241 Storytime.

Now that I had the wards on my coat, I was safe enough to return to Brakebills undetected.

A long flight and can ride later, I was back in my room at Brakebills, a third of my magical reserves restored.

Now the real planning began.

I had been gone for two days now and I had to answer for my absence.

No. Not to the Dean, but to my new friends.

"Those are some powerful wards you're sporting there champ." Eliot said as he smoked a cig.

Damn he looks cool!

"Well, you know what they say.

Good magicians protect themselves, great magicians are so prepared their enemies need protection. They are a walking fortress. And now, so am I!" I explained with a flourish, sparks raining down from my spell.

"Nice party trick but seriously. What enemies?" He asked, amused.

"Oh you know...." I leaned over, "Dark and mysterious ones."

"I knew it!" Margo exclaimed as she gestured smugly at Eliot.

Eliot sighed and handed her a twenty.

"You guys are keeping bets on me?" I chuckled.

"We keep bets on everyone." Margo stuffed the bills into her pocket.

"We're keeping a bet on when Quentin will lose his virginity."

"And on what the story behind that portal you came through is. You really have to tell us." Eliot insisted.

"Oh no no. I'd rather keep the suspense going a little longer. Let it marinate. Otherwise you might just lose interest in poor old me." I acted out.

"I doubt that. You kept us hooked on a story about a goddamn pothead and a llama." Eliot pointed out.

"And we're kinda overbrined. So andale." Margo demanded.

"Alright. I'll tell you.....in due time." I teased.

"Oh come on!" Margo rolled her eyes in protest.

"Okay. How about this. We will play a guessing game and you tell us how much we got right." Eliot suggested.

"Now that's a million dollar idea. I like it!" I agreed.

"Really?" Margo asked, unamused.

"Bambi. Come on. It'll be fun." Eliot persuaded her, "We can make it a drinking game."

"Fine. But I'll start." Margo smiled, "And we need drinks."

Eliot waved his hand and a bottle of tequila appeared on the nightstand alongside 3 shot glasses.

He poured out 3 shots for us and handed them out.

"We guess something about you and if we guess it right, you take a shot. We miss...well you know the rules." Eliot said.

I shrugged and took mine.

"Alright bitches. I'll go first." Margo repeated.

"You have a girlfriend."

I looked at her witha raised eyebrow and she frowned.

"Don't even...."

"Fine." I broke the staring contest and downed my drink.

"Damn this is strong."

"Only the best..." Eliot said proudly.

"But how did you know?" I asked.

Margo looked at me as if I had asked her how babies are made.

"Well duh. You've checked me out what, two times since we met. And not to brag but-"

"You're a smokeshow." I completed her sentence.

"You're aiming at some real low hanging fruit there, but yes." Margo replied, "Basically."

"And you're definitely not gay because...I'm right here." Eliot admitted.

"Besides, a guy like you..." She eyed me up and down, "If you're not taken, I'd almost be offended."

"Yeah. You're right. I have a girlfriend. She's not here though." I gestured at the bed.

"Wait is that why you get to have the whole room to yourself?" Margo asked, jealous.

"Yup. She's supposed to come and join us this semester but....things happened and she's currently indisposed." I said.

Eliot raised a glass to that, taking a shot.

"To indisposed girlfriends." He toasted, "Now my turn." He insisted.

"Go ahead." I said as he poured me another shot.

"That portal...leads to another world." He guessed.

I sighed and downed the shot.

"Man you guys are on a roll."

"Damn right we are. My turn!" Margo announced, "You knew about magic before you came here."

"Really? What was that about low hanging fruit?" I said, downing a shot.

"They're easy to reach." She replied cheekily, squeezing my arm.

"Alright. I'll go." Eliot said, "Uhm...you have... a little sister."

"Nope." I denied triumphantly, "Little brother."

Eliot muttered an intrigued 'hm?' and took his shot.

"You are not close to your little brother." Margo immediately shot out.

I downed a drink.

"Yup. Again on the spot. How are you doing this?" I asked.

"You just give off those favourite child vibes." She gestured at me, smug.

"Alright yeah. My parents do like me more than my brother. He hates me for it." I let out.

"Me. Me." Eliot said, "You .... have a fear of heights."

"Not anymore." I said.

"But you did." Eliot pointed out, "That's got to count for half, right? He asked Margo.

"Definitely counts for half." She agreed pouring me a shot.

"If you're pouring, I'll take it." I winked.

"My aren't you a bad boy. Cheating on your girlfriend already?" She flirted.

"She's on another world. It definitely doesn't count." Eliot defended me.

"She can travel worlds so probably not. It counts." I patted his shoulder, "But thanks."

"You're real pussywhipped aren't you?" Margo teased.

"Just loyal. And scared." I laughed, leaning over and whispered.

"She's kinda possesive."

Though Wanda did agree to me having a harem sometime in the future. Maybe. Probably.

We'll see.

"Yeah. You're pussywhipped." Eliot laughed.

"Maybe I am. Maybe not. We will find out once she gets here. You guys will love her. She's awesome."

"What's she like?" Margo asked.

"Hot. Cute. Red hair. Like flaming red. And she's really naive sometimes. It's adorable. And she's great with my kids. They-"

Eliot spat out his drink.

"Hold on, you have kids?!"

"Oh yeah. Did I forget to mention that?"

"You mentioned literally nothing, so yeah." Margo replied sarcastically.

"Oh boy. Where do I begin? They're all just so cute. Especially my son, Star-"

"Wait, how many of them are there?" Margo asked.

"Um...well, four, I think. There's Star, Saraswati, Ace, Riley. I do have a baby on the way. And oh, Luminara. My youngest. Or oldest. Depends how you see it. So six, seven if the newborns are twins. I hope they're twins."

"How in the fuck did you manage that? You're what, 21?" Eliot asked.

"Well now that is an interesting story.

Where do I start...um yes. Let's start with Star. He was born in... let's just say a very bad neighborhood. His mother actually sold him to me for drugs. I tried to help her, of course. But she was all, 'you're the reason my kid doesn't have a father' and 'you killed my love'. And stuff. Which, I did not do. Her husband was a soldier for this cult. They made kids fight and I was there. On the front lines, so I saw what happened. So I was this staunchly anti-war military engineer, I protested, gave speeches.

The speeches worked. The war came to a standstill.

Then her husband was blown through, one day before the armistice, by a tank. And it was...well gruesome is understating it. So...she blamed me. She just needed a scapegoat to push her problems onto.

And Star...

I couldn't let him grow up in that environment and she wasn't taking any help and just got more addicted to drugs. So I bought him. To keep him safe.

No child deserves to live like that."

"That's actually a moving story. I did not expect that." Eliot muttered.

"Yeah. But what about the mom." Margo asked.

"Don't know. Don't care. She sold her kid for drugs. Star is better off not knowing she ever existed.

Me and my wife are all the parents he needs. Or needed. Before she well, died. Same war. Same bullshit."

"So you had a wife. Who died. And then a girlfriend, who's what... indisposed? Tell me if that doesn't sound suspicious." Eliot noted.

"Shit happens. And my girlfriend is fine. If she wasn't, she would be here. I have contingency measures for stuff like that." I assured him

"I get the feeling there's a long story behind that. And I'm not even gonna ask." Margo waved it off.

"Yup. But it's..uh... what's the term, classified. Internal security stuff. Can't say much."

Margo narrowed her eyes.

"Sure ..."

"Alright. Move on. What about your other kids?" Eliot interjected.

"Oh yes. Um so, that's Star. He's five. Then there's Riley. She was next. Rolled with a band of murder clowns. Saw and did some real fucked up shit.

Then I rolled into town..."

"And let me guess, you saved her like a knight in shining armor?" Margo scoffed.

"Actually no. I killed the other murder clowns but Riley, she uh.... saved herself. Bashed the lead guy's head in with a pipe. The guy that made her do the bad, traumatic stuff.

And I adopted her to keep the police from trying her as an adult for what she did under their influence. Got her clemency, a therapist and now she's fine-ish. At least she's happy. I think. She's really clingy and attached and wants to be spoiled but overall a good girl."

"Ok that is nowhere as happy go lucky as you made it sound. What the fuck, Jay?" Margo exclaimed.

"What? You'd rather I leave her to rot in jail? She was 12. She deserves a family that loves and cares for her."

"So the vibe I'm getting here is found family?" Eliot offered some meta commentary.

"Yup. Lot's of that." I confirmed.

"Hey. Don't just skip past my question. A 12 year old doing all that? I find it hard to believe." Margo was skeptical.

I could understand that.

I just shrugged.

"There are some really fucked up worlds out there. Shit's wild."

"Okay okay. Bambi, let the man speak." Eliot patted her back.

"So where was I? Yes. Ace. She was the third. Or fourth. Depends how you see it." I explained, "So Ace. She was in a government facility I raided. Secret labs. Shady, illegal experiments. Found her there. Saved her. Brought her out. But she had nowhere to go. Her parents had sold her to the government. And she wanted to come with, so I adopted her too."

"You just skipped right over her. What, she was too bland for a story?" Margo asked.

"No. Her story is just that. Simple, short. Happy ending, I hope. I do show them lot's of love and care but you never know with adopted kids. Trauma digs deep."

"Amen to that." Eliot raised a toast.

"So you're basically running an orphanage. Is that it?" Margo laughed.

"You know, Riley said the same thing when I brought in Ace."

"Riley knows her shit for being an imaginary girl." Margo replied, still thinking this was all an elaborate lie.

I shook my head and continued.

"So then, came Saraswati. She was actually, a ship. My ship. Self conscious A.I., with a perky personality. And since I made my ship, she was kinda my daughter. So of course, I took responsibility. Raised her, fed her data. She's growing up... nicely. It's hard to tell with A.I. you know? One day they're nice, the next it's Terminator 2."

"Okay you have led a seriously weird life." Eliot laughed.

"Or you're full of bullshit." Margo poked my stomach.

"I wonder....." I vaguely replied, wriggling my eyebrows as we all laughed it off as a joke.

Which was good.

My other clone body had been killed for less.

No one can know I have means of multiverse travel. Even Dean Fogg doesn't know about the portal. He probably just thinks I'm a Traveler and even with that he's under contract to never reveal anything about me.

Thankfully, we are under my wards right now so this shouldn't leak outside.

No spying was allowed in here with the wards on.

And while Eliot and Margo are unlikely to blab, I will still put them under contract as soon as possible.

Travelers however are common enough so it shouldn't raise any red flags.

Just to be safe though, I will wipe their memories of this today, once they are blackout drunk. As added precaution.

While I came up with a solution, Eliot and Margo just came to their own conclusions.

"Well, even if it was a lie, at least it was entertaining." Eliot compromised.

"It certainly was." I agreed.

"At least you can lie well enough. Todd on the other hand..." Margo rolled her eyes.

"Ugh don't even get me started on Todd..." Eliot groaned.

"What did Todd do now?" I asked.

"Oh boy. Buckle up." Eliot sat up straight, "It's my turn to tell the story....."

_________________

MC reveals a story to friends because he gas no other choice right now.

Next time, he corrects this mistake.

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