“That’s…that’s a lot of fucking chickens. Like an illegal number of chickens,” Cyrus rasped, even as he remembered Severo’s warning.
On hearing his voice, Ender spun around, letting out a screeching hiss at them. But afterwards, the Gorgon just stared, swaying slightly. No longer moving, he now saw the shadows beneath the man’s eyes, the stress lines on his face, the exhaustion.
The calm didn’t last long. Ender suddenly gave his head a shake, and the snakes that were his hair began hissing and snapping, before he screamed, “TRAITORS!” The hissing ramped up as the flock of chickens started to cluck loudly.
Ender spun, screeching in warning at the four men who had dared to enter his safe space, two of whom shouldn’t be there at all, yet… His gaze traced over their forms, their scents being blown to him by the artificial wind.
No…NO, THEY SHOULDN’T BE HERE!Betrayed! I’ve been betrayed! His fear spiked, even though he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off them. Tremors that refused to stop, rolled through his body, his heart pounding loudly—or was it just his head that was pounding? It hurt. His head hurt. His eyes hurt too, like they’d been open too long, and his body felt heavy.
No, that wasn’t important!They shouldn’t—Danger!
Ender gave his head a shake when the world swayed a bit, taking a desperate breath in through his mouth, trying to get rid of the Cryptids’ scents, as he cried, “TRAITORS!”
His irritation rose as he found he needed to ball his hands up, just to stop himself from reaching out to the dangerous couple who would no doubt try to take what was his.
Holding his body stiff, to prevent himself from slithering closer, Ender turned his glare on Soren, as his precious chickens started to approach. “You fucking traitor!”
His brother had the audacity to scoff. “Ender, your dumb ass is terrorizing people. You left me no choice!”
Ender’s words caught in his throat as his head swayed again. Whatever he’d intended to say was lost completely when a familiar voice rang out with a song he had heard before. He dug his claws into his palms and fought the urge to let it carry him away, as he heard more of the lyrics than before.
“Swim, little Siren, the sunshine is calling. Your path to freedom is waiting above. Burning though the heat may be, the dryness that follows a death of its own. You must swear to me, swear to me, my sweet child, that the darkness that took me won’t take you as well.
“Mother, my dear, poor mother, I swear to you now, I will not let them win. True, the darkness is right behind me, but my freedom is closer, I swear to you now.”
He hissed when, beyond his control, his heart began to calm, his body swaying with the Siren’s words.
“No!” Ender screamed. Shaking his head, he slithered back as he let loose a guttural hiss, pointing at Killian. “You will not trick me, Siren! You…” His eyes narrowed on Cyrus and Killian, even as the Siren’s voice trailed off to nothing. “Why are you here?! Go away!” His hands shakily wrapped around his extended stomach, hunching inwards as he felt their eyes dropto his baby bump. “NO! They are not for you! They aremine! Y-you can’t take them! You can’t!”
Killian stared,unsure what to do to help the situation. Based on how the Gorgon reacted to his voice, even with just a little power put behind it, he was positive that if he wanted to, he could forcefully calm Ender. He didn’t want to though.
While some wouldn’t realize what he was doing, he knew Ender would, and having your will forcefully drained from you wasn’t a pleasant experience. More just panic-inducing. And while he both heard and saw the anger in Ender’s eyes, the Gorgon’s whole body radiated fear. It was in his stance, and the way he was protectively hugging himself. Really, the anger was more out of self-defense than anything.
More than the fear, what worried him was how exhausted the Gorgon looked. The bags were an obvious thing, but the swaying, and him randomly shaking his head as if something was wrong with his vision, not to mention the fact that Ender’s arms and face looked…slimmer than they had been, told him the man needed rest and care.
“Try your clothes,” Soren whispered. “Or whatever you brought with you.”
He didn’t even question the idea, Killian just hurriedly opened the nearest suitcase of his. Letting it flop open, he tugged out an unwashed dress-shirt he’d grabbed from the laundry. Cyrus did the same, only he took out a pair of pants.
Neither of them reacted when Soren, without warning, dumped both of their suitcases, spewing their things onto thegrass, before pushing the bags out of the way, and stepping back behind them again.
Miraculously, between the clothing appearing and the dumping, the hissing stopped. When Killian met Ender’s gaze again, he found the Gorgon’s eyes zeroed in on what was in their hands, but also flicking back and forth to the mess on the ground as well. His hair seemed to be just as entranced.
Hesitantly, Killian held the shirt out, and Cyrus mirrored his action.
Time slowly ticked by, with them just standing there, caught in the Cryptid’s stare, before finally, the Gorgon began to approach. Ender slithered towards them hesitantly for all of a second before the snake sped up, seeming to reach them between one blink and the next.
Killian willingly let go the moment the Gorgon went to yank the shirt from his hold, the man taking Cyrus’ pants as well. Bringing both items to his face, Ender drew in a deep breath, shuddering as he let it out. He could hear the Gorgon’s heartbeat slowing as the man slithered down and started to cocoon the clothes around himself.
As this continued, he sat down next to Ender, while Cyrus plopped right beside him, and they watched the Gorgon turn himself into a clothing burrito. When Ender was fully wrapped, his eyes closed and an almost child-like smile spread over his face. Within seconds, the Gorgon fell asleep.
Soren heaved out a sigh. “Finally…”
“How long was he rampaging like that?” Killian asked, while carefully running a hand over the man’s hair. He smiled slightly when the snake coils, who seemed to be sleeping as well, wound around his hand and up his arm. The hold wasn’t tight, just a gentle pressure.
“Since I called.”
“What?!” Cyrus growled softly. “You can’t be fucking serious, he shouldn’t?—?”
