Moonhaven

Chapter 7: Pillow Talks

Ridley dragged Grayson to the kitchen where they saw Emilio and Aoife loitering by the kitchen island, devouring tiny starfishes.

A lanky man suddenly stood up in between the two from behind the island. His dirty-blonde hair was a sea of spikes around his ivory skin. He instantly noticed Grayson and Ridley hand in hand and strode over to them, his smile as wide as an ocean.

"My, my, my," he sang, glancing down towards their joined hands. The two then noticed themselves, and blushed as they released from each other.

The man grinned. "Silas Mitchell. And you must be the newest addition to our chaotic, but creative town." He threw an arm around Grayson and smiled warmly at him. "Grayson Prior. I've heard many things about you since my twenty minutes of being back in town. All of them good, so no worries. And I've heard many more things about your son, Alex. Again, all of them good, and all from my menacing niece, Carsyn. Truth be told, I was the one that introduced her to that 'BeFriendMe' site and the realm of pen-pals. I used to have a pen-pal of my own when I was younger."

Grayson scooped up Silas' free hand and gripped it tight. "Thank you for doing that. Carsyn is already doing so much for my boy. I already know he'll be much happier here in Moonhaven. So thank you, again."

"Ah, ah, ah. Quite the earnest shade of Gray. Come here! Have some poached starfish!" Silas took a fork and used it to stab a a few miniature starfishes, then fed it to Grayson who's eyes widened at its succulent taste.

Martin finally entered the kitchen. "Silas-a-cheese!"

"Martini!" Silas screamed back.

"Shut up!" Emilio and Aoife shouted.

Ridley giggled at them all through a mouthful of starfish, and Grayson beamed at her giggling.

Silas and Martin ignored all of them, running up to hug each other.

The walls in Ziro's room were a dull silver, except for a patch in a corner by his bed that was bone-white in a triangular shape. Framed sketches of weapons took up space all over the walls, and on the ceiling were abstract patterns in the same shade as the triangular patch.

The group sat in an uneven circle on Ziro's bed while chowing down on poached starfish from a large metal tray.

Alex swallowed three starfishes, then used his fork to take up more as he chewed the first three. "So, your mom really drew all of these?" He glanced around at all the sketches on the walls.

"Yeah, because I wouldn't decorate the walls with anything else," Ziro replied.

"Well your sense of decoration always was bland," Nyne revealed. Ziro narrowed his eyes at her and cleared his throat, prompting Carsyn to throw a small stack of napkins at Nyne. "Hey!"

"What?" Carsyn said innocently. Nyne scoffed.

"Hey, not that we all don't enjoy your company, but how long are you gonna be here, Nyne?" Tate asked.

"Well pardon me. Ever since meeting Alexy this morning, I've been feeling these overwhelming sensations of mystery, danger, and love of various kinds. You know how I crave to know the details of those very things, especially when they concern us."

"How can we forget. You're such a diva," Evan muttered as she laid her head on Nyne's shoulder.

"Alexy?" Jeremi chuckled.

Nyne reached over and flicked him on his ear. "Yes. It sounds quite sophisticated, no?"

Alex nodded and gave her a full-hearted smile. "Sophisticated."