Chapter 214: A Swarm of Sparks
Damien
Month 8, Day 23, Monday 6:00 p.m.
When Ana returned from whatever social warfare she had been engaged with, her hair was frizzing out around her temples from sweat, but she was holding back a grin and flitting around with excess joy. She poured this energy into getting all of Damien’s friends to agree to accompany them out for a play that evening, despite the fact that a few of them might have been better off spending that time studying.
Though Alec probably also needed a break to destress, and Waverly wouldn’t study any extra even if given the chance, unless the topic happened to be magizoology or witchcraft.
The play was a dark comedy about a young man fighting to keep his idiotic family from falling into ruin and crime, with each incident accompanied by horrible social embarrassment.
Waverly fell asleep about twenty minutes in, and Brinn pulled a light blanket from his satchel, tucked it around her, then leaned her insensate form over so that her head rested on his shoulder. All without waking her.
Unconcerned with the uproarious laughter all around her, she drooled on his arm until the fabric was soaked through, but Brinn smiled happily the whole time.
When the play let out, Alec and Rhett kept laughing as they reenacted the funniest parts. Alec mimed his pants splitting open at the seat seam, then laughed so hard that he choked on his own saliva.
Sebastien watched on with concern as Alec’s face grew increasingly puce. With a put-upon sigh, Sebastien pulled his little slate table out, drew a minimalist spell array, and forcefully cleared Alec’s airways. He stepped back with a grimace of disgust as Alec spat out a huge mouthful of snot, saliva, and—somehow—a few bits of food.