Warmth and Safety

Chapter 3 Part 2

Infero returned from their room for the second time. Ignis raised his eyebrow as his brother came sauntering back to the bar.

“What?” Infero asked, “Just because you're engaged doesn’t mean I can’t get a rise out of her.”

“Please, try to stop doing that. I don’t want this to be any more uncomfortable than it needs to be.”

Infero laughed, and the door opened. Daniella was guiding a very angry Mari. She was as calm as ever though. Part of him wanted to see what would happen when she was angry. She had so far handled a very stressful situation very gracefully.

“Good morning, Princess.” Infero said, before leaning back and faking a whisper, “I have disappointing news about the other one.”

“She’s not gay.” Mari said, gritting her teeth.

“It wouldn’t matter to Ignis if I was anyway, right? He’s engaged.” Daniella calmly pointed out.

He hated hearing that from her. Something fell inside him at how calm she was about that. He replied, “Let’s all eat, before the food gets cold.”

Infero snorted, grinning wide at Mari. The young woman was now being more pushed than guided to the bar. Daniella seemed to be having some trouble with her.

“Daniella, please be careful. Exerting yourself too much is bad for your burns.” He said, trying to sound stern.

Both Mari and Infero turned sheepish at that comment. Mari started walking to the bar again, and Infero turned away from the pair.

“I thought you said they were healing well.” His brother pointedly asked him.

“They were, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be instantly healed. You burned her this morning, remember?”

His brother nodded.

Mari took a seat at the far end of the bar from Ignis, pulling Daniella to the other side of her, “Yeah, and you still haven’t apologized.”

His brother glared at Mari, but Ignis started setting plates down.

“We can talk after dinner. The food is going to get cold.”

His brother grumbled something under his breath, but began eating his food. Daniella and Mari ate as well, but Mari continued to shoot daggers at Infero every chance she got.

He noticed Daniella comforting Mari often. She rarely looked up from her plate, but she still rubbed the other woman’s back when Mari started glaring at him. For a moment, the gestures felt more similar to how he corrected his brother than how he expected a guard to act. He thought back to how disappointed Mari was last night, knowing they weren’t going to be sharing a room.

Quietly, she got up and started collecting her and Mari’s plates. Ignis cleared his throat and stood as well.

“I can clear the plates, Daniella.” He said, but she grabbed his plate anyway.

“It’s alright. You’ve cooked for us twice now. I can get the dishes.” She replied.

To Ignis’s great shock, his brother stood and protested, “Actually, I can get them. You two have only been here a day. Besides, I don’t want you hurting yourself by accident.”

Daniella raised an eyebrow at him, but before she could respond, Mari chimed in, “Oh yeah, because doing the dishes is so much more dangerous than being around you.”

Infero made his way around the counter, “She’s still burned. I don’t know how badly I burned her, but moving her arms too much might worsen it.” He glared at her, “Or would you rather I let her injury get worse so you can yell at me for it more?”

“I wouldn’t have to yell at you if you hadn’t hurt her when she was trying to help you.” She replied.

Daniella cleared her throat, and they both looked at her. She nodded at Infero, “My sides aren’t too sore, but I’ll let you do the dishes. As an apology.” then she turned to Mari, “And then we’re dropping this topic. Spite is bad for digestion.”

Mari snorted, “Yes, ma’am. You’re such an old lady.”

Daniella set the dishes on the counter, and motioned at them for Infero. Ignis couldn’t help but stare as his brother, for the first time in at least a century, started running water in his sink to do dishes. He looked over at Daniella, who had her eyebrow raised at his behavior.

Ignis finally spoke up, “Do you remember how to do that?”

Infero glared over his shoulder, “It’s not that hard, Iggs.”

Mari laughed, “How long has it been since he’s done dishes that you have to ask?”

“What my brother isn’t telling you,” Infero jumped in, “Is that he only does dishes on the weekends. Most weekdays he orders takeout.” He leaned towards Daniella, “The cooking is meant to impress you two. Are you impressed?”

Daniella laughed, a sound he immediately fell in love with. Mari shook her head.

The other woman rose her voice, pointedly teasing Daniella, “What Nells means to say is ‘Yes, your cooking is amazing, Ignis.’”

He laughed. His heart was pounding in his chest, but somehow he liked it.

His brother cleared his throat. Daniella returned her attention to him, and Ignis almost felt a tinge of jealousy flow through him.

“The dishes are done, but the apology isn’t.” His brother sighed, before looking at Mari, “This is only for Daniella, though. I didn’t hurt you, you hit me.”

“You deserved it.” Mari replied, matter-of-factly.

“Daniella, I’m sorry. Fire gods can’t control our fire when we’re drunk, so don’t approach any of us when we’re drinking, not even to help.” He glared at Mari one more time as he put emphasis on the last few words, “I’m not going to be drinking again for a while, but when I do, don’t approach me okay? Don’t approach my brother when he’s drinking either. He can’t burn you like I can, but it will still hurt while he’s touching you.”

Daniella’s confusion broke her happy expression, and Ignis jumped in.

“As a protection god, I can’t hurt people with my magic unless they have intentions to hurt others. Infero isn’t a protection god, so he has zero control of that when he’s drunk.” Ignis cleared his throat, “I won’t either, but the heat won’t leave any physical damage like he did.”

“It’s not your job to police our actions.” Infero added, “We don’t expect you to, but we do expect some distance when we can’t control ourselves. We aren’t mortals, and when we can’t hold back what we are, we are dangerous.”

Daniella turned her head to face him, “Would you hurt Mari later then?”

Ignis shook his head and reassured her, “I maintain my control fairly well. I’ve lived among humans for a long time, Daniella. I know my limits.”

“What a boring s*x life you must have.” His brother chimed in, before grinning at Mari, “Too much control is never fun.”

As Mari started to blush, Ignis cleared his throat. His brother glanced at him and shrugged.

Daniella grabbed Mari’s shoulder. “I think we’re going to get ready for bed.” she said, before grabbing some of their shopping bags, “Today was lovely, but we need some sleep, and I have laundry to do. Plus, you have work tomorrow, right?”

“Right.” Ignis nodded.

“Goodnight then.” She smiled at them, before giving Mari a small shake.

“Goodnight, perverts.” She muttered.

Ignis watched them go to their rooms, before glaring at his brother.

Infero just shrugged and headed to the couch. “I think I’ll crash here for a few nights.” He said.

Ignis raised an eyebrow at his statement. “Why?”