Chapter Fifteen
"My god, that smells heavenly." Dania moaned.
Remi just smiled with the pride of a professional chef as he simmered slabs of beef in garlic, thyme, and other rich seasonings that filled the house with a warm, exotic scent. Even Alaric was licking his lips as he hovered near the stove while Raven made homemade popcorn in a pot with butter and salt while Dania was carrying popcorn seasonings toward the living room.
I was putting together a Greek style pizza, trying to focus on the movie night, more than what had happened earlier when I had called Blaine. My heart still ached for Ambrosius. I wanted to make him happy. No one else was willing to do it. I felt like there was a reason behind Blaine not wanting to help, but I was still disturbed by his advice to give up and didn't want to speak to him. Not that I could if I wanted to, because after trying to call him back four more times, I'd come to the conclusion that he'd destroyed his cell phone in order to keep me from contacting him. And I didn't want to start anything by contacting Cerberus about it, so I was on my own now.
But that was fine.
Ambrosius didn't them to be happy. My family and I could do that on our own.
For all the flaws my family had, there was one thing we put above all else and that was each other. A tight knit family that I wouldn't trade for the world. Even Remi was part of that family. To me, there were two types of family. Those you were born to and those you chose. He was just as dysfunctional and strange as the rest of my family, so he fit in perfectly. Watching him make snarky jokes with Dania and complain about work with Alaric and Raven, you would never guess he was from a completely different pantheon.
I took the pizza and a box of beer into the living room, setting things up while Dania got her space all comfortable. She'd dragged down all her blankets and pillows, creating a next right smack dab in the middle, leaned up against the coffee table. She'd even rearranged the blankets to make a popcorn bowl holder and a holder for her beer. I set the box down and she leapt to her feet, tearing the box open and taking out a bottle, hoisting it up to the sky.
"This is gonna be a great night," She declared, then used her teeth to snap the bottle cap off, making me grimace before she took a swig and sighed in relief, then paused to look around the room, "Where's your boyfriend?"
"He's upstairs sleeping. I should probably go wake him up." I said, setting the pizza down. Dania licked her lips eagerly, picking up a slice and watching the cheese stretch and snap before she took a bite.
"Good," She said with a mouthful of pizza, "We'll show him how to party devil spawn style." I smiled at that, then left the living room and went upstairs to Ambrosius's bedroom. I remembered that he was a heavy sleeper and just walked right into the room. Sure enough, he was fast asleep and hadn't woken up upon my entrance. He was laying on his side, arm under his pillow, other resting across his waist, legs tangled in his blankets.
My body instantly reacted to him, and as I drew nearer, his scent warmed me to the core. I swallowed hard, walking over and sitting on the bed beside him. I touched his shoulder and gave him a small shake. He didn't respond, just flopped onto his back and sighed in his sleep. I smirked, then leaned forward, capturing his lips. He moaned, shifting on the bed and fisting the sheets before his eyes opened sleepily. He blinked a few times, then made a muffled sound of protest before I pulled back with a wicked grin.
"Movie night." I stated. Ambrosius blushed furiously, sitting upright and touching his lips before scowling.
"Can't you wake me up like a normal person?"
"I did. That's how normal people kiss the person they love." I answered. Ambrosius hesitated at that, but I didn't want to stick around for a long stretch of silence, so I got up and held my hand out to him in invitation. He reached for it and I pulled him off the bed before leading him out of the room, and the entire time, I felt his eyes on me. I wasn't sure what he felt, but I just knew the intensity of his eyes burning in my back.
"Keep looking at me like that and I might just take you to my room." I told him. Ambrosius scoffed, walking past me in a huff. I smirked and followed him as we went downstairs to the living room where everyone had gotten their seats. Dania had made her nest against the table, surrounded by popcorn, pizza, and a foot long po'boy to go with her beer. Alaric had taken over one of the recliners with a cup holder for his beer, his feet propped up, cushions practically swallowing him as he munched on handful after handful of popcorn in between bites of his sandwich. Raven was sprawled out on one of the sofas, his legs crossed at the ankle while he enjoyed pizza and beer. Remi sat on the same sofa, closer to the television while he ate leftover jambalaya and his po'boy in between gulps of beer.
I went over to the other sofa, bringing Ambrosius with me. We got comfortable with what little blankets and pillows were left over, grabbed some snacks and beer before we settled down and Dania started the movie.
There was one thing about watching movies with my siblings that I had forgot to mention to Ambrosius, but I suppose finding out on his own was the best way.
"Come on, Mufasa," Dania shouted angrily at the screen and threw a handful of popcorn, "Your brother's name is fucking Scar! I can't think of a more evil name than Scar! It's like Scarface! Kill him!"
"Scar is not an evil name," Alaric protested, "It's badass!"
"He looks like Satan!"
"Satan's blonde."
"Not that Satan! Oh, come on, even his voice is evil! He might as well have evil tattooed on his butt and Mufasa would still see him as his awesome, lazy brother! Oh, see? Now he's killing him. Nice job, Mufasa."
"You know they can't hear you, right?" I asked. Dania scoffed and threw popcorn at me, but it hit Ambrosius instead and he seemed bewildered by it before picking it up and eating it, making Raven, Remi, and I laugh. Dania grinned before focusing on the movie again and made sniffles sounds as she clutched a jeweled stuff elephant Loki had given her after his visit to India.
"Oh god, I hate this part! It makes me cry every time! Simba, look away!"
"Dania, there'd be no movie if he looked away."
"I don't caaare! Look at him and his fluffy self! I'd never be able to imagine that kinda thing! Lucifer may be my father, but I'd kill Michael if he ever tried to kill him! Or Gabriel. Or Raphael. Or any of the other twenty dozen uncles we have. Jesus, we're like a typical Christian family. The list goes on forever." Dania mused and Alaric groaned, reaching his foot down and kicking her foot and she kicked back.
"Oi," I called out, snapping my fingers at them, "Spill anything on my carpet and you're licking it up."
"Gross," Dania complained, "That'd make me a carpet muncher." Remi choked on his beer and clasped his hand over his nose, making Dania burst into laughter while Alaric coughed out popcorn trying to laugh.
"You squirt beer out your nose!"
"It hurts," Remi groaned, pulling his hand back to reveal his dripping nose, "Ugh, this is disgusting. It's like the time I squirt applesauce out of my nose. Don't ask me how, but it happened and it shouldn't have." Dania and Alaric laughed while Raven and I shook our heads. I smirked as they went back to watching the movie and I looked at Ambrosius, who still seemed fascinated by the relationship between my siblings and friend. He also seemed to very much enjoy Remi's po'boy as he nibbled in small bites at first before taking larger bites and bigger gulps of beer.
"Enjoy that, do you?" I asked, keeping my voice low so my siblings wouldn't interrupt. Ambrosius nodded, using his finger to tuck a bit of mustard back into his mouth.
"I've never had food like this before."
"It's a Louisiana style sandwich. Remi's from New Orleans," I explained and Ambrosius looked intrigued, "His family owned a voodoo shop before he was imprisoned and enslaved to whomever owned the ring. His father used to own the ring for a while, but a witch killed his father and the ring was then bounced around from person to person. Lucifer was actually the one who imprisoned him." Ambrosius nodded slowly, absorbing the information and looking over at Remi, who was spitting popcorn kernals at Alaric, who was trying to hide in his recliner before chucking the kernals back at him. Dania snorted with laughter and Raven kept trying to shush them.
"They're very lively." Ambrosius murmured. I nodded.
"Like babysitting sometimes. But I could ask for no one better." I answered. Ambrosius smiled faintly at that before it faded and he looked back at the screen, but I could tell he wasn't seeing it. I tilted my head, then reached out and pulled Ambrosius back so he was in my lap. He squirmed, gasping quietly and trying to get away, but I didn't let him as I reclined back against the arm of the sofa and held him against my chest, resting my head on his shoulder.
"I won't do anything," I promised him, making him give me a droll stare, "Promise. Pinkie swear." I held my pinkie to him and he looked confused.
"Pinkie what?"
"Just wrap your pinkie around mine. It just makes it a promise you have to keep." I told him. Ambrosius lifted a brow at that, then held his pinkie out to mine and clasped it with mine. I smiled, then let him turn back around to face the television, and much to my delight, he remained right where he was in my lap, between my legs with his back against my chest as he ate from my bowl of popcorn. He ate a lot, I noticed. He'd already eaten six pieces of pizza and a whole po'boy as well as two beers and half my popcorn. He reminded me of Dania in that aspect.
"Hakuna Matata," Dania shouted, singing along quite horribly with the song, "What a wonderful phrase!"
"Hakuna Matata," Remi pitched in, purposely making his Cajun accent thicker, "Ain't no passin' craze!"
"It means no worries! For the rest of your days!" Dania continued before she and Remi exchanged wicked grins.
"It's our problem-free philosphy! Hakuna Matata!" They continued singing out loud while Alaric and Raven laughed. I chuckled, reaching into the popcorn bowl, taking a handful. Ambrosius started to laugh as Remi and Dania continued to sing the lyrics. My heart swelled at that as I listened to his musical laughter. He was having fun, I thought in relief. That was the moment I was waiting for. To see him genuinely smile, a beautiful smile with the hint of a dimple in his left cheek. Dania and Remi tried to teach him the lyrics, which only made him laugh even more. Raven and Alaric grinned at their attempts.
I enjoyed movie nights enough already, but having Ambrosius here and being able to show him that life isn't all about rules and work was nice. I loved hearing him laugh, hearing him exchange banter with Dania and Remi, making comments on animation style with Raven and silly comments about the logic with Alaric.
By the time the movie was over, Ambrosius was actually asking Dania to put the next movie in. Dania eagerly popped it in and we sat through the opening menu while Remi and Raven went to go make more food. Dania was up and dancing to the music, shaking her hips. Not erotically or sexually, just in a silly wiggle before she made a sound of frustration.
"I want to dance! Someone dance with me! Ambrosius, up, up! Show me how to dance!" She shouted, reaching out and grabbing him by the hand. Ambrosius looked a little nervous about it at first, but even he couldn't find Dania's monsterous strength as Dania heaved him to his feet and moved part of her nest aside so they had a place in front of the television to dance. Dania picked up the remote and switched to a Celtic folk music channel. Ambrosius still looked hesitant to even try as he watched Dania do a spin before facing him and pouting. She took him by the hands and gave him a pull.
"Come on! I know you can dance. With a body like that? Let's go!" She urged. Ambrosius looked over at me and I smiled, leaning forward expectantly. Ambrosius looked around again, like he was expecting Hades to jump out of the shadows and kill him for it. He seemed to realize it was safe before he smiled at Dania and started to move. He did a spin, then caught her against him and spun her out. Dania laughed delightedly and did a turn to come back to him. He took her by the hands and pulled themselves in together, then pushed back out and seperated to do seperate spins before clapping along with the music.
My eyes followed Ambrosius's hips and the swiftness of each step, the way his smiled and laughed when Dania met him for another spin and their hands went up, facing each other. Not quite touching, though. They moved around in a circle for a moment before the music picked up and they clapped their hands, moving apart to spin. Hands went up and clapped now as their feet struck a beat on the floor.
"Wow," Alaric commented, amazed as he looked over at me, "Your boyfriend knows how to dance, Thorn."
"Yes, he does." I said proudly. Ambrosius blinked at me, like he couldn't believe I had said that, and the fact that I didn't correct Alaric about Ambrosius being my boyfriend. Something flickered in Ambrosius's eyes. It was like watching a light bulb spark to life. He moved from simple dance steps to something a bit more intricate and Dania quickly caught up to him. He hit his heels against the floor at different times, rose on the balls of his feet and turned, then flung his hands up at the ceiling. A shower of magic twirled around his fingers and flew up at the ceiling, scattering everywhere like the stars before they rained back down and Dania cheered, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.
"Yeahhh! You go, Ambro! You could totally do shows! You're like the god of music and dancing, man!" She exclaimed. Ambrosius paused to tilt his head at that, like he was repeating it in his head. I smiled at that.
"I like the sound of it. Ambrosius, god of music."
"Apollo might not appreciate it." Ambrosius responded. Alaric scoffed and threw popcorn at him.
"Screw Apollo. He's a douche anyway." He assured him, making Ambrosius smirk. Dania shrugged.
"Dunno, heard he has a lover now and they're always gettin' it on. Apollo's too busy to be an asshole."
"Don't defend him! He's Greek," Alaric snapped, then paused to blush and look at Ambrosius, "Not that being Greek is bad. Cuz it's not. It's awesome."
"Nice save, sparky." I told him flatly, then tossed popcorn at him and Dania did the same with a grin. Ambrosius just shook his head and plopped down on the sofa as Raven and Remi returned with more food, making Dania and Alaric cheer and horde the table to grab their share. Ambrosius watched them, smirking before he saw me staring at him. His cheeks flushed and he averted his eyes.
"If you're gonna kiss me, just do it." He said. I looked at him, surprised.
"You'll let me kiss you?"
"Maybe."
"I'd be delighted to try." I chuckled, then reached over and dragged him across the sofa, kicking and squirming until I had him settled in my lap. I tilted his head back and leaned down, kissing him on the mouth. I waited for him to push me away or squirm to escape, but he didn't. He just laid back against my chest and let me kiss him. I savored the perfect taste of his mouth, the moan that spilled past his soft plump lips and into my mouth. I teased his tongue and nipped at his lower lip before pulling back to smile down at him. He appeared a bit dazed.
"That's... hard to get used to." He admitted.
"Allow me to help you adjust." I smirked, then leaned down and kissed him again. Ambrosius moaned again, reaching up to sink his hands into my hair. A thrill cut through me and I was almost tempted to just push him down and screw him right there, but Dania cleared her throat and we broke apart. Ambrosius looked horrifyingly embarrassed, covering his face and sinking down low, grabbing the nearest pillow to hide his face while I gave Dania an irritated stare.
"We were doing something." I stated.
"Yeah, you're over there sucking face." Alaric snorted. Remi whacked him with a pillow and Alaric whined about it. Dania laughed, then shook her head and wagged her finger at us.
"You can continue your face sucking later. Right now, we gonna watch some Disney movies! Yeuh!" She whooped and returned to her nest. Raven gave me a shrug and sat back down with his food. Ambrosius slowly recovered from our embarrassing interruption and nibbled on handfuls of popcorn and yet another po'boy.
"Do all gods eat as much as you do?" I asked him as he licked and sucked popcorn butter off his fingers. My cock ached at that and I wondered if he was just ignoring the way it dug into his lower back. There was something sexual about the way he sucked on his fingers, lips swollen from kissing wrapping around a single digit, sliding up, then off with a wet pop and he licked his finger before looking up at me with an innocence that shredded me.
"I wouldn't eat so much if I ate ambrosia and nectar." He replied, referring to the Greek goodies meant solely for immortals. It was what kept them immortal. It made me frown, though, that he hadn't eaten them yet. While gods could eat all the food they wanted, it was the ambrosia and nectar that sated them and kept them youthful and healthy.
"You don't?" I asked. Ambrosius frowned, tilting his head against my chest to look into the popcorn as he grabbed another handful.
"No. I haven't reached," He paused to stuff popcorn in his mouth and made quotations with his fingers while talking with a mouthful of popcorn, "Maturity. Whatever the hell that means." I smiled at that. He sounded a little tipsy. He reached for another beer, but I took it away from him and he complained until I returned it to him. I didn't have the heart to take it away from him. Well, hopefully this would teach him what his limits were... which would be four beers. A stunning thing, considering he was a god, but maybe it was the lack of proper godly nutrition that made him more fragile than other gods.
It irritated me that Hades would do such a thing, though. Was it some form of insurance? If Ambrosius turned on him, he'd be able to take Ambrosius down? That made me sick to my stomach. If that was the case, then not even Hades trusted Ambrosius.
I didn't say anything more about Ambrosius's life, or ask him about his lifestyle anymore, though. He was having a wonderful time, laughing and joking with my family. He'd even started talking to the television like Dania, so now they were both making ridiculous comments.
We ended up watching all the Lion King movies and Tangled before we decided to call it a night. By that time, it was past midnight. Dania had passed out halfway through the last movie, so I had Raven carry her upstairs to her room. Remi and Alaric stayed behind to clean up the mess while I took Ambrosius up to his room.
"I like Rapunzel," Ambrosius told me, his words slurring together as he stumbled on the stairs and I caught him before he could fall and he laughed before continuing, "She's cool, you know that? She just told her mom, nope! And then she got to live in a huge awesome castle with her real parents and not that fake crap mother of hers. That would be so cool. To just... run away, " He threw his arm out and nearly fell in the process, making him giggle as I decided to just carry him instead of watching him struggle up the stairs, "I should try that. That would be fun. It'd be like an adventure. We should totally do that."
"I think you're already on an adventure, Ambrosius." I commented as I carried him to his room and he made a sound of awe, clutching at my shirt.
"You're right! Oh, that's so cool! Now we're just missing the horse. And the lizard thing."
"It's called a chameleon."
"Oh, they're so cute. I want a chameleon. Even better is they can turn invisible and my father would never know I had one!"
"They change color, Ambrosius."
"That's what I said."
"Right... Well," I said, trying not to smile as I opened his bedroom door and carried him into his room, placing him down on the bed, "Let's get you settled in so you can sleep. We have to prepare for the troops that are coming in tomorrow." Ambrosius groaned and rolled over onto his side, grabbing one of his pillows and hugging it in his arms as I gathered up his blankets to pull them over him.
"I don't wanna. We should go find castle far, far away and just stay there. No armies, no wraiths, no working. We could do adventure things all the time. We could get a horse. And a chameleon. We could name it, like, Freddy. Or something. I don't know. That's a weird name, isn't it? Ffffff.... Rrrr... Eddy. It's like you're ready, but you're fucking ready, you know what I mean?" He asked. I couldn't resist smiling at that as I brushed the hair back from his face and he sighed contently.
"We'll talk about more adventure things tomorrow, Ambrosius. Goodnight." I said, kissing him on the forehead before moving to turn off the lamp when Ambrosius suddenly gasped and reached out, catching my wrist.
"Wait, wait," He managed, then looked around the room quickly before looking up at me, "What if the wraiths come back?"
"They can't get in this time, Ambrosius--"
"Stay here. I don't want to be alone." He murmured. I hesitated, scanning him over. It was awfully tempting just take advantage of it, but I couldn't do such a thing. At the same time, I didn't want to leave him alone, so against my instincts, I nodded and shut out the light before coming around to climb into bed beside him after stripping off my robes and draping them on the bed post. I laid there for a moment before the bed shifted and Ambrosius scooted closer to me. Before I realized it, he was snuggled up against me and breathing his beer breath on me, but I didn't particularly mind.
"You're so awesome," Ambrosius slurred in a whisper, "I wish I could be like you. The way you talked back to my father and he didn't kill you. I wish I could do that."
"You can."
"No, but that's okay, I guess. I guess... I like you, Thorn."
"I like you too, Ambrosius."
"You said you loved me."
"I do."
"If you do," Ambrosius murmured, his voice fading as he grew sleepy, "Please don't lock me in the Room when you get mad at me... I won't be stupid... I'll try..." He was silent for a while and I picked up on the steady breathing of him as he slept. My heart ached now as I turned to face him and put my arms around him, holding him close to my chest as I closed my eyes.
"I love you, Ambrosius... I won't hurt you... Pinkie promise."