Mina, joined by Tharos, burst into laughter at Alex's sudden shift in confidence, both of them easily seeing through him. Their laughter filled the room, leaving Alex sitting there in embarrassment, trying not to react as the others chuckled quietly to themselves.
"Let's go to the movies. I want to watch Smile," Malina said suddenly, her tone calm but her eyes holding an odd glint as she looked at Alex. For a brief moment, Alex felt a chill run down his spine. It almost seemed like she wanted to see him terrified and on edge, but that thought faded quickly when she gave him a small, harmless smile.
"That's perfect," Tharos said, his grin returning as he looked around the table. "How about you all pick a moment to hang out with Alex?"
"I'm busy writing a story," Amos said lazily, his tone flat and unbothered.
"A story?" Alex asked, surprised, not knowing Amos was an author. Amos nodded lightly in response, explaining that his hobby was pretty much writing stories.
"But I'm short on ideas. I don't want to waste my time leaving the house," Amos said lazily, sounding as if even speaking those words required effort.
"I have a story in mind," Alex said, his tone thoughtful as an idea began to form in his head. It wasn't just about helping Amos anymore—he saw a new path opening up before him, one that could even help him make some extra money if things went well.
His words caught Amos's attention, making the usually laid-back man raise an eyebrow. Still, Amos wasn't one to turn down a chance to gain experience, no matter how casually he handled things.
"Sure, give me the rough draft," Amos said lightly, giving a small nod.
"Oh, can we hang out tomorrow?" Hania asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the quiet conversation. Alex paused, thinking for a moment. He had work tomorrow, and the thought of handling Hania's boundless energy after a full day of it didn't sound easy. Still… how bad could it really be?
"Sure," Alex said, and Hania's face instantly brightened with a wide, genuine smile. She already liked Alex, that much was clear from the way her eyes lit up at his response.
"I'll come read the story you two make. I'm going home to catch up on my reading," Moria said, offering a quick goodbye to everyone before heading out.
"He's a bookworm—he loves reading stories," Amos explained casually as he stood up as well, stretching a little before gathering his things. Before leaving, he turned toward Alex. "Give me your number," he said, and Alex handed it over without hesitation.
The others also took note of his phone number, all except Hania, who didn't have one because she always lost her phone. After misplacing so many, she eventually stopped bothering to get a new one, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble anymore.
"Well, after I set all of these five up, let's have our little race," Tharos said, packing up his gifts and heading toward his car.
Alex nodded, though a small hint of curiosity crossed his mind. The birthday party hadn't really felt like a birthday party at all—it had more of a get-to-know-Tharos-and-his-friends feeling to it. Still, Alex guessed that might have been the whole point, that Tharos simply wanted to introduce him to his group before anything else.
***
Madness was a realm belonging to one of the Endless—Delirium. It was as strange and chaotic as she herself, a place where order had long been forgotten. A vast sea of shifting colors stretched endlessly in every direction, blending and clashing without pattern or sense. Words, objects, and fragments of thought floated aimlessly through the air, spinning, twisting, and drifting with no clear purpose. Even the concept of direction seemed to dissolve here, as everything flowed in every possible way at once.
Through this realm walked Night, her steps calm and unhurried. The countless colors, scattered words, and drifting items that defined the place meant nothing to her. She moved through it with quiet grace, completely unbothered by the chaos surrounding her—a chaos that reflected her youngest daughter's fractured, ever-changing state of mind.
Night soon reached the heart of the realm, where Delirium stood before a large board, painting—or at least trying to. The scene before her was pure chaos.
Lines twisted and bent in every direction, refusing to stay straight no matter how she tried. The figure she was attempting to draw resembled a face, though it looked more like something a child might have made, uneven and oddly shaped.
"What are you drawing?" Night asked, her voice steady but lacking interest. She had to force herself to care, though every part of her would have preferred doing anything else over being here right now.
"M-Mom?" Delirium stuttered, completely caught off guard by her mother's sudden appearance within her realm. She froze, unable to process what she was seeing. Never in all her existence had she imagined this moment—that Night, her mother, would actually step into her domain. It was something that simply didn't happen. Night never left her domain and never entered the realms of her children,
Her shock sent a tremor through her chaotic realm, and at once, everything spiraled out of control. Colors that had once drifted lazily began to shift violently, twisting together and breaking apart faster than before. The delicate barriers between dimensions bent, merged, and contorted into impossible shapes that no mind could clearly comprehend. Shades bled into one another, faces stretched and reformed into unrecognizable things, while words appeared and vanished before they could even be read. The entire realm pulsed with instability, reflecting the storm inside Delirium's mind.
"I came to hear about your day, since I heard you were with your nephew… How was that like? Tell me," Night said, her tone calm and distant as she shaped a chair from pure darkness and sat down upon it, unmoved by the chaos around her.
"Y-yes, Alex was fun. I ate ice cream for the first time—it was so amazing," Delirium said brightly, her tone full of genuine excitement. The memory alone made her smile, her mind flickering with the joy she had felt while living as a mortal for a day. Of all the things she had experienced, it was the sweets that stood out the most. Their taste, their texture, the simple delight they brought—none of it compared to anything she had ever known before.
"Oh? How was Alex fun?" Night asked softly, her voice carrying a faint, almost gentle curiosity as she watched her daughter's animated expression.
"Oh, super fun! We put together this thing called a Lego," Delirium said, her hands moving as if trying to paint a picture. "We thought we lost one piece, but it turned out to be in my hands the whole time." She gave a light, airy laugh, one that echoed through the swirling chaos of her realm, its sound full of warmth and childish wonder… after all, what child didn't want to be a child before their mother?
"Oh, sounds fun. Tell me more," Night said, her tone calm and composed.
Delirium's face brightened instantly, and she began speaking with excitement, happily recounting every moment of her day. Her words came in bursts—scattered and lively—reflecting the way her thoughts always drifted from one thing to another. Each time her mind wandered off into another subject, Night would subtly guide the conversation back to Alex. It happened again and again, and with each shift, a quiet sadness began to settle within the chaos around them.
Delirium wasn't unaware of it. She could tell her mother's interest wasn't really in her, that Night only wanted to hear about Alex. Still, she tried. She kept talking, steering the topic toward herself whenever she could, as if trying to hold her mother's attention for just a little longer. Even though she knew the subject would circle back to Alex the very next moment, she clung to the small comfort that Night was at least pretending to care.
"Well, I should leave you be. I will come back later," Night said, her tone even as she leaned forward to embrace her daughter.
Delirium froze for an instant before melting into the hug, clinging tightly to her mother. It was the first time Night had ever touched her, and that simple contact meant more than words could ever express. She pressed closer, wanting to memorize the feeling, to make every heartbeat, every second, last as long as it could.
When Night finally withdrew and her presence faded from the realm, Delirium's emotions overflowed. She burst into laughter and spun wildly through her chaotic domain, dancing amid the swirling colors and shifting shapes. Her joy filled every inch of the realm, radiating outward until it became one with the chaos itself.
For the first time since her birth, she felt something real—she felt seen. That single gesture, that single hug, was the greatest love her parents had ever shown her. And even though she knew it was entirely fake, she couldn't bring herself to care. What mattered wasn't the truth behind it, but the feeling it gave her—the warmth of finally knowing what it was like to matter, even if only for a fleeting moment.