The Scared God [ManXManXMan]

Chapter Five: Домашний - Domashniy

[Warning: This is not a happy chapter. It's not as dark as the first four, but it's still not very happy.]

~Chapter Five: Домашний - Domashniy~

It is not until around noon the next day that I dare to venture outside the attic room. Even after finding the pocket watch – which has had a habit of magically appearing whenever I revive ever since I discovered it a couple hundred years ago – I spent the rest of the day napping, only waking up long enough to eat the meals Hors brought up. Because of how much I slept, I have to wonder if there was something more than just relaxing herbs in the drinks. It is rare for me to feel that tired after reviving.

Walking is a far easier task than before, the muscles in my legs no longer shaking from the effort of holding my weight. Stairs are still a challenge, seeing as that involves more than just walking and my balance is still off, meaning that I still have to cling to the railing to keep from taking the quicker, more painful way down. Fortunately, there is no one watching me do so, as my image is already ruined enough by the fact that I have to rely on my enemies – though I am not entirely sure Hors counts as one anymore; he is too neutral – to survive, even if they are not giving me much of a choice.

My destination is the kitchen, but I pause just outside the doorway to warily peer around the corner. The only reason I left my room is because I heard the front door open and close ten minutes ago, which means that someone left and has not yet returned...unless I merely did not hear them. I am hoping it was Perun who left me with Hors and not the other way around. The last thing I want is to be stuck in a house alone with that bastard. Hors, on the other hand, is mostly okay from what I have seen and, at the very least, he is a great cook.

Hors does not seem surprised to see me half-hidden by the doorframe when he looks away from the book he is reading at the table, but he does raise an eyebrow in a silent question. Once I am certain he is alone, I narrow my eyes at him, not amused by his patronizing expression. When he does not voice his thoughts, I linger in the doorway for another couple of seconds before walking over to the refrigerator.

The sun god does not comment when I start rummaging through his food and, when I cautiously glance over my shoulder at him, Hors is back to reading his book and sipping his tea. Taking that as a silent cue to use whatever I want for food, I pull out what I think is the leftover kasha from yesterday – it is, admittedly, the best kasha I have ever eaten – and a container full of beef stroganoff.

Hors and Perun seem to favor the traditional foods of our pantheon over more modern foods.

When I glance at Hors again, just to be sure that he is not going to fight me over the food, he is still staring down at his book. His mouth is twitching, forming an almost smirk, but I am not sure if it is something I did or if the book is just very entertaining. However, as I start to pull off the top of the kasha container, Hors speaks up, making my fingers slip in surprise; the plastic dish would have been send flying off the counter had I not caught it at the last second.

"You can eat that if you want, but I will be making a proper lunch in a minute if you want that instead," Hors offers, his head still in the book. Since he did the same thing yesterday morning, I am starting to wonder if he is simply messing with me.

Is he even truly reading the book or is it an attempt to throw me off?

While it is tempting to merely heat up the kasha and beef stroganoff, I already had kasha for breakfast and the beef stroganoff was merely the second container I saw, so my interest in eating it is purely hunger-based. After eyeing the containers for a moment, I reluctantly put them back, all the while wondering why he could not have mentioned the lunch plans before I took out the food.