick finished washing his water bottle.

“I’m about ready to make a casserole. I figured we could eat as a family tonight,” Lydia said.

Nick winced. “Oh. Tonight?”

“I don’t see why I’d make a casserole tonight and not eat it. Evelyn’s out with friends and offered to get some things for a salad while she’s at the store.”

“Um, yeah. Yeah.” Nick scratched his forehead with his thumb. “Yeah.”

“Oh, stop your fussing. It’ll be fine.”

He often wondered why his mother married his father. Perhaps it was the whole opposites attract thing. Walt, with his toxic negativity and harsh punishment and Lydia, with her toxic positivity and ignoring everything horrible around her.

“Right. So… let me know if you need anything.” Nick walked out the back door into the heat of the evening. He usually came outside because Grizzizzik was in his room, working on the arrows and still being moody. Derek kept trying to send semi-helpful texts to Evelyn, but they couldn’t figure out Grizzizzik’s mood.

Nick took a few steps outside before he noticed the rogue resting in one of the lawn chairs. Nick didn’t know what possessed him, but he sat in the one across in the shade with his moody character.

“Hey,” Nick said. Grizzizzik cracked an eye open before closing it again. “Has enough time passed that you’re not so moody? Can I finally ask you questions without you biting my head off?”

“Hilarious.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Grizzizzik kept his eyes closed, though he did shake his head. “I simply process battles different from everyone else.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “You’ve never been this moody after one.” The idiot was pretending to nod off so he wouldn’t have to answer. Nick groaned, rubbing his head. “I’m trying to help you.”

“I don’t need it.”

“You’ve been in a funk since the fight. We have more fights coming. Maybe not the one where Ezekiel fights the saber-tooth tiger, but you can be stubbornly moody enough for three weeks if we don’t figure this out.”

Grizzizzik shook his head. “Again, kid, I don’t need your help.”

Nick stood up and was hit with a moment of clarity. “No, you’re just in a bad mood because you need my help, but don’t want to admit it.”

The rogue opened his eyes, giving Nick a familiar glare. His character was begging to be left alone.

Nick shrugged and walked back inside. In a gesture of goodwill, he worked on the dishes as Lydia made the casserole. Evelyn came home soon after, saying goodbye to her friends before starting on the salad. It felt bizarre. It felt normal, yet abnormal. Like they all agreed to cosplay as a functional family for the night.

Nick remembered the first time he and Rafael had spent the night at Derek’s house. How Derek’s entire family ate dinner together and actually enjoyed each other’s company. It was one of the rare times Miguel was there, home from a business trip. Nick and Rafael were being overly formal with Miguel, and he laughed it off, demanding they never call him sir. Nick was far more surprised at how much talking and laughter there was at that dinner table. How much Derek openly teased his siblings with nothing more than a soft look of chastisement from Miguel if Derek crossed a line. And how Amanda wasn’t just asking questions, but invested in their lives. It was odd. He realized why people got jealous of other people, but he could never be jealous of Derek. He was glad someone he knew had a functional place to call home.

When Walt came home, Nick could feel the air charging around everyone. Lydia and Evelyn chatted up a storm while the casserole cooked, but Nick remained silent, as did Walt. They were less likely to fight if neither one of them talked.

They all dished up before sitting at the table. The awkward silence descended as they ate. Evelyn and Lydia had filled the silence before with talk, which made it somehow harder to deal with the silence now.

“So how is your fall break going, Nick?” Lydia asked.

She already asked him this. It was small talk. They were repeating themselves, but he didn’t bother correcting her. He didn’t look up from his plate. “Good. Working.” He scooped up the taco casserole and took a bite. “This tastes great, by the way, mom.”

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“Thank you.”

“I talked with Ike today,” Walt said. It was terrifying how quickly a cold sweat could appeared on Nick’s forehead. Mr. Morgan told him he wouldn’t mention anything. Nick remained silent, daring a glance at his father, refusing to give anything away. “He said you’re working harder than four men combined this week.”

“Oh.”

“That’s good. Keep going.”

Nick frowned, trying to figure out what this was. After a few seconds of studying Walt, he realized his father gave him a compliment. It was so unpracticed, Nick couldn’t tell if he was being serious. Perhaps it was all part of the cosplaying a normal family.

“Yeah. Um… I will.”

The silence descended, and it was almost worse. He wanted to jump off this topic as quickly as possible, because he didn’t want Walt asking any more questions about work and Mr. Morgan. He wanted to take the unpracticed compliment and leave.

Nick picked up his glass of water and took a drink when Clarissa appeared in the kitchen. He sometimes forgot she was an elf, meaning her footsteps were nearly impossible to hear. But that wasn’t what made him choke on his water. No, it was the fact that she was wearing nothing but her sapphire tiara, her sapphire necklace, and someone else’s shirt, long enough to reach her mid-thigh.

The water he was drinking both exited out of his mouth and somehow shot into his lungs. Nick coughed, the water trying to escape.

“Nick? Are you alright?” Lydia asked.

He gave a thumbs up as he kept coughing. Evelyn glanced over and noticed Clarissa. She snorted, covering her mouth. The druid glanced at them both like she didn’t have a care in the world as she waltzed over to the kitchen sink, grabbing a cup.

“You sure you’re alright?” Lydia asked.

“Fine.” Nick cleared his throat, skewering some of the elbow macaroni noodles in the casserole. “This is great. Still great.” He’d complimented the food already, but he needed the conversation to change.

A fit of giggles attacked Evelyn as she pulled out her phone and placed it on her leg to keep it hidden, but she was doing an awful job of it.

“Yes, um, thank you,” Lydia said.

The back door slid open and Grizzizzik walked in. Nick closed his eyes, overcome with the same desire to giggle as hard as Evelyn.

“Am I… missing something?” Walt asked.

You have no idea.

Nick cleared his throat. “No. Sorry. Giggle fits.”

Evelyn was still chortling as Grizzizzik walked over to the kitchen. He was so far in his head that Clarissa and her outfit hadn’t caught his attention. How the hell could that rogue not notice her?

Grizzizzik pulled out a hunk of cooked venison from the fridge he hunted for himself a few days ago. He bit a chunk out of it before closing the door. He was on his way back outside when he gave a nod toward Clarissa in greeting. It was only then that he finally noticed what she was wearing. Clarissa was sipping her water, leaning against the counter. Grizzizzik’s eyes traveled over her, taking in the absurdity of Clarissa in a man’s shirt before staring at her face in confusion.

It was so beautifully, awkwardly Grizzizzik that Nick snorted again. He covered his mouth, tears of laughter pricking his eyes. Grizzizzik shot Nick a look before returning to Clarissa. “What… the hell?”

“Okay, what joke am I missing?” Lydia asked.

Nick was too far into the giggles that he couldn’t answer. Evelyn gasped, trying to calm herself, but there were tears streaming down her face. “It’s nothing. Seriously, nothing. Sorry. Just… inside joke.”

“Good evening to you, too, Grizzizzik,” Clarissa said.

Nick finally heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and shirtless Ezekiel walked into the kitchen. Shirtless because Clarissa was wearing it. His medallion was still around his neck. The only thought Nick had was at least they found somewhere upstairs instead of one of their beds.

Grizzizzik was sputtering, trying to get a coherent sentence in. Ezekiel reached forward with his fingers to get a piece of Grizzizzik’s cold venison. “Oh, that looks good.” The rogue instinctively held it away, still staring at Ezekiel and Clarissa with wide eyes.

“Care to explain this inside joke?” Walt asked, the humor lacking from his tone. The untold threat in his voice reached out, daring Nick to keep laughing. Nick’s chuckle receded. The cosplaying normal family began to crack.

“You… you… her… you and her…” Grizzizzik sputtered.

“Just… something about dinner reminded us of a CCNC campaign.” Nick took another bite of the casserole.

“Okay, first and foremost, to protect Clarissa’s character, we got married yesterday. I am a man of the church, after all,” Ezekiel said.

“You… you… you…”

Clarissa placed her cup on the counter before brushing her fingertips against the black wounds on Ezekiel’s shoulder. “We don’t know what’s going to happen this month. I wanted to make sure he knew he has me to rely on forever.”

“You got married!” Grizzizzik shouted. “Why the hell would you do a stupid thing like that?”

Clarissa frowned. Ezekiel raised an eyebrow as he placed a hand around Clarissa’s waist. “I’ve lived my whole life in a temple. I won’t sleep with—”

The rogue placed his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to hear the rest of that sentence. I never want to know.”

Walt started a conversation with Lydia, and Evelyn was texting someone, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she tried and failed to suppress her giggles.

Grizzizzik placed the venison on the table as he covered his face. “When did this happen?”

“Yesterday evening,” Ezekiel said.

“Cal performed the ceremony,” Clarissa said.

“Hraktar and Milo were witnesses.”

“I came to invite you, but you were too focused on making those arrows of yours. You got pretty snippy at me for breaking your concentration, and we couldn’t wait for your permission. Who knows when Ezekiel has to leave to kill the saber-tooth tiger?”

Ezekiel smiled as he looked at Clarissa. “If you want, Princess Clarissa and I could repeat our vows for you.”

Nick started stuffing his mouth with food. He had a feeling he knew how Grizzizzik would react, and he needed to be ready.

“No!” Grizzizzik shouted. “I don’t care! I don’t want to know! This is stupid! Why would you do this? Why would you…”

“I told you.” Ezekiel placed a hand over his medallion. “I’m a man of the church.”

Grizzizzik’s eyes darkened. “Why would you love her? She’s a hundred years older than you! You’re a child compared to her!”

Clarissa’s smile flickered. “Comparing elf years and human years, we’re the same age. Technically, I’m younger. Time goes slower for my race. Don’t accuse me of anything perverted.”

“This is dangerous!” Grizzizzik pointed at Ezekiel. “You’ve put us all in danger.”

Ezekiel was genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?”

The casserole on Nick’s plate was done, and he moved on to his salad.

Grizzizzik stabbed a finger into his palm. “We have one mission. Destroy all these creatures before they hurt this realm. We cannot get distracted with pointless… side quests.”

Ezekiel kept a hand over Clarissa’s waist. “This isn’t a side quest. I love her. A kind of love that transforms a side quest into a main quest.”

Perhaps that was romantic? It was at least romantic for Ezekiel, who’d never had much female interaction except for temple novices devoted to the Great Lady of Light.

“You’re going to get us all killed!” Grizzizzik said.

Ezekiel frowned, the genuine confusion deepening. “How?”

“You… you…” Grizzizzik covered his face again. “You cannot get attached to someone!”

Nick’s smile slowly dropped. This was one of those breakthrough role playing moments. He didn’t realize it because he was on the outside. But watching Grizzizzik get so angry like this, it made sense. His moodiness, his refusal to get help. It all clicked into place in his mind.

Grizzizzik realized these past few days he’s made friends with these people. How he reacted to that realization could be quite dangerous.