Without hesitation, Greed clasped Saer’s forearm and pulled him in for a back-slapping embrace.“I’m not sure if I’m glad yet, but I sure as Hells wasn’t going to miss this firework show.”
Saer scoffed and released the twin, turning towards Envy.“What did you tell him?”
Errshek, trying to balance on one foot as he stepped into the provided pants, cursed as he nearly fell over.He answered Saer with a growl.“I showed up and said, ‘Hey, look, I’m not dead, come find out why.’”
Arek shrugged with one shoulder.“About sums it up.”He paused alongside Saer as they observed the youngest struggling.“Do you want to try sitting to put those on?”
“Shut up.”Errshek grunted and finally got his second foot into the pant legging, pulling them up while shaking his head.
Alus would have a field day with this.He turned his attention to the violet-eyed twin.“I don’t suppose I’ll get a straight answer if I ask what took so long?”
Arek snorted.“We needed to finish our harvest.”He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.“You do know the world doesn’t revolve around you, right?”
“I told you,” Errshek grumbled as he walked by and towards his canopy.
Saer ground his teeth.“You’re both delightful.”
“What did you do to my stuff?”Errshek’s wail came from deeper in the campsite as he observed all the changes Saer made in his absence.
“I needed things to do!”Pride yelled over his shoulder.
“You’re so damnedaction-oriented!”
Saer huffed under his breath.“Building a small house was next if you two took much longer.”
Smirking, Arek made a motion to the clearing.“Care to give your favorite brother a tour?”
“I will once Alus is here.”
The twin paused to glance sideways at Saer, assessing with a sardonic half-smile.“Still cracking jokes.I’m so proud of you.”
Showing Arek and Errshek around the clearing didn’t take long.Errshek kept on with his bitter snipes.
The trio ended up next to the lake, awaiting the evening’s usual light show.Errshek sat on the rocky shoreline while Arek absently picked at stones and skipped them across the surface of the water.“The souls we were able to offer Father pleased him well enough to keep from asking where we were off to next.I don’t think he even realized Alus and I split up…sixteen.”The last he called out to declare the number of jumps he’d managed to get out of his stone throw.
A disquieting pang rose in Saer’s chest to hear their creator referred to as ‘Father.’Even if he’d never used the title, the rest of his kin still saw their maker as such.
He also couldn’t imagine it would change, which made his task all the more challenging.
“I should know better than to enter meaningless competitions with you at this juncture.”Saer tossed his own flat rock in his hand, shaking his head.“Did Alus go to Runeak or Kalia first?”Drawing his arm back, he flicked his wrist.
The stone sank after three skips.
Saer growled and resumed his perusal of the ground for another, more worthy rock.
Arek smirked and put his hands in the linen pants pockets.“Runeak is usually easier to find.Time will tell.”He prodded Errshek’s leg with a toe.“Errshek, you ready to try?”
Envy scowled at Greed.“I suck at skipping rocks.”
“I’m so glad our brother didn’t murder you.”
Errshek sneered but didn’t respond, turning his eyes back to the water just as Saer tossed another stone.This time, it skipped six times before sinking, and he swore with feeling.“Who gets a rock to skipsixteentimes?”
“Someone with a lot of practice and patience, Eldest.”Arek’s head tilted to the side, overseeing Saer as he searched for another perfect stone.“When Alus and I saw you, you were Hellsbent on ending Errshek.”
Envy didn’t move, yet his body tensed.
Saer grunted and pretended not to notice Arek’s stare, picking up rocks only to toss them aside, one at a time.
