He certainly hadn't been trying to lead an interesting life, but lately Ellis had found his was swinging that way without his permission. It had started with Thian's insistent cafeteria interview, but it was what had happened next that was the real kicker. One deceptively warm winter's morning, Amory had found a shallow stack of papers in Howard's desk that seemed to imply he was considering adopting another Nightmare.

Ellis was embarrassed to admit he had gone rather cold when she had relayed the news, her pink eyes bright with mirth even as she held her level tone. She'd implied in the past that he had been similarly sprung on her when she'd least expected it. It seemed his father had a pattern when it came to this whole adoption thing. Amory was probably loving this.

The little hybrid listed was just a baby as far as he could tell, young enough for him to keep her from becoming a jerk, but Ellis was still wary. He hadn't had a lot of luck surrounding himself with non-jerks in his short life, and he had little hope of doing so now.

He sighed. That probably wasn't fair. His father was a very nice chimera who just happened to have a problem with disclosure. And Howard's boyfriend was very cordial indeed. Ellis had fully expected to dislike Oz, considering Amory's relative acceptance of him, but the baphomet was surprisingly kind, if a little reckless. It was odd to see a new light in his father's eyes that hadn't existed before Oz had come home. Ellis didn't quite understand it, but something about it was still nice.

In addition to all of this, the imp was also preparing to become a Junior. Amory was finally taking the plunge as well, after completing every Freshling class so many times that she could recite them. At least she insisted she could.

Either way, it was a strange time for the jovial boy, a time during which he was finding it hard not to scowl. Maybe his sister'd had it right all along.