"We don't have to go you know..." His voice trails off, but he looks me in the eye as if to check his comment had stuck with me.
I step on the bed with a sigh and shake my head. My hands brush against his neck, pulling the tie around.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I stare at him blankly trying to control my emotions before calmly answering.
"What do you mean?" He raises his eyebrow, but I quickly brush the look away and finish tying. "I'm fine."
"You can talk to me-"
"If the tone wasn't obvious enough for you, I don't want to talk about it." Flint steps back and I immediately regret the words that pushed him. "I didn't mean to say it like that," I mumble.
He comes closer with a nod and says, "I know you didn't." He carefully pecks my forehead as if I would break with one touch. "If you're up to it, we can go to the royal dinner, or we can sneak out to my place and watch television."
"As enticing as that sounds, I promised Aura I would show up today, and I don't go back on my promise." I explain, cradling his hand in mine, and leading him towards the door.
"That is just one of the of the million things that are amazing about you," Flint says, staring down at me with a grin.
"Oh, really? What are the other 999,999?"
"I'll get back to you on that."
-☠-
I look up at Flint who sat across from me, and I know he felt the same. He gave me 'wow-this-dinner-is-not-going-well' eyes.
Either that, or he really has to poop. It could go either way.
I throw him a weak smile, while I continue to poke at my salad. Turns out, salad is a pretty elite meal. Sure they have underworld substitutes, but it isn't the same according to Flint.
Group two, six, eight, and ten literally go to the human world to steal the real deal for the wealthy. Turns out most of the time it isn't bunnies, and really just a dead person stealing your crops to feed the underworld.
How elightining.
It actually makes me want to eat it less, but I guess you can't think too much down here.
The ting of a glass, brings my attention towards the Queen and away from my stolen salad.
"Bring a bring bring!" The Queen cries in a sing songy voice.
"Mom, you don't have to say bring a bring bring every time you-"
"Bring fricka bring." She says again, this time a bit more defensivily, interuppting Julian. "Anyways, I just wanted to notify that we are going to play our family game now. This time we will be playing laugh for your love."
Oh, no. I roll my eyes as Logan squeals clutching Julian's hand and sends me a glare. God, was she annoying. I had a few minutes of peace without her in my mind, but now she is there and won't leave.
Looking back at Flint, he has a huge grin on his face, and Laurence, who sat next to him, has an even bigger than one.
I still don't understand how him and William are allowed to come, but at least they will attract most of the attention here.
Personally, I hate family game time, and I am pretty sure everyone else- other than the Queen- hates it as well. At least I have Flint to get me through this.
"Basically, everyone picks a partner, and they have to make their partner laugh. If they do not laugh at all then they get to stab you."The smiles in the room immediately fall, and the Queen seems to be making up for the loss, her grin becoming bigger. "Isn't it fun?"
Everyone shakes their heads , but she just waves her hand with a laugh.
"Trust me it is." Everyone still looks unconvinced, but she continues anyways. "Will with Lawson." They both try to correct her, but she ignores them. "Abba with Flynn." Both of us don't even bother. "Junebug with Lola." I let out a snicker, and 'Lola' doesn't seem too happy
"And finally, me and Aura. The only ones who will probably play this game together again because love doesn't exsist. Okay! Let's do this! I'll go first."
She grabs a carrot and holds it up like Hamlet holds his skull. "To be or to not to be?" Her eyes stare deeply into the character, as she stands on her chair. "For I could eat my fingers as easily as I could eat this carrot." The Queen turns to Aura, and takes a slow bite from her carrot. "Yum."
Laurence, William, and Flint let out a weak, fearful chuckle, but Aura stays the same.
"Harriet, I am pretty sure that is not true. You can't always trust what you see in movies." The Queen sits down with a sigh and motions for Flint to go.
"Me?" Flint asks, and she nods again, Aura rubbing her back in a comforting way. "Well, okay, I guess." He stares at me, and I shake my head. I was not in the stabbing mood today. "Girl did it hurt when you fell from the human world?"
I grin with a soft laugh. Not because his joke was good, but for the opposite reason. It was so poorly executed, that is reminded me of our first date in the garden. The stupid pick up line that led to our first kiss.
"That was so a fake laugh!" Logan cries in protest.
"The only thing that is fake is your personality, girlfriend." The Queen snaps, causing Aura and Laurence to laugh out loud. "I did it! I don't have to be stabbed!" She hugs Aura, while Logan is still fuming. She turns towards Julius and begins her turn.
"Oh my god Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!" Logan imitates Gretchen from Mean Girls, but Julius just stares blankly.
"Who's Karen?"
"Oh my god, have you never watched Mean Girls?"
"No...?" Julius looks nervous as Logan looks at him annoyed. Laurence's 'stab her' chants break the silence. "But I don't actually have to stab you right?" He looks at his mother, but she just gives him an excited grin.
Carefully he clutches the knife in his hands and whispers, "I am so not getting laid tonight." Julius gets up and walks around the table and towards Logan's seat. She braces her head in her hands and says,
"Just stab me in the leg and get it over with." It doesn't actually do real damage because we are dead, so there will just be a throbbing in that area for a while. Still, a knife just isn't a pleasant image. Especially when you are eating. I can hear his wince, but Logan stays still with a tight jaw, glaring at no one in particular.
"Well, that was an eventful evening," the Queen sighs, pushing her chair out to stand up. "Good night." She prances away, and servants come to clean up the table.
"Man, now I remember why I didn't come to these dinners before. Everyone is crazy." William says, handing his plate to be cleaned.
"And because you weren't invited?" Flint suggests, but William just shrugs.
I am about to interject with another insult, but my work phone rings bringing my attention away from the situation.
"Hello?" This phone hardly ever rings and if ever, it is for work.
"Yeah, hey, it's Henry," a sense of urgency lingers in his tone.
"Henry?" I whisper, moving into a corner, so I could hear better. "How and why are you calling me?"
"First of the how isn't that complicated. I literally work at the same place." I start to defend myself, but he continues. "The why on the other hand is."
"What do you mean?"
"Just meet me at the Boney Island entrance, okay?" He says explaining the noise of people in the background.
"How am I supposed to-"
"Take Flint, he'll know." I look up and see he is already glancing at me while talking to Aura.
"I'm coming, but you still haven't told me what you need me for."
Suddenly, one voice comes near the phone the makes my heart beat faster.
"Is that Amara?"
"Yes, but-"
I end the call in a quick movement and sprint over to Flint.
"We got to go," He follows me with a nod, and we both rush out the door. Everyone was probably a bit to engaged in watching Laurence singing Mary Poppins to give a second glance. I can always count on him to be a constant distraction.
"Wait, where exactly are we going?" He asks, nodding to the guards who stand at the door.
"We are going to find out what the hell happened on Earth."
Author's Note
I hope you like this chapter! Any predictions for what is going to happen next? I'd love to hear what you guys think in the comments. If you like this chapter, give it a vote. The rules of the world are a bit out of work so I will probably tweak details. If you find any inaccuracies, please point them out. It makes the whole process a lot easier! Till next chapter,
- S