A Wonderful Christmastime

((I imagine he's dressed pretty much how he's dressed in the gif xD))

Jack turned back and waved her wand, poiting at the kitchen. She had perfected the breakfast-cooking spells, since she rarely had time to make it all and she loved a hearty breakfast. She could hear bacon beginning to fry, pancakes flipping, and the noise of their coffee maker beginning to brew coffee, the kettle pouring water for hot chocolate. Jack looked up as the little parade entered. "Merry Christmas, Sunny - you can start on your stocking. My parents never minded us tearing those open, so I can't be bothered. Merry Christmas, Max. I've only just got up but breakfast is a-cooking and coffee will be done soon. Your free to open your stocking too."

She smiled. Most of Sunny's stocking was crayons and arts supplies, as well as more candy than the little girl needed. Charlie had smaller items from some of her favorite Diagon shops, and Max's was full of stuff such as playing cards and old keys - muggle junk she had found at a local thrift store. She was sure the man would have some fun with it all, in his line of work and all.

Jack walked to the hallway and called, "Charlie! Charlie, wake up. It's Christmas. Come open your stocking before Sunny claims it for her own."

"Pipe cleaners - cool!" Sunny had already dumped out the contents of her stocking and was rifling through. "Chocolate crickets? Ewwwwww - hey, these don't taste so bad, actually!"

Jack grinned, flinging herself onto one of the sofas, smiling out at the scene before her.

The scene playing out before him was almost movie-worthy and Max had all but forgotten about his own presents until Jack's suggestion, content to watch the young girls expression. The tore through her stocking in the way he remembered doing as a kid with barely a pause before each small gift was sent to a pile. Jack got up to call Charlie and Max stood to grab his own stocking from where it hung to bring it back to the couch with him. He left it unopened on the table as he flopped back down, running a hand through his messy hair and wondering vaguely how long it would take before coffee was ready.

Jack returned and seated herself in the sofa that abutted Max's chair, putting her noticeably in his line of sight as he watched Sunny's mad scramble for gifts. Although he could never be sure, she seemed to be getting consistently better since their return from Eis Estate. Drinking had all but stopped and the singing had gone with it. But the fear remained for Max, as he suspected it did for Sunny and Jack. The events of the last month hung over all of their heads in a dark cloud which they all overcompensated for with extra niceness passed off as holiday cheer.

The residents of Layabout Lane were both farther away and closer than they had ever been.

Max reached for the wrapped gifts that were poking out of his stocking, adding to the symphony of ripping paper. He looked up from the pair of muggle keys with a grin, finding Jack and giving her a smile. His gaze was brought upward at the emergence of another sleepy redhead, shamelessly still in her pajamas. Charlie greeted them with a yawn that sounded vaguely like "Good morning" and sunk to the floor near Sunny and the tree. Her eyes widened slightly at the load the four of them had managed to get for each other and timidly reached for her stocking.

Jack's own stocking still hung by the fireplace and Charlie took it own, passing it up to her cousin. "Merry Christmas, everyone." she greeted with a sleepy smile.

Charlie tramped out into the living room, looking like a newly reanimated zombie, as all teenagers typically did in the mornings. "There she is, in all her teenage glory," Jack said, smirking a little as she watched the girl's progress into the heart of the home. If she could grind Charlie's gears a little, it will have been a successful morning. The three Dyllan girls had a language all their own that completely excluded Max from their conversations - Sunny called it Sass, when in fact it was simple, straight up bickering. Light-hearted, of course, but when the females got to that point, they knew they were all on the same page.

Number 4 Layabout Lane was absolutely toxic to logic.

Jack glanced over at Max as he began looking through his own stocking and she smiled, glad to see he enjoyed the gifts. She looked up in time to see Charlie extending Jack's stocking to her, and Jack took it with a thank you. She began tearing through it as well, pleased to see that it had all been Sunny-inspired gifts. Lots of candy, lots of little toys Jack would surely break, and then more practical stuff (surely from Charlie or Max) such as a rolled up pair of Quidditch gloves.

The stockings were almost completely demolished, so Jack raised her wand and the presents began floating from under the tree and settling at people's feet. "I got all of you two presents - Sunny, you have three there because apparently Santa didn't get the message that you were just as naughty as us. Have at them when you're ready for them. Sunny, start with the thinner one. Max and Charlie, the boxier ones for you."

She was excited for them to get to the gifts. Charlie's book would be her first gift, and for Max she had a ridiculously huge muggle book called Most Influential People of Our World. It seemed like the sort of thing he would like.

Sunny was reading her certificate, carefully diseecting each word, sounding it out. And then she figured it out.

"NO WAY!"

Jack grinned. "Yep - the gift of ostrich poop to Sunny. We'll go next weekend."

Sunny stared at the certificate in awe for a solid four seconds before putting it down. "Okay, now which present?"

Jack shook her head. "That's why parents do it, then - for the gratitude." She smirked.

The trail of paper destruction continued as all Dyllans (and a rogue Morrison) continued to dig into their gifts. When the stockings were torn through Jack continued to enable them by sending over larger gifts from under the tree. Even without these larger presents a large pile was already starting to form before Max, consisting of all manner of random trinkets and food items. As Sunny unwrapped her main gift, Max waved his wand to summon a cup of coffee from the kitchen. It made it to his waiting hands without too much of a splash and he gratefully took a sip of the reviving liquid.

Setting the cup on the coffee table he exchanged it for the present and began tearing off the colorful paper until the book was revealed. He read the back and inner flap with a spiked interest, momentarily distracted from the scene around him. He looked up to see Charlie holding the book Jack had described the night before, already flipping through it's contents.

"Sunny, here." Max waved his wand and his stack of presents split between Sunny and Charlie, similarly to how Jack had distributed hers. The youngest member of the house had received the most gifts, mostly because Max had the best sense of what to give her. He barely knew Charlie and Jack's had been a bit of a challenge to come up with and then create. The curly-haired man glanced between the three Dyllan girls before deciding that stealing Jack away when the others were still occupied was probably a good call. The chances of anything exploding had to be reduced when they had other entertainment.

Max stood, leaving his presents and coffee behind, before standing at the arm of Jack's sofa. "Your's didn't fit. Come on." he nodded his head towards the hallway and when she had stood to follow he led her out of the back and into the smaller rear yard. If Max had let their main front lawn overgrow it was nothing compared to how much he had neglected the back. Weeds grew rampantly in the old flower beds and bushes completely blocked the view of the surrounding homes on all sides. Sitting in the middle of the snow-covered jungle was settled small greenhouse, windows decorated with patterns of frost.

"Com'on" he repeated, taking her hand to help her across the icy path that he had cleared the day before. They crossed the small yard in little time and Max released Jack to wiggle open the latch on the greenhouse. After a momentary stuggle he swung the door open, holding it to allow Jack to enter first. As soon as the redhead was inside he slipped in after her, closing the door to keep out the cold. When they had moved into Layabout the greenhouse (more of a shed, really) had been falling in, overcome by the elements, plants, and filled with old junk and trash that previous owners had neglected to take care of.

Over the last week or so Max had managed to fix it. The dirt and trash were completely gone, the plants removed, and the structure both stabilized and magically expanded. In what had once been no more than a dirty broom closet, the flatmates now stood in a fully functioning greenhouse whose size rivaled those on the Hogwarts grounds. Picking up some tips from the Ministry, Max had worked longest on climate control, keeping the interior of the greenhouse closer to a summers day or trip to the rainforest, rather than the blustery cold that was outside. Falling snow was visible out of the windows but the lights hanging over the plants felt like mini suns.

He turned to Jack, "I figured it would be a good place for Charlie to work when she comes and stays." he offered. The rows of tables were mostly empty of life, waiting to be filled with anything the young Hufflepuff could dream of. "And look!" he continued, his excitement starting to betray in his voice. With a nod towards the back he led Jack to a door at the far end of the greenhouse and swung it open to reveal a smaller office-like space. On the walls were framed pictures and newspaper clippings of the Falcons, polished broomsticks (including his own school broom), and hooks to hang coats.

The most defining feature of this smaller room was the large windows that pointed back into the greenhouse. When building Max hadn't been able to shake the imagine of the other room bursting with life and color and wanted Jack's room to feel that energy. He had made her office slightly cooler, slightly dimmer, and the ceiling less likely to spray you with water. Overall Max's chest was slightly puffed with pride and he couldn't help but be childishly excited for what he had accomplished. If Jack didn't like it he would take it for himself.

Turning to the redhead, he gave her a smile. "I just wanted to give you a place where it would always be a beautiful day."

Jack didn't even want gifts. This, in itself, was absolute joy, and what gift could give her more than the sight before her. This - a child happily tearing open every gift that got in her path; a typically reserved teenager lighting up with excitement; and Max just... being there, being himself, being happy. She had worried, because Christmas was no longer Christmas to her, but the anniversary of one of the saddest chapters in her life. She was afraid she would be unable to forget, unable to smile.

Come in, shake the snow off her boots. The house was decorated in the full flush of Christmas, and no one was there to enjoy it anymore. lose the door to Mel's room. Close the door to Nemo's room - lock it forever. Take down the garland, the stockings, the tree, the ornaments. Struggle to take down the mistletoe because Nemo had hexed it so it would stay, so she would eventually have no choice but to kiss him. Take out the presents she had purchased, unwrap them, find their receipts, and prepare to return them. Throw out every photograph into a box, tape it up, set it in the closet. Sit on the couch, with her pets whimpering at her feet, as she stared at a blank television screen, the receipt for two train tickets clenched in her hand.

Merry Christmas.

The memory was still there, yes, but it was not haunting her, and it was not as present as she had suspected. No smile was forced, the light inside of her seemed genuinely warm. There was a sadness there, but a sadness for the past, for people she had loved so long ago. But a buried sadness was hard to feel when present happiness was so abundant. Her eyes gleamed and she tightened her hold on her own hand. This was family. This was happiness.

Max was asking for her and she looked up. "Oh, okay." She looked over at the girls and said, "Charlie, that bag is for you. You can open that package too, Sunny - just not the one in the red wrapping." Jack was excited to see Charlie's expression when she opened the bag and found a potted Flitterbloom. Jack began following Max out when she heard Sunny say "Open mine, Charlie!" Jack grinned, glad she was missing the reaction to Sunny's gift, a potted honking daffodil, and the loudest one she had ever heard. Sure, she had purchased it, but it had definitely been Sunny's choice.

Jack quickly grabbed one of the nearby gifts and followed Max out. She paused as they went out the back door, glancing down at the icy pathway. Jack had a tendency to christen the holidays with the first fall of the season. Max seemed to be thinking along those lines and he reached out to her. She glanced up at him, considering how she would have smacked his hand away and made some snarky comment only two months ago. Now, she took his hand gingerly and followed him, carefully picking her way towards the greenhouse, her curiosity piqued.

She entered the greenhouse and words escaped her. Max's voice betrayed his excitement and his pride, but her voice revealed nothing. She followed him silently, unable to say anything. When he turned to her, Jack was still unable to say anything. Instead, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms her roommate, tightly clinging to him, in the most unreserved way she had ever expressed emotion to him. She squeezed him tight and lifted her head. "Thank you, Max."

After a moment, she released him and glanced down. It was then that she remembered that she had grabbed her other present for Max. "Um, here," she held it out to him. "It's not a greenhouse, I'll admit, but I couldn't bring myself to enable your violin habits, so it left me with this."

The gift was simple, but it had been tricky for her to get. She had had to charm a camera as soon as she had gotten back from Eis to float about the kitchen unnoticed. It was a picture of all of them. Max, Jack, Sunny, Charlie, even the pets filtered in and out. They were at the table, eating, laughing, joking. The frame was simple, adorned with nothing else but the word 'Family.'

The words left her mouth and before Max could even give her a smile, she had pulled him in for a deep hug. The embrace lasted for mere seconds but it felt like much longer, jarring the older man slightly at the unfamiliar touch. She let him go and he watched as she reached for a small wrapped gift whose paper matched the others under the tree. He accepted it and glanced up at her again before ripping open the wrapping with a much grace as her taping job allowed him.

Max stared down at the picture, a warm smile growing on his face. Even as he watched dogs were barreling through the frame, Charlie was pouring juice, and he and Jack were talking. Max remembered that morning - it had been yet another good one in a series of pleasant days after the Dyllans return from Eis Estate and the entire group had been caught in a good mood. When you lived with an irritable teenager, a moody adult, an unpredictable child, and countless restless animals it was rare to find a day when everyone was in complete harmony.

But somehow Jack had caught it.

The engraving on the bottom made his heart flicker slightly in gratitude. In all of his poorly constructed arguments while at Eis, this single word summed up what he had been trying so hard to make her understand. They weren't strangers living under the same roof anymore. Jack had truly become his family and he cared about her. No, he loved her.

"It's perfect, thank you." he nodded happily. Max paused for a moment, resisting the urge to test out the newly accepted practice of giving her a hug. Since his agreement to help her, things had changed between the flatmates. First a kiss, now a hug, Max's head hurt slightly whenever he tried to consider how their relationship was changing. She seemed to feel closer to him but Max felt a constant guilt that he wasn't doing absolutely everything he could for her or he wasn't helping enough.

Jack seemed to be making a quick recovery from her state at Eis but Max was sure this had nothing to do with him or his promised help. Jack was mending herself again, like she always did.

"Want to go watch Charlie get dangerous new toys?" Max asked, an amused grin breaking out on his face. He nodded back towards the door to the office and when she agreed they made their way out of the warmth of the greenhouse and back into the snow. A comfortable silence had settled between the pair as they walked, only to be broken by Max when they had made it half way back to the house. "And what's wrong with my violin?" he frowned and mumbled to half to himself "I've been getting much better."

They made it back to the main house without any slips or falls and settled back into the living room without much event. Charlie was holding her honking daisy and looked over it's flowers to give Jack a slightly raised eyebrow. "How's it look?" she asked, having worked on the greenhouse a few days herself. Max had mostly kept her there for the herbology expertise on what conditions were needed for plants to actually grow but she had given him several interior decorating tips as well. When Jack and Max had left to see it without her she had been slightly disappointed to miss her cousin's expression, though, judging by the way she sometimes saw Max looking at Jack, she wasn't that surprised.

The smile was enough. He didn’t need to say anything – the look on his face as his eyes traced the picture was enough to tell Jack that the gift was good enough, that she had pleased him. It was the only way she knew to properly thank him. And not just for being the guy who paid half the rent, or the guy who babysat Sunny when she was busy, or the guy who attempted to keep the garden alive, or the guy who made sure she didn’t burn the house down - she had a lot thank him for, evidently. But mostly, it was to thank him for rescuing her from herself, and for being so willing to complete their odd little family.

Family – there the word was again. It wasn’t even a stretch. The first time she had used that beyond her blood family had been to describe her living situation with Nemo and his illegitimate daughter Mel. Then, however, she had said the word with a grimace, and it had tasted bitter and ironic in her mouth. She had wanted to be a family. But Mel was not planning on accepting any of them into her life, and Nemo was not willing to sacrifice for the sake of his family. She had grimaced because she knew as she said it that they would never be a real family, not a true, happy, functioning one. The Dyllan-Morrison family was not always happy, and didn’t always function, but they were always striving to improve the quality of the others in the household.

She supposed that was the real difference.

She smiled up at him. “I’m glad you like it. Really glad.” She cast another fond eye around the Greenhouse. How had he known how perfect it would be, how much she would like it? She had always been bothered that Layabout Lane was not more of a home to Charlie, that there was not a space the girl truly enjoyed. Max had given Jack happiness by providing for the middle Dyllan. And the office was wonderful. She had her cramped little one that was more storage than anything, and she had long outgrown it. She was itching to mess around with the brooms hanging up as well. Tinkering had always been a bad habit of hers.

Another grin unfurled on her face at his words and she said, “Definitely.” She smiled and followed him inside, steadying herself only once on the slick pathway by gripping his shoulder. No sooner had the door opened to admit them, but Jack’s ears were assailed with the high-pitched hyperventilating of Sunny – so, she enjoyed her second gift then. Before Jack could ask, Charlie stood, plant-laden and seeming genuinely happy. Jack nodded, “It’s wonderful, Charlie. Absolutely perfect. You’d better fill it with tons of plants – the more dangerous the better.” Somehow, Jack doubted Charlie would have a problem with that.

“Max!” Sunny said, her eyes almost rolling happiness. “Look!” She held up a book, The Beginner’s Book of Spells to be exact. “Jack got it for me!” Jack grinned and glanced at Max, mouthing ‘wait for it.’ “Sunny, did you give Max his present from you?” Sunny shook her head and quickly ran to the tree, retrieving another book-shaped present, tripping over herself as she ran to him. She thrust it into his arms, and before he could even fully uncover it, she announced, “It’s a scrapbook of all of our adventures!”

Jack had helped with that one. It was in a nice leather scrapbook, but Sunny had put her own flare by adding glitter – there was always glitter. Inside was pages upon pages of hand drawn illustrations of the various escapades Sunny had dragged Max on. Sometimes Jack and Charlie made an appearance, sometimes the animals did. On occasion, a picture of real life events accompanied the picture, reminding everyone that the peacocks at the zoo had not actually let Sunny ride on them, as her picture suggested.

Jack glanced around, taking in all the strewn paper and abandoned ribbons and bows that littered the house. Where had the carpet gone? “Well we made a disaster zone of the house – again. You ready to open your present from Santa, Sunny?” Sunny wobbled her head madly and picked up her last remaining present. Jack nodded. “Go on, what are you waiting for?” Jack was certain this would be the gift to get her in trouble, but she had already thought of every argument, every excuse. Besides, it had been Santa’s idea, after all.

Sunny ripped open the paper and revealed a very familiar looking box. Surely Max and Charlie would have some terrible clue as to what it was. She slid it open and her little eyes multiplied in size, a trembling hand reaching inside the tissue paper to reveal a very battered looking wand. Sunny’s eyes rose to meet Jack’s and Jack said, “Seven inches. Very short for a wand. Unicorn tail. Cherry. Bendy. I know the wand is supposed to choose the wizard but-“

“That’s why you got me the book – Santa told you what he was getting me!” Sunny exclaimed.

Jack grinned, nodding. “Yes. Now, you can’t show people you have that.” She glanced over at Max. “Not exactly, y’know, legal. But it’d only be a small slap on the wrists – my wrists. And there’s very few people in the Ministry willing to slap these wrists.” She grinned. “Sunny, it’ll mostly just be something for you to have. Even if you do somehow have magic, you wouldn’t really be able to use it properly.” Jack had not been able to resist. Sometimes it broke her heart – Sunny loved this world so much, and there was no guarantee that she would ever truly belong to it.

She checked her wrist. “In-laws should be over any minute. They decided they could manage the trouble. Why don’t you guys go put your gifts up – Sunny, off in your room. Charlie, there’s a greenhouse outside I’m sure your plants would love.” She grinned. She was certain everyone would love it.

It was amazing how many gifts four people (all of less than abundant wealth) could pile under the tree on Christmas. The flow of flying paper never seemed to stop and genuine smiles were to be found throughout the room. Sunny passed him another gift on Jack's prompting but before he had it halfway unwrapped she revealed it's contents. "Thanks Sunny!" Max said with a grin, flipping through the glittery pages that were filled with drawing and photos of their adventures.

He set the book aside as Sunny opened her present. When the wand was revealed Max's eyes widened slightly and he opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and just watched the expression of joy light up on Sunny's face. Jack laid out the legal dangers of having the wand but Max's mind leaned towards the magical risks of a six year old with a tool that could cause death.

Jack sent Sunny to bring her presents to her room and the young girl quickly obliged, making several trips up and down the stairs to make sure all of her new belongings were safely transported. Charlie had also disappeared out the back with her arms full of leafy plants and seed packets. Max glanced out the window and saw her trudging through the snow to the greenhouse which she disappeared into. From the way Claire had been talking when they had built the place, Max wondered if they would ever be able to get the teenager to emerge from her new-found den.

In no time at all Jack and Max had managed to find themselves alone again. Max stood and grabbed a trash bag from the kitchen. He knelled down by the Christmas tree and began to shovel in destroyed wrapping paper in an attempt to clean up their mess of a living room. He glanced down at himself and saw his shirt was covered in glitter from Sunny's book and vainly attempted to brush it off. "Gabby said he might drop by too." Max called over to Jack. "I hope that's okay."

Jack felt good. Jack felt happy. The house was a mess and that seemed appropriate. Mongo was in the corner,  devouring a new pack of socks. Elliot was surely exploring the Greenhouse with Charlie. Fred was probably going to end up in the trash with all of the wrapping paper, but she knew he would find his way out without much help from anyone else. The trashman had gotten in the habit to check anyway.

"Gabby?" Jack repeated. That son of a-

Ding-dong.

Oh, right. Family. Jack had sort of... forgotten about that. She glanced over at Max and rose slowly, making her way through the sea of wrapping paper. "Sunny!" she called out. "Your parents are here!" She heard the muffled noises of Sunny extracting herself from her pile of gifts and Jack paused, lingering. She had not seen them in awhile. The last had been... well, with Nemo. Her mother had been less than pleased. She was certain Raelyn the woman was expecting the worst of her flatmate. The first person Jack had introduced to her family had been a werewolf. The second had been flat-out drunk. Whatever Raelyn was expecting, it certainly was not Maximus Morrison. He was by far the most responsible friend she had ever had.

Huh. He was her friend, wasn't he? Somehow that seemed infinitely more and pitifully less than what he actually was though.

The last correspondence with her family had ended in her retrieval of Sunny. She knew that her father was back to treating her like a daughter, but her mother was far from being civil. Jack had never met Sunny's mother, and she had not been on good terms with Riley ever since he had decided to become the biggest arse this side of the Atlantic - a shame really, since he had been the only reason she had survived her childhood. She would never admit to his face that she missed him, but she knew it was going to be hard to see him.

"I should... I should get that," Jack said, a little lamely. Something about her family made her an awkward, timid person. She could not make head nor tails of it either - it certainly wasn't who she had been while with them. She nodded, speaking mostly to herself. "Yeah. I'll get it."

She walked through the living room and headed for the door.

Meanwhile, Sunny had stumbled downstairs, looking perfectly innocent. When she smiled up at Max, however, gummy candy coated her teeth. She giggled and closed her mouth, quickly swallowing all of the candy. She looked up at Max and said, "You get to meet my other parents." She beamed up at him and scampered off after Jack.

Jack had just opened the door. There stood her brother, a strange woman, and her father. She stared at them a moment, before her father reached forward and pulled her into an awkward hug - not out of lack of affection, but because neither Dyllan was one for showing it. She stepped away and the woman stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Skye. I've heard so much. Thank you so much for... well." She seemed to get a little self conscious and dropped her gaze. Jack swallowed, not sure what to say. She could hear little footsteps behind her though, so she said, "Sunny's really excited to see you. Come inside." She moved out of the way, revealing Sunny.

"Sunshine!"

"Mommy!"

The two redheaded females hurried met in a hug in the entryway. Riley cleared his throat and stepped inside. Jack's eyes flicked up to look at her older brother. "Jack," was all he managed to say. She sucked on the inside of her lip irritably, momentarily tempted to kick him in the shin like old times as he came in. Instead, she let him push past her. "Come on in, Dad."

"Hang on, just... just peak your head out really quickly. I brought something with me."

Jack gave him a curious look and stepped out onto the step and saw it, parked on the curb. Her old Bristol Brigand, a gift of Chip's that she had received before she could apparate. Jack had often missed the unreliable little car, but had never had the nerve to recover it from her parent's home. Apparently, she didn't need to say a thank you. Her father pressed the keys into her hands, patted her shoulder, and walked inside.

Jack managed to recover within the minute, and she quickly went inside, closing the door behind her. The whole Dyllan clan was congregated in the hallway, so Jack pushed past best she could and said, "Come on into the living room." She flicked her wand and heard the kettle shifting in the kitchen. "Tea's brewing. Come on."

Sunny was dragging her mother down the hallway. Jack led the way into the living room and moved out of the way for her family. Charlie and Max were waiting there. Jack was left to introductions.

"Erm, Dad, Riley, Skye, this is Charlie. Charlie is Chip's daughter. She's been living with me for a few months now. She goes to Hogwarts. Charlie, this is my dad Greg, my brother Riley, and Sunny's mother Skye." Greg awkwardly put out a hand for her to shake, attempting to offer her a warm smile. Riley nodded his head but Skye stumbled forward and pulled Charlie into a hug. "You're family," Skye said, sounding almost ecstatic to be apart of this family.

Jack turned and gestured to Max. "This is my flatmate, Max. He's been an absolute wonder with Sunny. She adores him."

"I do!" Sunny said, assuring them of the truth.

Jack smiled. "Max. My dad, Greg. Brother Riley. Skye."

Her father offered his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Max. You seem... well-adjusted." Jack smirked. Her dad had been expecting worse too. Skye seemed to have gotten a handle on herself, so she only reached out a hand to shake.

The kettle began whistling and Jack almost summoned the teas, before thinking better of it. "Max, could you help me with the teas?" She smiled and bustled out of the living room and into the kitchen, Sunny's voice immediately rising to fill the silence.

Once out in the hallway, Jack let out a long breath. "Geez." She glanced back at Max and smiled, leading the way. "You just met a whole bunch of Dyllans and you haven't run yet. You're a champ."

((godmoded Charlie coming in d Max following. Hope you don't mind))