Page 105 of Distinctly Daray
“I love you, Victor, but you are incorrect,” Alaric replied.
Chander turned and pinned his mate with his irritated pewter gaze. “I love you, but if you accuse Victor of being incorrect about the equality of fallen knights and sentinels again, you’re going to find out how lumpy the couch is.”
“I have sat on it; I already know it isn’t lumpy,” Alaric responded.
“You guys accuse me of saying dumb shit, but I’ve never uttered anything close to being that stupid,” Baxter remarked. Benton elbowed his mate, and Baxter threw his hands up. “What? You know I’m right.”
“Bax, perhaps you would like to share with us what idle thought popped into your brain?” Alaric asked dryly.
“Oh yeah, I was thinking about All Hallows’ Eve and our annual party,” Baxter said. “Keegan, Phillip, and Victor should do coordinated outfits so the Darays can show off that we have a successful triple matebond in our family.”
“Or maybe they’d want to do a triple costume because they’re proud to be in love,” Chander drawled.
“Or that,” Baxter agreed pleasantly.
“I wouldn’t mind doing complimenting outfits if we can think of something cool,” Victor said.
“Obviously, you will need to sparkle in whatever costume we choose,” Phillip responded.
“Victor always picks pretty sparkly costumes, so that won’t be a problem,” Benton assured Phillip before Victor could respond to his mate.
“My favorite is still the one he did for our first party,” Brynnius said. “He was Cinderella. I liked the dress you made for that, Victor.”
Keegan leaned forward to see around Phillip and grinned at Victor. “Do you make your own costume every year?”
“Yes. If we can think of something early enough to give me time, I can make yours and Phillip’s too. That’ll make it easier on Larissa, who gets swarmed with requests every year,” Victor explained.
“Which is a reminder to get your damn ideas together and talk to Larissa,” Chander said. “There’s no need to wait until the last minute and stress her out.”
“What are you going as, Chand?” Baxter asked.
“How the hell should I know?” Chander replied.
“He usually does something related to books,” Benton confided to the newest Darays. “He has no imagination.”
“You’ve literally designed what you’ve worn in the past after his costume,” Arvandus retorted. “You don’t have any imagination either.”
“Yeah, maybe you should figure out your own shit before you go accusing someone else of lacking ideas,” Samson added.
“I want to do something scary this year,” Devlin remarked.
Teverild grinned. “Me too.”
“That’s good news,” Cassius said. “He went for disgusting last year and was an oozing sore. It made me want to throw up.”
“Asking the wizards for potions so he could secrete fluids on a whim was a disgusting touch,” Vellerynd complained. “It was the only night I have ever chosen to avoid my brother completely.”
“I have no desire to do anything gross,” Phillip stated.
“No worries, Spicy, we’ll leave gross up to someone else,” Victor said. He didn’t want to complain since Teverildhad chosen something unique, but the costume had truly been grotesque, and Victor had stayed away from the honorary sentinel the entire evening too.
“Can Victor help me with the menu again?” Brynnius asked. For years, Brynnius had been put in charge of the food. The sentinel didn’t want to do it alone, but Alaric insisted Victor fed them all year and deserved the night off to enjoy the party. Brynnius was allowed to ask Victor for his advice and some aid during the day but nothing else. It was annoying since Victor wanted to be a part of the planning and the preparation. Unfortunately, arguing with Alaric was often a fruitless task, and Victor picked his battles sparingly.
Chander tossed his napkin onto the table. “Enough of this bullshit. It’s Alaric’s party, but I’m changing the rules. From now on, Victor and Brynn are going to handle the food. It stresses Brynn out, and Victor doesn’t like being excluded. Deal with it, Alaric.”
Thankfully, there was one person willing to correct Alaric routinely, though the Arch Lich had shown infinite patience in allowing the party planning nonsense to go on for so long.
“Chand, Victor has enough duties.”
