MAEGYA | vi. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVIE." THE SWEET HEREAFTER
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THE CHAOS OF rebuilding a commonwealth, dealing with the bigotry of the Magisters, and upholding her status as one of the most powerful magic users in the world from Happy Hogan's condo was no doubt, one of the most trying times in Theadora Valaryen's life.
Luckily, after a few weeks, everyone contained had found a groove in which to operate. Half of the upper annex of the condo was dedicated to Maegya-work but any petitioners and guests would be directed to the lab for security reasons. In one corner of the living room, Peter would speak with Ned through his headset while they played their video games, and in the other, Thea and Bex would be floating in rune circles with candles enclosing them as they practiced magic.
However, all her troubles would be put on hold today because it was August 10th. Peter's birthday.
After a long debate over how detrimental the Blip was in deciding an age, they finally concluded that he was turning seventeen. It would've been back in 2018 but Thanos had snapped his magic fingers three months before in May. Fast forward five years, Bruce Banner had reversed the Snap in October of 2023 so technically, Peter's birthday was skipped over.
It was strange. Once, Thea had only been older than Peter by four months but now she was older than him. The whole discussion had made Thea's head hurt so badly, that the ache had carried over the next morning. Come November, Bex would be turning eighteen to join Thea in the adult world. That had everyone on edge since the laws protecting minors wouldn't apply to her anymore. Even though the charges were dropped, there was no telling what could be thrown in their faces and they wanted to protect what little of their future they may have had left.
It was an endless labyrinth of confusion to determine the full spectrum of Thanos' impacts—from the lives lost, to the systemic disruption in her community, even their damn ages. But when August 10th rolled around, Thea's troubles disappeared and she became a ticking bomb that was about to explode if the bakery put her on hold for another minute longer.
"Get those streamers looking right or I will personally kill everyone in this room!" she shouted, making strides across the main floor. She looked at her phone, feeling a rush of relief at a text that popped up:
HAPPY:Got the cake, heading over.
The only well-versed people in birthday celebrations were Lydia and Bex Ortega. Bex's quinceanera was a hazy fever dream filled with swishy tulle dresses, Abuela Imelda's sangria, and a whole lot of dancing.
Thea looked up, admiring the way Lydia and Bex spiraled the streamers and connected them from wall to wall to create a blue and green cobweb. She suddenly noticed Bex wiggling her fingers, sending blue spirals of light out to the rolled-up corner of the banner to pull it upward.
