Sunali Bonfire

All five of the fourth generation Fier children became young adults. Dawn and Deli were well into their first term of university. Dysis had also started. The twins, Darius and Dyna, had yet to enroll, but they’d sent in their applications. They’d begin when the oldest two started their second term. All would continue living in Sulani for the time being because none of them were ready to give up beach life just yet.

One morning, Darius followed Dysis to Laurel Library. She was there to study.

Dysis: What are you doing? Why are you here?

Darius: I’m being a student. Look at me—I’m sitting at a computer in the library…

Dysis: But you’ve not even decided on a university to attend. How are you a student?

Darius: I will be a student.

Dysis: So what are you doing now?

Darius: I’m here for the ambiance. I need to prepare photos to post later on my Simstagram: hot smart new student on campus… I might not have time to do this when I actually enroll.

Dysis: …

At any rate, Deli had two presentations to prepare. She’d never put together a physical presentation before (because everything was digital these days), so she didn’t really know what she was doing. She worked on her presentation while Darius returned home to do some real work in preparation for university.

Deli stepped back to assess what she’d done, the crookedness of the sheets and the abundance of empty green space… Deli knew this wasn’t going to cut it.

She kept at it.

She grabbed Dawn and Dyna for feedback, asking them to listen to her presentation.

When the lights went out (because her father issued a nightly Sunali-wide electricity ban) she kept practicing.

The next morning Darius received his scholarship results in the mail.

They weren’t good. He didn’t get any scholarships, but he was able to enroll in Britechester University’s distinguished degree program for fine arts. Some would say that this wasn’t that surprising given how Darius spent his time, but his twin, Dyna, didn’t. She was always sweet with him and tried to cheer him up.

She got a full ride by the way, which included an offer to be on the school’s soccer team. Dyna didn’t think of herself as particularly athletic, but why not play for the team?

Deli went out to give her presentation, but as getting to the presentation location required an almost hour long walk across the island in the sun, she had to ask her mother for help. Adelise made her a Sunlight Reversal Cocktail.

Nervousness about giving the presentation prevented her from thinking too deeply about her issues with the sun. Instead of worrying about the weather, she worried about what she planned to say, going over her lines a dozen times in her head. It didn’t help that she wouldn’t get any grades or real indication of how she was doing until the very end of the term.

That night, everyone was sufficiently cheered up and unstressed (save Dysis who wasn’t feeling well), so the Fiers went to main island for the Ohan’ali Town bonfire. Dawn led the way.

Things began questionably. Dysis attended because she wanted to light the fire, but someone else beat her to it. Deli had to go inside until the sun was completely down. Already completely over his failed scholarship attempt, Darius posed for photos instead of paying attention to the event…

But then Antonio, the young man Dawn was proud to call her boyfriend, got the party started.

Everyone was impressed.

After taking a brief nap and changing her clothes, Dysis also felt refreshed. She enjoyed the music while Dawn talked to Antonio.

When everyone’s back was turned, Dawn gave him a big kiss.

Deli overheard her mother, Adelise, excitedly sharing something with her father.

Asher, though, was not happy to hear it and Deli was surprised to see him get angry with Adelise. This was the first time she’d ever seen her father upset with her mother. It seemed like Adelise had said something, maybe something wildly inappropriate and NSFW about Antonio to him. But it was a joke? Maybe he misunderstood?

Asher: He’s your daughter’s boyfriend and you’re my wife—how can you say that? It’s not funny. Don’t talk about other men. I know that I’m attractive, but…

They seemed to smooth things over quickly, but one had to wonder about them. They’d been together for decades, generally got along beautifully, and were more similar than they appeared, but their relationship had its share of troubles and how much they loved each other—if they even loved each other was unclear. After all, their marriage had been arranged.