The glare lessened, and the young man went back to slouching on the counter. “So, are you going out with her again?” Cecil asked, looking up at him from under his lashes. The bored expression reappeared, but it was even less believable than the first time.
“No.”
“Why?” he inquired without hesitation, and most likely without thought.
It was a personal question, and from what he had seen so far, Cecil tried to avoid those.
“That is a rather personal question, Cecil,” Sin pointed out.
“Considering everything I’ve heard, everything you people have shared with me since coming to this crazy-ass maze of a house, it really isn’t.”
Right, Cecil had a point there. Sin still couldn’t fathom what had gotten into his people for them to share such private information. Worst of all, to an eighteen-year-old.
They knew better, and Sin had told them such in the three-hour long lecture he had given them. But judging by Cecil’s avoidance of the rec room, he wasn’t positive it had worked. The thought had his anger flaring, and he decided another lecture was in order.
“I feel I must apologize again for that,” he said on a sigh. “As for Clarissa…our beliefs were too different. She held certain opinions that I would not be able to abide by.”
“Shewasa total bitch.”
“Cecil,” Sin groaned.
Cecil just grinned at him mischievously.
“This conversation has gone awry. How did we go from cooking to my love life?”
“Do I really look like the cooking type?” Cecil asked dryly.
“Do I?”
The man’s gaze swept over him. “Not really,” he admitted.
“Which means it’s quite possible you’ll like it. You never know.”
“Yeah, right. Why are you cooking anyway? You’re like the big boss man, shouldn’t you have people to do that for you?”
“I happen to enjoy cooking.” Sin laughed. “And when it is for my people, it gives me this feeling of being home. They are my family.”
“Your ‘family’ is insane, you do know that, right?”
“At times, I suppose they are. Though it really depends on the branch. For instance, at the Dusburn main branch, the immortals are older. While they do get into the thick of things at times, they do not come close to the energy of this branch. It is the same with the branch in Sodan.”
“Why do you have three main branches?”
“To create bonds.”
“Bonds?”
“Yes, to create a closeness that sometimes is lacking due to distance and lack of interaction. I did it to create a close-knit family, instead of just a group of acquaintances.” Sin quickly amended, “Not that other groups are not close. It is possible my actions have changed nothing.”
“There you go again, using the word ‘family’. Is having a family really that important? Families usually only get in the way, why would you want one?”
“I have to say my feelings on that differentiate drastically from yours. To me, family is everything. I do know blood relatives are not always what they should be, but you don’t have to be blood-related to be a family. It is a feeling of safety, the feeling of being home. It is the very reason I joined the Zaytari. I wanted a big family. I wanted the bonds, the feeling of belonging, as I had very little of either growing up.”
“I don’t know that feeling,” Cecil said softly.
His words held a touch of bitterness, but Cecil didn’t look away like many would have. He continued to stare defiantly, his words telling of his emotions, but his face remained empty.
Sin wanted to say that he could experience that here. That the man was safe here, with them, with him…but he didn’t. Cecil would not have believed it, and Sin was starting to doubt if Cecil was safe with him. So he held the words back and ignored the pain he heard.
