Woe to the Days of Fire & Death

The Premature Burial

Alas, time has flown by and once again it is time for the annual Parent's Family Weekend at Nevermore. 

Zander hated this event, because it was his mother's favorite time to show off her pride and joy, himself. She would always start with a tour for anyone interested and then spiral into talking about the dragon egg on display. It meant that Zander had to be on his best behavior and always in sight of his mother, something he wasn't too keen on.

The only highlight from all of this family stuff, was the minipig sidekick was back! Weems allowed her son to have his beloved pet back as she finally had some weeks of reprieve from his shenanigans. When given his minipig back, she saw his once gone smile come back which warmed her soul. Instantly, the two ran off, gone to continue his shenanigans from where they last left off.

As the flood of parents came in, Zander and Ham wandered around the Quad, picking at the food while everyone settled at their chosen tables or in their seats. He watched as his mother made her usual speech, as well as informing everyone that Eugene was 'on the mend'. Both Z and Wednesday knew that was bullshit.

He stood with Wednesday and Enid, all of them giving eye rolls and knowing looks. Eugene was not 'on the mend' as his mother put it. Enid and Wednesday quickly made their snarky comments about their family drama before the three split off, going in separate directions toward their forlorn families.

"Oh honey there you are! I was just talking about you!" Larissa Weems towered over the other parents. Zander gave an exaggerated eye roll and a huff. He didn't want to be the topic of anyone's conversation, especially his mothers. "Why don't you grab a plate of food, sweetheart."

Z did as he was instructed to do because if he didn't, he'd get an earful from his mother about how he was tanking their donations from the wealthy parents with his uneasy attitude. Ham simply followed after him, excited to be getting food. She loved to munch on anything, including non-edible items like Zander's bedsheets. 

He met up with Enid at the buffet table. "How's it going so far?" He whispered over to Enid, who looked stressed to high hell. "Awful Z! She want's to send me to Lycanthropy camp!" She huffed exasperatedly.

"Oh man, I'm sorry Enid. Can you tell her no means no?" He asked as they both simultaneously started to plate their chosen food. "I've tried that Zanny, but she's so stubborn." The two exchanged empathetic looks before splitting back off with their plates full.

The dragonborn sat down, watching the other dragonborns transform or show off their cool ability they learned while away from their parents. He set the plate of food down for Ham to go at it. He didn't have much hunger with such a demanding event. Even Mace had his family here and he was tossing a football with his son. Not to mention the fledgling didn't even know his power yet nor how to transform, other than the time he did to keep himself safe from the monster.

For some reason, Zander had never felt out of place in a world full of outcasts, until now. His only world was within the school walls and Jericho and not even his mother was the same species or had the same gifts as him. As far as he was concerned, he was abandoned and discarded. The outcast to outcasts. There was no father figure other than Mace and he had his own family. The small dragonborn felt alone surrounded by people who loved him or tolerated him.

As the little fireball sulked, he hadn't notice the Sheriff had barged through the doors of Nevermore. The Addams turned, fully expecting Sheriff Galpin to start haggling Gomez, but instead, he scanned the crowd looking for the young dragon he had barely started to grow fond of.

Once his eyes locked on the young one, sulking in his chair, he pointed. "He's over here." The Sheriff slowly started to lead his two guests over to the fledgling. "What are you doing here Sheriff? Maybe we should discuss some things in my office?" Larissa stepped in front of him and his guests.