It was the night of the winter formal for Auegfort Adventuring Academy which meant that Sklonda was at Mordred Manor with all the rest of the parents, sitting in the living room and waiting for the kids to finish getting ready. It at least made it easier to get pictures of all of them, but it was also an odd mix of people.
They were all bitching about the construction work on the road about two blocks from the Manor where the city was replacing some of the sewer system or something which had changed the major six-lane road to a two-lane and was driving every person in the city absolutely bonkers.
Then, distantly, there was a sound of Riz’s phone ringing from the guest room across the entry hall where the boys were getting ready. Something about it made Sklonda stop paying attention to the conversation in front of her, catching the near-silent opening and closing of the door behind her. Quickly, she stood and found herself between the front door and Riz, who was already dressed for the dance, his briefcase in one hand and crystal in the other, clearly on his way out the door.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Uh,” Riz started but didn’t finish.
“Is that your mother?” came the muffled sound of Pok’s voice from Riz’s crystal.
“Is that your father?” Sklonda asked, suddenly understanding why the ringing had caught her attention. It was Riz's ringtone but it had been off an octave.
“Uh, yeah,” Riz said already sulking because he knew he wasn’t getting out of going to the dance now.
“Give me the crystal,” she said, holding her hand out.
Riz handed it over with a sigh and went to sit and pout on the couch next to Jawbone who patted him on the shoulder, even though he was laughing.
Sure enough, on the crystal’s screen, Pok was smiling at Sklonda, grin as wide and goofy as it had ever been. Her eyes burned as she smiled back at him. “Are you trying to give our son a mission on the night of the dance?” she asked because she wasn’t about to have her first real conversation with her dead husband in front of her boyfriend and her son. She needed to focus.
“Dance? There’s a dance? Riz!” he shouted. “I asked if anything important was going on.”
“The dance isn’t important,” Riz said throwing up his hands.
“Yes, it is,” Pok and Sklonda said together before taking a second to smile at each other. Then Pok made a twirling motion with his hand and Sklodna turned the crystal around so that the Riz and Pok could see each other again.
“Come here, let me see you better,” Pok said, making all of the adults in the room laugh quietly to themselves. Riz dragged himself over and stood in front of the crystal, smiling uncomfortably.
“He reminds me of you at Darv and Kar’s wedding,” Sklonda said to Pok, making Riz’s smile turn wide and genuine.
“Oh no way I looked as handsome as he does right now,” Pok said, a smile clear in his voice.
The guest room door opened up again and Gorgug and Fabian came out. “Oh you’re still here, The Ball,” Fabian said as he came over.
“Yes, forget about the mission. You can worry about it tomorrow, come here let me see all of you. Bill will kill me if I tell him I saw you the night of a dance and didn’t bring him a picture,” Pok said, making Sklonda laugh. She assumed it was Bill Seacaster he was talking about and she honestly didn't want to know how those two knew each other. Though the idea of them being friends made total sense when she considered it; they were both men who thrived in chaos. “Hold still or the picture will be blurry.”
“I’m sorry, maybe next time don’t call in on a crystal,” Sklodna said rolling her eyes.
“I would love to show up as a vague apparition as I usually do but there are a ton of wards where ever you are,” Pok said and then aww-ed when Fabian and Gorgug came into frame. “You all look so handsome.”
“Hello, Mr. Gukgak,” Gorgug said with a little wave. “How are you on the crystal then?”
“The wards are only holding out magic so we just disguised it in the electrical waves,” Pok explained.
“Oh, well I’ll have to fix that,” Aelwyn said as she started to come around the corner followed by the girls who she had been helping with their hair.
Jawbone and Sandra Lynn laughed and Sklonda could only imagine the amount of work that Aelwyn had been putting into the wards if Pok’s team was having to hide it in crystal signal.
“Picture time,” Sandra Lynn said, standing up from the couch and grabbing her camera. “Get together now. Where’s Ayda?”
Riz came closer to Sklonda and grabbed the crystal from her. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then, Dad?”
“I’m already getting the stink eye from people over here so maybe not. I’m over my allotted time but I’ll send instructions through my grave just make sure you pick them up soon I don’t want them flying off,” he said.
“I’ll grab them once we’re done with pictures,” Sklonda said. “We’re right next to the cemetery.”
“Perfect. Now have a good time tonight, kiddo. I love you,” Pok said quietly.
Riz nodded once sharply, and Sklonda could see him holding back emotions. “I love you too.”
Sklonda moved the crystal a bit so she could wrap Riz in a hug but barely a second had passed before Pok said “Is that Gorthalax?”
Sklonda turned the crystal back towards herself and shook her head at him. “No. We’re not doing this tonight.”
“I just wanna say hi,” Pok said with his worst faux-innocent expression. It was like the man wanted to get caught in his lie.
“You can do that then next time you’re in the bottomless pit,” she said. “Goodbye now.”
“Bye, I love you both,” he said before he hung up.
Riz hugged tighter to Sklonda’s side and she kissed the top of his head before she whispered, "Come on. Picture time."