“I see you had fun,” Killian giggled.
“Mm,” the man hummed, before taking a deep breath in. “Damn, it smells good in here. Baking?” Cyrus asked, while carefully setting all of his bags down aside from one.
“We have been pretty much all day,” Ender mused.
“Well, I have something for you, Ender.” Cyrus moved to the counter.
His brow rose at that. “For me?”
Ender’s eyes widened slightly when one by one the Fate pulled out and unwrapped six small white chicken figurines wearing rainboots of different colors. The chickens formed a rainbow as Cyrus lined them up on the island.
“Saw them and thought you’d like them.”
“Cute,” Killian laughed.
Ender glanced from the Fate’s smiling face, back down at the chickens. As he stared, his stomach oddly fluttered in a way he wasn’t sure he liked, or cared to examine, but…
“Uhh, I can return them if you don’t like them?” Cyrus said hesitantly, when he had stayed quiet for too damn long.
“No, they are mine,” Ender huffed, as his gaze flicked back up.
The Fate blinked, clearly confused. “So, you…like them?”
He hesitated for a moment and then spun around, going straight to the fridge he knew held the lemon meringue pies. Instead of taking out the single slice they’d prepared, he shifted things around and grabbed one of the full pies, setting it on the counter in front of Cyrus, after grabbing a fork from the drawer.
The Fate’s gaze seemed to zero in on the pie, the man’s eyes practically sparkling as he saw it. Ender laughed in disbelief when, without a single word, Cyrus grabbed it and the fork andscurried out of the kitchen, as if he feared they’d take it away or he’d have to share.
“He is going to eat that whole damn thing.” Killian sighed, before eyeing him in disgust. “You are way too easy to bribe.”
“More of a trade than a bribe,” Ender defended, as he went to the knickknack shelf and started to move things around. He may need to get a bigger one. He wasn’t sure if he could make enough room to fit the six figurines in a row, and theyhadto fit that way…
“Mmhmm,” the Siren hummed, clearly judging him.
“I traded a pie for some chickens. But I’m thinking I could have gotten more. I figure he’d likely trade either of us for it, if I go off the look I just saw in his eyes.”
“Read him in an instant, I see,” Killian giggled. “He’d get us back afterwards at least.”
“I’m sure he would.”
He frowned as he eyed the rows. Get a new shelf or…should he just remove the non-chicken things and add them to other cases in his house? It was mostly chickens now anyway…
Mmm choices…ugh.
“Kidnapping the son could be the best option,” Soren drawled with a smile, his gaze knowingly flicking up to Cyrus. Likely to just irritate Ender’s ass further.
“That’s—”
“Not a word, Cyrus.” Ender cut the man off stiffly, before saying, “Kidnapping his son is certainly an option. The question is, which one? The man has like a dozen, in case you forgot.”
For a meeting between only four people, and one annoying bodyguard, it was taking too damn long. At last count, the Fate had already derailed the conversation four damn times. Cyrus had been there for two weeks, yet today had to be the most the fucker had interrupted.
Ding!His phone vibrated with the noise. Snagging it off the table, he released the screen and quickly read the text, snorting as he did.
BABY ZEN-ZEN
This homework is too hard!
ENDER
