Ender’s brow rose at that. “Did you?”
“Yes…”
“Interesting. Well, you can explain why later, as we need to get going!” He checked his watch. “I imagine those accompanying us are currently readying the vehicles.”
Cyrus sighed. “I am not going to be the one explaining any of this to Killian.”
Ender smiled as he had a brilliant idea. “Why do it when neither of us have to. Toddles! You’re up! Since you are staying here, and graciously decided to stick around and listen to this drama, while we head out, you can go down to the Intel Center and let the pretty Siren know what we are up to.”
“In what universe would I ever stay behind while you go meet someone as dangerous as Jurosso?!” Soren squawked.
His eyes narrowed on his brother. “You can stay behind on your own willpower or as a stone statue. Your choice.”
The Harpy’s eyes narrowed back, fire lighting up inside them as he trilled, “Try it, see what happens.”
Ender grimaced. Having lived with Gorgons since being hatched, Soren had built up quite a resistance to his eyes, so…trywould likely be the operative term, in that it didn’t always work. During the first few hundred or so years, it did, but now it mostly didn’t.
“So fucking annoying,” he hissed, before huffing, “Fine, you can come too! Let’s go!”
Killian sent a quick text to Ender, with a question about his current task, mindlessly typing away as he waited for a reply. But when thirty minutes had passed without the Gorgon responding, followed by Cyrus ignoring him too, he pushed up from his desk and quickly left the Intelligence Center.
Heading up the lift, he entered Ender’s house, a place he was swiftly considering his home. After failing to find Ender, Cyrus, and Soren, along with everyone else that happened to live there, he gave up on his task, and somehow ended up plopped down on the grass next to Zenny, playing with the chickens.
“You know it was only after coming here that I realized how nice they can be.” Zenny giggled as a black hen nuzzled against him.
The Cupid hugged her, and while she fluffed up a bit, she didn’t do a thing to hurt him. But then the chickens all seemed to be well behaved when Zenny was in the room. Well, at the very least, they were never aggressive towards the kid.
Killian laughed. “I think it depends on the person, if they are nice or not. How’s school going?”
“Okay…I guess.” The Cupid wrinkled his nose. “Is math really that necessary?”
“If you intend to function as an adult at some point, then yes?” He smiled when the kid just flopped back with a distressed groan.
Zenny was adorable. He still stared sometimes, but as he had gotten to know him, in the weeks they’d been there, he was coming to understand the look in his eyes. Yearning… He didn’t fully understand what it meant, and in what context, but…he didn’t think it was a bad thing.
Killian had also realized he wasn’t the only one Zenny stared at like that. Cyrus and Ender were also included…and with the kid being a Cupid, he couldn’t help but wonder what that meant. He possibly had to keep pushing down his excitement at what it could mean.
He was… He was confused…conflicted even. He loved Cyrus, and to be honest, before everything happened with Ender, when it was just the two of them, it wasn’t like he’d ever felt like something was missing in their relationship.
Yet, now…whenever he thought about them possibly walking away, even if it was many years from now, he felt sick, like he would lose something that belonged in his life. Ender, regardless of other things, felt like he belonged with them. And oddly, Zenny…felt like he belonged too—which was a whole other fucking mess.
Zenny was a child, and it wasn’t like he could just decide on his own to claim him as his kid. Killian didn’t even like children! Okay, he liked them well enough…but…
Fuck, he was feeling protective and possessive of the Cupid, and he swore, if those fucking triplets didn’t stop trying to lure him into their home, he would—UGH!
Kore…it was that Elemental’s fault! The bastard had been in space for so long that at least two of the three were out searching for another person to collect!
“You’re thinkin’ mighty hard there, Killian.”
Killian blinked, before booping the kid, who had sat back up, on the nose, and laughing, “‘Thinkin’ mighty hard’?”
Zenny winked. “Thought I’d try it out since Ender likes using it so much.”
“I fear your language teacher is going to go after Ender if you start talking like that, grammar and all.”
The Cupid groaned. “She’s just jealous she doesn’t have his accent.”
“I’m sure.”
