馬鹿は死ななきゃ治らない
baka wa shinanakya naoranai
“An idiot can’t be cured of idiocy unless they die.”
~Japanese proverb
Horus
Everyone is silent except Mason. His eyes brim with tears, and I wonder how long he’s waited to see Bannik again, a brother that his angelic part used to fight for, fight with.
Fallen into the depths of darkness, never to be seen or heard from since being bound to the Abyss a few years ago by the very people at this table for attempting something forbidden.
But things are different now. That’s how change works, and while I wasn’t here in this timeline when Bannik was punished, I know.
Bannik stumbles backward, colliding with the wall. Pictures crash to the tile floor, and glass flies everywhere.
Clearly, he’s in shock, and I know it’s not because he’s never seen these people or tried to kill them multiple times.
It’s because he sees his—
“Brother?” Bannik chokes out the word. “But how?”
"Funny story.” Alex chooses the wrong moment to speak, but what else is new? “So he’s a werewolf king, blah, blah, and since I defeated you, like, two years ago, I’m gonna spare you the hard details. Besides, you made me go full god, which was really freaking exhausting.” He flips his hair. “Anyway… Mason, our werewolf friend here, has the blood of your fallen watchers in him. He’s technically both. I mean, the logistics get weird, and we don’t need to deep dive down into his story. Just know he’s a werewolf with the blood of one of your brothers who was basically redeemed. Apparently, the Creator likes to get… er, um… creative. Yay, more wine? Anyone? Bueller?”
"Who the hell is Bueller?” I ask.
“Shhhh, let the grownups talk.” Alex winks. “So Bannik, it’s been a hot minute. You’ve looked… better. Need a little sit-down time or—”
“What the ever-loving hell is going on in—” Timber shouts, takes one look at Bannik. “I go to the bathroom for two minutes, and now we have a fallen angel, an archenemy just… dining with us?”
I shrug. I’ve got nothing.
Timber wrinkles his nose as he runs a critical eye over first me, then Bannik. “And dressed in your finest clothing, I see.”
I don’t even want to know how horrible we look, but I don’t have to wait long for a fix. I have little to no power left, so I can’t snap my fingers and make it better. I look to Timber. He sighs again and moves his hand under the table, a gentle tap of his pinky against his thigh twice, and suddenly I feel clean.
In the blink of an eye, we’re both sparkling clean and attired in jeans and black T-shirts.
I grab a glass of wine and pull out a chair next to Kit.
She opens her mouth.
I shake my head.
She reaches for my hand and holds it. For now, it’s enough. Romance and a show. Great!
Timber starts to growl.
I kick out a free chair. “Simmer it down, Anubis.”
Timber gasps. “You only ever call me by my real name when you’re pissed or annoyed!”
"Guilty.” I sigh, my irritation. “Now sit.”
“Anubis?” Bannik asks, looking between us. “He’s Anubis?”
Cassius scoots his chair toward the table, making a painfully loud noise against the floor. Does he know how to actually get up quietly?
"He’s clueless,” Alex mutters.
"So dumb for being so smart,” Timber grumbles, curling his lip in a silent snarl.
Cassius ignores all the comments and points to the chair. “Well?” His eyes focus in on Bannik in a way that’s slightly terrifying. “Aren’t you going to sit?”
Bannik’s mouth opens, closes, then opens again.
“He’s making fish faces. Is he even breathing?” Alex asks.
I can’t stop the smile from forming on my face. “Those are chairs; they scared me too when I first got here. You sit in them.”
Bannik scowls at me. “I know what a damn chair is, stupid sky god.”
"I forgot how charming he is.” Alex snorts into his wine. “Do you think all that time in the Abyss made him a better person or worse? Shall we take bets?”
“How long has it been?” Bannik slowly pulls out a chair and sits right next to Kit. Why is she reaching for his hand?
Rage fills me when her hand fully slips from mine, and then she places a hand on his thigh.
He immediately calms, his eyes search hers, turning a bright white. He slams a hand onto the table.
“Mere years? Surely it’s been longer than that idiot says.” He’s pointing at Alex with one hand and holding hers in the other.
What the hell is going on?
It’s like neither of them even realize they’re holding hands, and yet they do; it’s natural, like she’s found one who… watches.
I frown.
"Time passes differently in the Euphrates riverbed, Bannik.” Cassius slides a glass of wine toward him. “So now you just decide what you will do with the gift of time you’ve been given and the second chance you don’t deserve.”
"Eat first.” I interrupt, staring down at his joined hands with Kit. “You’ll probably need both of those for that.”
Kit frowns at her left hand, then jerks it back and folds her hands in her lap like she wasn’t even aware she was touching him.
Bannik looks down at his left hand and squeezes it shut before opening it again. Pressed against his palm is a small piece of orange fur; it glows against his fingertips and then disappears altogether into his skin.
Alex clears his throat. “I didn’t have the devil himself sitting at dinner with a fox on one side and a Dark One on the other on my apocalypse bingo card; just saying.”
"That’s because you’re stupid,” Mason says helpfully.
Timber laughs. “We really try to have a positive morale around here.”
“Cassius made us do a family-wide training once.” Alex snorts. “Worst hour of my life, and I used to kill fairies.” He flinches and turns to his wife. “Too soon, sorry, I’ll just go get the spoon; you can spank me later.”
"I think I just threw up,” Ethan growls. “Keep your activities away from the dining room table.”
"Should throw her on the dining room table and feast—”
Hope groans into her hands while Genesis makes a face and starts drinking her wine.
“Eat,” Cassius says like it’s the last meal any of us might have. “And then, fallen one, we will talk.”
“Try not to fall asleep. It pisses him off,” Alex says helpfully.