The Seasons

Chapter 48

“I don’t know how many times I need to say this, Chaos; I am fine, and if you ask me again, you won’t be,” Slaine snapped as he stared at the deity.

The two were sitting in the lounge room; Slaine had his diary open on the glass coffee table in front of him, with his laptop on his lap. Chaos sat beside him, and they sighed exasperatedly as they tried to close his screen again.

“You are not fine.”

“Chaos.”

The two continued to have a stare-off, and Slaine caved in as he stared into the deity’s blood-red eyes, and his eyes landed on their chest, which was visible through their white button-down shirt, and he saw the red jewel embedded in their chest. It was the same shade of red on the necklace he wore; he had decided he did not want answers to questions he didn't want to know.

“Fine. Let me finish this, and then we can f*****g watch your stupid movie,” he muttered as he turned his attention back onto his screen and focused on class planning.

“It’s not stupid.”

“It’s a rom-com,” he replied, refusing to take his eyes off his screen. “It’s stupid.”

“Love is beautiful.”

“I’m sure she is. But romcoms are a crime.”

“They are no-”

Slaine stared blankly at the deity. “Do you want to watch the movie or not? If so, close the curtains, and get popcorn. I’m gonna make myself a Bloody Mary.”

“I will make it for you,” they said as they stood up.

“No, don’t worry. I’ll make it; you can make popcorn.”

He frowned when he saw through his peripherals that the deity hadn’t moved and was staring at him; he sighed. “What now?”

“Can we also wear pyjamas?” they asked. Slaine turned to stare at them with an eyebrow raised, but he faltered when he realised how broad they were smiling, and how could he say no to that smile? “That's how humans do it.”

“You do realise neither of us is human.”

When they faltered, he sighed. Why did they always have to look like a kicked puppy? “Fine. We can wear our pyjamas too, now let me finish, and we can watch.”

Slaine finished his work within the next half an hour, and Chaos had closed the curtains and changed into their pyjamas. They wore a dark red silk set; Slaine liked how dark red brightened their blood-red eyes and how the red appeared on their dark skin. Their pale hair had been tied into a messy bun to keep it out of their face. Slaine disappeared into the bedroom to change into an oversized t-shirt and some shorts before he made himself four servings of Bloody Mary’s. He grabbed the fluffy gray blanket the deity had been adamant about getting, and the two made themselves comfortable.

Slaine rolled his eyes as the Netflix logo flashed across the screen; it would be two hours long. However, halfway through the movie, Chaos released a soft “Slaine?”

“Yeah?” he replied, refusing to peel his eyes away from the TV; why was this movie good?

“I miss Amare,” they whispered.

Slaine tensed as he snapped his eyes over to the deity. Did they regret it? Did they regret coming down to Earth to be with him, to help him? Slaine had never asked what the conditions for them coming to Earth had been. He had been too scared to see what they had lost. He didn’t want to know. But he was afraid. He was terrified.

“Amare? Love? You miss love?”

“She was my friend, she’s always been one of my friends, and I miss her dearly.”

What did Slaine say to that? He paused the movie to focus on Chaos. Is that why they liked watching romcoms because they missed the goddess? What the f**k did he even say to that?

“I’m sorry,” he replied, shifting in his place a little. He placed his head on their shoulder, trying to give them some semblance of comfort. He liked affection when he was sad; maybe the deity did too?

Slaine frowned when he felt them tense and lifted his head to stare at them. Okay, so they didn’t like being touched. Noted. But when he looked closer at them, they appeared in a daze. Their eyes had glazed over, and no matter how much Slaine called their name or waved his hand in front of their face, they did not snap out of it.

He blinked; one second, they were here, and the next, they were gone, the blanket falling on the white sofa where they had sat. Slaine jumped off of the couch and rushed to a mirror. And no matter how much he called their name or stared at his reflection, they did not appear. He began to panic; where had they gone? Had they gone back? Had they left him?

Slaine wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he felt their presence flow through their room. He shot to his feet and launched himself into their arms; wrapping his arms around their torso, they took a few steps back to steady them both as overwhelming relief went through him.

They hadn’t left him.

But then Slaine turned to his left to see a man he had never seen standing beside Chaos with a small smile.

“Hello.”

~*~