The conversations between them flowed naturally as they waited for their orders, filled with easy banter and shared stories. When their food finally arrived, the waiter moved gently around the table, placing each carefully prepared dish in front of its rightful owner.
They dug into their food with genuine appetite, pausing between bites to continue their animated discussions. Laughter punctuated the al regularly, and at one point Amir found himself wiping tears from his eyes as Sarah delivered a particularly well-tid joke that had the entire table laughing out hard.
Eventually, they neared the end of their dinner, and Sarah pulled out her device, which was an iPhone 16 Pro Max. "Alright everyone, group photo ti!" she announced, extending her right arm to position the front cara to capture the team as they arranged themselves in various cheerful poses behind her. Sarah took a peace-out sign pose, with a grin on her face. Liam had a smile with casually folded arms. Elaine had a grin on her face and looked like she was waving. Amir and Silas sat and looked pretty normal with smiles on their faces as well
"Perfect!" Sarah said while looking at the picture. "I’m creating a group chat and sending this to everyone." Her fingers moved quickly across the screen as she opened her ssages app, created a new group with all five mbers, and shared the photo.
Elaine raised her right hand to signal the waiter for the check, but before he could approach, both Sarah and Amir simultaneously reached into their pockets and produced several hundred-dollar bills, placing them on the table as if they’d planned for that mont.
Elaine’s eyes widened in surprise. "What are you two doing?"
"You didn’t think we’d let you pay for everything, did you?" Sarah asked with a knowing grin.
"I an, co on guys, it’s really nothing..." Elaine protested.
"We know," Amir interjected.
Seeing this display, Liam and Silas exchanged glances before following suit, each pulling out their own contributions, a few hundred bills as well and adding them to the growing pile on the table.
Elaine looked around at her teammates with a mixture of awe and resignation, then chuckled softly. There was no point in fighting it. She put away the card she’d intended to use and added her own bills to the collection, sa denominations with the others.
Sarah gathered all the cash and organized it into neat stacks, and when the waiter finally approached with the bill, she simply handed him the money before they all stood to leave.
The waiter stared at the substantial amount in his hands. "But ma’am, this is way more than the bill, and we don’t have change for this much."
"Since when did tipping culture die in Arica?" Sarah replied with playful sarcasm, patting his shoulder as they filed past. The waiter’s mouth fell open as he processed that they’d just tipped him roughly ten tis the amount of their bill.
"Thank you so much!" he called after them. But only Sarah heard his gratitude as the others had already exited. Without turning around, she simply raised her thumb in acknowledgnt and continued out of the restaurant.
Outside, Liam turned to face the group. "Thank you all for today," he said earnestly, as if the evening had been exactly what he needed. "I’ll find my way from here." They waved their goodbyes as Liam’s feet lifted off the ground. Sohow, he was no longer concerned about witnesses, then he rose into the night sky and flew toward ho.
"I’ll be heading off as well," Elaine announced. Magical energy began to glow around her as she too took flight, disappearing into the night’s light.
"Looks like it’s just us three now," Amir observed as they made their way to the Chevrolet SUV. Silas took the driver’s seat while Amir settled into the back and Sarah claid the passenger seat. They pulled out of the parking lot and rged into the evening traffic.
...
Liam touched down at his house and walked through the front door to find Yaela curled up on the center couch, absorbed in whatever was playing on the television. She looked up as he entered, and casually said, "Hi."
"Hey, Yae. Sorry I ca ho late," he said apologetically.
Yaela tilted her head, looking genuinely confused. "Why are you apologizing?"
"Uhm..." Whilst Liam struggled to find the right words, Yaela spoke again, "Because after what happened with Ray, you think I’ll always need protecting?" she asked casually, even smiling as she said it. Liam found himself at a loss for words.
"Don’t worry, Liam. I’ll be fine. I’ve got powers now, rember?" Yaela concluded with confidence.
Liam smiled and simply replied, "Okay," before heading upstairs to his room while Yaela returned her attention to the screen. But sothing happened, for just a brief mont, her eyes glowed violet before returning to their normal color
...
In his room, Liam collapsed onto his bed, exhaustion finally catching up with him. Despite his fatigue, he couldn’t deny how much he’d enjoyed the evening. USOV had evolved beyond rely being a ans to hunt mythical creatures for his summoning abilities. Every reason his teammates had shared; Elaine’s sense of purpose, Silas’s need for a good pay, Amir’s adoration, and the family Sarah always wanted—had beco part of why he valued his place in the organization.
He stood with a contented sigh, then stripped off his clothes and tossed them into the nearby laundry basket. Now wearing only his pants, he headed to the bathroom for a shower, and few minutes after that, he was done.
When he erged, refreshed and dressed in his comfortable pajamas, he added the black pants to the laundry basket before settling back onto his bed and checking his phone.
Two notifications from the newly created group chat popped up on his phone’s ho screen. He opened the ssages to see Sarah’s photo from dinner, with all five of them clustered together, beaming with genuine happiness. Then below it was a more recent ssage from Elaine’s contact that simply read: "I love you all", with heart-emoji to the side.
Liam smiled at the screen, then set his phone aside and settled in for a well-deserved night’s rest.
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