Young Writers Society

Welcome to Renegia Close!

Somewhere a decent way off the closest freeway, and the perfect distance between the City, the airport, several local attractions and amenities, and the wonderful Tremanan Lake, lies the quiet and peaceful cul-de-sac known as Renegia Close. Set right next to a beautiful forest to the north and vineyard to the west, this cul-de-sac is the perfect place for people looking to stay out of the rush, and gaze, of the rest of the world.

The residents of this humble community are all entirely upstanding members of society- houseparents, bankers, engineers, scientists. All individuals with absolutely perfectly normal lives, who often host neighbourhood barbecues, street sports games, and pool parties. Just, respect their privacy where it matters, and they will always welcome you.






As you can gather from above, this Story will be taking place in the quaint small neighborhood known as Renegia Close. We will all be playing as the various residents of this neighborhood, each being a valuable member of the community living in one of the 16 houses in the cul-de-sac.

However, each of us will be secretly harboring a hidden life. Whether secretly a vampire, a hitman, a spy, a wizard, or a mad scientist, each residence in this community has a secret they try their best to keep out-of-view, even from the rest of the community. Each resident/Player Character will think they are the only people in the neighborhood with a secret, and while we may suspect some of the other residents are not who they say they are, no one knows for certain except us.

To add a twist to the story, one of the characters will secretly be working for a mysterious Director, trying to uncover the secrets and plots of the rest of the community for whatever reason. No one (not even me) will know who the wolf in sheeps clothing will be, to add to the drama.

Will the residents of Renegia Close be able to keep their secrets hidden and safe? Will the Wolf be able to sniff out what lurks below? Will the community realise they are at threat and band together? Only time will tell.



The cast of Totally Normal Neighborhood will feature a vast array of characters, each leading a double life. As such, each character, other than just being a slot in the roster, will also be assigned a house number, and even potentially a family (although there is no requirement for your characters to have a family. They can be a rogue bachelor, the child of parents living in the close, or have a loving partner and kids of their own. The choice is up to you)

The houses are all as below:


Note that while this map only shows the cul-de-sac, the story is not restricted just to this neighborhood. The rest of the world outside is kept abstract for a reason, to allow you to create locations and abstractions of distance etc as the story progresses. Note also that each house doesnt need to be filled by player characters. Once the story is up and going, we can all work to fill the remaining homes with npcs to interact with. You are also welcome to claim two households if you wish to.

The Households are listed below:
House 1: <unclaimed>
House 2: <unclaimed>
House 3: <unclaimed>
House 4: Adam DeYoung, Jaeger Magnus (@JazzElectrobass)
House 5: <unclaimed>
House 6: <unclaimed>
House 7: Robert Sable, Carmen Sable-Song, Erica Song, Dani Sable, Abigail Sable (@ThePatchworkPilgrims)
House 8: <unclaimed>
House 9: Brenna Lawrence (@RangerofIthilien)
House 10: <unclaimed>
House 11: Seika Ayatsuji, Ronan O’Mara, Fiachra O’Mara (@inprisonforsparkling)
House 12: Leonardo Albero (@Spearmint)
House 13: Jocelyn Kosta (@Ley)
House 14: Amon Valentín (@herbalhour)
House 15: Jane Dawn (@WeepingWisteria)
House 16: Kaitlyn Hardy, Dima Hardy, Zeda Hardy (@KateHardy & @WeepingWisteria)

The character details sheet below can be used to create your character (and/or household):

Code: Select all

[b][u]Name:[/u][/b]
[b][u]Secret Name:[/u][/b] (If your hidden life uses another name, aka alias or mage name and so on)
[b][u]Gender:[/u][/b]
[b][u]Age:[/u][/b] (if you are secretly a long aged person, list both your fake age and actual age)
[b][u]House Number:[/u][/b]

[center]* * *[/center]
[center][u]Neighborhood Identity[/u][/center]

[b][u]Appearance:[/u][/b] (this is how they look when going about the neighborhood/how the rest of the community sees them)
[b][u]Personality:[/u][/b]
[b][u]Day Job:[/u][/b] (if any)
[b][u]Hobbies:[/u][/b] (if any)
[b][u]Family Details:[/u][/b] (if they have a family, you can go into those details here)
[b][u]Background:[/u][/b] (this is what they tell other people who ask about them)

[center]* * *[/center]
[center][u]Hidden Identity[/u][/center]

[b][u]Appearance:[/u][/b] (only if different. If the same, can delete this category)
[b][u]Secret:[/u][/b] (this is what they are hiding/trying to hide. Can be sci-fi, fantasy, spycraft, etc. But nothing too gruesome like serial murderers, etc)
[b][u]Reason for Being Here:[/u][/b] (why specifically are they hiding out in Regenia Close)

[b][u]Random Question:[/u][/b] (Optional) What are a few minor secrets your character has? I.e. they are secretly afraid of ducks, they actually love the colour orange, they are really bad at golf, they actually hate barbecue but always host it, etc?


(Any questions asked in OOC about the story, world, or characters will be added to this)

• You are welcome to collab on a single household with other members. As long as all involved parties are happy doing so, we have no objections.

(More will be added as necessary)

• Keep profanity to a minimum/only when necessary for the character to use.
• Keep adult themes, or any serious topics, to a minimum, and only if discussed previously in the OOC thread (or with a disclaimer in the post)
• While everyone can easily read up on everyone else's hidden identities in their Character pages, please remember that your characters won't have that knowledge.
• Involving other pcs in your posts for dialogue or actions is fine and encouraged, but please confer and collaborate with those characters authors first.

“Send in the Agent.” The Director is sitting at their large mahogany desk poring over the case files in front of them. There are about two dozen folders, each detailing the observations made by various agents over the last few weeks on the residents of Renegia Close.

All of them are surprisingly thin. Frustratingly thin.

A few moments later, a knock at the door to the Directors office is followed by a figure obscured in the gloom in the room.

“You requested to see me, Director?” the agent asked as they walked over to the desk.

“Agent 31, good. I have a mission for you.”

“A mission from the Director directly? This must be an important assignment, I assume?”

“Of the utmost importance.” The Director picks up on of the files on their desk, handing it to the agent. “You are to infiltrate this small community known as Renegia Close. Find out what you can about the people living there.”

The agent scans through the file before speaking up again. “Nothing about these people seems suspicious, Director? What do you expect me to find here?”

“We have reason to suspect multiple individuals in this community are hiding something. Whether they're spies, occult, cyber, or... something more, that is what we are asking you to uncover.”

“Should I consider any of them as threats?”

“No. For now, all we want is for you to find out what we are dealing with before we act.”

“Understood, Director. Anything else I need to keep in mind?”

“Only that you will report only to me, not your regular handler. This is a delicate situation, thus the less individuals who know the better.”

The agent nods in acknowledgment, closing the file in their hands before heading towards the door. Well, time to become a suburbanite.




Where did I put my damned keys!

It was around 9 in the morning on a Friday, and Robert Sable was getting ready to leave for the airport to pick up his youngest daughter Abigail. She was returning from a small concert tour with her band, the Siren Songs, thus Robert wanted to be there to welcome her back before heading to work. But now he was struggling to find his car keys.

“Carm, have you seen my keys and wallet?” Robert called upstairs as he searched the kitchen and living room, the smell of this morning's breakfast still lingering in the air. Outside, a sprinkler was watering the backyard, doing its best to prepare the lawn for the oncoming summer heatwave.

“Sorry dad! I forgot to hang them up last night! I'm sending them over now!” Erica answered before her mother could, followed shortly after by the jingle of keys. Roberts left hand shot up instinctively, catching the keys as they flew from upstairs, a tint of sapphire glow around them.

“Erica what did I tell you about using your powers in the house.” Carmen came down the stairs carrying this week's laundry, the pile dominated by Dani's assortment of clothes. She paused briefly to give Robert a peck on the cheek before proceeding to the laundry room. “And where's your sibling? I thought I asked Dani to sort out their room over the weekend already.”

“Dani went over to Adam and Jaeger. They're helping Adam with his car again.” Erica replied as she also came downstairs, carrying a new book she borrowed from the library. “What time is Abby landing?”

“At 10,” Robert answered, double-checking the route to the airport on his phone, “But I want to arrive a bit earlier just in case. You staying home today?”

“Yep. Suzette is covering my shift at the library today, and Professor Kendall has a conference. I might head down to the lake a bit later today if it's not too warm though.”

“Just remember to take a hat for the sun if you do.” Carmen returned from the laundry room, the sound of the washing machine starting up in the room behind her. “Oh, Robert, if you get the time, please check with Kate if she and the kids are still coming over for the barbecue tomorrow? I will check with Amy later today when I head into town.”

Robert nodded in acknowledgment of the request, before leaving the home and getting in his car. The weather indicator on his dashboard showed the temperature outside to already be in the low 20s (in Celsius), thus as he pulled away Robert cranked up the aircon, switching the radio to a local news channel. He passed houses 6 and 8, whose residents weren't really seen around the neighborhood all that much, but whose gardens both seemed to be in a rivalry for who could fit in the most flowers without looking tacky. He also passed number 9, seeing Ambrosia's car in the driveway, a sprinkler on their front lawn.

Passing number 4, Robert could see Dani and Adam working on Adam's car (with Dani's motorbike also standing there patiently awaiting its turn to be fussed over). Dani seemed to sense their father driving by, and turned around to give a smile and short wave to Robert before turning back to the engine.

As Robert passed numbers 1 and 2 though, which had been for sale for a while now, he noticed that both had the word SOLD in bright red letters on their for-sale signs. No news of their sale had been circulating in the Close yet, so he assumed these were both very recent sales.

I wonder who the new neighbors will be? He thought to himself, as he turned left to head to the freeway and then to the airport, the gentleman on the radio discussing the oncoming heatwave...

"Seika!" Ronan yells from the kitchen, bouncing Fiachra in his arms and flipping a pancake. "Are you seriously going to be late on Friday?!"

No response.

Ronan rolls his eyes. Fondly. "Seika!" he yells again. "You can sleep in tomorrow!"

It's around 7; Seika needs to be ready to go to his Very Important Office Job in the city in an hour. Ronan's grateful for him, of course, but he could stand to get up a few minutes earlier.

A muffled groan of "Coming, Ronan" from upstairs. A few minutes later Seika stumbles down the stairs, yawning loudly, silk pajamas hanging off his slender frame in a way that always makes Ronan crack up for some reason.

Seika blinks groggily. "Too early for this," they mumble.

Ronan shrugs. "Fiachra woke me up, what can I say - besides, I thought you might appreciate some breakfast." He holds a plate of pancakes out to Seika, teasing.

Seika's eyes fill with stars and he beams, bright as the sun. "Oh, Ronan, I could kiss you! I'm starving!"

Ronan coughs, his cheeks and the tips of his ears heating up. Why does Seika have to say things like that.

"Here, let me take Fiachra," Seika says, setting his plate down on their kitchen table. "How long have you been up?"

"Since..." Ronan glances at the clock on the wall. "4 or so?"

"Oh, Ronan." Seika shakes his head. Fiachra grabs at his hair.

"You know I can't sleep after he wakes me up like that," Ronan laughs. "Besides, you got pancakes out of it."

Seika points at Ronan. "You are going back to bed after I go to work," he says firmly. "I'll ask if Kate can take care of the baby for a few hours, and if not I'll just take him with me. Father won't care."

"Seika-"

"No buts! That's what's happening!" Seika seems very proud of himself. "Now, time to eat!"

Ronan does his best puppy eyes at Seika, but nothing. Seika's only interested in the pancakes now. Damn.
Well, if he's honest, Ronan could use the sleep... He'd really prefer not to bother Kate, though... but when Seika gets like this there's no arguing with him.

Ronan turns off the stove, and sits across from Seika with his own plate of pancakes. Fiachra ate a little while ago, so all he wants is to put Seika's hair in his mouth, apparently. Seika is cooing at him.

Ronan sighs, mouth full of pancake. He was really hungry.

Seika's amber eyes flick around the room. "Preparing for the barbecue, huh?"

Ronan blinks, then glances at the counters, piled high with food. "Oh. Yes, yeah I was. I made some veggie skewers for Robert, 'cause he always hosts these things but he never eats any of the meat, so those are in the fridge... and there are some brownies for dessert in the oven-"

Seika gasps. "Brownies!"

Fiachra laughs. "Bownie!"

"They're not for you, Fiachra," Ronan says, amused.

Fiachra just giggles and blows a raspberry in the general direction of nothing in particular.

"-and I was thinking of making some homemade burgers," Ronan continues. "Which is why the onions and garlic are out. D'you think Carmen and Robert would like it if I brought some?"

Seika swallows the last bite of his pancake. "Ronan, everyone is madly in love with your cooking."

"Guess I'll go to the butcher's for some mince, then." Ronan smiles. He loves barbecues. "I'm not going to bed, by the way-"

"Please, Ronan? For me?"

"-but could you take Fiachra along with you to work anyway?"

"Of course I will, Ronan," Seika says with that soft-sharp smile of his. "I'd better go get dressed. I'll see you soon." He hands Fiachra back to Ronan.

"See you," Ronan says, and with Fiachra in his arms, starts mentally assembling a shopping list.

Jocelyn Kosta

Josie hated getting ready for work. The alarm rang a little louder than normal, causing her to sit up suddenly in hot sweats. She'd been having nightmares for months, mostly of her past life in Olympus, and she seemed to be getting over them the past few days. Last night, though, they came back. And they came back punching. She rolled out of bed and groaned, tossing her messy knotted hair into a tight bun. She lotioned herself, did the normal routine, and started making herself breakfast. Toast with peanut butter, leftover orange juice from the pancake house down the street, and half an apple.

Everyday was a routine. Go to work, spend $5 on dinner, and sleep. Do it all over again. It was starting to get rather annoying, and at this point Josie just wanted some adventure and change. She sighed, threw away the paper plates, and started to tie her shoes.

Normally, she'd spend thirty minutes just on her hair, but with all the dreams she was extremely tired. She glanced around at her surroundings, disgusted by the empty pizza boxes and half-full wine bottles. Quickly, she started picking them up, shoving them into cheap dollar tree trash bags.

Jocelyn's house was bigger than some of those in her neighborhood, yet looked almost abandoned on the inside. She could barely afford a couch and resorted to a foldable futon that she found at a dumpster down the street. Tattooing payed good some days, but most days were boring and lonely. The only thing she looked forward to everyday was to coming home, or walking to work with her neighbor. They seemed to have a lot in common, and Jane was the only one that'd been in her house long enough not to judge.

She threw her bag over her shoulder and shoved her keys in her pocket after locking the front door. Jocelyn tried to plant flowers and at least attempt landscaping, but gave up once her hands got too dirty. The only thing she hated more than men was being dirty.

She pulled out her phone and texted her neighbor, Outside.

Jane immedietely walked outside her front door, grinning. She was... incredialy punctial, and it took a lot of convincing for Jane to wait inside for Josie. "Good morning, Jocelyn!" She was wearing her standard work uniform, minus the thick apron. That was presumably in her bag. "How are you this morning?"

"Tired and over it," Josie replied, forcing a quick smile, "I have an appointment at twelve. They want an infinity sign, how creative, huh?"

"No, I don't believe so, as you've told many stories about clients getting that. Though, based on recent research, it's a popular sign for the ASD community. So perhaps while it's common, it could still be meaningful. Those are your favorite, right?"

"Depends what you consider meaningful. I think I've tattooed a million dates in the past two weeks," Josie started to walk, kicking her feet at the sidewalk, "But yes. I'd assume it's better than the lipstick stain I tattoed on this guy yesterday. His girl was there, and I think she made him get it. I bet he'll be back next week to either get a refund or yell at me."

Jane hummed. "That does sound expectionally awkward and the risk of his return sounds great." Jane laced her hands together. "A shame."

"Such a shame."

They came closer to the front of the neighborhood, where Josie had heard about this old mourning woman that lived in the fifth house. She'd heard stories of her yelling at children, glancing out the window longingly, and just all-around causing havoc. These last few years, living here, she'd avoided that side of the street at all costs. The last thing she wanted was to accidently ignite an innocent old woman. Or maybe, she wasn't innocent. Who knows.

"Have you ever seen that lady?" Josie gestured to the old, broken down house, "I haven't, but I've heard stories. Mostly from the kids."

"She's thrown a few askance glances on my weekend morning walks. Mostly just her eyes are visibly through the curtains."

She nodded, "I see. Well, I hope she doesn't bother me one day. I don't have any patience for old people. Not to be mean, or anything, but... they kind of creep me out in general."

"Hmm. Most people do have a fear of aging and the inevitably of death." She muttered to herself. "Anyways, the only story I've heard of her actually speaking is in when Kaitlyn and the her two children walk by. Apparently she does not like the sight of twins, identical or fraternal."

"That's ridiculous," Josie scoffed, "They're so cute, and remind me of myself. Nothing to be scared of with those two. Maybe she had twins that gave her hell or something."

Too much like herself, actually. She knew, as soon as she laid eyes on those twins, that they were of divine bloodline-- just like her. Call it a dieties sixth sense, but their auras were glowing brighter than anyone she'd even met in Olympus. There was no need to point it out, though. If she knew they were dieties, they most definitely knew Josie was too. Best to keep things on the down low around here.

"Perhaps. I doubt Zeda or Dima would be the ones to do so."

"Do you think they need a babysitter?" Jocelyn asked curiously, furrowing her brow, "I could use the extra money. Plus, their mom is hot."

"I haven't yet found myself asking Kaitlyn about her bodily temperature. If she runs hot, perhaps I should." She shook her head. "But I have heard Kaitlyn state her worry regarding taking late night calls due to leaving them alone. Perhaps you can inquire."

Jocelyn contemplated. She'd been wanting to get closer to Kaitlyn for weeks now after seeing her on a run, but wasn't sure if Kaitlyn even felt the same way. Perhaps, babysitting would get her the conversation she wanted. Either way, the money would help. Maybe then, Jocelyn could actually afford a decent meal for dinner. Plus, she liked kids, especially ones that were divine.

"I shall ask, I guess," Jocelyn adjusted her bag, "Where does she work, if you know? I never asked the one time we spoke."

"She works as an Emergency Medical Technician."

Josie smirked. There were many ways she could get Kaitlyn's attention, then. Maybe falling off a ladder would do it, or accidently stabbing herself with the tattooing needle would do. Or, maybe she could be a regular civilian, and approach her door with the proposition. But what's the fun in that?

"Interesting. Good to know."

"I'm glad I could help."

They were finally out of the neighborhood now, and Josie was starting to feel anxious. She hated work. When she first came to Earth, she asked herself a million times why people worked here. I mean, they work in Olympus, but not these strange jobs. There were welders, teachers, prophets, warriors. But none of these other jobs that these mortals worked.

"I'll see you after work?" Josie asked as they stopped infront of her tattoo shop. The place was pretty plain, as Josie could barely even afford a sign for it, but it did the job. It wasn't really a shop as much as it was an office, but Jocelyn liked calling it a shop. It made her feel good inside, like she was a business owner.

Jane nodded. "Outside of extreme unforseen circumstances, we shall walk back home together."

Josie nodded back and smiled faintly before parting ways with her friend. She unlocked the door and cringed at the bells she decided to put above the door. She yanked them down out of annoyance and sighed, "Not today, Satan. Not today."

"Just kill the baby Vankous. Yes violently. Make it quick."

"But its so real Kate."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You massacred the entire population of kittens without a second thought."

"They were obviously fake. They actually let us pet them."

Kate groaned. "I mean you have a point, but we're also a 100% sure that's a fake baby. Well Jason is and I agree with him."

"Fine. I'll kill the baby."

The communicator glitched for a moment and it shifted. "Oh thank goodness Kate. I didn't think we could convince Vankous."

"Its all good Jen. Y'all are doing good right?"

"Yeah we breached the outer walls pretty good. I don't foresee too many issues." She chuckled. "Unless we all get stuck in the bathroom again."

"Hey as long as everyone's packing the combat flip flops."

Jen broke into giggles. "Yup. Mmm Hmm. Well catch you later then. We can visit soon once the Valerians decide to finally leave the galaxy alone."

"Hopefully you don't have to release the aquilines."

"Yeah no one wants that. Except General Vamos but Chud's kept him quiet so far."

"Wonderful. Keep me updated. I got to take the kids to school." There was a low whistle on the other end and Jason's voice came through.

"Is someone actually being responsible?"

"Oh shush. You've been pulling that line out wayy too much."

"But its so much fun."

"I can still come over for a few minutes."

"You're no fun."

Kate giggled at the sound of him teleporting away. "Bye then Jen. See you at dinner."

"See you at dinner. Stay safe Kate. Tell the kids we said hi!"

"Of course. Stay safe yourself." The line went dead. Tapping the communicator to go back to looking like a normal watch she ventured out of the bedroom. She was already dressed and ready to go. Double checking in the mirror that she hadn't changed her eye color by accident, she stepped out into the hall.

"Where are my little angels? All ready for school?"

"We're at breakfast!" Zeda's voice barely reached her room, mostly a grumble.

Kate found her way to the dining room. Dima was sitting with her feet on the chair, head resting on her knees. She was sketching something, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Zeda was absentmindedly shoveling cereal into his mouth while scribbling away at math homework that definitely should have been done last night.

She walked over to Zeda and gently patted his head. "Hm...take a second look at question one sweetie."

Zeda blinked and took a glance, before groaning loudly. "I hate school."

"Don't worry uncle Vankous has pranked the inventor of school many times."

"Not enough."

She ruffled his hair gently. "You can tell him next time he visits."

"Maybe I will." Zeda erased his answer and changed it.

She giggled. "I look forward to it." She took another look at it. "The rest look good honey. Excellent work as always."

"Good." He nodded. "Too much math was invented. It was so much simpler back then."

"It really was."

Zeda kept writing.

Kate kissed his forehead and moved to stand behind Dima. Dima's sketchbook was filled with eyes. Very realistic eyes that seemed to be staring directly at the viewer.

Kate gave her a kiss on the forehead too. "What you drawing?"

"My dream." Her voice crackled, like an old tape recorder lost to dust and cobwebs. But somehow it never lost the softness and pitch of a young girl.

"Awww. Dreams of being watched again angel?"

She nodded. "It never stops."

"I'm sorry baby.' She pulled her into a hug. "Whatever it is, I'm not sensing it, which is. good or..."

"Or it's very good at hiding from you."

"Yeah. I'll take Uncle Jason or Auntie Jen to take a look next time they're coming over okay? You trust me right? We'll be safe."

"I trust you." Dima set her pencil down. Kate pulled her into a gentle hug. She rested against Kate.

"Zeda get in here." He grumbled, but joined the hug. Kate wrapped around the two of the gently rocking them back and forth. Despite Zeda' hesitance, he didn't fight it at all. Kate held them for a moment, just long enough to cast an extra set of protection charms.

"Alright then. I think school beckons."

Zeda groaned louder as Dima just put her sketchbook in her schoolbag.

"Do we have to go? Missing one day of school isn't bad."

"Sweetie we need to have a reason to miss school or the old chipmunk gets all grumpy."

"Who cares about the old chipmunk?" He crossed his arms. "It's not like we get sick anyway."

"No one really but we can't have him refusing to give you your results."

Zeda half-glared, half-pouted at her. She booped his nose gently. Zeda groaned and stomped upstairs to get his bag.

She giggled. "Way to establish dominance on those stairs."

Dima hummed. "He doesn't like struggling."

"Mmm Hmm."

Dima stood up and put her backpack on. "He's getting more used to it."

"He's doing really well."

"He just has to realize that."

"He will. He's strong."

"And headstrong."

Kate smiled fondly. "He really is."

Zeda came back down the stairs, significantly less stompy. "I'm ready."

"That's my angel."

Zeda huffed and walked to the door, Dima following behind.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Kate peered through the door, looking to see who it was.

Seika Ayatsuji stood outside with a slightly sheepish grin, holding baby Fiachra in his arms. "Good morning, Kate, Zeda, Dima."

She opened the door. "Good Morning! What brings you here bright and early?" Dima hid behind Kate, peering out just enough to see. Zeda kept his place beside her.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you, but would you mind taking care of Fiachra for a few hours? I have to get to work, and Ronan barely slept-" Seika rolled his eyes- "he's insisting on doing yet more work, and... That's not the point." He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm barely awake myself. I mean to say, please could you babysit for us for a little while?"

Zeda looked up at Kate. "We'll be gone anyways. Isn't it your day off?"

Kate nodded, beaming. "Of course! No trouble at all! Get that sleep you need!"

"Oh, you're a lifesaver, Kate." Seika carefully and gratefully handed Fiachra over to her. "Ronan will still be nearby, and I know he won't sleep as much as he should, so call him if you need any help with Fiachra, alright? Thanks again, I really have to go now."

She balanced the baby carefully. "Oki sounds good! Good Luck with what you're going to do! Have a nice day!"

"You too!" Seika waved enthusiastically as he jogged back down the street towards his and Ronan's house.

Dima took a couple of steps back, watching the baby carefully. Kate watched Seika go. "That's an adorable soul." She cooed gently at the baby. 'And this one is just adorable in general."

Zeda sighed. "I'll put the carseat in."

"You remember the command?"

"Tachy, put in the carseat."

The car whirred to life from the garage driving itself to the front porch. "Right away, Prince Zeda," came the smooth response from the car. 'Would you like it in the middle seat as usual?"

"Yes please."

"Of course Prince Zeda." There was a small whir from the back as the seat transformed itself before all three doors slid open.

"You first, Mom."

Kate tried not to show just how much that still affected her. She had her own family now. It made her hearts beat so fast she was almost worried. She nodded, discretely wiping her eyes with her secondary eyelids.

"Okay sweetie." She carefully got in, buckling the baby into the carseat before she snuck onto the driver's seat.

Zeda and Dima got in too, Fiachra sitting between them. The doors closed behind them.

"Everybody all seated?"

"Yeah."

Dima nodded.

Kate grinned. "Punch it Tachy. We're going to school."

Leo was very impressed by the magical doors. They guarded the entrance to the wondrous food building that apparently every town in this world had, and they opened whenever a worthy passerby approached.

Leo waved his hand in front of the grocery store doors. They opened with a whoosh. He smiled and stepped back, marveling at the ingenuity of it for the hundredth time. After a moment, the doors closed. And then Leo did it all over again.

His Matrix-like coat flapped behind him as he did a particularly sophisticated twirl towards the doors to make them open. Leo was about to finally enter the grocery store when he was distracted by a voice.

"YO!" someone called from behind him rather noisily.

Leo whirled around. "Hello there!"

It was his neighbor, the strange one. Adam. (Though to be honest, it was possible that he was considered normal in this world. Leo wasn't sure.) "What's going up?"

"My happiness!" Leo grinned and waved his arm at the doors, which had just closed. They whooshed open again. "Ah, the marvels of modern magic. What's down with you?"

"My sadness, as it is an extraordinary day to be out and jogging." He beamed.

"It is indeed!" Leo hesitated for a moment. What would be the regular human thing to do? Oh, perhaps to wish good luck to the other person. He still wasn't entirely confident regarding the concept of "luck", as most things were not left up to chance in his home world. Still. He should try to blend in. "Good luck with the jog! May you be free from pesky wind spirits trying to blow you off-course."

"Thanks! What are wind spirits though? I've never heard of such a metaphor before. Or do pesky wind spirits really exist?"

Leo stood there for a moment as if the loading sign he'd seen on his flat and foldable device of windows (aka his laptop) was floating over his head. It seemed like his neighbor was unfamiliar with wind spirits. In that case... Leo grinned brightly. "If you don't think they do, then of course they don't! Ha. Ha. I shall be going now." He decided to make a hasty escape and pointed at the grocery store. "You know. Food."

Adam hummed. "But I am curious about these wind spirits."

"Oh. They, uhhh, hate tomatoes! So I'm off to buy tomatoes." Leo bowed and sprinted into the grocery store. Very weirdly, he was followed.

Leo eyed Adam as they approached the produce. "Are you also in dire need of tomatoes?" Leo swerved to avoid bumping into a human.

"If these pesky wind spirits are dangerous, I think I might need some to be on the safe side." Adam hummed.

Leo nearly choked on his own spit. He had gravely miscalculated. Now this person would continue to pester him about wind spirits, wouldn't he? "No need to worry. There are no wind spirits here. I, ah, was lying about the tomatoes. And the wind spirits." Better to be seen as a liar than to be found out as a failure of a wizard.

"Oooohhh, clever lie!"

"Thanks. I guess." Leo focused very intently on choosing the perfect tomatoes.

"It is fascinating, lying. You do it very smoothly."

Leo almost dropped a tomato. Drats. "Yes, well, I'm just a great liar like that! Hahaha." He searched desperately for a topic change. "So, neighbor, anyone planning to host a backyard barbecue anytime soon?"

"Oh! Yes, Robert and Carmen are." He smiled. "Do you think some people like mustard and/or mayonnaise on their burger?"

Mustard... Mustard... ah, the yellow creamy stuff! And mayonnaise... the white creamy stuff. "Yes, I believe so! I personally prefer ketchup, but I have seen people eating their burgers with mustard and mayo." Leo smiled back. Yes, food. Food was a safe topic. "I think condiments are in that aisle over there." Leo pointed with the hand that wasn't holding a tomato.

"Oh great!" Adam smiled, almost about to head for that aisle.

"ADAM!" A shrill, angry male voice came from the entrance of the store. "Your toaster is malfunctioning again!"

"Oh dear. That sounds like a grave emergency." Leo was completely serious. It was such a loss whenever a magical being like a toaster or a refrigerator died. "Would you like me to purchase mustard and mayo for you so you can attend to your dying toaster?"

"Well, it's not exactly dying. It's being more lively than ever." The smaller guy, Jaegar, crossed his arms once he was in front of Adam, just a foot away.

"Oh hey Jaegar! I didn't recognize you by your voice earlier." Leo frowned. "I suppose it's good that it's lively..." He finally selected a few tomatoes and put them in a bag, then moved a few steps to look at some other vegetables.

"Sup Leo." Jaegar leaned over to see around Adam, who frowned at that. "It's not good when it's threatening to burn your house down. Here's some advice, if your friend is an engineer, don't live in a house with them because you'll be in charge of making sure everything stays intact."

Leo winced. That brought up the unfortunate memory of when he'd incinerated his first computer after encountering a particularly stubborn bug in his code. "Yeahh that sounds rough." Now, he stuck to making greeting cards. At least paper was less expensive to replace.

"It would be great if you could get mayo and mustard for me, I'll pay you back later!" Adam replied as he was dragged away by Jaegar.

"Gotcha!" Leo moved his arm in the air in the gesture known as a "wave." Then he sauntered over to the condiments aisle and picked up some mayo and mustard. He walked to the counter and participated in the exchange of papers for food, then skipped out of the store. He was very tempted to admire the magic doors again, but he supposed he'd better get home and put the food in the magic keeper-of-the-cool, aka the refrigerator.

Jane found her time with Jocelyn incrediably fascinating. Humans were all quite different, with varying opinions regarding things from the weather to war. What an intelligent species!

She hummed as she opened the door to Wildflower Forest. The shop smelled damp, like freshly watered soil and wet flower petals. It was pretty close to smelling like home. Perhaps that's why she chose to work for a florist shop. Her fellow florist, Bob McDaniels, whose real first name was currently unknown, was misting some Baby's Breath.

"Good morning, Bob!"

He barely glanced in her direction, "Hello, Jane."

"Any big orders in today? Weddings, funerals, birthdays, miscellaneous special events?"

Bob sighed heavily and pointed to the schedule pinned to the wall behind the register, "Unfortunately, we have a BBQ tomorrow. We need to prepare for that, and today, we have a bachelorette party. They requested various colored roses, except white for some reason."

"Well, white roses symbolize innocence and purity, so perhaps they don't want that included since weddings are usually associated with losing one's chastity, hence purity due to the Abrahamic culture's emphasis on purity culture."

Bob looked bored, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just get started on the roses."

"I'm on it! Metaphorically." Jane walked to the computer to get more details on the desired arrangement. They ordered the temporary vases, so that was simple enough. She went into the backroom to grab her supplies. It would be a long day, but it'd be worth it!

A young Russian woman with long blonde hair and green eyes pushed through the doors, innocently glancing at the walls full of flowers. She scanned the walls before asking for help: "Um, excuse me? Do you, by any chance, have any potato flowers here?" She had a slight Slavic accent, eyebrows fuzzled.

"Oh, we do! We also have potato starters to grow the root vegetable and the flower. We don't have any grown for bouquets, but we can special order them for you."

"So you don't have any already grown?" the woman pouted, rubbing her pregnant belly, "That's a shame. I guess I'll settle for the starter kit, although I'm not very good at gardening."

"As I said, we can special order the flowers for you. They should arrive in approximately three days."

"Three days is too long. I need them today," she shrugs, "It's okay. The kit will do. I could even learn a thing or two."

"The starters take sixty to seventy days to grow."

"Not with my potatoey powers," she winks, "I joke. I'll order the flowers. How much are they?"

"Eleven-fifty, with an extra five dollars for shipping. So, sixteen dollars and fifty cents."

"Why would I pay for shipping when you guys are the ones that don't have them in the first place?" the woman's eyes widened, "Five dollars just will not do."

Jane frowned. "I assure you, all costs go to protecting your flowers during transport. We must take extensive measures to protect them from the heat, bug bites, and general transporting damage."

"Oh, well, in that case..." She pulls out a pink Michael Kors wallet and takes out a twenty. "Here."

Jane took the twenty. "Thank you."

The woman hummed the Spongebob Squarepants theme song while waiting for her change. Jane walked to the register and fished out the proper amount of change before handing it to her. "Would you like them delivered to your home or the shop?"

"The shop is fine, please."

"Can I please have your phone number or email so we can contact you when the delivery arrives?"

The Russian woman contemplated, "My email is leytato at yws.com."

Jance wrote that down. "Thank you! We'll email you when they arrive."

The woman flipped her hair dramatically, "Thank you! And what is your name?"

"Jane."

"Nice to meet you, Jane! My name is Leya. I will be back in three days!" She waltzed out of the florist, "Oh, and don't forget to eat your vegetables!"

"Oh, thanks!" Jane punched in the proper request on the computer, sighing. That was close. She did not like confrontation. Humans could be very confrontational about things that did not matter, which made them a high-risk species. However, not every human was like that, so maybe it was more of a case of high-risk individuals mixed in with a neutral-risk species. Or perhaps every human was high-risk under the right circumstances. Research here had been nothing but complicated questions like that.

A few minutes later, the doors opened again. A guy wearing a long black coat and cradling a bag of tomatoes, a container of mayo, and a container of mustard in his arms walked in. "Hi again," Leo said. "So about seed packet 1735... I, uh, got them to sprout this time! Apparently, plants don't like getting too much water, though? Didn't know plants could drown." He grimaced.

Jane clapped. "You're getting better! It sounds like you need a soil moisture meter, then. It measures how much water the plants have so you can water them properly. Would you like to buy that with the next seed packet?"

Leo nodded, still frowning. "Yes, that'd be great." He adjusted the items in his arms. "How many papers do I need to give you for the soil moisture meter?"

"They range from fifteen papers to three hundred, depending on the quality, size, and speed of detection."

"Can I have a fifteen-paper one?" Leo shifted his three items to one arm, then fished around in his pockets and pulled out a wallet decorated with swirls and diamond shapes.

"Of course!" Jane walked into the back and returned with a small box. "The instruction manual will be inside. It's in English, Spanish, and French." She passed over the box.

"Thank you." The frown relaxed a little bit. "I'll try not to fail this time. Could I have seed packet 1736?"

"Are we trying sunflowers or begionas again? Or something else?"

Leo thought for a moment. "Sunflowers. Surely something that shares a name with the warm glowy thing in the sky will be kinder to poor aspiring gardeners like me." He took some bills from his wallet and placed them on the counter.

"Sunflowers are more resistant to over-watering. And can absorb toxins from the ground." She placed the money in the cash register before grabbing a packet of sunflower seeds and passing them over.

"Good, good." Leo's expression became determined rather than frustrated, and he even managed to smile. "Thanks, Jane. See you... hopefully in a while... since I should hope I manage to last longer than a week this time..." He coughed.

"I believe you can do this! Good luck."

"Thanks! Bye!" Leo pushed the doors open with his back, now carrying a soil moisture meter and a packet of seeds along with his three grocery items.

Jane waved. "Farewell!"

As the door closed behind Leo, it opened shortly afterward again, this time revealing Robert as he came in, looking around quizzically at the assortment of flowers on display.

"Hi Jane," he nodded slightly as he made his way over to the counter. "How's business been this morning?"

"Oh, it's been delightfully busy!" She grinned. "We have a bachelorette party we're chipping away at, and so far, two customers with orders. And I'm assuming you're here to add to the business."

Robert smiled. "You assume correctly. Abby's arriving back with her band today, so I'm on my way to pick her up at the airport. I was hoping you could help me choose a few flowers to welcome her back and congratulate her on the concert tour?"

"Of course! Are you hoping for favorite flowers or meaningful ones?"

"A bit of both, if possible?" He looked around the room at the flowers, trying to see if any stood out to him. "Her favorite colors are red and pink, but aren't those typically romantic? I want something to show how proud Carm and I are of her tour but not seem too awkward at the airport for a dad to give to his daughter?"

"Well, pink tulips symbolize non-romantic love, pink carnations symbolize gratitude, and anthuriums are said to bring positive energy. Marigolds represent excitement. Do any of those sound suitable?"

Robert stood thinking for a while before replying. "I think give me a small bouquet of tulips if you have them in stock. Those would do nicely."

"Just pink? Or another color as well?"

"Those should be fine, I think, thank you."

Jane nodded and laid out a sheet of plastic. She grabbed a few tulips and wrapped them in plastic, tying them off with a matching pink bow. "Here you go! That will be thirty dollars."

Robert reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet, producing the thirty dollars he had requested and handing them to Jane. "Thank you kindly. I will let you know what Abby thinks of them at the barbecue."

He turns to leave before turning around to the counter. "I almost forgot. Erica had a book there that she found in the library, and she thought you might like it. It's at our home if you want to pick it up from her after work."

"Oh, sounds lovely. I'll fetch it on my walk home. And you're welcome kindly. I hope she enjoys them."

Robert nodded a greeting before heading out the door, holding a hand to his eyes to prevent the glare from the morning sun.

Jane ran a hand through her hair before going back to making the bachelorette party bouquets. Today was going to be a good day at the shop. She could feel it.

Brenna Lawrence

The sharp raps on the door echoed throughout the dark room, causing Brenna to wake up with a groan. She hated mornings with a passion, they always came too fast and her insomnia didn't help that fact. Why couldn't she just sleep in for once instead of getting up each morning like a so called normal person? She didn't get the excuse of having a night job either although she had been trying to find one for years now since it would fit her natural rhythm better. But for now she had a different job which luckily was still on the cooler side in her opinion.

"Bren!" A familiar voice called from outside the room, one filled with its typical optimism. "Brenna! Brenndalyn! Brenndaleeeeeen! Brennda-leaning-tower-of-Pisa!"

Bren dragged herself out of bed with a roll of her eyes, her hair the definition of bedhead. Even though she couldn't help but smile, she did her best to sound annoyed. "Whatttttt?"

"It's morning! The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and best of all there's french tooaast!" Her best friend tempted. "It's fresh, hot out of the pan, and has maple syrupppppp!"

As soon as Bren heard the words of her favorite breakfast spoken, she perked up and opened the door to reveal Amy standing on the other side. "You said something about french toast?"

Amy happily took Bren's hand and began leading her the dining room where the scent of maple syrup, spices, and coconut water wafted out from the kitchen. She was then down at the table with a plate of food and a tall glass of coconut water. "Enjoy! I added in some cinnamon to the toast and a bit of sugar in your drink to get rid of the metallic taste since i know you don't like it."

Bren beamed, happily eating her breakfast although slowly as not to upset her delicate stomach. "Thanks." Amy really was the best in her books and no one could ever convince her otherwise. She had been there for her in some of the hardest times she had ever faced and still was, making sure she was safe, healthy, and cared for. And now she was standing in front of her feeding her french toast and coconut water as a much better substitute to her usual diet to make sure she didn't starve. No one could ever be better then her best friend even though she would never take the credit.

Amy happily nodded before returning to the kitchen to finish the last pieces of french toast although seconds later Bren heard another call from the kitchen. "Oh yes! I also made a new batch of sunscreen for you yesterday since i figured you were running out and would need more soon."

"I was going to ask about that later today, actually. It's like you read my mind." Bren replied happily between mouthfuls of french toast.

Amy grinned as she brought in her own plate of french toast that looked on the edge of drowning in maple syrup. "Don't worry, I didn't."

She sent a wink from across the table, coaxing a laugh from Bren. "Good to know I guess."

"Do you have work today?"

The dark haired girl nodded and finished her breakfast before checking her watch. "Mhm, I'll need to leave here in thirty minutes but I have time so I'll leave the car here in case you need it."

Ambrosia chuckled "I doubt I'll need it but thanks. Now if you're done eating shoo and go get ready. I don't want you coming back to me with sunburns again from being hasty in putting on sunscreen."

Bren shook her head in an amused manner. "That was once. You can't hold it against me forever."

"I most definitely can. Now shoo!"

She chuckled and got up from the dining table as Ambrosia made a shooing motion, telling her not to worry about her plate. She headed to her room and quickly dressed then ran a brush through her hair a few times to make it look somewhat managed and put on a heavy coat of sunscreen that she was sure to rub into her skin well just in case. After doing her eyeliner to perfection and putting on a little blush to add color to her cheeks she said bye to Ambrosia and headed to the door with her skateboard. Next to the door, hanging on a hook, was a black bucket hat with an oversized brim which she promptly plopped on her head to keep the sun off before she left, headed to work like usual. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many people coming in today, she was still pretty tired. Maybe if she had enough time she would stop by a coffee shop on her way there.