Chapter 15 - Weird Is The New Awesome

2128 Words
We get so caught up in the heat of the moment, that we forget anyone is able to see us. And without taking that into account, we soon hear whistles coming from the end of the hallway. I freeze and pull away from Eros, my cheeks cheating up in embarrassment.   As I turn around to see who had the guts to tease us, my face falls. Right. I don’t know why I even thought I would be surprised. Who else would it be?   A very cheerful Demitri walks towards us, an amused smirk plastered on his face. “Morning lovebirds. What better time to begin smooching than right when the sun comes up, huh?” he greets us with a knowing look in his eyes. I can’t help but let my mind wander to where he knows that from. But the moment I think about it, I sense Eros tensing beside me.   I instinctively place my hand on his chest, sending him a warning look. But he is too busy shooting daggers at Demitri. “Not in the mood, pal,” he growls, making me raise my eyebrows in surprise. My cousin seems equally astonished, leaving me time to come up with an excuse for Eros’s behaviour.   “I’m sorry, he’s just in pain,” I quickly say. Demitri’s gaze turns into a compassionate one, and he glances at me, before looking at Eros again.   “Oh … I’m sorry to hear that,” he tells him, clearly tempted to ask what kind of pain he’s in, but I’m counting on his habit of not interfering into other people’s affairs. I hope he isn’t suddenly a whole new person, because if he does ask that question, I have no idea what to tell him. My mind is completely blank. “Can I help in any way?” my cousin then says, almost making me breathe out in relief. I stop myself in the last moment.   “No,” Eros slowly responds, and I can sense he’s trying his best to control himself, even if everything going through his head is: that bloody bastard is doing it with my sister! I resist the urge to poke him in the ribs and force him to control himself, hoping that my mood is a big enough warning for him. “I suppose a massage from Arya is going to do,” Eros suddenly continues, looking at me with appreciation in his eyes.   I smile up at him, content that the crisis was averted. But then … “I get what you’re talking about,” Demitri remarks, making Eros’s face fall. He turns to my cousin with a dangerous gaze in his eyes, while I step closer, wrapping my arm around his waist to prevent him from rushing at him.   “Do you now?” he says, making my jaw clench. I discretely pinch him in his side. Hard. His body tenses, but he doesn’t even flinch in pain. I am truly amazed by the high level of pain he possesses. I wish I had that too. It might have come in handy, when Teivel was torturing me. “I mean, of course you do,” Eros corrects himself, trying his best to force a smirk on his face, but it comes off as a little scary.   I chuckle, patting his chest with much more force than necessary, making it sound like I’m clapping. Demitri cringes as he hears how hard I’ve hit him, sending my bonded a sympathetic look. “That must hurt,” he retorts, suddenly looking like he’s afraid I’m abusing him. That makes Eros snicker, unable to hide his amusement at my thoughts.   My cousin sends him an odd gaze, quickly making him shake his head in response. “No, don’t worry. It’s just her way of massaging me,” he says, making my lips curl up in amusement. Demitri glances between the two of us a couple of times, before shaking his head in disbelief.   “You guys are so weird,” he then states, making both our faces fall. He then cracks a smile, chuckling at our reactions. “But I like you together. Your weirdness is pretty awesome, actually,” he then adds, making me smirk.   See? He wants to impress you so badly, that he just labelled our weirdness as awesome, I say to Eros through our bond, making the corners of his mouth rise. But I can tell he’s not sure about that just yet.   Did you overhear the part, where he called us weird? Eros wants to know, making me pinch him again.   If it weren’t for your absurd obsession with what Elena and he do in their spare time, we wouldn’t be acting half as weird, as we were, I tell him, deeming the conversation finished for me.   I turn back to Demitri with a cheerful expression. “I do appreciate the compliment, but I think it’s time for us to depart shortly. Emilia and Elena are probably already waiting for us in the Foyer,” I declare, making my cousin smirk as he strolls past us.   “I would already be there if you two didn’t block my path by making out in the hallway,” he teases us. I smirk, while Eros breathes out a long sigh of frustration. I send him a warning look, before motioning after Demitri with my head.   I let go of my bonded as we turn around, hoping that this day will go as smoothly as possible. At least with the whole portal-sealing thing, if not with Eros and Demitri getting along fine without my input for once. Believe me, this is us getting along, he remarks inside my head, earning himself a long look.   As we reach the Foyer, the girls are already waiting for us there, along with our escorts. Father only agreed to let us seal the portals if we let Guardians come along. For the sake of protection. There is one for each of us, so instead of just five people, who could easily travel unnoticed, we are now a group of ten people. But half of us are uniformed, grim-faced, and apparently also mute. No need to explain which half that is, right?   Elena can’t help herself and already asks what has been taking us so long. And Demitri being Demitri, responds with the truth. He tells the girls about running into us in the hallway, taking the time to include every detail from our little smooch session. I would be embarrassed if I didn’t sense Eros thinking about the encounter afterwards once again, making a warning signal light up inside my head.   Don’t worry, I won’t close his head between the doors, no matter how tempted I am. At least not in front of my sister, Eros consoles me, making me sigh. So much for a consolation.   You truly need to stop thinking of Demitri as the bad guy. He makes Elena happy, doesn’t that count for something? I ask, trying to get to the bottom of his stance against my cousin. My bonded looks at me, his seriousness so intense, that it feels like his eyes are going to burn a hole inside my head.   Yeah, not if they’re doing it, he remarks with a hint of anger inside his voice, making me narrow my eyes at him slightly. Is he being serious right now?   For the love of Olympus, if we’re doing it, it doesn’t mean that everyone is! Besides, it’s none of your business. We didn’t tell anyone about it, so what makes you think they need to? I challenge him, finally seeming to find something that has him shutting his mouth about this subject.   As I turn back to the others, I realize they’re all staring at us in expectation. “Huh?” I say out loud, hoping that we haven’t missed anything important. Demitri shakes his head, chuckling at our flustered expressions.   “I’m telling you, they were already weird, when I found them,” he repeats to Elena and Emilia, making me let out a soft sigh. Great. Now everyone thinks we’re lunatics. Or even worse. What if they think we’re fighting?   Eros wraps an arm around me, pulling me closer to his side, while sending an apologetic smile to everyone. “I’m sorry, we sometimes get so caught up in our inner debates, that we forget we’re around other people,” he explains. Demitri shakes his head, Emilia smiles dreamily, while Elena stares at us in suspicion. She’s not buying that explanation. I know she isn’t. But she doesn’t comment on it either.   “Shall we get going now? The portals aren’t going to seal themselves,” she remarks instead, making everyone follow her, as she turns towards the exit and the Guardians open the door for us.   I realize I haven’t missed the cold air even a bit, the moment we poke our noses out into the once for change sunny morning. The sunrays caress my skin in a way I’ve truly missed these past couple of weeks. It feels like being warmed up by fire, only with less heat and more light. I breathe in the cold air, making my insides sting in pain. I can’t wait for summer to come back.   Dairelis is as busy as ever, people running around the streets to take care of errands. Many citizens barely have the time to turn towards us and bow shortly, to show their respect. Not that I would be bothered if anyone didn’t bow. I actually find that custom quite silly.   After passing through the main islands of the city, the streets get a lot emptier. We are now in the part that I haven’t been to ever since Eros and Elena first brought me to Atlantis. We pass the man, that is guarding the last island, and he immediately bows as he recognizes us. I can’t believe it’s already been more than a year since I came here.   We squeeze ourselves into one of the boats that are available for borrowing, the Guardians insisting that we all ride together. I’m not sure what could happen to us on the way to the outskirts of the city. A sea monster eating us?   I can see Eros raising the corners of his mouth in amusement, and I can’t help but smirk myself. Elena is staring at us openly, not even bothering to hide her astonishment. “Oh, how I wish I would be able to look into your heads when you’re having one of your moments. I would really like to know, what is so funny now?” she asks, glancing between the two of us with pure awe.   I shake my head, not wanting the Guardians to feel offended about my sea monster joke, because they are only trying to protect us after all. “Perhaps you’ll find out later,” I tell her in a mysterious way, making her pout with disappointment.   We’re getting more and more quiet, the closer to land we are. It won’t be long before we have to get out of the boat and find the archway. I still remember its exact location, like I just flew out of it yesterday. Eros sends me a curious look.   I didn’t realize you remember this place so well, he remarks, before jumping out to help the Guardians pull the boat with us on the sand.   How could I ever forget it? I say, as he offers me his hand and leads me to the ground. I smile up at him, as he’s trying to figure out what I mean by that. But I don’t let him find out, until we’re passing the part, where he and Elena were changing their human clothes for their usual ones. He chuckles out loud, unable to hide his amusement as he realizes what I meant.   I join in, while the others look at us like we’ve completely lost it. But we tone down, not wanting to earn ourselves a lecture or two. You know, I get I now. How could you ever forget seeing that hot body for the first time? And right amongst these trees, spicy, he teases me, making a blush creep itself up on my cheeks.   Well, I’m very good at denying, so it was easy at first. But it got harder with time. The image just kept popping up inside my mind, I tease him back, earning myself and amused smirk in return.   A few moments later, we stop right with the others, turning our gazes forward. There, amongst the pine trees, it rests. Still as worn out and ready to collapse as I remember it. But it’s there. The archway, that brought me home.
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