[Xander – 13 years]

If I twist it like this, it pops. If I twist it like this, it cracks. Neither of those are right and that's really bothering me, but I don't have time to try and fix them. Today's party has a start time of four, and that means I'll probably be getting texted by Carter in the next few minutes.

But I don't like the puzzle sphere not working right. It's a new and improved one to challenge Sig even more than before, though I know I don't have to do this. I just like seeing him try to solve them. Feeling how happy he gets once he does makes me happy, too.

I don't know why it does, but it does. He's already gotten bored of all of the current ones, so I want a new one for him. Well, he's bored of all of the current ones on the market. He seems to still like the puzzle devices in the bags from the past two parties, but there's no telling when those will get boring for him. Today's party bag doesn't have a puzzle device.

Maybe I have a few-my phone pings. Guess I don't have a few minutes to try and work in some accelerated time to try and fix the sphere.

Checking my phone confirms that it's Carter letting me know he and the others coming from the Autumn Realm are ready for teleportation, so I make my way to the street, then teleport to the front of the Martinses' ranch. Carter, Tate, Bo, Cooper, and Knox are all here, backpacks on their backs. They're all in their wolfkin forms already, and I don't blame them. I'm in mine right now, too.

"Hey, Xander! Hi Trenton!" Carter greets me.

"Hi," I greet all of them as the others greet me, too, and I wave Trenton's right paw.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Ready!" They answer.

"Okay," I say. "I'm about to teleport us now."

A few seconds after I say that, I teleport us to my house, then let them inside and we head to the rec center.

"How'd the event on your server go?" Carter asks as we pass through the rides' storage room and into the main rec room. "There was a Harvest Festival one today, right? Since most players will likely be visiting family or having family over or whatever next week?"

"Yeah," I answer. "But I didn't participate because it'd be noisy. Some of them have already filled out feedback surveys on it, and it seems like they liked it. Y'all can put your things in the dorms, it's the same assignments as last time. Oh, but none of the girls RSVPd for this party. Other than Tessa, their parents were fine with Halloween 'cause it started earlier and there were a ton of adults supervising, and stuff. But since this one's just a party and not something like Halloween, and it's starting later, they ain't comfortable with it. And Tesssa's going to a party with her friends, so she and Ian ain't coming."

I don't really see what the difference is, though. They're all just parties, some just have more things to do or a bigger theme than others. This is a smaller party in terms of activities, but the holiday it's for is five days, not four.

"That's a shame," Carter says. "Looks like we're the first to arrive?"

"Yeah," I answer. "But I think Sig and them will be here soon. He told me they were on their way a little bit ago."

"Alright!" He says. "Gonna go put my stuff away!"

As they all put their things in the dorms, Sig, Connor, Sam, and Isaac show up.

"Hey, Xander!" Sig greets me.

"Hi," I give him a hug. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course I came!" He says. "Your parties are fun! Lemme go put my stuff away real quick!"

"Okay."

I wave to the others, and they follow him to the dorms. Within ten minutes, nearly all of the boys invited are here. Ian isn't coming due to going to my cousin's party, and Niko is showing up later. His parents want him to do some chores before he flies over.

Those who can shift into wolfkin form have done so, and I've turned Sig into a snow leopardkin as well.

"There ain't really any plans for tonight's party," I tell everyone once they've put their things away. "But there can be a bonfire out back starting at six-thirty, if anyone wants to do that. There has to be at least four boys there at all times, and Dad is gonna be supervising. Puffy said he will, too."

"Is Puffy your pet?" Alec asks. "I thought you legally can't have wolves as pets, but he's here all the time, ain't he?"

"Puffy ain't my pet," I say. "He just lives here right now, but might decide to move at some point. Dad's accepted his presence."

"Doesn't he have a dog bed in your room?" Sig asks.

"The bed's so he won't go on my bed," I tell him. "And it ain't a dog bed, he's a wolf. So it's a wolf bed. Anyway, y'all can just go and do… whatever, I guess? I'll be putting dinner out at about five-thirty, and there're gonna be hot dogs to cook on the bonfire when that's going."

"Snow forecast?" Carter asks.

"Not for tonight," I tell him. "I can probably make it snow, but I ain't sure if I'd get into trouble for that or not. Did you want some?"

I'll have to ask Grandpa Adrian if making it snow is okay or not before doing so.

"Don't worry about it," he grins. "Was just checking if any was expected."

"Oh," I say. "Okay. Well. Um. Y'all can go do… whatever you're gonna do?"

"What's in the gym?" Sig asks.

"I didn't set up anything special in there," I tell him. "But I did put the racks with foam balls and basketballs out, in case anyone wanted to play something with them."

"Alright!" He says. "I'm gonna go to the gym!"

"Is there a crafting activity?" Carter asks as Sig starts to walk away, and Sig stops and turns to look at me.

"Yeah," I nod. "But not at a scheduled time, so y'all can do it as you want. I'm gonna set it up at four-thirty. It's a magic lamp with a turkey pattern."

"Alright!" He says. "I'll join you in the gym, Sig!"

"Dodgeball?"

"Dodgeball!"

A lot of the boys head into the gym, and I double-check to make sure I put out all of the snacks for pre-dinner. I don't really know what to do after that, so I watch the dodgeball game until it's time to set up the magic lamp crafting session. Sig, Carter, Alec, Sam, Tyler, Chance, and Owen all play on Green Team, while Bo, Tate, Knox, Tyler, Parker, Connor, and Jake play on Blue Team, though they all play on Team Skins.

It doesn't start that way, though. They all just move around so much that they end up sweating a lot within fifteen minutes and swap their shirts and pinnies for bandannas matching their team colors. Some of them wear them on a wrist, some on their upper arm, and some as a neckerchief.

If I'm right, then Connor's going to throw a ball at Sig, who's going to catch it. Yup, Sig just caught the ball from Connor, who moves to the section for those who are out. Then Sig's going to hit Tyler with the ball… no, that was wrong. He aimed at Parker, who he got out. Jake is going to catch a ball thrown by Chance, allowing Knox to come back in (he got taken out by Carter). Yeah, that was right.

I continue to try and make guesses based on how everyone is moving and other stuff I see, but it's not easy, even with how fast I can think. They sometimes even change who they're going to throw it at without changing how they're aiming. That makes it really difficult to stay accurate with my guesses.

Once it's time for me to head to back to the main rec room to put out the stuff for crafting, I do so and let everyone know it's ready. A few of the other boys come in immediately to try the crafting, but most continue doing various activities.

They don't need me to be around for that, but I stay nearby just in case someone gets confused and has questions. My parents were able to do it just fine with the directions I set up when we were making sure they were clear, but that doesn't mean everyone can.

While I hang out near the crafting zone, I play Go Fish with Marty, Berry, Austin, and Thomas. Marty is really good at this game, and it mostly comes down to the two of us aiming for the win. No reward for winning and no penalty for losing, but it's still fun to try and guess or remember what the others have.

When it's time for dinner, I excuse myself from the game to put the stuff out for that.

Mom suggested doing something other than pizza this time, which is confusing. Pizza is the food for party meals. This isn't a barbecue party, it's a regular party. That means pizza, not burgers and hot dogs. Sandwiches are boring for a party, too. Other stuff doesn't seem right for it, either.

But Mom convinced me to do a casserole, saying it fits for a harvest-themed party. Casseroles and salads. The main dish is tater tot casserole, with a choice of salads and fruit salads, along with rolls and garlic bread.

There's also pizza, for anyone who wants that instead, because I'm still not sure Mom was right about that. She's used to being a professional personal chef, not a caterer of parties for teen boys. And I'm pretty sure what teen boys want for a party is pizza.

It's what I saw when looking up what's common for it in shows and stuff, and what the internet suggested was acceptable and normal. Pizza, wings, breadsticks, and stuff like that.

There we go! And I just sensed Niko and his dad arriving, so Niko's here in time for dinner, too. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it or not. It takes a few minutes for him to come in, even after he's shifted back to human. His dad doesn't turn back to human, though, he just flies off after Niko enters the rec center, a backpack slung over his left shoulder.

"Hey, Xander?" Niko asks as he approaches me.

"Hello, Niko."

"Do you do commissions for spatial pouches?" He asks. "I know you made one for Seb as a gift, but I don't know if you sell them or not."

"That depends on the person, why?"

"If I'm gonna be flying out here every now and then," he says. "It'd be nice to not need to have Dad come with me. He doesn't want to let me take his expanded spatial pouch with me, so he has to fly out with me and back. I was already doing pretty well as a streamer before the SMP, so I've got some money saved up. Probably not enough if you're charging normal prices for it, but based on some of the comments you've made before, it seems like you charge less on some things, like longevity enchantments."

That explains why his dad came with him – he brought Niko's clothes while Niko flew, since there aren't really clothes for dragons. It's like when Grandma Aurora carried the triplets' clothes with them on Friday. They ended up leaving their clothes here when they left once they realized that they couldn't bring them back with them.

Grandpa Blaze then picked up the clothes and brought them back to Sweden for my cousins.

"I don't use as much mana," I tell him. "Since I do it more efficiently. And my mana capacity and recovery rate are high enough that the cost ain't worth $20 a point. There's an added fee if it's for an even length on the sides or it's not a cube, thirteen percent extra for each. And I only do it for some people. Mostly my friends. You ain't a friend. But you're a good enough person that I think it's okay to make one for you. Only with an added fee, though, since I ain't close with you and barely know you."

Charging a little bit extra for a commission for someone who I'm not close with but am okay with doing them for is acceptable. Grandpa Adrian told me that it allows it to be more special for those I make it for as friends, since they don't pay as much as those who aren't. It also allows me to still make it for people I'm okay with making them for but aren't too close with while still restricting it some.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Niko doesn't seem like the sort of person who would try to resell it, and I'll be binding it to him for access, anyway. That means it should be fine for me to make it for him.

"Alright," he says. "How much is it?"

"Do you want just a spatial expanded space?" I ask. "Or one with a temporal stasis on it? Or do you want an actual spatial pocket? Or a stasis pocket?"

"Uh… what's the price difference?"

"It's $100 per cubic foot of space for a spatial expanded space," I tell him. "Or $300 if it has a stasis enchantment added on. For a spatial pocket, it's $250 per cubic foot of space, or $750 for a stasis pocket. The fee for an even length on the sides is thirteen percent, as is the fee for a non-cube, and so is the fee for not being close to me."

"Alright," he says. "Uh… was expecting to afford maybe a cubic foot of space for a normal pricing, and the numbers I got for that were around ten to twenty grand per cubic foot of expanded space. I was still expecting something around the lower end of that? I have about ten grand I can spend."

"Okay," I say. "So if you're using it while turning into a dragon, tailoring magic wouldn't be a bad idea to use. I'm guessing your dad uses that to carry his pouch? If you do it as a pouch, it'll be cheaper, but the clip for fixing it onto a belt will have to be special-made to work with tailoring magic better so it can turn into a cord, like Grandma Aurora's does.

"At your budget, plus the extra fee, a cube would be… uh… hold on," I swap my glasses. "It would be $9,153 for an expanded pocket with a stasis enchantment on it with a three-foot side, or $7,627.50 for a spatial pocket of the same size, no stasis aspect.

"Adding in the ability to tailor it more easily," I continue. "Is an extra $1,000, or $1,300 for you due to the additional fee. So for a budget of $10,000, you'd be able to afford a spatial pocket of up to three feet on each side, a stasis expanded pouch that's under three feet on each side, or a spatial pocket that's four feet on each side, but with an added fee."

"Spatial pocket with a three-foot size is fine," Niko tells me.

"Okay," I tell him. "The payment has to be up-front, and I'll make it after you pay."

"Would you be able to do it after the party ends tomorrow?" He asks. "So that I can use it when I leave?"

"If you pay me now," I tell him. "I'll make it after I eat. Enchanting helps me when I start getting overwhelmed. A little bit. And there's a lot going on."

"Sweet!" He smiles. "Yeah, I can pay you now!"

After he does that, I grab a tray and start serving food for myself.

"If you want to put your backpack away," I tell him. "The room you're assigned to is with the rest of the dorms, past the leftmost door over there. There are already a few others in there, but I made sure your name was on the door and stuff for your bed is set up. Just look at the signs at each door to know which one is yours. It's the one on the right, furthest back."

"Alright," he snorts.

"Oh," I add. "And all of the rules for any given room at displayed in the room. That includes individual dorm rooms, the dorm wing as a whole, and each other room here which has specific rules. And the rules for the party and the rec center as a whole are displayed right there.

"I also left you a couple of spell marbles in the top drawer," I tell him. "All of the boys who have over a certain amount of mana have them. They're the tailoring spell and the spell for turning into a wolfkin, and there's a guide for understanding the spell formula in the marbles with them. That way, you can be a wolfkin if you want to join those of us being one."

"Okay!" Niko says. "I'm gonna go put this away, then I'll be right back!"

Niko heads to the dorms, and I finish serving myself my first round for dinner and take a seat. When Niko emerges from the dorms, he's in a wolfkin form. I can tell he feels a little bit uncomfortable, but it seems to be in the same way some of the others do when they're not in human form.

Jake feels even more uncomfortable than Niko like this. It's probably because he's actually a dragon, so being a wolfkin just feels strange since it's not what he really is. Since he got used to being in human form (mostly), he probably just needs time to adjust to being in wolfkin form.

But nobody has to turn into wolfkin to be at my parties. It's just for if they want to. If it makes them uncomfortable, then they should just stay in their human forms.

As others show up to grab themselves dinner, I can confirm that pizza is the preferred one. They all try the tater tot casserole, but the things which need restocking first are on the pizza tables. Most of the other boys go back for more pizza and wings and stuff.

Mom was wrong. I was right.

[Sig – 13 years]

The look Xander is giving Ms. Katie right now is really amusing. She came in to help us clean up from the party, now that everyone else has left or been teleported home. Connor, Sam, Isaac, Jake, Niko, and I are staying behind for a bit, however. Niko stayed as he wanted to participate as he thinks it sounds fun, and I think it'd be awesome to have my cousin in the video. Those of us not in human form are back to it, Xander included.

He probably wants to stay in wolfkin form, but feels awkward over being the only one in it and doesn't want to be in it for our next real plan for the day. There's still time until then, but the first issue probably contributed to him shifting back early.

After lunch is my next athletics-related recording. I finally came up with a third thing to do for it and have time to do so. Part of the agreement for letting me do another recording here was that I helped to clean up after the party.

Which isn't that difficult to do, though I really want to know why Xander's got an "I told you so" look on his face.

"Yes, Xander?" Ms. Katie snorts.

"They liked the pizza better."

"You still put out pizza?"

That explains why Xander had both pizza and casserole out for dinner. He was told to do something different, so he did the usual party dinner food in addition to the thing Ms. Katie convinced him to do. None of us could figure out why the casserole was there. It tasted great, but the pizzas were better.

"There ain't any of the pizza, wings, or breadsticks left," he tells her. "While half of the casserole is left. And I made more than three times as much in volume in pizza as I did in the tater tot casserole. So clearly, pizza and wings are the dinner of choice for a regular party."

"Let's… just get things cleaned up."

I do my best not to snicker, while Connor fails to hold it back. The others manage to hold back, though. Dinner was definitely a debate between Xander and his mom.

Once we finish cleaning up, we're served a lunch of build-your-own sandwiches, chips, and fruit. Simple and easy to do, and we get to witness Xander down thirty sandwiches in thirty minutes. That doesn't include his sides and drinks. Even Jake, an actual dragon, doesn't consume that much in human form.

Which is fair, when considering that he's weaker than Xander by quite a lot. It does make me wonder just what magic Xander's been using in the last day or two to be so hungry, though.

With lunch out of the way, we set up for my next athletic video. It doesn't take very long with six of us working on it. Especially not with Xander deciding to be lazy and using telekinesis to move things.

"Aren't these enchanted against telekinesis?" Jake asks once we're done.

"Yeah," Xander answers. "But it ain't that hard to get around."

"No," Jake says. "I'm fairly certain it is. I don't think even force-type dragons could normally do that as easily as you did."

"They just need to practice more."

Did Xander really just pull a "skill issue" on an entire dragon species specializing in that magic type?

He's going to one day realize just how absurd his skill level is. I'm sure it'll happen soon…

"Alright!" I start setting up one of the streamer orbs Aunt Rachel brought over earlier. "I've only got two of these, but-" Xander opens his mouth. "No, Xander, I don't want to borrow one. These two should work just fine. Anyway! It's time to get this started! You guys should stand there while I record the opening."

"Sig," Xander says. "The contract used when you paid to use the gym for content explicitly stated that you'll have use of the recording system within the gym. The omnidirectional recording. You don't need to use the streamer orb. That's what I was gonna say. You can just request the recordings from whatever parts and angles you want for during the reserved time block."

"Wait, really?" I ask. "I know there was a contract just so that it can be listed properly when it comes to filing income stuff, but I thought that was just liability stuff, since Aunt Rachel needed to sign."

"She had to sign because you're a minor," he says. "And yeah, there was liability stuff in it, too. But also that. It's part of reserving the facility, but has the same restrictions as normal on what can be viewed using it."

In other words, not using it for pervy stuff, which wasn't even a thought in my mind.

"Oh!" I say. "Okay… well, using an orb'll help me know where to look when talking to the viewers."

"Okay."

I set the orbs up (including to record), then get my friends and cousin to stand in position.

It takes me a few attempts to do a good opening, but I finally manage one I feel is good enough and where I don't stumble over what I say. If it ends up being bad, I can probably cut together a few of the attempts.

"Hi, everybody!" I wave. "Seb here, back at this secure facility! The gummy bear army guarding it stands strong, and I'm feeling strong, too! With colder weather in and the snowy season about to hit us, that means we'll be indoors a lot more often! That doesn't mean I'll stop being active, though!

"While this video's taking place inside," I say. "That doesn't mean they all will! I might still do some outside, in the cold! If I come up with something, anyway! But today, we're here again!

"And in this video," I continue. "I'm playing dodgeball with my friends! But not just any dodgeball! As you can see, we've got some blocks and posts set up! It'll be a free-for-all between five of us, with Xander as the scorekeeper!"

I have no idea when he acquired the whiteboard on wheels, but it was definitely after the last recording since that board was not in his storage room then.

"The goal is to try and earn as many points as possible!" I say. "We're all wearing one of these bracelets," I show it to the orb. "They're one of the ones which limit our strength output based on the weakest, limiting us to what we'd be like if we had as much mana as the them. We'll do three rounds of it, each lasting fifteen minutes! With obstacles in the way, we're going to see just who can get the most points! Anyway, let's all get into positions! Xander, tell us when to start!"

"Okay," Xander walks over to the bleachers.

On the wall connected to the changing rooms, the bleachers are pushed all the way in. For the opposite wall, only the bottom row of bleachers pokes out. He has the whiteboard with our names by that one, along with Trenton.

It takes the rest of us about a minute to figure out good starting positions which aren't too close to each other. Only then does Xander call for us to begin, and I charge in and try to dodge the obstacles in an effort to reach the balls at the start. They're in the middle of the playing zone, a circle marked out as a "safe zone", meaning we can't throw balls in it or at people in it. We're also not allowed to stick around in it – go in, grab a ball, and get out.

Rules are something I probably should have explained in the opening, but it was already pretty long. When Xander calls time, I do another talk session to explain the rules to the viewers. That can be edited into the start when I edit the video, or I might just edit in some text to show the rules for a few moments.

Then, we return to the game, the balls reset and the five of us players back in our starting positions. Jake scored the most points the first round with me in second, and I do my best to target him to try and keep his points down this time. We gain two points if we manage to tag someone with a ball, but lose a point if we're tagged.

In other words, tagging others isn't the only thing to keep our points up – it only helps us bring it up. Keeping it up means avoiding balls.

My strategy works, to a degree. I manage to keep Jake from scoring first, but he tags me often enough that I only score third for the round. Niko manages to claim first, while Connor gets second over me by a single point.

For the third round, I don't target anyone in particular, but it feels like everyone is trying to target me. I still manage to claim second this time, while Sam's in first.

"So!" I say during the closing recording. "I think we can confidently say that Isaac and I are the only ones who can score consistently! But it was actually kind of fun, having to try and avoid the obstacles while trying to tag others and dodge the balls!

"Anyway!" I say. "This was just a fun little video, no learning or training or anything like that! But I still had tons of fun! Thanks for watching, and if you've got ideas for another athletic/fitness video, lemme know in the comments! Bye, everyone!"

Once the recording ends, Xander tells me to let him know what parts and angles I want sent to me for editing.

"Can I get, like, all of it?" I ask.

"…that's a lot of data," he tells me. "An hour or so of recording time, from all angles, over a large space. Your computer probably can't handle omnidirectional videos. But even if it could, it's not just a few gigabytes like your stream VoDs. It's a lot bigger because of all of that."

"Oh… I hadn't thought about that," I say. "Um… is there a way for me to look at the whole thing and decide which parts I want to get so I can decide on the editing and stuff?"

"Sure," Xander answers. "We can do that now if you want, or after we clean things up."

"How about after we clean up?" I ask. "That way, we don't forget before we leave!"

"Okay."

[Xander – 13 years]

Niko has left by flight, while my friends have all been picked up by their various guardians. The part and recording stuff are all officially over now.

I make my way to the kitchen, were Dad is helping Mom make grilled chicken for tonight's dinner.

"Dad?" I ask.

"Yes?"

"Can we go shopping tomorrow?"

"For what?"

"Stuff to make gummy bears."

"We've got that," he tells me. "Or did you go through all of yours?"

"No, I've got some," I tell him. "But I want to make a mega batch. Thousands. And I don't have enough for that."

"Thousands?" Dad asks. "What brought this on?"

"Sig," I answer. "He did the gummy bear comment again."

"Aaaah," he says. "Yeah, we can go to the store for that tomorrow. Katie and I were planning on picking up a few more things for next week."

"Didn't we buy it all already?" I ask. "And the fresh produce comes from the greenhouse now, right? Or is there something I don't have the shrubfolk growing? I can ask them to start, though we might need to use some magic to get it ready in time."

"Stuff not produced by the greenhouse," he tells me. "And you don't need to produce everything, Xander. A lot of it would just end up in storage or given away from how infrequently it's used. It's okay to buy stuff at stores, you know. And as for what it is, my father wants to introduce you to oyakodon. We'll be doing that for dinner tomorrow."

Grandpa and Grandma Caldwell are arriving tomorrow afternoon and will be staying here for the whole week of the Harvest Festival. Dad already promised I don't have to spend the entire week doing stuff with them. Even he doesn't during their extended visits, apparently. It's an annual week-long stay they do every year for this holiday, and they also stay for a week for the Festival of Frost, even though that one's only three days.

"Oyakodon," I slowly say. "That means… oh. It's not descriptive at all. But it's a type of donburi? It has fish in it, doesn't it?"

Grandpa Caldwell seems to like fish a lot, so it's a good guess that there's fish in something he wants to convince me to try.

"No," Dad chuckles. "This one's meat is chicken, and it has eggs as well. Hence, 'parent and child'."

"Oh," I say. "So it's eggs laid by the chicken?"

"No," he chuckles again. "It's just a play on it being both a chicken and a chicken's egg. Dad said he'll be using a chicken stock for it rather than dashi, to account for your tastes."

Grandpa Caldwell is really nice.

"We've still got about ten minutes before we're ready to plate dinner," Dad tells me. "We can eat in the theater and watch a movie at the same time, if you'd like. You can pick out the movie while we finish up."

We usually eat dinner in the main theater (not the rec center's theater) at least once a week rather than watching one together before or after dinner. Dad usually picks the movie when we do that on a weekend, but it seems it's okay for me to pick one this time.

"Okay," I say. "I'll try to have one ready before you're done!"

Since this might be the last documentary we watch together for the next week due to his parents' visit, I need to make sure it's a good one. Is there a wolf documentary I haven't watched yet?

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