Chapter 43
Once Kalia dried her eyes, Saer made a motion to Errshek to collect the remaining garments he’d picked up months prior.
Errshek even kept his grousing to a minimum as he handed the first pile to Sloth.
The second set he presented to the Twins who continued to talk in hushed tones, close enough their foreheads almost touched.
Arek kept a hand on Alus’s elbow while his twin mirrored the gesture in kind, unwilling to part from one another.
Even so, as Envy approached, Gluttony smiled so brightly that Errshek couldn’t help but smile back.
Alus ruffled Errshek’s dirty blonde hair, his smile extending into a grin. “Glad to see you again, Pup.”
Errshek’s happy expression dashed away as he ducked and slapped Alus’s hand away, throwing the clothes at him. “Don’t pretend I’d be missed.”
Gluttony snatched the garments from the air.
“Bambino, if you weren’t around, who could I trust to bring me…
” Detaching himself from Greed for the first time since they’d embraced, Alus used both his hands to shake out the clothes.
“...Wow.” Alus glanced around at the rest of the Daemoenica and shook his head.
“We’ve got to do something about this. You all look like you belong in a compound. ”
“Not my fault.” Errshek straightened his hair as he walked away.
Runeak had long since lost interest in the conversation at hand and retreated under the canopy to gather items from her stores.
Pride approached the newly arrived Gluttony who swiped dust away from his freshly donned garment. Alus half shrugged and tilted his head to meet Saer’s gaze. True to his particular quirk, the twin’s eyes reflected the ivory hue of his shirt. “What can I do for you, Boss?”
The more wary twin stilled, but laid fingers on Alus’s upper arm—a protective touch.
Alus had already moved on.
Arek didn’t trust it.
All was back in balance.
Saer opened his mouth but paused—there was so much, yet so little to say. He let out his breath in a mirthless huff. “You did it.”
The words helped Arek to relax a fraction.
Alus grinned. “You planned the party, I just solidified the guest list.”
“Party is a strong word—”
“You telling me my better half lied to me?”
Saer glanced at Arek in confusion, who loosened up enough to wear his usual sarcastic lip curl. “I may have gathered some supplies from town without your knowledge.” The way he said ‘supplies’ implied more than the word suggested.
Saer glanced between the glowing eyes of the Twins. “We have matters to discuss.”
Alus reached forward to clasp the side of Saer’s neck. More impressively, Pride allowed the touch. “We will, Captain. But first…” The corners of Alus’s lips could never keep from grinning for too long. “We drink.”
Sloth had the hiccups.
Greed and Gluttony lay shoulder-to-shoulder, one of Alus’s ankles crossed over Arek’s lower leg.
Saer squinted and shielded his eyes from the downpour, trying to get a beat on Errshek while he climbed one of the tallest trees at the edge of the campsite.
Envy, as the rest of them, had dived deep into the cups.
Runeak declined to partake in the spirits and thus served as default demoness to absorb all their respective fire and energy. Wrath sat next to the bonfire, using flames and the heat she’d been gifted to craft more figurines out of scrap metal.
They laughed. They shared jokes and stories. They reunited.
As dizziness set in and weakness persisted, the Twins, Kalia, and Saer found themselves lying on their backs in the center of the clearing. Mud soaked into their clothing while rainwater poured from the midnight sky.
“I didn’t think he’d make it up that high,” Arek said.
“I didn’t expect he’d take Alus’s challenge,” Saer replied, just keeping his words from slurring.
With lightning cracking all around them, Saer made the offhand comment that getting struck was like bathing in a fireball for an hour, but shoved into a millisecond.
Errshek was instantly enthralled at the prospect of feeling so powerful, and Alus suggested he climb to the highest point of the campsite, then extend his hand for a better chance at being hit.
Alus chuckled and slung a limp arm over to hit Saer’s chest with his knuckles. “It’s all about timing, Boss.”
“Ineb—” A hiccup interrupted Kalia’s sentence and she swallowed before trying again. “Inebee—Innn—Inebriated timing.”
“Oh, yes. That helps.” Despite the spirits, Alus sounded as himself, if marginally more relaxed. The twin kept his eyes on Errshek but called back towards the fire pit. “Mistress Pain?”
Runeak grunted to acknowledge she’d heard Gluttony, though continued her detailed work.
“Will you catch the pup if he falls?”
“No.”
The bland response struck Saer as particularly funny and he burst into laughter, followed by his other kin sprawled nearby.
Just as they’d settled, Kalia’s whimsical voice floated next to his ear. “Neyu liked your laugh. You should do it more.”
Saer’s heart squeezed. The observation hurt and soothed all at once.
“He’s almost there,” Arek observed.
Hells knew where Errshek found the vigor to accomplish the task. His heat sense told him Errshek carried as low a temperature as the rest of them. It must have been sheer stubbornness.
True to Greed’s declaration, Envy balanced precariously on an uppermost branch which could support him at one of the highest treetops. He’d made it at least forty feet up.
With an odd reverence and respect, the earthbound Daemoenica fell silent.
Errshek extended an arm towards the welkin.
Thunder rumbled and rain drenched.
Envy’s arm started shaking with fatigue before Kalia called to him, mid-hiccup. “Good enough, now come back dow—!”
Lightning struck, the crack drowning out all shouts.
Blasting through Errshek’s arm, it danced in the boughs of his tree, highlighting his body as it jerked, spasmed, and then tumbled down.
Down, down, down.
Splashthud.
The remaining demons all jerked to sitting, hyper-focused on Envy’s frame, trying to determine between firelight and thunderclaps whether he moved.
Rolling thunder covered Errshek’s quiet groan at first. He shifted with jilted movements and sat, blinking his wide eyes. “Oh...my.” As if just remembering the rest of his kin bore witness, he glanced their way, then down with a grimace.
Alus gathered his feet under him and went to Errshek, reaching a hand in front of Errshek’s line of sight. “How do you feel, Glowworm?”
Even though he sneered, Errshek took Alus’s offered hand and stood. Half the arm of his shirt had burnt off. “Sober.”
“Are you hurt?” Kalia asked.
“I...no.” Errshek’s response sounded perplexed, then amazed. “Hells. No!” The demon touched his chest and stomach, then lifted his gaze to the eldest amongst them. “You weren’t kidding.”
Smirking, Saer gave a single, lazy nod. “Jests are our brothers’ specialty. Though”—Pride glanced at Arek—“I’ve been told my technique is improving.”
Arek didn’t even glance at Saer when he replied with trademark dryness, “You have a long way to go.”