I blinked in surprise before a grin filled my cheeks. “That’s a good question. Our marriage isn’t something I want to rush, as we have forever to do it, but I don’t want to wait forever, either...” I nibbled his ear to make him giggle. “When doyouwant to get married?”
“I was tossing that around for some time, wondering when the perfect time would be, but will there ever be a perfect time?” He pondered his own words for a moment before sighing. “There’s so much chaos in our lives right now, and I know planning a wedding would only worsen that, but I honestly think I need something to look forward to, to live for, really. I need that push to wake up now more than ever and knowing we were working towards a beautiful wedding would certainly push me to wake up every day.”
“Love, if you think it’s time, I’m all for it. I don’t want to rush the details, as I want it to be as perfect as possible, but I do understand what you mean. I need something to break the weight of reality myself and marrying you would certainly remind me why I’m pushing so hard to be a God.” I nuzzled our noses to make him smile. “What date should we pick?”
He played with my hair as he spoke, watching the curls spring back into place. “I was thinking sometime in the spring, so we can have cherry blossoms in full bloom...” he sang, walking his fingers up my arm to simulate the blossoms swaying in the wind.
“How could we go without our staple!” I chuckled.
“Exactly,” he laughed before hugging me closer, as if that were possible in this position. “What color suits would we wear? I think black and white are a little cliché considering our elements. I want something that pops... something bright and beautiful.”
“What if I wore pastel pink, and you wore pastel orange? Or yellow? Or, or...!” My excitement bubbled so high that I was bouncing under the covers. “We could have colors that matched the flowers, pink and peach and white, and have petals decorate the aisles...!”
“I love that idea!” He kissed me feverishly. “How would we change our names? I was thinking about hyphenating them, so my father is happy that I'm still partially a Levasseur.”
“Nicodemus Crawford-Levasseur... I think it has a beautiful ring to it...” I pressed my nose to his neck and breathed in his mint-scented body wash. “Where should we go on our honeymoon? Somewhere we’ve both always wanted to see?”
“I’d prefer to be near the beach. As much as I don’t like to show skin, I like to sit under the sun and swim in the water that’s been warmed by it. Plus, I’d love to see you in a cute little swimsuit,” he teased with a bite to my bottom lip.
“That does sound nice...” I mumbled sleepily into his skin.
He chuckled and pulled the blanket over us fully, tugging my legs over so he could wrap his around both of mine. I felt so comfortable, so loved in that intimate space that I couldn't help but succumb to my lack of sleep. “Sleep well, my love... the world will be waiting for us in the morning, so take all the time you need to catch up to it,” he breathed, setting his lips on my forehead before snuggling into my hair.
The commotion erupting in the training arena from my Elementals could be heard clear across the campus. Everyone was sporting their new badges to indicate if they were a Hunter or a Reaper, a privilege they had waited years to be bestowed. It signified that they were truly high-classed Death Elementals, and all their hard work was finally starting to pay off.
I moved through the crowd and started separating them into two groups. “Alright everyone, let’s have our Reapers on this side, and our Hunters on this side! There we go...! Calvin, you’re a Reaper, silly! Awesome, we’re good to go! Reminder to all: Reapers will have practice Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Hunters will have practice Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I will let you know if we have collaboration classes, but for now, enjoy the rest of your day, and I will see our Reapers bright and early tomorrow morning!”
“Bye, Mr. Crawford!” Elektra called over her shoulder as she bounced down the sidewalk.
“Mr. Crawford is my father! Please, call me Nicodemus.” I waved gently to my Elementals, who dissipated down the path towards their dorms to decompress after training today. I set my hands on my hips and turned to Dad and Endymion, who wore proud smiles for me. “Well, things should be nice and organized around here now. It’ll be way more fun to train them based on their status, instead of teaching them to do things they aren’t able to do.”
“That’s the downside to Death Elementals. Until they are categorized, training can be difficult since they can’t hunt and reap at the same time. They’ll appreciate working under their assigned roles, as they’ll have things to strive for now, and are working within their needs.” Dad clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Want to have lunch with me back at McBride? I wanted to check in with you if you have the time?”
“Sounds great. I would kill for some food right now,” I said before nodding to Endymion and following Dad down the path towards his on-campus home. Endymion waved to us gently before dissipating himself; I was glad to be rid of him momentarily. He wasn’t inherently giving us a hard time, but his presence made me uneasy still, like I was under the scrutiny of the entire world when he was around. I suppose, in some ways,it was like being watched by the world, as he had helped create it after all.
When we entered the mansion, Dad went right for the kitchen and started pulling a variety of sandwich ingredients from the fridge. He stacked mayonnaise, mustard, cold cuts, and cheeses in his arms, a bag of kaiser rolls hanging from his mouth as he wrestled to get the ingredients on the table. I found plates and glasses in the cabinet before pouring some soda for us, and an extra glass of water for Dad. He was trying to be better about drinking water and staying away from caffeine, and as much as he hated water, I was glad to see him putting some effort into his health. He eyed the coffee pot hungrily despite having soda on the table, but behaved and didn’t pour another cup, even dumping the remainder of his morning thermos in the sink.
We busied ourselves with making a couple sandwiches each before he twisted the bread bag shut and stuffed the edge of one into his mouth. “The good thing about living with Blaine is there’s always fresh cold cuts in the fridge. Dude's a total meat head, literally and figuratively,” Dad laughed with his mouth full.
I rolled my eyes at his comment. “I will never understand how Odysseus turned out the way he did, being raised by Blaine. He and his father are totally opposites in every way.”
“Not us, though!” Dad thunked my head with his fork before diving into some potato salad. “You’re just like your glorious papa!”
“Glorious, sure. Keep telling yourself that,” I giggled before falling silent.
Dad noticed my fall in tone and frowned behind his sandwich. “Something on your mind, kid? You seem really distant lately, really... distracted.”
“You could say that.” Was now really the time to bring up my conversation with Ambermourn to him? What would he say ifhe realized I had been in contact with him again. More, that I knew of such a heavily kept secret. Then again, everything was a secret nowadays, but Dad had promised to stop keeping things from me, and as the next God of Death, I had the right to know about this apocalyptic nightmare he was capable of. I chose my words carefully, trying to tread lightly on the subject. “So, um... I wanted to ask you about something. It's kind of sensitive, to say the least, but I’m very worried about it, and we promised to be open with each other, so I figured we could discuss this freely.”
Dad munched for a moment before nodding once. “Ok, yeah, sure. We did promise, after all. I mean, you’re about to get married; I can’t treat you like a little kid anymore.” He stood to shovel through the fridge for more potato salad. “How much can I keep hidden from you at this point?” he asked from inside the fridge.
I ground my teeth in worry. “I was doing some digging, after the Immortal Convocation, after I ran into someone at the event who told me something about you. Something about you and your familiars, about the chaos you could cause...” I tapped my fingers on the table methodically. “The person warned me that, now that your powers are fully recharged, that you were really unstable, and they were worried this would cause you to lose control and start the apocalypse.”
I waited for his backlash with my chest so tight that I could barely force air through my lungs. My sandwich quivered in my hands so violently that the chicken breast was spilling out of the sides, threatening to spill over the edge. Mayonnaise seeped through and coated my hands, but I was oblivious to this.
Dad was still submerged in the fridge, frozen by what I said, and so still that I was worried I'd really crossed the line this time. His body was in a perfect 90-degree angle, his hand settled on the potato salad container. Finally, he pulled the salad out and cracked the top, licking stray mayonnaise off his fingertip. “So,you spoke to Ambermourn, did you?” he accused, scooping out the salad and plopping it onto his plate casually.
I stammered wildly. “Um, well, not nec-... I mean...!”
