“You told me to,” Cyrus said with a smug smirk.
“Y-you! Not now!” Ender prodded the Fate back towards the bed. “Shoo, shoo, you can start tomorrow!”
Hurrying out the door, closing it behind him, he let out a hiss when he found Soren blocking his way in the hall. The Harpy took a delicate sniff of the air, his gaze judgmental as fuck as he stared at him.
“Don’t you judge me!” Ender snapped.
Soren scoffed. “Well, I’m just glad they have mellowed you out already.”
“MELLOWED OUT?! ME?! Never!” he scoffed, before none too gently pushing past the man with a humph.
Cyrus was quiet as Quill set the plates down on the table. Apparently, lunch wasn’t a meal everyone ate together, as it was just him, Killian, Ender, Soren, Quill, and Zenny.
Eyeing the food, Cyrus had to say the fried chicken looked and smelled amazing—everything was perfectly golden brown. The biscuits looked and smelled just as good.
Filling his plate, he found a smirk slipping onto his face as his gaze flicked to Ender. “So…who are we eating?”
Ender’s eyes snapped to him, his mouth turning down into a frown. “What?”
When the Gorgon’s eyes started to narrow, his smirk widened, and he nodded towards the fried chicken.
Ender’s hair instantly shifted into slithering, snapping snakes, as the man hissed, “My chickens are not for eating! You, on the other hand, are fully up for grabs, Fate.”
Cyrus chuckled. “Planning to swallow me down…again?”
“You have apparently moved past the shyness stage of things and have gone right to pervert,” Killian drawled smoothly, before turning a look his way that made Cyrus swallow in apprehension. “There is a child present, in case you forgot.”
Cyrus let out a hesitant laugh. “Ah…” Clearing his throat, he looked to Zenny, sending the kid an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
The Cupid giggled and shrugged. “I’ve heard worse.”
“Not here you haven’t!” Ender snapped, his eyes now more narrowed than before, as if the Gorgon was plotting to murder someone—that someone being him.
Zenny scratched the back of his neck. “No, not here.”
“And we are going to keep it that way. Cyrus, for the audacity, you now get to spend the afternoon helping me groom my chickens. At which time, you shall learn each and every one of their names!”
Cyrus winced—yep, should have kept his mouth shut.
“Can I join you two?” Killian asked, his voice sounding more sweet than normal, telling him the man had slipped into ass kissing mode to make sure he got what he wanted. Not that he knew why Killian would want to spend likely hours with a group of possibly homicidal chickens…
Wait, no…a group of homicidal chickens would be exactly something Killian would be interested in.
Cyrus, unfortunately, did not have an ass kissing mode, it was more of a ‘put foot in mouth’ mode that he couldn’t seem to turn off.
“If you want to, I suppose,” Ender hummed.
“Can I—” Zenny started to say, but Soren cut the kid off.
“No, you cannot, you have classes to go to.”
Cyrus couldn’t help but smile when the Cupid slumped in his chair a bit and grumbled under his breath, “So stupid…”
It reminded him of one of Severo’s younger cousins. Or really…many of the younger relatives that he and Severo had. It had been a while since he’d seen them. His parents were often traveling, and it was only recently that Severo’s had moved back to Earth. He hadn’t realized he missed it until now.
Cyrus supposed he wouldn’t any longer, since Zenny would be staying here, and then…by the threads, he was going to be a father—of two! As his heart started to race in panic at the thought, Cyrus forcefully shoved it all back down. The knowledge hadn’t yet settled in his head, but then it had only been two days since he’d found out, so like, he hadn’t really had the time.
Killian giggled and ruffled the kid’s hair. “Maybe next time.”
